Pod Birth: Science Fiction

The blade trisected the children neatly, dividing the one into three. They blinked their eyes, suddenly aware that they were not only one. They looked at each other and began to wail in fear to see themselves, or what they had thought of as themselves, now outside themselves. "I hate pod births," Dr. Reynolds confided to his nurse assistant as he took the sword and cleaned it with a disinfectant. "I'm sure that it makes the children more content in the womb, but it must be an awful shock to be separated as soon as you're born." "Getting it all over with at once is a mercy," Roger answered, taking the sword from the doctor.

Inspiration: "trisect"
Story Potential: Low.
Notes: There's no story here, though it would make a good worldbuilding detail.