[Master. I can explain.]

[Explain what?]

It’s funny to see her like this. Crinis can take almost any form at this point. Her body is basically liquid shadow, so she could look however she wanted. Most of the time, she just looks like a little ball, no larger than a person, with a few tentacles so she can move herself about and point at things.

Right now, she looks like a shivering pool noodle, grovelling on the ground in front of me.

[Explain about… you know. The thing.]

She writhes uncomfortably and it’s difficult not to clack my mandibles in amusement. I should probably feel bad for putting her through this, but she did it to herself in the end.

[No, Crinis,] I say innocently. [I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about. You’ll have to explain it to me. In detail. From the beginning.]

[... You’re being very mean, Master.]

Hah! As the saying goes, Crinis, don’t start none, won’t be none.

[You are being rather mean,] the Clone says.

[Says the copy she melded into my nervous system in order to listen to my thoughts! Give it a rest!]

Crinis, the real one, flinches, then grovels a little harder. I wasn’t sure if she just experienced what the clone did, or if she had to communicate with it somehow. It looks like she just gets everything it does as long as she’s close enough.

[Now, I think it’s time for you to explain yourself,] I tell her, a little stern this time.

I’m not going to be guilted into feeling like I’m the one who stepped over the line. Sheesh!

[Do you remember, Master, when you told me I wasn’t allowed inside your carapace?] Crinis says, very hesitantly.

She knows I’m pretty mad at her.

[I remember telling you that rather a lot of times, actually. Eventually I had to order you to stay out of there because you wouldn’t listen to me.]

[You kept putting yourself in danger! What if I couldn’t help you?]

[I’m not justifying myself all over again. Continue with what you were saying.]

[Well… well…] she really doesn’t want to continue, but she doesn’t have a choice. [You told me that I couldn’t be inside your carapace, but you didn’t tell the other me that they couldn’t be in there. Right? It only applied to me… me.]

[So when you evolved, you gave yourself a mini-clone that you could implant inside my carapace to get around my order.]

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

[Y-yes.]

What can I do but sigh? Seriously?!

[That much I get, but then why did you make it able to meld into my nervous system and listen to my thoughts? Feels like you really decided to take the invasive train all the way to the last stop.]

[What’s a train?]

[No distractions, explain yourself.]

She grovels all the harder.

[You’re always thinking of dangerous things and you won’t tell me about them! How else was I supposed to know and then keep you safe?]

[You aren’t! You’re supposed to learn to deal with the uncertainty and let me have some autonomy!]

[Noooooo,] Crinis sobs, tentacles thrashing. [That’s too hard!]

[You’re going to have to learn to live with it,] I tell her grimly. [I was going to ignore this situation for a while longer as a reward, but since you’ve brought it up, we’re going to resolve it here and now. I’m going to make some very specific orders and you are going to be following them.]

[Master,] she begs, [please!]

[Absolutely not! I won’t be moved by your cuteness.]

Adorable little murder ball that she is.

[First, you need to get this dang clone out of me.]

[B-but Master!]

[What?]

[If I remove her, then she’ll die… she can’t live outside of the host I put her in.]

[Crinis… is it feeding off of me?]

[Well… t-technically.]

Dammit! That’s so many levels of creepy. At this point, I can only hope I don’t learn anything else that makes this situation even worse. At the same time, there’s no reason for clone Crinis to lose her life. She didn’t do anything wrong.

[Oh, thank you!]

[Clone Crinis, now really isn’t the time.]

[... Sorry.]

I clean my antennae to settle my nerves.

[Fine,] I say finally. [The clone can stay, BUT, you are ordered to remove her from my nervous system. No more spying on my thoughts. And that’s an order. To you as well, Clone Crinis.]

[Fine.]

[... Fine.]

I’m not sure which of them sounds the most reluctant there. Actually, do my orders even work on Clone Crinis? She’s technically not my pet, right?

[Crinis, I order you to make Clone Crinis remove herself from my nervous system, permanently.]

[... Dammit.]

Aha! I knew it!

[And as punishment for disobeying the spirit of my order and violating my privacy… in pretty much the worst way imaginable, Crinis, you are banished from my presence. For three days.]

[NOOOOOOOOOO!] she shrieks. [Please, Master. Anything but that!]

[Three days! And you have to stay far enough away that you can’t communicate with the Clone.]

[AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!]

A full blown Crinis tantrum. It’s been a long time coming, but we’re here. I remember when she was so shy she basically couldn’t speak to me and wouldn’t make a single decision without my input.

As the writhing mass of shadow and tentacles flops and thrashes on the ground, Tiny limps back into the chamber, covered in bloody wounds and missing patches of fur. I’m pretty sure he’s also smoking.

[Hey, Tiny. Good fight?] I ask him.

He gives me a weary thumbs up, but his smile is so immensely satisfied. He stays like that for a beat, then wavers, then falls flat on his face, revealing the healers already hard at work on his back.

Man, it can be hard work looking after pets. Maybe this is why most people don’t let them evolve to a high level.

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