Why is there only one body... Why is there only one body? Like an broken record player, those thoughts kept repeating inside Max's head. His brain could not process what his eyes were showing. Lying against the firm mattress was his younger brother's body, only clothed in boxers. His own head was attached to this body, but Kenneth was also still attached to his body. It appeared as though his brother's torso had a growth spurt, but they grew outward, making them wider. Kenneth's shoulders were wide enough to support not only his head, but Max's as well. Max head seemed to be slightly off-center on the right, and surprisingly, his brother's head seemed to be shifted towards the left, of his own body. "What the fuck?!" Max exclaimed when he found his voice.
"Language Max..." His mother scolded him. "I know it may be a bit of a shock, but you mustn't let your emotions get the better of you."
Max wanted to scream at his mother, but in spite of his anger and surprise, he repeated himself with less vulgar words. "What the heck? You made me one of your science experiments."
"Us..." Kenneth spoke up beside him.
"What?" Max turned to face his brother, his face was just an inch or so away. His brother did not seem surprised to be sharing a body, but he also did not seem to keen on repeating himself given Max's reaction.
"Please calm down son." His father's remained even. "You should not get so excited after such an extensive surgery."
Max glanced down at his brother's body again, the same body his head was attached to now. He did not see any signs of surgery. There did not appear to be any scar tissue or stitches, like he would have expected. He placed his hand where his neck met his brother's body, but he only felt his neck seamlessly join the body.
As if his father could read his mind, he spoke, "You must be wondering why there is no stitches..."
Max clenched his jaw. Why there were no stitches was one of many things he was wondering about, like his parents' sanity.
"It is part of the regenerative treatment I developed with your mother's research. Essentially, it quickens and improves the healing process to the point where stitches are not needed to close an open wound and scars will not form. I don't want to toot my own horn, but it is rather genius, no?"
"It is dear." His mother smiled at his father. Turning to speak to Max and Kenneth, she said, "So, the two of you will have no blemishes from the surgeries."
"How many surgeries did you do?" Kenneth questioned.
Max was surprised to hear Kenneth speak up, seemingly confused about the statement. He turned to glance at his brother. It seemed as if he too was in the dark about some of what their parents did.
"Of course, I know you must be curious too. It did used to solely be your body after all. Simply put, we added some enhancements so to speak, and switched out a few things. " Their mother spoke, seemingly thrilled to explain their handiwork. "Obviously Kennet, your torso was not large enough to support another fully functioning head, so we added tissue and bone from your brother's body to enlarge your ribcage and expand your shoulders. Max, we attached your spinal column along side your brother's, linking you to Kenneth's nervous system, respiratory system, and circulatory system. As we theorized, locomotion and sensation was divided evenly between you by your two spinal cords." Her smile seemed to grow a little bigger. "And, you both will be happy to know that you jointly have two hearts, three lungs, and two livers!"
"Okay, I remember you telling me that you explain this, when I volunteered... You were trying to make us as healthy as possible." Kenneth replied.
"Very good Kenneth." Their mother praised him. "Though, your father and I decided to make other changes as well, so as to make Max a little more comfortable in sharing your body."
"Max, we know children are not on your mind now, but thinking of the future, I know you would want to have the ability to father a child." He smiled brightly, "I was unfortunately not able to salvage your entire reproductive organ, but I was able to remove part of your scrotum with a functioning testicle and replace it with Kenneth's right testicle."
Max felt the imaginary pain of missing his balls, and instinctually moved his hand over his boxers. He felt his hand touch another and realized that Kenneth must have had the same involuntary reaction. Their two hands cupped either side of what appeared to be their mutual penis. He and his brother made eye contact at the same time, and silently agreed to lift up the boxers to check. Inside, Max spotted a single penis, which he assumed was Kenneth's orginal. Now, it seemed that Max had joint ownership of it.
"Don't worry boys..." His father spoke up again. "It is fully functional, but you will have to share. When it comes time to make babies though, it will be about a 50/50 chance on whose child it will be if you engage in intercourse the typical way."
Max glanced at Kenneth, trying to read him. He wanted his brother to scream at his parents, and be angry like he was. But, he only seemed to be surprised about how his reproductive organ was altered. That did not even seem to phase him though. "That makes sense..." Kenneth simply stated, seemingly accepting what their parents had explained.
"Why don't you boys rest up. We have more data to go over, but we will be right up stairs." Their mother stated.
For the first time, Max realized that he was in the basement of the house. It seemed to be refurbished into a make-shift hospital, or lab... He watched silently as his parents walked up the stairs. They spoke in hushed tones, but due to their excitement, they spoke louder than they intended.
"The surgery... more successful than..." Their father half-whispered.
"...start writing on the study... get noble prizes!"
"Yes, and think about... save money on food..."
"You're right... two mouths, but one stomach."
"...and college... two for the price of one..."
"We should write a book..." their mother spoke, but the rest was lost when the door shut.