>>5760411She regards the egg, as you do, in silence for a moment.
“Well, we can always just try with what we have got,” she suggests. “And once you are done your ‘errand’ and have augmented yourself biologically, we can… PRODUCE… Another one. A better one.”
You blink, considering the grim implications of this offhanded remark: that you and your mate could consign your firstborn child together to possible death and deformity, or to the biological mediocrity which comes with being largely unaltered, and simply mate again to produce a ‘better’ secondborn son to take this Young One’s place as your preferred heir, if you were to so choose.
Then again… This WOULD be safer than some options for the soon-to-hatch Serpent Prince or Princess, less wasteful of resources, and it ahs a certain coldly pragmatic logic to it.
What will you do?
>Do not modify the Serpent Scion—let it hatch as it is, safely and without issue, but weaker and less draconic than it would otherwise be[zero risk]
>Make only small, less-risky, largely-aesthetic modifications so that it will resemble your more ’dragonlike’ features[low-to-medium risk]
>Use the plague-chimeras to make more substantial modifications—full horns, elongated face, thick armoured scales… Maybe even wings and firebreath?[medium-to-high risk]
>Integrate the dragon-heart as well, giving up your chance to become a ‘true demigod’ to instead give that opportunity to your child[low risk, but failure will expend the heart]
>Write-in 