Cygiso -

The nearest Cygiso drifted over, paused above her chest, and matched her rhythm.

A Cygiso was a translucent, gelatinous disk about the size of a dinner plate, drifting a meter above the violet moss. It had no eyes, no mouth, no apparent organs. But it had mass—exquisite, variable, intentional mass. A Cygiso could make itself as light as a pollen grain to ride thermals, or as heavy as a lead ingot to sink into the spongy ground and hibernate. cygiso

Aris transmitted her findings. The linguists back on Earth were ecstatic. The military, less so. A species that could manipulate its mass at will? That could make itself heavy enough to crack a starship hull? That was a weapon waiting to be aimed. The nearest Cygiso drifted over, paused above her

Not sound. Syntax of mass. Each weight-shift was a word. Each cluster was a sentence. A heavy thud meant here . A light drift meant there . A sequence of three heavies meant danger . A rapid alternating pattern meant join . But it had mass—exquisite, variable, intentional mass

The Cygiso did not flee. They gathered.