Hopscotch's bright red eyes were wide and awake, burning like a vibrant nuclear reaction before it became muddled by the eerie smoke that she emanated. Heat began to flow into her hands and onto every part of her body, transforming the inside of her flesh, forming visible geometrical veins that were throbbing with smoky red.
The changes extended to her exoskeleton-covered extra muscles biogenic gauntlet. The red carapace-scales began to transform into bigger gauntlets, extending the total length of her arms beyond the thighs.
The biogenic giant gauntlets became her arm, with her palms becoming big enough to hold someone's head as if it was an apple. The joints of the armored giant fingers were covered in striking scaly manner, akin to that of a dragon. Meanwhile, a glowing circle formation could be seen on the center of the palm, perpetually churning like some sort of a battery light.
The same glow also exists on the thick body of the gauntlet that was meant to be her wrists.
As if a surging relief had reached the back corner of her mind, she exhaled with gratitude before watching the beautiful night sky again. This time, she faced the night with a smile
The reason as to why Hopscotch evolved into her current form was only known by Nagan and Owen alone. But in Jingo's eyes, it was as if Hopscotch had some sort of conflict with her own humanity that he didn't tell anyone, and probably not even the patriarch himself.
Nagan however, knew that this would happen.
Because he saw himself when he looked at Hopscotch's fierce gaze that rejected the most comfortable path on the frame, fueling one's soul and will through disdain and hatred.
"I'm done," Hopscotch snickered as she faced toward where Jingo was. "You can come out now."
"... You're scaring me, Hopscotch." Jingo reappeared right in front of Hopscotch as if she had just jumped out from the sea of grass.
"Yeah." With a mellifluous grin, Hopscotch gently caressed Jingo with her new hands. Despite having enough power to crush a hill into rubble, her warm yet rough palm gently rustled with Jingo's hair, showing that despite the scary appearance, Hopscotch was still in total control. "I'm sorry if I freaked you out."
"... So, what with the new hands?" Jingo asked enthusiastically, a pair of brimming sparkles could be seen on her eyes as she sidestepped to admired the byproduct of Hopscotch's exotic evolution
"Well, you will be the first to know this, outside of Patriarch that just simply freaks me out as if he reads my mind all the time." Hopscotch then aimed one of her hands toward an empty land as she donned her deadpan smile.
The glowing circle formed by her biogenic gauntlet palm began to churn at extreme speed, producing a large amount of heat that appeared to be stored inside the body of the gauntlet.
The force inside the gauntlet was then unleashed onto the empty land, wreaking havoc as the inkish red flame consumed everything in that general direction.
"I hate firearms," Hopscotch said with a petrifying smile, emanating an immense amount of hatred.
"... Ah, don't let Droste know that."
"I'll tell this directly to her later." Hopscotch uncharacteristically laughed. "Joke aside, this will be something that only you will know, Jingo. Of course, with the exception of the Patriarch that always seemed to know what I was thinking all the time…"
"... You really have a beef with the patriarch."
"Well, just do know that, unlike you and many other usalians." The smile on Hopscotch's face disappeared, leaving an ominous shadow hanging from her forehead to her glowing red eyes. "I utterly deplore every inch of humanity that is coursing within me, and I will use that very hatred and disdain to protect this land, my people, the queen, the patriarch, and every living being that chant the name of the Kingdom of Lunatic Kaleidoscope with their genuine heart as they gone through hurdles and hardship.
"But the moment a human outside of the patriarch ever tries to interact with me." The red glow on her eyes became ever more ominous, as the outlines were churned with livid scribbles and uncontained scorn, leaving only the crimson hue to appear on the overwhelming dark canvas created from the very depth of her heart. "I will blanket them in molten heat, scorch them inside the body of the sun, for they are nothing but a hubris and imperfection incarnate, a bunch of imbeciles and hypocrite that wants nothing but to enrich their own haven while leaving their own kind to suffer in a different block.
"And if I was given the power to annihilate every human on Earth, I shall rightfully commence an ultimatum to cast my hammer onto the atmosphere, and reap the living daylight out of them before they have the time commit a speck of sins in their mind and thornful body."
"... All usalians possess humanity coursing through their blood, do you hate them too?"
After hearing those words, Hopscotch's maddening disdain was calmed and was put into the shelf.
"Unlike humans, we possess superior guidance and judgment. To make the matter worse, humans aren't built for critical thinking, leading them to fall into the pithole of countless logical fallacies. The usalians however, we can access the entire wisdom of humanity as we open each memory that the queen bestowed upon us.
"At any given time, we can pry upon humanity to correct our mindset and behavior, and become our better selves. Most humans didn't even try to look at their own history and learn from it."
"... Then what about the patriarch? Do you hate him too?"
"Hate is a powerful word, Jingo. As for the patriarch…" Hopscotch exhaled all of her enmity, before speaking with a melancholic smile. "The words 'awe' and 'jealousy' fit more."
"... You said that you hate humanity, but at the same time, it appears as if you idolize them too."
"Well, who said that you can't hate and admire something at the same time?" Hopscotch snickered. "That's what makes us better than them. Now, let's go back. We still have more food to feast on, and a new year to celebrate."
"... That's a hot take, but alright."
Sometimes, a curious usalian would stumble upon the hidden trove of humanity's sins and misdeed through the memory tree.
Some usalians reacted strongly but then decided to move on and become better, using the historical footprint of humanity as a reference and stepping stone in their next action.
Hopscotch however, didn't want to let every tragedy and evil be forgiven and forgotten.
For she strived towards the day where her humanity evolved into a perfection, leaving the crude and imperfect humanity behind her wake.
But to hate all parts of humanity due to some of the parts being tainted, was that also the best thing to do?
Nagan wanted to see what kind of path that Hopscotch would take.
That is his role as a patriarch.
He will observe, supervise, and guide them all to be their best version of themselves.
The process was just as important as the result.