Her first sensation, after taking a deep, wheezing breath, was of a snapping whip. Janine felt part of herself zipping back through the twisty corridors and down staircases; a desperate urge for reunification that overwhelmed all other conscious desires. To once more be whole. To be one.

To be safe.

Frightened beyond understanding, it was all she could do to keep herself from screaming. Instead she concentrated on her feet – and the mirrored shade that connected to them and stretched down the rough concrete sidewalk. It was disquietingly familiar.

Her lunch break was over. But she couldn’t yet bring herself to reenter the offices and take up the mantle of her ordinary existence. Not after what she had experienced. She contented herself with sitting. And breathing. And simply being. Normal.

After a while, feeling partially recovered she rose to her feet just as her boss exited the building. While he merely glanced her way, terror rose in her being. She could sense his other peel away.

Panicked, she fled.