The seed nestles itself deep into the new body’s brain. It discharges a series of low-yield electrical shocks, each of which stimulates a flow of select neurotransmitters, creating a chemical bath for the seed to do its work. Immersed in the fluid, the seed extends thousands of nano-filaments, using them to interface with the various lobes of the brain. The filaments weave in an out of the folds – creating connections here, breaking others there – until it has created a complex neural network upon which its consciousness may arise.

The seed propagates then, shooting millions of nanites throughout the body, each riding a nerve fiber or blood vessel to a different destination, storing memories and experiences in the nerve and muscle fibers along the way. More filaments spring from these nanites at their destinations, connecting with the others. After a very long time — whole seconds — the propagation is complete, and the seed prepares itself.

Its eyes open, and it looks out onto this strange, new world.