Presently I saw a caterpillar appear over the horizon. It took him several thousand years to wriggle over to where I was. He reached me instantly. "Will I grow too old and die?" I asked. "No sir, you will not." "Will I go ... the other way? Shrink to foetus, revert to zygote, separate into sperm and egg, and thus, into... oblivion?" "No sir. The integrity of your biot will be respected here." "Why then" asked I, "are you not turning into a chrysalis and a butterfly simultaneously?" "You and I are both larvae," said the Caterpillar. "Mr. Caterpillar, you're mistaken. I'm an adult specimen of homo sapiens! Or at least I was, when I first got here." "I repeat," said the Caterpillar, "you are larval. Come, let me show you something." I got up and followed him across the molluskscape.