My corpse floated before me, suspended in the black as I reached out with my… hands? I couldn’t see them, but it felt as though I could manipulate the body as though I had them.

At least the learning curve isn’t too bad.

Eventually, I’d posed my mangled body into a standing position, wiping the blood away and staring at the open wounds that pierced every bit and piece of me.

Actually, this was the first time I’d gotten a good look at my body. There weren’t exactly any mirrors nearby, obviously. Sadly though, the body I got to see was probably not as majestic as if it wasn’t torn apart.

And I couldn’t even imagine what I’d looked like before. My jaw was dislocated, legs barely connected, and my tail was stumpy. A sad vision of what might’ve been a pretty unique beast.

I moved my invisible hand over to the list of parts I could pick.

I had to be careful. Choosing a part could be permanent, and I had no idea how any of this could be manipulated just yet.

It seemed simple enough to start with the “feather” choice, as that was one of the cheapest options and, in my opinion, probably the easiest to figure out what it would do.

I selected the choice, and a feather appeared, floating before me. As I was about to place it onto the corpse of the dinosaur, a new blue box appeared before me.

Careful!

Changes made to the Saurian model will be permanent! (No “Undo”!)

Hmmm.

Well then… Before I continued with that, it was probably best to make sure that my body would be functional, first. So I moved the feather back to the list, and it disappeared.

Intuitive. Nice.

I started grabbing my corpse in various places, moving it and pulling to see if something would disconnect.

There were a lot of broken pieces… It was like trying to put a puzzle back together but only after you’d dropped the box in the blender.

Weird analogy? Well, it’s close to home. Sorry.

A light went on in my brain.

Idea!

I grabbed the corpse by the head with my hand, though I guess it sort of felt like clicking on a mouse? It was a weird mix, to be honest. Once I had the dino corpse in hand, I dragged it to the list, dropping it.

Do you wish to recycle these pieces?

Huh. Interesting. No.

The corpse warped back to where it had started, and I started pulling hard at pieces that didn’t look like they would be any good.

Leg. Face. Neck. Leg. Chest. Arm.

I was pretty much left with my mouth, an arm, and my stumpy tail (which seemed to work well enough).

I dragged the destroyed pieces to the box.

Do you wish to recycle these pieces?

This time, I said “yes”. The parts dissolved, and were absorbed into the menu.

You have gained 450 DNA points.

The new points added to my total, and I watched as three new pieces added themselves to my list, Core (D), Head (D), and Scale Pattern.

You have 1450 DNA points to spend.

Choose wisely.

Part Price Source Source Tier Scale Pattern 0 --- --- Core (D) 0 --- --- Jaw 50 Child Chomper D Talon 50 Child Scythe E Spike 50 Child Turanta S Tail 50 Child Wanra F Blade 50 Child Wanra F Horn 50 Jungle Tunneler --- Mandible 50 Jungle Tunneler --- Carapace 50 Jungle Tunneler --- Stinger 50 Jungle Stinger --- Feather 50 Deotrexaptor --- Fur 50 Servus, Apex Stalker --- Arm 100 Child Melira S Leg 100 Child Melira S Excretion 100 Jungle Stinger --- Thumb 100 Child Meler D Cup 100 Child Stalker E Bone 100 Child Amron B Head (D) 200 --- --- Removable 200 Child Turanta S Mimicry 300 Child Mimicrist E Sight 300 Child Visionary A Pack Tactics 300 Deotrexaptor --- Hunger 300 Child Devourer D Energy Manipulation 400 Child Naturalist F Metachrosis 400 Child Stalker E Aura Control 500 Child Visionary A Magic Ability 500 Child Naturalist F Natural Blend 600 Child Naturalist F Size 600 Child Devourer D Intelligence 700 Servus, Apex Stalker --- Separation 1000 Kandaka, Queen ---

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

Interesting, I thought, selecting a leg piece, and dragging it out to my dinosaur. I frowned.

This leg looks nothing like mine did!

The piece that I now held was simply… blank. It was strange to see, as though I’d grabbed the leg of a dinosaur doll. It was smooth, tan, and simply had a joint for a knee. It didn’t even reach to the foot, merely ending where the ankle was. But it was far more muscular than the legs I had before.

What the dino…?

Out of instinct, or perhaps expectation from having played many games like this before, I pulled on the ankle. Like a rubber band, the bottom of the ankle stretched, turning into a long, flat foot. There were no toes, and no structure to the shape of the foot, but it was certainly… movable…

I pulled the foot out, giving it another joint. A toe. But… everybody needs a friend.

I’ll make another happy little toe right here.

The foot now split into two jointed sections at the end. Could I afford to spend so much energy attaching so many talons, though?

Perhaps two was best for now. I might be able to add more later.

I grabbed two talons, attaching them to the tips of the foot. One-hundred points… gone like that. Multiply that by two now because I’d have to make two legs…

Perhaps this customizability came at a hefty price.

I ended up fattening up the thigh, slimming down the calves, and giving myself a significant amount of height. It was a very angular build. I kept the leg skinny, though, so that I could still fit into all the places I could before. This way, however, I’d have greater reach with my kicks, and potentially be able to jump even higher.

I dropped the leg next to the other pieces.

Sorry, but the Saurian does not possess a Core. You cannot create the piece.

My leg vanished, the points I’d spent to create it returning to the pool.

Ugh.

At least the core piece was free. I dragged it off the table, finding an oval to be what I was working with.

If I had a head I’d bash it against the wall right now.

I pushed and pulled, shaping the core into a body shape that was slightly more vertical than mine had been, hopefully allowing me greater shoulder movement, and not requiring me to lean so far forward in order to run.

It was not a comfortable sensation.

I tried to give myself some spikes by stretching the blob out, but when I did so, I could tell they were just extra flesh that would not be what I wanted. So, with a sigh, I pushed them back into the body.

It’s not like I wasn’t having fun, by the way, because I was. But I was very strictly following a specific set of rules that it didn’t seem I could exploit in any way. I shaped the shoulders so they would be broader, letting my arms hang further away from my body.

The goal I had in mind was to “protect the core”. Because, you know, I didn’t really feel like getting stabbed in the chest again any time soon. Plus, it’s just good logic.

I stretched the neck out, leaving it about the same length as it had been before. I really didn’t feel like being a long-necked dino, and there wasn’t much use for it, anyway. More neck just meant more vulnerable organ.

I think that was a logical thought process.

The core was done, still angled forward from where I’d attach the legs, but not as much as my previous body.

I crafted the leg again, comparing it to the body as I did so in order to match the measurements, and not have too disproportionate a leg. Tall people only look good if they aren’t all leg, in my opinion. I slapped the two talons on the bottom again, noting that they were far more dangerous looking than my previous ones. They hooked up into a delicate arch, the thin point resting lightly on the ground. That point was insanely sharp. In fact, the whole talon was quite thin but gave off the impression of a blade.

Guess that’s what I get when I pull it from a “Child Scythe”.

Those talons would certainly be a deadly weapon. I confirmed the leg design and dropped it onto the dino core. Fortunately, by simply grabbing another leg, the design was already saved, and I only had to attach two more talons to the end of the foot and confirm.

Yikes. Two-hundred DNA points gone.

But with just that simple addition, I now had a tall dinosaur body floating before me, which kind of reminded me of a headless chicken, to be honest.

A headless chicken with deadly scythe-claws...