Einden 728
I chuckled and flexed the large muscle of my arm, flashing the blade in the daylight.
"I already have a body. A body that you should envy."
"The Hork-Bajir are only as good as they had to be. I could make you a better one."
"What could possibly be better than this?"
Despite its panic, the insolent Arn still took a moment to appraise my host body.
"How dexterous are your hands? The Dracon beams must be a struggle to fire."
My fist clenched involuntarily, bringing my awareness back to the cramp that had been growing for days.
"The hands of a Hork-Bajir are not designed for intricate detail work. If you want your engineering to reach a greater level of refinement, you will need to find hosts with better hands. I could make you one."
I looked around myself. All of the other guards were at too great a distance to overhear my conversation with the Arn.
"A new pair of hands is not enough to buy your life."
"What of eyes? Can you see behind you, like an Andalite? Do you have as many prehensile limbs as the Lerdethak? Can you fly, like us Arn? The Hork-Bajir are the pinnacle of utilitarian function. We Arn are capable of true art in the field of biological manipulation. I can craft you a body to put all other bodies to shame."
It was tempting. But there was one thing I needed to know in order to consider this Arn's offer.
"What of ears? Can you make better ears than those of a Hork-Bajir?"
The Arn did not pause over my question, but hurried to assent, clearly seeing my interest.
"The Hork-Bajir did not have any real need to hear. With no prey to hunt and no predators to hide from, their hearing was merely designed to be able to detect their own voices and language. The spectrum of audible frequencies could be extended immensely, in both directions. You could be able to hear the scratches of a chadoo in the trees from the depths of the Deep, if you were so inclined. There is practically no limit to what I could craft."
Sound. The ability to detect frequencies in the very environment around me. When I went through my training, the sound of my Gedd's breath and the sloshing of liquid in the pool was achingly beautiful.
But I had never known true bliss until I had infested my first host, an Ongachic minstrel. A musician. A creature that spent its life making beauty out of ambient noise.
If I could hear everything, what other glories could I discover?
The Arn was still quaking at my feet, the picture of subservience to my mighty form. But with the help of this insignificant thing, I could have a body stronger, faster, and more capable of sensing music than anything I had ever dreamed of.
Oh, what a beautiful time it was to be alive.
"Do not go to the slave quarters tonight, Arn. At sunset, I will come to you, and you will show me what you can create."
