It was a quiet early morning in the mess hall of the starship Pioneer. The shift change was still a few hours away, and yet, a few crew members were having their breakfast already. One of these early birds was a young rabbit technician, Ray Jackson, enjoying his bowl of milk and cornflakes whilst looking at space rushing by outside. But on closer look, he was not an ordinary rabbit; his clothing obscured the fact that he had no arms, legs or a neck, and the rest of his body parts were floating. All of it was seemingly held together by a system of tethers, connected to gloves and a headband. And yet, even though his limbs were absent, his clothing seemed to form his arms and legs, as if some ghostly power willed them into that shape. Ray loved getting out early for his shift, as he could eat his breakfast without being disturbed. But today, things would go a bit differently...

Another figure approached Ray's table. She looked like a cheetah, with the same condition of floating limbs as Ray had, but unlike Ray, she had chosen to wear a uniform that highlighted this unusual feature of hers: her uniform had no neck hole, and no sleeves, the shoulders covered with a pair of patches. Her short skirt made it apparent that her torso was floating above a pair of feet, that seemed to float from one step to the next. She held a tray with several sandwiches with synthetic meat in her floating hands. Ray hadn't seen her coming, so she raised her voice.
"Mind if I join you, RJ?" she asked him.
Ray was startled, quickly turning his floating head to face her. "Oh, Chintaka, please. I ummm... I didn't expect you to be here this early."
"Me neither. But I couldn't sleep," Chintaka sat down at the table, and started to eat her sandwiches. "Don't know why, but my mind didn't seem to come to a rest."
"I've not been sleeping that well lately either. I've been rudely awakened sometimes by my head rolling away and onto the floor."
"Ow!"
"Yeah, it's not nice. How do you prevent that from happening?"
"You don't put your head aside on a head-pillow?"
Ray raised his eyebrow. "What? Putting your head aside?"
"Oh, you silly," Chintaka chuckled. "You think too much like a Terran and not like the Raelon you are."
"Well, technically I'm both. I'm only half-Raelon."
"But it's that half that makes you awesome," Chintaka smiled at him.
"You think so? I has been more trouble than good for me."
"The floating limb thing? How can that be trouble?"
"Well, you wouldn't know, because you've never been bullied by other kids who pull you apart."
"Is that why you're always wearing tethers? Because you fear falling apart?"
"Yeah. I just wish I had solid limbs like everyone else. Then I wouldn't have such problems. I just don't understand how you Raelons don't seem to worry about this at all."
"Oh, that's your Terran brain speaking again. Having solid limbs is so restrictive," she stood up and seemed to walk through the table, her torso floating above it, and sat down right next to him at the other side of the table. "You wouldn't be able to do things like this, would you."
"No... I guess not."
"Say, why don't you wear a Raelon-fit uniform. You don't need those sleeves and trousers."
Ray sighed. "These sleeves make me feel more normal. Something you may never understand as someone born on Raela."
"Hey, don't say never. I've already learned a lot from the few years I've lived on Earth. But you, fellow Raelon, you've got a lot to learn about our Raelon ways, and I think it may help you accept that part of you better."
"What are you proposing?"
"Well, first we have to make you feel more comfortable with the idea of your floating limbs. Let's head to the gym after breakfast. I'll show you how."
The two finished their meals, with Ray having no idea what Chintaka was talking about. But he saw a grin on her face that made him a bit nervous about what she had been planning...

The two of them entered the gym. Ray had no idea why she had suggested to go here, and the gym was empty at this time of the day.
"What are we doing here," he asked her.
"Well, if you truly want to be a Raelon, you have to embrace the freedom your body gives you," Chintaka replied, as she put her hands next to her head, and lifted it up high. "I'm not as free to move as within Raela's magic field, but still more free that most people. Now, for you, as a start, you have to remove your tethers."
"Remove my tethers?"
"Yeah. When was the last time you walked around without your tethers?"
"Ummm... that must be back on Earth... but that was months ago...
"And all this time you tied yourself down? Good gracious, how can you live like this? Just untie your limbs for a day, no?" she saw Ray raise his eyebrow. "Hey, see it as a challenge. Trust me, it feels good."
"Well, I have to get undressed first before I can remove my torso harness..."
"So? There's no one else around here."
Ray hesitad. This was a bit intimate for him to undress in front of a commanding officer.
"Hey, this will be our little secret, OK? I'll turn away if you insist."
"I'd prefer that, please."
She did as Ray wanted, and Ray started to unclip his uniform, and opened it up, and he dropped his trousers to the floor. Now his bean-shaped torso was visible, floating in mid-air inside a harness with elastic ropes that linked up all his other body parts. He untied his headband and put off his gloves, which hung now limp besides his harness, before he removed his harness alltogether, his floating torso only wearing underwear now. Putting his uniform back on went quicker; he picked up his trousers from the ground, and pulled it up to his waist, and he put on his uniform top with ease, putting his shoulder clip and belt back on. Finally, his limp hanging sleeves suddenly gained volume as his phantom limbs formed.
"You can look now," he said to Chintaka.
She turned around, snickering at the clearly not very comfortable Raelon rabbit. "Ummm... how does it feel for you?"
"I feel... loose, if you know what I mean," he replied. He stretched out his left hand, feeling that it could reach half a meter further than it normally could. "This feels like it shouldn't be possible."
"Nor should this," Chintaka put a hand on his hand and made it spin.
"AAAAAAAH STOP THAT!" he put his own hand on his hand to stop it from spinning. "Please ask next time, would you?" he growled, somewhat dizzy.
"Sorry. But hey, you should try this out for a little longer to get used to it. There are several things you can do now that wouldn't be possible with tethers."
"Such as?"
"Well," she picked up a plate, and put it in between his hand and his phantom arm, "your arms only exist aetherially. But your hands and feet don't mind if there's anything between them and the body. Try to move your hand. See that the plate doesn't prevent you from doing that."
Ray moved his fingers. Then he tried to move his hand up and down, and it obeyed his will, as if the plate wasn't even there.
"This feels so weird!"
"Your Terran brain tells you that. You should really start to think more like a Raelon. You know what, shall we make this a weekly thing?"
"Ummmm, yeah. Which day, though?"
"Every Tuesday?"
"Deal."
Chintaka smiled. "I'm looking forward seeing you. And just try this for the rest of the day, promise?"
"I ... I promise," he said with a bit of hessitation. He still wasn't comfortable with it, fearing he may fall apart if the ship experienced a shock. But Chintaka saw a start, to connect Ray with the Raelon heritage he had been denying. Perhaps one day, he would be fully embracing it like her...

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A fun short story to accompany a commission drawn by  Bean-Muffin . Man, I gotta use RJ more!
Check out the original upload here!