Chrysalis

When the itch finally fades away I find myself on my back, my legs splayed in all directions and pinned down by the barbed tentacles of Crinis.

[Crinis? What happened?]

[You were flailing too much, Master. I thought it better to hold you down than have you slip out of my containment.]

That would be a disaster that would increase my risk of being seen by at least three hundred percent! That cannot be allowed!

[You did the right thing Crinis. Well done. Any chance you can let me up now?]

[Oh! Yes!]

Somewhat reluctantly, the limbs retract back into the orb of shadow flesh that still conceals me and I roll onto my feet. It was bad this time, real bad. Doing so many high level mutations at the same time? It's always bad, but a few of the organs made it worse. The sub-neural network is brutal every time, the eyes are a particular sore point for me, and doing three separate organs inside the business district just made that whole scenario back there into a nightmare. It's done now though, Anthony, just forget about it and move onto the next job. Getting close to evolution time!

[Alright then everyone, job's done. Let's get moving to the next one.]

My pets file in behind me as I stumble out of the chamber and back out into the tunnels where I find Granin and the others waiting. My body feels a little awkward, as it always does after a heavy dose of mutation. I think the neural changes are affecting me the most.

[All done?] Granin asks.

[Fully mutated,] I confirm, [time to sort out the core.]

His eyes brighten at the mention of the core.

you'd reserved around here somewhere. I'd love to

grumble, [I need to absorb that thing and I don't particularly

to with the process of evolving in real-time. I guess it's a big deal not only for me, but for the family as a whole. Not to worry, Colony! I won't let you down. After a quick journey we arrive in a chamber not far from the Core Shaper's work area and after a quick discussion with a nearby ant we settle in. A few minutes later, Bella and Ellie arrive with a selection of

eldest! This should be enough to max you out, and here's Garralosh's core,

haven't fiddled with it, have you?" I

of them look

but we followed your instructions and made no alterations to the core itself! Even though we really

"Shut up, Bella!"

"Whoops!"

didn't tamper with it, it's fine. Make sure you check with Crinis,

if they did. As far as absorbing a core goes, you can mess with it as much as you want before absorbing, the energy contained within the core is the same, but for whatever reason I didn't want them playing

Granin brightens up when he sees the chunky core enter the room. "Can

grip. What follows is a brief but vigorous discussion between the three golgari as they take turns analysing the core and giving their

in. [I've got evolving to

see the core of a monster one of our sister cults deemed worthy of mentorship. She was a powerful beast, although with a lot of wasted potential. I still find it staggering she was able to move

to be honest,] I tell him dryly as I look down on all that remains of the reincarnated human. You were one crazy monster, Garralosh, sorry you had to end

well as a rare core beyond this point, something I don't care to repeat. Gandalf himself told me that such a thing

then, here we

to reinforce your core, or reconstitute the

Reinforce me.

air and into my body, suffusing the hard gem in the centre of my being and growing it. The pain is terrible as always, the enlarged core pushing up against my insides in ways it was never meant to. Garralosh's core is huge, much larger than the rare core I absorbed last time. If I had to hazard a guess, if it were even a tiny bit larger it would no longer qualify