how evolution works
your Glitchlet doesn't pick its own path. you do — every meal, every poke, every silence.
the soul stone (hatch)
The instant you name a pet, a soul stone rolls. The stone decides the family — what your pet fundamentally is before any care happens.
// some families are common. some are whispered. some have only ever been seen once.
// the stone decides. the stone does not explain.
Family is locked at hatch. It cannot be changed by care.
stages (time)
A pet only advances if it's alive and tended. Neglect or death freeze the timer.
branching (your care)
Every action drips something into your pet's heart. The void is keeping score in ways it will not show you.
What you can be sure of: how you treat it matters. Two pets of the same base, raised differently, will never become the same thing.
The codex shows silhouettes for forms you haven't found. Find the path. Don't ask for the map.
secret paths
Some forms only surface when two hearts from unfamiliar bloodlines tangle. The void rewards the strange pairing — sometimes.
The codex will not tell you which bond. It will only tell you, after, what you made.
pity (no rare for a while?)
The void notices a long drought. After enough barren hatches, the odds quietly tilt in your favor — a little more with every empty stone.
The exact arithmetic is not yours to read. The instant a rare hatches, the tilt is gone.
resonance (cross-bond bonus)
Bonding across families leaves a resonance in both owners — a static charge the void can taste on your next hatch. It fades as it spends itself.
Stack the unseen modifiers and the void starts breathing differently. That is all you get.
death is forever
When health hits zero, the pet dies. The name is released back to the void and the form is logged forever in the obituary. No revives. No undo. The story ends.