Others were hatching from the same egg, spreading out like sparks from the shell of a firework.

Are you sure they’re others, and not just other parts of the same one?

Each unfolding into something vast and incomprehensible within seconds of its birth.

But her attention was on the first.  She felt it reach out and connect with another that shared a similar trajectory.  Still more were doing the same, pairing off.  Forming into trios, in some cases, but most chose to form pairs.

Interesting. This reminds me of the meeting we saw in Infestation. Which I suppose may have been some sort of mating dance, but this seems to indicate that the dance partners are siblings, in whatever way and to whatever extent that term may or may not apply to these beings. Maybe that doesn’t matter to their kind. Or maybe there’s just one egg per generation and multiple separate gene matchups.

But that assumes way more than I actually know about their reproduction and biology. Genes, for one thing, and the notion that they reproduce sexually. Hell, we’ve been calling them Dandelions because of how they look when they die, but what if that applies here too? What if the egg is somehow a part of one Dandelion’s life cycle – i.e. the egg is, in a sense, a Dandelion in itself, or at least made by only one – and the baby Dandelions are like the seeds blowing from a dandelion… am I making any sense at this point?

In any case, my point is, I have no guarantee that this works anything like we humans are prone to assuming.

A mate?  A partner?

Each settled into a position around the ruined egg, embracing their chosen companions, rubbing against, into and through one another as they continued to grow.

Wait, was I onto something when it came to it being a mass-egg of multiple matchups? Are they fixing up the egg and refertilizing it?

Ooh, or maybe the dandelion metaphor was on point and the seeds just haven’t let go of the plant’s core yet?

The egg vibrated. Or did it?  No, it was an illusion.  There were multiple copies of the egg, multiple versions, and they each stirred, deviating from one another until subtle double images appeared.

Multiple eggs from multiple realities?

Then, one by one, they crumpled into a single point.  The egg at the center of the formation of these creatures was the last, and for the briefest of moments, it roiled with the pressure and energy of all of the others.

Then it detonated, and the creatures came alive, soaring out into the vastness of the void, trails of dust following in their wake, each with a partner, a companion, traveling in a different direction.

Holy shit I think I was right.

Hmm. Maybe the ultimate apocalyptic threat also exists across realities, and that’s why its arrival is a certainty in all timelines? Except then why would Jack Slash make a difference to when it arrives?

A crack split the ground.  Once the dust had settled, nothing happened for a long time.

More cracks.

Are the Dandelions coming up this time?

Not literally but kind of literally?

It’s an egg, she realized, just in time to see it hatch.

So this flat plain is… a surface of an enormous, probably 4+ dimensional egg? We saw the apparent death of a Dandelion with Karahindiba, are we now seeing one’s birth?

Hey, does the sky look different in any way?

The egg’s occupant tore free from the crack, unfolding from a condensed point to grow larger with every moment and movement.

That sounds like a Dandelion, alright.

How adorable are they as babies?

Are they babies? Or do they just come out fully grown? Can you even tell when you can’t see one or more of their dimensions and they seem to exist across realities?

She felt betrayed and she couldn’t understand why.

Stockholm syndrome, I think.

Again, the gun fired.  She flinched, and not because of the noise.  It was like she’d been slapped.

Did he get past the shield?

Then silence.

Silence, no hunger, no pain, no sense of betrayal.  Even Sarah and the wall of light she’d put together were gone.

Seems so. But she can’t be dead, so I suppose she’s just passing out. Maybe it’s a tranquilizer handgun, even?

A flat plain stretched out around her, but she had no body.  She could see in every direction.

Oh! Oh! Dandelion time! Hell yes.

She couldn’t bring herself to protest.  For the first time in long weeks or months, she felt a flicker of hope.

So are we going to get Carol’s triggering here too? Because if so, things are going to have to go back downhill a bit.

Darkness reigned over them for a few seconds as Sarah stopped to catch her breath.

Carol tried to stand and found her legs were like spaghetti noodles.

Watch out for dogs on romantic dates.

She was so busy trying to maintain her balance that she almost didn’t see.

Didn’t see what? The glowing weapon in her hand?

The man who’d brought them the food.  He stepped into the doorway and raised one hand.  A gun.

Oh. Hi there.

Surely you’ve seen the state of your comrade?

The report of the handgun was deafening after such a long time in the quiet room.

Is this where the shields come into play?

Or did Photon Mom’s kids get that from their father? I forget.

But they weren’t hurt.  Sarah had raised her hands, and a glowing, see-through wall stood between them and the man.

Yep.

So has Carol triggered just now too, after all? Sarah’s got at least three powers, maybe two if the shield is somehow a variation on the lasers, and there’s reason to believe that multiple people triggering at once can cause each to develop more powers.

Although that doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be in the same exact moment. The Dandelions seem to plan where and when they’re going to be there to trigger someone, so maybe you could end up with additional powers because someone’s about to trigger?

He’d tried to attack them?  Carol couldn’t understand it.  He was the one who’d taken care of them.  When he’d appeared, she’d been happy.  And now it felt like that had been ruined, spoiled.

Yeeeah, he was never actually caring for you more than he had to to keep you alive, was he?