What a terrific story, @litguru. It's so good to see you in The Ink Well again!

I love how you add details and build the world for your story in subtle ways. There was so much information packed into these few sentences, for example:

Wouldn’t it be more advantageous to eat in silence? There must be a value to it, otherwise, the behavior wouldn’t exist. For all the artificial biology added to this moon, Darwinian rules are still in play.

Thanks for sharing the inspiration for the story. Very cool. We have very few sci-fi writers in The Ink Well. I hope you will inspire others!