Greed stared at the egg in Envy's hands.
"What's inside it?"
"Something unfinished."
"Species?"
"None."
That made Pride pause. Envy went on before he could ask the obvious question.
"I built it for this."
"Built what?" said Greed, moving closer.
"A hunter."
Greed's eyes brightened. Pride's did not.
"From what?"
Envy looked at him. "Things that survived my experiments."
It was not much of an answer. Pride let the silence stand to see whether she would fill it, and she didn't; she seemed entirely comfortable inside it. He found he respected that more than he wanted to.
"It is demonic," he said eventually.
"Yes."
"Then the shield will reject it."
"Yes."
Greed's head turned sharply. "Then what are we doing here?"
Envy looked down at the egg. "Changing what the shield sees."
She extended her other hand, and the black container holding the residue opened.
