"Thank you so much."

You are welcome, though I did it for my own reasons. Please let me know if you notice anything... Strange.

"I will."

I should sleep soon, she tells Ruan. And eat a lot more bacon. I spent more energy rather than allow the Enkindling to be botched. I hope you agree that was the right decision.

"I hope it'll get more efficient with practice, but yes. Bacon's on its way."

It should, now that I know how things interact with magic in place. I had to use... Brute force, more or less, to keep things from going badly when not everything unfolded how I predicted.

Bacon is presented. "What things weren't as you expected?" Ruan asks.

Bacon is getting a little samey, but very filling.

Well, here is some geneticist lingo and some attempts to describe how things are tangled up together and how Amentan minds are different in this this or that way from Draak ones.

The biggest surprise was just how delicate the hormonal system is. She'd read the literature and people-watched but it still surprised her how much it tried to spiral out of control while she was nudging it.

"That's probably especially true of people with extreme springs."

Yes, that seems likely. It was a valuable and humbling learning experience. I was overconfident, I made mistakes, I was merely able to mostly mitigate their effects.

"We really appreciate your interest in the project."

Yes, I know that well by now. And while I am interested in it for my own reasons, it continues to be favorable for both our kinds, a boon for you and a reassurance for us, good without compromise. My small contribution to peace, whatever hope for that may exist.

"I'll get everybody out of your way so you can rest."

Thank you.

Bloom sleeps for a solid thirty six hours.

Nobody disturbs her, but if she peeks out of the warehouse Ruan's there. They have plugged in a chest freezer for her food out there.

How is he? She asks Ruan while going for more food. Anything that seems like a side-effect?

"Ah, yes, actually. He told us that he forgot about a bowl of ice cream and picked it up when it was half-melted and then it froze solid. It's... the sort of thing we'd usually dismiss as obviously invented, but..."

I was afraid of that. The original purpose of Enkindling was to create powerful animal servants. I used enough Essence for something like that to happen. It probably won't do him any harm if he's not reckless.

"He doesn't seem it, but if you have advice I'm sure he'd appreciate it. Is... this going to come up again?"

Cold magic? That sounds appropriate. Using it is a thing of will, and it will make him hungrier. It probably won't come up again when I can use less power for the same result. Or I could do it deliberately, but my aim is to assist with springs, not empower your kind.

"The geneticists are probably going to look into it, if it's the kind of thing that might be genetic like the softer spring."

It's more a matter of how much of my Essence is used. But your geneticists studying my work was always part of the plan, of course.

"Why is cold magic appropriate?"

...Spring is the end of winter and the coming of warmth. Cold is denying spring's hold on the world. So, cold magic is appropriate.

"...I suppose. Does a lot of what you do run on aesthetics like that."