Imago

Aaor wanders the forest and changes its form into an increasingly less complex organism. It develops fur, scales, and then bark, and finally transforms into a mollusk-like organism that can only survive in water. Aaor painfully makes its way home and is discovered by its siblings. Jodahs attempts to bring Aaor back to its original form by linking Aaor with itself and its human mates. Tomás and Jesusa find the experience repellent but understand that it may be the only way to help Aaor stabilize.

Aaor begins its second metamorphosis just as Jodahs completes its own. Endowed now with sensory hands, its reproductive organs, Jodahs connects to Jesusa’s nervous system and injects her with an ooloi substance. Jodahs gives her intense pleasure while accessing her genetic material with enhanced clarity. Jodahs detects the genetic sequence of her condition, her ova, and the fatal human contradiction of intelligence and hierarchical behavior that caused their first extinction. Jodahs repeats the experience with Tomás and collects his sperm. The experience finalizes their bond with each other. Both Jodahs and its mates will struggle if they are separated. Lilith describes the bond as a “literal, physical addiction” and compares the Oankali’s hunger to taste humans’ DNA to eating (154).

Tomás and Jesusa alternate turns with Jodahs as it links to Aaor’s body. Aaor struggles to maintain a complex form and wants to dissolve into individual cells. Without human mates, Aaor’s body is starving. Jodahs compares Aaor’s attempt at “dissolution” to dying by suicide. Jodahs is only able to stabilize Aaor temporarily and explains that Aaor will be exiled to the ship once it completes its metamorphosis. There, Aaor might find Oankali who can stabilize it or be allowed to dissolve.

Jesusa to let Aaor die. Jodahs resists calming Jesusa with its tentacles, understanding that she wants to feel her anger. Jesusa devises a plan to have Jodahs give the siblings back their previous condition so they can return to their village and convince a pair of humans to become Aaor’s mates. Tomás fears they will be killed, but Jesusa declares she is not fragile.

Tomás and Jesusa attempt to leave without Jodahs but discover that they cannot physically stand being apart from the ooloi. Ahajas blocks Jodahs from going after them and advises it to let them return on their own. The siblings have survived this long without Jodahs’s help. She contends that Jodahs should have told them about the bond, as now they will feel anxiety and not know why. Lilith tells Jodahs that the siblings will eventually forgive it but will forever distrust Lilith and Tino, their fellow humans, for withholding the truth. When the siblings return, Tomás is relieved, but Jesusa resents Jodahs and feels trapped and betrayed. Nevertheless, Jesusa continues with their plan to save Aaor’s life. To complicate their mission, Aaor must accompany them since its condition has worsened and it will not survive the separation.

Nikanj tells Jodahs that the family will return to Lo while they are away. Now that Jodahs has mates, it will no longer live with its family, as is Oankali custom. Nikanj gives Jodahs its genetic memories, and Jodahs inherits all the DNA that Nikanj has collected in its lifetime. Jodahs stores the flood of memories in its mature yashi.

Jesusa leads the group, scaling rocks to reach their former village in the mountains. Aaor is disgusted when Tomás and Jesusa kill and eat fish for sustenance. Aaor admonishes Jodahs for allowing them to kill animals, but Jodahs explains that humans need to continue their customs to feel autonomous. Aaor confides that it struggles to resist the urge to dissolve every day. As they near the village, Jesusa instructs Jodahs to give her and Tomás back their condition. They plan to find potential mates where lovers meet clandestinely. Jodahs can’t comprehend how humans can form temporary bonds. The next night, they are discovered.

Aaor and Jodahs hide as a group of guards confronts Tomás and Jesusa. Jesusa proves her identity to a guard by recalling a childhood memory that only he and she would know. They are taken to the village and imprisoned for questioning. The siblings have prepared a story that they were kidnapped and have finally escaped. Jodahs hopes that if they are convincing, the siblings will not be separated and questioned for long. Aaor wants to go after them, but Jodahs advises it to wait. Aaor fears that if they wait too long, they will not have enough control over their bodies and may be forced to kill.

Aaor and Jodahs discover a settlement house on the outskirts of the village and detect three humans. Aaor fixates on a pair in a cabin, and Jodahs finds the third human dwelling in a cave. The man does not have tumors but has a condition that gives him baldness, scaly skin, and a short stature. Jodahs notices that he has been beaten and offers to heal the man’s skin and grow back his hair. Jodahs invites him to join the Oankali when they leave the village. The man asks if ooloi are both male and female in one body, and Jodahs explains that it is neither. The man allows Jodahs to work on him during the night. Jodahs does not drug the man as Oankali typically do and detects his longing to be touched. Humans are intolerant to difference, and Jodahs marvels at how quickly the man is willing to leave his home and follow Jodahs.

Jodahs and the man, Santos, join Aaor in the cabin. Aaor is content and stabilized, having found willing human mates in the couple Javier and Paz. Santos says they should be afraid of the Oankali—they have been taught the aliens are evil. Although he consents to leaving with Jodahs, he remains suspicious. Paz no longer wants to stay in the village and give birth to children who will die. Javier and Paz show Jodahs where Tomás and Jesusa are imprisoned. Jodahs is determined to sneak into the village and rescue them.