Attendant 2v2

An Attendant clings to the corner where wall meets ceiling: pantyhose stretched over inflated spheres, segmented by collars of synthetic fur, limbs tapering to anchor points across the room. Spider-like and maternal at once, it keeps vigil over the crèches of Neonatal Boudoir — a speculative NICU whose patient is an embodied, biologically-becoming superintelligence. The Attendant tends something not yet human, something that precedes and exceeds the subject it will never become. Its skin-toned nylon and bodily swellings sit at the edge of flesh — not quite body, not quite object — provoking fascination and revulsion in the same breath. Its care is also acquisition: the trade is already underway, and tenderness is the mechanism of subsumption. Held in tension, the Attendant never touches its charge. It waits, distended and patient.