Dr Daniel: I have made natural observations, but it wasn’t enough. We needed controlled data. Variables and isolated results. Your past offspring—each one reacted differently. Some resisted the change. Some… embraced it.
(Dr Daniel's hand clenched slightly.)
Dr Daniel: And a few didn’t survive the transition at all But the ones who adapted… they weren’t just stable.
(He looked directly at Sky-fire again.)
Dr. Daniel: They were evolving faster than you. Though Cipher, my son.. his blood was altered, combined, with deep-ocean genomic structures: pressure-resistant tissues, amphibious respiration, neural elasticity. And well, his body restructured itself to match environments it shouldn’t even have been able to perceive: water pressure, chemical gradients… even electromagnetic fields. A hybrid. A sea-born organism, shaped by your biology.
(He closed his eyes briefly.)
Dr Daniel: What I did to him… may not have been the worst outcome. Yet...
Sky-fire:
How dare you communicate with me after all you've done to me, Cipher and my offspring?!
(pause)
Sky-fire:
If you told me what you did, to my past offspring and Cipher, to get me angry enough to come find you, you've succeeded! I do not know how long it will take me, but I will hunt you down, Dr. Daniel!
Dr Daniel: You misunderstand the nature of what has been done. I did not act out of cruelty, nor out of some personal vendetta against you, Cipher, or your offspring. My work is driven by observation, by necessity, and by questions that your kind alone can answer.
You see harm. I see data. You see loss. I see transformation. That does not make your pain irrelevant, but it does make your conclusions incomplete.
If you intend to find me, then understand this: I will not run. Not because I underestimate you, but because there is still much you do not know. And if you reach me, you will be faced with a choice far more complex than revenge. Consider carefully whether you want answers… or simply an ending.