The baby was short and round, with folds of fat layered upon its chubby limbs.
Its fleshy, ball-like palm opened up, revealing five short, puffy fingers. It swiped at the air as if trying to touch its mother's face—and then the baby giggled.
The laughter came from the face of a grown man.
The head, belonging to the adult male Ivan, was simply shrunk a few sizes and stripped of hair before being placed on the baby's body. When it saw the toy wind chime swaying gently, it seemed to raise its eyebrows in surprise—and thin, dry wrinkles immediately creased its forehead.
Mai Mingle stumbled back several steps, her back nearly hitting the wall.
Through the bars of the crib, Ivan turned his long, thin face toward her. He opened his black-hole of a mouth and continued to babble at her.
'What in the world is going on?'
'What is Ivan trying to do by suddenly taking on this appearance?'
'Even if—even if he looks like a baby now, he's not a real baby. He's obviously not even human.'
