Alice felt funny. There was too much...something. When she opened her eyes, the angles were wrong. Different eyes saw light and color differently. Wait, how many eyes did she have? She started to panic, but suddenly, a calming presence was nearby. "If it's too much, just use these eyes." The words were funny; they contained far more than words usually did. Thoughts, feelings, images, and instructions were far more complex than the words sounded, yet it all made sense. Without really understanding how she did it, Alice closed the other eyes, leaving just two open, and the world looked similar to what she was used to.

Next, Alice tried to stand up, but instead, she just flailed about. Her legs weren't working. Or rather, they were working too much. Or maybe too many? Again, the voice returned. "Here, this is how you use your new legs." But again, the words were more than just words. Her legs moved almost on their own, following her desired movement, though something was still off. It was almost like she was only half in control.

This time, when the voice spoke, it felt... familiar... "Only for now. Soon, you will have complete command of this body, and I will cede control."

That was a funny word, cede. Alice had never heard it before. It sounded similar to a word she knew, but this one had a totally different meaning. However, the meaning came across with the word as if there were new layers to speech she'd never understood before now.

The voice sounded happy this time, though the tone never changed. "This is how She's communicate. This is why it took me so long to learn the words you and Scott use. Your speech is far simpler and thus more complex to use."

The word "She's" was so much more complicated than anything else Alice had ever known. There were so many thoughts, images, scents, pheromones, and more complex ideas Alice lacked any context for contained within that one word. It was fascinating...and a little scary.

As she was trying to process everything, Alice noticed movement. A moment later, Scott and her mother entered the room, but something was wrong. They weren't quite as large as she was used to, and the way they moved, it was almost like they were moving a little slower and clumsier than she was familiar with.

When they looked at her, it was clear they were scared, or maybe anxious was a better term. Her mom spoke first. "Alice? Is that you?"

Alice nodded and went to take a breath to answer, but again, it felt odd. It was like she had lungs, but they weren't her primary breathing method.

The voice returned. "This is how you speak." All the images and ideas that usually came with the words were also there.

Alice finally took a breath and answered. "Of course, it's me silly? Who else would I be?"

Beside her mom and brother was one of Charlotte's speaking selves. "Of course, I changed her voice to match her old one." But when it said those words, all the ideas and feelings she had with the mysterious voice came through, too. When it said "her," it meant Alice, but the images it had were complex. It had both her usual self and a new vision of Charlotte's latest body overlapped into one.

The voice returned, but Alice somehow knew only she was hearing it. "Yes, that is now your new body. Your old one was damaged and had to be replaced." This time, there were feelings of sadness, anger, and regret, as well as concern and even a little fear. It was worried she would not like her new body.

Alice held out her arms and looked at them. Sure enough, they were Charlotte's arms. But they were also hers. What happened to her? Why was she like this? The voice answered. "You were badly injured." She saw her old body, but it looked like it was hurt really badly.

Alice started to panic, but then the voice...hugged her? How can a voice hug someone? The sensation was so odd yet comforting that her panic stopped before it fully began. There was something familiar about the voice. She knew it. Trusted it.

All this happened very quickly, and a moment later, her mother was running toward her and hugging her. Filled with so many thoughts and feelings far beyond what she was used to, Alice squeezed back as hard as she could. Or rather, she would have, but then the presence stopped her somehow as it spoke to her. "Humans are very fragile. You must control your new strength when handling them." It then allowed her to hug her mom, though not nearly as firmly as she'd originally intended.

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Alice couldn't help it. This was all so weird and scary. She started crying again. "Am I...Am I still a person?"

Her mother just squeezed even tighter, but when Scott placed a hand on her arm, and she looked at him, he smiled. "You're still Alice, and you'll always be a munchkin, even if you're a bit bigger now."

-

Charlotte watched Alice adapt to her new body with interest. There were some things mechanically that She had to assist the girl in, walking, for example, but overall, the girl was adapting more quickly than She'd anticipated.

As predicted, Scott was of great assistance in aiding Alice in accepting her new body. In the brief moment when his sister started to give in to doubt and fear, his encouragement helped her see her new situation in an entirely new light.

However, what was of equal interest to Charlotte was getting to see and understand the human mind so much more intimately than vocal speech ever allowed. She brains were not as centralized as humans were, so when Charlotte installed Alice into the new body, a portion of her own perception remained in place. As Alice adapted to the body, the girl would supersede Charlotte's influence, but a connection would always remain, similar to the connection that binds all Shes. That connection gave Charlotte insight into the hidden complexities of the human mind.

Humans were fascinating to view from within. Their emotions were a chaotic whirlwind, with countless different feelings fighting for dominance at any given time, and even the slightest provocation or stimulation can dramatically change the dynamic. Many of Scott and Alice's behaviors suddenly made sense. While a She was capable of feeling a range of emotions at any given time, the depth and intensity of human emotions were akin to walking through a maelstrom. Charlotte would be tempted to call it madness, but dealing with all that chaos was probably tied to the human ability to adapt and improvise so readily to even the most extreme changes.

With a bit of self-examination, Charlotte realized their madness seemed somewhat infectious. She was undoubtedly feeling things She'd never felt in her hundreds of years of existence. Things that, to the best of her understanding, no She had ever felt. And looking at how rapidly She was innovating her own designs, that might not be a bad thing.

There was a downside to Alice's mind expanding to envelop the She mind throughout the body. It would become more complicated to eventually transfer her back to a human body, though not impossible. Hypothetically, Charlotte could grow a human-like body with the express intention of housing Alice's expanded consciousness.

But for now, that was not a concern. At the moment, Alice was just testing how fast she could run, admittedly, with Charlotte's assistance. On her own, Alice still got her legs tangled as she walked. Currently, she was running around in circles while Scott and Lacy watched.

After her third lap around the area, Alice skidded to a halt in front of her mom, picking up the Lacy and spinning her in a circle as the two laughed. Scott watched from beside one of Charlotte's mouths. "You've created a monster, you know that, right?"

That confused Charlotte. "I thought you said referring to me or your sister as a monster was derogatory."

Scott laughed and shook his head. "In this context, it's more of an affectionate joke. It's not her body I'm referring to, but the endless energy she now seems to have."

That did not clarify anything. "But her energy is directly related to her new body. It's because my appendages are designed without the need of..."

Scott shook his head. "That's not quite what I meant, but I suppose you're right. I should avoid using such terms since they can be easily misconstrued."

Even with her greater insight into human minds, some things seemed beyond Charlotte's grasp. But then Alice ran up to Scott, and She had other things to pay attention to.

Alice was positively exuding excitement. "Did you see how fast I ran? I bet I could outrun you now!"

Scott laughed. "You'll get no argument here!"

It hadn't even been a full day since Alice had acquired her new body, but already Scott seemed to have adapted to their new life. Though Charlotte could tell from Alice's feelings, the girl suspected some of it was an act, or at least exaggerated, meant to help Alice accept and come to terms with her new situation. But then again, some of Alice's insistence on receiving praise was itself an act meant to distract Scott from whatever dark thoughts seemed to occupy his mind whenever he was left alone for too long...

That just brought back Charlotte's opinion that humans were all at least a little mad. Why couldn't they both just come out and speak about these things to each other and resolve the issues to the best of their ability?

Then again, by observing Alice's thoughts and emotions, it was clear that a part of her mind was always working on processing and accepting her situation even when she wasn't actively thinking about it. In a way, the human method of problem-solving while not thinking about the problem was more complex than the She's ability to operate so many appendages at once. This was a phenomenon that required more observation. Luckily, it seemed like She'd have plenty of time to observe and learn from these humans She'd become attached to.

Of course, that begged the question, what was next? Charlotte had to rebuild herself again. That much was obvious. But what about Scott and Alice? What was Lacy's next step?

As Lacy observed Scott and Alice playing together, Charlotte noticed the mother had that same distant stare Scott sometimes got when he was "lost in thought." She was clearly planning something, but what?