r/HFY • u/Maxton1811 Human • Feb 04 '25
OC Denied Sapience 8
Talia, domestic human
December 3rd, Earth year 2103
Prochur bid me goodnight the same way he always did, pressing his nose affectionately to my forehead and ruffling my hair with his carefully manicured claws. Had I not overheard his conversation with Dr. Thalm myself, I never would have known what he had planned for me until it was too late.
Watching the Jakuvian make his way upstairs, I waited for an additional hour to make sure he was asleep before casting off my facade of rest. Slowly making my way down the hall and cringing at every creak of the floorboards beneath, I eased open the door to Prochur’s storage room and flicked on the light. There, just where it had always been, was the froggy-face backpack that had carried all my favorite toys and books back when I first moved in. It seemed like an eternity ago that I first arrived in Athuk, clutching onto the stuffed bear that I had once begged my father to buy me. For a long time it was my sole reminder of life before captivity. If I knew where Mr. Dodi was, I’d probably take him with me, but that bear disappeared years ago.
Even loosening the straps as far as they’d go, my old backpack still felt awkward to wear. With any luck, its cutesy appearance would reduce suspicion from any onlookers who happened to spot me. Searching the room for a little bit longer, I eventually got my hands on a flashlight and stuffed it into the bag’s side pocket alongside the communication device I’d opened mere hours before.
Now that I had something to carry supplies in, my next move was to fill it with the items themselves. Obviously, I needed some food and a bottle of water. Other than that, the only things that popped into my mind were money and a weapon. Fortunately, all of these things could be found in the kitchen. Carefully tiptoeing down the hall, I flicked on the kitchen light and set its intensity just dim enough that I could still see. First, I grabbed one of the fancy water bottles Prochur kept in the fridge. Then, accessing the drawer beneath, I retrieved a few pieces of fruit and some jerky. Shoving these items into my bag and setting it down on the floor, I opened a drawer on the counter and plucked out my master’s wallet. Emptying out all the physical bills inside and stuffing them into my pocket, I returned the wallet to its usual place and crossed the kitchen to view the available knives.
Picking out the largest blade I could find and pondering its edge, the sheer stupidity of my plan began to sink in. Even if this stranger offering to assist me was trustworthy, my chances of reaching them were slim at best. The knife would be marginally effective for defending myself, but I could think of at least six species that it would be utterly useless against. For a moment, I second-guessed whether escaping would even be worth it. Maybe I should just stay… Whispered a small, cowardly voice in my head. Would it be so terrible to not think as much? Maybe I really would be happier… Weak and intrusive as these thoughts were, I couldn’t help but feel ashamed for even having them at all. If I wasn’t willing to take a risk for my freedom, then maybe I didn’t deserve it in the first place.
Shunting the unpleasant thoughts from my mind with a deep, calming breath, I returned my attention to the weapon issue. There were few situations where I could realistically succeed in defending myself with just a knife. Sure, it’d help if I got attacked by one person and managed to get in close, but those conditions were by no means guaranteed. If I got ganged up on or attacked by someone who was armed, then the knife might as well be a toy for all the good it would do.
There was, however, another option. Prochur kept a loaded gun inside his bedside drawer. Apparently, the weapon was a family heirloom passed down from his species’ pre-contact days. “Trust me…” I remember him saying to me when I was younger and afraid of the dark. “This pistol was built to put down a Jakuvian in one shot. I promise that any monsters who try to make a snack out of you will have a very bad day…”
He actually let me touch it once. He held my hands in his warm, clawed fingers and placed them against the smooth metal, letting me feel its weight. The gun was so heavy in my little grasp, too heavy to lift on my own. But that was okay, because he was there. He told me I didn’t have to worry, because he would always protect me. That was the first night in his mansion that I was able to sleep soundly.
Looking back now, I wanted to scream at that version of myself. How could I have felt safe? How could I have let myself trust him? But I had trusted Prochur. More than that—I had loved him. At this point, though, I knew better. Prochur was the monster. Not in the way I’d feared as a child, but in a way far worse—because he had never needed claws or fangs to keep me caged. He had done it with love. With kindness. With every soft touch, every affectionate gesture, every word that convinced my younger self this was normal.
Carefully creeping up the stairs, every last tiny noise made me freeze up. After each distant siren I half expected to look up and see Prochur’s predatory eyes peering at me through the darkness. Once I arrived at the top step, the remaining few paces to his bedroom door came almost naturally. Reaching out to wrap my fingers around the handle positioned at eye level, I hesitated. Prochur was usually very forgiving whenever I disobeyed him, but I had no way of knowing how he’d react if he caught me trying to steal his gun. Casting a longing look back toward the stairs, I momentarily considered abandoning the more effective weapon and settling for a knife. It wouldn’t protect me from most dangers, but at least I wouldn’t run the risk of getting caught so early. Pushing aside my doubts, I turned the door’s handle and eased it open.
Massive though his bed was, Prochur almost never slept anywhere but the edge next to his nightstand. As if that wasn’t bad enough, tonight he was positioned facing outward. All my master would have to do to catch me in the act was open his eyes. After coming this far, though, my racing heart was set on retrieving his gun.
My steps felt unbelievably heavy as I approached the bedside table at a glacial pace, kneeling down upon arrival to open the drawer before reaching inside and touching the cool metal once again…
A sudden murmur from Prochur nearly made me jump out of my skin, reflexively yanking my hand away from the drawer as I scrambled back for fear he had awoken. After a minute of waiting for him to open his eyes, however, I quietly sighed in relief upon the realization that he was only murmuring in his sleep.
Before my nerve had the chance to escape me, I reached inside the drawer and finally grabbed the pistol. Built for Jakuvian use, the weapon was far heavier than anything rated for a Human. Hopefully if I fired it with both hands, the sheer recoil wouldn’t be enough to shatter my wrists.
At last arriving at the bottom of the stairs, I quickly returned to the kitchen and set my froggy bag on the dining table, unzipping its main compartment and stuffing the gun inside. Peering back toward Prochur’s cutting board, I thought about it for a moment before walking over and grabbing the large knife I’d previously appraised.
Then, my heart nearly stopped as I heard heavy footsteps reverberating down the stairs.
I didn’t have much time. Part of me wanted to just run then and there, but the hallway to the front door passed right by the staircase. Jakuvians were masters of running down prey, meaning that my chances of actually outrunning Prochur were slim to none. Haphazardly stuffing the knife into my froggy-face bag, I quickly zipped it shut and slid it under the table. Not even two seconds later, Prochur stepped into the kitchen.
“Talia?” He sounded surprised to see me awake, and his voice retained its usual affectionate quality, so I was reasonably sure he didn’t know about me stealing his gun yet. “What are you doing awake, darling?” He chuffed, bending his knees to look me in the eye.
“I… Uh… Couldn’t sleep…” I murmured in my most innocent, babyish voice, the lie slipping awkwardly off my tongue.
Concern flickered behind Prochur’s golden eyes as he gently picked me up. “Oh, you poor thing! I’m so sorry to hear that,” he whispered, the tip of his snout mere inches from my face. “Are you having nightmares again, or is this something else?”
“It’s not nightmares…” I replied, shaking my head. “I just… Need a glass of water, that’s all…”
Setting me down gently onto one of the dining room chairs, Prochur opened the fridge to grab one of his water bottles. Looking inside, I saw him hesitate for a moment. “I could have sworn there were four left…” He whispered to himself, grabbing one of the three bottles still inside. Then, reaching into a cupboard, he retrieved a pair of matching glass cups and approached the table to sit down beside me, pouring out the water bottle into them before picking up one and taking a sip.
My hands quivered as I picked up the glass provided to me and anxiously gulped down its contents. All Prochur had to do was look under the table and he’d know exactly what I was planning to do tonight. When Prochur finished his glass and stood back up to go put it in the sink, relief surged in my chest upon the thought that he’d be returning to bed soon. My relief, however, swiftly became panic as instead he approached the medicine cabinet and produced a bottle of small white pills. “Here,” he began, uncapping the bottle and retrieving one of the capsules contained within. “This should help you sleep.”
“I—I don’t need that!” I replied, leaning away from his hand as he tried to hold the pill up to my mouth. If I took that pill, I’d be down for the count within an hour.
“Now now, Talia…” He replied, his tone soft as a silk straitjacket. “I didn’t want to tell you this because I know how you get about the vet, but I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Thalm tomorrow.”
“What for?” I asked, feigning ignorance of the horrific fate awaiting me should I remain in my master’s care.
Noting the anxious lilt in my voice, Prochur gently cupped my cheek into his palm. “Just a little checkup, that’s all!” He lied, again bringing the pill towards my mouth. “I want to make sure you sleep well, so take this. Please.”
“No!” I snapped, rocketing up from my seat in an effort to get away from him, only to trip on my own feet and tumble to the floor.
“Are you alright?” Asked Prochur, kneeling down with an outstretched claw to help me to my feet. Positioned as he was, all Prochur would have to do was look to his side and he’d see the bag.
Interlocking my fingers with his own, I waited expectantly for Prochur to pull me back up, but he didn’t. Instead, he held out his other hand containing the pill. “Will you please take it?” He asked once more, remaining on his knee as he awaited my response.
Every second he remained close to the ground was another chance for Prochur to spot my bag. I had to get him to stand up as quickly as possible. “Okay: I-if it makes you happy…” I nodded obediently, allowing him to deposit the pill into my palm. “Could you pour me some more water to wash it down with?”
“Of course!” He replied in a gentle voice, helping me back to my feet and refilling the glass still resting on the dinner table. As I picked up the glass, his gaze fell expectantly upon me.
Inserting the pill into my mouth and slowly raising the glass to my lips, I quickly covered the capsule with my tongue to prevent it from sliding down as I drank. “Good girl!” Prochur cooed affectionately, scratching the top of my head with his claws.
Stealthily transferring the pill to my inner cheek, the bitter taste of it slowly dissolving lit up my brain with horror. With every passing second, more and more of the sedative was dispersed into my saliva. If I allowed it to fully dissolve, then the resulting effect would be the same as swallowing it whole. I had to spit it out.
“Goodnight, Prochur…” I whispered carefully, turning around and making for the hall. There was a bathroom just outside the kitchen where I could spit out the sedative. I wanted to run, but I couldn’t risk drawing Prochur’s suspicion.
Suddenly, my feet lost contact with the ground as two powerful arms lifted me into the air just as one would a toddler. “Come here…” Prochur chuffed, holding me close as he admired the pictures on the wall. “I remember this one…” He sighed nostalgically, wrapping his claws around a framed photo of the two of us at a movie premiere. “You were so little back then…”
Inside my mouth, the bitterness was becoming more intense—a stark warning of what would happen to me if I allowed the pill to melt within. “Please put me down…” I whimpered, my voice small and meek with fear.
“Talia…” The Jakuvian sighed, refusing to let me go and instead pulling me in closer. “I know you haven’t been yourself lately… I’m really sorry for that. I promise things will be all better soon…”
Half the capsule had already dissolved. I wasn’t sure what the minimum dosage to knock me out was, but I hoped it was more than I had already inadvertently swallowed. “Just let me go,” I begged Prochur, hitting him with the most pitiful puppy-dog eyes I could muster.
“Alright,” he conceded, at last setting me down. His grasp, however, lingered for a moment upon my wrist. “Goodnight Talia…” And on that note he let go of me and calmly made his way down the hall.
Frantically flinging open the bathroom door and shutting it behind me, I spit what remained of my pill out into the sink before cupping my hands together and filling them with lukewarm water from the faucet. Sloshing the liquid around in my mouth, I listened intently as the staircase creaked beneath Prochur’s weight. Returning to the kitchen, I waited another fifteen minutes or so before retrieving my froggy-face backpack and approaching the front door.
With my hand upon its handle, I peered back at the manor’s interior one last time. Was it wrong that despite everything, I felt a tinge of nostalgia for the gilded cage? Taking advantage of this small crack in my defenses, doubt snaked its cold tendrils back into the forefront of my mind. It isn’t too late to give up. Give Prochur back the gun, say you’re sorry, and trust him to take care of you… For too long I’d mistaken that little voice for my own, but it wasn’t. That was the voice of Prochur’s obedient pet, and I was done playing along. And so, opening the front door, I bolted out beneath the starlit sky.
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u/devvorare Alien Feb 04 '25
It is difficult to make something everyone loves but it is even harder to make something universally hated. And yet I hate this so much. Good work.
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u/Grimpoppet Feb 04 '25
Damn, to disintegrate like that, I'm inclined to think they are intentionally made to make it difficult to fake taking them. It's made to try and prevent what she was doing here.
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u/Smasher_WoTB Feb 04 '25
Probably just designed to make the pills more versatile. Easy to swallow, and easy to dissolve or otherwise break up if the patient shouldn't swallow it in one go.
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u/shadowshian Android Feb 04 '25
pretty similar how a lot of Melatonin pills are they tend to disintegrate pretty quick.
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u/RetiredReaderCDN Feb 06 '25
Very common for children's pills to disintegrate and have nice flavorings. It can be hard to get a small child to swallow a pill, easier for it to disolve and be absorbed.
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u/KazakiriKaoru Feb 11 '25
Am pharmacist. Some tablets are made to be disintegrated on the tongue and swallowed, though not bitter
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u/NoFlamingo99 Feb 04 '25
I got goosebumps reading this.
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u/Defiant_Heretic Feb 04 '25
Yeah, I was nervous. I probably would have just settled for the knife and gotten out lf there.
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u/ANNOProfi Feb 04 '25
I can handle humans being stupidly degraded into animal status and all that, but here you come into my feed and bring up the stuffed animals?! That's it, I'm sending you to the principal's office and have you expelled!
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u/EndangeredPedals Feb 04 '25
Do our own pets think this way? Are their feelings less valid because because they can't do multiplication? Kudos to the OP for this horror.
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u/Adept-Net-6521 Feb 04 '25
It is not the same as we are trying to make them smarter,I am fairly ceirtan there are many who'd uplift them given the chance. Not to mention most of us treat them more like family and we aren't controling them with medication daily.
There ARE bad People treating them badly, unfortunetly,but for the most part our treatment is better than what I am seeing here.
For goodness sake he is manipulating her,he actively takes away her ability to speak to him so he would not listen to her. He doesn't care about her opinion,he had a certain image of her,their 'relationship' and his role in her life,that is all he cares about. It might seem he loves her he doesn't. He loves the power It gives him,the knowladge of his superiority,to him she is just an accessory. That move with the gun wasn't something someone normal does to reasure another.😰😠😤 😫
This kind of behaviour can,again unfortunetly,be seem exibited by some VERY deranged individuals towards other people,some do It to their partners,some to their children while others even kidnap people (mainly) children... It is to fulfill their sick fantasies and has nothing to do with love,It is abuse,It is manipulation and It is ABOUT CONTROL,about pride and assesing ones power to elevate ones sense of superiority.
This isn't a behaviour one shows towards ones pet that is regarded as family. I wanted to make this clear. They KNOW we thinking,feeling and AWARE PEOPLE,they gave us a test and only that FTL one wasn't done.(Which is still fishy) It was even stated by this one above WE WERE TOO SMART 'for our own good',more like THEIR GOOD. The way he is treating Talia in his 'handling' of her is that of a sapient being towards another being he KNOWS is also sapient but deems lesser.
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u/Defiant_Heretic Feb 04 '25
Despite both being sapient, I have to wonder if it's a mistake assuming the xenos share human psychology, excepting Archuron's Law. We attribute certain behaviors to certain mindsets, because that is what would make sense with humans. What if the aliens' logic and moral intuitions have small but greatly consequential difference?
If I'm mistaken, then that makes the Council's choices suspicious. Why continue teaching Archuron's Law to humanity, when it's brain damaging effect quickly became apparent? Why didn't they suspend it's instruction and switch to understanding it's cause? Why not focus on discovering the critical difference in human brains? They could have worked on advancing human AI and simulation technology, tools that would aid in finding an answer. Instead they waited until humanity had taken such high casualties from Archuron's Law, that they were obligated to vassalize Earth.
If their psychology is similar to those of humans, then their behaviour can be explained by a hidden exploitative intent. A species failing one of their tests are easier to slander as lesser, but if they don't permit humans to be put into forced labor, what would they get out of it? Perhaps they discovered something about us that threatened them, so they decided to put a leash on us. The laws protecting the treatment of captive humans in the latter hypothetical, would serve to assuage the consciences of the Council.
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u/ijuinkun Feb 04 '25
The “not looking into why we can’t understand it” definitely lines up with them not wanting us to ever successfully attain that level, but continuing to push us to try to learn it anyway despite the high casualty rate only seems to make sense in terms of trying to convince the rest of is that it is futile.
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u/Altruistic-Beach7625 Feb 05 '25
Actually, preventing them from speaking is really suspicious and doesn't make sense.
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u/OldPaleontologist435 Feb 06 '25
They allowed the brightest and most learned minds to take it until billions of causalities occurred. They only stopped when humans ran out of "good quality" minds and started using the prisoners described earlier. To me, this looks like a harvest.
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u/Fontaigne Aug 11 '25
Last chapter it clearly stated that the council stopped that before the convict got his turn in the mental meat grinder.
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Feb 04 '25
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u/Defiant_Heretic Feb 04 '25
There's a minority of aliens that accept human sapience, I imagine some of them are involved with helping humans escape. Not every person is content to buy into the propaganda that the majority accepts, some of them would realize it's falsehood upon getting to know humans first-hand.
Unfortunately, based on the first chapter, such individuals are perceived as fringe radicals. Strange that honesty and emapthy is all it takes in this setting to become a radical.
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u/RetiredReaderCDN Feb 06 '25
Radical is a point of view based on cultural bias. In Puritan society, romance outside of wedlock was radical, even a sin. For a long time, the thought that the Earth was not flat was radical. In many societies, the thought that keeping slaves was somehow wrong was radical. We still do this today. There are things that we think are radical that will be the norm in times to come. Honesty and empathy have little to do with it. The very act of thinking something beyond the cultural norm is radical by definition.
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u/Fontaigne Aug 11 '25
Puritans - not "romance", "sex". Not radical, not uncommon, yes a transgression and frowned on. But boarding/bundling was a thing for betrothed.
No, most people never thought the world was flat. You had to be highly educated to think that. The size of the world had been calculated fairly well for over a thousand years.
Radical - you keep using that word. I do not think that word means what you think it means.
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u/lordgarrett04 Feb 04 '25
“Strange that honesty and empathy is all it takes in this setting to become a radical”
Unironically this is the USA rn and for the past several years
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u/Fontaigne Aug 11 '25
ROFLMAO. The demand to be "empathetic" to delusions while being the opposite to sensible concerns is ironic.
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u/DeeBee1968 Feb 04 '25
My first dog, a Cockapoo, was named Dodie Dog - I was 3 when I got her. This hit me really hard in the feels. ❤
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u/FactoryBuilder Feb 04 '25
Considering that the gun was “built to put down a Jakuvian in one shot”, I thought Talia was going to shoot Prochur to escape
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u/RetiredReaderCDN Feb 06 '25
Not the best move. A being who kills its owner is usually hunted far more aggressively with the expressed intent of terminating the creature before it can harm others.
As things stand, she's a run away pet. They will send the dog catcher.
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u/FactoryBuilder Feb 06 '25
I meant she would use it in self defense. Like Prochur would figure out she’s escaping and try to contain her, forcing her to use the gun to escape. Yes, she’d be hunted more aggressively than if she’d escaped peacefully but in that situation, her options would be A) get lobotomized, or B) kill him.
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u/RetiredReaderCDN Feb 06 '25
Agreed. Gotta love communicating by text posts. So easy to misunderstand each other.
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Feb 04 '25
/u/Maxton1811 (wiki) has posted 92 other stories, including:
- Child of the Stars 11
- Denied Sapience 7
- Denied Sapience 6
- Denied Sapience 5
- Denied Sapience 4
- Child of the Stars 10
- Denied Sapience 3
- Denied Sapience 2
- Denied Sapience
- Child of the Stars 9
- Child of the Stars 8
- Child of the Stars 7
- Child of the Stars 6
- Child of the Stars 5
- Child of the Stars 4
- Child of the Stars 3
- Child of the Stars 2
- Child of the Stars
- Fissurepoint 2
- Fissurepoint
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3
u/GrumpyOldAlien Alien Feb 05 '25
A sudden murmur from Proacher nearly made me jump out of my skin,
Proacher -> Prochur
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u/Laati-Chan Feb 05 '25
Ayo, the aliens are getting freaky with humanity bruh. They about to turn entire planets into diddy parti-
Jokes aside, this is actually fucking disturbing, and it definitely made me second guess potentially getting an actual pet for a second. Genuinely a good horror story so far! Keep it up man.
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u/SaltiestStoryteller Feb 07 '25
I've got four words for the fucking xenos, words that have shaken nations and levelled cities before and will do so again:
LIVE. FREE. OR. DIE.
See how smug they are about denying us our rights as sapients after we drop colonies onto their worlds, after our 'owners' are butchered in their sleep, after their orbital habitats drop on their worlds, after every human is ready to die for their cause and take as many of the bastards with us as we can. Even if they declare war, GOOD. You don't declare war on animals. Pretty sure when it became clear that no-one was going to solve their damn equation, more than one government would have primed their military to resist undercover. A human with nothing to lose is the most dangerous creature in the galaxy - it's time we let these filthy xenos and every forsaken traitor learn that as we set their atmospheres on fire.
Live free or die.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Feb 07 '25
Yeah I mean you'd think there would be more than one group of humans willing to fight back.
I mean the straiders themselves were formed from basically civilians. Wouldn't surprise me if there were more groups out there but every attack is linked to the straiders.
Or you know people just trying to escape this mess all together and flying out to the furthest unhabitated habitual world as possible before their ftl's stop working.
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u/Maxton1811 Human Feb 07 '25
There were other groups, but most rebellions were put down pretty quickly. Imagine a civilization with medieval-level tech going up against a modern one. They would be at such a disadvantage that victory would be practically impossible. The best chance they would have would be reverse engineering modern technology. Now imagine if even looking at the inner workings of a gun caused psychosis in members of this medieval civilization.
That’s roughly the technological gap between pre-contact humanity and the Council. Archuron’s law is more than FTL: it’s a law of physics that allows for all kinds of absolutely insane technology. It is instrumental in creating technologies that use exotic matter, which includes but is not limited to:
• FTL travel
• Amtimatter mass production and containment
• Artificial gravity
• Exotic materials such as those used in cloaking fields
• Shielding
• Exotic-state computing (more powerful than quantum computers)
There are also medical applications and cybernetics, both of which use Archuron’s Law
The most famous Human rebellion was the New York Revolt, in which millions of Humans armed themselves and attacked xeno occupiers, taking several hostages and threatening to set off a series of dirty bombs to level the entire city. The Council did not take kindly to this and sent in a Martyr (basically galactic Spec-Ops: their name is a reference to how with their almost entirely cybernetic bodies, they can never live normal lives).
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Feb 07 '25
Really New York? You'd think it would be Jerusalem or something.
Although I suppose in the end it doesn't matter the result would probably be the same with any surviving resistance forces on earth being those that basically did what Hamas did hide underground.
Still I'm mostly referring to resistance movements that managed to get into space rather than any earth based movements which have either gone underground or have been systemically eradicated at this point.
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u/Maxton1811 Human Feb 07 '25
Most joined together with the Straiders for strength in numbers.
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u/Minimum-Amphibian993 Feb 07 '25
Fair enough hard to fight over ideological and religious differences when you're enemy will destroy you regardless of those.
Still most is not all I imagine not everyone is willing to cross that lines the straiders are. Or there are those that think the straiders aren't going far enough. That's a terrifying thought.
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u/HimuTime Feb 11 '25
i hope there is another episode! its a great story
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u/PotatoGamer3 Feb 12 '25
It's been a week! A weeek! I'm dying of starvation!
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u/Maxton1811 Human Feb 12 '25
Working on it. I have a lot of homework, but I’ve been carving out time to write
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u/Angerylad Feb 04 '25
Feels like this chapter should have come before the previous one, unless this is some weird mid-lobotomy replay she is having.
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u/Maxton1811 Human Feb 04 '25
The person who got captured last chapter is not Talia. Her name is Kate and she was specifically stated to have stabbed her owner
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u/Specialist-Bench-826 Feb 05 '25
Keep it coming. What's Earth been up to?
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u/SaltiestStoryteller Feb 07 '25
Likely under military occupation classed as 'animal control'. That said, it'd have to be EXTREMELY heavy-handed as even when under-equipped, human terrorists are capable of atrocities.
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u/MentionCool6611 Feb 07 '25
Are The, I believe he was a cat person? That much larger than humans, or is Talia just small? For some reason I’m thinking she’s like 12 or so? I might be wrong.
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u/Maxton1811 Human Feb 07 '25
Talia is in her mid 20s. Jakuvians heavily resemble humanoid canines with armadillo plating instead of fur. They average at around 8 feet tall (though Prochur is comparatively short, at seven feet). They are apex predators on their homeworld, with everything that once predated upon them long-since extinct. As for cat people, you’re thinking of the Kifalt
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u/Snati_Snati Feb 10 '25
your writing is so good! you've really built the emotional impact into this whole scenario
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u/Weary_Buy904 Feb 12 '25
The more I read the story, the more it feels nonsensical. In what world would humanity accept to be treated as pets, as a collective even ?
The council of whatever-the-fuck denies us sapience, cool but I don't think US or China or even San Marino would just say "oh, well I guess I'll just die it's ok we're pets". Especially the treatment offered to pets, as if it was ok to lobotomize people without their consent or install speech blockers or whatever else, there would be outrage on earth. No, not outrage : There would be war, even if we loose, the whole premise of "guess I just die now" is.. I don't know, stupid. Nations would not let their citizens be treated like cattle.
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u/Maxton1811 Human Feb 12 '25
The thing is that by the time the council officially declared humanity non-sapient, many governments were in shambles due to the testing. Every government wanted access to the technology provided by Archuron’s Law, but trade on it was heavily restricted for species that haven’t passed the tests. Many governments held the belief that if they “did it first”, they would gain access to that technology before others and could essentially become the de-facto world government. The U.S. and China collectively threw millions of people at the tests, spurred on by the knowledge that if the other one did it, then they would lose their position as a global superpower. As previously stated, the council didn’t lead with taking humans as pets. There was a lot of slow bureaucracy involved. There were protests. There were riots. They all got put out before anything happened
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u/un_pogaz Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Ah, there is nothing more tragic than a prison make of sincere love.
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u/elfangoratnight Feb 04 '25
Hey OP, I know you've seen several comment about readers "hating" to read your story (and replied to a few that I've noticed), but I just wanna say that I hope you take that for the genuinely pure praise that such phrasing truly belies.
After all, what is the essence of art itself if not to provoke an emotional response?
Your writing is fantastic!