3. waking up

Days went by as little Aurora continued to grow until finally after eight months her consciousness woke up once more. Of course as a scientist and logical thinker she did not panic at her current situation. After all, as a renowned scientist and avid user of the scientific method how could she let herself panic? Right? 

‘Where am I? Why can’t I see anything?’ Disoriented, Aurora tried to move around.

‘Wait? Why can’t I move!? Calm down Aurora, think. The last thing I remember was giving the good to go for the experiment and then a bright flash and a lot of pain… am I dead? Of course not, how could I be thinking if I am dead! Not to mention I still have my sense of touch. I can feel a warm fluid around me so…’ 

As Aurora continued contemplating her situation she began hearing voices from an unknown place. 

“hey… have you… about baby… name?”

“yes… if boy… girl…” 

Aurora’s thoughts came to a halt. For starters she recognized the language spoken as japanese. She had never been more thankful for her addiction to Japanese culture as it was this that led her to learn the language. However, the more pressing matter was the topic of the conversation.  

‘Baby? What baby are they talking about? Is it me? No way, I am a full grown ass adult. I want no part in any of their kinky fetishes, hell no. Wait, let's not go there, judging people is bad. Maybe I happened to be nearby and overheard them. That however does not help with my situation. Could it be that I am going through some experimental medical procedure after the accident?’ 

Frustrated Aurora tried to scratch her head furiously like she would do in the past when a problem refused to be solved. Once again the attempt to move was met with failure as her body refused to move… properly that is. She felt how her arms flailed wildly before hitting something. That something felt warm and oddly flesh-like. 

“Looks… baby… woke… active” 

“... means… healthy… happy” 

Once again Aurora’s thoughts halted. The two voices began talking about how the baby was active just as she moved. To make matters even worse she felt a soft soothing pressure traveling through the walls of whatever held her. At that moment a thought creeped its way inside her mind. Could it be that she was actually a baby?

‘No fucking way! That 's absurd! How the fuck could I be a baby? How the fuck could I become a baby? That makes no sense! There must be an explanation! Grown women in their thirties don’t just become babies out of the blue!’ 

However, the more she thought about it the more it made sense. Leaving aside the how, the current situation alludes to that very conclusion. The evidence is there. 

‘Okay, let's assume that I did become a baby. The question is how? As for that, the only thing I can guess is that I somehow went back in time to before being born. However, that theory crumbles as soon as I take into consideration the language spoken. My parents never learnt japanese! Both of them were born in the UK and grew up there. There is no reason for them to speak Japanese!’ 

That's when a new thought or rather word popped in her mind like an intruder hellbent on robbing all of her attention. A simple word. A Japanese word. A word that has picked up traction in fantasy settings in recent years. The word is the dreaded isekai. 

‘I wasn’t run over by a truck though. Jokes aside and as implausible as it may sound it's the best guess I got. The facts are: I am a baby again, my new parents speak japanese. Now I know that's not a lot of evidence but in my situation it's kind of hard to acquire data. With that done now what? Am I supposed to wait for my birth? How long will that take!? If I am unfortunate enough it could be three months or more damit!’ 

Having nothing better to do, Aurora decided to meditate. She had never done so before, after all she was a very busy and energetic woman. What has changed is that as of now there is nothing else to do not to mention that if she has truly been isekai she might have some powers or some such. That was always the premise in the anime and manga she read. 

It made zero sense for her. Her logical thinking complained that what she was doing was nonsensical and a waste of time. However, her otaku heart disagreed with her. She opted to believe until proven otherwise and so she attempted to meditate. In anime meditation has always been about clearing the mind of all thoughts. She doubted that she could do that so instead she opted to concentrate on herself. 

Aurora concentrated on her senses or at least what little she could sense. The first thing to catch her attention was a soft constant beating, presumably her mothers heart. The sound was relaxing and helped her ease into a tranquil state of mind. Next she felt something she had never felt in her previous life. The closest description she could give was that of a warm tingly feeling flowing through her body and around her. 

Finding the new sensation interesting, Aurora concentrated on it. She began studying its flow, speed pattern and anything she could get. The feeling was complex in many ways. What she could tell was that the one that came from inside her felt dissimilar from the one outside. Somehow, she could tell that the one inside her would answer to her while the other wouldn’t. Perhaps, the second one would answer to her mother instead.  

Not having anything better to do, Aurora continued to analyze the feeling with such scrutiny only a scientist could muster.