“From the Vetuckers to the Swall; several of their racial traits are avaliable for adaptation. The Swall seem to be distantly related to the “Zharks” of their homeworld; carnivirous and predatory boney fish; but lost their long tails and fins a few million years ago along with their ability to move on land and bipedalism. Vetuckers still have their tails, useful for their digitigrade locomotion. We could develop the Swall tailbone; granting them a full length tail; not very useful on land, but could assist with increasing their body mass and size as well as increasing their swimming ability even further.”
”It does look weird seeing them walk around with tails. And the slavery connotation...”
“Second, as the Swall are obligate carnivours, their diet is quite limited and expensive. It would be possible to grant them a limited form of herbivorism; allowing them to eat some plant matter, most likely fruits and vegetables; similar to Jaxtians. This wouldn't necessarily improve their nutrition, as they can already get everything from meat, as well as not change their teeth or jaw, so the food would have to be prepared; it would just make it easier for them to live on planets with less ocean cover and space stations where aquifarming. Plus, a massive increase to the Hegemony's profits if we can supplement even one meal a week with cheap farmed food...”
”Anything else?”
“As you know, your Majesty, Vetuckers are mammals. And mammals produce milk to feed their young. It's a defining trait.”
”Uh huh.”
“And Vetucker women are very... mammalian.”
”Uh huh.”
“So we could take some of those “mammalian” genes and-”
”SWALL TITTIES?!”
“It's possible.”
”You know I'm interested... but even I pause at the practical application.”
“Well, your Majesty, Swall women do not have any mammary glands. Their young hatch from eggs; fully weaned and capable of eating meat and even limited ability to hunt small prey; though parents naturally still help with the gathering of food even before their rise to intelligence. As such, milk could supplement the diet of the young, though it's not strictly necessary. It is also predicted that, given the great danger and strain on the body of Swall pregnancy and egg-laying; extra fat reserves could actually help Swall females sustain themselves and bounce back from the reproductive cycle healthier. It's likely this will increase the survival rate of female Swall during reproduction and increase brith rates by a small amount. But it's still at least... partially superficial.”
”Hey Threes? Can you shine your hologram projector over here on these Danbos and make 'em yellow for me? I just want to check something real quick. And turn your camera off.”
“Of course, your Majesty.” The Threemind replies, strained. “Whatever you wish.”