"Babe, I'm home!"

Looks like Sara is home a bit early. I had the day off, but she was only able to take half a day; we had planned to go out for dinner to celebrate her birthday. As she opens the door, I notice that her dark hair was drastically shorter than when she left this morning - her usual shoulder length was now a pixie cut, which brought out her beautiful green eyes.

"Nice haircut! Did work let you out early?"

"Thanks! Actually, I have a surprise for my birthday, sorta my present to you. You know how my parents have always been against separation?" She asked.

"Yes, you told me they wouldn't even let you take the classes and get your paperwork. What about it?"

“You know how I had to work overtime a bunch of nights the last couple weeks? I sorta fibbed a bit…”

She reaches into her pocket and pulls out her brand-new registration card. "I've been keeping a secret - I've been taking classes after work. My parents always said that getting separated makes girls lose control and get taken advantage of, but I never really believed them. Also, I’m feeling a bit rebellious now that I'm out of the house."

"So," I say, growing more excited at the prospect, "when are you getting it done"?

"That's the second part of the surprise! I hired a separation tech to bring his kit here, and do it in house! In fact, he should be here any minute. Hopefully you remember your fingerspelling and basic sign, otherwise we’ll have some studying to do." Sara said.

"I always try to stay fresh, and my mom and sister are both separated so I’m pretty practiced" I say.

[Knock Knock]

"Sweet, he's here!" As Sara opens the door, I see that "he" is actually a she, in fact a tall, athletic woman in the standard issue separation clinic nurse's outfit.

"I'm Vicki, separation technician; you scheduled in-home service for Sara?"

"Hi, I'm Sara, nice to meet you. Come in, please!"

Vicki enters, pulling behind a large, black, wheeled suitcase.

"Hi, I'm Greg, nice to meet you Vicki." I said.

"First, I’ll need to verify your ID and registration." Sara shows it to Vicki. "Where would you like me to set up the equipment?"

"The living room is fine, I’ll just move a couple things out of the way." Sara said. Together we quickly move the coffee table out of the way as Vicki wheels the case into the cleared space.

"Thanks Sara, this should only take a minute to set up." When you get a moment, could you please take off your blouse? I have to make sure nothing gets caught in the separator, and I can scan you more easily." Vicki said.

"Scan me? That must be a new thing, they didn’t mention it in my classes."

"In the past few years, there have been some great advances in separation technology. Normally, we would just separate girls at whatever level they wanted. However, we discovered that their bodies prefer to be separated at a certain level - although we still give them the choice, if we separate at the optimal spot their heads can be farther apart from their bodies, and they  have a more intense sense of touch. It basically gets you a better signal when you’re apart. We also can better tell beforehand which side their consciousness resides on.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

“It’s not very common for the signal to get blocked, but it does happen occasionally. When that happens, whichever side you're centered in carries on as your reality without the other side. The other side basically goes to sleep - it has some reflexes, but isn’t able to do much.

Normally, the higher up the natural separation point, the higher likelihood someone is centered in their body. Basically, the more neck on the body, the more likely the real "her" is inside her body, not her head.” Vicki says.

"Wow, that would be weird to just be a body." Sara says.

"We never say that anyone is "just" a head or a body, we're always us, just slightly different outcomes if the signal is blocked or we get too far apart."

"Which one are you? If that's not too personal..." Sara asks..

"I'm a head like most other women, a five-six specifically, so I separate between the 5th and 6th vertebrae. It’s about as far down as you can practically go. Anyways, I'm done setting up. Greg, come into the living room, I will need your assistance too. We're almost ready to start. You're not gonna want to miss this."

As I walk into the living room, I notice that the rolling case was unfolded, sitting on top of four heavy-duty legs that folded from the body of the case. The setup looks somewhat like a portable massage table, complete with adjustable head pillow. Just down from the pillow, though, is a stainless steel frame which holds a metal guide plate with a slot in it, and is arched to fit the patient's neck underneath. Next to it is a scanner, which looks a bit like a small ultrasound machine. Vicki had laid down a sheet of hospital exam table paper on the padding of the bed, and stands by ready to perform the procedure.

"First, I will have to examine you. Come over here Sara, and we'll get started." Vicki starts examining Sara's neck, head, and shoulders, commenting to herself just barely loud enough to hear. "You have a really nice neck - long, symmetrical, nicely tapered..." Nurse Vicki takes out a set of calipers and measures the dimensions of her neck, writing some figures down in a notepad on the table. "Looks like size small stock..." Viki then starts up the scanner, and brings the sensor close to her neck. "This might be a little cold, but it'll only take me a second or two." Vicki runs the scanner wand up and down Sara's neck, around her spine, eliciting a slight shiver from Sara - her neck has always been sensitive and the probe tip doesn’t seem especially comfortable.

Vicki says "This is interesting, a three-four? I haven't seen many of your type. I recommend you separate between the 3rd and 4th vertebra. You’ll have a bit of neck to rest your head on but have a really nice long neck stump on your body. It's actually safest that way - the last girl I did was a six-seven, and she had a heck of a time balancing her head on her entire neck."

"Sara, with your natural separation point so high, you are most likely centered in your body. In fact, I'm almost certain that's the case, which merits some preparation. If you lose connection, you are likely to lose all your senses except for touch. It might be a bit concerning, so it’s better to practice at home before trying to go out while separated. Until you know your range, try to keep your head and body close, and no swimming while separated.

“For aftercare, try to be gentle with your neck and the underside of your head, as the fresh skin across the cut is  easily injured at first. Don’t try eating or drinking right away either, the holes in your neck are going to be pretty sensitive.”

"We won't be completely certain about your centering until we separate you, which is the next step. Greg, I’m going to need your help here. Sara, lay down on the table, on your back. Normally, we have you on your stomach, but I want to make sure that the separation is clean and even; you're somewhat of a rare case." Vicki says, as she unlocks the neck stock and swings it up and out of the way.

"Come over here, Greg. You'll have to help stabilize her as I get the equipment adjusted and locked, and make sure her head doesn't fall once it separates."

I stand at the head of the table, and look down at Sara, who was smiling while laying there in her bra and skirt, looking amazing as usual. Vicki starts turning knobs on the stock, tilting the assembly and eyeballing it in, occasionally feeling underneath to the back of Sara's neck to find the point between the vertebrae where her separation point was.

"Ok, we're locked in - try not to move your head, Sara, and don't worry - the next part is fun for the both of us, although you might want to close your eyes if you're nervous." Nurse Vicki opens the drawer on the side of the table. "You have two choices here. We have a metal-tipped plastic blade, which doesn't block the signal between your head and body; or if you want to experience your signal being blocked right away, I can use the metal blade. The metal one might be a little more disorienting, but it gives better results. You also will know right away whether you are centered in your head or body."

"I want to know right away." Sara said.

"In that case, Greg, here's what to expect. If she’s a head, which seems unlikely, her body will go limp once I separate her. Sara will not be able to feel anything below the cut. If she’s a body, which I believe is the case, everything will go black for her - she’ll lose sight, smell, and hearing, but her sense of touch will be amplified.”

“Sara, if you are OK afterward either give a thumb’s up or a wink, depending on which side you end up on. Any signs of distress and I pull the blade and you’ll reconnect to the other side.”

"Let's begin." Vicki takes out the metal blade from its carrier, a flat piece of surgical steel as wide as the slot in the stock, with a handle on one end, and the other end ridiculously sharp. She puts the blade in the stock, holding it a few inches above Sara's neck. I take hold of her head on each side, and she winks at me and smiles before closing her eyes.

"Are you ready Sara?"

"Ready!"

"Are you ready, Greg?"

"I'm ready."

"One"

"Two"

"Three!"

Vicki forces the blade down into Sara's neck, slicing through in a fraction of a second, only slowing a bit as it passes through the gap in her spine and stopping at the bottom of the table with a dull thud.

I feel the tension in Sara’s neck relax, no longer needing to carefully hold position. As I lift up Sara’s head, it slightly sticks to the blade then releases gently. Her eyes are closed as if she’s sleeping soundly, her lips slightly parted and twitching a tiny bit. I tilt her head back, and see the fresh skin rapidly covering up the cross-section of her neck.

"You are a lucky guy Greg, she's a body, and we got a perfect cut! You might want to set her head down, and let her know you're there. The first time can be a bit scary for her type." Vicki said.

I carefully set her head on the couch, and gently touch her shoulder to reassure her.

Sara, still lying on the table, gives a thumb’s up and Vicki guides her into a sitting position. Her neck has already healed, with pale skin covering up the separation point. Her breathing, no longer blocked by the blade and now coming from one of the holes in the top of her neck starts to slow as her body reconnects to her head. From the couch, she looks at herself and smiles. She mouths a couple words, then remembers that she can’t really talk at this point.

I ask her "How do you like it?"

"I want to be like this always" Sara’s body signs.

"Vicki, do you have a stump cap? I think Sara might want to try this out for a while."

Vicki opens up another drawer in the table, and produces an item that looks like a small black swimming cap.  "Sara, This will block the signal, so you can walk around without your head. I recommend practicing with it regularly to keep your skills up.”

Sara gives the thumbs up, and I gently lift her head and hand her to Viki. She stretches the cap to fit on the little bit of neck stump on Sara's head, and her eyes close again as her signal stops.

I take my hand in Sara’s, and fingerspell to her “let’s try this out”. I gently lead her to standing, and when she wobbles a bit I place a hand on her hip - her sense of balance isn’t well developed yet. With her other hand, Sara gently touches the top of her neck stump and shudders, with a slight gasp escaping her throat.

"I see she's found out how good that feels. I'll pack up and leave you two to explore. Her head’s on the side table." Vicki said.

While she packed up, I help Sara walk around the room, her steps a little unsteady. I sit her down on the couch, and spell in her hand "I'm taking the cap off now." I pick up her head, and remove the cap from the portion of neck underneath. Her eyes now open, Sara is absolutely beaming with joy. She takes her head from me and sets it back on her neck, holding it for a second to join back together. She continues to steady her head with one hand, holding up a finger with her other hand in a “one sec” gesture. She shudders slightly as her sense of her body resets.

“That was awesome! I should’ve had that done years ago! Thanks Viki!”

Vicky, nearly done with packing up, replies “Glad I could help, if you have any other questions my office’s number is on this card.” She sets a business card on the side table and flips the case up on its wheels. “Good luck, and have fun together!” Vicki grabs her suitcase and heads out the door.

As soon as the door closes, Sara grabs her head and pulls upward, separating herself again. She turns her head toward me, winks, and mouths “Meet me in the bedroom”. She grabs the signal-blocking cap from the table, then makes a beeline toward the bedroom door, her head cradled in one arm. I follow right behind