Schroeder honestly hadn't meant to Synth all the possible Asandus crossbreeds. He and his team had gotten started with the contradictory Air/Earths and Fire/Waters, enjoying the novelty of their dichotomy, and then added in some Fire/Lights for "old" times' sake...and before they knew it, they'd put together the genetics for every possible half-and-half crossbreed--a full ten varieties.
Then an odd thing had happened to two of the sub-clutches--the Earth/Water and the Fire/Water, to be precise. While the Air/Water and Light/Water firstborn bore the familiar, finny traits of the Cascatan donors they'd been Synthed from, the half-Earth and half-Fire had absolutely no resemblance to their Cascatan heritage--they had fleshy wings, fluke-tipped tails, flat head-crests, and odd elastic pouches across their collarbones.
Blood samples taken from the mutant firstborn had revealed a fascinating thing--half their genetics were still recognizably Asandus, but seemed to be of an entirely new strain. With this knowledge in hand and some queries sent to places of note on the Asandus homeworld, Avengaea--such as the city Sanctuary and the Avengaean Nidus--an answer was eventually found. The Air/Water and Light/Water retained their parents' "Old" Cascatan genetics, while the Earth/Water and Fire/Water had spontaneously changed to be half "New" Cascatan.
Aki, the local godling, had been exceedingly amused by the spontaneous evolution, and when queries had been made to her humor she'd replied, "It's always fun to see a cousin at work."
But Old or New, divine influence or none, there were ten little firstborn wandering around Hatching Bay, examining the various candidates, their egg-bound siblings, and otherwise mightily enjoying themselves. A few of them had already decided to remain on the Destiny just as Callidei had done, happy where they were and with no desire to bond or be sponsored away, but the others were eager to find new bonds and friends to go home with.
Alongside the firstborn there were three other eggs per sub-clutch: a final total of forty younglings. This was the first Synth, Schroeder observed, where the candidates outnumbered the available dragons by a significant margin. Word had spread, one way or another, and the Bay floor held no less than fifty individuals who hoped to either bond or be selected as a sponsor this day.
An impromptu sort of family reunion seemed to be taking place as well--four of the crossbreeds from the last Asandus clutch, Synth 03, had returned, as had the Synth 03 mothers, Chiya and Ketvia. Chiya and Ketvia were still common visitors to the Destiny, in order to visit their firstborn Callidei now and again, but the others were faces Schroeder hadn't seen since their births. With appropriate grandfatherly pleasure, he'd taken the time to personally welcome "home" each of them, leaving the final coordination of the hatching to Devika and Callidei (who was far too excited about her first "project" to do much more than wave at each of them as she scurried about with a datapad in one humanoid-shifted hand, loyally trailed by her Obsydian-colored bond).
Callidei was heard, however, to make one semi-confused comment to the elder daemon assisting her: "It's weird being the firstborn and being younger than everybody else, now! Timelines are weeeiiiird."
Then at last, all the candidates were checked off against the datapad Callidei carried, confirming everyone there had Ministry (and Schroeder's) approval to be there. Thus assured, Callidei went to stand at the halfway point between the egg-clusters and the candidate-groups, with her bond Battleworn Claw at one side and Dr. Schroeder returning from his greetings to stand at her other.
The older man then gave telepathic approval to all the presentient eggs eagerly awaiting their time to hatch, and the hatching began in earnest. But as shells began to crack, the already-hatched firstborn made sure to get their claims staked first!
"I'll see you 'round, Callidei!" smiled the Askan-Piralan firstborn, wishing farewell to the girl who'd been a devoted caretaker to him and his eggbound siblings.
"G'bye, Perluceon," Callidei grinned back. "Make me proud!"
With a laugh and jaunty wave of his opal-plumed tail, Perluceon Deaabath trotted off towards the sponsor-group, knowing exactly who he was headed for. Smiling, he settled at the feet of Eala Selamputo. "So you're my...half-sister, is it? What's Dad like?"
The creamy-colored firstborn from the Cascatan/Makanan clutch pranced merrily towards the bond-group on her webbed feet. "Neveaunt! Neveaunt!" she laughed, grinning brightly as she pressed close to her new bond's legs. "We'll be the bestest friends ever!" promised Olymphae Toerii.
The Askan/Niteshan firstborn was a pretty little thing with an opal-white hide and teal pigmentation, her tint-color extending to even her jellylike tail and the gems on her back. Without a moment's hesitation, she headed straight towards Ostendo Reilucesco--her father. The yellow-tinted Askan had been one of the few gene-donors who had taken an actual parental interest in the Biosynth, and had visited not-infrequently to tell stories to the presentient eggs as they waited to hatch.
"Hi, Daddy," beamed Lapilla Filideterra-Reilucesco, sitting at the older Asandus's feet. "Can we go home and see some of your light-sculptures?"
The catdragon whorling, Briallen, found the Makanan/Piralan firstborn heading her way, an adorable little smile on his armored features. His fur had a rumpled look to it, as if he'd just rolled out of bed before coming down to the Bay, and even his shuffling little walk was the epitome of cute.
"Hiya!" he chirped, waving one stubby wing. "I'm Aestaseo Peragro!"
Amnisa Acuan, the Askan/Cascatan firstborn, was a pretty little thing with her blue coat accented with gold pigmentation on her belly and skullcap. After scanning the minds of all the bonders present, she scampered eagerly towards the half-Piralan Icallan Sislen-Oranato.
"Hi Icallan!" she grinned. "You're just who I was waiting for!"
With her eyes wide and wondering, the Askan/Makanan firstborn padded cautiously towards Saeneh Na'carrah, her head craned back to stare waaaaaaaay up at the nine-headed Hathydra. Even though by Destiny standards the Hathydra clutch had only been a few months ago, Saeneh dwelled in a realm of accelerated time and was already full-grown.
"Are you all the same dragon?" blinked little Leflabrae Promontores, looking from one head to the next.
"The hairless impostor heroically pulverized the runny liverwurst sandwich," grinned one of Saeneh's lesser heads.
Leflabrae's face screwed up in confusion. "What?"
Saeneh's crowned head laughed. "That is to say, yes I am!
"Well...good!" replied the little crossbreed, smiling as she recovered. "Because I don't think I could handle nine bonds!"
The purple-toned Cascatan/Piralan firstborn, Repertius Acuan-Oranato, headed right for Ahvaku Riendir. "So you can fuse things together, huh?" he asked, his crested head tilted thoughtfully. "Bet I can do better!" he then grinned.
Commutaera Fadenul was the last of the firstborn to seek a sponsor before the first of the eggs started divulging their occupants. Commutaera went straight to the feet of Denique Diemicana-Pariyani, who was now a member of the Avengaean Ampilae and on a recruitment mission to try and bring some crossbreeds home. Though Dr. Schroeder was a little distasteful of such motivation--and Denique wasn't the only Ampilo among the sponsors--the doctor wasn't going to stop any kit that chose to go with the Ampilae.
The Cascatan/Niteshan firstborn, however, wasn't choosing to go with Denique for the reasons he might've expected. She'd paid very close attention to his little speeches towards the eggs and other firstborn about the merits of the Ampilae and crossbreeds' special natures, and found them something to scoff at.
"Calling everyone special just means nobody is, you know," she commented dryly, sitting down by the older crossbreed.
The last two firstborn--Makanan/Niteshan Aeolius Ventul and Niteshan/Piralan Quaestuo Terrena--had both decided they wanted to stay on the Destiny, so they sat off to the side and out of the way as the rest of the crossbreed kits finally cleared their shells and started making choices of their own.
Even though he had to wobble along on long webbed fingers, Aferoxu Acuan-Oranato managed to be the first of the hatched kits to reach the sponsor-group. He was a vibrantly colored fellow, with a bright stripe of red accenting his blue-toned body.
"So you write things, huh?" he asked, settling by Laila Twih. "Can you write something all about me?" laughed the hatchling.
A large kit from the Niteshan/Piralan clutch padded towards the bonder-group, attracting eyes as she went. Her Piralan heritage had given her an entirely red pelt and turned the gemmy parts of her body a salmony sort of pink. It was no surprise, then, that Schroeder had given her a name from a word that meant "red coral"--Curaliua Terrena.
When Curaliua made her choice, Nyera Cartova became her bond. "I'll never go anywhere you can't find me," promised the hatchling, nuzzling the woman's hand.
A yellow-brown female from the Cascatan/Makanan clutch looked around timidly, casting her thoughts out for a familiar mind, before padding across the bay to where Callidei stood and tugging on the older Asandus's pants.
"Um...which ones are your mommies?" asked the kit in a quiet voice, her green eyes wide and nervous as they flicked over at the scowling Battleworn Claw.
"Right there," Callidei smiled, pointing towards Chiya Diemicana and Ketvia Pariyani.
Murmuring a soft thanks and getting a reassuring head-pat before she left, the yellow kit padded shyly over to the grown Askan and Piralan. The Asandae saw her coming and were already attentive to her by the time she stopped a little ways before them, her head ducked timorously.
"Callidei told me about you," she murmured, the two adults straining to pick up her soft voice over the noise of the rest of the hatching. "Will you be my mommies?"
"Of course, sweetling," Chiya answered in a soothing tone. The kit allowed the Askan to pick her up and cradle her in her large hands. "What's your name?"
"Chrysoli Toerii," answered the kit, managing a shy smile.
An attractively colored kit from the Askan/Makanan clutch headed for the sponsor-group only after he'd taken the time to clean as much egg-goo off him as he could, and thus made himself as presentable as possible. His pelt was an orangey yellow, accenting nicely with his blue pigmentation and the white plates of his armor.
"Hello, Father!" smiled the hatchling as he went up to Ciano Otinus. "May I go with you? My name is Miubaro Promontores!"
Another Cascatan/Makanan homed in on the sponsor-group, this time a pale blue male. He zeroed in on a little group of people made up of a woman sitting in a repulsor-chair, a man leaning on a cane and holding her hand, and two human-formed Asandae girls from Synth 03.
"Happy birthday!" cheered the little kit, looking up at the man and woman, who both smiled as they felt the familiar sensation of bonding--and then Everett Paine and Reece Bradyn looked at each other in surprise as they realized what the kit had done and that they could vaguely sense each other across their new link!
Epistrio Toerii seemed unaware of his bonds' confusion, still speaking as he frowned to himself. "No, wait, that's me. I mean...congratulations!" He hopped up on his hind feet to lean on the arm of Reece's chair. "Can I see the bracelet?"
One of the kits from the Cascatan/Niteshan clutch was an earthy-colored fellow, his brown hide marked with a rich green body-stripe and gems that matched. Making his way to the sponsor-group, he singled out the only candidate who wasn't an example of animal life--the sentient Venus flytrap, Dionaea. "You were genetic'ly engineered, too?" grinned Astrumu Fadenul. "Awesome!"
An opal-pelted Askan/Cascatan spent a good amount of time examining the various candidates with a clear look of disgust on his face, swishing his blue-finned tail with displeasure. At last, however, he spotted the glossy green form of the normally aquatic Lasira, her long body curled upon the mossy floor of the Bay.
"Thank Asuka, at least there's someone worthy here!" exclaimed Procellao Acuan, settling by his new bond.
While Everett and Reece attempted to adjust to the new bond they now shared, a Makanan/Piralan was edging up to Cura and Fiducia Diemicana-Pariyani.
"Hey, did he just bond both of them?" asked Fors Peragro, arching one armored brow. "Hey, then I'm gonna do that too!" he exclaimed, and then the sisters found themselves sharing their own link as well. Now the whole little family was tied together, each bond echoing faintly through the others!
A yellow-pigmented male from the Askan/Niteshan clutch wandered over to the dragon Sephael, eying the other dragon's many and oddly-placed wings.
"You know," Dirego Filideterra-Reilucesco told his new bond, "I bet you'd fly best if you kept all those little wings closed and only flew with the ones on your back!"
Cemitae Rufasilex was another gene-donor who had taken a parental interest in the Biosynth, and peered curiously at the two remaining Makanan/Piralans, who he now knew were descended from his own genetic contribution. One of them, a tawny yellow female, returned his gaze and then approached.
"Hi Daddy," smiled little Favilli Peragro. "D'you want me to go with you?"
Cemitae returned his daughter's smile. "I'd like that."
The hatchling beamed. "Me too!"
The last of the Makanan/Piralans, an orangey female, homed in on the other Asandus that had provided the genetics for that sub-clutch: Viapera Peragro.
"Hello Mother," Perury Peragro greeted the Makanan dryly, looking around the Bay with something like disgust. "I'll go with you. I don't like anyone else here."
A Niteshan/Piralan of mahogany-brown fur and mustard-yellow gems approached the badger-like being named Grekath, her gait calm and her expression somewhat reserved.
"I don't know if I'm what you need," murmured Ochasmatia Terrena, "but I hope we'll be friends anyway."
The candidate named Nightshade Fear was a dragon Dr. Schroeder couldn't help but regard with a bit of bemusement--the long-bodied creature looked uncannily like some of the hybrids that had hatched back at Synth 04. None of Dread Corollary's offspring had been so brightly orange and purple, though.
The vibrant dragon was approached by a hatchling from the Askan/Niteshan clutch, her coloration rather dull in comparison to his--she was a bronzed sort of brown with opal-white pigmentation.
"Hiya, Nightie!" grinned Siderita Filideterra-Reilucesco. "Ready to get into--and out of--trouble?"
A brightly-colored Askan/Cascatan--her opal-white hide accented with bright gold pigmentation--approached a sponsor who was almost her opposite in coloration--a winged creature of black and dark green.
"Janukaen'Riyovii," murmured the hatchling, flicking her long ears. "Now that's a mouthful! I'm just Culari. Culari Acuan. Nice to meet you!"
Ever since her younger charge Briallen had bonded one of the firstborn, the hybrid catdragon Heulwen had eagerly waited to see if she would bond today as well. She wasn't worried about not bonding, though. Heulwen was an eternal optimist, and if she didn't bond today, she'd just bond another time!
A fiery-colored little hatching shuffled the hybrid's way, her tired body-posture completely at odds with her bold hide. She was one of the Cascatan/Piralans, with the body-stripe of a New Cascatan a bright yellow streak across her red fur.
The hatchling looked up at Heulwen with tired grey eyes. "How can you be so happy all the time?"
"It's not so hard," she answered with a smile, lowering her head more to the crossbreed's level. "Aren't you happy?"
Fervefaci Acuan-Oranato shook her head despondently at her new bond. "Nope."
The black-pelted Shiol, Kthyseryr, stood as far apart from the other candidates as he could, his many glow-tipped tails and bobbing cyborware antenna drawing plenty of attention from the curious, newly-hatched Asandae. The out-of-time creature had to tolerate being peered at as the hatchlings wandered the crowd in search of the bond or sponsor they wanted, but at least it was the innocent and harmless curiosity of children.
Then, at last, Kthyseryr was approached with definite purpose by not one, but two crossbreeds. The first was a female Cascatan/Niteshan with a chocolate-dark hide, sky-blue body stripe, and paddle-like wings and tail of emerald green gem-substance. The other was an Askan/Makanan male with opal-white fur and pale gold tint.
"We want to help you," murmured the female, hopefully looking up at the Shiol.
"Will you trust us?" asked the male, his armor-plated features bearing a similar expression.
For a moment, Kthyseryr seemed startled by the dual approach. No one else had been approached by two dragons.
But then he noticed something. Something in the male's face spoke to him of a cheerful Aonan while the female's quietness more suggested a Trian--the other two genders of his species, alongside his own Daan. Then, he thought, perhaps there was some kind of strange fate--some abstract destiny--at work here.
"I think so. I will try," he told them.
The hatchlings smiled.
"I'm Cavea Fadenul," said the female.
"And I'm Evertu Promontores," added the male.
A green-pelted dragoness tapped her tail impatiently as she watched the hatching proceed around her. Why had her great-uncle, Icallan, bonded one of the firstborn, and not her?
"Sorry to make you wait," murmured an opal-white Askan/Piralan, sheepishly approaching Soma Sislen-Oranato. "You really are too great to go without a bond...so I hope I'm okay? I'm Calefacti Deaabath."
The timid grey wolv, Achira, stood shyly with her friend and cousin, feeling a little overwhelmed by all the strange people and swarm of little dragons around her. She didn't even realize one of the hatchlings had approached her on purpose until he nudged her hand with his muzzle.
"Don't worry, Achira," smiled a Niteshan/Piralan of brown and green coloration, his voice soft and low. "I'm with you now. My name is Esemanas Terrena."
"Heeeeeey, Calli!"
Callidei turned her head in surprise at being addressed. An orange-red male from the Askan/Piralan clutch she'd helped supervise trotted her way, jauntily waving the plume of his tail.
His approach immediately set Battleworn Claw on edge, and the black wolfdragon lunged to his feet with his teeth bared.
"Woah, woah, easy there, killer!" laughed the crossbreed, though he halted his approach. "I'm not gonna steal your girlfriend, I promise."
Claw narrowed his eyes suspiciously, still showing his teeth.
"Really, I'm not! Come on, dude, she's like my grandmother or something," smirked the hatchling.
Callidei looked startled by the comparison. "Alcandeo! I'm not a grandma!"
Alcandeo grinned broadly. "Well if Grandpa's Grandpa, that must make you Grandma!"
The older crossbreed wrinkled her nose cutely. "I don't think so."
"Alright then, Auntie Calli it is!" cackled Alcandeo. "Anyhow, I just wanted to let her know I'm sticking around."
Claw did not look pleased by that prospect.
It was with something like frustration that a large group of sponsors from Avengaea were greeted by curious kit after curious kit, with none of the young crossbreeds choosing to stay with them. Or at least it was frustrating to Kitten, the honorary Ampilo, and Ccsit, the gene artisan.
It certainly didn't help matters when the first kit who finally did stop settled at the feet of non-Ampilo Tripudia Diemicana-Pariyani and her partner Hiryuu Kurenanshekusai. She was one of the Makanan/Niteshan crosses, with bright green gems and dark brown hide and armor.
"I am so not a snot-nosed kid," stated Aesculeta Ventul. Wiping a film of albumen off her face and shaking her hand at the moss, she added, "I've just got egg on my face."
A murky green male from the Cascatan/Makanan clutch eventually singled the snow leopard Avanjallene from the crowd.
"I don't know why you'd wanna be humanoid again anyway," commented Grason Toerii, speaking of the fact that she had once been elven before her mysterious and inexplicable transformation. "Four feet beat two any day!"
Zilana Taurus, the blue-skinned Znorlian from a rather distant part of the galaxy, was at length approached by a Askan/Makanan female with opal-white fur and sky-blue pigmentation to her wings, skullcap, and tailfin.
"My name is Petasati Promontores," she introduced herself with calm confidence, "And I'm ready for anything and everything that may come our way."
"Happy birthday!" exclaimed a dark blue Askan/Cascatan, grinning as he approached the dragon called Varajji. "It's my birthday today too, you know! I'm Yacinthao Acuan!"
One of the hatchlings from the Makanan/Niteshan clutch was a surprisingly pale male. His father had been albino and the coloration had been passed on, leaving the little male tan of hide and yellow of gems. The candidate he stopped before was also pale, with greyed-pale skin and icy blue hair.
"Soo-be-sun!" exclaimed the crossbreed, seemingly nonsensically. "Suh-bir-sin! Sss-bar-son! Sibby Wyvern!"
"That's Ssubyrsyn Wyvryn," corrected the mixed-lineage boy.
"Sober...suuber...er, can I just call you 'Sibby'?" asked Gilvus Ventul, looking bashful.
The last hatchling from the Cascatan/Piralan clutch wandered among the various candidates for quite a while before finally picking her way over to where the two solo firstborn, Aeolius and Quaestuo, sat.
"Come to think of it, I don't want to be tied down by a bond or loomed over by a caretaker after all," commented Iberali Acuan-Oranato, flicking her tufted ears. "How much d'ya think they'll let me get away with, here?"
Aeolius arched one armor-plated brow. "You think Grandpa will let you get away with making trouble?"
Quaestuo snorted in derision, even as he conspicuously shuffled away from Iberali's albumen-wet self, disgusted at her sticky nearness. "You know he'd find out anything faster than any bond or sponsor would."
Iberali eyed the boys with newfound distaste. "Sheesh, you're no fun at all," she scoffed, and walked away to join Alcandeo instead.
An opal-furred Askan/Piralan female finally found her way over to Eyosha Deaabath.
"So you're Mom, eh?" asked Audentia Deaabath. "You'll do!"
The final Askan/Niteshan hatchling, after striding snobbily among the candidates with his nose in the air, at last made his way over to Denique Diemicana-Pariyani. He eyed Commutaera with disdain as he sat at the Ampilo's other side.
"You just don't appreciate how special we really are!" scoffed Faustos Filideterra-Reilucsesco.
One of the sponsor-candidates in the diminishing crowd was an old dragon who looked totally in place among the technological wizardry of Star City--Shurn had cybernetic additions to his body in abundance.
His shiny metal legs, tail, and hoverpacks at last attracted the attention of a Makanan/Niteshan with gems of a similar silver color.
"What's all that?" asked Epizeuxy Ventul, peering with ravenous curiosity at his cybernetic parts. "Why you wearing it? What's it do? Does it hurt? What's it made of?"
The very last hatchling to make his choice was a male from the Cascatan/Niteshan clutch. With more than a few candidates still left standing alone, he found himself watched very intently. He was a brightly colored individual with lime green gems and body-stripe accenting his cobalt blue hide.
"Ah, Zalevi, there you are!" he beamed, finding the black-furred pan-thar at last. "I'm Rebrosus Fadenul!"
As the excitement of the hatching wound down, little Callidei was at last able to relax. Or, at least, she had to freedom to relax, as she handed her datapad over to Devika to be double-checked, leaving the finalizations of the records to the experienced daemon. In truth, the little crossbreed was still too excited by everything to actually relax.
"Nothing went wrong!" she exclaimed happily, hanging on Dr. Schroeder's arm. "Everybody's healthy and has someplace to go!"
"And how'd she do on recording it, Devika?" Schroeder asked of the daemon.
"Looks good so far," Devika replied, comparing Callidei's list with her own.
Callidei beamed with pride, looking up at her grandfather. "I told you I'd help you make more eggs when I grew up, didn't I?"
The older man laughed, smiling as he tousled her mohawk of hair with his free hand. "And you did very well with it, too. I think you've found your calling!"
"I knew it was what I wanted to do even before I hatched," Callidei told him assuredly, looking around.
"Even if it means we call you 'Grandma'?" interjected Alcandeo, waggling his furry brows.
Callidei's expression wrinkled again, proving she was still a child by sticking her tongue out at the hatchling in response.
"Sorry, sorry." Alcandeo grinned. "Auntie Calli."