Jump 069: EVO: Search for Eden

Jump 69: EVO: Search for Eden
>Three of Pentacles (The constructive use of creative talents, and the expression of artistry in workmanship. Skill and labor turned to the crafting of things of value.)
Bodies are things. I'm evolving bodies. Hooray!
>Era: The Ice Age
>Origin: The Benefactor
>Drawbacks: Bad Influence (+200), Spiraling Out Of Control (+300), The Dark Planet (+300)
So... things are going to invade Earth, but Earth is going to have natural life that is on absolute crack to fight it off. Meanwhile various species from my previous jumps will be evolving also.
What could go wrong? OH GOD EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG.
>Evolutionary Potential (Free)
Huh. Constantly (slowly) evolving form? That sounds useful.
>Mysterious Time Stream Evolves You (Free)
Spiffy transformation sequences!
>Record of Evolution (Free)
A mental record of my evolved forms. Also very useful.
>Instinct (Free)
Coupled with APM Intensifies, this means I can force myself to not react to instinctive reflexes while being fully aware that I should be. There are times where this is useful.
>Personal Theme (Free, Benefactor)
I expect "adaptation" is not a proper theme, that would be circumventing the system, but how about flexibility? Multiple purposes for a single thing? Very useful for, say, hands and flexibility. Basically we've got a DEX build going here.
>Change of Circumstance (1700, Benefactor)
Why yes I like being able to breathe Venus' atmosphere if someone teleports me there in the future!
>Review of Evolution (1500, Benefactor)
You know, I was going to get Born to Adapt to double my EVO intake... but I am patient. More importantly, if for some reason I need to permanently go backward in my evolution, now I can.
>External Influence (1300)
This has implications. Specifically... I can evolve others, and use these perks on them. Not only can I cause them to evolve, but there are pretty good odds that I can use Personal Analysis on them as well, I'd wager. It's no Icon of Civilization, but it permits me to be precise.
>Evolutionary Divergence (1000, Benefactor)
One form to evolve with is good. Five forms sharing the pool? Much, much better. This way if one line is a false start, I can drop it and focus my efforts in a different direction.
>Personal Analysis (400)
Sub-atomic analysis of my body? (And by extension, with External Influence, others who permit it?) That gives me more information than I could get without resorting to very high level technology.
>Invasive Species (0, Benefactor)
Now this is what I call intelligent design. Targeted evolution for planning ahead instead of just living in the moment, very important. And when you've got clairvoyance and precognition, planning ahead is important.
>Blue Crystal (Free, Benefactor)
Free EVO every year. Helpful. Let's build up those reserves.

So! Firstly, I did make it to the end of the jump, even if it was a very narrow thing. Spiraling Out Of Control countered The Dark Planet, and as such the biosphere wasn't wiped, though there were a few, uh. Boss battles, I think they should be called? Because of course the nature of Spiraling Out Of Control infected The Dark Planet further down the line. I was really not a fan of that, but things went very, very crazy. Mammoths the size of houses. Wolves the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. Drill hornets. CAZADORES. OH GOD WHY.

When I left, hot-blooded cro magnon tribes were in a state of war with the remaining neanderthal city-states, using weapons that shouldn't exist for thousands of years - thankfully we aren't talking guns, but we ARE talking primitive swords and spears, and sometimes slings. Neanderthals were still using clubs, but they were starting to introduce something very similar to a maquahuitl The wildlife on the other hand, well... there's a reason why literally every human was carrying crude swords. On the plus side, humans eat very well, when they bring down a mammoth or deal with a pack of dire wolves.

With the barest bit of guidance, once the ice age ended and they started to build up their numbers, they were happy to classify the things from The Dark Planet as monsters, learned simple measures to deal with them, and... well, their primitive swords aren't just carved from large bones and ivory, but they've got some rather ingenious techniques to work meteoric iron. Most tribes have a few such weapons, and they're extremely effective.

I did end up going from tribe to tribe, posing as a sage, spending my EVO to make them hardier and more intelligent and occasionally helping with simple tactics or putting a bug in their ear about farming. Of course, all of this made them no less hot blooded. Just... the less I need to think about theirs being the sword that pierces the heavens, the better. Yes, that was a pickup line I heard them use. And since everyone was hot-blooded, yes, it worked. Ah, humanity, never change...

And Gaia chose to come along, yet I didn't realize this until rather a bit later down the line.

...wait, this is jump #69...