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is change. Life changes. It has

to. It must. For organisms that

require mixed genes in order to

procreate, change is inevitable

from one generation to the

next. I am not an exact copy of

either of my parents. Neither are

you. But while some plants do

require pollination—hence the

bumblebees, another species we

selected and furthered—many

don’t need any sort of mixing

at all. Many plants can produce

fertile seeds on their own, or you

can cut off a piece of one and

prompt that clone into growing

new roots. And because we

prefer birthday cake to plagues,

we like these contained species

best. No unplanned surprises,

no disappointments. The

exact same field of wheat

every single time.

This part I’m familiar

with, sort of.

How so?

Rorquals. They’re

parthenogenic.

I didn’t know this.

You’re surprised.