Memory transcription subject: Tinasi, yotul lab assistant
Date [Standardized human time]: August 13th, 2148
[Day 6]
Dr. Silvon tried really hard to make herself seem like everything was alright. She was overly peppy, always excitable, practically begging to talk about anything and everything as long as it wasn’t about the Skalgan Flu. We just finished a very insightful conversation about one of the latest samples, a completely unremarkable Earth insect that was already fully studied and understood by humans.
I nodded along absentmindedly, the poor venlil was almost certainly stressed about the situation. She was doing fine when the quarantine orders were issued, but something, some discovery I assume Dr. Stat made, really threw her off.
“Tinasi? Tinasi, are you listening?” she questioned. She had the ‘grasshopper’ in one paw, it didn’t seem to mind her handling much, and a pencil in the other.
“Yes, yeah, I’m listening. Cool bugs,” I smiled. I wished they had given us something more exciting to study. I was getting tired of water samples and small insects.
“If you were, you’d have heard me ask for that container over there,” she pointed a claw toward a plastic terrarium. I handed it over to her and watched her slip the little bug inside. It tried to hop around, but the gravity here made it difficult.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. She flicked her tail, I was still learning venlil tail language, so I got the gist of the gestures, something about paying more attention. I signed an attempt at ‘affirmative’.
“Oh stars,” Dr. Silvon chuckled, blushing. She corrected my signing by demonstrating ‘affirmative’.
“What? What did I say?” Trying to repeat it back. “It wasn’t bad, was it?” her chuckles became full-blown laughter as I signed again.
“Please, don’t say that in public,” she snickered, “those are words I only tell Danny.”
I quickly stopped whatever I was saying. She controlled herself, wiping a tear from her eyes, and got back to work cataloging vials.
Since I didn’t have much else to do around the lab right now, my mind began to wander a bit. I’ve known for a long time that Dr. Silvon and Dr. Stat are an item, but I don’t really know the extent of it. Maybe they’re married? I’d ask, but I don’t want to come off as weird. Especially not off of whatever I just signed. I figured they could be, interspecies marriage has been legal since the war ended, I don’t see a ring on her paw though.
“Tinasi,” her voice sounded suddenly, “You’re just staring at me, what’s up?” I didn’t even realize!
“Oh shit- I mean uh, sorry,” I’ve been trying to swear less at work, I’d picked up a little too much vocabulary from my human coworkers. Dr. Silvon just gave me a funny look.
“What were you thinking about that was so captivating?” she asked.
I shook my head, “nothing, honest!” No way in hell- heck I’m explaining that.
“Okay then,” she shook her head smiling then turned back to the vials.
I tried to make myself busy with the specimen containers, but it was really awkward all of a sudden. Eventually, it was about time to clock out for the paw. I changed out of my coat and was about to walk to my car when I was stopped.
“Tinasi!” Dr. Silvon’s voice called behind me. I turned around and cocked my head, wondering what she needed.
“Yes, doc?”
She shuffled awkwardly with her paws together, then asked “You’ve eaten uh… the meat substitutes they sell here, right?” I was familiar with them, the thought of eating flesh didn’t bother me as much as it did other people, maybe I’d just spent too much time around humans. I’ve tried the substitutes a couple of times, I can safely say they’re pretty tasty. I nodded my head hesitantly.
“Danny’s hosting a ‘barbecue’,” she over-enunciated every syllable, which I thought was funny. “He wanted me to ask if you’d like to come over.”
“Oh uh, sure thing,” I said. Good thing I didn’t have dinner plans.
“Great!” she lit up. “You’ve got the address, right?” I shook my head and she whipped out her holopad to text me directions. She gave a farewell tail flick, I just waved, not daring a repeat of what I said earlier, then got into my car and punched in the address.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Daniel Stat, human virologist
Date [Standardized human time]: August 13th, 2148
[Day 6]
I heard the door open and turned to see Silvon coming down the hallway.
“Hey, hon,” I smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. “You feeling better?” I asked. She nodded and smiled. “How was work?”
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“It was good. Just labeled some samples, looked at a couple of grasshoppers,” she explained.
“Well that’s good,” I said, “But you’re sure you feel better than yesterday, right?”
“Yes, Danny, I do,” she put a paw on my cheek. I kissed her again, I let my hands glide smoothly down her back-
“Danny!” she broke away suddenly.
“Huh?”
“I messed up, I- we still have those burger patties right?” She asked. I cocked an eyebrow.
“Yeeeeah? Why?” my question was answered by a knock at the door. “Silvvy, who’s that?”
“Tinasi,” she said, hanging her head. “I told her you were having a barbecue tonight- she just really wanted to talk about… Y’know. I just couldn’t… I figure you’d be able to answer her questions.”
I nodded empathetically. “Next time you make up plans, at least tell me beforehand,” I said, making my way to answer the door. Outside was Tinasi, I’d heard a lot about her, but never got the chance to formally meet her.
“Dr. Stat! Hi,” the yotul said, awkwardly reaching out a paw.
I accepted her handshake. “Just call me Danny, no need for titles here. Nice to meet you, by the way.”
I gestured for her to come in, “Make yourself at home.”
She strolled into the living room and awkwardly sat down next to Silvon on the couch. “You like burgers, right?” I called, “Fake meat and all, don’t worry!”
“Yeah, they’re good,” Tinasi replied.
“Cool cool,” I said, pulling the patties out of the fridge and getting a skillet ready.
~~~
Once the food was all ready, I laid out some toppings on the table for everyone. Silvon made sure there was more greenery on her burger than anything else, and Tinasi put a bit of everything on hers. Once everything was set and ready, we all sat around the table and ate.
“This is really good Dr- uh, Danny,” Tinasi said.
“Glad you like it,” I said cheerily. We ate in silence a bit longer.
“Sooo…” the yotul began finally, “the uh, flu you’re working on, how’s that all going?” she asked bluntly.
I wiped the grease from my mouth with a napkin. “Well, we haven’t really discovered much new on it. We found yesterday that it targets the immune system,” I explained, not fully sure what she did and didn’t already know.
“Have you tested any medicine on it?” she asked curiously.
“Uh, antivirals don’t really work against rhinovirus, that’s what makes the common cold so difficult to treat,” I answered. She nodded, staring off for a moment thinking up her next question.
“And is it- is it 100% fatal? I’ve heard a lot of people are dying of it in the news.”
“Actually,” I said, “I’m under the impression that the virus itself doesn’t actually kill you. Once it takes over your immune system, it leaves you completely defenseless. Any old scrape or bacteria becomes deadly when you can’t fight it off.”
“Interesting,” she said, “so it just opens the gate for other illnesses to take out the host?”
“Essentially, yeah, but that’s just my working theory. I haven’t gotten the chance to see anyone carrying the disease yet. The guys at the SHO said I might down the line, but I’m not sure if I wanna put Silvvy at risk like that,” I caught my girlfriend’s gaze and she blushed a deep orange.
“Well, I’ve been reading up a lot on viruses and stuff. I’d love the opportunity to look at some of the samples you’ve got,” she said.
“Oh sure thing, just swing by the virus lab tomorrow, me ‘n Silvon will be working with ‘em,” I said. Silvon nodded in agreement.
“Well then, uh- thank you for the food, Danny, and thanks for the invite Silvon. I should probably be headed home by now, busy day tomorrow,” Tinasi smiled and got up from the table. “See you guys at the lab.”
“Yup! See ya!” I called.
I waited until I heard the door shut and automatically lock, then turned toward Silvvy. “We can still salvage the night, huh?” I winked. She didn’t even hesitate to pounce.
~~~
Memory transcription subject: Seava, venlil protester
Date [Standardized human time]: August 13th, 2148
[Day 6]
The run through the woods to Beiton, sweet freedom from that horrific city, was terrible! My paws were caked in mud from the rainy season, and the brambles sliced up my legs something nasty. I woke up in a hotel this morning after a nice hot shower, to find the cuts had darkened, and were oozing.
I rolled out of the hotel bed and coughed into my arm. The blood was lighter than I remember, but figured my mind was playing tricks on me. I slipped on my coat and removed the handgun from the bedside drawer. I needed some booze in me, my head was killing me.
I got out of the hotel and wandered down the street a little while, shielding my eyes. Was the sun always this fuckin’ bright? I found my destination after a short walk, a hole-in-the-wall bar. With a jolly grin, I opened up the door and stepped inside. The place was crawling with my people! Venlil! And not a single-
The bartender looked up from the drinks he was serving, his green binocular eyes locked onto me, and he bared his fangs, growling something. My brain felt foggy like I’d already been drinking. I suppose that’s why I immediately pulled the gun on him.
I fired, but by the second I was growing more dazed. The human fell, or maybe he ducked, I didn’t see any blood, and all of a sudden the bargoers were running and screaming to the streets. One of the venlil tried to grab my gun, I tried to pull him off, but he quickly overpowered me, and slammed me to the floor.
I coughed directly in his face, spraying him with blood. He flinched back disgusted, the orange contrasted his almost perfectly white fur, then rammed a paw into the side of my head. The gun was lying out of my reach a ways away, and I tried to crawl toward it, but the venlil’s full weight was pressing down on my chest.
I coughed more as I exerted myself, I felt my breath completely leaving me. The human, alive and well, got out of his cover behind the counter and growled something at the venlil on top of me. My vision was starting to get dark, my peripheral rapidly fading.
The venlil got off of me and began dialing someone on his holopad. I saw his lips move, but couldn’t hear. My ears were ringing, my throat was dry and sore from coughing, and I realized my lungs were empty. I couldn’t breathe in, I felt a severe pain in my chest, like my heart was being smashed.
I gripped my chest as a pool of blood formed from my mouth, the world went quiet and black.