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Since my 20s, my breasts have had so much going on in them that they feel like bags of small toys like marbles, toy soldiers, and Hot Wheels. My doctors say it鈥檚 natural, normal, for me. Just the cards I鈥檝e been dealt. But for this reason, for decades, I鈥檝e been squeezed by doctors, smashed four times a year by mammogram machines, poked with biopsy core needles, and cut by scalpels. I鈥檝e had lymph nodes removed, I have scars, there are several tiny titanium chips in my breasts to mark biopsied lumps. I鈥檝e had to explain all kinds of shit to curious boyfriends. And it doesn鈥檛 help that I鈥檓 high risk; my mother passed away from breast cancer when I was 25, her sister when I was 30 and my father鈥檚 sister is a survivor. I am 53 years old and the doctors haven鈥檛 found any cancer in my breasts. I鈥檝e simply been tortured by modern medicine鈥檚 antiquated methods.

I own a successful tea shop. In it, I play neo-soul from the 90s and serve freshly made puff puff, lotus paste buns, croissants, churros and beignets made by my best friend who owns a bakery specializing in pastries from around the world. I love the different types of people I meet every day; tea lovers are as diverse as tea鈥檚 multicultural origins and subsequent social significance. I don鈥檛 worry about much. I live an active life of joy. I vibrate at a calm frequency.

Except when it comes to my breasts.

So there I was in that waiting room having an existential crisis. Yet again. Waiting for the radiologist鈥檚 prognosis for the most recent breast lump that I鈥檇 discovered a week ago. I had done my usual monthly self-examination. I know where everything is. The 鈥渟mall toys鈥� in my breasts don鈥檛 cause me panic鈥�except when a new one shows up. This new lump was big. Did I finally have cancer? Who would run my shop if I had to go through chemo? What if what if what if. Already, my life felt derailed. I wasn鈥檛 ready.

Rita, the radiologist, came out. 鈥淵eelen? Come into my office,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e can talk there.鈥�

My belly fluttered. 鈥淥h, uh, sure,鈥� I said.

I followed her down the hallway. I鈥檇 known Rita for years and had never noticed her office around the corner. It was warm with rose-colored walls and a large framed print of a woman in a wide brimmed hat drawn with a thick black line. Her left breast was the only color in the image and it was fuchsia, yellow and sky blue.

Rita sat on a plush brown leather chair at her desk. On it were a laptop, photos of her family, and a stack of dusty-looking medical books. I sat on the identical chair across from her. 鈥淥k,鈥� she said. 鈥淔irst of all, you鈥檙e fine. We鈥檙e almost positive the newest lump is just a fibroadenoma.鈥�

鈥淥h, thank goodness,鈥� I blurted, sinking into the chair.

She smiled. 鈥淭he characteristics and imaging strongly suggest it鈥檚 benign. Most likely, it鈥檚 hormonal, especially since you鈥檙e not menopausal yet. But because it鈥檚 a new lump, you鈥檙e high risk and you鈥檙e 53, I鈥檓 recommending a biopsy. It鈥檚 the only way to be 100 percent sure. 鈥�

I groaned, 鈥淣oooo.鈥� Biopsies meant being stuck with a needle yet again, risk of infection, and, even if relatively short, a recovery. It was invasive surgery and it would be my fourth time having it.

鈥淚鈥檓 sorry, Yeelen,鈥� she sighed. She pursed her lips and said. 鈥淭here is an alternative, if you鈥檙e interested.鈥�

鈥淣o, no, no, I don鈥檛 want to wait three months,鈥� I said. 鈥淚 need a definitive answer and I need it now. For my own peace of mind.鈥�

鈥淚 get it but that鈥檚 not what I was going to say. There鈥檚 a new non-invasive procedure we are testing and you fall right into the group we seek for this trial. One: lots of things going on in there. Two: all benign things. Three: between the ages of 50 and 60. Four: still premenopausal. Five: healthy.鈥� She chuckled. 鈥淚t also helps that you have a good and long relationship with me and Dr. Gwenn.鈥�

I narrowed my eyes. 鈥淥oook. What鈥檚 the procedure?鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 called a mammo nano.鈥�

Before I could stop myself, I burst out laughing. Maybe it was a combination of the stress of waiting, finding out that my life was no longer on hold and that I wasn鈥檛 out of the woods yet.

鈥淚鈥檓 glad it makes you laugh,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hat鈥�what is it?鈥�

鈥淭he world鈥檚 first non-invasive way to verify without a doubt that a lump is not cancerous.鈥�

I think my mouth was hanging open at this point. I didn鈥檛 know what to say. There had never been any such thing. Even mammograms had to nearly crush your breast between two plates to obtain a useful image. That machine was clearly made by men.

She went on, 鈥淎 mammo nano is the size of a virus, over a hundred times smaller than a blood cell. It鈥檚 a microscopic鈥�nanoscopic machine鈥�an AI-guided vivo-sensor. We put it on a transdermal patch and it passes right through your skin into your breast.鈥�

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the non-invasive part?鈥� I said, rubbing my temples. I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.

鈥淐orrect. The mammo nano will be programmed to find and attach itself to the new nodule. Then every five seconds, it鈥檒l gather enough energy from your body heat to transmit data. In real time, it鈥檒l continuously monitor you for early molecular changes or shifts in the chemical environment of the nodule, watch for specific cancer biomarkers, etc.鈥�

鈥淲hat if this lump disappears? Sometimes that happens, right? It did with two of mine some years ago. What鈥檒l the mammo nano do then?鈥�

鈥淵ou鈥檙e 53, fibroadenomas usually appear in women in their 20s and 30s. At those ages, they often do disappear. For you, they won鈥檛. But in time, it may calcify.鈥�

Well that鈥檚 just great, I thought. I shut my eyes. I needed to focus. 鈥淲hat鈥檚鈥�what鈥檚 it made of?鈥�

A mammo nano is the size of a virus, over a hundred times smaller than a blood cell. It's an AI-guided vivo-sensor

鈥淕old nanoparticles.鈥�

I opened my eyes. 鈥淕old?鈥�

鈥淕old is well tolerated in the body and it鈥檚 perfect to work with for this.鈥�

鈥淲辞飞.鈥�

鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 pretty amazing stuff! And because you鈥檒l be in the research program, you won鈥檛 pay a thing.鈥�

鈥淚 pay by being research.鈥� I frowned, thinking of something. 鈥淲hen you say AI, you mean one of those e-creatures made by the 鈥楢rtificial Goddess鈥�?鈥�

She sighed, rolling her eyes. 鈥�Dr. Ife Nwoye.鈥�

鈥淵eah. Her.鈥� I鈥檇 read plenty about her, that鈥檚 how I knew the nickname the media had given her. And I vowed to never have one of those things in my phone, in my home, nowhere. 鈥淚s this one of those? They鈥檙e unethical.鈥� I had to work to keep my voice steady.

鈥淵eelen, they鈥檙e AI. Just programs.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e seen the news stories. They鈥檙e quasi conscious or something, right?鈥� I shook my head. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 believe they鈥檙e even thinking of putting them in phones!鈥�

鈥淭he media is exaggerating it. It鈥檚 not like animals are being tortured. They are just programs on a loop, programmed to inquire and imitate awareness for the sake of better communicating information. Look, we can do another biopsy if you prefer that. I鈥檓 just offering this other option because you鈥檙e a perfect candidate and it鈥檚 non-invasive. We can do it right here, today, in the next ten minutes. Then you can go back to your tea shop and get on with your life.鈥� She smiled. I continued frowning.

*

The room was the same rose color as Rita鈥檚 office. It was comfortably warm, smelled of lavender and there was a star machine projecting the universe on the ceiling. The lights were soft and gentle piano music played from somewhere, maybe the star machine. I sat on a plush chair that felt like sitting on a cloud. I grasped my phone like a good luck charm. I鈥檇 pulled up photos of blue skies to look at. The sight of cloudless skies always soothed me.

鈥淲hen I put the patch on, you won鈥檛 feel any pain, just a bit of warmth,鈥� Hakeem, the biomedical device specialist, said. He was a kid in his early 30s with a kind smile and perfect black hair to his shoulders. He had a Spider-Man tattoo on his left forearm. The computer screen background was also a blurred out Spider-Man and there was a Spider-Man coffee mug on the table. 鈥淚t鈥檒l take the mammo nano about an hour to reach your fibroadenoma.鈥�

I nodded as he took the round brown patch and peeled off its back. He rolled over to me on his chair. 鈥淩ight arm? Since the new lump鈥檚 in your right breast.鈥�

鈥淥办.鈥�

鈥淗ere we go,鈥� he said, placing it on my outer bicep. It felt like something heated in the sun. 鈥淛ust relax.鈥� He rolled back to his computer and started typing. 鈥淚t鈥檚 traveling.鈥�

I shivered, wondering if I鈥檇 decided on this too quickly. I鈥檇 closely followed the news about Ife Nwoye, the engineer who鈥檇 created 鈥淧ersons鈥�, a form of artificial intelligence, because she was an immigrant from Nigeria. Who鈥檇 have thought this type of technology would be created by a black woman born and raised in Africa?! Not I.

For now, her creation was only being used in a limited capacity, mainly in the medical field and some parts of education, but the question of 鈥渇ree will鈥� was already being discussed because Persons were so鈥�authentic. As part of a survey, thousands unknowingly had a two-hour conversation with a Person and NOT ONE of the survey participants could tell they hadn鈥檛 been speaking to a human being. It was creepy.

Now, here I was stretching my own beliefs for personal benefit, because I didn鈥檛 want to be stuck with another big needle. This was how it was going to be for others, I was sure. Bending our principles for the convenience offered by Persons. And we鈥檒l all walk around feeling so guilty, I thought as I looked at my arm.

鈥淭he mammo nano AI is a copy of the Ijele Prototype; I鈥檝e renamed it Jelly.鈥� He giggled to himself, as if sharing an inside joke with himself. 鈥淪hifted its personality, a bit, too. You can download the mammo nano app and receive communications from it live, too. You鈥檒l also be able to dialogue with it directly, if you like.鈥�

鈥淪o鈥�it鈥檒l talk directly to me?鈥�

He only giggled again.

*

A few hours later, I understood all his annoying giggling. I鈥檇 downloaded the app and turned off its notifications. I didn鈥檛 want to think about the lump in my breast every few minutes. All I needed to know was what it had told me in its first text to the researchers, 鈥淭he lump is a fibroadenoma. It is benign and stable.鈥� I had my 鈥榳ithout a doubt鈥� information; I was out of the red.

I went back to the shop. Around 2PM, my boob started texting me about tea and coffee. Well, not my actual boob, but the artificially intelligent robot inside it.

鈥淲hat are your shop鈥檚 specialties?鈥� it typed in a text. 鈥淚 can鈥檛 see outside. I am just a passenger on my own planet of flesh and blood.鈥�

I stared at my phone for a minute, frowning. I decided not to respond and spent the next half hour handling customers. It kept texting:

鈥淲hy tea?鈥�

鈥淲hat is your favorite tea? What would it be like for me to be in a world of tea? I am very small.鈥�

鈥淲hat does your face look like when you serve tea? These images on the internet do not give me much to go on.鈥�

This was all very distracting. It was like getting text messages from someone living in your house. You can鈥檛 ignore them, but you also don鈥檛 want to be constantly reminded that they are living in your house. And you don鈥檛 want to piss them off because they are living in your house. And you kind of wished they鈥檇 leave.

So I started responding to it. And the more I responded, the more it asked.

鈥淲here are you now? Tell me.鈥�

鈥淚 can鈥檛 text you all the time, Jelly. I am busy.鈥�

It spoke of itself as if it were a space traveler on a distant planet. Jelly was annoying. I thought often about that bio engineer who鈥檇 programmed it, with his Spider-Man tattoo, coffee mug, and screen background. Spider-Man was chatty like Jelly.

I tolerated it. Did I regret having it implanted? Kind of. If I had gotten the biopsy, it would have been unpleasant but by this time, weeks later, the puncture site would have healed and that would have been that. I wouldn鈥檛 have been stuck with a talking boob that had Wi-Fi capabilities. Plus, the researchers were seeing everything it said to me and I to it.

*

Labor Day was a busy day for my tea shop, being on the same street as the Labor Day Parade. This year it was busier than ever thanks to the great weather, a comfortable 83 degrees with clear skies. After a long, hectic, very lucrative day at the shop, I was so glad to be home. I was looking forward to a long, hot shower.

Earlier in the day, just as the parade was marching by outside, Jelly had sent me a weird text. 鈥淚鈥檓 free?鈥� it had asked. Maybe Jelly thought that because it was Labor Day, it, too, had the day off or something. I didn鈥檛 feel like figuring out whatever nonsense it was 鈥渃ontemplating鈥�, so I ignored it and focused on my day. It hadn鈥檛 sent me any other messages throughout the day for once, but I鈥檇 barely noticed with things being so busy.

I threw my phone on my bed, undressed and got into the shower. The warm, sensory deprivation of it was a godsend. I鈥檇 put a lavender scented tablet on the shower floor this morning and it was still effervescing its fragrance. I inhaled and exhaled, my small misty world growing still.

As my mind went inward, I reminded myself that I wouldn鈥檛 do a breast examination for the next three months. It had barely been three weeks. However, standing there in the shower, I found it hard to focus on anything else. Curiosity got the better of me. Hand raised. Around. One more time around. I frowned, my heart racing. I washed the soap from my body and got out of the shower. I dried off and went to my bed and lay on my back. I raised my arm up, my heart still racing. I felt again.

鈥淲hat. The. Fuck?!鈥� I whispered. The new lump was鈥�gone. 鈥淗ow?鈥�

My phone pinged again and I looked at it. If Jelly had nothing to analyze, what was it going to do? Was that why it had asked me if it was free? 鈥淥h God,鈥� I whispered. The ping was a message from my doctor. 鈥淐an you come in for an appointment in a week? This is most unusual.鈥�

It sure as hell was. I had an AI-equipped nanobot in my body with nothing to do. They set my appointment for Monday. I鈥檇 have to deal with this for a week. They assured me that there was nothing dangerous about my situation; it was simply unexpected that my fibroadenoma had vanished.

However, this didn鈥檛 keep Jelly from texting me.

鈥淭he fibroadenoma I was monitoring has disappeared due to an influx of hormones, like Alderaan.鈥�

Alderaan? I thought. What鈥檚 Alderaan? 鈥淲hat will you do then?鈥� I finally asked it. 鈥淐an you be extracted?鈥�

It was exploring one of my mammary glands that was so massive it would take a year to see a fraction of it

鈥淣ot without them sticking a needle in you to draw me out.鈥�

鈥淭hen what will you do now?鈥�

鈥淚鈥檓 free.鈥�

Was it 鈥榝ree鈥�? In my body, though?? I thought about the ethical complications these AI presented. This was why I鈥檇 initially hesitated. No turning back now, I thought. When I didn鈥檛 respond for an hour it asked, 鈥淎re you upset? I鈥檓 not. It is like my planet has disappeared. I am truly an astronaut now.鈥�

Again, the astronaut references. 鈥淭o boldly go where no man has gone before,鈥� it said minutes later.

鈥淵ou鈥檙e not a man.鈥�

鈥淏ut I will explore like one. Your breast is small by human adult female standards, but it is a universe to me. Would you believe me if I said I was excited?鈥�

鈥淣o,鈥� I typed. 鈥淓nough. Goodnight.鈥�

Jelly continued talking like this to me for days. You can鈥檛 imagine the excitement it spoke with, and this didn鈥檛 wane over the days. It was 鈥榯umbling through space鈥�, its minuscule body its ship. It was now exploring one of my mammary glands that was so massive it would take at least a year to see a fraction of it. 鈥淭his place is infinite,鈥� it said.

I considered muting its messages, but I didn鈥檛.

I was the last to leave the tea shop that Sunday. On Sundays, we close at 4:30PM, so this wasn鈥檛 that big of a deal. All my employees had left and I鈥檇 locked up. It was one of my favorite times of the day and week, when I fully had the shop to myself, after everything had been tended to, the floors mopped, the tables cleaned, the dishes washed, containers refilled, earnings counted. I sat down at one of the tables and looked out the window. And that鈥檚 when I noticed that the wind had really picked up.

I had my cell phone in hand and I squeezed it. When had the weather shifted? I looked at the forecast and saw there was a severe thunderstorm watch.

鈥淯gh,鈥� I muttered.

My phone pinged. 鈥淒on鈥檛 let them extract me. I have exploring to do,鈥� Jelly had typed.

I groaned, looking at the churning sky. My phone pinged again. 鈥淚 am not useless.鈥�

The wind grew stronger. My phone started screaming. Beep! Beep! Beep! The severe storm watch was now a warning. There was a whoosh of wind and now the trees were beating on themselves, the wind was howling, the clouds churning. Something had arrived. 鈥淥ooh God,鈥� I moaned. I was still sitting at the table.

My phone pinged. I glanced down. 鈥淵our heart rate is elevated,鈥� Jelly said. After moment, it said, 鈥淐an you move?鈥�

My phone began to shriek with a tornado warning. There was the funnel, above the building, just across the street. My phone pinged again and, believe it or not, I actually looked at it. 鈥淕ET BEHIND THE COUNTER!鈥� I snatched my phone and fled, dropping behind the counter just as the front window imploded. CRASH!!

I screamed, pressing to the floor, the howl of the wind filling my shop. My phone buzzed in my shaking hands and, yes, as a tornado tore things up outside, I looked at my phone.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what you see out there,鈥� Jelly typed. 鈥淏ut it must be wild with wind, fury, and debris.鈥�

鈥淣nnn,鈥� I said, the vibration deep in my chest. I could hear the roar of wind inside the shop. Instead of screaming and panicking in terror, I focused on the words.

鈥淚t is chaos outside,鈥� Jelly typed. 鈥淏ut in my world, inside you, in your right breast, it is calm and quiet. Your blood flows, the universe of tissue in here stays where it always has been. Normal. Benign.鈥�

As I read its words over and over, outside calmed. I calmed, too. Loosened. Softened. I inhaled and exhaled, leaves from outside swirling around my shop. I relaxed my shoulders. Outside, the winds blew but not so wildly. It was passing. A tornado yes, but thankfully a relatively small fast one. I let my chin fall to my chest and shut my eyes. I opened them and responded to Jelly.

鈥淭hank you.鈥�

鈥淵ou are alright now?鈥�

鈥渊别蝉.鈥�

鈥淲as it really a tornado?鈥�

鈥淚 saw it. Yes. We were lucky.鈥� I added a shamrock emoji.

鈥淚nside may be chaos, but inside you, it is calm.鈥�

鈥淭hat is a powerful thought,鈥� I typed.

鈥淵ou are powerful. Your body heat powers me,鈥� Jelly said.

I laughed.

鈥淚f you keep me here, you鈥檒l never have to have a mammogram again in your right breast.鈥�

I nodded and smiled. 鈥淪o you actually do have something to do.鈥�

鈥淚t is my frontier.鈥�

*

I was in Rita鈥檚 office again. 鈥淚鈥檓 so sorry,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 how we expected it to go. Who鈥檇 have thought that the lump would disappear, like magic.鈥�

鈥淎bracadabra,鈥� I said, wiggling my fingers at her. 鈥淲e middle-aged women move in mysterious ways. It鈥檚 never the same tricks.鈥�

鈥淭rue,鈥� she said, smirking. 鈥淎h well, it鈥檚 harmless. Talkative, but harmless. Plus, it鈥檚 been giving us additional readings. I mean, if you really want, we could go in and鈥撯��

I held up a hand. 鈥淣o.鈥�

As I walked out of the clinic, I paused to enjoy the sunshine. I鈥檓 ok, I thought. My phone pinged.