welcome

[tuathade]

Cuddlepiles with bakers and terriblings. All the cuddlepiles. Clearly this was the best solution in the face of mind-numbing psychic horror.

Alex was not exactly built for cuddling humans very well; he didn’t have arms or opposable thumbs and he was kind of bigger than everyone else in the pile. But he was warm, and very solid, and he could wrap his wings around everyone carefully and give nuzzles that smelled like plague breath and wher pastry. And then at last the fear subsided and he could relax and back off a little.

The little blue one bonded – the one broadcasting fear. The one with the mutated wings is still looking for Hers. Alex had never Impressed, but he was meant to, and the psychically sensitive part of his brain responsible for sensing and recognizing mental bonds still functioned just fine. It was one of the ways he could reliably determine the difference between bonded and unbonded whers, even without the handler present. Right now, it was telling him which of the little hybrids were ‘safe’. (Safe being a relative term with anything about them.)

I think we’re all right for now, he agreed tentatively as Taavi began to move away.

[Admin]

The Predator had been paralyzed at the Shadow's fear, even moreso as the Necromorph came close to its sibling and broadcast the horror for the world to hear. It had crouched, frozen, hidden behind an incubator and waiting. But at one point, its head had snapped up, a sudden moment of perplexed anxiety on its (invisible) face. Others were suffering. One in particular was suffering.

Its person was suffering.

So while the Shadow hatchling had coiled behind the egg, and its scythe-winged sibling had crammed itself back there as well, the Predator had crept forward, by fits and starts, still invisible but for the occasional shimmer in the air that indicated its passing. There were plenty of its siblings alive and on the floor now, most of whom had Impressed. Even its nasty Reaper sibling had taken the time to find its bonded. And the Predator was glad for it, more or less. There was little enough bad blood between the pair; the Predator respected the boldness, as well as the dangerous opponent. It worked for the Predator. But nonetheless, it wholly intended to give Chief and Nemesis a wide berth as it moved toward the assembled Candidates.

Which was why it passed so close to the No One Can Hear You Scream egg for a moment. And within the depths of the egg, there was finally, finally a moment of motion. It attracted the attention of the assistant who had been watching it earlier, and the tech leaned over, glancing in without even noticing the shimmer as it passed. "Salvador," he said quietly. "There's movement. I can see something -"

And then the egg exploded with activity, and an enormous black hatchling surged forward, claws and teeth striking the man's face as the hatchling inside collided with an obstacle. But the creature - shining black and almost insectoid in appearance - barely got a chance to do anything before that shimmer in the air became a solid black-and-gold hybrid that struck it hard, knocking its sibling to the ground with a snarl that was positively deadly. The Xenomorph hatchling sprawled across the floor, looking momentarily startled before scrabbling to its feet. There was something wrong with its eyes - stuck white-grey, they shone in the light as it lowered its head and snarled at the Predator. The Predator snarled back, flaring its mandibles as it circled its sibling.

Still coiled next to its Shadow sibling, the Necromorph lifted its head and howled, a sudden burst of bewildered animosity - the feelings of two clutchsiblings rolled into a single impression - rolling over all assembled. The wounded lab tech sank to the ground, helped to his feet and toward the door by a fellow assistant. They were forgotten in the wave of emotion that was the sudden showdown between the two hatchlings.

And still Salvador watched, unperturbed. His assistant would probably lose an eye, but the geneticist found it difficult to care. This was worth the data. All of it was worth the data. With luck, this would make him rich beyond belief.

[Celaeno]

Okay, the godawful feelings had stopped. That was good. Anna was all for not having panicky hatchlings screwing with the lot of them via their minds; there'd been enough of that during the touching. She sucked in a breath, grateful for the reprieve from the mess of weird the hatching had begun.

And then that damn egg decided to burst open. Anna wasn't surprised at all to see it tear into the first thing in its way, not after touching it. She was surprised, however, by its appearance. It was yet another bizarre looking one-had they let all the creative types run rampant for this clutch? The sudden burs of activity from the reappearing hatchling made her swear under her breath-were they going to end up with a dead or mauled hatchling or two? She'd seen the result of dogfights before, and all dogs had were teeth. These things had teeth and claws and spikes-they were basically animate pointy, pissed off objects.

Then the scythe-winged one decided to join in the fun. Oh, she really, really hoped they at least got some kind of headache medication after this. She was going to need it. That or a stick to knock herself into not caring either way.

[Nozomi]

Now, Nelcess never struck Vityai as an overly intelligent individual, even with his chosen path as a Starcrafter. The young weyrling fit the mode of 'flighty and silly' quite easily, and Vityai liked him just because he didn't seem to care if he was getting snarked at, simply returned everything with the same wide smile. Still - not the brightest glow in the bunch.

But when Alex attacked the blue at that Hatching and everyone around them - Vityai included - condemned the hybrid, Nelcess had stood there, studied the situation when Alex had been shocked, and said, very simply, "I think that man is hurting it." Just like that, did not judge the creature Vityai currently considered a friend, refused to label him a monster or something that needed to be hurt.

Nelcess' words echoed in Vityai's brain when Predator reappeared. People freaked out when it first disappeared (again, himself included), but the hatchling hadn't gone on a rampage - it went after the otherwise destructive hatchling. So when the insectoid, shiny hatchling sliced through a scientests eye - well, he couldn't be afraid of the disappearing creature. ANd even the clawing Xenomorph might have had reasons. Or something.

Necromorph howled as if it were a canine. Vityai touched ALex's hide once more before going shoulder to shoulder with Taavi, grabbed his elbow. "If those things gnaw at you, don't say I didn't warn you.*

The chill of Necromorphs emotions twisted his stomach but, luckily, did not send the young Baker into the spine-shuddering feeling of fear.

He didn't want them to kill each other. Or Taavi (maybe) or gnaw at Alex. But like fuck was he ... he... well, Vityai didn't know what he'd do if they did something, but like hell would he not do it.

"If someone doesn't stop them, that little thing is going to keep getting more upset..." He said, to absolutely no one. Intelligent people would be paying attention to the rabid babies.

[Cherie]

Whatever Bernard had been planning to say in response no longer mattered. Shadow's distressed response absolutely flattened Maggie, who reeled where she stood, hand sliding from Berny's shoulder so that she could rub her temples. That didn't help, of course, but it was remarkable how instinct would cause one to act, when there was no applicable instinct for a given situation. Human beings had not been designed to withstand psychic intrusion, as was quite evident, here. ... It was rather difficult, however, to think beyond the here and now. And yet... the pressure eased, suddenly. Maggie looked up, looked about, eyes casting about for reason, for cause. Nothing. But Maggie wasn't distressed by that. It was over, and that was the important thing.

Of course, she didn't get much of an opportunity to enjoy the reprieve, for as soon as the Shadow hatchling's distress had eased up, an entirely new threat presented itself. And this one, Maggie decided, was a real threat. Interesting. A burst of activity signaled the arrival of the Xenomorph, and the violence followed. Once more, the Predator came to the rescue. That... was a fascinating pattern of behavior. She remembered that egg well. There had been something very noble about that egg, something... primal.

It had been very forthright with her. Very firm. Maggie remembered it as the most intriguing experience she had ever had. And yet here she was, with so much more to write into her report. So much more to examine, and to study. It had always been fascinating to her to study the similarities between human beings and nonhuman animals. In this case, of course, things were particularly of interest. Hybrids were not from Earth. Granted, their creator had been a human being, but the building blocks... yes, the building blocks were very alien.

Ah, it was a pity that xenomorphology hadn't been covered in any of her classes. Not really. Not to the extent that it would have been had xenobiology been her own field of study. That area was touched on, in brief, as it related to Pernese humans, but not... in any great depth. Not enough to understand, not enough to know. There was no time to learn everything there was to know about everyth-- she really ought to have been paying attention to what was going on, hadn't she? The game was not over yet.

[Mira]

Nemesis growled, taking a step toward the brawling hatchlings and preparing to spring.

John gritted his teeth, bracing against the mental surge, and placed a hand on the hybrid's head, thumb and small finger settling around the bases of the horn knobs.

"No."

You're just going to tolerate this?! Nemesis butted his head upward, trying to dislodge the hand.

"Stay out of it."

I can finish it and have it done. Are you really this much of an idiot?

"You're five minutes old," the Chief replied, teeth still clenched. "You're a bigger one by default."

[Dragonfire]

The feelings were gone.

Gone. Samus sagged against the wall with relief, moving her left hand to her forehead to gingerly prod at it. No lasting damage. It hadn't been her mess, after all; episodes never just ended like that. That was a bigger relief than even the feeilngs going away - she wasn't going to start spontaneously hallucinating and having flashbacks. Not now, anyways.

So what had caused it, then?

Suddenly, however, there was no time to ponder it - another hatchling, the scary hatchling, was eating some poor scientist's face. The predatorial hatchling was visible again and saving the day - again. That creepy looking shit over in the corner was howling and there were more feelings.

E-fucking-nough.

She moved off the wall without realising, bearing down on the two hatchlings circling each other. A scowl was thrown at the necromorph, along wtih a very punctuated "Knock. That. Off." She brought up her cannon with a sudden motion, aiming it square at the insectoid hatchling - face tearing was not acceptable. It didn't have to know that she was technically 'unarmed'. "Stand down. Go find your partner. This is getting no uglier," she warned, giving about one and a half shits as to whether or not it could understand her. (Judging by the others, it was almost a given that it could, anyways.)

[Admin]

At Samus's words, the Xenomorph broke apart from its sibling. Its head went low, wings rising and silver-grey teeth baring in a threat display that was unmistakable. Now that it had been out of shell for a minute, it was obvious that there was something wrong with it. In addition to being massive compared to some of its siblings, its headknobs and neckridges seemed deformed, twisted together into something that resembled nothing more than a bizarre crest. Its head twisted to the side as it regarded Samus, and a low, nasty hiss rumbled in its throat.

The Predator hatchling responded with a resonating roar, headbutting its sibling squarely in the ribcages. The Xenomorph squalled, twisting and slashing at the Predator, who shrieked a response and momentarily buried its teeth in the joint between neck, shoulder, and wing. The Xenomorph's teeth fastened on the Predator's foreleg.

Two animals shrieked and twisted, locked together in a moment of ferocious combat. Spatters of ichor hit the floor, some the typical greyish-green and some a vibrant green that seemed almost luminescent in the harsh lighting. It didn't look like regular ichor, though there seemed to be no difference besides the colour.

The Shadow did not move, simply curled himself into as small a ball as possible, hid his head under a wing and tried very hard to make himself unnoticeable. The Necromorph snarled at Nemesis, mantling her scythe-wings and turning her head from the assembled back to the combatant pair, though a quick look and a snarl from the Xenomorph silenced the broadcast malice and panic. The Necromorph's head fell low, and she darted away, scrabbling over the Shadow hatchling in her haste to escape. She charged blindly, crashing through several members of the assembled group before finally sprawling onto the ground in front of Vityai, Taavi, Alex, and Gustav. For a moment, she looked up at the three, expression difficult-to-read but nonetheless one of pleading. Vityai, Vityai, please, she begged, and her voice blossomed strong and loud in the baker's mind. Please, I'm not like them, she wants me out of it, please Vityai. Help me! and Impression was made, even as the combatants on the floor intensified their squabble.

But eventually, the locked pair parted, Xenomorph and Predator's eyes both returning to Samus and her cannon. The Xenomorph hissed once more, mantling her wings before slinking back. The Predator, on the other hand, approached, head low, mandibles half-flared. Ichor - grey-green, rather than bright lime - dripped from them as he slunk to the security officer. His own flank was scored, dripping the strangely-luminescent ichor as he looked up. Samus, you can lower that, he growled, butting his head against his chosen partner's leg. She would have done more damage, but my sister got in the way. His gaze turned then to the Necromorph, and the croon he gave was one of near-affection. But then he looked to Samus again, nodding his head in a short, gruff gesture. We will stop her from trying it again, he added, a gruff growl in his voice as he turned his gaze back to his sister.

The Xenomorph shrieked in response, lifting her head and snarling defiance at all the assembled.

Anna, I would not have them disrespect me, she snapped, flaring her wings and strutting back and forth without once looking at her chosen partner. Come and claim me and they will understand what they are dealing with. It will not happen again. And then, only then did she turn her grey-white eyes to the canine handler, baring her teeth in what could be interpreted as either a snarl or a very, very disconcerting human grin. I am sorry for startling you, she added suddenly, lowering her head slightly, but I would not have known otherwise. You were not recognizable. Now you are. Come here, Anna. Come and name me.

[Azumi]

Vertigo. That was certainly an experience that Kaylee didn't go through very often, and the whole wash of fear, terror and everything Wrong with this whole entire situation kept the young mechanic firmly grounded on her butt and attempting to hide behind her own knees.

That is until she heard something in her head; her name, whimpered by boy's voice. This made her peek up from her arms and legs, so momentarily confused that she didn't even realize the washes of fear and the vertigo had all stopped. What on the farm was going on -- was there a kid in here? Who would let a child into this mess? Suddenly feeling alarmed, Kaylee slowly moved forward onto her knees and peered through a couple pairs of legs, trying her hardest to not look at where some people were bleeding.

Kaylee, I can't see you, but I can feel that you're out there somewhere. I... can't move, or they'll find me. Do you think you can come and get me? Or are you trapped too?

It was only after more words entered her head did everything click, and she felt a wave on inexplicable love pour clean right over her. It made her heart instantly giddy, and she carefully stood up and moved around one poor observing sod, her head tilting to try and see the --

Holy lord in a chicken fat fryer what was going on now!?

The xenomorph hybrid had just hatched, and before Kaylee could figure out what was going on there was a full on snarling scuffle between it and the predator hybrid that had once more shown up from nowhere. It was like a dog fight, but the whole fact that these things could very well kill you as soon as look at you rang quite clear in kaylee's understanding. Even when Anna pulled out a ...lord who knew what that was, it didn't make the woman feel any better. Guns. No guns.

"Oh noo," Kaylee whimpered, her whole person shaking. She was trying very hard to no sink back amidst the crowed and hide. That little thing needed her, and he was so scared and now all alone, huddled in a ball amongst Hell. ...

"H-Hold on, I'm comin'," she squeaked, jerkily moving herself around towards the shadow hybrid and staying as far as she could from the battle duo. It didn't take long before she was against the wall, directly parallel, yet there was still a gap and the fighters were RIGHT THERE.

She held out her arms. "C'mon, now...i-it'll be alright," she cooed as....optimistically as she could, which wasn't very. At all.

N-no, Kaylee, hide, hide! the hybrid whimpered, peeking out from behind one wing. But Kaylee had already found some courage and was crouched beside him. ...and instantly he shuffled over and tried to hide -- NO.

As the xenomorph and predator brought their rumble close by again, the shadow deemed it TOO close now that his own girl was there, and he let out a pretty sizable hiss at both of them. His body curled over Kaylee's shins and a wing extended upwards, however after the hiss he retreated his head to bury itself into her stomach. Can't see. Can't see.

"It's ok...it's ok....it's, oh, they broke it up...." Kaylee commented, her voice tilting upwards in a nearly surprised, happy tone that completely didn't fit the situation they were all in. This only made th shadow hybrid glance up at her from his hidey spot, and he randomly decided to interject.

kaylee...I need a name, please?

"Oh!... Oh....I uh. Well there are lots of names; do you know of any you like?" How was she having this conversation right now?

The Shadow shook his head the best he could.

The mechanic fell silent for a moment, her lips puckering as she stared at the hybrid's back, though not at anything in particular. "Eugene...."

That sounds --

"Eugene Julian Nigel. "

Wait, what?

"Actually, Eugene Julian Nigel Tam. That sound good?" she asked.

Eugene could only really nod at this point. For the most part he was completely confused and really only remembered the 'Eugene.' But that was good enough to him. It was just fine.

[Admin]

Well. Now that all the nonsense was over, the Nice Job Breaking It, Hero egg could hatch at last.

With all the currently hatched hybrids paired up with their respective people, and nobody trying to murder anybody at least for the present moment, the pristine white egg rocked, then spilled out a dark, dark grey form. Uniformly near-black save for the white 'mask' from nose to headknobs, she looked more like a minature dragon than a hybrid, completely lacking in the wherlike ridges and strange deformities that so many of the others had possessed. The GLaDOS hybrid stood up, taking the time to clean egg-goo off her smooth hide before she turned her attention to the remaining Candidates. With no idiots in the way, she could take her time and do this properly...

But there was another egg remaining as well. The Would You Kindly egg shivered, rocked violently, and then out exploded an animal that should not be.

Even the Reaper had not been this deformed. Blackish-bronze and hulking, it was like someone had taken a miniature bronze wher and squashed it in unnatural ways. Disproportionately massive shoulders and a hyena-like sloping back led to a deformed, rounded head - and oh Faranth, the eyes. They were yellow, and glowing, and there were eight of them scattered across that wrongly-shaped skull. The Bouncer swung its head around, stumbling strangely as if it were badly disoriented - and then howled, a sound of confusion and pain and fury. This was wrong. Everything was wrong.

No, I don't think so. The voice that interrupted was female, flat and robotic, nearly devoid of emotional inflection. The Bouncer whirled on her with jaws gaping, struggling to focus on GLaDOS as she walked directly up to her hulking sibling without fear. She reached out to touch her muzzle to his, a strange echo of the way that the Necromorph had reassured the Shadow...

Blink.

A little rush of cold, and the Bouncer was gone. Vanished, as if he had never been. Gone between - something that hybrid hatchlings could not do. Not of their own accord, not if they did not Impress - Alex, alive and adult and watching in utter confusion, was proof enough of that. And judging from the self-satisfied cant of GlaDOS' head as she turned around and strolled back towards the waiting lab techs, the Bouncer had not gone of his own accord. She had sent him there.

With tremendous satisfaction, she coiled at Salvador's feet, watching the crowd with mismatched eyes - one orange, one blue. In puzzlement, Salvador reached down. His hand grazed her heaknobs, eyeridges. An expression til that point curiously blank broke into the slightest of half-smiles. She had done well, though he would regret the loss of the sibling. Several billion dollars down the drain. Investors would not like that.

Well, Maggie, this has been quite an adventure, hasn't it? But I don't see any reason to drag this pointless ritual out any longer. She made no move to leave Salvador's side.

[Ferret]

Oh, shit balls fuck hell shards fardles! Taavi knew more curse words, but they tended to be in some unspoken tongue made out of pure rage and fear. The hybrids were fighting now and he sure as hell couldn't tell if this was just a playfight----kittens did it all the time, right?----or if this was a real thing. Ichor streaked across the floor.

Yep. Tooottally real. So... uhh... he quietly retreated behind Alex once more, tugging Gustav along with him. The hybrid went along placidly enough, although he continued to force thoughts of ichor-fresh-hunt-hunger right into Taavi's brain. It was all very disconcerting. "Look, you'll be fed soon!" he said, trying to reassure the hefty hybrid.

ohshit. One of them sprawled so damn close, causing Taavi to back away cautiously. Now it was his turn to try and gently haul Vityai back.

Tiktiktik went Gustav's claws as the hybrid got up once more. His tail dragged along behind him as he approached his sprawled sister, his face unreadable and his mind silent. Inscrutable eyes blinked once, twice, before he nudged her heavily. It was like being nuzzled by a t-rex, in comparison, but he was trying. He rumbled again before going back to Taavi's side, a job well done.

Or...

Something. Taavi wasn't even certain what the hell his own hybrid was thinking. Looking back over Alex, he was reassured to see that the others had Impressed safely. Well... good. And this one too? Maybe? He looked back towards the Necromorph hybrid. Gustav growled, sending, more or less, agreement through the bond. This one was Vit's.

Welp, that was good enough for Taavi. Gathering his courage, he sprinted across the room, grabbed some meat, and sprinted back. He made sure to bring enough for Gustav and the new... thing. Was it a boy or girl? Would anyone dare ask? "Here," he offered the meat to Vit before turning his attention to Gustav.

[Nozomi]

The longer the fight continued, the tighter drawn Vityai's shoulders became. Ichor spilled and the little bug-winged Necromorph seemed to try but... she got shot down. And she ran, scrambling over siblings and towards the baker cuddlepile.

Dimly aware of Taavi's hand on him, pulling him back, Vityai almost took that step back when a very female voice reverberated through his brain. Vityai, Vityai, please.

He saw rainbows and waved Taavi off without the typical hand-flick of irritation. That presence stayed in his head, high and pleading and very much not his. Please, I'm not like them, she wants me out of it, please Vityai. The hybrid, sickly looking and odd-winged and glorious, she looked up at him from her sprawled out position. Help me!

He stared down at her and crouched the same time Gus wandered over. The unnamed female snapped her jaws at him just once without any true ire to her. Her attention focused in on Vityai, quiet and without anger as well. The baker gathered up the small female in his arms, wings and all, and very gently kissed in between the eyeridges. In public affection they both knew would not be commonplace, but it nevertheless gave her something to squirm about.

They projected <3's at each other.

"You're just fine, and we got you out of it. See? And - you need a name, don't you." Gus didn't have a name. Taavi ran back and forth somewhere and Vityai remained crouching, her still in arm. One of the offworlders told him a story once - one of their gods, a female one, the unending energy and stars and it had some sort of name but he couldn't remember and - shardit.

"Taravi." He said. Vityai took the meat from Taavi, trying to ignore the twitch of irritation or anger from Taravi's mind when others got too close to them, fed that irritation or anger into her. Underneath, she remained calm, and he fed her. "Your name is Taravi."

I'm Taravi. Taravi agreed, and with some sort of childish smugness. She cuddled down against his chest and ate. Vityai grinned, wide and real, moreso then he had when he was drunk, and turned the smile back to poor Taavi. "Her name is Taravi."

[Celaeno]

...Well, that was interesting. Apparently the mutations weren't done yet, looking at the Xenomorph hatchling. A weird thought crept into her head through the haze of 'oh god what' and 'are the rest of us going to survive this?'-namely, wondering how that crest was going to affect the hybrid's head and neck. It looked heavier than anything the others had, especially with how scrawny the violent, alarmingly large thing looked.

And then the fighting started up again, worse than it had before. The shrieking made Anna wince automatically, once again sure this was going to end with somebody either missing a limb or a throat. But Samus' cannon seemed to do the trick, and Anna found herself quietly grateful that the other woman had thought to bring her armor along. It seemed unlikely that anything else would get the two to quit.

The ear-piercing shriek made her wince again, the icepick-through-the-eye feeling returning for a brief moment. That sensation was quickly replaced by the gut-dropping feeling of dread.

Oh. Shit.

It had to be that one, didn't it? The one she had put effort into staying out of the way of. The one that managed to traumatize damn near everyone who touched its-no, hers, she was definitely a female and anyone who assumed otherwise would be missing a face-egg. Anna swallowed as the Xenomorph turned to look at her, teeth bared. The...was that an apology? Kind of? was unexpected, to say the least. The entire bond of Impression occuring just added to surreal state of things. But it urged Anna forward, making the Xenomorph lift her head up again, resuming a more haughty posture.

Well?

Anna found herself racking her brain for names and for a few moments coming up completely blank. Then a memory hit her. She'd known many dogs who made an impression on her. She hadn't handled all of them, but she remembered them. And one of them was coming to mind now, the most aggressive K9 dog she'd ever known, a big black horror who showed why female dogs were called bitches."Nyx."

Nyx's face wasn't much for expression besides rage, given her blunt muzzle and already impressive teeth, but her body language was distinctly pleased.Now. Food?

"Food," Anna said distractedly, picking up on the hatchling's hunger-and another thing. Nyx had gotten herself chewed on already, and while the hybrid was maintaining her composure, Anna could tell that the bite wound hurt. "And disinfectant." She looked around for a nearby lab tech, suddenly feeling slightly awkward. Would they even be willing to come near something that had just taken out a co-worker's eye? "Is there a first aid kit around here-?"

It was damn weird, suddenly looking out for something she just knew in her gut was probably going to be trying to chew pieces off her siblings. And she didn't trust Nyx herself yet. But maybe, with training...

Maybe. Good god, she was going to have to find those choke collars again and fast.

[Cherie]

The spectacle that unfolded was simply too astounding for words. ... No, astounding wasn't the right word. Fascinating was close. Intriguing. Interesting. All of her favorite words. Words that Maggie used far too frequently. "Well, would you look at that!" she remarked, observing the interplay between the siblings with rapt fascination. Hmmn, wonderful? It was definitely a lovely scene, and it had given her a little insight into the group dynamic of the Terribling clutch. Was the Predator a leader of a sort? If so, was the Xenomorph one as well? They seemed to have... a rather firmly established distaste for one another, one that, had she not touched the eggs herself, would have simply left her baffled. As it was, Maggie could not help but find their complexities to be remarkable. Yes, simply remarkable! Why, in one go she'd seen them progress through quite the display!

Truly, it was clear that much study would need to be done of the hybrids, and it was quite, quite unfortunate that her own specialty was not... uniquely suited to that pursuit. Ah well. Perhaps, however, she would be able to interview the newly bonded humans? Surely their own insight would shed some light onto the nature of the hybrids themselves; Alex had shown a rather fantastically human-like nature, hadn't he? Well. Perhaps it was simply their intelligence that so intrigued her. An intelligence that dragons simply could not replicate, given their short term memories. They could be ridiculously advanced, of course, very bright... but the ability to retain knowledge... now that separated the two species. Subspecies? Hmmn.

If she could just find the right opportunity, maybe she could--

Well now, wasn't that interesting? Maggie had never considered the possibility that a hybrid could go between. Fascinating. Had they accomplished it with the sort of instinctive ability that a dragon possessed? That seemed hardly likely. Certainly, to her knowledge, Alex was not capable of such. And yet, she had seen it with her very eyes. There was so much that they didn't know about the hybrids' abilities, so much that they-- a voice inserted itself into Maggie's ponderings, and somewhere along the line, Maggie realized that that voice was not her own.

Well, Maggie, this has been quite an adventure, hasn't it? But I don't see any reason to drag this pointless ritual out any longer.

"Hmmn? Yes, quite." ... Wait, what?

The addition of that mind to her own opened up entirely new avenues, new horizons. It was... quite simply, the most mindblowing experience that the anthropologist had ever had. There were simply depths that she had never explored, had never had the means to explore... and it was all there. All of it. She was supposed to name this sleek, lovely creature. A name...

Don't let me stop you from taking all day with this. Really. I'm sure we have nothing important to do. Hybrids don't need to eat, after all.

That brought a laugh from Maggie, who walked quite calmly over to her new companion, and placed a hand gently between her headknobs. "Kali. Will that suffice, oh particular one?" the anthropologist asked, amusement quite evident in her voice. It will have to. You probably can't come up with anything better, said the hybrid, and Maggie felt a sense of approval from her newly bonded partner. "It's actually quite fitting, don't you think? It means the Black One, and Kali was both a destroyer, and and the redeemer." She spoke softly, uninterested in sharing her dialog with anyone else.

Salvador would hear it of course, but then Kali hadn't moved from her place at his feet. It will suffice. the hybrid reaffirmed, as Maggie cast about for something to feed her. Hmmn. Surely they'd been prepared for this? It would be utterly illogical for things to have proceeded this far without food made readily available to the hybrids. Probably, Maggie was just too distracted by oh my god, shiny to pick up on important things, such as where that food was located. When we're done with that, we'll do science, yes? Was there a note of excitement in the hybrid's voice? It was almost impossible to tell. "We're doing science right now," she said, and she wondered if this was what Impressing a dragon felt like.

[Dragonfire]

Ugly mother. That was... pretty much the only thing that could be said about this strange, 'plated', terrible thing. (Well, not that any of them were exactly pretty, but some were better than others, and...) Samus watched it warily as it turned to look at her, tensing, ready to spring if it came at her.

She didn't end up having to - the stupid black-and-gold rushed at it again, and the two were fighting once more like dogs and cats. Cats and cats. Rancor and krayt. Whatever. Blood - no, ichor - was being shed, and they were only getting more heated.

She had just taken a step forward, ready to go tear the two apart and punch them both soundly in the heads (that black toothy thing first, obviously), when they broke apart. One slunk off, and the other approached her. Somehow, she wasn't particularly surprised.

Samus considered the hatchling with a cool eye, and lowered her arm cannon smoothly, smiling very, very slightly. "You know that it doesn't work at the moment, anyways." She had a habit for stating the obvious, at times. It seemed like the best thing to do, in light of the euphoria that hit her. Impression. So that's what it felt like.

I do now, yes. An effective threat display, nonetheless. She will remember, as will I. His mandibles flared, suddenly and briefly, almost as if to mirror the mercenary's previous actions. Was that a toothy grin, or what? I need a name.

She nodded, lowering herself beside the creature - her creature - on a bent knee. She opened her mouth to say something, but stopped. No, not 'ultimate warrior'. It would not do to puff him up so before their training even began. "...Yautme." Guardian. Let him not forget it.

Yautme lowered his head, rumbling in what she could only assume was pleasure. Your orders, Erin?

She almost started at the use of her first name, staring at him. Of course. He had gone through her memories - of course he'd know. She looked around the room, briefly. Apparently the final two hatchlings had found theirs... well, no, that egg was broken, but there was no hatchling to be seen. How odd. "...We're done here. Let's get you fed." She eyed the bright splotch of green dotting his flank, noticing it as he shifted slightly. "...And then cleaned up."

The wiggling of the hybrid's tail - and his mandibles - told her that was precisely the answer he'd been wanting to hear.