There's sudden anger from the egg. It wobbles slightly.

So it's okay to eat a hawk or something but not okay to eat a Draak just because Draak are smarter? That's not fair!

...Amseli wasn't really prepared to have this argument with an egg. Should she be trying to find caretakers willing to give up eating meat?

The egg doesn't know! The egg is just upset! Not fair! (Wobble-wobble.)

Amseli apologizes for upsetting her.

The wobbles stop.

No, that's no good either! An apology is the wrong direction to move in. This seems important. The First Law is that you have to eat things to survive. Eating things is an important subject.

The egg is thinking about why it's unfair, and can't come up with a reason, but still feels sure that it's unfair... Somehow.

But mostly it's confused and tired now.

Well. Amseli will try to filter out some people who'd like to hang out with and socialize a baby Draak and they can swing by and meet the eggs and see if any of them get along.

Okay. The egg is going to sleep now.

One of the parents sends, What a clever egg! Thinking about ethics like that, even unhatched. I have high hopes for her.

"How much do they sleep?"

About half the time, not in consistent intervals.

It's probably good for them to be awake in silence sometimes, so they can introspect.

"Okay, I'll schedule people accordingly."

Should we stay here or carry them to the conference?

"The conference will be more convenient for visitors."

We will start walking there, then. They will get cold if we try to fly.

"But they don't require a lot of insulation on the ground?" Amseli asks, scootering alongside.

You put them in caves or burrows, hidden from hungry things and just deep enough that Earth's inner warmth keeps them from freezing. If we carry them they'll be warm enough for now.

"Do you want to leave them around where people are - I don't know how robust they are to accident, but those are the spaces we have heated - or dig a hole, or get some blankets or a space heater?"

...We probably just want to dig a hole. That is comfortable and familiar. A good cave is best but a hole is acceptable.

But then the dirt will muffle the Song and keep them from talking to people.

The smaller one purrs thoughtfully. True. We can keep them on the surface and warm them with our breath or your electrical controlled-fire, then, Student of Greetings.

"I'll order a space heater for them and if they aren't comfortable then the hole can be a backup option."

I have heard that you make studies of what harms children and what makes them thrive. We have only predictions and instinct to guide us, not careful observation, but eggs are reasonably resilient.

"We do study that, though usually just by careful observation. At any rate I'd be surprised if something that didn't feel right to them was a good idea."

Indeed. We're filled with joy that these two are both viable! Some eggs fail for no clear reason.

People may touch them, if they're careful.

Amentans trickle by to take selfies of themselves patting eggs.

One of the eggs wakes up eventually, and faintly sheds idle curiosity and an almost dream-like rambling train of thought.

The first people Amseli got ahold of come by to meet the egg. They're a green couple in their twenties who live in a cabin in a national park studying, respectively, mushrooms and climatology.

The Draak parents seem impressed. That sounds like a good egg-home.

The egg that is awake thinks climatology sounds cool. The sky is so huge, but you can still see how it works??