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	Enforcer Reproducton explained
	Posted By: Uriel	Date: 1/19/03 4:02 a.m.
	funny tibit from the new Letters to the Webmaster over at b.net: Pfhor Enforcer have two small orifices, one on each shoulder. For most of their life, those orifices (roughly equal in diameter to an American dime) don't do anything, except in a small percentage of Enforcers who can make them suppurate at will. This curious physical anomaly usually manifests late in childhood and, apart from being quite the icebreaker at parties, is the sole factor that marks it as a Major (as opposed to Minor) Enforcer. Regardless of Major or Minor status, these orifices become very important towards the end of an Enforcer's life. (We're speaking here of lives which end naturally and without cyborg assistance.) When the time comes, the Enforcer retires to its living quarters and assumes a relaxed position. The orifice on the left shoulder dilates and several pellets sluice out, resembling Milk Duds in teriyaki sauce. Major Enforcers expel between twenty and thirty of these pellets; Minor Enforcers only manage ten to fifteen. They sift slowly through the messy globes and select one using some strange train of logic known only to the Enforcers. The others are crushed underfoot until nothing is left of them but a slightly crunchy paste. The Enforcer coats the remaining pellet in this paste and allows it to harden into a softball-sized lump. Seven weeks later, when the infant Enforcer eats its way through the remainder of this shell, the parent enforcer sits down with the child (which is roughly the size of a softball at this point) and names it. Minor Enforcers are restricted to one apostrophe in their offspring's name (ex: Ste've) while Major Enforcers may incorporate multiple apostrophes (ex: Je'nn'y). Note that a multi-apostrophe name does not indicate that the offspring of a Major Enforcer will itself become a Major Enforcer. Parent and child spend another week together, during which time the offspring learns all there is to know about being an Enforcer; though it will be several years before it becomes mature enough to act on instructions, the infant Enforcer has an incredible ability to absorb and memorize them. At the end of the week, the orifice on the parent's right shoulder opens up, discharging the Enforcer's entire skeletal system and (as you might expect) killing it in the process. The infant remains in the parent's living quarters until it reaches the size of its deceased parent, at which point it leaves the room and joins Pfhor society. This takes about nine earth years, during which time the Enforcer amuses itself by building its signature weapon out of the malleable, cartilaginous skeleton of its immediate ancestor. i love these little comments on the nature of the marathon-guy that turn up one after one.

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