Memory transcript subject: Veski, Observant Pinwood Exterminator

Date [Human standard time]: October 10th, 2136

Humans are strange looking things.

Not that I could actually see any details. This one is almost completely covered in thick false pelts. They're wearing heavy looking foot coverings, dark green leg coverings with quite a few pouches in them, and a large puffy, blue colored body pelt that had a tuft of white fur around the neck area. The mask did its job frustratingly enough, so I couldn't see its face either.

What I could see was that it's tall. It makes me feel small for once in my life. It

also has a patch on their head where real fur was allowed to grow. Their long brown hair is well kept, silky even. Interestingly, it was woven together like a rope for some reason. It looks good though; the style is so alien to me but it shows a lot of care going into their self presentation.

As much as I want to engage with the human, it seems as though they have only just started settling into their new home so we couldn't enter the building yet. Not only would it possibly aggravate them, but searching this soon wouldn't give us anything to work with as they hadn't had the time to actually commit any crimes yet.

Honestly, with Quilk sending us out so soon it's as if he thinks murder and villainy is so inherent to humans that dead bodies will simply manifest themselves around their turf.

So with worries over potential displays of gore and violence put aside for now, me and Jalsung were left to simply watch from afar. The Tipping Pot is thankfully right across the road so it made for a good place to relax and watch this - what's its name?

Checking the small data-dump we got involving all the boring paperwork involving the newest predator addition to our town, I was able to find the human's names. Not name. Names, plural, multiple. All with their own uses and social rules. It seems cumbersome but I was able to pick it up eventually.

First name is informal and is meant for casual, day to day conversations. Thankfully, it should be the only one I would need to worry about for the most part. Their middle name is rarely ever used, often spoken only when directly mentioned or when all of their names were being used at once. Doing so must be a dignified and respectful way to refer to a human. I could imagine ceremonies where their full names are used as a form of great respect. Doing so alongside all the titles of an accomplished human must take forever.

What would be the implications of asking a human for their middle name? Would it be respectful to do so? Would it be insulting maybe, if it were seen as deeply personal or inappropriate to speak it at the wrong time?

The last name is still even stranger to me. Humans apparently have a strong fixation to their family history, forming very tight bonds with their packs. A human's last name serves not as an individual's identification, but as a way to mark which family they're associated with. Some forums explain that insulting a human's lineage is deeply offensive. So much so that they have a derogatory term for someone who's born without strong familial ties, and lacking a proper last name.

Their tiny, but passionate community structures must be why they have so many tribes! It would also explain the ‘social’ part of being ‘social predators’. Forming close relationships and strong emotional bonds must be important for helping overcome their violent tendencies.

These odd predators’ behaviors start making more sense when you actually sit down and try learning about them. I'm not even that smart really, I just think that most others don't even try.

Reading about these humans is oddly fun too. Which is strange because I've never enjoyed reading. Like, ever. When I first moved to Pinwood it took me a half a herd before I noticed that there was a really good market just a few [minutes] walk from my apartment. Just because I refused to read that guide they give out that shows off all the major features of the town.

I'm glad for the new found passion too. I hadn't realized that human names were so complicated.

Staring intently at my screen, I try to work through a name pronunciation guide made by someone over on venlil prime.

[Weeaahm…weeeee aaahm…lll…w-brahk…leeeyuum…lee am…leam…lliii yam]

Jalsung was watching the human paint their new sign, gawking at the garrish display. Now she's turned one eye over to me with a bit of worry in their ears.

“What? What was that? Are you having a stroke?”

“Oh, I just found a human name guide. Apparently their names are very important to them.”

“Why would we care about learning murder-speak?”

“Well, you can do whatever you want, but I wasn't about to walk into its den planting insults.”

Jalsung opened her mouth but didn't say anything. The threat of agitating a predator quickly made my point understood.

I hate having to do that. Having to bully other people into being polite or using common sense is just exhausting. I want people to just be better. The worst part of doing this is that I actually like Jalsung. There's a good reason as to why we are paired together so often. She's bratty, stubborn, even harsh at times, but she is also surprisingly aware of other people and what they're thinking. Jalsung is one of the few who treats me like a person and not a liability to be handled.

I can see her ears flick towards me, then droop a little.

[...Laaayyyy haaamm…]

I do feel a bit better seeing her make the effort, and fumble like I did.

For the next quarter claw we both tried and failed to press our lumbering, swaying voices into making those harsh barks humans use for speech. I feel as though I could do either half of Liam's name on its own, but following that ‘i’ sound immediately with an ‘a’ just does not work. Eventually I find a video of a Zurulian and a human pronouncing common human names.

Skimming forward through the time stamps I eventually find the right spot in the video. First, the human says [Liam] quickly in that odd, harsh way of speaking.

This is followed by the zurulian saying [Liiaahm].

This repeats a few times to let the viewer soak in the information. Each repetition makes the little difference between the human and zurulian pronunciation more and more clear. They aren't saying it right.

[Liam] [Liiaahm]

[Liam] [Liiaahm]

Checking the comments to see if anyone else was noticing the issue I spot a comment made by the same people who made the video.

“We both wanted to take turns speaking each of these names so not only are you able to hear how humans say it, but also to bring light to the accent. It takes a lot of practice to speak any human language fluently so if you have a notable accent, don't worry about it! Humans actually often enjoy hearing accents as it's considered a part of our culture and is apparently quite charming!”

I let out a small breath, “Oh that's a relief, with how intense all this stuff is I had assumed that they'd be more harsh about getting it exactly right.”

Jalsung sighed and considered her barely passable [Lii ham] was good enough. Seeing as the human hasn't managed to murder a random civilian in the time we were distracted I made the effort to really get this right.

[Liiiiaaaaahhm…Li-hm!...Liiiihhaaam…]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[20 minutes later]

I was suddenly shaken from my studies by a loud crash. Poor Jalsung was completely slumped over and snoring when it happened.

Peering back across the street we could see the human and an exterminator locked in a standoff. The exterminator, another Zurulian in a full fire-suit, is holding a large yellow colored crate. A pile of junk lies at their feet, and on top of it is some sort of alien bird thrashes around.

Jalsung gasps. “I-I knew it was going to do something like this! T-they were really shipping non-sapient cattle all the way out h-here!”

I couldn't speak. Honestly, this looked terrible. I couldn't think of any reason besides the obvious of why this predator was having prey shipped right to his den.

Why does this stress me out so much? Why does my chest hurt? I should be happy. A prey animal was saved and a predator is about to face justice. I have every reason to be elated right now. But, I had hope for this human. As soon as I heard about how well the venlil exchange program was going I really wanted to think that I had something in common with them. That we shared a struggle.

Jalsung pressed her paw against my back, sparing me from spiraling too far.

We both watched as the little bird got up. It hopped around a bit then took to the air. The exterminator was saying something but I wasn't processing their words. All I could focus on was the odd little green and yellow puffball circle around and… and…

It landed on the human? Why…?

It's hand cupped around the animal and he started whispering to it, though human whispers aren't exactly all that quiet.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“It's ok little buddy, I got you. You're fine.”

…

I wanted to say something, formulate some kinda response, but when I tried to speak nothing came out. Jalsung was chuckling to herself. Not that this was funny, she just didn't have any sane way to react to this. Despite how lenient I wanted to be with humans I had never expected them to be able to do something like this.

The whole interaction just felt uncanny and the tonal whiplash was making my head spin. We were all being made to watch something that completely violated nearly every core rule of how nature worked. How the universe worked. All my exterminator training, fear response therapy, even daily life and common knowledge just didn't agree with what was happening simply because this can't happen.

Predators eat prey, prey fear predators. Predators are not as naturally social or empathetic as prey. Yet, we never had animals live alongside us like this, let alone being able to coddle them.

That's perhaps the most disturbing part of all this. The human is treating that bird almost like a pup with how they’re speaking to it. Despite the fact that animals can't speak and shouldn't be able to understand spoken language, this one almost acts like it does. There's an intelligence to that bird that shouldn't exist. I swear, I saw it flinch when the exterminator started shouting at the human for their violation of the natural order.

I was just hoping that everyone would walk away so there'd be time to process all of this. The exterminator did, thankfully, but the human did not. They weren't done with their display.

Gently setting the little bird off to the side, Liam reaches inside and grabs a second, larger crate. They slowly pull it closer to the edge of the truck. As it gets closer to the outside I can start to hear something. Judging by how Jalsung is slowly tensing up she must hear it too.

It almost sounds like a person, but heavily warped. Their voice sounds more howling than the normal squawks I'm accustomed to.

The human lifts the cage to reveal a massive gray bird. It's nearly a [foot] tall! I honestly thought that it was a discolored krakotl adolescent with a short beak for a moment.

The creature's head is drooped downwards as it waddles forward and right into the human's waiting arms. The small green and yellow one jumps back onto their living perch where the two are then carried away.

…

Adrift in my fading sense of despair along with this growing feeling of unease, I am not sure if I'm more or less eager about meeting this ‘Liam Wahlburg’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memory Transcript Subject: Sysill, Stressed Job Seeker

Date [Human standard time]: October 10th, 2136

Cold…so so cold.

It wasn't as bad when I was flying around, but now that I've stopped moving the freezing pavement has taken the opportunity to start sapping the heat from my legs. I hadn't even realized how prickly the air was until I opened my beak for a sip of water.

There were plenty of buildings around that I could have waited in but I didn't like the idea of awkwardly waiting around in a place I didn't belong. I had almost considered trying out the tea shop but when I saw Veski and Jalsung there I ran back around the corner opposite of the human store. Never mind speaking to strangers, I did not want to be seen by them.

So my best option is to just perch here and shiver until Obour gets here. I had forgotten that he wasn't able to fly. I'm so used to that being standard for my people that dealing with someone who can't feels strange.

I'm thankful for that gojid. I was worried that he wouldn't even respond to my message, or take offense to it.

Not only that but I feel strangely safe around him. Sure, he seems aggressive, dangerous even, but he's clear about where that anger is being directed at. It's refreshing seeing someone who's so open about where their mind is at. When most people talk, it feels like I'm constantly working through a life-or-death puzzle with an extremely short timer. I need to see all these tiny little hints and read into everything people say just to keep up with them. It feels like no one ever just says what's on their mind.

Obour though, hates, well, a lot of people. It's hard to find someone he isn't angry at. The federation, exterminators, humans, zurulians and “their frozen [hell] planet”, so on. Never me though.

While he's shouted at me, he's never shouted at me. If that makes any sense.

If there was anyone who could storm right up to a predator and make a demand of them, it was Obour. I just needed to wait for him to get here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[10 minutes later]

Finally, I see the shaking form of my roommate trudging down the road. They've got that well worn scowl as our eyes meet. It seems like the cold doesn't do either of us well.

“Hey kid, you said you needed help?”

His voice was surprisingly firm despite his trembling claws.

“Y-yes. The f-facility says I need to get a j-job or-or I'll get s-sent back. Almost e-e-everywhere else has r-rejected me.”

I pull out my pad to show my resume. Obour calmly takes it from me and reads the single page document over. His brows furrow deeply.

“Is…is that it?”

I signal with my tail. (Yes)

“Did the facility staff help you make this?”

(Yes)

“How old even are you?”

“19”

His grip tightens around my pad for a moment before he shoves it into my chest. Taking a deep sigh he asks me another question.

“Which store do you want to apply at?”

Taking a step around the corner I point to the store with the bright green and yellow sign, “T-That art shop.”

Disbelief flashes across Obour’s eye that I’d try for such a prestigious place with my non-existent credentials. He marches around the corner to get a look at my wild plan, but freezes up as soon as he sees the script on the odd oval-shaped sign across the street.

“You can't be brahking serious Sysill. Really? Are you that desperate?!”

I can't meet his eyes anymore. Even though I know he's not really mad at me, I'm tired of being interrogated. My silence is enough of an answer though as his whole body softens.

“Wait, really? The facility can't be that bad, can it?”

…

He clenches his paws again. That big eye of his looking me over. I can almost hear his brain working behind it. He lets out another tired breath before gently placing a paw on my shoulder and guiding me down the sidewalk. Much to my dismay I'm pushed right towards the exterminators.

A messy scene of Obour airing out whatever grievances with Veski flashes across my mind before I realize that he's new here. There's no why he'd know who they are. Blessedly we stride right past the two and inside the shop.

He sits us at a table and orders us both some lud leaf tea. While he is verbally silent, it's easy to hear the rough scraping of claws on the underside of the table. For a few agonizing moments we just stare off into space, only taking breaks to look at each other and make a lame attempt at starting a sentence, then abandoning it before the first word gets to leave our mouths.

I had plenty of time to take in the surroundings. The tea shop is a pleasant place design wise. Our small table is sat right under a small lamp dangling from the ceiling, shaded with a tangled orb of thin vines. It's much too bright. The warm colors and natural, woody decorations meant to put my mind at ease would have done their job if I wasn't a total mess right now. As I am, it only adds to the chaos of stimulus that's overwhelming my mind. As I was looking out the window, trying to steady my nerves, the server suddenly appears and delivers our tea.

Finally, after getting our first sips of the bitter but soothing drink we both find our voices. All I let out is a croak before giving Obour the room to talk.

“You don't seem like an idiot, Sysill. But I just need to ask, are you really out of options?”

“I-I tried most other places. No one wants to h-hire a, uh…”

“That…I know it must be hard but, no one, really?”

More silence from me. My brain is screaming. People, too many sounds, harsh clinking of cups, competing conversations, the stress of it all. Silence is the only way I can keep from totally breaking down now.

Obour sips from his cup again. More painful moments of nothing. He's thinking, a lot. About what exactly I'm not sure.

“You know that this isn’t safe, right? We both know what those things did on the cradle. You know, why I’m even stuck here on this rock in the first place? If I help you do this then I’d be feeding you to the damn thing.”

Responding to the question isn’t really my worry right now. I’m just trying my best to keep it together. Maybe if I just shut down then he’ll give up and either walk away or just hand in my application. Either doesn’t even matter right now, I just want this to be over.

“Speh sucking exterminators can’t even do any of their jobs right. You’re supposed to be comforted by them, not running to the predators just to get away from them! Brahking irony of the century. No wonder everything is falling apart these days…”

I don't know how much time passed, I just want out. Obour’s ranting fades to the background while I start breathing exercises. At some point I started praying. After my hundredth internal plea for mercy the gojid stands up.

“Fine, but on one condition. We're both walking in there. I want to make sure you'll be OK being around one of those freaks.”

My body was already tense, but the ultimatum shocked me enough to cause a muscle stitch in my back. I didn't think I would actually be going in there today! I'm already spent as is, I just can't…

Catching onto my distress Obour steps closer to reassure me, though he just makes me more claustrophobic.

“Hey, you'll be safe as long as I'm here ok? That thing in there tries something I'll tear it up. Let's go.”

Dread

My mind was flooded with a terror induced fog. My ears were ringing so bad I couldn't even hear properly. Before I knew it we were out the door and marching across the street. I couldn't even walk straight without Obour guiding me. Every time I blinked we were a few seconds forward in time. The building kept getting bigger, and that sign loomed higher and higher. I was practically thrown through the door when Obour slammed them open.

Squawking. So much squawking. They almost sound like people, but I can easily tell, they aren't. A newfound type of horror flooded my body and my eyes shot open trying to find where that horrid sound was coming from.

The room was spacious. Random tables, shelves, display cases, chairs, and decorations were being unpacked and arranged. Around the edges of the room, well above head height were tiny looking perches. I wondered who would be small enough to make use of them for only [second] before one of the creatures flew overhead before taking off to the other side of the room.

A human stood at the far end of the wide room. Their mask was quickly stuffed on and didn't properly seat into place.

I could see the ends of 3 long, jagged scars cut across their face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Veski

Oh! The odd little duerten seemed to be getting along well with their roommate. The gojid even seemed to be helping them with applying to different jobs!

As much as I wanted to voice my support, the poor kid seemed to be overwhelmed already. Besides, I didn't want to interrupt what I assumed to be an attempt at applying to the Tipping Pot.

Jalsung let out a tiny yip as the two barreled out of the shop a short time later. I could hear the gojid talking as they dragged Sysill along.

“I mean it kid, just let me do the talking and that bracking predator won't so much as drool at you!”

Oh, well, I admire them trying to help but this isn't going to end well. Jalsung jumps up just as I do and we rush off to intercept.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memory Transcript Subject: Hasik, Student of Hazziare Academy, Art History Major

Date [Human standard time]: October 10th, 2136

With classes finally over I'm free to engage with my plans for the rest of this paw. Wander through town, grab some food along the way, hopefully find my inspiration for a new project, and pass by that odd “hobby shop” I've been looking into.

That name is so vague it sounds fake. Yet, the casual nature of how they refer to art as a simple ‘hobby’ makes my antenna buzz. The insult to such a refined and unique school of study can't be allowed to stand. The nature of our passions, our lives, experiences, the creation of a physical representation of what it means to be sapient can not be achieved through such callus and undedicated acts as a ‘hobby’.

One could live a thousand lifetimes and never come close to witnessing, let alone understanding the greater parts of who we are as a people. The gifts of intelligence alongside the countless and unique emotional experiences will never be completely explored.

Art is as much a demonstration of what could never be fully explained by words as it is a key part of that same experience. And so, the acts of perceiving, feeling, and expressing creates an everlasting change akin to the fields of Colia's native Dawnbloom fields’ ever unique color palettes, who have never repeated the same patterns or exact color balances in recorded history.

To reach out to the herd, to make something meant to touch their souls and to have your own seen, to borrow from them as much as you give, is itself a metaphysical art form expressing our truest selves and being as one beautiful, grand herd.

If I had not seen that cultural data dump it would have been easy to assume that their relaxed behavior is indicative of a shallow internal experience.

To think that some of the most striking and awe inspiring art I had ever seen was made by a species that wasn't even fully trying only pushed my insanity to spiral further. Yet, it also gives me hope. If these flesh eaters can teach each other, then they shall guide me just the same.

Just my luck too, a group of people are making for the front door. It must have just opened up!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Memory Transcript Subject: Nahlin, Student at Hazziare Academy, Biochemistry Major

Date [Human standard time]: October 10th, 2136

I hadn't even realized how far I had followed her until I saw the large, brightly colored sign they marched under.

Love mixed with herd instincts occasionally does this. People embarrassing themselves by accidentally following their crush home isn't unheard of.

The writing for the sign was hard to parse at first until I realized that the alien text must belong to that human everyone on MyHerd was going on about.

The text was not at all what I had expected from a predator. The line work was made of graceful curves and curls. All the individual characters led into one another blurring the difference between the individual components and creating single solid words. On one side is a simple, artistic rendering of what I assume is a gray bird of some sort, and on the other is a green and yellow one.

My focus waned only for a moment. This distraction was really only an excuse for delaying myself for another moment longer.

I had only spoken to Hasik once or twice, but they had completely enraptured me in that short time. Never had I met someone who had the drive or passion that she has. Never had someone spoken with so much reverence for their craft or love of the world around them. It was impossible not to admire them, even if we weren't in the same study.

I only wish that I could have their attention once again. Yet, since we had last talked they almost seemed to avoid me. At first I was hurt by it, but I was able to eventually see that they had done so with everyone else as well. That precious stardrop was burying themselves in their work. What they wanted to achieve, I'm not sure, but they were going to make themselves sick with stress for no reason.

She was a genius. Capable of wonderful things at our young age, yet couldn't see it when they constantly compared themselves to the federation's finest artists. Someone had to make them finally see how talented they are. Maybe when she's able to see that, Halsk will also finally notice me!~

Human den or not, I want a chance to finally get close and talk to them again!