"You're going to become a hydra girl," said the nurse.
"A hydra girl," said Karyn. She knew what a hydra girl was. A girl with multiple extra heads. The girl's gym teacher had five extra heads, for a total of six, counting her 'original' head. She seemed to love her new heads, but Karyn couldn't be sure. "How do they make the extra heads?"
Handing her a clipboard and pamphlet, the nurse explained the procedure. "Your extra heads will be spliced off at the base of your neck. Your DNA will be altered to tell your body that it is supposed to have a certain number of extra heads, and will start growing them along your original neck and shoulders. They start off as buds, like with a plant, but will rapidly grow and take shape as separate necks and heads. The exact number is up to you. Most people choose between two and eight extra heads. All of your heads, including your original one, will be on long, flexible necks so that you all have space." The nurse handed her a pamphlet detailing the information. "Your brains will be connected so that you communicate with by thought as well as by speech. Every head will also hear any ordinary thoughts produced by any other head in addition to those thoughts directly addressed to them. It's distracting at first, but most people learn to filter out ordinary chatter. If you like, you can either have your heads look like your original one, or each of them can look different."
"How will I control my body, if I have all these extra heads?" asked Karyn. She never had the guts to ask the gym teacher that.
"You, the 'original' Karyn, will control the body," said the nurse. "The other heads will only have control over themselves from the neck up."
"Don't they resent that?" asked Karyn.
"Not at all," said the nurse. "Regardless of their other feelings, they will like not having control. They'll be grateful that they don't have to do all that extra work."
"What about personality and intelligence?" Karyn asked.
"That can vary," the nurse said. "Some girls give their heads full sentience and independence. Because they are fully aware, they can offer active support for any issue that might come up. However, because they are independent, they are free to disagree with you, talk back and argue. They can even fight with each other. Effectively they will be separate individuals with their own wants and needs. They will just be 'hitching a ride' on your body, as it will. Others go for more of a 'drone' aspect. Think of it kind of like a computer. You will be the main processor, while your other heads will passively support your original brain, automatically processing information and subconsciously offering assistance for you. This form will be more passive, as the drone heads will only process what you specifically tell them to. They can't offer new ideas or process information outside of what you are capable of giving them. There's less back talk and dissention, but there's more micromanagement as you have to make sure that your extra brains know what they should be focusing on. Most people go for something in the middle, with their heads capable of a lot of independence, but with enough submissiveness that they wouldn't dream of talking back, only of helping."
"How will they feel about me?" said Karyn. "I'd hate to live with a bunch of heads that hated me."
"That's another thing that all extra heads will come with, regardless of other considerations," said the nurse. "They'll love you. Even if they backtalk once in a while, they'll adore both you and any other extra heads that you have. They're not out to hurt you, they only want to help."
Karyn didn't have any questions after that, so the nurse left her with the pamphlet and a clipboard with a set of questions asking how many heads Karyn wanted and how much independence she wanted to give them. Karyn filled out the form, hoping that she wasn't making a mistake.
