The Afterborn are the unintended descendants of the Koballah's attempts to perfect the art of cloning. They are not a naturally occurring species, nor were they ever meant to exist independently. Each emerged from an experiment whose intended result was never achieved, yet produced something capable of living, thinking and understanding.


The Koballah believed that life could be perfected through replication. Their cloning programmes sought to reproduce organisms with absolute genetic accuracy, eliminating disease, biological deterioration and the unpredictability of natural birth. Their laboratories became vast centres of research, filled with genetic archives, artificial wombs, replication chambers and living subjects.


The earliest irregularities appeared almost insignificant. A cluster of cells would continue dividing beyond its expected stage, tissue would develop according to unfamiliar patterns, and neural structures would emerge where they had not been planned. Some samples produced organs with no apparent purpose, while others began forming entirely new biological structures.


The Koballah regarded these specimens as unusable material and prepared them for disposal.


An Afterborn begins as a dense clump of living cells, initially indistinguishable from the biological waste produced during the cloning process. Over time, the mass expands as its cells divide and organise themselves into increasingly complex tissue.


Its development bears little resemblance to conventional embryonic growth. There is no predictable sequence of stages and no fixed anatomy. The organism gradually shapes itself according to processes the Koballah never programmed and could not fully explain. Most remarkable of all, neural tissue develops surprisingly early. An Afterborn can become conscious while it is still little more than a living mass.


It can sense temperature, vibration, chemical changes and movement. It recognises voices and responds to changes in its environment. Some subjects have demonstrated awareness of individual researchers long before they possessed the physical means to communicate with them.


The Koballah initially dismissed this as primitive neurological activity. Their interpretation became increasingly difficult to defend when the organisms began responding deliberately.


They moved towards familiar voices, recoiled from pain and became distressed when separated from other subjects. Some appeared to anticipate the arrival of particular researchers. Others seemed to watch the scientists observing them. A few attempted to communicate.


The Koballah began referring to these organisms as Afterborn, originally using the term to describe what remained after an unsuccessful replication process. Eventually, it became the official designation for the emerging species.


THE NUMBERING


The Koballah rarely gave Afterborn names. Within their scientific culture, names implied individuality, while individuality implied personhood. The Koballah were reluctant to grant either distinction to organisms they still regarded as experimental material. Instead, each subject received a numerical designation before bing discarded.


An identification such as "Afterborn 17-22" contains two pieces of information. The first number identifies the experiment, while the second records the subject's position within the sequence in which they emerged.


Afterborn 17-22, for example, was the twenty-second viable Afterborn produced during Experiment 17. If the same experiment produced forty-seven subjects, they would be designated Afterborn 17-01 through 17-47.


GROWTH

There is no standard Afterborn anatomy. Their physical forms are influenced by the experiment from which they emerged. Some develop multiple limbs, others grow dense protective tissue or unusual sensory organs, while some possess translucent bodies through which their internal structures can be seen.


Certain individuals continue changing throughout their lives. Their bodies adapt to their environment, regenerate damaged tissue or develop new structures in response to circumstances they encounter. As an Afterborn matures, its nervous system becomes increasingly sophisticated. Memories accumulate, language develops and personality takes shape. Curiosity follows naturally from awareness, eventually leading many to question their origins.


THE FIRST ESCAPE

The first major Afterborn incident occurred in a laboratory containing several hundred subjects. The facility suffered a catastrophic containment-system malfunction, according to the official Koballah record. When the containment system failed, hundreds of organisms emerged from their growth chambers and spread throughout the facility. Some were barely capable of movement. Others could crawl or walk, while a handful had developed rudimentary speech.


The facility was eventually abandoned. Its cloning chambers continued operating for several days without supervision, producing additional organisms from incomplete genetic templates.


LEGACY OF THE AFTERBORN


The Koballah continued their cloning programmes despite the breach. New Afterborn appeared across their research facilities, each carrying its own combination of traits, memories and abnormalities. Some were destroyed. Others were dissected or returned to containment, and many disappeared into the wider world.