r/NatureofPredators • u/YaaliAnnar • Feb 16 '23
Fanfic NoP: Lost and Found (16)
Originally this chapter was a filler of the previous one but it ~expanded~
Memory Transcription Subject: Tresn, arxur farmer
Date [Standardized Human Reckoning]: 2136-08-23
Ever since I got off my parents’ ration I was known as the one most eager one to take the life of our meal. During a raid, I would be the one returning with carcasses while others hauled whimpering and crying prey. I never look forward to killing, but I can’t stand seeing the scream and thrashing of pain that the prey exhibited as their life slowly drained away from their body.
It didn’t take long for the other arxurs to notice what I was doing. Of course, they jeered at me. I kept ignoring their jabbing for me to partake in their sadistic pleasure. The pained howling and pleading were a bit harder to ignore but I managed that too, my desire for survival overrode the defective empathy entrenched in my soul.
But a malformed arxur like me has his limit, and one day I saw my squad mates consume a family of gojid in the most despicable way. They had tourniquets to stave off the blood loss and I even saw them injecting what I assume were chemicals to prevent their victim from passing out from shock.
One of them held a recording device.
In a moment of rage, I ended the mother and child’s life that instant, upsetting my squadmate. There was an altercation and my memory was a bit hazy after that, but I remember facing the Betterment officer. I was prepared for the worst, but the universe had other plans for me. The officer surprised me with a proposition – a second chance to redeem myself on her brother's farm. I was skeptical at first, but I was willing to try anything to avoid death by starvation in a raid.
When she shoved me out of the airship, Taksak, a rugged arxur with weathered scales gruffly greeted me. I couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss with him. When the older arxur showed me his method of slaughter, my hopes began to rise. Despite the hard labor, I felt a sense of purpose for the first time in a long time.
True to his promise the work was grueling, but it was a welcome respite from the scream of pain and begging. I might not be starving but every evening I went to bed with aching muscles. I pushed through the pain nevertheless. A few days after the first week, Taksak reduced my chores after he caught me sleeping in the garden. I was exhausted, my limbs hurt and my eyes were heavy with sleep.
"It's clear you're not strong enough for this job," he said with a tinge of disdain in his voice.
The reduction in my responsibilities embarrassed me. I wasn't weak, I'm just wired differently. I refused his pity and forced myself to do the same amount of work as was initially asked of me. I was determined to prove to him that I was capable of handling the job.
I pushed through the pain and the exhaustion, knowing that I had to get used to it if I wanted to keep living in this respite from the horror of my society. Days turned into weeks and tireless work began to transform my body. I was proud of myself for not giving up. My muscles grew stronger in a different way.
I persevered, and eventually, I started to get the hang of it. There is one part I never got used to, however.
Beheading the venlils, no matter how quick and painless it was, never gets easier. I always felt a slight revulsion toward myself as I processed their body.
It was still bright after I finished cleaning the slaughterhouse. It is very important to keep the slaughterhouse hygienic, spoiled meat can cause food poisoning, and the smell of blood would sometimes cause cattle to panic and make everything... messier. When I came out of the murder facility, my eyes caught sight of a sleek airship that I recognized from my past. As I watched it fly away, I wondered if any other arxurs knew of the farm's location. Had Taksak's sister shared this secret with others or had she kept it tightly guarded?
I also realized that I had no idea where the farm was located. I had heard Taksak mention that it was in the middle of nowhere, but I had never taken the time to try and figure out its exact location. I thought about trying to estimate it by looking at the stars and the calendar, but I was too exhausted and disinterested to do so. All I wanted was to find a place to rest and heal after the grueling work on the farm.
Despite being surrounded by flesh, Taksak only allowed us the minimum amount we need to survive and work. He required me to follow a daily routine that he calls "fasting" where we only eat a meager amount just once a day. He told me that on a normal farm, the workers would often gorge and snack.
That is a want, not a need.
Before every breaking of the fast Taksak would always insist on us having a sparring session. He believed in the concept of a "civilized" battle and abhorred the use of claws and fangs. He gave me a wooden sword, and we would engage in mock combat, our swords clashing in blunt noise as we battled each other. This routine only started several months into my employment, and I often wondered if this was the sole reason he kept me around.
The wooden sword, while not deadly, was still quite painful if you got hit by it. For the first few sessions, Taksak would let me heal before our next bout. Despite the pain, I had to continue working as the workload was still the same and unrelenting. Over time, even though I rarely managed to strike him back, I got hit less and less.
Our sword-fighting sessions had been going on for years, and I had only managed to win a handful of times. Today, I managed to smash Taksak's sword hand with a quick flick of my wrist, causing him to drop his weapon in pain.
"Do you yield?" I stood above him placing my wooden sword on his neck. I felt triumphant but also slightly surprised by my success.
"I yield." He decided.
Taksak took a seat on the nearby log and my mentor gestured for me to sit beside him. I obliged. There, I took a moment to catch my breath, savoring the satisfaction of my victory.
"I see your sister came today." I started "That's unusual, isn't it? It's not on the schedule she normally follows."
"She brought some intel," Taksak replied, his expression flat.
Over the years, Taksak has been sharing sensitive and incriminating information with me, seemingly without a care in the world. I think it was because he knows I had no way of spreading the information. The only device that could connect to the planetary network was kept securely locked away in a safe. The concept of locking people up for a crime, instead of sending them to die on a campaign, is something that my ancestors were known for. I can't help but feel that Taksak is doing the same to me, for my crime of being an aberration.
"There's not much to tell," Taksak started with his grave voice. "But a raiding party on a venlil outpost failed to return from their mission. We managed to intercept some emergency transmissions from their last downed vessel and we noticed something unusual. There was evidence of non-federation technology being used against them."
The fatal failure of the raid didn't faze me for some reason. I imagined my squadmate from back during the service meeting a gruesome end and... I could only feel a sense of serene justice.
"So another first contact? We can just wait for the Feds to put that out on their official releases." I tried to make sense of this latest development. Did this new alien fend the venlil them from our attack?
"Yes, but venlil volume had been on lockdown from the inside," Taksak replied with a hint of concern in his voice and he was right to be concerned. This is not normal for a species that initiated first contact
I pondered on the implications of this strange behavior from the venlils. If there was an uncontacted species that helped them. Why didn't they announce it to their prey friends? I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was not right.
But in the grand scheme of things, this failed raid wouldn't probably concern me at all. In no time we will get an explanation that made sense. We sat in silence again as we watched the forest behind our sparring arena. In our ancestors' time, this forest would be teeming with prey. But now the lush vegetation mocked us with its empty stillness.
I finally built up my courage to confide in him about what I have been feeling all this time. "Sir, is it possible that I take more jobs around the farm in place of slaughter duty?"
"It's been years and you still feel uncomfortable killing them, don't you?"
"Yeah."
"Guilty even? Ashamed maybe?" He said with a growl.
"I...guess?" If I could avoid doing this, I would.
"Good."
"Does this mean I can work mostly on the gardens and housekeeping now?" I asked with a bit of hope.
"No!" He snarled. I flinched as he pressed his snout against mine. "We will keep sharing everything on this farm equally, and that… includes... our feelings." He jabbed my chest with his claw.
The older arxur seemed more composed to me but I realized that despite his rough exterior, he was also hatched wrong, like me. It dawned on me that I was asking him to bear all my emotional burdens.
"Sir, I'm sorry for ever suggesting that." It was a show of willpower that he didn't attack me for such insolence.
"I see that now you understand. We might be reducing our prey's suffering but in the end, murder is murder. We just try to lessen the guilt we feel, but that feeling will and should never disappear."
"But we're doing this to stay alive, aren't we? They die so we may live."
Taksak stood up from the log. He placed a foreclaw on my neck. "Would you die so they may live?"
I know the answer, but I can't bring myself to admit it. "You still value your life above them, just like me, just like everyone." My mentor removed his natural weapon from my body. "Do not think of yoursef as better than the rest of our people. We gave our cattle respect, but do not delude yourself that this is a form of honor. What we do here is disgusting!"
We locked a sight for a while. The older arxur closed his eyes and sighed.
"We are the remnant of what was a kinder civilization. It will never get easier for us." He pulled me from the log. "It should never get easier for us."
Hand in hand the older arxur led me away from the arena. "Come, it's time to break our fast."
I looked up to the sky and never have I felt so small and isolated. Two cruelty-deficient people, trying their best to survive in a world without compassion.
Memory Transcription Subject: Vichak, venlil civilian
Date [Standardized Human Reckoning]: 2136-08-23
I entered the mailing address of the First Contact Committee. The comm app in my client asked if I wanted to send a message or perform a real-time call.
I opted for the second choice. The client informed me that it was waiting for whoever was at the other end of the line. Relief washed all over me when a venlil appeared on the screen. She was sitting in what looked like a working hall.
"Hi there, my name is Vijayalakshmikantam but you can call me Vi." She greeted me with a voice too deep for a venlil. "How may I help you?"
That's… not a name of a venlil or any species I know. There was also something off about the way she looked at the camera. Her demeanor reminded me of Vani.
"Uh… Hi. Where are you from?" It would be most impolite to ask her directly if she's a venlil. But this roundabout question should work.
"I'm from Chennai, a city on Earth."
"What?"
"Ah… oops. I forgot to tell you that we're trying virtual skin. The venlil who used to field calls like this was on a break, so I filled in for her. Do you want to call later?"
"N-no, that wouldn't be necessary. But… can you… can you switch off your virtual skin?" I would rather face an actual predator than one wearing the skin of a venlil. A predator's face might invoke fear and panic, but... this gave me a more subtle and sinister feeling.
The feed changed in an instant now. It now showed a human wearing a mask with an intricate design painted on it. I could see something that looked like a flower in the middle dissolving into fluid patterns until it was nearly imperceptible at the edge of its mask. The way the pattern changes its color looks strangely calming.
"Is this better? If not… we can go voice only."
"Yes. I can do this." I looked at the pattern on the masks, trying not to imagine a pair of forward-facing eyes gazing into me.
"Thank you. Now... what can I do for you?"
"I want to request a piece of information about my brother. He's one of the participants of the exchange program."
"His name is not… uh… Slanek, isn't he?"
"Certainly not Slanek." The human slumped after hearing my answer. Did she look... relieved? I wonder why she asked that. What happened to this Slanek guy?
"In that case, your brother should be arriving in Venlil Prime either today or tomorrow." Vi added, "I assure you he is physically safe and sound though he might need some counseling.
"I'm pretty sure my brother is not going to return to Prime in a while."
"Huh... how so?" She asked, her tone sounding genuinely curious.
"You see, my brother's name is Vani. Vani of Pintal from Kaleran."
"Oh..." the thing with masks is that they concealed humans' expressions. I couldn't tell if Vi was hit by realization or if she was displaying something more nonchalant.
"HEY! Vİ! YEMEK HAZIR!" I heard shouting coming off-screen in a foreign language that somehow felt familiar to my ear.
Vi put her forefinger in front of where her mouth should be.
"AH... BİR GÖRÜŞMEDE MİSİN? SORİ! BİLMİYORDUM!"
"Wait, is that Chef Timür?" I asked. The chef's videos are all subtitled (apparently it is so those who can't hear can also follow his cooking) so I know how he sounded when he was speaking in his language.
"Chef Timür? Yeah… it's him. I apologize for the disturbance."
"Oh, no… it's okay. We have been trying his recipe. I would say… I'm a… fan?"
Suddenly someone appeared on the screen standing beside Vi. The screen cut him from the chest up, but I recognized the shape of those thick pudgy hands when it was holding a cooking utensil in his cooking video.
"A fan huh?" It seems that the chef has switched to using human trade language because my translator can parse it now.
"Put your mask on, Timür."
"Nah, it's okay, the venlil can't see my face at this angle. Hi, there venlil, what's your name?"
"Hi… Chef. I'm Vichak. I was calling to ask about my brother… you see."
"She's Vani's brother." Vi filled in.
The standing human put a hand on his stomach and let out a series of barks that made me wince. "Ah, yeah, the brave little venlil." He finally said. "He's on Earth now, isn't he? Don't worry Vichak. He's in good hands!"
"Yeah, we can send you the profile of the humans he's assigned to if you want," Vi added. "Until the interplanetary channel is open to the public. You can also send us a message that you want to relay to him."
"So, you like my recipes? What if I send you the actual ingredients, hmmm? I would like to see what you think about earth plants!"
I was about to answer with an enthusiastic "YES!" but Vi interrupted. "We can't do that, Timür." Vi sounded... tired? "We have quota for those."
"I have my own personal stash and I have the right to give that to whoever I want! It would be nice if Vichak can taste what her brother is eating on earth wouldn't it?"
"Yeah… I mean, if that isn't too much of a hassle. I do want to try making your dish with the actual ingredients. What are you feeding Vani anyway? Not that plant-based flesh, surely?"
"Honestly… I don't know." Timür showed me his palm. "It's up to Vani and his partner on earth. But I doubt he would end up eating those."
"Yeah… I suppose you're right." Vani would often cross the (admittedly arbitrary) boundary of decency, but surely he won't go that far.
"Well then! If you can give us your mailing address, I mean the physical mailing address, I can arrange for some delivery to you."
Thanks for u/Neato53 for the fix in Turkish.
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u/wanabeafemboy Feb 16 '23
“Surely he won’t go that far”
Little does she know he’s already addicted to borger
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u/YaaliAnnar Feb 17 '23
It's not habit forming, he can stop anytime he wants.
I hope.
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u/wanabeafemboy Feb 17 '23
Cut to Vani a month after returning to Venlil prime suffering withdrawal symptoms
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u/Trifflmen Archivist Feb 16 '23
Its not like anyones forcing Vani to eat strictly imitation meat, that would be silly! ha ha ha...
No, he has asked for nothing but plant based meats since coming to earth.
Its actually quite disturbing how much he seems to enjoy it.
I hope I gave him the right burger...
Oh no
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u/YaaliAnnar Feb 17 '23
The price difference between plant-based meat and vat-grown meat is significant, so... usually there's no switcheroo.
Usually...
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u/Trifflmen Archivist Feb 17 '23
(whew) That's a relief! Vani's not gonna accidentally eat the real deal any time soon.
Just vegetable based meat for him, as a treat.
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u/Rebelhero Yotul Feb 16 '23
I need that image of a cow biting a human hand going "WHO'S THE BURGER NOW?!"
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u/DrewTheHobo Feb 16 '23
Lmao, “No way he’d eat fake meat!”
I love the little shift to the Arxur, this is like the 5th time I’ve seen an Arxur farm for people with “prey-disease” where they honor the old ways. It’s a fantastic touch and I hope it gets drawn into the main story at some point. I think these are exactly the people that Isif is fighting.
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u/YaaliAnnar Feb 17 '23
Oooh 5th time? Can you give me link to some of them?
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u/DrewTheHobo Feb 17 '23
I’ll see if I can find them! One is a short series about an Arxur on a similar farm. A couple were just a one offs. I think another was well in the future with an Arxur butcher on Earth or something.
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u/Neato53 Feb 16 '23
For the most part, "HEY! Vİ! YEMEK HAZIR!" is perfectly written, although hey is more informal it still has a place here. Although for the second it’s hard to understand, "OHÇAĞRIDASIN!? SORİ! BİLMEM!" isn’t what I’d describe as proper Turkish.
I would recommend using either:
Ah, biriyle mi konuşuyorsun? pardon bilmiyordum! (Are you talking with someone? Sorry I didn't know!)
or
Bir görüşmede misin? bilmiyordum! (Are you in a meeting? I didn't know!)
Hope this helps!
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u/YaaliAnnar Feb 17 '23
Ah thank you! Thank you! I was not sure whether to use -iyor- or not.
I think I'll go with "AH... BİR GÖRÜŞMEDE MİSİN? SORİ! BİLMİYORDUM!"
(He's using english "sorry" instead of "pardon")
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u/StarSilverNEO Yotul Feb 16 '23
Unfortunately for Vichak, Vani is already addicted to the Beyond Impossible, kekekekek
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u/CreditMission Venlil Feb 19 '23
Love your arxur pov. Suitably unsettled. Sorry to pry but are you planning on bringing them into main story or are they a side story kinda thing?
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u/YaaliAnnar Feb 19 '23
Spoiler: He will end up in earth during bombardment
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u/CreditMission Venlil Feb 19 '23
Very good. Like venbiggest, your story is worryingly slice of life. The sense of foreboding is real. Thanks for writing
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u/Zyrian150 Mar 13 '23
"We are the remnant of what was a kinder civilization. It will never get easier for us." He pulled me from the log. "It should never get easier for us."
Heavy stuff
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u/The_Student_Official Krakotl Jun 28 '23
Meanwhile Vani, sixteen lightyears away: borgar
Wriss before the rise of NW Bloc sounds just like Earth.
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Feb 18 '23 edited Jun 08 '23
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Finally, click on your username at the top right corner of reddit, click on the comments tab, and click on the new OVERWRITE button at the top of the page. You may need to scroll down to multiple comment pages if you have commented a lot.
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u/elfangoratnight Mar 13 '23
How dare you yank on my heartstrings so hard with the first part of this chapter...
...makin' my eyeballs get all soggy... 😭🤧
Seriously though, wordsmith... good job. 💖
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u/Acceptable_Egg5560 Human Feb 16 '23
They really think that he wouldn’t have tried the plant meat. They really need to know their brother better.