"'Aurora…mother…what do you have to tell me, love,' Laila intoned sweetly, mentally, to the loving presence infusing her body with a sense of peace and ease. The presence flowered from her chest outward, as her body made room for the energy, her shoulders rolling back, chest opening, arms rotating out from shoulder to elbow and then in from elbow to hand, hands feeling aware and alive, energy surging outward from a point in the center of each hand. Laila’s spine came to life, an enormous antenna, alert to the energy of the world. Her torso lifted slightly, enjoying a sense of suspension, as her pelvis tucked slightly, her abdomen engaging, her legs enjoying a sense of streaming easefully down from her torso, knees facing forward, arches lifted, energy surging downward through her feet, toes spreading, melting into the ground. Lastly, Laila’s skull started to float softly on her atlas vertebra, moving ever so slightly from side to side, energy shooting upward from her spine, through her brain stem and brain, cascading through her body’s physical and energetic systems, looping and circuiting, and then exiting through the crown of her head. Laila was connected, and she felt orgasmic and alive, rippling with pleasure, skin aware of the slightest gust of wind or change in temperature, as she merged with Aurora, the Source. Nothing was as good as this. Nothing."

—excerpt from Planet Femme, a forthcoming serialized novel and performance/film series, 2017

TWIX:

Your ship — you said she's a she?

LAILA:

Yeah. And she's pregnant.

TWIX:

What?

LAILA:

I know! It's super exciting. And very new, too—we've only had a couple of births since the start of the program.

TWIX:

Your ships give birth?

LAILA:

Some of them do. Depends what hardware they've got. And also, whether they want to be pregnant—we would never force a ship to be pregnant.

TWIX:

But are they...alive?

LAILA:

Oh yes, very much so. A little too alive sometimes if you ask me.