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.]

design their evolutions? Or manually

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 part, I let them pick what

[… why?]

the other Sophos are listening along the communal line as Formo queries me. I'm not sure why they have such an interest though,

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

that your pets were able to make quite good

[Really?]

one,] he points at Tiny again, [You'll need to intervene. The Lightning Fist Ape is an interesting creature, but it chews up its own mental attributes every time it evolves until it eventually becomes effectively mindless. We rarely bother with them due

[Uhh, that's great advice.]

tend not to give our pets such free reign. But

[Thanks!]

club interjects. [IT'S AN INTERESTING NEW APPLICATION OF THE SHADOW

pretty darn close to

[Ah! Yes, Master!]

by looking at

heck can you look at her

feel the Sophos around me rolling their

your skills Anthony. We hardly waste time on core shaping our real pets until we reach

SIX?!

new species of Ant monster and I'm only rank three in core

[YOU DID WHAT?!]

a solid mental blast right in the sconce at that. All of the Sophos turn to stare

Queen's core to produce offspring more like me and the species of the entire colony, including myself,

A BLASTED THING

[INCREDIBLE!]

[INSPIRED!]

IS WHAT

BOY!] Formo is back to his head thumping loudest. [CREATING A NEW SPECIES IS A GRAND

chorus of "GOOD SHOW!" and

I thought you guys

FRIGHTENED! WE'VE

[HUNDREDS!]

ARE NOT INTIMIDATED

It's good to find people who aren't afraid of

BOSH! WE

caste within the colony who are dedicated to core shaping

[OUTRAGEOUS?!]

[HOW DARE YOU, INSECT?!]

[NOW, THAT IS THREATENING!]