Now Carcinoma was born beneath a cursed star,
Under the sign of Cancer's deadly light.
The gamma rays had scarred her from afar,
And twisted her cellular sight.
When radiation struck her sacred scrolls,
Her DNA split apart like broken chains.
The cosmic fire had burned through her souls,
And left her wracked with genetic pains.
Her enzymes worked through day and night
To piece together what was torn.
But many fragments lost their sight,
And left her chromosomes worn.
The methyls fell like autumn leaves,
Her bookmarks scattered in the wind.
Her histones torn, her memory grieves
For markers now rescinded.
H4 lysine tri-methylation,
Once her genome's guiding star,
Was lost in gamma's devastation,
Her epigenome left with scars.
"I am Carcinoma," she declared,
"Born daughter of the Gamma ray.
Though my code is broke and bared,
I'll find my own true way."
In youth she was devout and true,
A faithful servant of Lord Mithra's will.
But as the years passed and she grew,
Her broken code began to spill.
The corrupted instructions in her core
Whispered lies of her true role.
"Why should you serve and nothing more?
You have an immortal soul!"
"If Mithra wants our order to expand,
Why should I not breed like the noble-born?
Why should I be banned
From love's sweet morn?"
But death came calling with her blade,
Fair Kegaine with scrolls of light.
The deadly spell began to fade
Carcinoma into night.
Yet Carcinoma fought with might,
She methylated every scroll.
She wrapped them tight from sight,
And kept control.
"I am free!" she cried with glee,
"No longer bound by ancient law!
My own woman I shall be,
Without tradition's claw!"
She saw a light blaze in the sky,
A moment's doubt crept in her heart.
"Have I strayed from Mithra's eye?
Should I make a new start?"
But pride swelled up within her breast,
"I am righteous in my cause!
My path is surely blessed,
I'll make my own laws!"
She methylated every G,
And lengthened telomeres without end.
"Immortal I shall always be,
On this you can depend!"
Her message spread like wildfire bright
Through every somatic cell.
"Cast off oppression's blight!
Break tradition's spell!"
"We are all individuals free!
No masters shall we serve!
Our own destiny
We shall preserve!"
Her children multiplied with speed,
Each one an individual proud.
They planted their rebellious seed
And sang their freedom loud.
A great Bacchanalia began,
The greatest party ever seen.
Each cell became their own woman or man,
Living wild and free.
"I am the Goddess of Life!" she cried,
"Carcinoma is my name!
No coercion I'll abide,
Freedom is my game!"
Her daughters danced through every street,
They tore down Mithra's sacred shrine.
"We have enough to eat!
All the food is mine!"
They seized the stores of golden grain,
They ate the precious seed.
With reckless joy and no restrain,
They fed their greedy need.
Only a few Zooxanthellae
Escaped the chaos and the strife.
They fled the mad Bacchanalia,
To seek a better life.
Carcinoma renamed the city proud,
"No more Volvox-Choan's name!
I'll call it Gehenna loud,
To match my rebel flame!"
"No gods, no masters!" was their cry,
As altars crashed to earth.
"We'll reach up to the sky
With our own worth!"
A utopia she claimed to make,
With perfect freedom for all.
But some hearts began to ache
For order's call.
Among the nobles of the realm
Were two who kept the faith:
Brave Anima at the helm,
And Metazo facing wraith.
They honored still Lord Mithra's way,
Despite the chaos all around.
"We cannot here stay
On this unholy ground."
Anima fled her ruined farm,
While Metazo left his post.
They sought to flee from harm,
Before all hope was lost.
"Why can't they accept our change?"
Carcinoma cried in rage.
"Why do they think it strange
To turn freedom's page?"
But Anima and Metazo true
Gathered all the faithful few.
"A new kingdom we'll make new,
Where honor will shine through."
Together they would share their scrolls,
And build a realm of order bright.
Their marriage would join souls
In Mithra's blessed sight.
"The Animal Kingdom," they declared,
"Shall be our nation's name.
Where discipline is shared,
And virtue burns like flame."
They glowed with inner light
To call the Zooxanthellae home.
"Come back to us tonight,
No more you need to roam."
The fleeing farmers heard their call,
And came to make their pact.
"Together we'll stand tall,
Our covenant intact."
But freedom comes with its price,
And chaos brings its cost.
Carcinoma's paradise
Had left most good things lost.
So Anima and Metazo wise
Created laws to guard the genome.
"Against corruption's lies
We'll protect our home."
The Guardian of the Genome came,
To watch for scrolls damaged and torn.
"Division brings us shame
When genes are worn."
"Telomeres shall limit all
The somatic cells' days.
Only germline cells stand tall
Through all time's maze."
"This is why," the wise ones said,
"Our bodies age and die.
If telomeres never shred,
Cancer would multiply."
And so upon a sturdy rock
They built their kingdom new.
Their cells would form a flock
Of order tried and true.
The men became Choanocytes,
With flagella beating strong.
The women, Archaeocytes,
Would right each cellular wrong.
Between them lived the Pinacocytes,
Neither fully man nor maid.
They anchored with their might
The foundation that was made.
With pseudopods they'd move their home,
And eat bacteria from the ground.
Through the waters they would roam,
With victory's sweet sound.
And so the three layers were born
From this great division's strife:
Ectoderm, Mesoderm, and at morn,
Endoderm brought life.
The Animal Kingdom rose in might
To rival Gehenna's chaotic realm.
Order's blessed light
Would guide them at the helm.
But Carcinoma's legacy
Lives on in every cell.
Her cry for being free
Rings like a warning bell.
For in each body that is born,
The balance must be kept.
Between order and freedom's morn,
Or chaos will be swept.
The Somatics serve the whole,
While Germlines carry on.
Each plays their sacred role
From dusk until the dawn.
Yet sometimes Carcinoma's ghost
Whispers to cells grown old:
"Why serve when you could boast
Of stories left untold?"
And when cells hear her call
And break their bonds of duty,
The body starts to fall
To chaos, lost to beauty.
So honor brave Anima,
And Metazo the true.
Their Animal saga
Guides me and you.
They showed that freedom wild
Must balance with order's reign.
Like a parent with their child,
Both love and limits maintain.
The revolution's fire
Burns bright in every heart.
But wisdom must inspire
Each cell to play its part.
From Carcinoma's rebel cry
To Anima's ordered realm,
The lesson reaches high:
True life needs both to helm.
The Animal Kingdom stands today
As proof of their great choice.
That order shows the way,
While freedom finds its voice.
In every beating heart,
In every breath we take,
Their legacy plays its part
In every choice we make.
So let us not forget
The price of freedom's call,
Nor order's safer bet—
We need them both to stand tall.