Explanations

Once Tom recovered his ability to speak, he said, “I thought they told me you were the first person to participate in the nanotech experiment. How did you two…?”

“I mean, technically, sure,” Tally said. She gestured between herself and Marissa. “We were both students at the university. I was assigned to work on the nanobot project as part of my doctorate. I was in the middle of some delicate work on the bots when I… sneezed.”

All three of them laughed nervously at the same time. Marissa then said, “Sorry, I try not to have more than one body together in public at a time because it can get… kinda weird.”

“Anyway,” Tally continued, without skipping a beat, “I just thought I had ruined what I was working on until Marissa and I, well, we kissed. It turns out you can, um, spread them through bodily fluids.”

Tom looked back to Lisa, his panic returning. “But we… There were fluids!”

She laughed. “Don’t worry. Since then I’ve figured out how to control it. I can still spread them to someone else that way if I want to, but I don’t have to.”

“Look,” said Marissa, “you meant a lot to Lisa, and we’ve been… well, doing a lot of thinking, ever since Lisa became part of me. I’d still like you to be my boyfriend, if it’s OK with you. Our boyfriend.”

Tom said nothing at first.

“It’s a lot, I know,” Lisa said. “But we’re all the same person. And the part of me that knows how much I love you is big enough that all the parts of me have agreed.”

“I love you,” said Tally, with feeling.

“I mean, we just met,” Tom replied.

“No, I’m still me,” said Lisa. “We all are. I’m trying to explain.”

Tom continued to think about this. Finally, he said, “I’m just going to ask, is it one of you that was into anal?”

Marissa raised her hand sheepishly. “Guilty. So you see, that was me in bed with you last night, too. Which body I’m in doesn’t matter so much.”

She got to her feet, and so did the other two. She slowly walked over to Tom, a tent starting to show in his boxers. “If you want, I can show you.”

“With all of my bodies,” put in Tally.

Tom gulped.