MANI-CUREforthenewlyassembled thankstovoguevoid alisonlubar

Secure an appropriate polish.* Lacquer, slick, still liquid. It will dry shiny. Do not drink. It does not taste like it looks. If your vision is monochromatic, any shade will do. Let the algorithm pick for you. Prepare the area. Refer to your assembly manual for compatible materials. Paint the tips of your appendages pink. Abalone, Bahama Sands, Cotton Candy, Skin InsideOut.

If you have one between your legs, make it blue. Cerulean, Chemtrail, Hyacinth, Robin’s Egg.

Choose any color for your tongue. Jazzberry, Ochre, Rust, Fire Engine. Wait for it to dry.

Speed up the process by heat or UV. Do not lick.**

Show it off!

Bedeck yourself with something to match. Or go naked. You have never eaten an apple to know any shame.

Let’s go, girls!***

*Not of a national origin. Not Polish. Also, “polish” is a misnomer. Do not take sandpaper to your tender metal. Buff with lambswool last. Each end is scorpion-sharp, or blunted and comforting like the end of a vintage Phillips-head. A cross to hex or bless. Anyone with nipples. Or not.

**Unless your tongue is made of light.

***As in Shania Twain. Not as in your accessories. Not as in anything physical. As in, even you have this sentience. Even if it’s binary or mere modem blips. Even the fragile carbonbased beings who will blink out even before they’ve chipped a nail. You’re alive enough to know for yourself.