Binti

Binti goes to the hospital for an examination. Her doctor is a human woman named Tuka. Binti waits in the waiting room for three hours after her examination and tests. When Binti speaks with Dr. Tuka again, she discovers quite a few things about herself. New Fish and Binti can be apart roughly five miles on land and seven miles otherwise. There might be terrible pain if they separate past this point very quickly. Dr. Tuka tells Binti that her DNA is composed of “Himba, Enyi Zinariya, and Meduse […] and some, but not much, New Fish” (347). Binti is healthy and utterly unique.

Dr. Tuka asks Binti if she plans bearing children and suggests that Okwu should give birth to it. Binti’s future children will have okuoko and will likely have some New Fish microbes. Binti has a panic attack, utterly overwhelmed by everything. She cries about the Root’s desolation, about her broken astrolabe, and about how different she is now compared to when she began. Binti crushes a flower bud that sat on the counter in her fist. To comfort her, Dr. Tuka says:

‘So see it this way: You’re paired with New Fish and Okwu, each of whom has a family.