Memory transcription subject: Aaron Clemont, Humanity First rallier
Date [Standardized human time]: August 15th, 2148
[Day 8]
“A sudden, sharp increase in Skalgan Flu cases this paw as hundreds fall ill in Beiton. Just yesterday the city proclaimed it had almost zero cases, even in the wake of the rioters in Ransu City. The Skalgan Health Organization has begun heavily cracking down on violations of the quarantine procedure, with the spaceport closed, and hundreds stranded in the city, the Sapient Coalition is hard at work delivering aid to those affected by the virus, just last paw, multiple homeless shelters across Beiton received life-saving supplies-”
I paused the program, and all 20 of the men huddled around the holopad erupted into cheers, joyously high-fiving and grinning ear to ear. We did it! Fuck yeah! They don’t even know what hit them!
I slammed fists with another member, and the rings on our fingers made a satisfying metallic crack, then I cleared my throat and waved my hands to settle everyone down. “Good morning you glorious bastards,” I cheered, “the plan went without a hitch! We’re going to reach out to other cities and see if we can repeat this triumph. Let’s see what we can do about getting blankets through the mail. Worse to worst, we sneak out of the city on foot,” I said.
I raised a fist straight up, and everyone in the room followed, cheering “Humanity First!” in unison.
“Let’s see what else they’ve got to say about us,” I said with a sly smile, unpausing the broadcast.
For a while, the news anchor just listed statistics. I doubted her prey brain could even comprehend the big numbers she was spouting. Whatever. Next, she moved on to the Sapient Coalition segment.
“A summit meeting will be held on Earth to discuss the ongoing pandemic, Governor Maulo has announced he will be joined by virologist Dr. Daniel Stat to make a case on what he believes to be a potential cure. More on that story as it unfolds.”
“What?” I stared at the screen, fury building. “That fucker is going to undo all our progress! We can not let him make his case. Where is he?” I demanded.
One of our men popped open his holopad and scrolled away, finally looking up and proclaiming, “He works in Teiza!”
“Teiza? Okay. We have people there, let me make a few calls,” I stepped out of the room, and directly across the hotel’s hallway to mine.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 15th, 2148
[Day 8]
I called off work today, and Silvon did too. While she was showering, I was scrolling through my holopad’s gallery, looking at photos of my parents and brother. They’d have been so proud of their little boy finally getting married. They passed away during the war. Caught in LA during the bombings in ‘136. I was lucky to be away at the time with my grandparents, otherwise, I’d have died too.
I wish I could tell my grandparents the news, but Grandpa passed away last spring, and Grandma’s been on the decline mentally. They both met Silvon though, they loved her. They’d be proud. I smiled and wiped my face. The ring on my finger glistened beautifully. I didn’t have a lot of friends nowadays that I could invite to the wedding. My old college pals went their separate ways when we graduated.
We can make up for it with Silvon’s family, she’s got plenty. I met her parents over a video call when she was on Earth. She was pretty much the only venlil on campus, and she and I grew pretty close. That must’ve been, what, 5 years ago? Time flies.
Her parents were thrilled she had made a friend, but weren’t too happy I was human. They were products of the federation, Silvon was just the same when we met, always spouting anti-predator rhetoric without even realizing it was offensive. She’s grown a lot since considering she’s marrying one.
The first time I met them in person was while on Christmas break, ‘144. It was my first time on Skalga, I was too young to join the exchange program when it started and had no interest when I met Silvon. They lived in a dome-shaped house in a small town called Morva Falls. It’s in the countryside, with beautiful blue grass as far as the eye can see, heavily wooded with a huge river that runs through the center of town, and the waterfall of course.
I got a lot of looks from the locals. It was rural, so human visitors were a rarity. The whole time Silvon was chatting away, telling me all the places she played at when she was little, and how much fun she had going hiking with her dad in the woods, she was so happy to be back home.
She rang her parent’s doorbell, they took their time answering. Her dad looked me up and down, then put out a paw. Within an hour we were getting to know each other, her mom had a habit of bringing up the most embarrassing stories, they turned poor Silvvy oranger than I ever thought possible. When dinner rolled around, her mom made the most incredible mur root casserole. I practically begged for the recipe!
When all was said and done, we were all good with each other. I admitted, not long before Silvvy and I got together, to her dad, that I loved her. I’ll never forget how great it was getting his blessing. I’ve visited them a handful of times since they’ve come around a lot on humans as a whole. I can’t wait to tell them we’re engaged.
I heard the shower cut out and the blow dryer start, she’ll be out soon enough. I kept scrolling through old photos, wondering what we’d do for our honeymoon. If travel is good, maybe we’ll visit Earth. I can’t show her where I grew up, but there’s a new city there, La Fénix. I’ve never been, the war was 12 years ago, but it still hurt too much to visit. Maybe I’ll get over that, I’m sure Silvvy will love it.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Speak of the devil, she strode out of the bathroom, fluffed up from the blow dryer, and planted a kiss on my cheek. “We’re calling your parents today, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, they’ll be through the roof,” Silvon answered. She grabbed her holopad from our bedroom and sat down on the couch next to me. “You ready?” I nodded, and she dialed their contact.
“Oh! Silvon!” her mom answered, “And Danny! How are you?”
“We’re good, Mom,” Silvon said, she pulled me closer with her tail and held my hand.
“Where’s dad?”
“Oh, he’s here. Let me put him on,” the camera quickly flipped around to a graying venlil with dark orange fur that was lighter on top of his head. He had a certain look to him, a characteristic stone-cold stare that could scare away anyone who didn’t know him well.
“Danny my boy, Silvon, great to see you again,” his voice was chipper.
I looked at Silvon, wordlessly asking who’d tell them. She pointed a claw toward herself and I nodded. “We have some news,” she smiled.
She lifted our intertwined hands to show off the matching rings, I couldn’t help but beam at the camera, “We’re engaged!” she announced.
There was silence for a moment, I was almost worried her parents were upset, especially when her mom started to tear up.
"Silvvy!" Her voice broke, "Oh stars! I'm-" Silvon's dad put an arm around his wife's shoulder, "We are so happy for you," he concluded, smiling.
We talked for a while on the phone, finally ending with some teary-eyed, elated goodbyes. We hadn’t picked a venue yet, or even how the wedding would be done. Humans and venlil both have completely different marital practices, we’d have to decide which we go with.
“Silvvy,” I said once the call was ended, “have you thought about how we’re going to get married?”
She gave me a blank stare and tilted her head.
“Y’know, a traditional wedding where I’m from, or where you’re from?” She got the idea and smiled.
“I don’t care much about how we do it, I’m just glad I’m marrying you,” she put a paw on my cheek.
Maybe I’m overthinking things. I want the event as perfect as she is. I’ll never decide on my own, maybe I’ll leave it up to a coin flip. I leaned in for a kiss, knowing regardless of what we settled on, it’d be the greatest day of our lives.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Stephan Hausen, Humanity First follower
Date [Standardized human time]: August 15th, 2148
[Day 8]
“What I need you to do is find Stat and ‘persuade’ him not to go to that summit. I don’t care how you do it, just make sure no law enforcement is involved,” Aaron’s voice over the holopad spoke. He had a twinge of annoyance in his voice, it was clear this Dr. Stat was a problem.
“I understand. He will not interfere with our plan,” I said.
“Good.” The call ended. I respected Aaron a whole lot, and I believed it was mutual. I’d take care of Stat for the good of humanity. He forwarded me some links to headlines, the man was a virologist at Teiza Labs, the only major scientific institution in the region.
I had to start planning, I’d go wait there tomorrow, try and get a feel for his work schedule. If I catch him at work, I’ll follow him home and make sure he doesn’t attend that summit. I grinned at myself, I was doing God’s work, fuck these feddies.
I spent the rest of the paw researching the man. He was fairly well respected in his field, being responsible for bringing the virus to the SHO’s attention. Aaron was right, he was not someone I could make disappear. All I had to do was make sure he was still breathing, maybe I’d chuck a brick through his window.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 16th, 2148
[Day 9]
Today me and Silvon went to work. Tinasi was really excited to hear the good news, practically begging to be invited. We didn’t have much time to discuss plans, I was too busy mixing medicine with the virus to prove in my report that there is, in fact, no cure.
Finally, it was time to clock out. Silvvy and I walked to the car, paw in hand, and kissed when we got in. Then there was a sudden flicker of light, like a flash of lightning, and we immediately separated.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, looking around outside. There was hardly a cloud in the sky, this half of the cycle all the major storms and rainy weather are focused on the opposite side of the planet.
“I don’t know, it kind of looked like a camera flash,” Silvon mumbled. I swear for a second I saw one of the bushes alongside the building shuffle. Silvon hastily punched in our home address and the car started. I was thankful we were getting out of dodge, no telling what that was about.
We pulled into the driveway, the thought of the odd flash fading from our minds as we preoccupied ourselves with dinner plans. “What should we eat, Danny?”
“Hmmm,” I rubbed my chin, it was getting scruffier by the day, “maybe-”
“Before you say something absolutely evil: no, we are not eating anything that had a pulse,” she snickered.
“Damn! Well, I guess venlil’s off the menu,” I said, sadly.
“Well,” she winked, “maybe not,” A chill ran up my spine. “Maybe we could just-”
There was a loud thud outside, then the sound of a manual car peeling away. I ran to the door and flung it open. Embedded in the wooden door was a very large knife, impaling a note.
Dr. Stat, attending the Summit would be a grave mistake. Take a warning and stay out of our way.
I pulled out the knife and a photograph hidden behind the note fluttered to the floor. Silvon picked it up and went white as a ghost. It was of us in the car, with the hole from the blade right through her eye.