Amseli has been permitted to keep her job, so it's still her!

"That's not unreasonable. Our long term upside is still too good to turn down, but I think side projects like the films may be a little harder to come by. Is there anything we can do to rebuild faith with your people?"

Ruan is sorry to hear that, is there anything he can do to help?

There's a feeling that we're being rushed, that we can't afford to leave Amenta alone for more than a season, which is too short a time to do any truly serious long-term planning... And somewhat regrettably, the idea that Draak could be treated like reds is what the common consciousness absorbed. There are so few of us compared to the number of Amentans, you see. We might be relegated to specific districts and hated and hunted for leaving those bounds. It's not at all an appealing prospect.

Seeker doesn't think so, in his opinion there's nothing to do except wait and see since she's already bought a chunk of cheap desert for them to live on.

"The red caste evolved under very specific conditions I don't expect to see repeated. I wish I could slow everything down for you - with this many people even a low rate of people doing things is pretty chaotic."

Bloom's search for students continues, the work on meat-plants continues, our ship building continues. The lesson absorbed into common consciousness that would make cooperation easier is that you are not Human, that you don't hate and fear and seek to exterminate us. Hmm. If that ecologically neutral living area that was being considered could be built and used after all, Amentans spending time near Draak in the Mootlands may help with that. And those eggs...

Elsewhere:

Amentans welcome little baby Draak who will grow up knowing better than to eat people.

The one in the national park still thinks it's weird that you decide whether you can eat something by how smart it is but since they feel so much about it okay fine.

Hatching is a long process, which she does her best to shorten as much as possible, wobbling back and forth. She's going to see TREES! And MUSHROOMS! And the SKY! Stretching and straining. First one small crack as she wobbles back and forth. It slowly lengthens with each wobble, more cracks spiderwebbing out. A few flecks of gooey shell fall to the dirt. A large chunk opens up and they can see a closed eye on a little head moving. Almost out! Comes the exhausted mental shout...

And then a clawed forelimb reaches out of the little hole and grabs and pulls, and the side of the egg splits open pouring out goo and out falls a gangly hatchling no more than two feet long, covered in goo and wobbling as she tries to stand.

She's too exhausted and stunned at the thought that she's breathing and it feels weird to do anything else for a few moments.

"Hello!" coos the mycologist.

HELLO!

She shakes her head and blinks rapidly, trying to clear her eyes and sending flecks of goo flying.

"Do you want to get cleaned up? We have an outdoor shower set up for you but I don't know if the goo is as uncomfortable as it looks."

She radiates uncertainty.

She scratches at the dirt a bit, then opens her eyes and looks around... And stares out at the autumn-colored national park in awed silence as blurs turn to clear sight. So pretty! So big!

"Isn't it beautiful? Welcome out in the world!"

It's so beautiful. She wants to take off running into the trees, so she tries- And stumbles and wobbles forward a few feet.

...Maybe the shower thing would be nice while she gets used to not being in an egg, she thinks at her mushroom-teacher and sky-teacher.

"It's this way!"

"My name's Pep but you can call me mushroom-teacher if you want," laughs the mycologist.

"I'm Tathsei!"

Names seem important. She will try to remember them. Try.

She wobbles towards the shower, getting less wobbly by the second.

Here is the shower! It's high up since she'll grow. Here it is cold, would she like to try hotter?

She reaches one wingtip in, then flinches back and hisses at the stream of water, then tentatively puts more of herself in. It feels pretty strange and is kind of unpleasant. Hot is a little better.

Hot it is!

"Everything probably feels pretty weird at first! Do you want us to help you get the goo off?" says Pep.

No!

A moment later she elaborates: Maybe? The idea of being touched by someone else is just obviously and immediately kind of scary but she wants to feel every thing at least once and maybe it won't be scary.

"You can wait, if you think you might be more ready for it later, and especially if you think you might be startled enough to bite us. Amentans aren't as tough as Draak, see, it'd be a big problem if you bit us."

She clacks her small teeth consideringly, then comes up with something ingenious (at least to her own mind).

Can't bite you if I'm already biting a stick or a rock!

"That's a very good idea!"

They go find her a branch to chomp.

It doesn't taste edible but chomping on something is an interesting sensation anyway! And she knows they're going to touch her so she might be scared but she won't be startled.

Okay! Pep approaches to try to help her get goo off.

She tenses up. A lot of the goo has come off already just by standing in the water, and rubbing the rest away feels... Weird in a maybe-bad way. (Her scales are not yet hard armor, though not quite baby-soft. A bit like snakeskin.)

Pep is a lot bigger than her. Things that are bigger than you might want to eat you and she should run away or bite them! But Pep is not going to eat her. Or hurt her.

She gnaws her branch and her tail flicks around, agitated, anyway.

Pep backs off. "You all right, Toama?"