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Chapter 7: Reproduction, and what separates a child from a homunculus

Reproduction defines the act by which one or more creatures are able to produce another, living creature. This simple definition, however, belies the intense complexity which shrouds the topic. The mechanisms by which reproduction occurs aren't fully understood, and the biological difference between a homunculus and a child is almost completely unknown. This chapter will explain the complexities of reproduction to the greatest extent that they are understood by modern science.

First, we should examine the most relevant topic involved with reproduction: sexual reproduction. Sexual reproduction is the process of combining sperm cells - produced within the testicles and delivered via semen - and egg cells - produced within the ovaries and stored in the uterus - to produce an embryo. Only one sperm and one egg are required to form one embryo, and an embryo is essentially a seed of a creature growing within the mother's womb. The embryo will eventually grow into a fetus, which then develops into an infant, which will be born either as a child or a homunculus. While this typically requires a male and female to have sex, it is entirely possible for a lone hermaphrodite to introduce their own semen into their vagina to self-impregnate, and engage in sexual reproduction without a partner.

Typically, fertilization will occur anywhere from seconds after semen enters the vagina, to two days after. Any longer, and the sperm cells cease function. Once the two combine and form an embryo, the time it takes to develop varies wildly depending on whether the offspring is a child or a homunculus. Homunculi will be ready to be birthed in two weeks on average, though there is significant variance in this. Some mothers take as long as three months from conception to birth a homunculus, while others are able to give birth within hours or even minutes of conception. There exists fertility boosters or inhibitors which can respectively speed or slow pregnancies, and are most effective when one is pregnant with a homunculus.

While a mother can be pregnant with many homunculi at a time, they will typically onle be able to support a single child, but may bear more on rare occasions. Moreover, Pregnancies with legitimate children take much longer than with homunculi, typically nine months, with less variance. The longest recorded pregnancy with a child was fourteen months, while the shortest was five months. It should also be noted that it is considered much more difficult to produce a child than a homunculus, and it is rare for a mother to birth more than three children in her lifetime.

The species of one's offspring is determined by those of its parents, or occasionally of its parents' ancestors. Observing countless births throughout generations, the exact statistical ratios are of course not exactly as presented here, and the true biological ratios aren't perfectly known, but the following approximations do well to capture the chances of species than an offspring will become. The observed ratios are as follows:

48% of the time, the offspring will be the same species as their mother.
48% of the time, the offspring will be the same species as their father.
1.5% of the time, the offspring will be the same species as one of their mother's ancestors.
1.5% of the time, the offspring will be the same species as one of their father's ancestors.
1% of the time,the offspring will be a crossbreed between the mother's species and the father's. Such crossbreeds are known to be incapable of producing any offspring, homunculi or otherwise.

Second, it is important to define the term "homunculus," as it has been mentioned several times so far and is important for context. A homunculus is a creature which is incapable of reproduction and rescuscitation. In most cases, homunculi will also exhibit a significantly shorter lifespan than a being of the same species. It should be noted that a homunculus is not considered to be a being, an individual, or even truly alive; it is essentially a failed attempt to create a being through reproduction. In some circles, they are coloquially known as "ghost children" or "fuckmeat," though the official term is "homunculus."

With that defined, one should be knowledgable of how a homunculus is produced. Whenever beings engage in sexual contact as a means to reproduce, there is a chance they will produce legitimate children, and a chance they will produce homunculi. While the mechanism by which the legitimacy of the child is not fully understood, there has been observed a strong trend for parents who have a strong will to bear and raise children to produce children, while parents who lack this desire almost never do so. It is therefore thought that some mix of hormonal signals in the parents determines whether or not one's offspring will be a homunculus. Most experts agree that this difference matters most - if not only - during conception, as the father's attitude seems to matter as much as that of the mother who carries the child, but some theorize that the ongoing attitude of the mother during the course of the pregnancy plays a part in this as well.

As a final note regarding homunculi, there has been a relatively recent development which challenges the current understanding of how homunculi are produced. As of year 3848, BrishalCorp has released to the public a serum which, if taken prior to impregnation, will guarantee that the resulting offspring will always be a homunculus. There have been no known cases of this drug failing, but BrishalCorp has refused to explain how and why the drug is able to accomplish this, most likely to preserve their patent. Regardless, pharmacists have been trying - unsuccessfully - to recreate the serum in the years since it was released to the public, in hopes of gaining a deeper understanding of the inner workings of reproduction.

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