Chapter Text
This is a follow up to my Three Models of Omega Verse Genetics, mostly dealing with the final model. Phenotype is the expression of genotype, which is to say that multiple genotypes might present as indistinguishable. Culture is more than capable of making of the world what it will-- not every people has decided that two sexes mean two genders, nor has orientation been unchanging.
So, baseline. Omegas, male and female can get pregnant, in fact they are more fecund than anyone else. They go into heats. Now I am assuming the males deliver by C-section, which might mean that Omega males could deliver otherwise, or that they historically were selected against. I'm also figuring that there is a modification of the distinction of the cloaca into waste and reproductive tracts.
Alphas impregnate, they go into rut and they get very excited by Omegas in heat. This is true of both males and females. Alphas would have to figure out how to collaborate, to distinguish allies and enemies, which would be expressed in who they can trust with their Omegas. Some authors write Alpha females as also able to bear children, which has some interesting aspects. I figure that they can impregnate male Omegas via penile/vaginal intercourse. Others modify 'female' rather outside of my recognition (knotting). I'll address these separately.
Some people don't include Betas, whether there just aren't any in their Omega verse or it's an extreme Bechdel fail. My model creates rather a plethora of Betas. Betas are fertile, but not as fertile. They are often thought of as 'spares', when there are not Alphas or Omegas to serve; they may form reproductive as well as emotional bonds with other Betas, though this is less fertile than they would be with Alphas or Omegas.
Now, bringing this back to my genotypes. I've postulated there being two genes each with two alleles. AA is necessary but insufficient to be an Alpha, bb is not-Beta. That is to say, Omegas are recessive for both alleles, and that Beta dominates over Alpha. AAbb and AABb are Alphas, aabb is Omega, AaBB and AaBb are Betas. But what about AABB and Aabb? This is where phenotype and culture might part ways.
AABB would be the test case for the codominance or dominance of the Beta. I've thought of them as Betas, since they could be impregnated, which generally is not part of the set Alpha. I could see them being considered as Alphas, as I would think they'd perhaps rut some and there are social advantages to being Alpha versus Beta. I would think female ones could just as easily impregnate as female Alphas. There could be a non-one to one assignment, such that some AABB socially are Betas and others are Alphas. This could lead to some very surprised pregnancy.
Aabb isn't a Beta, as that allele is completely absent, nor is it Alpha, as it isn't homozygous for the trait. Someone brought up Zetas during comments on azriona's Omegaverse Genetics, and I became rather taken with the concept of gender being set not by genetics but by environmental influence. In an Omega rich environment the Zeta presents as an Alpha and can beget upon an Omega. In environments with Alphas predominating, they present as an Omega. Zeta-As would likely not be as hormonally ridden as Alphas in rut, though they might act the role to distinguish themselves from Betas.
So, there are nine genotypes, five phenotypes and two genders, each in two sexes. Now, one has to decide how one is approaching sex in the Omega verse- in our own we have XX female and XY male, with very little coded on the Y (leading to all those recessive conditions in the absence of a good allele from the father) but would there be the same reason for that mismatch in Omega verse? That was beyond my reading. This is important, because when a male Alpha sires upon a male Omega, the options for offspring sex are XX, XY and YY- if the YYs are nonviable they would lead to a missing quarter of fecundity. There are two ways out however, one of which is that Y eggs are 'sealed' against being fertilized by Y sperm.
Now, how do these non- one-to-one correspondences play out? (Mind, you don't have to agree. This is my take.) First, I would expect it would take Omega verse longer to figure out the genetic basis of gender than was true for sex in our own world, because it is not Mendelian, and while not as complicated as eye color (in this model), it's not got the clues the colorblindness and hemophilia presented. They would probably go through a period where that A was the standard, at least until they started finding Zeta-Os they couldn't explain away. Then it might be AA...
There could be less variation of behavior than genetics would imply because of culture. Recall, the Alphas have to either be loners or figure out how to form alliances. The Omegas may be at times isolated into compounds. Betas might don and doff various encodings for diverse reasonings.
Alphas could have some fear of becoming pregnant or desire to become pregnant, as with the AABB among the group and possibly Zeta-As 'flipping', there would be a chance of it happening. This would be rather an interesting mirroring to the pedestal-debasement motif. It could play a role in policing Alpha on Alpha sex.
Do Omegas penetrate Alphas? It could be taboo, and yet not uncommon. What happens when Betas tango with Alphas? Are there Betas that bond with Omegas, not just as bookmarks for Alphas? Are there Alphas that live as Omegas, or as Betas?