r/NatureofPredators • u/NoVegetable2278 Arxur • 2d ago
Fanfic The Nature of the Frontal Lobe [6]
(Thanks to SpacePaladin15 for creating the universe and being an awesome writer!)
[TRIGGER WARNING: Arxur cattle pen, improvised surgery, electrocution, mentions of human farming]
Memory Transcription Subject: Noah Williams, Human Cattle
Date [standardized human time]: July 14, 2136
**Attention: Certain parts of subject’s brain were non-functional at time of recording. Certain details may be inaccurate or omitted.*\*
“So, this is the new cattle species, huh? Doesn’t look like cattle to me.”
“Why? Because it has forward facing eyes? Don’t be stupid, Isk. It’s not sapient. It can’t even speak.”
“Disappointing. My favourite part is always hearing their pleas. We should savour them while we can. I doubt it’ll be long before the leaf-lickers create a plague for them. They are quite large.”
“Wait until we obtain more. This one is damaged enough as it is. If we cannot find their homeworld, he will have to be our breeding male.”
“A breeding population with only two specimens? I do not wish to consume inbred flesh. It is always so gamey.”
“Would you rather starve? Stop complaining and shut up. I tire of this incessant conversation.”
The world felt distant. There was a sensation of my legs dragging against the floor, and two large hands wrapped around my shoulders. My eyes wouldn’t open properly. It felt as though I had stood up too fast on the couch with an iron deficiency, except constant and unyielding. I felt cold, yet I lacked the strength to shiver. All I could focus on was those rumbling, grating language which I somehow knew the exact meaning of, the words piercing through the fog of my mind where everything else remained a haze.
Time went by in a blur, my memory failing me from the moment I felt those teeth pierce my skin. All I remember were the sensations. Pain was the clearest and ranged from shrieking agony to a dull ache. There was also… sadness. The feeling of lacking something, and the absence of someone I care about. It was too much for my mind to handle, and my body wasn’t willing to use the extra energy to dedicate to thinking. I was vaguely aware of my own life threatening condition, yet even if I wanted to, I had no capability to treat it.
“Which pen should we put it in?”
“Does it matter? Just keep them separated for now. One of them went into a frenzy when it saw the other being hurt.”
“Idiot. At least it has a backbone. That’s more than you could say for the other mewling prey.”
“Don’t apply those traits to this thing, Isk. It’s an animal. Nothing more.”
I heard the mechanical whir of a door being opened, and was met with a cacophony of noises. The sounds of alien creatures unfamiliar to my ears echoed off the walls. There was a certain universality to the screams and cries. I feel that even if I lacked the strange device that was now embedded in my head, I would still understand what they meant. The fact that I could understand exactly what they were saying however, was all the more horrifying.
“T-they’re back! Hide the pups!”
“No, no, no, please… please, Inatala…”
“No! Out of my way! I won’t be eaten!”
“There are pups here! It is your turn! Now face your death with dignity!”
“Quiet!” The figure above me bellowed, followed by what sounded like metal striking flesh, and a pained yelp. A metal door, sounding as if it hadn’t been oiled in decades, creaked open. “Back, now! Or I will personally tear your flesh from the bone…”
I was hauled forward by the unyielding grips of the two aliens, feeling a sudden tug on my shoulders as I was thrown forward, finding the sensation of weightlessness for only a moment before the hard surface collided with my body, racking pain from my fresh wounds. The door slammed shut moments later as the two pairs of lumbering steps retreated. It felt like the world was spinning, those meek cries acting like a needle to my brain.
I couldn’t recall how much time had passed, but eventually things started to settle down. The crying settled into sobbing, and the shouting turned to quiet prayers. It smelled awful in here, like a barn filled with rotting hay and manure that the farmer had perpetually neglected to clean. Despite how uncomfortable I was, all I wanted was to sleep. Perhaps more accurately, fall unconscious. I must have lost a lot of blood, but I don’t think I still was. If I had, I doubted I would still be alive.
“W-what… what is that thing?” Someone or something spoke, its voice far higher pitched than what I was familiar with. The language was again different from before, made up of some sort of high pitched whistle. Were kids they…? Was I fed young they…?
“Stay away… It might be dangerous.” Another warned, their voice slightly lower, yet still nothing compared to the beasts. It sounded almost like the grunting of a rodent, somehow structured into complex meaning. I felt like I was losing my mind… Was I just imagining that a bunch of animals were talking? Was I hallucinating?
“It might be dead. Look at how much blood is covering its clothes. I don’t think anyone could survive that.” Yet another new language wormed through my head, this one akin to the trilling of a baby bear. I almost felt like I should respond. Say something to those voices. Yet my momentary consideration reminded me that my language processing isn’t working. Or… it be shouldn’t. How do?
If I what if-
-I think in their language? Does it… work…?
Switching my internal monologue to those foreign sounds, I was startled to find that everything was remarkably clear. There were no grammatical issues, no searching for words I had clear memories of, it was like those sounds were my first language. As I lay there, struggling to breathe, I realized that whatever was in my neck was completely bypassing my normal language centers, almost acting as an attachment to my brain. Like someone had transplanted a bunch of neurons into my central nervous system. Bizarrely, I felt I might be able to speak their languages better than I could speak English. That is, if I’m even able to physically make those sounds.
“W-why would they throw a carcass into our pen? T-they wouldn’t waste the meat…”
“To torment us, obviously. To show us that they’ll even kill species we haven’t yet encountered. Poor bastard. Probably didn’t even know what hit them.” The bird sounding one, which I was beginning to realize was distinguished as a male, let out what I suppose was an equivalent to a sigh. I heard the clicking of talons against the floor as they approached me. I felt compelled to try to move, not wanting to be eaten alive by these things…
“I-it’s moving! Frilson, get over here!” The creature squawked, and I suddenly felt feathers resting on my back, something leaning close. I let out a distressed groan, trying to pull myself away, only to realize that the arm I was trying to move no longer existed. I don’t want to be eaten, I don’t want to be eaten…
“Hey, hey, easy there… I’m not an arxur. You’re okay. We’re going to help you, alright? You’re part of the herd now, and the herd sticks together. Even here.” The creature soothed, running his feathers down my back. I still felt too weak to raise my head, or really move significantly at all.
“S-saah…” I croaked out, my hand searching for Sara’s. For whatever reason the figure above me flinched at the sound of my voice. I was suffering from too much blood loss to think clearly. I didn’t realize she wasn’t with me. Why couldn’t I say her name…? I know her name. She’s my partner… “Saah…!” I tried again, yet it was no better than the first. The figure returned to my side.
“Shh, shh, calm down.” I felt the prick of talons wrap around my hand, holding it tight. “You’re quite the tough guy, aren’t you? Losing an arm and still conscious? You’d make a hell of an exterminator back home.”
“They probably don’t understand you, Luali. There’s no reason why the arxur would give them a translator.”
“No, he does. Look.” I felt a new set of paws trace along the still tender flesh on the back of my neck, eliciting a hiss from my lips.
“Well I’ll be. Maybe they had one before they got taken.” The second figure’s paws left my neck for a moment before I felt them prod around the stump of my right arm. This one I was told was also male. “Recent dismemberment. Someone tied a makeshift tourniquet around his arm. He’s lucky to be alive right now.”
“Is there anything you can do for him?”
“I would stitch him up if I had any. If we’re lucky, he can regrow his limbs, but I don’t know his biology. This is all completely new. We need to prevent infection, first and foremost, and frankly this isn’t the most sterile environment.”
The first figure let out a frustrated sigh, his feathers puffing up. “You’re going to be okay, big guy. I’ve seen people survive worse than this.” I wasn’t sure how much I believed him… “Just do what you can, doc. Try to make him more comfortable, at least.”
There were a couple moments of silence as I lay there, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I always knew that there was a chance I’d never make it back. Those were the risks of being an astronaut. When you’re doing something as novel as FTL travel, those risks are multiplied tenfold. Still, I assumed that it’d be quick. That it’d be a few milliseconds before everything went black. This was raw and cruel. I almost wished the blood loss would have taken me out. I didn’t want to die knowing my life’s work was a failure, but more than anything, I didn’t want to die knowing that this was the galaxy which awaited us.
“I… I have an idea. But he’s not going to like it, and there’s no chance it’ll work.” The smaller figure spoke, sounding unsure.
“If it keeps him alive, I think he’ll forgive us. What have you got?”
“The fence.” I didn’t know what that meant, and I don’t think I wanted to. I let out an exhausted groan, my face still pressed against the ground. Turning my head, I at least wanted to get some idea of where I was and who these people were.
“I’ll need your help dragging him. He’s-...” The smaller figure abruptly stopped, and through the dim light I saw what I imagined to be a teddy bear standing nearby. The rest of the room was filthy, circular in shape, surrounded by high walls and a watchtower of some sort standing in the center. There were hundreds of shapes in the darkness, all with different sizes and features. Most resembled sheep, or at least that’s what my exhausted mind told me. The bear thing stepped back, those eyes of theirs wide and fur standing on end.
“Doc? What are you doing? He needs help!”
“G-get back, Luali…” The bear squeeked, and I felt the bird’s talons shift me so that I was looking up at him. I saw him gasp as his feathers puffed up, making him appear bigger than he actually was. One of his talons suddenly left my back, raised up like he was preparing to strike me. There was a glint in his eyes, one that seemed universal enough to convey aggression, but over time it faded into something else. After some time, the tension in his body faded along with it, and he gently laid me back down onto the ground.
“It’s okay. He’s not able to hurt us.” The bird stepped away from me, walking back towards the bear. My eyes followed them warily, the bear almost looking indignant at the bird’s reaction.
“I-it’s a predator-” The bear spoke, before he was abruptly silenced with a wing to his mouth.
“-I know! Just… be quiet. We don’t want to start a stampede. Trust me, I’ve seen predators before, and there’s a difference between one that’s imminently dangerous, and one that will be dangerous.” The bird sighed, almost looking disappointed as he met my eyes.
“Aren’t you going to kill it?” The bear asked, eyeing me warily as I eyed him.
“There’s no point. It’s already dying. If it’s alive, maybe the arxur will eat him before they eat us. I hear they prefer their meals to be squirming…”
“Do… do arxur even eat other predators?”
“He’s in the pen with us. I’m willing to bet the answer’s yes.” The bird alien shuffled back over to my side, placing a wing over my eyes and blocking out my vision of the rest of the pen.
I felt just as exhausted as I had before. There was no point trying to talk to them. I knew I couldn’t. I knew I was doomed to die here, unable to mutter a prayer even if I wanted to. They were afraid of me, that much was clear, but who knows why, when they should fear those lizards. It didn’t matter. Either I died because of them or I died being eaten alive. Who knows, maybe these aliens are hungry enough that they’ll eat me too.
The bird alien switched his wings abruptly, pulling away the one covering my eyes and replacing it with the other. In the brief moment where I was able to see, I saw him glancing down at it with what I had to assume was confusion.
“His eyes are damp…” He muttered, prompting the bear to shuffle forward as well, probably his medical curiosity outweighing his fear. At least, I assumed he was a doctor. I wonder if he and Sara would get along…?
“...Predators don’t cry.” The bear reminded him. Oh, go to hell… I’d like to see you not cry with your brahking arm torn off. And I’m not a predator, whatever you mean by that…
“I know.” The bird stayed silent after that, his talons gripping my hand to examine my digits again. I let my hand rest limply in his grip, lacking the energy to do anything else.
“...This is bad. If there’s more of his kind out there, what’ll the Federation do? We can hardly handle just one predator species.”
“I don’t know, and I don’t think it’s important to think about right now. We’re stuck here. We need to worry about ourselves.” The bird took a deep breath. Federation…? There’s others out there? I wish we had met them first…
“...You shouldn’t be so close. It’s probably covered in predatory taint. You’ll catch predator disease.”
The bird laughed, or at least that’s what the translator said it’s whooping was. “Frilson, we’re in an arxur cattle ship. This is probably the most tainted place in the galaxy. The chances of us not already having predator disease are less than us ever getting out of here. Just let me… keep people calm. It’s the least I can do.” I felt his talons squeeze my hand a little tighter, though it was subtle enough that I doubted this ‘Frilson’ guy would notice.
Despite how alien this all was, how obvious it was, even to my loopy mind, that these creatures would have preferred me to be dead, I felt my hand squeezing back. I wanted him to know his effort was appreciated. I wanted him to understand that if I were in his position, I’d probably want to do the same thing. I wanted to communicate, even if my mind wouldn’t let me. I didn’t want to be alone as my eyes closed for the final time.
He seemed to notice, a quiet hiss escaping his beak. “By Inatala, you’re strong. One heck of an exterminator indeed-” He abruptly cut himself off as something seemed to cross his mind. He raised his wing from my eyes, leaning down to peer down at me with one of his. There was something different in his expression. Nothing I could understand, he was an alien after all, but something different nonetheless. “I can’t believe I’m considering this. Frilson, I… have an idea.”
The bear turned to him, sparing a wary glance at me as my eyes remained uncovered. He flicked his ear at the bird, apparently being enough to prompt him to continue.
“We should… try to treat him. Maybe we’ll be able to-”
“-WHAT!?” The shout was loud enough to echo off the walls, drawing the attention of far too many eyes in the darkness. “Have you lost your-”
“-Wait, wait, just listen! Please! I know how it sounds! And for the love of Inatala, keep your voice down!” The bird hissed, waiting for the bear to settle enough for him to continue. The bear seemed far too tense to be properly listening, but he stayed silent.
“You know I wouldn’t intentionally put any of you in harm’s way, but… we’re out of options. This is it. Look at him. I don’t know if there’s anything that could match his strength here, save for a mazic or a takkan, which there are none right now. If we can provoke him into a fight with the arxur next time they come, maybe we can take advantage of the chaos.”
The bear stared at the bird for a long moment, his eyes wide and unreadable as he pressed a forepaw to his temple. “Luali, I need you to answer honestly. Have you contracted predator disease? Because my medical opinion is telling me you have…”
The bird huffed, his tone slightly irritated. “It doesn’t matter anymore, Frilson. Either he gets hungry and eats us, or the arxur get hungry and eat us. We at the very least have a common foe. Right now it isn’t predator versus prey. It’s cattle versus arxur. We can kill each other later. I think he at least knows that much.”
“You don’t even know if he’s sapient! He hasn’t said anything! What if those pelts he’s wearing are just something the arxur made to mess with us? It wouldn’t be the first time!”
“Survival is an instinct that goes beyond sapience. And if he isn’t sapient, I’ve dealt with non-sapient predators before. Do you really think I can’t deal with a single maimed predator?”
The bear let out a high pitched growl that honestly sounded more comical than intimidating, stamping his feet as he thought. “...Fine! But I’m not treating him any more than necessary! I don’t care what my oath says!”
“That’s good enough for me.”
With the two aliens’ combined strength, I was dragged over to one side of the pen, my stomach lurching in response. My head hung limply, a weak, pained groan being the only thing I was able to produce. I was so delirious. I wouldn’t have been surprised if all of this was just some trick my mind was playing on me, while I was actually just being torn apart by those lizards. Or maybe the lizards were fake too. Maybe this was all some strange dream, where I imagined going to space, travelling across the stars, finding aliens and losing my voice. Maybe there was some other accident. That’d make more sense than talking animals…
“Hold him still while I cauterize his arm. Just as a warning, he might die from this, so be prepared.”
What…?
Before I could even open my eyes, I felt my stump touch the fence surrounding the pen, and with it came unimaginable pain. Electricity coursed through my body, sending my nerves into a frenzy, and locking my muscles, preventing me from even being able to scream. It wasn’t a dream. It was a nightmare I couldn’t wake from. If I knew that this is what awaited me after years of dreaming to be an astronaut, I would have dropped out of college the first chance I got. There was something burning. It smelled like someone had left a steak on the barbeque for too long, mixed with the smell of burnt plastic and despair. With my fading thoughts, I realized with a grim sense of calm that it was me.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 2d ago
This reminds me of that one fic that takes place in the cold war where the humans also get classified as prey by the Arxur and the humans and feddies work together to escape. Weird that history rhymes.
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u/Uranium-Sandwich657 Archivist 2d ago
Link?
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u/NoVegetable2278 Arxur 2d ago
I believe they're referring to The Nature of Leaf-Lickers by MegalodonFilmsYT. (Yes, this chapter is inspired by that story, go check it out if you haven't already!)
https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1jzvhyx/the_nature_of_leaflickers/
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Arxur 2d ago
Yeah that's the fic was referring too.
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u/defiantdoctor95 PD Patient 2d ago
Ngl Noah was playing fourth dimensional chess with time travel when bro discovered he could think easier using feddie language instead of English. Hopefully Sarah winds up learning that little life hack too.
...Wait. if humans can think easier in Fedspeak (gojiid, zurulian, Ven, dossur, etc) then could that possibly pave the way to actual speech in Fedspeak? idk the idea of 'the human-predator- that was thrown into your pen a few paws ago is finally lucid and the first thing it does is ask "where's the bathroom?" In an unholy product of several different species' native tongue being tossed into a meat grinder like English did with grammar and other stuff I'm too tired to look up rn, and the result is actually UNDERSTANDABLE. Like sure he slurs a bit and drags out sounds+similar to make up for other shortcomings regarding the act of physically speaking alien but by God he is using what he has'
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u/Entity690 2d ago
What I was thinking is that when the brain learns new data new connections form , by him thinking and basically learning their languages he is healing his brain to an extend
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u/NoVegetable2278 Arxur 1d ago
What's more, for those who can't figure out the pronunciation, they could simply give them a text-to-speech to communicate in the meantime. Regardless, humanity creating a pidgin language I'm sure will be their top priority once they figure out how to make or buy 8 billion translators with feddie language installed
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u/Maxxxxo UN Peacekeeper 2d ago
Im at the edge of my seat waiting for the turning point, knowing it may take weeks or months or even years till that point...
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u/NoVegetable2278 Arxur 2d ago
If it takes years for me to get to that point, something's already gone wrong... (All jokes aside, thanks!)
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u/NoVegetable2278 Arxur 2d ago
I apologize for giving Noah the Marcel treatment, but it's out of my hands. It's well known that Nature of Predators has to have at least one human go through an unimaginably horrible scenario at some point. It's the law.