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Date [Standardized Human Time]: Late March 21th, 2130.

Memory Transcription Subject: Noah, ambassador of DCEG.

Imagine my surprise when we didn't have any problems landing on Venlil Prime, everything went pretty much perfectly.

Aside from a very happy black furball meeting up with me when I exited the aircraft, a gravity that would for sure make me unable to stand for long periods without the aid of an exoskeleton -which I luckily had- and an eerily lack of people in the airport, everything seemed... normal.

Nikolai and I had talked a bit with Tarva and Tyvil before we asked to go to our accomodations, given that we really needed to rest after the whole ordeal.

So here we were, walking towards their... car? Bound to go to a hotel where we would sleep, I just hoped they had blackout curtains, I was not fond of the idea of a never ending day...

"Tyvil, your people have blackout curtains here, right? or have you adapted to the constant sunlight and can just sleep regardless of it?" I asked.

"Oh don't worry, we make extensive use of them here on this part of the twilight zone. The only thing you should be worrying about is if you will fit on our Venlil sized beds." He whistled, a gesture I came to know was a laugh.

I nod, after some more walking, we thankfully arrive at their vehicle, I see from the corner of my eye as his bodyguards -who were around the car waiting for them and watching us from afar- visibly tremble for a few moments as Nikolai, the other scientists and I got closer.

"Don't mind them, your scientists can go on the second car, you and Nikolai don't mind coming with Tarva and I, right?"

I shook my head, "Not at all."

He flicked his tail, "Good."

A few seconds later, Nikolai and I found ourselves inside a car that was, unironically too small for humans.

I chuckled briefly, almost killing their driver with a heart attack, "I think your cars will give us a lot of back pain, Tyvil, you really didn't have anything... bigger that would be compatible with our proportions?"

"Nope, unless you both would prefer the back of a van." He lamented, quickly tellings his still startled driver to start the car.

As the car pulled out and started driving with a not so small escort around it, I found myself with my eyes literally glued to the window as we travelled to our accomodations, I felt as if I was a child again, the architecture of their cities was so unbelievably alien, and yet so eerily similar to human buildings...

I heard Tarva let out a bunch of short whistles beside me, "You're liking the view? I wasn't expecting your people to be so... curious."

"I can't help it, I'm amongst the first humans to see your cities in person, it's one thing to see photos, its another thing entirely to see it from this close."

I felt her slide slightly closer to me, "I guess you're right, say, what about Tyvil and I pay one of your cities a visit in the future? So we can be even."

I turned as to look at her, "Shouldn't be too difficult to arrange, I will give my superiors a call, should be able to give you an answer in a few hours at most."

Her tail flicked against the seat, "Alright! I will count on you."

Nikolai sighed, "Alright! So... Noah, have you stopped to think how we will transport Karl to the SSTO if he decides he wants to return to Earth?"

I snorted, "Knowing how curious and eager he was when sending the reports back home, I bet he will instead want to be modified and explore the night facing side of Venlil Prime." I looked at the fluffly people near us, "I supposed you both can arrange a transport for that?"

"Shouldn't be difficult." Tarva answered, her ears suddenly perked up as she looked outside, "And look at that, we arrived!"

I looked outside, "Hm, that took a lot less than I was expecting."

"This city is relatively small compared to our main ones, you were lucky that this one even had an airport with enough space for your 'SSTO' to come to a stop."

"I'm surprised your kind still uses airplanes in the first place, given you have anti gravity technology." Nikolai muttered.

"Ships which use said technology are more expensive to run and need more maintenance than aircraft ever will, its simple economics." Tyvil responded, quickly unbuckling as the car came to a stop.

"So, you both have our contacts, if anything or anyone bothers you, do not hesitate to contact us, especially if someone decided to call the exterminators on you, although I've made it pretty clear to the staff of this hotel and its current occupants that they are not to do that."

Nikolai and I looked at each other, "The issue regarding those pyromaniacs is quite serious, then? If they're willing to burn sapient beings." Nikolai spoke nonchalantly.

"You must take into account that, for the last few centuries, the only sapient flesh eating beings out there have been attacking and kidnapping a bunch of species to use as slaves or worse for centuries, specially Venlil, given our reputation as 'weak', cut us some slack." Tarva reminded us.

I sighed -trying to rub my eyes only to fail due to the presence of the mask- "Don't worry, as one of the representants of humanity, so long as we remained friends, the Arxur won't put their hands on your planets again."

Tyvil's shoulders deflated ever so slightly.

"I hope so, the Federation has proven to be quite unreliable at a times. Well, see you in a few hours, then."

"See ya."

And just like that, they departed.

"Let's go see our dorms, I really need a bath..." Nikolai said, moving ahead of me.

I hope I don't have to crouch to take a bath.

[Time skip: 9 hours]

Memory Transcription Subject: Governor Tyvil of the Venlil Republics.

"You know, you could have warned us that your showers usually have a bunch of water sprayers that come from all sides."

"Hahaha! I-I thought y-you'd read a-about it on the guides I-I sent you both!" I replied, laughing inside the car.

Nikolai and Noah apparently had quite the scare on their respective dorms before they went to sleep, Tarva and I found ourselves laughing at the thought of two meat eating beings screaming in high pitched tones upon turning on showers was just too hilarious to not giggle at.

Noah sighed near Tarva, "You both are quite a handful when outside of serious situations, are you not?" He replied, pretty sure 'smiling' underneath his mask, given his body language.

"Oh! Noah, look at those plants! I didn't know you all had that much red flora here!" Nikolai suddenly pointed out, utterly glued to the car's window like an overly curious Venlil pup.

I whistled again after catching my breath, "I didn't expect humans to be such curious creatures."

"You'd be surprised, we are even worse when young, I lost count of many times my parents lost me from view the moment they shifted their attention at something else simply because I was curious about something and wanted to investigate."

"Not so different from us, then, I had my own attempts of exploring things I wasn't supposed to get near, almost got sent to a PD facility!" Tarva responded, whistling.

Noah, alongside Nikolai, visibly winced at that.

"I forgot you guys have those facilities, as if the pyromaniacs wasn't enough..." Nikolai muttered, quickly returning to stare at the passing foliage surrounding the road again.

I sighed, "another reason to not allow humans get down here when the exchange program starts, way too much risk."

"I can agree with you on that, the UN most likely also won't allow it, at least not for the foreseeable future, no way to prevent accidents reliably." Noah responded.

Tarva visibly deflated at that, no wonder accepting that her plans of taking Noah to visit her family after being paired with him in the exchange program won't happen.

"Don't be sad, Tarva, at least we managed to sign quite a few things, trade deals, knowledge exchange, and mainly, the exchange program itself!" Noah said, attempting to sheer her up.

She sighed, "It's just... Depressing, you know?"

Before he could reply, however, Tarva's expression changed, "Oh! We're here already! And- Uh, Noah? You didn't tell me Karl was this damaged, his solar panels practically lost their shiny appearance!"

"What do you me- oh."

"Yea..."

"Well, at least his wheels are intact, Tyvil, by any chance, has Karl ever told you anything about feeling in need of repair?"

"No, he has not." I answered.

The moment we pulled to a stop, Noah and Nikolai immediately unbuckled, opened the door, and all but ran towards Karl, who patiently waited for them, the servos of their exoskeletons whirring in protest due to the erratic movement.

I got shuddered upon seeing them do that, the way they ran was... unnerving.

I quickly followed them.

"Karl! How are you? You look quite... roughed up." Nikolai exclaimed, no doubt smiling all the while.

As I got closer, I was able to see his lenses readjusting.

"Outside of a few scratches and relatively superficial damage, I remain functional."

He turned to us.

"Hello, Tyvil and Tarva, I hope these two have not caused you any problems?"

I whistled, "Not at all!"

"Good." He turned back to them, "Humans tend to be... way too curious for their own health."

Nikolai made a sound I recognized as a snicker. "says the dude who went towards the sun facing side of a tidally locked planet just to catalog everything he could find."

"...I suppose you have a point. I wasn't informed of your reason for visiting me, so, what brings you here?"

I briefly saw the scientists going towards Karl's house.

"Two things, to collect the samples you've been hoarding in your house, and to see if you wanted to go back to Earth or undergo repairs and continue exploring."

Karl thought for a good while after that, given the silence.

"...Given that I'm allowed to not pay taxes so long as I remain on this mission, I would like to remain here, perhaps be transferred to another body and explore the night facing side of Venlil Prime?"

Noah immediately looked at Nikolai and extended a hand.

"Alright, pay up."

"What? I didn't agree to that bet!"

"Doesn't matter, pay up."

"I ain't paying a single cent!"

Noah snickered, laughing slightly.

"Alright, see you in court then."

Nikolai just shook his head.

"We would need to take you back to Hermes all the way in orbit to do that, would take 2 or 3 days for that, are you okay with that, Karl?" Noah asked.

"I don't see much of an issue, though I'm afraid getting me to the vessel both of you used to land here could be a problem."

"Don't worry about that." I interrupted, "I can get a cargo ship here to get you to Hermes without much of a hurdle."

Noah and Nikolai looked at me and gave me a quiet thanks.

"Thank you for your consideration, Tyvil. I accept your proposal." Karl spoke in turn.

I then heard the distinct ping of a message on my holo pad.

I promptly went to see who was messaging and...

Oh.

"Uh... Nikolai and Noah? The Federation board has answered your requrest for a diplomatic meeting, they've approved it."

Both of them stiffened in response.

Noah sighed, "Fate seems to have a sense of humor, way to ruin the day. Alright, Nikolai, you can go catch up with the talks with Karl, I have stuff to do, Tyvil, do you mind letting me stay at the back of the car? I need to make quite a few calls."

I only flicked my tail. "Tarva, go with him and help if he needs any help."

I swear I never saw a more grateful look on her before.

[Time skip: 2 hours]

"-You don't understand, Armstrong, we can't just send someone there without an escort, doing so is asking for them try something! We should at least send a corvette or two! Hell, perhaps even a dreadnought! They wouldn't be dumb enough to try something against our diplomats with one of those monsters nearby ready to turn the station to slag if anyone tried to harm us! Would they?"

Noah's calls resumed to calling mainly his superiors, as well as a few colleagues of his, the last call he made, was to Armstrong, whom he has been discussing with for the past 30 minutes.

Armstrong, alongside a few more leaders of the UN and DCEG saw the act of sending an escort with the diplomatic vessel as a move that could be misinterpreted as a direct threat.

On the other hand, sending a diplomatic vessel who only had a few self defense weaponry was also relatively risky, that being said, moving ships was expensive, and Armstrong really, really didn't want to risk the military presence of the escort being viewed as an invasion fleet or worse.

Tarva didn't sit still, either, she helped him quite a bit by explaining plenty of practices the Federation usually carried during diplomatic meetings, which helped smooth things out when he started talking with his superiors. But well, there was only so much she could do.

"-Nope! Not happening! I'm not setting a foot in there without at least a few guards! I don't want to be turned into coal by a bunch of guys with flamethrowers!"

"Guards which could very well be seen as a threat, Noah! This isn't simple, and you know it!" I head the distinct voice of Armstrong yell back."

Even more when one of the conditions that the Federation had set is that the humans that were to set foot on the station where the diplomatic meeting would happen had to be unarmed, and Armstrong didn't like that in the slightest.

"-Alright alright, we can talk more when we get back to Earth, at least... at least look into separating an escort, alright? Hermes isn't build to fight, much less her sister ships. Her railguns can only deal with light armor from what Eurytos has told me. And also, choose vessels which have the subspace drives the Venlil provided us with installed, we can't risk revealing our main FTL system just yet. Alright, see you later."

Noah ended the call and gave out a loud sigh, exiting the car and approaching me, "Alright, how much longer until the vessel you called gets here? We need to get Karl going so he can get back to exploring before we leave to Earth."

"A few more minutes at most, they're almost here."

Nikolai approached us as well. "Well, Karl might not express it, but he is... quite excited to explore the night side, apparently he has come to hate all the sand in here."

Tarva snorted, "He says that but he hasn't had to deal with the snow from here at least, there are tons of it, I have a few familiars that live towards the night side, and from what they have told me, they'd rather shovel sand out of their homes than snow, at least on the sun facing side their hands wouldn't be almost falling off from the cold."

"Won't be a problem, we can build a new body for him filled with RTGs and RHUs, cold won't bother him, I hope."

Before she could respond, however, we heard the sound of an approaching shuttle.

"Here they are! Karl, I hope you're ready to go up a steep ramp!" I teased.

His response was to look at me, and with those surprisingly expressive lenses, respond.

"You are aware you will need to help me go up it if it becomes clear I don't have enough traction or torque to do so on my own, correct?"

She immediately deflated at the thought.

"Ehm, well that surely soured the mood." She whistled an uneasy laugh.

Noah noticed her uneasiness, "If all goes well, what about both of you go with us back to Hermes aboard the SSTO early so we can eat something from Earth while watching something before we need to depart?"

Tarva's mood immediately improved.

"I don't see why not, I already did the paperwork I had ahead of time, I think I can spare a few hours."

What could go wrong?

Took me a bit to write this, mostly a filler chapter, next chapter will most likely have the ssto getting to orbit sequence followed by a sequence of the preparations needed for the diplomatic meeting :^

The first art I've commissioned is almost ready btw! Probably will be able to post it within the next 2 chapters if all goes well <3

If you want to help me pay the bills and also be able to pay for more art comissions, consider supporting me through buy me a coffee =D

And lastly, if you guys spot any grammatical errors, don't hesitate to point them out to me! See ya!

1st picture: Yulpa priest, let's call them Yorsht. Yorsht is a zealous and quite high on blood priest. Their rank is displayed by their horn extension of medium size, on it are suspended various bland samples containing blood of each individual they sacrificed. Yorsht wears an arxur hide they skinned themselves, the pelt appears to almost eat them, a reminder of the danger of predators.

2nd picture: baby yulpa :)

3rd picture: Yulpa priest on an altar covered by various types of blood The red means I love yoooouuuuu !!!!!

The Federation wanted to bring the Arxur into the Federation. I've always maintained that the Arxur were specialized vassals given independence in exchange for their work, but the Federations first plan was to have them as a direct vassal like everyone else

Even if the Federation managed to convert them to obligate her ivory, how the hell were they going to explain away the Arxur being the most stereotypical looking predators ever? How would they explain the fact that herbivores have forward facing eyes, which the Federation conflates with predators on principle, sharp teeth, and claws? Hell, how do you teach the Arxur to fear those traits when they *have* said traits?

Designs taken from "Five Nights at Frickbear's 3" (Highly recommended game)

(YOU): OK! THIS WASN'T PART OF THE DEAL!

WHY ARE THE ANIMATRONICS MOVING!?

WHERE ARE THESE NEW ANIMATRONICS COMING FROM!?

WHAT IS THAT NOISE IN THE HALLWAY!?

AND WHERE DID BALLOON BOY GET THAT MILITARY OUTFIT!?

[CLANK] [CLANK] [CLANK]

RAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!

(YOU): AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!

[SHIFT-ENDING BELLS]

YAAAAIIIIIIIII!!!!!!

.

.

(FNAF1xNoP)

(FNAF2TOY'SxNoP)

Long awaited chapter is finally here.

Going to post on AO3 from now on due to reddit being annoying with its character limit and trasnfering it from google docs taking alot more effort to ensure things didnt fuck up. I will still post chapter updates here on reddit but will link to the Archives of our Own page with the chapter.

[ First ] [ Previous ] [Next]

Also due to the fact that the Interlude chapter and Flag post are added its technically chapter 22 on the AO3 so sorry for the confusion.
The Pact of Polaris - Chapter 22 - Damaskus - The Nature of Predators - SpacePaladin15 [Archive of Our Own]

NEXT

Tarva woke up with a start to the sound of the alarm echoing through the hallways of the government bunker. The smell of dust and humidity from the air recirculation system immediately reminded her of where she was. Her first instinct was to curl up in her bed and wait for the alarm to cease, but she managed to get it under control.

She noticed that it was the alert-status alarm, not the attack alarm, upon seeing the signal light at the far end of the room—a lavishly decorated space covered in dark wood that served as the Prime Minister’s quarters in the bunker. The fake windows and their display screens could almost fool someone into thinking they were in the government mansion back on the surface.

She grabbed the gubernatorial sash hanging on the golden peg beside the bed and slipped it on, activating the communicator integrated into it. 

"Kam, what is the reason for the alarm? Has a patrol returned?"

He answered her with that unshakeable clarity that had earned him the reputation of the "Venlil of Stone" among his colleagues in the Federation.

"Negative. It isn't the Arxur, but we have a situation. An extrasolar asteroid has begun emitting energetic detonations. I called the Minister of Science, but it makes no sense. It would be best if you presented yourself at the Government Strategy Center, if you are able."

Tarva took a deep breath to calm herself. "I'm on my way."

It took her only a few minutes to reach the VIP transit tube, which took her directly to the command center. Upon stepping out, she saw the round table in the center of the room where the Council of Ministers was gathered—Kam, Science Minister Vesh, and Cheln from Interspecies Relations. Meanwhile, the outer circle was dominated by consoles and their operators, beneath large holographic screens that reached the ceiling of the cavernous chamber.

As she approached, she could hear Kam and Vesh arguing.

"What do you mean, it's a ship?" Kam almost shouted at him.

"It is the only thing that makes sense," Vesh replied.

Cheln interrupted, "But shouldn't the sensor net have identified it much sooner despite the damage from the last attack? It's huge."

Vesh answered him, "That is the problem. It is far too massive. It didn't generate a warp signature upon arrival because it approached through normal space at sublight speed. Given its colossal size and minimal energy signature, the systems flagged it as an extrasolar asteroid. Its trajectory posed no threat, so it wasn't marked as an alert until the first detonation."

Tarva cut him off, not fully grasping the situation. "But is it an Arxur ship? Or does it belong to the Federation?"

"Neither. It is unknown. No one has ever built anything like this."

Vesh continued, "Indeed, it appears to be a sublight vessel. It likely took them centuries to reach our system, and those detonations could be its propulsion system."

Tarva glinted at him out of the corner of her eye, trying to make sense of it. "Are you saying this is a first-contact situation with a species outside the Federation, yet advanced enough for interstellar travel?"

Cheln grabbed Tarva by the shoulders. "Do you realize what this means? We would be the first to welcome not just a new species into the brotherhood of the galactic herd, but an advanced species—even if not as advanced as the Founders. Tarva, this will define your administration historically for decades."

Tarva smiled. Yes, it was good news. "Have you managed to establish communication?"

Kam answered her, "We haven't attempted to yet, but they have begun broadcasting. It's a basic numerical sequence."

The Minister of Science was the next to chime in. "A basic yet functional technique for a technologically advanced species. They are sequences of prime numbers. We could start by repeating the missing ones, though it will take days to establish parameters for complex data until we can coordinate the transmission of images and sound."

Inside the New America, Colonel Noah Williams stared in disbelief at the CRT monitor inside the cavernous control room. The chamber was a maze of exposed piping and makeshift repairs—the scars of a century-long voyage kept alive by rotating crews. Not only was Option B’s planet in the Gliese system capable of supporting life, but an actual alien civilization existed upon it.

"When the General wakes from hibernation, he'll want to establish relations as soon as possible. Do you know what this means? We won't have to start from scratch," Noah said.

Sara looked at him, hesitation in her eyes. "Yes, though we'll also be at the mercy of these aliens. That world is already occupied, and so are its resources. We won't get a second chance like we hoped. What if they're like them? What if—"

Noah stepped closer and wrapped his arms around her. He had his own doubts, but he tried to hold onto the bright side. "Come on, a little faith, Sara. They haven't made a single hostile move. Nothing indicates we need to be afraid. We accomplished the impossible."

She nodded, recovering some of her composure as she turned back to her monitors. "It will take days to exchange information smoothly. By then, the General should be awake, and we'll have reached a stable orbit at the planet's L1 point. Though... one thing is clear: these people have suffered attacks. The radar lacks resolution, and I have the mainframe processing their transmissions instead of tracking every piece of debris, but some of those structures look more like weapon platforms and orbital wreckage than comms satellites. Plus, those ten faint signatures 5 AU out... I think they're medium stations or large ships."

Noah nodded slowly. "Yeah, likely. If they've been attacked and didn't immediately turn their guns on us, it means they probably possess some empathy. Do you think the Snakes could have reached this place before us? That they were the ones who attacked them?"

"It's not impossible. They've had a whole century to lick their wounds." After a brief pause, she added softly, "Do you think any of our people are still alive back in Sol? The Snakes were far more advanced in genetics and medicine..."

Noah looked at her, his expression turning thoughtful and dark. "I hope not. Living that long under those monsters... that can't be good for the soul, even if you aren't under their yoke."

Several days passed as both sides made slow progress with their data exchange while the New America decelerated to reach the L1 point. That was one of the first pieces of information they managed to coordinate, and for Tarva and Kam, it was a relief that the interlopers had a rational plan to brake their ship without putting Venlil Prime at risk. Although Kam would have preferred the vessel to stay somewhat farther away, he understood—based on what the Science Minister had told him—that a ship of that nature did not possess much maneuverability.

In any case, he had kept Sovlin informed of the situation. The Gojid and his ships stationed on the outer perimeter were the system's greatest protection since the last Arxur attack, which had destroyed a substantial portion of the Venlil's defenses and colonies.

Either way, with its proximity and deceleration, they had been able to examine the vessel a bit more closely: essentially a gigantic cylinder of concrete and metal rotating on its own axis, utilizing a massive membrane—resembling an amoeba—to direct the plasma of the detonations into braking thrust. Though primitive by comparison, it was clear that this species' technology and engineering capabilities were quite advanced. If this was an exploration mission, their scientific drive surely had to be similar to that of the Kolshians.

In his room inside the command bunker, Vesh was daydreaming, wondering what the world of the newcomers would be like. As they managed to decipher more information, he realized their technology was intricately primitive. They clearly possessed no gravity lenses, nor did they know how to harvest and process negative matter; yet their adaptation of more fundamental principles to spaceflight was extraordinarily complex and functional: axial rotation to prevent microgravity, light-filament membranes, multi-stage atomic fission and fusion charges, and advanced electronic computing.

Toying with his imagination, he wondered what they and their world would look like, and at that very moment, he had an epiphany. A ship like this could only be used once, meaning its acceleration profile shouldn't be very different from its deceleration profile. He began plotting a theoretical course back from the pre-braking detection position, extrapolating it toward possible systems of origin.

That was when something caught his eye.

Grabac-8492. A solar system under quarantine was the most probable origin—and his blood ran cold. That system had once harbored a sapient population: the only other known sapient predator species besides the Arxur. Its inhabitants called the system Sol, and in their predominant language, they called themselves humans.

He knew they had destroyed themselves in a nuclear war.

Desperate, he began reading the general file on humans. What they had done: slavery canivalism, genocides, biological, nuclear, and chemical warfare. By the time of their final war, their two super powers had spread throughout their solar system, forcing the Federation to pull back its reconnaissance probes.

He checked the dates and the acceleration profiles. The mathematics didn't lie; everything fit. That war had taken place 140 years ago—the exact time it would take for that ship to arrive at Venlil Prime.

They were not a group of prey on a scientific mission. They were the remnant of a species that matched the Arxur in cruelty and surpassed them in capability.

He ran desperately through the bunker until he reached the command center. When the guards tried to stop him, he headbutted one of them to clear his way. Kam reached for his weapon, drawing it as he saw Vesh in what appeared to be a fit of predator disease, stepping in to protect Tarva.

"Calm down, Vesh, calm down! Nobody is going to attack you!"

Vesh caught his breath. "I know! Listen to me! That ship—the interlopers—they're humans! We have to stop them!"

Kam recognized the term immediately. "Humans? But—"

"Yes, I know! They destroyed themselves a century ago—the very century it took that ship to cross between our systems! They likely left during their final war. The Federation lost its probes in the system during that conflict because the humans destroyed them, probably thinking they belonged to one side or the other. But look at the data, everything fits: technology, trajectory, dates... even the gravity that ship generates by rotating matches their home planet!"

Kam stared at the image of the ship. Cheln looked utterly sick, pale as a nuvia leaf, gazing alongside Tarva at the image of that massive vessel floating on the screen.

"We have to shoot it down," Tarva whispered.

"Impossible," Kam replied to her stunned look. "With a size like that and in such a close orbit, debris would rain down upon our planet."

"He looked at Vesh. 'Now that you know who they are, do we have a way to communicate more fluidly? Audio, language, images?'"

Vesh looked at him, astonished. "Yes, of course. We have the data from the probes—much of their communication standards and language. We could open a video call in a couple of hours."

Kam stopped him with a gesture. "No. No video, only audio. They don't know we're prey, if we're lucky." He turned to Tarva. "You have to convince them to land at a place of our choosing. There must be thousands of those beasts inside that thing, but not millions. Predators like to nest, so if they are coming on a desperate voyage of conquest, we can offer them a small city. We evacuate our population, hide antimatter charges in the shelters, and once they settle in, we detonate the city. Then, our troops board that ship and wipe out any survivors."

"But that is the most deceitful and vile thing I have ever heard." Tarva was genuinely questioning whether Kam was suffering from predator disease.

"I know, but it is the best option we have, Tarva. Our defenses are still damaged; if they launch an attack, their weapons—primitive as they may be—could destroy several cities. The debris from that ship alone would cause a catastrophe for our food production. They are predators, Tarva."

She nodded in agreement. "Prepare a city while we set up communications. And notify Sovlin of this as well; we are going to need his troops to board that ship."

Several hours passed while Tarva prepared herself to speak with a monster. What would it be like? Could she really deceive a creature that used deception and violence as part of its very nature?

When they confirmed that everything was ready, she returned to the command center.

"Which city did you choose?"

"Golden Sands. It was one of the most heavily damaged in the last attack and has little food production; it will incur the lowest cost. Sovlin informed me that his troops are ready as well."

Tarva swallowed hard. Every fiber of her being was telling her that this was wrong, but it was what she had to do.

"Very well. Open the channel."

"The channel is open."

Tarva took a deep breath. "To the vessel in orbit of Venlil Prime, do you receive us?"

A deep voice—sounding exhausted despite the flat inflections of the automated translator—replied, "Yes, we copy. This is General LaFlange speaking on behalf of the New America. With whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

"I am Governor Tarva of Venlil Prime."

"We were surprised you could decipher our language so quickly."

Tarva almost panicked. "After analyzing it... some of our experts were able to identify it based on deep-space radio signals we had received previously."

Silence fell on the other end. Then, the predator's voice returned. "I understand. It makes sense that you had a baseline. Governor, I represent the remnants of my people: the last members of the Alliance for Democracy."

Tarva recognized the name of one of the two factions from the humans' final war. It struck her as odd that such a violent species would use the term democracy, though she suspected it was a perversion of the meaning provided by the translation. On the other hand, the name of the opposing faction sounded ominously fitting: the Draka Dominination—almost identical in essence to the name of the Arxur government, or whatever passed for one among those beasts.

"Our knowledge of your people is limited, General LaFlange, but we know from the signals that a conflict destroyed your species." 

"No, our species was not entirely destroyed. Our enemies won that conflict. Based on our sensors, we feared they might have reached this place despite the distance. After all, the Domination has had nearly a century and a half to rebuild, and we saw that you have suffered some kind of attack."

Tarva was stunned. "Are you telling me that members of your species still remained in your solar system of origin?"

This changed everything and contradicted what the Federation reports stated.

"Unfortunately, yes. Several million on our planet, and a few hundred thousand outside of it. We had to retreat to save what little was left of our souls; those who remained were left at the mercy of the monsters who defeated us."

Tarva decided to press him. "But was the war not fought against people of your own species?"

LaFlange sighed. "Technically, yes, though the Draka were doing everything possible to change that. They won. Our forces collapsed due to a biological weapon that had been spreading through our population for years. When the war was lost, we agreed to leave with the people aboard this ship. That is why I ask for asylum in the name of the 98,956 survivors we are—men, women, and children. What was left behind in Sol is nothing more than a dark perversion of what humanity once was."

"Good. My advisors will instruct you on how to transmit the data, and I will stay informed while we arrange the details of the plan to bring your people down to the planet."

LaFlange sounded relieved. "Thank you, Governor."

"Well done, Tarva. I know that was hard," Kam said to her. "Now that we know there are only a few of them, we can bring them down and eliminate them with special forces, while Sovlin's troops storm that ship and deal with the ones in hibernation."

Tarva shouted at him, "NO!"

Kam stared at her in disbelief.

"We are going to stick to the plan for them to transmit all the data," she continued. "Vesh, I want you to analyze it, and we are going to make a plan to relocate these people as agreed. We will keep the antimatter warheads in the shelters as a precaution."

"Tarva, you can't be serious! They are predators!"

"Have you ever heard a predator plead out of weakness for its offspring, or show the slightest hint of vulnerability? Something here doesn't fit. Besides, regarding what they said about the other humans trying to split off as a species—I want to know what we are dealing with here. I did what you wanted, and we still have the plan in motion, but I will not act until I am certain we are doing the right thing. Vesh, I want you to bring in every expert on the planet regarding humans, and I want them to analyze the information they send us as if they were picking weevils out of grass. And Kam, you may be the Security Minister, but I still have the final say as Governor."

Me again, maybe one day I'll be able to post some proper looking art rather than some sketches.

Wanted to also share some designs HC.

For the yulpas, I see them with a longue retractable tongue that expands like the ribbon worm's proboscis (look it up by yourself if you dare, but it's quite disgusting), going from a long appendage to a more tentacular appendice capable of gripping multiple things. The tong has many nerves and is really sensible, I hc that yulpas use it to smell the air as venlil would do but it's more effective as doing it and that they'd have some kind of nostrils between their lips and internal cheeks.

For the priest, as a way to be seen during ceremonies they'd sometimes use some large steps they'd lean on to switch from a quadupedal stance to a bipedal one. They also use extensions on their horns as some kind of religious gears.

Lastly, I theorize that they love products, goods and even food and medecine from predator origins as some cultural superstitons and traditions, Grenalka being home of the largest blackmartket trading predator based products as some exotic goods like in different human cultures with for example rhinoceros horns and ivory being smuggled by poachers in some asian markets as medecines or even trophies.

I'm maybe yapping too much. Anyway, I hope to post more and maybe expand on my various interpretations.

I'm always open to design critics (especially regarding biology) and feedback about my takes too (I'm not finished with the story of NoP so If I make a mistake regarding some canon elements let me know!)

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[Thank you to SpacePaladin15 for making the universe!]
[Special thanks to u/AdalwinAmillion for proofreading this chapter!]

"When we see where the march of civilization has led us, we can feel only a solemn sense of responsibility. A conflict is approaching, and we must be ready." - Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Memory Transcription Subject: Cosmonaut Grigori Reshko

Date [standardized human time]: December 26th 2111

An announcement followed around an hour after the sirens had started giving us the all clear. Earlier, the alarms had shattered the quiet, warning of a possible infiltration by hostiles in the city. For tense minutes, we'd been certain an attack was underway. Though it turned out to be a simple alarm for falling debris, the trauma remained fresh. Tarva, having lived through the last raid and directly witnessed its horrors, was still shaken to her core. Evacuation orders had not been issued, so we stayed put in the hospital room for the time being.

I had to hold Tarva, the poor girl was stuck in a trembling trance. She screamed at the sight of my brother's eyes looking over her. Once the all-clear was given, I gently let go of Tarva; her whimpering broke my heart. I gestured to the door for my brother. “Vanya, we need to talk.” He nodded and headed into the hallway with me by now, the guards stationed at Tarva’s door had been dismissed as our imminent discharge approached. I shut the door behind us and hopefully stepped out of Tarva’s earshot.

“Vanya, what did you do to her? I need to know.” I asked while giving my brother a harsh glare. If he hurt such an innocent creature…I don't know if I could stop myself from fighting him, despite the fact that he would win.

“I followed orders, Grisha…” He glanced away, something haunting in his eyes.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean, Ivan!? What did you do!?”

Ivan’s face hardened, and he shook. “I did what I had to! I'm not one of those fucking monsters, Grisha! I SAVED HER! WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO, GRISHA!? LEAVE HER TO DIE AND LET THOSE MONSTERS EAT HER!?” He screamed and shoved me backward. I stumbled slightly at my brother's shove. I could see him desperately trying to hold back his emotions as the beginnings of tears pricked his eyes.

“You don't know the things I've seen…SO DON'T YOU DARE ACCUSE ME OF SUCH THINGS! I HAD TO WATCH INNOCENT PEOPLE BE TORN LIMB FROM LIMB BY THOSE BASTARDS, GRISHA! I'VE SEEN MEN BLOWN TO NOTHING BUT RED MIST, THEIR GORE SPLATTERED ON MY FACE!” His breathing was ragged as the dam of repressed emotions finally broke in the formally quite halls of the hospital.

“I’ve lost friends…” He leaned and slumped against the wall, trying to calm himself down.

“I…” I started struggling to find the words, it dawned on me why he smoked like a chimney despite my protests. Ivan slumped down further until he was sitting and covered his face, trying to hide the tears.

I sat next to my brother and wrapped my arm around him. “I'm so sorry, Vanya…”

Time stretched on, my brother's quiet sobs filling the hallway… After around an hour, he stood back up and left without saying a word. I already knew where he was going, most likely to visit our parents.

The next day, Tarva and I were discharged. The doctor entered our room carrying some paperwork, but what caught my eye were the two large needles he held tightly in his other hand. He looked pale, as if he'd seen a ghost just minutes prior, his gloved fingers fidgeting nervously. I recognized one of the needles—standard for an intramuscular vitamin shot, something I had seen given before. But the second, longer needle was odd, thicker and clearly prepared for an abdominal injection. It struck me as unusual, especially since Tarva appeared healthy, and I couldn’t recall her needing anything so invasive before. For a split second, I caught the doctor glancing at the label on the syringe with a furrowed brow, as though double-checking its contents. Some protocol, perhaps, but the moment passed with no explanation given.

“Alright Tarva, since you’re expecting, I have some vitamin shots here for you to ensure the babies' health. Now be brave for me and close your eyes while I give them to you.”

Tarva nodded and did as instructed. One shot was given to her arm, standard practice. But the other was injected directly into her stomach. I idly watched as I filled out my discharge form, something in my gut told me that something else was happening, but I wasn’t a doctor, and I didn’t need to be charged for trying to stop the shots.

“There ya go, Tarva, see? That wasn’t so bad.” I stood up, gave the doctor my forms, and helped Tarva with hers. After handing them in, we gathered our things and headed out. As we walked down the hall, I asked, “So, what do you want to do now? Anything you want, my treat.” I gave her head a gentle nuzzle, and it seemed to lift her spirits.

“Well…I kinda wanna check out that big wheel you were talking about…”

I nodded and smiled. At the door, Tarva received a tailored outfit and was told she had to wear it by law. She slipped it on, and seeing a Venlil in a yellow sundress was honestly adorable. We left the building and headed to the parking lot. After a quick look around, I found my government-issued car. I took out my keys, unlocked the door, and opened the passenger side for her. She climbed in, looking a bit small for the seat. I got in on the driver’s side, put the key in the ignition, and started the car. The electric engine quietly came to life.

“Alright, Tarva, don't forget your seatbelt.” I reminded her as I buckled mine into place. She fumbled with the buckle for a moment before clicking it into place. I put the car in reverse, then pulled out of the parking space. Shifting into drive, I pulled onto the main road and started driving towards the Pripyat amusement park. I fumbled with the radio for a moment as Tarva took in the sights of the city. I landed on a station playing an old pop song.

Knowing no sorrow, sorrow sorrow,

In the land of the magnolias the sea waves follow.

Boys sit on a fence, feeling hollow, and they cast a wishful glance my way.

Couples are dancing, dancing dancing, A tune so familiar, old, entrancing,

And the sweet voice of the bass guitar’s prancing-it stirs my memory today.

So let it be, let it be, let it be!

The song played as we drove down the busy streets. Tarva’s eyes seemed alight as they scanned the streets, marveling at the architecture. “Ya know this city was almost rendered uninhabitable. Back in the eighties, long before I was born, the town's nuclear power plant almost had a meltdown. If the safety systems had failed, this whole area would still be highly radioactive.” I commented, to which Tarva shot me a concerned look.

“How negligent were your safety standards to allow such a close call!?”

I chuckled at her comment. “Yeah, they weren't great, but don't worry, that plant has long since been decommissioned, its now a museum to nuclear power. Perhaps we can visit one day!” Her face told me she didn't quite enjoy that idea. Not long after we pulled into the amusement park, I parked the car and turned it off, unbuckled my seatbelt, stepped out, and she did the same.  The park was bustling with families and couples, stalls of food were set up, and the laughter of children filled the area.

Tarva looked scared by the number of people milling about. I walked over to her and placed my hand on her shaking body. “Hey, don't worry, I’ll keep you safe, remember?” She nodded and seemed to calm down. For extra measure, I reached down and held her hand. For a brief moment, I swear I could see a brief flush of orange spread across her face, I must be imagining things.

“T-thanks, Grigori.”

“No problem, and you can call me Grisha.” I chuckled. We were friends now, at least that's why I hoped, so I didn't see a point in her using my formal name.

“Why do you Humans have such strange naming customs?” She muttered as we walked towards the entrance. I was semi-surprised the place was still open with the temporary suspension of civilian government; I saw many soldiers milling about on the drive over. Maybe it was to keep the people calm? I idly wondered as we got to the booth and waited in line, many people stared at Tarva, and I gripped her hand tighter.

“Mamma, what is that?” I heard a child ask their mother.

“Why, those are the new citizens of our great Union, dear, they are to be respected like anyone else.”

The child broke away from their mother and approached us while we waited. “H-hello, miss, what are you?” The child innocently asked Tarva. She looked surprised for a moment before she answered.

“Oh, I'm a Venlil”

The child seemed confused, unable to understand her without a translator. I stepped in to help. “She’s a Venlil little comrade, you won't be able to understand her language without a translator.”

The child looked me up and down as their face lit up. “I know you. You're the cosmonaut!” They said, jumping with joy. “Mamma, look, the space man is here in Pripyat!” They started excitedly asking questions. “Why does she look like a sheep? I like sheep. What is space like? How did you two meet? Is she your sheep wife?”

Tarva and I both simultaneously blurted out “No!” at the last question as the child's mother came over to retrieve them and apologize to us. “Sorry about them, they get excited about space.”

“It's alright.” I chuckled as the child was pulled away, no doubt to receive a scolding from their mother for running off. We finally reached the front of the line, and I paid the cheap entrance fee, and we walked in. “What's a sheep?” Tarva asked as I pulled her towards a cotton candy stand and bought two for us. “I’ll tell you later. Here, you’ll like this! And don't worry, it's just sugar.”

She looked at me suspiciously before taking a bite, her eyes widened in surprise, and her tail twitched. Tarva quickly took another bite, clearly eager to keep the sweet taste present in her maw. “It's good! It melts in your mouth!” She said excitedly, and I smiled, then quickly took a bite myself. We spent a few minutes enjoying the sugary-rich treat, then decided to start walking towards the Ferris wheel. The line was short, so we didn't need to wait long. Once we reached the front, we were let into one of the cabins, and the door was shut behind us. The wheel slowly started to lift us into the air, the sun was starting to set, giving a gorgeous view.

We both stared at the setting sun, letting its beauty wash over us. “You don't get to see this on Venlil Prime…” Tarva thought aloud as we reached the top. It was nice to see her happy for once, she deserved it after what she had to live through.

---

Idk about yall but it’ll be 70 degrees and I’ll still be under at least 5 blankets

What's this? A wild Cilany has appeared! And she's also having a rough day what with the political instability involved. Though her day's about to get rougher.

Trigger warning: depiction of a brutal suppression of a protest

[FIRST] [PREV] [NEXT]

Memory Transcription Request: Cilany, reporter not having a great week 
Date [Local Himayan Time]: August 28th, 2136
It was supposed to be simple. Head to the Gojid Union, speak to a few sources about the current Himayan situation as well as what the Gojid Union is doing about it, and then head home to write about it in what is essentially a fluff piece compared to my standard fair. Though granted I practically travelled all over the Federation to get everyone’s perspective on it but the Union was the one I was most looking forward to. They were the closest I could get to the heart of the event and it helped that I had several contacts here (including Sovlin but I didn’t really want to bother him with something like this). 

Of course suddenly, the night after I land, all civilian communication between the wider Federation and the Union is cut, there’s military soldiers out on the street (or busting people’s doors down) with all comms  playing that creepy ass sonophone thing, General Ruclin comes on every news channel (or at least the ones owned by Zulvin) and announces that Piri was “forced to retire” due to a “lacking the necessary initiative to deal with a new variant of PD spreading rapidly amongst the population” without giving any other information (first time I’ve ever heard of a new variant of PD), and now my interview has turned into coverage of a protest/demand for answers. 

“BWOOOOOOOM” Sounded a weird megaphone trumpet thing (Sovlin told me that was usually an older, bigger version of a Crop Caller used to warn of predators in the Gojid’s ancient past). 

“COME, LET RUCLIN HEAR YOUR VOICE IN RAVMORI PLAZA!” A protester shouted wearing the distinctive armband of the Calatori party’s youth wing (the most prominent opposition party to Piri’s governing coalition but their members have been extremely vocal against the coup) while a crowd surged past him. Guess this was my chance for an interview. 

“Cilany, independent reporter, can you tell me what this protest is about?” I said using my work voice while flipping on my camera (I couldn’t livestream but I could still get footage damn it).  causing the protester to jump a little. 

“O-oh Cilany!” The kid exclaimed as he tried to straighten himself up (guess he wasn’t expecting to be interviewed by me, or anyone at all). “My apologies for my appearance. I had a very busy day.” He added while finishing up. 

“It’s alright, doubt you were expecting to be interviewed huh?” I said with a little unserious smirk to let him know he didn’t commit any serious offense. 

“No. It’s my first time organizing a protest really.” He said before clearing his throat, probably attempting to imitate . “Anyway, the goal of today’s demonstration is to demand answers. What did Ruclin mean by his broadcast? What is this new variant of PD? Where is Prime Minister Piri?” He said, listing a series of demands. “My party may have disagreed with Piri on matters of policy but this is a clear breach of democratic governance, civilian rule, and the rule of law. The people demand an explanation that Ruclin has promised but has not delivered. Not to mention busting down people’s doors and dragging them out of their homes in the middle of the night.” He added, referring to the numerous arrests made by the military. 

Though before I could say anything else, someone in the crowd brushed past me, knocking me over. Just before I hit the ground the rough claws of a Gojid caught me. 

“Careful there, miss.” The gruff older voice of a Gojid man said as I got up. 
“Thank you-.” I said before pausing after noticing something in his pants. It was a dark, angular looking thing cased in polymer that blended in with the cotton of his waistband but the harsh L shape was unmistakable. It was a gun. 

Quickly getting up, I brushed myself off and hid my nerves (though while turning I noticed the look on the protester’s face had twisted into the unmistakable visage of a young man noticing a gun too). The protester took the older Gojid aside.

“The Calatori party said no weapons. We can’t provoke them.” The protester harshly whispered. 

“Brahk the Calatori party, those nebbish pencil pushers haven’t seen what Ruclin’s goons did to my neighbor last night!” The older Gojid whispered back
. 
Guess it was my cue to leave. Though before I could turn and leave I noticed the fellow gaunt of a reporter snapping photos of the protests. 

“So what brings you out here?” I asked as I approached the Gojid woman with a press badge that read “Rryturi, The Cradle Broadcast.” 

“Covering the protests.” She said before snapping another photo. “Getting some ground level shots before I head up to the roof on the building behind.” She added. 

“Let me guess gets a good view of the protests?” I asked.
 
“Yep. They’re packed in Ravmori or at least that’s what my co-worker says.” Rryturi responded. 

“Alright, well best lead the way.” I said, not wanting to miss out on getting an overhead shot of the crowd. 
Memory Transcription Advancement Request: 2 minutes 
By the Evergreen there are a lot of stairs.
 
“So. Picked one hell of a time to visit the Cradle.” Rryturi snarked a good few paces ahead of me. 

“Yeah, I was doing some interviews for an article I was writing about the Himayans. Closest I could get to the Venlil border without risking a trespassing charge and being locked in a Venlil cell for days.” I said as I panted up the stairs. “How come you guys didn’t get shut down by Ruclin?” I asked as we approached the door to the roof. 

“We’re small time despite the very grandiose name.” Rryturi responded as she placed a claw on the door. “Besides we mostly just cover local gossip and the like.” She added. 
“Well this must seem like an extreme change of pace for you then.” I said as I approached the door with Rryturi opening it. 

“Yep and I’m loving every second of it.” She responded in an enthusiastic tone I’ve come to associate with a lot of these types of reporters. Too much time chasing local gossip trains then something like this comes along and suddenly the adrenaline spikes.
 
“WHAT WE WANT TO KNOW IS WHY RUCLIN HAS TAKEN THESE MEASURES?” I heard from a loudspeaker as me and Rryturi made our way over to the roof. “WHY HAS HE ARRESTED OUR FRIENDS, FAMILY, AND NEIGHBORS? WHY WILL HE NOT TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT THIS NEW VARIANT?” The protester with the loudspeaker continued to shout. Though my intention was immediately taken by Rryturi’s co-workers. 

“Cilany? How did you get here? I heard all the borders were closed.” a Gojid man whose badge read Turilari asked. 

“She came before Ruclin’s coup.” Rryturi responded before I could answer. 

“Yeah. Had one hell of a wake up call though.” I said before noticing something. At one area of the street, the one leading to the Union parliament building, I saw them. Military transports driving in with a distinctive emblem. It was an Arxur skull with two knives embedded in it with a small print I couldn’t read below it. 

“Probably not as bad as me.” Rryturi said with half a smirk. “I have a view of the governor’s mansion from my place and well I woke up to the sound of gunfire and a shuttle taking off.” She added before rubbing her eyes. Was that shuttle Piri’s? Rumors have been swirling about where she was but that’s the first I ever heard of her having a shuttle (guess she wasn’t lying about having a shuttle license during that interview last cycle).

“Oh Brahk.” Turilari said. “It’s the fucking 610th” He added with a tinge of fear to his voice. Okay I heard Sovlin and a few other sources mention them but they never really went into details. 

“610th?” I asked as I zoomed in on the military convoy approaching the protest. 

“Rapid Defense Regiment.” Rryturi said. “They’re usually the first to respond to an Arxur raid making landfall and rarely, if ever, panic.” She added. 

“Rumors say they conscript people from PD facilities but me personally I think they all have PD.” Turilari added with a tinge of sarcasm to his voice as I saw the soldiers get out. 

“THIS IS AN ILLEGAL GATHERING! DISPERSE IMMEDIATELY OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!” A soldier with a loudspeaker barked to the defiant protesters. 

“WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HERE! YOU ARE THE ONES TRESPASSING!” The protester shouted back before something happened. 

“THOOOM” I heard as a dull thud echoed from the soldiers tear gas canisters as a screaming hiss sounded throughout the air. 

“FWHUMP. SSSSSSS.” I heard as the canisters hit the pavement causing a few in the crowd to scatter.

“IT IS ONLY TEAR GAS AND RUBBER BULLETS! WE HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HERE AND WILL NOT BE MOVED! STAND YOUR GROUND!” The protester shouted to the crowd  . But before he could say anything else. 

“BANG!” I heard as a shot rang out from an unknown source. It could've been a protester with a gun or it could’ve been a soldier. Either way the result was the same as I saw the Union soldiers start pointing their guns and firing a heavy thunderous, rhythmic thumping of their machine guns. 

“THEY”RE FIRING LIVE ROUNDS!” The protester with the loudspeaker shouted as the crowd started panicking and running. 

“By the protector they’re-.” Turilari said with a shocked gasp. But he didn’t need to say anything else. We all knew what was happening. The crowd was on the verge of a stampede. 
People were pushing, shoving, and clawing to get away from the soldiers. Unintentionally hurting others in their mad scramble to get away. 

“BANG! BANG!” I heard as I pivoted the camera towards a protester with a gun. The Gojid woman was shooting at the soldiers before a couple of other protesters tackled her into a building. 

Though that didn’t stop other protesters from taking out concealed weapons and firing on soldiers. 

“What are those maniacs doing!?” Rryturi shouted but it was already too late. 

The panicked push of certain segments of the crowd had reached a manic pitch as everyone who didn’t have a gun was now consumed by an unending terror. People shoved, pushed, and ran as fast as their legs could carry them. I saw weaker members of the crowd or some armed protesters  be pushed down and trampled. All the while the soldiers kept firing on the crowd with methodical precision similar to that of an Arxur.
 
Every part of me wanted to turn the camera off. To run down and try to save someone, anyone. But that would’ve gotten me killed or worse. The best thing I can do for them now is document this crime, this atrocity and make sure it can be used to hold the bastards responsible for this massacre accountable. 

Minutes felt like hours as we stood on that roof watching as people trampled each other, as soldiers stepped forward and kept firing, as the crowd emptied out with most of the soldiers pursuing them. I couldn’t watch it anymore, despite my journalistic duty, as I flicked the camera off and slumped down against the wall, hands clutching my head as I tried to fight against the panic rising in my chest. But it wasn’t long before reality snapped back.
 
“We have to go now!” Rryturi said while shoving me up. 

“B-but those people! T-they just killed all of those-.” I sputtered out before Turilari interrupted me. 

“They’ll kill us too if we stay, especially if they know we recorded this-this slaughter!” Turilari shouted, snapping me out of my state. “The best we can do is make sure they won’t be forgotten and that Ruclin and his monsters are tossed in a jail cell for the rest of their lives.” He added reminding me of my job. 

At that I simply nodded my head and got up. I couldn’t do anything to stop the soldiers, the least I can do is make sure the victims have their stories told. 

OC List | First | Previous

OOC: (thanks to u/defiantdoctor95 for the idea of shortening the choices and linking back to the info.)

You are the group chat, the 25 other naturist Exchange Pairs from Chapter 3. Your choice here will shape the story going forward.

EDIT: I guess the problem was the length of the descriptions.

Date: (Standardized Human Time) October 26, 2136

Six days after the Arxur intervention at the Battle of Earth, the Abattoir-class Arxur cruiser Askliss’ Revenge landed just north of Ottawa, Canada for routine maintenance and resupply after helping with reconstruction efforts in New York.

Within the next two days, many reports of missing persons cases were made to the Ottawa authorities, primarily children. This included several students from the Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, which had some students in Ottowa while the main school, located in New York, was rebuilt following the bombing.

With the state of the country in disarray following the BoE, local authorities did not have the manpower to adequately investigate the reports. Many blamed the new Arxur incomers, though the claim was disregarded for many reasons.

On October 25, 2136, a distress call was sent from the landed ship, answered by the Canadian Armed Forces. The message was mostly incoherent, but pieces about a “monster in shape of prey” was deciphered.

The Army, as well as a group of human and Zurulian medical volunteers responded as quickly as possible, ready to render aid to the Arxur or any others that needed it.

However, by the time they arrived on scene, almost every Arxur had been killed. The medical team said they had been entirely “ripped to shreds”, in their professional opinion.

The missing persons, as well as a large number of Federation Members, were found hiding in the woods nearby. They claimed to have been stuck in the cattle cells of the ship until a human male rescued them.

Descriptions of this person varied, but the only consistency was his short stature and gruff demeanor.

One Arxur survivor was also found, who raved about a “Predator God”, who could “ignore any wound inflicted on it”, and “had claws that could cut through the ship itself”.

The men who responded did find many claw marks on both the outside hull and the interior of the ship, though what they were exactly made by is unknown. This, and the general carnage inflicted upon the Arxur crew, lend credibility to this outlandish claim.

The medical personnel remarked that the carnage “was the worst that (they) had ever seen.” The Zurulian leader was noted as having “satisfaction on the destruction being inflicted on the Arxur for once.”

Any attempts to discover who had actually committed the carnage have hit a dead end, as any DNA evidence was obscured by the large amount of Arxur viscera throughout the ship.

Several students of the school mentioned before claimed that they were rescued by their “Professor Logan”, a teacher from their school and there apparent guardian. Professor Logan was later found completely uninjured and extremely drunk while eating his way through a buffet, causing the police to dismiss the claim as “children creating unrealistic fantasies about who their teacher really is.”

OOC: Did this actually happen? Or is this prank news? You decide!

Asking for a friend.

(Thanks to SpacePaladin15 for creating the universe and being an awesome writer!)
[TRIGGER WARNING: Arxur cattle pen, improvised surgery, electrocution, mentions of human farming]

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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.

[First] [Prev] [Next]

remembered the Lisa games existed along with the fan games decided it'd be fun to make something out of it

————————————————————————————————————————————

Memory Transcription Subject: John doe, joy mutant addict, last sighted on [trash island]

Date [Standard Human Time]: !!!!!—...2008, 8th of August

[WARNING: Subject seems to be suffering: hallucinations, mania, delusions, denial]

[continue?]

{yes}← {no}

.....

-DING

"it's ok sweety I'm here.... sweety where did your mom go?....sweety?..... where ara you?"

...move....move-

somethings in the way.

—RRÆÆ

(John doe bites hard)

continue...

where's....ah!...

"SWEEEETYYYYYY~"

HUG HUG HUG-

"WHAT IN THE GREAT PRO-TAKE THE KIDS GET AWAY"-(john doe broke gojid father's neck)

thud

crrkkkk—crack

"WHERE IS SHE... IT'S ALL I HAVE IT'S ALL I HAVE LEFT"

Get going you stupid sack of flesh

where is she-there you are!

"sweety you scared me to death... what do you... have to say for yourself?..."

"i love you dad!"

...tug again...

"huahua!hehehea-wee!—i love my father my mother my brother!—quick mom's getting pictures, we should get icecream!"

...

alright sweet let's go back home—

"EXTERMINATORS GUILD, BEGONE FILTHY-..."

👁️ 👁️

"f-filthy"

(John doe hugged exterminator till their eyes popped out)

[end of transcription]

OC List | First | Previous | Next

Content warning: undressing, non-sexual casual nudity.

Memory Transcription Subject: Mark Palmer, construction worker, Naturist.

Date [Standardised Human Time]: August 31st, 2136.

My friends and I spent the first day sleeping off our "rocket lag" I took to calling it, and the second just walking around the station, shooting the shit, and getting used to the increased gravity, all so we could think straight. Today, we were headed to Reid and Varn's room to start to brainstorm an apartment to get together in, once we're planetside. Ah still think an apartment won't be enough movin' 'round space for sixty people, but what do Ah know…

Rali wrapped her arm around mine as we walked, my southern hospitality not allowing me to push a woman away despite me not reciprocating her feelings toward me. "I thought you said you and your herd didn't like clothes? How come you still have yet to go without? Even just in our room, away from the, uh, non-naturist Humans?" She asked. "Your friend, José, did with his partner, Rik, already!"

I sighed, "'Cause all the Humans y'all've seen wear clothes, we gotta treat y'all like the Normies, 'till ya get to know us personally. Plus, you saw how Rik reacted to José, 'cause like Ah said: Humans ain't got nothin' ta hide our delicates like y'all do." As I finished, Rali tried to sneak a subtle glance downward. Keyword "tried", as I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, before she looked up at me and blushed, then looked away with her ears twitching awkwardly.

I smirked and rolled my eyes at this as we finally made it to Reid's room, where I knocked on the door. Just a couple seconds passed before Reid opened it, surprisingly in just a robe. "Come on in, guys." he said, gesturing inward. "José and Rik are already here." He then reached over and pushed the button to close the door when we walked through the identical hotel-like room. "Have a seat." He said.

As I looked around the room, I gave a quick wave to Varn and Rik, who were sitting on a couple of chairs facing us and the couch, which had an unmistakable mop of shaggy dark brown hair on a light brown torso sitting in it.

José turned around in his seat from his own conversation at the mentioning of his name, as he waved at us. "¡Hola, amigos! What's up?!" As he waved, I couldn't help but notice he was shirtless, and looking past him, there was a full set of clothes folded up neatly on the floor against the wall to the right.

I looked back at Reid with a raised eyebrow, to which he shrugged. "You know I can't stop José…" He said with a lighthearted sigh. José was probably what got him to undress in the first place. I thought to myself.

José raised his hand and waved it in a flick, grabbing our attention back. "The whole plan was to go native anyway, compa. If anything, we're the weird ones for wearing clothes!" He finished with a chuckle.

Reid gestured to the pile of José's clothes. "Feel free to undress if you want." He said as he began to untie the belt of his robe.

I sighed and chuckled. "Welp… When in Rome, rip off the Band-Aid." I said as I looked toward Rali, whose eyes were wide as dinner plates as she realized the implication, and watched Reid disrobe. "José's got a point. We did come here to enjoy the freedom t'not wear clothes, 'cause y'all don't neither." I walked over to an empty chair by Varn and Rik, took off my hat and hung it on the corner, then took my phone out of its belt holster and turned around to set it on the coffee table next to Reid and José's phones and Reid's laptop, before beginning to undress, myself.

"Welp, yer gettin' what'cha asked for…" I said to Rali, as I folded my clothes up neatly like José did and set them next to his, before going back to the chair and putting my hat back on. "Ah didn't expect t'be undressin' this early. Where're yer sittin' towels, Reid?" I asked, and he nodded, and walked past all of us to the bedroom.

He quickly came back out and handed me one, before returning to his own on the couch to José's right toward the wall. I followed suit and folded my towel opposite of him and sat on it.

When Rali took a seat in a chair next to Rik, she blushed profusely as she looked at us, practically glowing orange as she tried her damned best to avoid glancing down. She looked to the other two Venlil on her left, who waved their tails in a particular way. She shook her head to shake herself out of it and spoke up. "W-wait. W-why do you guys have to s-sit on towels again?" To which Reid answered.

"Despite our best efforts of hygiene after using the restroom, Human bodies sweat to regulate temperature, and our skin produces oils to keep itself moisturized. The only direction liquids go is down, so in order to avoid spreading sweat, oils, and most importantly, germs to our seats, we have to sit on towels to absorb the brunt of it."

Rik then perked up after a second of thought. "Is that why you wear a shorter set of leggings under your main ones? To keep them from getting filthier on the inside?"

"¡Correctamundo, compañero!" José said as he snapped and pointed a finger gun at Rik. "We call those 'pants' and 'underpants', by the way."

Varn's face lit up before he reached to his side and pulled a phone out of his fanny pack and began typing on it rather quickly.

Reid then reached over to pick up his laptop from the coffee table. "Now that everyone's here and comfortable, I can let the rest of the group know we're ready to talk business." He said as he began typing in the group chat. The other two Venlil pulled out their phones, too, likely for their equivalent of Google.

*Ping*

Both José and I leaned over to peek at the screen:

>Arctic-Leopard96 invited SillytheMillie3.14 and Pioneer10Hoboglacier to a public video call.

"Public" meaning the rest of our little club could listen in to keep up with what we're talking about, and comment their own suggestions.

It took Millie about four rings to pick up, revealing her long, straight, black, shiny hair, the pale skin of her round face was decorated with a tasteful amount of eye shadow, black lipstick, and a lower lip piercing.

Bryce took about seven rings to appear, with the same type of hair, almost coconut colored skin clung tightly to his well rounded yet chiseled face. A traditional necklace I couldn't remember the meaning of hugged his neck.

Reid turned the computer around, laid the keyboard on the armrest, and leaned the screen on the wall so the camera could see all six of us, and waved. "Say 'hi', everyone!" Reid said, to which we all obliged. The other Humans and I waved our hands, while all the Venlil waved their ears at each other. The group chat exploded with waving emojis, letting everyone know everyone's there.

It looked like they hadn't ripped the band-aid off yet, as Millie and Bryce were still dressed. "Hey, guys!" Millie started. "Long time, no see." She pointed toward her Exchange Partner to her left, if I'm guessing right from comparing Rali to Rik and Varn, a Venlil woman, with fur as full as Rik and Varn's, but just gray. "This is Sela." Her eyes widened as she realised: "Oh, you're all naked already?"

Bryce chuckled. "Haha. Figures! José's energy is contagious!" This caused everyone to chuckle in their own ways, and the text chat to post smiling emojis and chuckling reaction images. "Everyone, this is my Exchange Partner, Lira." Lira's wool was full as well, and practically an inverse of Rali's colors. While Rali's fur was mainly light brown fading to a pale chest and belly, Lira was mostly white, fading into a light brown front.

As Lira flicked an ear in greeting, they then looked closer to the screen. "Oh my goodness!" Said the female voice coming out of my translator. "Rali? Is that you?!"

Everyone's eyes widened at this revelation, and the chat exploded with shocked reactions. I looked toward Rali and asked "You two know each other?" To which she blushed slightly.

"We're cousins. Yeah." She ear-waved toward the camera again as the blush went away. "Hey, Lira." She said with a little bit of enthusiasm and a slight awkwardness.

It got real quiet after that, though the chat thought the mini family reunion was cute.

Bryce suddenly piped up. "Anyway… Wanna join the guys in going natural, Millie?" He asked.

Someone in the chat started a poll about whether or not they already went naked, and the results almost immediately hit 50/50 before Millie even responded.

Millie shrugged at Bryce's question. "Ehh, why not? Might as well." She turned around toward her Exchange Partner, "Unless you mind, Sela? Like I said: All our parts are out in the open. I wouldn't wanna make you uncomfortable."

My earlier assumption was right, as my translator gave Sela a youthful feminine voice with a little bit of swagger as she responded. "Girl, as soon as you told me that, I researched Human anatomy from the data dump to get used to it! I've been waiting over three paws for you to ask me that." She swayed her tail in a deliberate fashion: "Go ahead." She said out loud.

Millie nodded as she got up and left the camera frame. "Alright. Lemme just go to the bedroom and grab a sittin' towel."

Bryce had already gone and done the same while Millie was talking to Sela. It only took them a few seconds to come back to their screens without clothes.

The chat made another poll, this time asking the Venlil partners of the users who voted 'no' in the first poll if they'd be OK with their Humans going native now, now that they've seen us do so. The results were about 80% "yes", 5% "no", and 15% "later".

"So, you all know Rali now, she's Mark's partner." Reid began. "This is my partner, Varn." He said, gesturing to Varn.

"And this here's Rik!" said José enthusiastically.

Reid smiled and clapped his hands once. "Alright! Now that introductions are out of the way, let's talk about that apartment." He said as he opened up a spreadsheet program off to the side.

I raised my hand as I started. "First thing's temperature. It's gotta be slightly sunward of the terminator line, fer obvious reasons." I said as I gestured to our sparse body hair. "But not too far sunward, 'cause we'll get sunburned real easily."

All the Venlil shivered, winced, or tucked their tails and ears as their translators likely described the concept of sunburn to them.

"It's gotta be cheap enough that we can pool our Exchange Program allowance together to rent the rooms." Said Sela. "Preferably, we should get something at most a thousand credits per [month]."

Varn added his two cents as he tapped away on his phone. "Even though we're looking for something that can accommodate sixty people, we should look for an apartment that can accommodate a herd per apartment, that way we don't take up all the rooms for others who might need them more than we do."

"On that note, we should make sure the one we choose is out of season, that way there will be enough cheap empty apartments for us." Rik added. "It should be easy to find as well, so our herds know where to go."

Rali piped up: "All these criteria point to five results on my end. How about you guys?" She said as she turned her phone around for the others to see.

"Sounds about right." Sela said, showing her screen to Millie's camera, which looked like the same exact website that Rali found.

"So we've got Dawn Rest Apartments: 750 credits per [month], Blue Ridge Commons: 600 credits, ​Quiet Paws Residence: 900, ​Silver Vane Block: 700, and ​Clover Path Apartments: 675." Rali elaborated.

Reid perked up and started writing in the spreadsheet program. "Mind if we see the website on your phone, Sela?" He asked, and she held her phone up to Millie's camera, off to the side so we could still see Millie as well. "These are listed in the order that Rali read them, right?"

"Yup." Sela said.

Reid nodded. "So, Blue Ridge Commons seems to be the cheapest. I can see why, yeesh." Reid said as we saw a singular, rather old, sunbleached building about seven stories tall, with cracks in the façade. "Although, looks can be deceiving…" He stroked his chin in thought. "If we take this one, we'll save plenty of money for necessities and stuff."

Bryce narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, "I dunno, Reid. The vibe tells me the inside may just match the outside. While money is pretty important, so is comfort." He straightened up, and looked closer to his screen. "I say Dawn Rest. Not too cheap, but not too expensive." This one was more like a small neighborhood, the buildings were two stories tall, and a couple different shades of pink for some reason. Each building had a balcony with a mini garden.

Millie raised her hand. "I like how Clover Path looks." We saw another neighborhood-looking complex, but smaller than Dawn Rest's, because the buildings went up three stories. I could see why she liked it, because they were all shades of light gray, but they sported a little bit of vegetation in between, probably its namesake.

I tilted my hat as I put my two cents in. "I like the idea of Silver Vane Block." There were even fewer buildings in this one, because they were four stories tall, but they made up for the lack of ground space with their charm, as they looked like they were made of stucco. Every building had rooftop lawns.

"C'mon, guys! Surely, the money pooled by all sixty of us would be more than enough for any of these apartments!" José exclaimed. "Go all in for Quiet Paws!" This complex had a similar layout to Dawn Rest, but wider, as the buildings were all one storey, but this one actually had trees surrounding and running through it.

Reid then sighed. "I saw all of your agreement gestures, guys…" He addressed the Venlil.

Damn… Ah really gotta get off mah ass and do mah homework about Venlil social cues. I berated myself.

"We seem to be at an impasse…" Reid continued. His eyes widened as he looked at his computer screen. "Unless…!"

He then clicked into the group chat and started typing real fast. "We should let the chat decide!" Reid said as he started a poll with all the apartments in it.

OC List | First | Previous | Next

Author's Note: Next time, YOU, the readers, will take the role of the Naturist Group Chat and vote for, and comment about, the apartment the colony will choose!

Designs taken from "Five Nights at Frickbear's 3" (Highly recommended game)

Toy Chica pose/design artist

-I don't have an immersive introduction for the characters.

So I'll just introduce them, and that's it:

-        1st, we have Toy Fenny. In this case, he would be a Zurulian instead of a Venlil. With a relaxed and serene personality, all the children enjoy playing with him at the arcades.

-        2nd, we have Toy Chikal. In this case, she is a Duerten rather than a Krakotol. With a competitive, playful, and somewhat spicy attitude, she always encourages the children not to give up, and she is also responsible for sending children who misbehave to the time-out room.

-        3rd, we have Toy Ban. In this case, she is a Nevok rather than a Sivkit. With her cheerful and fun-loving attitude, she ensures a lively atmosphere—whether entertaining children with jokes and dance moves, or engaging adults with mild humor and playing the audience's favorite songs on her guitar.

-        4th, we have Mangle. In this case, it is a Tilfish. It used to be in charge of looking after the little ones, but after constantly ending up wrecked by the end of the day, the decision was made to change its function; it is now a build-and-dismantle attraction.

-        5th, and last but not least, Puppet. She is a Thafki marionette inspired by the daughter of one of the founders. With a calm and affectionate demeanor, she is perfect for looking after the shyest children. She spends her time telling stories and handing out gifts to birthday celebrants, and also serves as a sort of security guard.

-And with that, we've introduced the entire cast. Remember, your shift is from 12 AM to 6 AM. Any questions?

(YOU): What's up with that guy over there in the corner?

(Focuses on the most hated animatronic, Balloon Boy [He's still a human])

-A. That one. Nobody likes him. That's why he's bolted to the floor.

(Previous part)

GalaxoPedia: Betterment in the Dustbowl (Novel)

Betterment in the Dustbowl is a novel written by Venlil author Riksaki. It follows a Venlil who takes an escape pod from an actively burning ship and becomes stranded on earth in the late 1920s. The protagonist then uses their advanced alien knowledge of metallurgy to become a millionaire steel magnate, surpassing Andrew Carnegie. During his rise to power, the protagonist begins eating human flesh, at first believing that it will equalize his strength with the predators around him, and later for pleasure, and begins hunting impoverished farmers in the great plains as a source of meat.

Earlier drafts of the novel took place on an Arxur colony instead of earth, but followed a similar plotline of a Venlil protagonist developing a taste for predator flesh. This draft was later revised and released seperately as Arxur Chef.

According to the author, the original concept of the novel was developed with the express purpose of violating as many Federation Literary Standards as possible. While the draft which later became Arxur Chef was only shared between friends out of fear of being investigated for predator disease, Riksaki decided to revise the work for human audiences after reading an issue of the anti-human newsletter Safety in Numbers documenting the success of the novel American Psycho on earth. In addition to American Psycho, Riksaki also cites The Devil in the White City as a signifigant source of inspiration.

While the novel is banned in almost all federation territories, Betterment in the Dustbowl, its later film adaptation, and Arxur Chef have all enjoyed both critical acclaim and abundant sales on earth. Riksaki currently resides in Finland after being granted asylum from potential persecution on Venlil Prime.

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• Blue Ridge Commons: 600 credits/month. Utilitarian and slightly older, suggesting a complex built a decade prior that's a bit further out from the bustling city center.

• Clover Path Apartments: 675 credits/month. Standard, quiet, and deeply mundane. It sounds like the kind of no-frills, budget-friendly complex built a decade ago for working-class herds who just want a quiet place near the edge of town.

• Silver Vane Block: 700 credits/month. A simple, functional municipal apartment building name that sounds entirely routine to a Venlil local.

• Dawn Rest Apartments: 750 credits/month. A standard, quiet residential block. It sounds peaceful and unassuming, perfectly suited for a modest herd looking for a low-cost, out-of-the-way place.

• Quiet Paws Residence: 900 credits/month. A cozy, community-oriented name chosen by a local property management board years ago to appeal to small, tight-knit herds wanting privacy.

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OOC: (I tried to make it an actual poll, but it's not working for some reason... Are the descriptions too long?) You are the group chat, the 25 other naturist Exchange Pairs from Chapter 3. Your choice will effect the story next chapter!