CHAPTER 11
The juvenile is dying.
It had begun the joining, given substantially of itself, and now has been left dangerously depleted. It was a mistake to commit itself without the reciprocal commitment of its chosen bond partner. Without the guidance of an elder, it had not known better. Had known only need—the need to bond, to reach maturity. But the bonding was abortive, and now its synaptic structure is beginning to degenerate.
How can this have happened?
The Controller’s database contains only three examples of bondings with the biped race, so very long ago that the data may have been corrupted. Those bondings had been deliberately terminated by the Creators. The primitive hosts had been incapable of understanding their metamorphosis and thereby participating fully in it. Compatib
