-Colony ship “Hope”, in orbit over planet Maru-

Iggy Banks, the Hope's head of terraforming sat in his office and thought about the people he was responsible for. Twelve years had passed, since they arrived. Twelve years since the first colonist sleeved back into their original bodies they brought with them in cryopods. It had been a rough start for them. Malfunctions were to be expected, but it didn’t take the sting out of the accidents. He stood up, walking over to the window.

The world they called Maru was full of alien life. The same life that made his duties infinitely harder. When they started this journey they expected a waterworld with maybe traces of microscopic life, not the lush reefs, beautiful islands and fully developed ecosystem. A few of the islands would have to be stripped of their existing habitats to make way for his people, but that was a small price to pay to make this solar system liveable.

It was at this moment of introspection that his AI assistant informed him of a visitor at the door. Alyisha Feng - one of the biologists working planetside. He opened the door and a young, androgynous person with long green hair and a simple workers' suit entered. He greeted them and offered them a seat. “Ah! Alyisha. Welcome. I was told you were down there. How can I help you?”
The biologist ignored his comment and remained standing.
“We can’t destroy those islands. Or any of the habitats on this planet without knowing how it’s all connected. And our findings are clear - it is connected. Even a minor change could kill the whole planet.”

Iggy sighed and sat down at his desk, folding his hands together.
“Doctor Feng, this hypothesis has already been discussed by the colony council. It’s a risk that we need to take or we’re not going to have a thriving colony anytime soon. Not down there, and not here either. People want more than just digital life and synthetic bodies. Once we’re at that stage we can repair any damage done and...”
“Our own history suggests we won't stop there!. One of the main reasons the first sleeper ships were sent out to colonize distant stars was because we'd left Earth so fucked up.”
“I am aware of the early history of space colonisation, thank you very much. Now if you don’t have anything worthwhile to discuss, I need to get back to work.”

The biologist huffed and pressed a datapad onto his desk. “Actually I do. Look at these results. The marine biology department ran genetic studies on the native life. It's not just a hypothesis. Almost all life they tested… Everything we've found so far seems closely related. As if all life on this planet is just another genus within the same family. And we’ve seen the effects of that first-hand. There’s a jellyfish-like species in the southern reefs that reproduces via a mutagenic sting. It drifts about on the surface of the ocean, using photosynthesis to generate energy. When it stings another animal, that creature begins to mutate and eventually becomes a clone of the jellyfish that stung it. There's barely a trace of the original animal remaining.”

Iggy raised an eyebrow. “That's more concerning than fantastic. What does this poison do to humans?” In his mind, he had already begun formulating plans. Containment procedures, antidote research. Possible extermination.
“That’s the weird part We had a worker accidentally get stung last week. We put him in quarantaine and he felt sick for a few days then fully recovered. But I’ve done an interview and checked his file. Since leaving quarantaine he's switched to day shifts exclusively, and almost entirely stopped taking his lunch breaks. He says he just feels better in the sun. But I had my suspicions and ordered a second genetic screening. It confirmed that his DNA had changed even after the blood tests he took immediately following the incident! He was photosynthesizing!”

The head of terraforming raised a hand. “Doctor Feng please calm down. I know this is very exciting from a scientific point-of-view, but get to your point. All I'm hearing is that the local ecosystem is more unpredictable than expected.”
“Yes and No. So far nothing suggests that this can influence humans on the scale it does local fauna. Our worker has the equivalent of a photosynthesis implant but we would know by now if he was turning into a jellyfish. However…”
They fiddled with their leg pocket and produced a small vial. “... with the right preparation, it is possible to isolate the transformative enzyme and make it do to terran life-forms… pretty much anything we want. With more research we could unlock a whole slew of body modifications. The possibilities right now are endless! We could get rid of invasive surgery. As a concept we could make it obsolete.”

Iggy carefully took the vial from them, turning it in his hand. “This is still a big risk. What does this one do?”
“It grows gills well suited to the local oceans. I thought it was the most useful application to start with. It doesn't replace the subject's respiratory system, just makes it more… flexible.”
“Side effects?”
“You might grow small patches of fish scales.”
“So you’ve tested it then? On humans?”, Iggy glared.
Alyisha grinned uncomfortably, sucking in air through their teeth.
“On volunteers...”
“You tested an experimental alien mutagen on people? Who cares if they volunteered!? What if literally anything had gone wrong?. Even if you followed every safety protocol to the letter, we don’t have enough bodies to spare!”
“I’m sorry but we had to know! If it's between having to re-digitize a few colonists or potentially kill a whole planet, it's a small price to pay!”
Iggy took his glasses off and rubbed his face.
“Fine. You can continue your research. But above board. Public opinion has always been on the side of preserving the ecosystem, but if your research doesn’t work out or if the colonists are unwilling to compromise on their humanity, at least we can say we tried.” He put his glasses back on and leaned forward. “Mind you, if this turns out to be too dangerous, we'd have to get rid of the affected bodies, and you'd have to answer for them.”
“I can live with that.”

After Alyisha left Iggy got up from his chair again and leaned against the window. He smiled faintly down at the blue marble below. If this worked, it wasn't just invasive surgery that would become obsolete. Terraforming too would be unnecessary. Maybe they could do better... He wished his job would allow him to indulge in a bit more of the hope for such things. Or maybe somewhere amid all the responsibilities and procedures he'd just become old. He looked again at the files Alyisha shared before leaving. Then sat back down in his office, pondering the people he was responsible for.