Metempsychotic : a novella

Abstract

This novella is the story of a young woman, Sakura "Cherry" Ogata, who is inhabited by an alien construct, "Nephesh." The motives of the alien are not explicitly malevolent and Cherry's experience leads her to believe that they are benign. A significant portion of the story examines how Cherry and Nephesh learn to live with one another. In the larger sense, the alien has no motives, either benign or malevolent. In some circumstances, it simply acts in the way it must. This leads to the story's conclusion, which purposefully leaves many unanswered questions. Cherry cannot truly understand the alien, and the reader is left wondering about her fate and the fate of humanity.