Bonus segment:
A Piecemeal Exposition
GAUGING REACTIONS
Greetings! I hope you've been well since the last chapter, and that you're ready for your next injection of friendly information. Since I'm just about to enter The Round Place for the second time, I'm gonna have to keep this one short and to the point.
You may have noticed that I've acquired my first piece of equipment: a needle! Admittedly, it may not be a “true” needle like the one you'd find on a syringe, but I'd argue it's even better. I mean, who'd say no to a bundle (fascicle) of six needles (stylets) specifically designed to suck blood, especially if it's the product of more than two hundred million years of evolution!
And yes, some of you may be saying “What's the use of a proboscis if it's detached from its body?” To which I'll gladly respond - uh, I'm not sure yet. But! I remain hopeful that it'll be of some use. Eventually.
There isn't much more I'd like to say about my proboscis, apart from a few noteworthy tidbits. But first, I've got a question for you:
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Have you ever been subject to the stab of a syringe, only to have the wielder pull it out and poke you again multiple times in the hopes of finding a blood vessel? Well, for all we've got against mosquitoes, we've gotta hand it to them: they never miss their shot.
Each of the six needles that compose the mosquito's mouth is perfectly made to find a blood vessel quickly and painlessly. The needle that sucks, the labrum, can detect the chemical signature of blood as though it were a prizewinning pig smelling for truffles: straight for gold, every time.
The proboscis of mosquitoes you know is much smaller than the one I've found, which, combined with the anesthetic released by the sixth needle (the tongue, or hypopharynx), makes taking blood a nearly painless affair. In fact, the diameter of a proboscis tends to be only 40-100 micrometres (about 1/10 of a millimetre, the approximate thickness of a single strand of hair), whereas the specimen I found is 14 gauge, or 2 mm in diameter. At this size, you can bet it’ll cause more pain, but boy oh boy will it suck! This is a gauge that’s usually used for rapid transfusions and emergency situations, which I expect may soon be my case.
Anyway, turns out this donation of my knowledge was a little longer than expected, just like a needle being pushed deeper and deeper than you thought would be possible. In the hopes that all I said hasn’t left you sluggish, this is where I withdraw myself from your company.
Off the top of my head,
-me (your as-of-yet unnamed Heroine)