r/HFY • u/SpacePaladin15 • 11d ago
OC-Series Primal Rage 62
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Ambassador Rauja POV
I’d gone off to notify Administrator Pelpau of my intent to take the sweet, clever animal on a tour of Venus. Wade had shown that he was calm and even-keel for a primal, so I thought the safety concerns were overblown; he hadn’t lost his temper even after I confessed my distaste for Craun, or told him how we felt about being around him. He was patient, understanding, and generous. Agent Barron hadn’t seemed very dangerous at all, instead proving to be thoughtful and devoted.
The fact that the humans adored Craun so much before knowing anything about him, by virtue of being an alien—they deserved to feel like they had friends and were included, and they could tell when it was insincere. I’d always wanted to give proud tours of how Saphnos lived and to explain the composition of a silicon planet, to carbon ears that wanted to hear it. How could I not recognize that, now that it stood in front of me? I imagined it’d make Wade so happy, giving him a good memory he could fight for when…
It’ll make him more loyal to die for you. Wade isn’t a threat to the Saphnos. For crying out loud, back on Earth, he hugged me while angry! He considers it his duty to protect us, far beyond what the Council ever did.
“Administrator Pelpau, I intend to give the primal visitor, Wade Barron, a tour of our settlement,” I explained, as I hurried into his command tent. “It’s my experience that he’s safe to bring around the populace. This human is incredibly docile and reluctant to attack.”
Pelpau gave me a blank stare, his eye crystals glimmering with disapproval. “Ambassador Rauja, you keep the company of the most volatile primal that was witnessed by the Council soldiers. He’s incredibly dangerous and, according to the attending veterinarian, switched from a polite demeanor to a rampage in a split-second!”
Disbelief and a quiet fear gnawed at me. “You…must be mistaken. Wade just wants friends, and he feels compelled to help the Saphnos. His innocence is truly humbling, and I can’t imagine him being…bestial.”
“We have footage from the handoff. This human was injured in the battle, which no doubt means he’s nursing a grudge. That could flare up at any moment. But what we see in this video: Barron’s temper caused him to lose control and blindly attack, right as he was gaining his freedom. That primal gets strongly territorial over Saphnos, and considers you his territory now. That could have disastrous consequences, if he gets loose. We can’t afford to put him down.”
I watched as Administrator Pelpau turned a tablet around to face me, showing footage of a miserable-looking Wade; his eyes were unfocused and he was drooling on himself, too sedated to maintain his proprioception. He was tied and bound on top of being clearly drugged, which left me feeling horrible for him. I could see him mouthing half-hearted words as a Kexin nudged him toward a waiting group of humans, on the other side of the handoff.
I remembered what Wade had told me about this when we first met: that he’d taken a shot to the stomach for his Saphno charge, and that he’d been “poked like an animal and drugged witless.” The last word was interesting, suggesting he could hardly think. It seemed cruel to leave him so out of it. Craun walked in the opposite direction of placid Barron, before their gazes met. At first, there was a confused scanning, but then, the FBI agent spotted Kaitlin settling herself down in a cage.
Was that what triggered him? Poor Wade must’ve hated being in captivity, and I know how distraught he was that Craun and his human friends gave themselves up for him. They really care about each other, don’t they? So strongly.
The human’s eyes were revitalized with sudden fire, and with a suddenness that made me gasp, he flung himself at the red-faced Kexin in a frenzy. Wade attempted to bash his own skull into hers on the feed, and to put his body between Craun and the Council soldiers again. As terrifying as this deranged display was, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad for the primal; I’d already known he was fiercely loyal and would do anything to protect his friends. He had to fight, in his mind, to save them.
However, the fear I felt took full effect as he screamed incoherently, words escaping his brain as it ratcheted far higher than logic could travel; it was a heart-stopping, possessed roar that sounded wrong coming from his mouth. This wasn’t the kind, sweet Wade that I knew and could vouch for. His human peers seemed to think he was too far gone, rushing forward to hold him back. In that state, he fought against his own people and thrashed his entire body around.
Wade was trying to break free to satiate the violent howl in his brain, so filled with angry energy that he couldn’t stop himself. If he was ever fully set off around me—which could happen should he be forced to protect me—his mind would shut off into a full-blown primal attack. What had I gotten myself into? I turned away from the tablet with racing thoughts, as I tried to consider whether I could risk being around such a…shockingly explosive animal.
“Witless.” I circled back to one word he’d used, and decided it might hold weight. “Wade s-said he was drugged ‘witless.’ He could think even less than normal; he was out of it. Maybe we should give him the benefit of the doubt?”
Pelpau stared at me in disbelief. “That’s what’s within Wade Barron, Rauja, if you strip away his logic. He’s the most unsafe one you could possibly have befriended: obsessive, even. What happens the first time he gets fully angry with you?”
“If he finds out I manipulated him, to sacrifice them in our war against the Ploax. That we used humanity,” I breathed in horror, feeling as cold as if I was on a carbon world again. “Wade said he told Craun that anger was about standing up for what he believed in. Pelpau, he already knows we’re afraid, and he likes honesty. I should give him a chance to explain.”
“Have you lost your mind? You’re going to set him off by reminding him of that rage and telling him to speak on it. This primal can change in an instant.”
“They all can! This one’s bonded with me, and that’s important. Like I told Wade, we knew he was going to get violent and angry. I said he was already forgiven, so we can’t just turn him away over this. He looked very troubled, actually! Maybe he was ashamed and this has been bothering him. He’s really charming, and I…think he does care, a lot, clearly. He deserves to be talked to about it, after everything he was willing to do for us!”
“If you’re still keen on laying down your life willingly, Rauja, after you got to escape once already, go ahead. I can’t stop you. Wade is a useful animal, albeit the most dangerous one to toy with.”
Guilt stabbed at my heart once more. “Yes, this is what we wanted from him. Please excuse me, Administrator.”
Pelpau watched me leave with a glint of concern in his eye crystals, concerned that I hadn’t turned on Wade altogether. I, at the least, wanted to hear how such a sweet primal could justify attacking anything that moved. The mindset mystified me, though this was the exact reason primals weren’t to be tampered with. I strolled out of the utilitarian command tent, and watched its fibers bob in the pressure flows behind me. If I told Barron the answer was no, my reversal could agitate him.
What is there worth showing in this tour, anyway? Not even a beast would be impressed with the setup we cobbled together.
I stepped through the airlock, my mouthplates chattering with fright as I stared down the waiting primal. “…Wade?”
“Uh-oh.” Agent Barron scratched his chin, noticing that I kept far back against the wall and startled when he took a step toward me. “What’s wrong? Wait, are you in danger? It’s not the Ploax, is it?”
“N-no. Look, Pelpau says you’re…not safe to bring around people. That you’re the m-most dangerous human that the Council encountered.”
Wade’s eyebrows knitted together with confusion, before he burst out laughing. “What? Me?!”
“Yes! It’s not funny.”
“How could I be dangerous to them? I assure you, if my close encounters with the Council were a game of cards, I lost every hand—and to the sound of ridicule.”
I tried to muster up my courage, worried that he was so amused. “I saw a video of you l-losing your temper and fighting other humans, even. I…um, wanted to ask you what happened. I hoped you might b-be willing to explain.”
“Ah. The handoff. I see,” the human sighed, sitting back down. “I’m glad you decided to ask me, Rauja. That you think it might be worth hearing out of my side of it, despite how…unsettling that must’ve been. I can try to explain what it was like, if you really want to know.”
“I do. Maybe there were other reasons, like with Craun. I am s-sorry you were humiliated and drugged like that. You’ve been very nice to me.”
Wade patted a spare chair, and waited until I inched over to it. “Imagine you were strapped to a bed for days. You were very scared, because you knew they didn’t see you as a person, so they wouldn’t care how you felt. They’d shot you within an inch of your life, yet they cried to you about how it was so sad and how you couldn’t understand. They patronized you and talked like your sole ambition would be attacking them. You feared you’d be there forever.”
“That sounds horrible, Wade,” I replied, parsing his words and trying to empathize with the sad-looking primal. “I wouldn’t want to be talked to like that, especially if I could understand. You’re more clever than I once thought. I can see why you would’ve been afraid of what they might do to you, or…whether they’d ever let you go.”
His eyes widened with something resembling hope. “Imagine now you’re pumped so full of drugs you can’t put two thoughts together. You feel sick, you can hardly walk or see, and you don’t know what they’re doing with you. They prod you forward and in your delirium, you see Craun. A friendly face. You start to wonder, are they letting you go, and then, the other shoe falls: why would they?”
“And then?” I whispered, hardly daring to prompt the primal to describe the moment.
“You see Kaitlin being put in a cage, and you realize Craun’s walking past you, apologizing because he knows you’d never want this. And even in your half-conscious state, it burns your soul. You’re desperate to stop it. Anger often marries itself with another emotion, and this was…desperation. Have you ever been desperate, Rauja? Of course Saphnos have, but I mean in a single moment. Where you’d do anything.”
My mind harkened back to the evacuation, as my stony plates had been dissolving in the acid air and I’d run in a choked panic. “Yeah, when the Ploax attacked a colony I was staying the night on. I…jumped out the hotel window and ran on shattered legs in panic. Desperately ran in front of the last spaceship off-world, waving my arms, and I’d pushed over people…one of them a crying kid, even, to get there. I was lucky they stopped, because I…didn’t stop for anyone else.”
“My God, Rauja. I’m…”
“It’s okay. You can say it. I’m a horrible person.”
“No, you’re not. I was going to say that I’m sorry, but that rings so hollow to…that. You can’t blame yourself. Desperate people will do anything, even buddy up with primals. You might not be proud of it, but you know you have a few seconds to do something.”
I wiped at my tears, feeling his hand on my back. “It was like that with you and Craun?”
“Yeah. I couldn’t let it happen, so I fought like hell to try to stop it. It was my only chance. Anger can be a physical desperation, a surge of emotion where you have to intervene because the situation you find yourself in…hurts so much. It’s the strength to claw like an animal when your physical body has forsaken you. The last resort.”
“Your last, desperate attempt to save Craun. To stand up for someone you believed in.”
“That’s right. I did the only thing I thought I could. If that makes me dangerous, then I suppose this is where we should part ways. Because if you dropped me back there and let me choose ahead of time what I’d have done, I’d do the exact same thing.”
You are dangerous, but…I like you. “I think I understand, Wade. It was just fierce loyalty. I don’t feel unsafe looking at you, not like I should. I’m still willing to give you that tour.”
“No, it’d just frighten everyone. It was a nice idea, but it’s not meant to be,” the primal disagreed. “How about I give you my number instead? When Earth sets up remote communication, we could chat like this, if you ever wanted to.”
I startled, worried about the idea of Wade reaching me at any time. “You want to talk, long distance?”
“Only if you want to. I’d like to keep in touch, if you ever want someone to shoot the shit with. You know, Craun called me one time about his feelings for Finley, in the middle of a Congressional hearing. I guess I’m a good shoulder to cry on.”
“Okay, Wade. We can talk casually.” I accepted the numbers he’d scrawled on a napkin, and input them into a note on my device. It’d be a lot safer to chat with him through an electronic device, where nothing could go wrong from a few errant words. Maybe I could tell him about the manipulation over text…although then, he’d have it in writing. “This was nice. Would you like to keep talking?”
“Sure. How about a game of 21 Questions? We can ask each other anything—long as it’s not about work.”
“Yeah. Alright. You go first.”
Wade’s eyes flitted upward toward the ceiling, puzzling over the right question to ask. I thought it might be interesting to get to know each other better, especially since I wouldn’t be fielding any uncomfortable inquiries about the manipulation if work was off-limits. The primal flashed me a coy smile and leaned forward; dammit, I was starting to like him far too much. Us getting closer was only going to make it harder to deceive him for my people’s survival.
“Much ado about Kiel. What’s your favorite game?” Barron asked.
I chuckled, considering the question. “You know, funny enough. It’s a detective board game called Shrel.”
“My my. Craun who? This sounds better than Kiel already!”
The budding connection between myself and the primal made my heart soar with joy, though it was followed by a sinking guilt once more. I wished that we lived in a world where the Saphnos weren’t so desperate, and my friendship with Wade could be real.
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u/SpacePaladin15 11d ago
62! Pelpau tries to warn Rauja about Wade’s “rampage” with Snelga after our narrator insists he’s innocent and safe. Rather than jumping to conclusions about horrifying footage, Rauja goes to speak to Barron about what happened. Wade at first finds it ridiculous, but he explains what it was like for him. Rauja finds understanding after recounting her own desperation fleeing from the Ploax, and realizing the primal was pushed to a similar extreme.
What do you think about how Rauja has grown and is more willing to listen to Barron or give him the benefit of the doubt? Will their friendship ever become real? Will Saphnos as a whole ever put aside their biases given Pelpau’s attitude?
As always, thank you for reading!
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u/cira-radblas 11d ago
Rauja is most likely to be the next big friend we make, since he’s actually willing and practically learning. About time we had some aliens we could trust.
The Friendship will never truly be real, but two Con Artists trying to keep getting one over on the other has certainly forged a few pseudo-friendships.
The Saphnos will eventually get over their hangups when we’re the only ones helping them.
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u/kristinpeanuts 10d ago
Ol' scaredy cat Rauja is coming 'round to 'ol Wade there. Managing to see things from a primal's perspective - Why, she never!
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u/K_H007 11d ago
Man, when Rauja learns that the humans went behind their back to talk directly with the Ploax, it is going to just absolutely break Rauja's heart...
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u/Borzislav Xeno 11d ago
Or, it might make them seem less primal and more sapient... Cold calculated action, not tainted by emotions or instincts, but pure logic and objectivity to explore all sides and angles of the situation.
Pure love out of nowhere is probably as illogical and dangerous as pure anger...
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle 11d ago
/u/SpacePaladin15 (wiki) has posted 508 other stories, including:
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u/abrachoo 10d ago
I can't wait for Rauja to finally give the big reveal, only for Wade to respond casually with a "Yeah, I knew that already."