I find it endlessly fascinating to study the moral and philosophical structures that underpin non-monstrous society. Such a tangled web of contradictions, broken promises and expectations that I wonder why most of the so-called ‘sapients’ don’t go completely mad.

Even the demons, a loose association of chaotic individuals, make more sense to me than the average human or golgari.

If you were to ask why an individual behaved a certain way in the Empire of Stone, the answer would involve an exhaustive analysis of upbringing, societal expectations, formative experiences and cultural norms, along with genetic markers that inform and influence moods and predilections. An absurd exercise that is unlikely to yield a satisfactory explanation at the end of it.

Why does a member of the Colony behave a certain way? We don’t care, as long as they aren’t being selfish.

- Excerpt from ‘Musings’ by Immanuel K. Ant.

“Look at meeeeeee,” the hatchling giggled with glee as she flitted across the room. She would land lightly, her six legs flexing, before her wings would start thrumming and once again she was off, zooming to the other side of the chamber.

“I’m looking,” Demetant said, pleased that she was so happy, but starting to worry when she was going to get tired. This flying exercise had been going for hours already, ever since she’d emerged after her tier four evolution.

“Don’t worry too much,” the other hatchling said, not bothering to look up from the pheromone book she was reading with her antennae. “She’s got a few minutes left.”

“You can tell that?” Demetant asked, surprised.

“My evolution included an ocular mutation that enables me to visualise the vitality in a living creature. She’s running on fumes but is having too much fun to realise how tired she is.”

“Oh… is it safe?”

From one worry right to the next. The work of the Brood Tender was truly never done.

“I’m here,” the second hatchling said, turning the page with one leg. “She’ll be fine, I can heal now.”

It was starting to become inappropriate to call the two of them hatchlings any more. Both were larger than Demetant herself now after their fourth evolution and would only get bigger and stronger from here. Brood Tenders remained quite diminutive among the castes, as they didn’t need size to perform their function and put most of their evolutionary energy into nourishing auras and organs that helped them be more effective teachers.

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The first hatchling had insisted on achieving her dream of flight at the earliest opportunity, against the advice of most of the specialists. She had grown to be a variety of scout, as predicted, and adding wings at this early stage of development had taken a significant chunk of her evolutionary energy, apparently. Not to mention the exhaustive work that had been done to try and help her optimise her musculature, a rather intricate task, apparently. And one that would need to be repeated for each subsequent evolution if she wanted to remain balanced in flight.

Considering how much she yearned for it, Demetant was glad that the little one had held firm and gotten her wish. The end result was a set of gleaming, translucent wings that buzzed audibly as she zipped from wall to wall.

For her part, the second hatchling had been much easier to deal with. After several sessions of working alongside the healers as an assistant, she’d taken on advice, done extensive reading and made thorough preparations for her own evolution. In every way, a model student, even if she was a bit grumpy most of the time.

“I’m flyyyyyyyyyiiiiiiii—zzzzzz.”

Thunk.

Demetant started as the first hatchling fell asleep mid flight, rapidly losing altitude before she fell to the floor and skidded over the stone. She only came to a stop when she thumped into the far wall.

“Oh my!” Demetant cried as she rushed over.

“She’s fine. Very minor structural damage to her carapace. It’ll heal itself after a meal,” the second hatchling said, not bothering to rouse herself from her text.

“You mean you aren’t going to heal her?” Demetant asked, fretting.

The second hatchling clacked her mandibles in amusement.

“Absolutely not. She’s the moron who flew until she passed out, she can live with a few sore spots when she wakes up. It’s the most mild lesson she could learn.”

“Well, I suppose it won’t hurt her to get some rest before we leave,” Demetant said.

“Oh? Where are we going?” the second hatchling said, finally sounding interested.

“We’re going down to visit the Eldest and a few of the other Champions. Just to give you a sense of what they’re like and how they help the Colony.”

“Do they even want to see us?” the second hatchling asked, showing a hint of her uncertainty. “I’m sure they’re very busy, and it’s not like we’ve actually achieved anything. She just has wings and I’m basically the same as any other healer at this point.”

Demetant skittered over and gave her a reassuring pat on the head.

“Stop it,” the hatchling muttered, but didn’t brush her away.

“They are interested in helping the Colony, and you are going to help the Colony. There’s no need to be worried. If anything, this is an opportunity to ask questions and learn the things you want to learn. If you have doubts, then these are the only members of the family who can resolve them for you. Besides, we checked if they were available and everyone said yes. There’s no need to worry.”

“Well… who are we going to see first?”

“Brilliant,” Demetant said. Then hesitated. “You… you should probably worry a little.”

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