"You are more than welcome, my child." Warmth. Kindness. Acceptance.

Mother's voice, as Lamia was brought into her den once more, shifted from a soft mental murmur to the harsh rasps and insectoid clicks that her true voice came with. The meaning was still clear; and to Lamia's mind it would still seem soothing, even kind.

"Zero Zero Three Herald," Mother repeated, quiet. From the pulsating white mass at the room's center, her gleaming eyes shifted to look over Lamia's new form: to observe the changes Order had wrought. There was appreciation for the gleam of scales: something of approval for their almost crystalline nature.

The rest of the changes were more glossed over, but likewise noted, and likewise, there was that faint trickle of warm acknowledgment in her. A note, too, was made--one Lamia might sense--to enlarge the pool just that little bit; why not?

And then, it was on to business.

"Zero Zero Three Herald," she said again, "You are the only of my children who can brave the depths. You will always be valuable to me; but would it not be best to find more of your kind..? More who can aid you... who can hide our secrets away where others cannot breathe, or even see. All of this pressure has been on you," and with these words came a flood of sympathy, flashes of old memories--Lamia tending the node deep in an underwater cave, Lamia working diligently, but alone, in Fornax.

"You are now in a unique position to spread our gift through the creatures of the water--the lesser fish and other small creatures, so that it may never be lost; and the swimmers who can aid you in your task. I leave it to you... to decide how to proceed." The rest was unsaid, but felt: it would be up to Lamia to decide which to prioritize. She could go about infecting Lessers, so that there would always be hidden threads of Mother beneath the surface; she could find others to join their family, perhaps those who could also work submerged; she could simply return, if she so wished, to tending nodes.

Or she could travel the caves, and search for other allies.

For Mother, all service was welcomed.