Imago

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of suicide, incest, and rape.

Eager to be with the humans, Jodahs joins the siblings one evening as they sleep. Its body has transformed to have brown skin and black hair, resembling what Tomás would look like without his tumors. Tomás is willing to have Jodahs heal him, and Jodahs puts him into a sedated sleep. Jesusa wakes up alarmed and shoots Jodahs with a gun. She watches as Jodahs heals itself before her eyes. Jodahs’s scent and new appearance calm her. She tells Jodahs that they don’t want its healing, but Jodahs explains that Oankali are compelled to explore new lifeforms and remove harmful genetic conditions.

Jodahs links its tentacles to Jesusa’s nervous system, easing her anxiety and allowing her to feel her own body by touching Jodahs’s. The sensation arouses her, and Jesusa tells Jodahs to continue touching her. Jodahs tells her about the Mars colony, and Jesusa argues that humans are not property and should be left alone. She refuses to tell Jodahs where her village is, but the Oankali will find them and quickly gas and subdue them to avoid any deaths. Convinced that Jesusa must know the entire truth, Jodahs reveals that the Oankali villages are actually giant living ships.