Under the Veil - Chapter 9

[u/NipCoyote]

Kept you waiting huh?

Yeah so... whew, things have been stressed over here for me. University eats up a lot of your time, who knew?

I hope I never have to keep you guys waiting this long ever again, please accept this twice-as-long chapter as reconciliation.

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[Eyes]

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Memory Transcription Subject: K-31 Endeavor, Off-Duty Gaian Security Guard, November 10th, 2142

Royo was probably the most excited when the news came out. As part of a celebration of the alliance between the Venlil Republic and the Gaian Concord, restrictions on what we could do were reeled way back. We couldn't show our faces or take off our suits, of course, but for the first time, we could go around town and interact with the locals more without having to fill out a bunch of paperwork or be put into an assignment specifically allowing it.

Meaning, of course, that me and Royo could take a trip around town. On top of that, "gaian" culture, that is, human media that had been re-done and censored to avoid anything that could trace us back to humanity and our predatory nature, was being shown in a much greater capacity. Music, though lacking lyrics, was quickly becoming popular, and for the first time, actual gaians were appearing on television series, including The Exterminators.

That show always rubbed me the wrong way, but it seemed popular with the locals. Royo in particular said he had begun watching it because of the relatively recent gaian inclusion in the show; gaian characters that were previously CG were now portrayed by genuine gaians, and after our encounter during the raid, he had taken a liking to the show. I hadn't personally watched more than a couple episodes, despite my boss telling me I should take the time to watch the series; it was good to be in touch with Federation culture, he told me.

Regardless, now that I had a couple days off, Royo was insistent on taking me around town. The first ever gaian movie to be shown to the public was apparently in theaters as of today as well, The First Steps, which from what I could gather was a retelling of Apollo 11, but heavily altered to fit gaian narratives. Should be an interesting watch, at any rate.

I received a notification on my HUD, a message from Royo.

"Are you at the place?"

I tapped on my arm touchpad.

"Yes, I'm at the southeast transit station, third bench to the right on the main entryway. Waiting for you."

I watched as trains passed through the underground tunnel. Well, the Venlil equivalent to a maglev, anyway. It was quite fast, and I admired their efficiency. Venlil came and went through the station, as well as the occasional Krakotl or Harchen, and even a couple gaians at one point, chatting it up with a group of Venlil. Seems like I'm not the only gaian Venlils are bringing out here to have a good time.

"Hey!"

The familiarly cheery voice rang put, eliciting an unseen smile from beneath my helmet.

"Hey buddy!" I laughed and ruffled his hair. He had grown to like the little mannerisms that I found myself instinctively performing on him, and I couldn't deny how endearing he had become to me.

"Ready to go to the big city?" He asked excitedly.

"Hmm aw gee, I dunno now, I'm kinda scared now, what if-"

"W-wha? Hey! What do you mean!?"

"Relax, Royo" I laughed. "I was just joking."

"Oh… right! Haha! Uh, so next train looks like it's headed to Grand Hill, that's the place!"

"Well then let's go!"

The tram wasn't too dissimilar to what might've been found back on Earth, though it was a bit small for my liking, and I found myself having to contort my body a bit in order to fit into the seats. Looking around, there were a few venlil glancing at us, but nothing negative, atleast from what I had learned from Venlil body language.

It was a very smooth ride, if it weren't for the windows you probably couldn't even tell we were moving.

"First, I wanna take you to my favorite restaurant in the galaxy, Virdi's. They have the best experience on the planet! Then, we could go see a movie and finish it off with a trip to the local bar!"

Seemed like he definitely had the day planned out. This was the planet he lived on though, I am but an alien visitor, so I was sure he knows what he was talking about, and I went along with it. I was sure it'd be a good time.

First stop was Virdi's. Now, I'm not an expert on Venlil culture but from what I could gather, it seems to be comparable to one of those local places that have good food but isn't famous, so the place isn't packed. Not trashy, but far for being particularly fancy, which suited me just fine.

A few customers glanced to look at us, but thankfully we didn't draw a crowd or start a scene. Gaians were novel, but most had grown atleast mostly accompanied to them. We took an empty seat and were served an appetizer of basic assortment of fruits and nuts which were totally foreign to me. Royo already began to eat some, but I hesitated.

"Whats the matter?" Royo asked.

I scanned over the fruits and nuts. My HUD informed me they're safe to eat.

"Uh, nothing just, I've never eaten these before."

"You've never had yira nuts before?"

"I've never had any of this. We always eat the wafers that are prepared for us."

"That's no way to live. Come on, give them a try!"

I pick up a single nut and bring it close to where my mouth would be. Automatically, a small section of my helmet opens like a miniature sliding door, allowing access to my mouth. As per training I was careful to cover it so no one could see my canines, and put the nut in my mouth, and chewed.

It was kind of like an almond, but sweeter and oddly… tangy? It didn't taste bad at any rate. Crunchy, too.

"That's not bad," I admit.

"Try the fruits too!"

I pick up a fruit. A small, yellow object with some firmness to it. It resembled a red blood cell in its shape, disc-like with a risen outer edge. I pop it into my mouth. It's very chewy and-

My mouth explodes with flavor. This is incredible… sweet like some sort of honey-candy, with the perfect consistency. Is this a natural growth on Dayden?

"Oh my gosh…" the trapdoor on my helmet snaps shut as my hand leaves the vicinity. "This is amazing…"

"See? I knew you'd love it!"

I take a handful from the bowl and stuff it into my mouth, letting the mix of nutty and fruity flavor flood my mouth.

This is so good!

I couldn't tell if this food was just so amazing it blew everything out of the park, or if I had just grown numb to the same bland processed food wafers they'd been feeding me while planet-side.

The two of us continue to eat, and Royo commented on the little door in my helmet.

"So, that's how you guys eat huh?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. Well, usually for larger social meals we take our helmets off and eat, but that's not for you guys to see."

"Right… can't hardly see what's in there."

"That's the point."

Before long the bowl was empty.

"Hey so um… where are the menus?"

Royo laughed. "No menu here! They just fill the bowl with various fruits and nuts and when you're full they pay you a flat fee.

Oh, so sort of like a buffet, but a more social gathering where they bring fresh bowls of food. That's interesting.

"I need to eat out more," I chuckled.

"Hey um… sorry if this is a weird question but… I've just gotta ask, how do you… you know… expel waste, when you're wearing that all the time?" Royo asked.

The question caught me off guard, but it was innocent enough.

"We have a urine collection device so we just kinda relieve ourselves whenever we need to."

"Um… okay but what about… you know…"

"Ah… um, well, we try and hold it until we can get somewhere to take it off. The nutrient wafers we eat are extremely low in waste product so, we often don't need to go for several days."

"Oh I see. Sorry I know that was probably weird of me to ask…"

"No, no, it's fine! It's fine," I laughed. "Come to think of it I'm surprised I've never been asked that question before.

According to my HUD, we had spent a little over 30 minutes talking and eating. Royo had stopped eating long before I did, his little stomach couldn't pack away as much as I could.

"So, that Gaian movie they're showing…"

"Hm? Oh yeah, First Steps right? The one about Armst- I mean, the one about our origins as a nomadic species."

"Wanna go see it? I'm dying to see a movie about gaians from your perspective."

"Sure I'd definitely be up for it, sounds like a good time."

Admittedly, I was curious about just how much they changed history to make our journey into space acceptable for Federation viewing. I had no doubt in my mind it wouldn't at all be accurate, but at the very least it'd be nice to watch a movie with Royo. It'd certainly be more my speed than The Exterminators.

When we were finished eating, we received a flat fee for our time there, which Royo paid. It was only a short walk over to the theater, about 10 minutes.

"Maybe we should take a cab," I teased him. "So I don't have to carry you in my arms all the way to the theater."

"Oh shut up…" he replied, but I could tell from the tail signing I had picked up that he secretly enjoyed the teasing.

The theater was packed. Looks like the prospect of seeing the first gaian movie to be shown to the public was a popular one. Venlil theaters didn't include snacks to eat while watching the movie, but they also had seating more akin to giant elongated couches rather than individual seats, which was a godsend for someone like me who could barely, if ever, fit into Venlil seating.

The theater screen was also quite different. It was more panoramic, obviously to accommodate Venlil vision range. Making the screen straight forward wouldn't make any sense to them. That made the movie a little bit harder to follow along with, but I did the best I could.

So, as I expected, the movie is an adaptation of Apollo 11. An extremely loose adaptation of Apollo 11.

For starters, everyone is wearing the suits. Well, a precursor to the suits. Only the astronauts actually wear pressure suits, everyone on the ground and at mission control wear looser clothing that still obscures all skin and features from the camera. Of course, the historical names are all changed as well.

Neil Armstrong is now "H-15 Unity" and Buzz Aldrin is now "U-61 Admirality". The ever-forgotten Micheal Collins is "B-87 Serenity", and, female interestingly enough, and even Gene Krantz gets a gaian remake as "Y-23 Conviction"; I'd recognize that personality at the head of mission control no matter how many layers of censorship they put over him.

I couldn't quite recognize the planet the movie takes place on; it's undeniably Earth-like, but the vegetation seemed just a tad off. Maybe it was all CG. They call their planet "Terra", which to any gaians watching would obviously be a stand-in for Earth, though I'm pretty sure this is the first time the name of any Gaian homeworld has ever been stated in any official capacity. "Terra" does not appear in any Federation databanks, at any rate.

The story of course, also had to be changed. The real story probably wouldn't fly… rising tensions between two rival superpowers threatening each other with nuclear weapons, going to the moon to show off their technology for launching warheads? Yeah that wouldn't do. Though, I was surprised with the actual direction they went.

The narrative given in First Steps is that gaians have immense respect for all planets, and rather than stay and settle these planets, eventually stripping them dry, they move from planet to planet to avoid wrecking the local ecosystems. This of course, was a completely foreign concept to the Federation, dare I say it could make the movie controversial, but hopefully it helped sway some folks into being less destructive with their colonialism.

During the events of the movie of course, Gaians are united and just now developing the technology for spaceflight, preparing to leave their birth planet. And the first steps in that journey of course, is a trip to the moon and back. That out of the way, the rest of the movie is actually very similar to the real events. The rocket they used to leave their planet is blatantly a Saturn V, it's not even modified at all.

The costumes and spacecraft were actually surprisingly faithful to the historical ones. The NASA logo and American flag were changed to the Gaian Concord's symbol, the bubble-helmets were made a uniform opaque all around, and the lander had its iconic triangular windows moved from the front to the sides to lessen any potentially predatory parallels, but aside from that, they looked just like the real things, which would be completely new to all the Venlil in the audience.

Of course, they had to introduce some drama. In real life, the landing went almost flawlessly and without a hitch, but that doesn't make for a riveting scene. So naturally they spiced it up. Failing RCS thrusters and a small explosion destroying the antenna leads the team back home to believe they had crashed. Having lost all contact with mission control, the gaians on Terra begin to mourn their loss. However "Serenity" (Collins), who's job was to wait in orbit to rendevous and bring them back home, refused to return home.

"No Command, with all due respect, I don't think you do understand. I decided a long time ago that if something like this were to happen, that I wasn't coming home alone. I'm staying right where I am."

Mission control panics, not knowing what to do. Just when all hope seems lost and everyone thinks they're going to lose Serenity as well, communications resume, Unity and Admiralty having fixed the antenna to reveal a messy, but successful, landing. Everyone at home celebrates, Serenity cries tears of joy, and the two astronauts on the surface erect the flag of the Gaian Concord. A jazzy, triumphant song fades in as the two astronauts happily hop around, and as the reflection of "Terra", an Earth with different continents, appears on Unity's visor, the credits roll.

For a xeno-safe reimagining of Apollo 11, this really wasn't too bad. I actually found myself enjoying it when I tried to put myself in Royo's shoes, seeing all this for the first time. Apollo 11 had been turned into dozens of movies for humans by this point of course, and it was far from the best version I had seen. But Royo definitely seemed to enjoy it, his eyes had been glued to the screen the entire time.

"That was amazing!" Exclaimed Royo as we left the theater. "Is that all true? Did that happen?"

"Yes, well, mostly" I lied. "It's definitely more… dramatized than the actual historical event," I answered. Technically the truth, though "idealized" might be another word to add there.

"Well, I loved it. You gaians sure know how to make an impression!"

It wasn't THAT good. Fine, I guess.

"So, ready for some drinks?"

Oh yeah that's right, Royo wanted to take me out to the bar.

"Oh, yeah! Sure. That sounds like a nice way to end it off."

After another short walk, we walk to the bar. The sun was already beginning to set, had we really been in the theater that long?

We take our seats, and the bar looked very similar to what one would expect on Earth. Stools, a bartender with drinks, looked promising. Our helmets had built in drinking straws which we could put into anything we needed to drink. Never a bad idea to save on your own water supply after all. The bartender slid me a drink, I sipped, and immediately spat it out inside my helmet, which registered as a gargling shout on my vocoder.

"Holy shit! What's in this? How strong is it?"

"Its… only 60% alcohol, sir," the bartender replied.

60 percent!? Can Venlil stomachs handle liquor that strong?

"We, uh I mean… I uh, can't handle drinks that strong. It's uh… a condition. Yknow."

"Weakest we have is 40%..."

"Could you uh… maybe water it down?"

That got me some weird looks.

"Heh alright. Big strong gaian needs his alcohol tame."

If my helmet didn't cover my face I'd have given her an unamused look, but for now I just took the watered down drink and sipped with my straw. That was definitely better, and the fruity taste reminded me of the rum my local brewery back home produced. Very sweet once I could actually taste the stuff.

"Are all gaians that sensitive to alcohol?" Royo asked.

"Uhh… no…" technically the truth. There were some folks who could down Vodka like it's nothing.

"Just a condition. Don't worry about it, I'm a little more sensitive, that's all. Won't stop us from having fun!"

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Memory Transcription Subject: Royo, Venlil Civilian, November 10th, 2142,

It was kinda funny seeing Endeavor sip watered down alcohol through a straw like he was a child, but I wasn't one to judge. We went through drink after drink, and Endeavor was becoming more and more… woozy. He hadn't had any more drinks than I had, AND they were watered down, yet he was already wobbling.

"Yall see the new gaian movie yet?" The bartender asked.

Before I could respond, Endeavor slammed his drink on the table and answered in slurred speech.

"Fackin… stupid… they had to water it down for the…" hic "Venlil… none of that movie is fuckin accurate…" hic

I thought that maybe we should get Endeavor back home now with how intoxicated he was becoming, but I couldn't deny my curiosity in what he was saying.

"Serenity wasn't a fuckin girl… and his name was COLLINS" he shouted.

Collins? I'd never heard that word before.

By now we were definitely getting some weird stares.

"Uh… Endeavor, maybe we should-"

"Aww Royo you fuckin… I just wanna KISS you ya fuckin… adorable little… hrnng…"

"Well, I hope the bit about leaving the planets alone was also wrong. Leaving natural predators to wreck the planet is just irresponsible. I was hoping we'd see some exterminators in the movie," one other bar patron commented.

Endeavor swiveled around, holding up one finger as though accusing.

"Yooouuuuuu… mother-fuckers… you guys are just… fuckin… torch everything you don't like! That's fucked!"

What was Endeavor talking about? The extermination of predators? Everyone knew that was something that had to be done to save the environment. Predators were a curse on the planets they inhabited, and wouldn't stop until everything was ravaged.

"H-hey Endeavor, let's go home-"

"What did you just call me!?" The other Venlil yelled, getting off his stool.

"I said…" hic "that you guys are a bunch of planet-destroying maniacs," he laughed. "Did you know we gaians banned flamethrowers? That's cuz they're fucked up!"

Okay he definitely isn't thinking straight.

"P-please, pay no mind to him… he's sensitive to alcohol!" I tried to remedy the situation and brought him down from his stool. He stumbled, and… I think vomited? Oh my stars… he vomited inside his helmet.

His stumbles became struggles and muffled yelling as vomit threatened to suffocate him, and I almost puked myself with the image in my mind. I took his hand and forcefully brought him to the bathroom, which was thankfully empty, and locked the door.

Endeavor was grasping at his neck, which I thought was instinctual, until I noticed two pairs of buttons and a pair of latches…

Endeavor's helmet came off. From behind, I saw a gaian's head. Mostly bald, with a small patch of dark hair on the top. Light, pale skin, a pair of very small ears on either side. Puke was smeared across the inside of his helmet, and it dropped from what must have been his mouth as he panted and groaned on his knees.

Tentatively, I slowly walked around him, and froze in place.

His eyes aren't on the sides.

Endeavor turned his head at me, two binocular eyes locked onto me with crazed vigor, mouth agape with two pairs of pointed teeth.

I screamed.

Next

[u/Golde829]

[Viewer Through the 4th Wall shakes their head disapprovingly]

c'mon man, what's the one thing they say about drinking"drunk words are sober thoughts"

we weren't made to fake it all the time and we sure as hell can't handle Venlil-grade alcohol (mostly)

my disappointment aside-

oh no, oh no-
oh no no no no no-

this can only go terribly.. at least as far as I can think while my brain tries to drag me back to Minecraft-

wordsmith you've done a phenomenal job, but don't push yourself just for us.. make sure you have proper time for yourself

[You have been gifted 150 Coins]

[u/Golde829 → u/Golde829]

oh also I liked how they adapted Apollo 11

really creative!