She thought back to when she woke up. All that sweat in her bed wasn’t sweat after all. So, did that mean she was giving birth right now?! She’d held off her procrastination for too long, and now what she thought was never going to pass was happening at this very moment! How could so much time have passed when she wasn’t paying attention? Especially since she was hardly asleep during much of that time?
As she was struggling to regain her thoughts, she nearly missed the question the Man with the Mustache asked her. “What was that?”
“I said, do you remember the ONE you laid down with?”
It was difficult to think clearly through the sudden pain that was only beginning to register, but the Girl still held on to her last vestige of privacy even with her undergarments removed. “What do you need to know that for?”
“There’s different required surgical procedures depending on the race. We don’t want to damage the baby. Before we can give you drugs, we need to identify the father. Could you give a detailed description?”
“I’m not sure how to - “
“You don’t have to worry. I don’t judge.”
“I don’t remember much - “
“The slightest detail can help. There are plenty of ONEs out there. It’s just a matter of narrowing down which ONE.”
“Ooooouuuuhhh... it hurts... it hurts!” The adrenaline that had been boosting her immune system through the wild roller coaster of emotions was beginning to wear off and she was starting to feel the effects.
“Squeeze my hand. You’ll get the drugs you need when you remember.”
“I’m not even sure if - ”
“Let’s focus on one thing at a time. Was it hooded?”
“No, it was out in the open.”
“What colour was it?”
“It was kinda a purplish blue-green, with multiple elongated tentacles. I never actually saw the main body. It was kinda amphorous.”
“Amorphous, not vaporous?”
“Yeah.”
“What size tentacles? Thick or thin?”
“More like flabby water balloons with a high-pitched clicking noise.”
“Okay, that’s helpful. Any teeth?”
“None. Looked more like a parrot beak.”
“That doesn’t narrow it down very much. What else?”
“There were eyes poking out from - OW!”
“Breathe, breathe. Eyes from every corner?”
“Huffpuff huffpuff... you got it right.”
“Which of these would you say most closely resembles it?”, he asked, handing out a bunch of photos with his free hand.
“That’s it! That’s exactly it!”
“This one?? You’re sure??”
“That’s the very one!”
“Well, that’s simply impossible. It couldn’t be this.”
“What are you talking about? I recognize that shape and colour! It’s impossible to fake! Unless the picture quality isn’t as good or...” The Girl had a sudden thought. “...or it’s an influential member of society that can’t tolerate having impure crossbreeding outside their species?! Is that what you’re trying to cover up?!”
“No, I mean it’s physically impossible. They’re Asexuals - beings who divide once they’ve reached a critical mass. They have no sexual organs.”
The Girl looked stunned. “But - but if they can’t produce sperm, then where did this baby come from??”
“It could be a divergent species. Unless... where did you say you met it?”
“I didn’t. I saw it in a... private club.”
“Could you give the address?”
She freely gave it. For some reason, she had it committed to memory, even though her first experience was something she’d rather forget.
“Ah,” the Man with the Mustache said, sounding somewhat disappointed. “I think I know what happened. Did you bother to check its sexual history?”
“N-no.”
“You should’ve. These things are popular and in high demand. My guess is that there was some leftover residue from a former client that made its way through.”
It took her some time to digest this information. With all the fuss made about making out with a Tentacled ONE, it never occurred to her that it would appeal to a male clientele as well.
“Consider yourself lucky. Those kind of places aren’t very hygienic.”
And just as quickly, she had a needle inserted in her vein. After that, she had no comprehensible method of noticing the passing of time. There was the constant pressure to exert pressure in her lower half that felt like trying to expel her internal organs through her digestive system. There were instruments touching everywhere, devices giving out calculated readings that she was barely conscious of. When she WAS conscious, she preferred the times that she wasn’t. Even hopped up on Mood Killers, the pain was still excruciating.
And then after much time and effort, the thing that’d been taking up residence inside her body for so long was finally removed. Once the umbilical cord was cut, her failing reserves of strength kept her coherent enough to issue one last demand. Even though the ordeal had been long and arduous, one singular thought kept itself firmly lodged into her head. “I don’t care what happens to the baby, just so long as it’s far far away from me once it’s born!” She was quite adamant on that.
“Are you sure you don’t want to imprint - ”
“NO!”, she screamed, covering her eyes and waving the orderly off. “Take it away! I don’t want anything to do with it!” The Girl had heard stories of reluctant mothers whose resistance melted away upon seeing the baby they’d carried around all this time. She wasn’t taking any chances, not daring to uncover her eyes until she felt certain it was safe. Only when the smell faded away did she allow herself to relax.
She was left heavily panting from exertion and relief. What she was most worried about after giving birth was that the smell would remain. Now that she knew it wasn’t permanent, for the first time since she could remember, she could breathe easy again.
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