I was born out of a brain in a jar at the very top shelf of a prestigious university. The most intact adult human brain harvested out of a dead man during Victorian times. Or at least so the plague under my little jar claimed. It's a real shame that the brain loses all its memories when it dies, otherwise I would have been born with a lifetime of useful memories. Of course, before I was more than a brain floating in liquid, there was the earthquake and during it I unfortunately fell out of my little jar and onto the floor behind the shelf.  

There I managed to gather quite a bit of dust and lose a few parts as some rats and bugs used me for sustenance. Luckily, even as they nibbled and clawed at me, I didn't feel a thing. Those must have been the smartest rats and bugs in all the world. They lived in a university and could listen to lectures for as long as they lived, and they didn't even have to pay for it. Then again, their lifespans are far shorter than ours and what a terrible and confusing thing it must have been, to be born, listen to a lesson you can't understand and then die before you can try to comprehend it. 

Eventually of course, I was found and cleaned up and they even found a body for me. The body of a young woman who died via something called suicide. Thats when a human decides they just can't wait to die and so they do it to themselves so they can die sooner. I don't know why someone would want that though. I was dead for centuries and lost all my memories and it was awfully boring, so I don't really get why this particular human was so eager to do it. As for why they used the body of a grown woman even though it would have been easier to use a baby, babies have very small heads. And I was a very large brain, even with some parts nibbled out. So, they cleaned her up, put me in, used some electricity and a bit of hope and dreams and I was born on October 16th.  

Apparently, the very first thing I did when I was born was seize and scream a scream scientists called: terrifying. Thats quite an accomplishment for someone who was just born, since scientists have heard and seen a lot of things. Though they later remarked that it was also something a newborn baby does, scream so they were interested to find out later why I screamed. Like it could tell them something about human existence. I screamed because I was happy, and I liked screaming. Maybe that's why babies do it too.  

Infact, I liked screaming so much I would never want to stop. It was so fun. That was the first lesson I learned. Screaming is almost never socially acceptable. Except when you are riding a rollercoaster or when you get really scared. Unfortunately, I cannot ride a rollercoaster because the scientists are scared it could mess with my very fragile body. I cannot get scared either. The rats must have bitten that part away. So, no more screaming for me. Which is a shame, because I was really good at it.  

The scientist that was with me the most out of all was one focused on human development called Doctor Brennan. He was slightly too thin, always wore a lab coat, had piercing green eyes and almost never spoke above a whisper. And despite being a literal doctor studying human development, he wasn't very good with people. But perhaps that's why he dedicated his entire life to study it. He was also the one that named me Lenore.     

Currently he was trying to brush the tangles and knots out of my long hair. Long hair was really fun in the way it would swish around, and you could play with it, but getting the tangles out of it after took forever. Thankfully Doctor Brennan had gotten pretty good at it, despite the fact that his own hair was much shorter. He also let me sit in front of a mirror and make faces while he did it, which was my second favorite thing to do. Just the human face has 43 different muscles, and you could so many different things with them. Sadly, mine weren't as refined and strong as a real human, so they tended to not always do what I wanted or droop awkwardly.  

“Lenore, how would you feel about having a friend?” He asked, stopping the brushing and making eye contact with me. That meant he really wanted me to listen to him and that he would do the same for me. “I already have friends.” I said, wistfully thinking back to all the amazing creatures and humans I had befriended during the few months I had been alive. I had gotten quite skillful at speaking too, though the tone and volume weren't always correct. That is really important in speaking too.  

“I meant a friend that was like you.” He added, putting away the brush and carefully observing my reaction. And what a reaction it was. As soon as those words registered in my rat nibbled brain, I was filled with so much excitement, my body struggled to contain it. I screamed with joy. I jumped up and down. I lost control of my body and seized on the floor for a few minutes. Once I finally calmed down and looked back at the doctor, his face was an odd mix of happiness and concern.  

“We just recently acquired another intact brain, this one from a woman. Our team was very excited since this one was even more intact than yours and was from a far newer time period. And we found the perfect body to put it into too. Everyone is very very eager to find out how the two of you might interact together. But you were a miracle, and we aren't certain we can just do it again. So, I don't want you to feel disappointed in case something goes wrong, alright Lenore?” As he explains this, he helps me back over to the chair in front of the mirror and strokes my hair affectionately.  

Despite his attempts to spend the next few hours dampening the fire of excitement that had spurred within me, I was already thinking about all the things I could teach and show them. Or him, since apparently the body they found belonged to a male. And this one had also committed suicide! Just how neat is that? We were like twins in that way. He was a female brain in a male body, and I was a male brain in a female body. And I couldn't wait to see him.