Chrysalis

[Do you guys mind? My pet is feeling a little put upon here.]

As one the Sophos turn on me.

[MIND YOURSELF, BOY! THE EXPERTS ARE TALKING!]

Yikes. Not one to mince words, this one. Although, I could say the same for all of the Sophos I've met. They seem universally loud and pugnacious.

[THAT'S HIS PET, YOU NINCOMPOOP!]

[HOW DARE YOU!]

[OH, I DARE THAT AND MORE!]

[FORMO, YOU SLACK JAWED NINNY! I'LL MAKE PAJAMAS OUT OF YOUR FAVOURITE PET FOR YOUR WORDS!]

[YOU WANT TO TRY IT ASONAN? I'LL TURN YOUR HOUSE INTO A BIOMASS PANTRY. AND LAUGH! HEARTILY!]

[Calm down! Sheesh! No need to get so worked up!] I interject.

They turn on me once more.

[THIS- ahem. This is merely banter, old boy. Conflict between Sophos is- well, its unheard of.]

[AND NOT JUST BECAUSE WE CAN'T TALK!]

[OH HO! JOLLY GOOD JAPE!]

[QUITE SO!]

I'm not sure if my burgeoning headache or weariness will become more pressing in the short term. These damn Sophos are exhausting.

[WE WERE MERELY EXAMINING THE CHOICES YOU'D MADE WITH YOUR PET!] the one named Asonan shouts at me.

[I don't see why it's so interesting] I said, honestly. [For the most part, I let Crinis make her own choices.]

Silence fell at my words as the Sophos sightlessly stare at me for a moment before they turn back to studying Crinis.

[Anthony, you really let your pets make their own evolution decisions?]

[Yes?]

[Even that one?] Formo points and Tiny as the ape continues to shovel handfuls of Biomass into his face.

[Yep.]

didn't design their evolutions? Or manually

work on Crinis before I reconstituted her, but my skill levels were low back then, and still are now, compared to yours I suppose, so I wasn't able to get much done. For the most

[… why?]

can tell the other Sophos are listening along the communal line as Formo queries me. I'm not sure

the one hand I can't be bothered to micromanage every little thing, on the other, they have their own minds, even if they're pets! They can decide what they want and how they want to go about it! These are big decisions,

that your pets were able to make quite good

[Really?]

own mental attributes every time it evolves until it eventually becomes effectively mindless. We rarely bother with them due to

[Uhh, that's great advice.]

tend not to give our pets such free reign. But I can respect your choice

[Thanks!]

of the Crinis fan club interjects. [IT'S AN INTERESTING NEW APPLICATION OF

Crinis is pretty darn close to evolving right now, aren't you

[Ah! Yes, Master!]

that by

can you look at

Sophos

We hardly waste time on

SIX?!

created a whole new species of Ant monster and I'm only

[YOU DID WHAT?!]

blast right in the sconce at that. All of the Sophos turn to stare at me once more,

uh. I modified the Queen's core to produce offspring more like me and the species of

A BLASTED THING

[INCREDIBLE!]

[INSPIRED!]

IS WHAT

A NEW SPECIES IS A GRAND

met with a chorus of "GOOD

I thought you guys might get angry at me

EASILY FRIGHTENED! WE'VE

[HUNDREDS!]

ARE NOT INTIMIDATED BY

nice to hear. It's good to

BOSH! WE

are dedicated to core shaping

[OUTRAGEOUS?!]

[HOW DARE YOU, INSECT?!]

[NOW, THAT IS THREATENING!]