Celia: Introduction Story

     You are Myocelia- once a tiny cell indistinguishable to the human eye, now a palm-sized roving mass of crimson-red jelly slowly making its way along a riverbank in search of the source of decaying matter you sensed from a distance away.

     Cold water lapping at your edges, you finally come across it- your soon-to-be disguise, a human body washed up on the pebbly shores of this river.

     Although it would have made little difference as to whether you’d begin to inoculate this body, it seems to have been under some stress-- a few broken bones, bruises spanning the body back and forth, and an opening in the skull seemingly caused by blunt force.

     Days pass. In this time, you become a hundredfold your original size- by consuming the flesh within that body washed up on shore, your mass replaced that which originally laid within. Muscle, organs, bones-- no more. Now, you are Myocelia made myocelia.

     With newfound strength, you lift yourself from the shallow water at river’s edge, feeling the light breeze passing by your lace, and the sun’s gentle warmth reaching your eyes.

     For the first time ever, a thought passes into your consciousness: follow the trail of humanity to civilization. You are drawn to a scent coming from upstream, and so you begin your journey.

     After clambering beyond brush and boulder, you emerge from the wilderness and arrive at a bridge that overlooks a river. Both ends of the bridge lead into a road, either of which you could follow, but an instinct in the back of your mind tells you that humans won’t take well to the sight of a person covered in dirt and pieces of sticks and leaves, wearing only a tattered white underdress torn nearly to pieces by thorns and branches.

     In this moment, you notice a red overall dress hanging over the railing of the bridge. Unusual, certainly, but as you lift the dress from its place and inspect it, a tag sewn into the back of the dress catches your attention. It is worn, with some thread pulled from its place, but a few letters which you instinctively recognize appear to read the name ‘Celia’.

     An identity which you could cling to for safety, perhaps. At the very least, the overall dress might provide some protection from suspicion as you make your way towards humanity.