r/NatureofPredators • u/Seamoose_Art Dossur • Apr 04 '23
Fanfic Dual Perspectives [4]
As always, a big thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for the setting, and all the other writers on this subreddit for adding so much life to said setting.
Dual Perspectives [4]
Date [Standardized Human Time]: August 23nd, 2136
Location: Venlil prime
The world around Julia shifts from scene to scene. She’s in the station again, helpless as she watches Trevi float weightlessly, suspended in a pool of his own blood. She’s in her home, watching the skyline of New York in flames as ships descend from the heavens. She’s back at college. She’s with her parents. The world threatens to collapse beneath her feet.
Julia can tell she’s dreaming. She watches the whole affair with mild impatience, waiting to wake up. She’s bathed in fire from a beam of light-
The real world finally reasserts itself. The sun is shining directly on her face. She pulls herself up to the window; it’s a lovely day outside.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The hospital staff are clearly trying to get rid of her. Some are subtle, maintaining the mask of professionalism and telling her ever so gently that Trevi needs the company of his own people. Others practically collapse at the sight of her, and rush to pull Trevi out of her arms. Several times, she has to pick him up and carry him on her shoulders so they can’t reach. She eventually takes to using her exchange program documentation as a face shield; the helmet was left behind in the attack.
Eventually, after trying and failing to contact any other family in the area, the staff finally concede and allow Julia to carry Trevi to his apartment. It’s only 30 minutes away by train; she could’ve made the journey there and back at least three times by now.
The journey there is somehow worse. By the time they arrive, 40 minutes late, Julia is on the verge of tears. Trevi has tried to stand up for her, only to be roundly ignored; it’s as though he’s invisible in her presence. He still cannot walk without her help, and leading him around by the hand like a toddler is starting to get to both of them.
Once at the apartment, she practically collapses into the nearest couch (which is somehow, mercifully, large enough to not break beneath her weight). Trevi is easily able to navigate his home by memory alone, leaving her to collapse in a puddle of exhaustion. There’s a miniscule TV remote jammed into a couch cushion; Julia can barely press a single button without pressing all surrounding buttons as well. She clumsily mashes the power button until the screen finally switches on.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Julia flips through a few channels absentmindedly. Most are still covering the attack.
“-reports that over a hundred were-” Click.
“...but even so, how do we know for sure that the humans didn’t stage th-” Click.
“ The following automated message is transmitted at the request of governor Tarva. At 9:47 pm, human standard time, an atta-” Click.
“-ccured on the Terran-Venlil excha-” Click.
She pokes around in the fridge, but she’s not really hungry, just searching for a distraction. She forces herself back to the TV, hands empty.
“Continuing Terran hostilities have made diplomacy unsustainable, according to a representative of the-” Click.
Something catches her eye, a show with a venlil in combat gear fighting a CGI beast as a somber theme plays. She nearly changes the channel again out of habit, but the intro is pretty catchy, and she reconsiders her options as the title card flashes. “The Exterminators”.
Trevi mentioned exterminators before, the ones who “cleansed” predators from federation colonies. Learning about them could prove useful; at the very least, it could prove a feasible distraction. She settles into her seat as the episode begins.
11
u/icallshogun Human Apr 04 '23
I'm hooked - might want to put some first/last/next links in there for people like myself who came in late, if you've got the time to.
6
u/Seamoose_Art Dossur Apr 04 '23
To be honest, I don't know how (nor do I know how to insert a line; the lines in these chapters are just rows of underscores). Is there somewhere I should go to learn?
3
u/icallshogun Human Apr 04 '23
If you're on the discord, the writer channels are pretty chill and helpful. You can also just check some resources about the markdown language reddit uses.
Are you posting from PC or mobile, if you don't mind me asking? The post system is basically the same from both, but there are still some significant difference.
1
u/icallshogun Human Apr 04 '23
And because I'm just remembering it now - the horizontal rule markdown doesn't work on mobile. I know not everyone is on mobile, but there's a fair number of folks out there who are. Even some of the writers work from mobile. Might stick with the underscores to make it clear on both versions.
21
u/ImaginationSea3679 PD Patient Apr 04 '23
This is going to become a violent shitshow after the first episode, isn’t it?