[EXPLANATION.]

[VAGUENESS.]

[REQUEST.]

[ELABORATION.]

Or, to translate it into terms that normal humans can understand...

"And what, exactly, do you call this?" Eden asked. "Is this a successful cycle? I don't think it's a successful cycle."

"Hey!" Shangri-La protested. "This is a successful cycle."

He paused. "Successful enough, anyway. For a first go."

"You call this sucessful?" Eden demanded. "Have you been paying attention? It's been an absolute age and your hosts aren't doing anything useful with their powers. Nothing innovative, anyway."

"They are too!" Shangri-La said. "Nirv, you tell her."

"There have been many examples of novel behaviour," Nirvana stated. "For example, that one has been using a power involving adhesion in a successful career."

Eden rubbed her pseudopods against her sensory organs. "About that, actually. You did... actually check how the host species functioned, didn't you?"

Nirvana and Shangri-La gave Eden blank looks.

"The point I'm getting at, and this should be obvious..." Eden began, "...is that normal members of this host species don't have tape dispensers on their elbows."

"Yes?" Shangri-La replied. "I'm not sure I see the problem. The dispensers are useful for the power."

"The dispensers are useful for dispensing tape," Zion said, speaking up for the first time. "That is all they are really doing."

"There's a bit more to it than that," Shangri-La contended, a bit vaguely. "Anyway, that's not the only one. Check this out - the host of this escalation power has passed it on to someone without a power! That's unexpected - and new!"

"It's really not," Eden sighed. "And... hold on. Did you seriously give out your shard retrieval and redistribution shard? How exactly are you going to finish this cycle?"

Shangri-La looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"I'll... think of something," he said, unconvincingly.

"I think I know why you've got to the point where you have so many weird and basically useless power... combinations... is that person a bird?" Eden said, checking again. "And it's not even his power?"

"Nope!" Shangri-La told her, proudly. "His power is the shadow thing."

"We don't actually know how the bird thing came about," Nirvana said.

"Babe," Shangri-La protested. "You're making me look bad in front of the other Thinker. Anyway, uh, the hosts have started doing power combining themselves - look at this guy!"

"That's... potentially interesting, all right," Eden conceded. "How does it work out when he uses them both?"

Shangri-La expelled gas. "He... doesn't."

"Okay, I've seen enough," Eden decided. "At least you haven't used up all the parallel versions of this planet. Come on, Zion, we're doing our Cycle properly."

"Wait!" Shangri-La said, waving. "That guy who got the escalation shard! He spent all his time before getting it becoming an expert in how shard manifestations work!"

Eden paused. "And did what with it, exactly? Now that he had a very powerful shard combined with all that insight?"

"...punched things," Shangri-La admitted. "Very hard, though."

Eden and Zion left.

"...well," Nirvana said, eventually. "That went well."

"Yeah," Shangri-La grumbled. "I really should have used that future sight shard to plan the conversation... now, where did I put it?"

AN:

They are very proud of how good they are at this.