Pete stepped into the room with mild trepidation. No matter how often he visited the Sitic home world, he never got used to the sleek, slightly tacky extruded chitin material used in most Sitic architecture. Combined with the rounded, organic shapes of their buildings, it always made him feel like he was stepping inside the remains of some enormous creature. The room within was honestly a little dim, since Sitics had much better low-light vision than humans. The only exception to the low light level was the corner were the pupa hung suspended from the ceiling. The pupa was over six feet tall and vaguely cylindrical, bulging slightly outwards near the middle and tapering down a little at both ends. It hung from the ceiling attached by thick globs of silk, and a number of tubes inserted into the bottom of the structure were pumping a careful selection of bio-chemicals in and out of the interior. But the most unsettling thing about the pupa, more eerie than even the constant burbling noises it made, was the glow. The whole pupa glowed with ever-shifting blue light, and if he looked into the cloudy glowing membrane, he could only just make out the shadow of the occupant. Pulling his eyes away from the indistinct shape, he instead turned toward Chircli. The Sitic bio-manipulator was currently tapping away at the console in front of her, the manipulating claws of her forelimbs working the imported human technology with practiced ease. Of all the things humanity had brought the insect-like Sitics, computers was by far the most revolutionary addition to their technological base. As for what the Sitics had given humanity in return… “How is she?” He asked, although he was fairly certain he knew the answer. “Still in extreme pain. The human brain isn’t designed for metamorphosis. A Sitic brain stores all its memories as crystalline structures and shuts down almost all functions while undergoing metamorphosis, but human memory retention doesn’t function that way. If we allowed her brain to go dormant to that extent, she would lose almost all her knowledge and memories.” “Yeah… Yeah I know. I read the briefing. I read the briefing a dozen times.” “If it makes you feel any better, she should be in less pain now than on your last visit. Her new neural structure has finished forming, and bones have started to form around the spinal cord. Or, well, not exactly bones. Human bones would dissolve quicker than they could form in the metamorphic solution. But the ossified chitin we’re using as a substitute should fulfil all the functions of human bones while being both stronger and lighter.” “She hurts less now, huh?” Pete asked, having largely ignored the rest of the statement. “Almost certainly. And besides, her ability to form long-term memories is severely inhibited at the moment, so by the time the metamorphosis is complete, she should remember very little of the process.” “That actually does make me feel better. Thank you, Chircli.” “No need to thank me, Peter Thomas. Ever since we started performing metamorphosis experiments on Earth vertebrates, I have been dreaming of the day I would have a chance to metamorphose a human being. We stand to learn so much from this procedure, but understandably few humans maintained interest once it was explained to them that the procedure would involve more than 97% of their body mass dissolving into a slurry as their brain was wracked by agonizing pain. I am extremely grateful to your daughter for her bravery.” “I’m not certain bravery is the right word, but I’m sure she would appreciate the sentiment.” “I must admit, I’m still not sure why she was so eager to metamorphose.” Pete shrugged. “Human medical technology is still almost entirely based around medication and surgery. There are plenty of things it simply cannot do. And there were several aspects of her physical form that she simply couldn’t accept.” “I did note that she had undergone some very unusual surgeries and medical treatments, but since it wasn’t anything that would affect this procedure I didn’t study it in depth.” “Let’s just say that some humans are extremely jealous of the Sitic ability to decide for yourselves what body configuration you want.” “All the more reason to further the study of inducing human metamorphosis.” The two of them fell silent for a moment, both looking at the gently glowing pupa. After a little while, the bio-manipulator made the clicking, raspy sound that was the Sitic equivalent of clearing your throat. “You realize, of course, that she will not be fully human when she emerges.” Pete nodded, but didn’t say anything. “Most of the differences will not be visually apparent, but certain aspects will be fairly obvious. Since melanin would react poorly with her new bio-chemistry, we are using an alternate substance that should protect her very well from the harmful effects of UV-radiation and provide the necessary vitamin production. However, the difference in colour will give her pink hair and an extremely rosy complexion, along with rather shiny skin, hair and nails. And since human ocular equipment would not survive inside the metamorphic solution, she will be receiving Sitic compound eyes. We do not expect any decrease in visual acuity, and her colour vision will be rather better than that of a baseline human, but it will give her eyes a uniform bright blue colour across the entire surface of the eye. And there’s the wings, of course, but she asked for those herself.” “Will they actually work? The wings.” “Certainly. Your daughter’s body will be much lighter than the body of a Sitic sentinel, and they are perfectly capable of limited flight. She will be a bit heavier than a Sitic scout, but with proper training and exercise, the wings and flight musculature should allow her upwards of ten to fifteen minutes of active, sustained flight.” “She will like that. She’s always loved high places, but she’s terrified of falling.” “I can see how having wings of her own would be reassuring, then. However…” “However?” “I can’t help but worry that she might be rather lonely. While she will look mostly human, the differences will be clear and marked. And humanity has a history of reacting poorly to overt differences in individuals. Humans might not form hives like Sitics do, but you are still social creatures. Being the only one of your kind seems a rather lonely path to walk.” Pete nodded thoughtfully as silence descended once more. Inside the tank, his daughter’s partially formed body floated amid the luminescent bio-chemical soup that was the metamorphic solution. As he considered matters, he thought back to everything Chircli had told him about the process. “If I remember correctly, you said once that what you had learned so far from this project would allow you to create a much faster-acting solution for human metamorphosis in the future.” “Certainly. This solution had to be made very gentle so that unexpected issues could be addressed as they appeared.” “Would it be possible to device a metamorphic program for a human that would reach completion at the same time as hers, or prior to it?” “It would be complicated, but I think it is viable. Although such an accelerated process would probably end up being even more painful for the subject. We have not yet found a solution to the pain issue.” Pete hesitated for a moment longer, then set his face into a determined frown. “Chircli, I have a new project for you…”