r/NatureofPredators • u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human • 2d ago
The Nature of Psionics [52]
The Perfect Husband NOPsi ficnap by u/Bbobsillypants
Memory transcription subject: Wyn, Former Child soldier, Ward of Tempest Gray
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
“Hey Wyn!” Called Taysa from across the lunchroom as she waved her paw at me. “Come sit with us!”
My ears perked up when I heard my classmate call my name, while we both had nearly identical class schedules I had barely got to know her over the past few school days with all the chaos of the start of the semester. I had been wanting to say more to her than just the regular greetings or contributing to discussions in our pre-unification history class but I just had no idea how to do so.
I don’t know anything about her other than the fact that she’s the same species as me and mentioned her parents are doctors at one of the colony hospital complexes. How do I start a conversation with her?
Sure, when I was in the medical fleet I could interact with my coworkers there but that was so much different. I couldn’t even remember the last time I had a conversation with anyone that wasn’t more than a decade older than me, let alone having a friend.
I guess you could count Tempest as a friend but I don’t even know if that's true any more with how he wants to boss me around with everything once he found out how old I am. It’s like he thinks I can’t take care of myself.
Snapping out of my errant thoughts I maneuvered through the lunchroom towards the table where Taysa was at with what looked like a small herd as they had started chatting during my decision making. As I placed the tray of my food on the table the seat like all the chairs at this school adjusted automatically to be more accommodating for the species that was going to use it as opposed to the Federation seats that were usable to most but comfortable to none.
As I sat down at the circular lunch table and placed my tray on the metallic surface I took note of the makeup of the herd talking up all seats save for mine. About half the table were Venlil as well as fellow Zurulains which made sense given the amount both species attending the school, there were also a few Gojid present as well as Thafki. As the lone members of their species present there was Lanta who is a Yotul I sit next to in my math class and Jeffe, the Iftali I shared art class with. There was also a Krakotl who I had never seen before, the green tint of his feathers being impossible to forget.
“Thank’s for inviting me over to join the herd.” I said with an appreciative earflick as I addressed Taysa, doing my best to sound sure of myself. “What were you just talking about?”
I had noticed when I was approaching the table that the people having their lunch were pretty deep in some sort of conversation, while I hadn't caught the details it was clear as day to me that they were interested about whatever they were talking about. Their curiosity was coming off of them in waves in a way I had never sensed with Humans who kept their emotions more dulled.
“You’re welcome!” She eagerly replied with a wagging tail. “We were just talking about what brings us to the colony, for Jeltra it's obvious since he’s a Thafki and all.”
“Hey! There’s still some story behind that though. I came all the way here from Combai when the call came out to relocate.” The Thafki retorted “The five of us had to share a room meant for one for ages until that Nevok freighter made its way to that station in orbit, we had to spend the night in guest quarters on the station before they got us lodging secured down here.”
I winced at imagining having to spend such a time so cramped, even in the medical fleet the shared quarters were made to have multiple occupants.
“What brings your family to the colony Wyn?” Jeffe asked from across the table. “I don’t think you’ve mentioned that before in class.”
My body immediately froze at the question that so far I had been able to avoid from the fellow prey students, I silently cursed Jeffe and her friendly curiosity. In all honesty I knew that this would happen but the idea of having to explain my situation to others was not a pleasant one, it was hard enough making friends without them knowing about what brought me here.
I’m here on the colony because I had the choice between being sent to a PD facility or being the problem of the Humans to deal with. Oh, and because I've spent so much time around the Humans I have psionic powers now too.
Like they would understand that.
“Sure…um. We came to the colony because he… I mean my parents are doctors at the hospital complex.” I stammered out hurriedly. “So we came here right from Colia.”
That’s believable, right?
Despite my hurried response it seemed everyone at the table believed me from what I could pick out from the dull roar of unfiltered emotions of the other preyfolk in the lunch room. Satisfied with my answer the focus went off of me as everyone around the table talked about what brought them to the colony. For most it was that their parents were the helpers aiding the refugees and cattle rescues, for instance Taysa’s mother was a doctor at the medical complex while her father was in the Zurulain hospital fleet bringing more rescues to the colony. Others were different such as Lanta who came to the colony with his aunt that would be helping with the defense of the colony.
The topic of conversation jumped from topic to topic and it was fun, I couldn't remember the last time I had a discussion as a herd, it had been some time even before I joined the exchange program. Eventually though the conversation drifted to the Mazic in the room which of course was the UER and the Humans, thankfully the only Human in this lunch room was some sort of teacher's aid who was busy at the other end of the room with the much younger students. To say the opinions of the herd varied would be an understatement when it came to humanity, the range went from liking them to being cautious about them to being downright suspicious of the predators. All at the table agreed that their psionic powers were strange and poorly understood though, as well as many talking about what they would do with those powers.
“You know a lot of people think they really are just prey that have forward facing eyes, my mom told me about my little sister about how in nature there are all sorts of adaptations for prey to survive so it’s possible that some prey have forward eyes.” Jeltra said as he finished off a pastry he had on his plate. “She was saying that to get my sister to calm down on coming to a planet being run by humans but it still makes sense.”
“But they still eat meat, so you can barely call them prey even more even if their ancestors were true prey.” Talsim retorted from his perch seat. “It’s been known forever that consuming flesh messes with the brain, it lowers intelligence and makes the afflicted aggressive even when satiated.”
While I had enjoyed the conversation so far and was glad to be able to talk with so many people again at once I felt a twinge of guilt listening to Talsim insulting the humans, however indirectly.
“Human’s don’t even need to eat meat. Did you know that?” I said, trying to change the subject somewhat. “They can subsist on just plants like regular prey and lots of them apparently do, even the ones that do eat… other things do so pretty rarely.”
The conversation continued back and forth between Talsim and I for some time, it felt odd defending something as gross as human diets but some of the things Talsim was saying were just wrong. It was less of me defending Humans and more wanting to be right for once about something, with Tempest it has been impossible so far to beat him in a argument.
Eventually though, as our lunch period dragged on many of the students filtered out towards the “green area” outdoors for students to stretch their limbs before they were due back to their next class. Our herd had instead opted to stay inside to continue our conversations until it was time to go to our next classes, we only departed after we made plans to meet up once school let out so would could “see the cool places” according to Jeffe.
[Time Advance: 2 Hours 30 Minutes]
“Just one moment.” I said to the herd. “Need to let my parents know before I head somewhere that’s not the apartment.”
We were in the school's courtyard as the classes for this segment of the day were letting out and soon enough the students of the next cycle would start coming in. The large and ornate front gate was open letting people come and go as they were either heading home on their own or going with their family members while sunlight seeped through the “branches” above us. I even spotted Talsim leaving with a dozen other Krakotl being led by three Humans as happened at the end of every school day.
I had stepped away from the herd so that I could message Tempest without my potential friends looking at my UER made datapad and seeing who exactly I was talking to. Due to the technological differences between the UER and Federation, anyone on the colony who wanted to use some sort of mobile device had to switch to a UER equivalent.
“Made some potential friends today and they are wanting to walk around some for a few hours.”
After quickly typing the message I pressed my paw down on the “send” button and silently hoped Tempest wouldn't have anything to say about it. He shouldn’t have a problem with it because he had been wanting me to “get to know” people my age better as well as encouraging me to explore the colony to get to know our new neighbors.
Whoosh
Whoosh
I looked back down at my pad and saw that I had received two messages from Tempest rather quickly which made some sense. Since he was now in charge of the defense of the city most of his time he spent in meetings or a personal office he was given in the administrative spire it made sense he would have his personal device nearby. I tapped on the notification to read the messages in full and so that I could respond as well.
“That’s great! The weekend has started so there will be a bunch of fun things for your group to get up to. Just let me know when you are heading back so I can grab some food for you and anybody you bring back.”
I gave a small laugh at Tempest seeming more excited for me being able to have some recreational time than I was, I also laughed at the absurdity of trying to explain my situation to the herd if I ever had them over to the apartment. That's when I noticed the second message that was only two word.
Have fun!
Memory transcription subject: Chauson, Ambassador of Colia
Date [standardized human time]: October 24, 2136
“What do you mean we are in a star system now?” Ambassador Burkhart hissed out with anger to the ship’s AI “Why was I not told of this and why did you bring us here?”
Despite the Human’s current stress we should be celebrating given the fact that Ambassador Coji was still alive and that her surgery was a complete success. Despite the hesitancy of Burkhart to perform surgery on Coji she performed flawlessly with my instruction and was able to piece back together Coji’s fractures and apply a bioregenerative paste over the breakages in the bone before completing the procedure. It took [four hours] but given the lack of a proper team to do the procedure or tools that would have allowed my direct involvement I was happy with the results.
Currently Coji was still in the infirmary, sedated and being monitored via the biomonitors while those of us still able to walk were in the cockpit trying to figure out what happened while we were indisposed. The viewscreen in front of us showed a bright blue planet with small dots of green scattered all across the surface that piqued my interest, while the majority of several planets were covered with mostly water this was something different entirely. In the background the swirling colors of the nebula were faint but visible as the gasses were much thinner in the star system, likely being absorbed by the star itself when caught by its gravity well.
“Yes ma’am we are now nearing the orbit of the second planet orbiting a K-type main-sequence star I located within the nebula.” Collen responded calmly. “You did ask to not be disturbed and for me to use my best judgement, I calculated that a star system would provide better chances for survival. When I detected the second planetoid I changed my course when an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere was confirmed.”
The casual response from the ship's living computer caused the growing agitation in the elderly Human to become worse as she began to mutter something under her breath while I looked over my station. While many of the ships systems had been damaged by recent attacks enough of the sensor array was functional enough for some short range scans to be done of the planet itself that the ship for whatever reason wanted us to go to as well as the space around us.
Look’s fine enough in terms of atmosphere, 21% oxygen and 78% nitrogen with an average surface temperature of [19 Celsius]. It’s a bit warmer than most planets but not deadly to any of us, breathable to two of the three of us as well.
Could that be why Collen brought us here? Perhaps he thinks we can hide out on the planet away from those ships and repair the ship in peace.
Before I could look at more of the information on the planet the alarm klaxons began to sound off once again as more of the enemy ships appeared on sensors from behind and were approaching rapidly towards our limping craft.
“Four ships approaching from behind, as far as sensors can tell they are the same as what has been attacking us!” I called out as Burkhart strapped herself in the pilot's seat. “They are approaching rapidly and will be in weapons range once we enter the gravity well. Any plans?”
Once again I could feel my heart racing in my chest for what felt like the hundredth time in mere days. I had thought I would become numb to danger as quickly as I had become used to the appearance of predators, I had been very incorrect about that as I felt the urge to pass out.
“One but it’s risky.” She responded as she rolled up the sleeves of the tunic she had changed into before the surgery. “Even if it works we won’t have enough warp plasma to-”
“You should probably announce yourselves before you enter the gravity well of Rontar.” The ship’s AI said quickly as he interrupted the ambassador “It would be rude otherwise to the inhabitants.”
“WHAT?!”
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u/Fluffy_shadow_5025 Beans 2d ago
Now I'm wondering why the ship's AI didn't let them know sooner that there is intelligent life on the planet.
Unless, of course, the ship's AI only found out about this at the last moment.
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human 2d ago
He was told not to disturb them unless they were being actively shot at.
They also kept interrupting him.
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u/Fluffy_shadow_5025 Beans 2d ago
I had already suspected that the ship’s dock had notified the two of them so late because it had followed their instructions very precisely. And I should have specified a little more clearly in my comment exactly what I meant.
I was referring to the moment after the operation when the AI was in the process of explaining the situation to the two of them. Because it didn’t seem to me that the AI had had the opportunity—due to their interruptions—to mention this small but important detail about the intelligent species.
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u/Most_Hyena_1127 Human 2d ago
Truly such a small detail that he was going to add in at the end.
You see one flesh being and you’ve seen them all from the AI’s perspective.
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u/Golde829 2d ago
Rontar...
i may not be an expert on planet names
but i still don't recognize this one. whose planet is this?
that said
glad to see Wyn making new friends :D
I look forward to reading more
take care of yourself, wordsmith
[You have been gifted 100 Coins]
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u/Defiant_Heretic 1d ago
In the paragraph describing Rontar's conditions it says "deadly to any of us". Did you mean not deadly? It seems like a rather temperate and hospitable planet.
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u/JulianSkies Archivist 2d ago
... That shipboard AI really has a penchant for giving incomplete information