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The Nature of Predators 2-99 [Final]
🕑 Added 2024-12-31 12:00:08 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Adam Meier, Terran Citizen
Date [standardized human time]: September 3, 2165
Running was a tireless process to me, though I kept my body keeled toward the ground and clapped my hands together. This was what a predator species with a fully-honed chase instinct looked like. Little claws tore through the grassy yard, leaping up to sink tiny teeth into my hand; that might trigger pain for most humans, but the metal skeleton could take it. I laughed as Launa held on tightly to my knuckles—what an adorable, precious angel she was. I hoisted my hand slightly, lifting her off the ground and spinning her around.
Launa flailed her head about emphatically, in an attempt to pull me back to the ground. I allowed myself to be felled, careful to roll onto my back. The Jaslip—with brown eyes the size of moons—walked across my chest, licking my cheeks with affection. Life was good. I smiled and tickled her ears, enjoying the sight of the little boots I’d gotten her to wear. She’d grown up so quickly that it stabbed at my heart to be sending her away. Was this the hardest part of any parent’s existence?
“I love it when we play, Daddy, even though your metal skeleton hurts my teeth sometimes,” she yipped, wagging her tail. “The den-tist complains. I don’t like the dentist. Why don’t you ever have to go to him?”
I knitted my eyebrows together. “I’ve explained that I was…someone’s memories put into a computer body. I require different kinds of maintenance. You don’t need teeth if you don’t need to eat, Launa. You don’t want to not have food, do you? How would you bite me if your teeth fall out. The dentist is better than that.”
The Jaslip pouted, ears sinking down and tail drooping between her legs. “Okay. I guess you’re right.”
“Sorry, darling. Sometimes, we have to do things we don’t like, so we can enjoy the things we do. You might not have fun with every subject in school, but they’re all going to pack your brain full of knowledge—so you can be smart and do anything when you grow up. Do you remember what I told you?”
“‘Don’t bite any people at school. It hurts humans without metal skeletons.’”
“Good girl. Here, take your lunch.” I placed the lunchbox into her tail wagon, which included two cans of tuna and a few hard-boiled eggs. I checked one more time that all of her books were there, as the school bus pulled up by our driveway. “Alright. Run along to catch the bus. You’re going to do great, and I’m a phone call away if you need anything!”
“I’m excited. Bye, Daddy! I love you.”
“Love you too, Launa.”
I pulled out my holopad to record her going onto the school bus for the first time, skipping with excitement to join the other kids. The Jaslip child glanced back over her shoulder at me, and I waved at her for encouragement. I paused the video once she disappeared into the vehicle, and watched in a bit of a sad silence as my daughter was driven away from our home. My hands found their way into my pockets, leaving me to stare at the horizon; I missed her already. What would I do to busy myself when she was gone?
“Mind if I join you, old friend?” a voice asked behind me.
“Huh?” I swiveled around, finding myself looking at a hobbled-over, aged Erin Kuemper, clutching onto a cane. “I’m sorry. I don’t go by Elias anymore.”
“I know. You’re him to me, and always will be. But I respect that you don’t believe you’re him…Adam.”
“Thank you. I…I’d love to catch up. What’s got you in Austria, not counting cacti in Arizona?”
“I wanted to check in on a friend who I’d missed dearly, and admired so much. I wanted to see how the years are treating you. Being Secretary-General, it aged me far faster than I liked. You: you still look the way you did 3 decades ago. You don’t know how…funny that feels to an old woman.”
I led Kuemper back to my porch slowly, helping her with the stairs. “I look different on the inside. To some people, they would say that’s what matters.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. What’s on the inside is a lot more important than how it looks. And speaking of wrong, do you know where you showed me I was wrong?”
I arched an eyebrow. “The Ship of Theseus, I’d hope?”
“No,” she chuckled. “I said that there was never an option to be moral and just in the Sapient Coalition. But that wasn’t true. The option was you. Elias, or at least his soul, was the only one who could be true to his beliefs no matter what.”
“Now, I don’t agree that I was the only one capable of that. Secretary-General Osmani has done an excellent job, avoiding the pitfalls his predecessors ran into after the Federation’s collapse. His reserved dignity has shown that he’s perfect for the job. I don’t miss that life one bit.”
“You truly don’t want to go back, do you? Even you tire of the burden.”
“It wasn’t that. I loved helping humanity, but I wanted to see what it was like to take care of—just one person. To have that be the entire world that I looked out for.”
Erin Kuemper rocked back in the chair, binocular eyes growing misty as she stared out at the horizon. I still remembered the young, snappy scientist who was trying to spoonfeed Elias information, and thought he was just any old politician that could bungle up first contact. She’d been there throughout the most stressful months of his life, on the front lines of first contact. It was difficult to see her growing old, though I figured that I would have to get…used to outliving the people I cared about. I had no context of what it felt like to have your body begin to break down.
That’s the worst part of loving anything, if I choose to believe that a digital reincarnation doesn’t bring them back. What if I just blink and Launa’s life is gone? How will I know when I’ve existed too long, when I know even now that there is pain in my future?
“Erin,” I croaked. “I’m afraid.”
My old friend continued staring at the horizon with clouded, weary eyes. “Of?”
“Losing everyone I love. Forgetting them. What happens when you’re…gone?”
“Oh, goodness, death is only the beginning; I intend to join you in immortality. I signed a consent slip to be digitally resurrected, and I believe it’s me. Is that enough for you? Can you respect that, just as I respect that you see yourself as Adam?”
“I’ll accept that it’s a part of you. I hope you’ll come find me. We can tell Launa and her human friends, who can’t imagine what it was like, how the world was when we didn’t know about aliens. Earth before we met the Venlil; Earth before it was a ‘predator world.’”
“Earth was always a predator world, Meier. It’ll eat you up and spit you out if you’re not strong enough.”
“That’s living; that’s every world under every sun. It was never about predators or their nature. It was about the beliefs people have, and use as the pretext to insist that others carry on their hatred. That’s what I pushed the SC to finally see.”
Erin swallowed, choking up with emotion. “I know. Your speech opened their eyes, and you dared to call them out when no one else would. For all of the works they put on your statue, that’s the best thing you’ve ever done.”
“No. The best thing I ever did was adopt an Osir.”
A lengthy future was stretched out before me, but in this moment, there was peace in the love of a father. I would sit here and reminisce about a life that was not my own, and what the future might hold in store for the Sapient Coalition. Overall, I saw a multitude of reasons to be optimistic.
Esquo had several regions restored for Jaslips to live on, and they even welcomed in Consortium refugees to reside on orbital rings. Launa would have a homeworld to visit, and I hoped to take her when she got old. We’d enhanced our own capabilities after studying the Krev’s architecture, with orbital rings now encircling many SC worlds, including Earth, Skalga, and Leirn. We needed somewhere to house revived, synthetic beings, given the swelling populations. In the Venlil’s case, they could use a little extra space to expand, given they only had a small strip of habitable land on their tidally-locked World of Death.
Aafa was in the rebuilding process too, with Kolshian refugees flocking to human colonies as full SC citizens. Many Shield members had assimilated into the Sapient Coalition, cutting ties with the Remnant states that were under a rehabilitation program; the treachery of intending to wipe out any species that ever ate meat, and concealing their true backers all the way, was a bridge too far. Despite the neutrality, they split from the Federation in the first place because they abhorred the conspiracy. Dual membership made it easier to join us, though about a third—including the Ulven and the Racads—still valued total independence from the predators.
The Arxur had opened exchange programs with every member species, including humanity; there were Venlil, Duerten, and even Thafki citizens bonding with the reptilians. Positive recognition in Sapient Coalition media became commonplace, turning public opinion to at least acknowledge all that they did to defeat the Consortium and their ghost Farsul puppets. In a vote that was expected to be contentious, two-thirds of the assemblage had passed the Arxur Collective’s official membership bid in 2164. Elias never would’ve imagined when he first sat in that briefing. He would’ve never imagined he’d even want it, despite the fact that it wound up being his last wish!
Tarva did it in the long run, memory man. She did enough to make it possible to have peace with the Arxur, and reached out when it wasn’t easy; not to mention sparing us. This all goes back to her.
The world had changed a lot since the good old days of 2136, as evidenced by the fact that I was sitting here carrying the memories of a dead Secretary-General. I was far from alone in my situation, with the mind uploading technology being rolled out to include more and more species by the month. Progress was making society unrecognizable in many ways, but we used our forward-thinking ideas to help improve the lives of sapients across the galaxy. The predatory viciousness observers saw on Earth was used to protect the ones we cared about with ferocity, and to take on nature itself if need be. We’d tussle with death itself!
“I’m going to wait for my daughter to come home. She’s the reason I want to be around to see the future. Because it’s hers,” I whispered.
Erin patted my leg. “I think I’ll stick around to meet her. I knew you’d be a great father.”
“I’m just glad I had the chance to prove it.”
The two of us, shadows of the old UN officials who took our first steps into the galaxy, sat in comfortable silence on a cozy porch. After all of the years that had gone by, it was a wonderful treat to enjoy the peace that we’d fought so hard and long to attain.
A/N - The grand finale of the NOPverse! Years later, Adam has settled down with an Osir daughter and considers being an adoptive father his greatest achievement. He’s visited by an old friend, and they reminisce on old times despite philosophical disagreements. We hear some optimistic news on the future of the Arxur getting accepted to the SC and bringing people around through exchange programs. We also hear what happened with Esquo, the KC, the Shield, and Aafa: it’s not perfect, but the future is bright!
What do you think of the ending and what the future looks like for the SC? How do you feel about each of our characters’ endings?
Alright, so I’ve got a brand new book called Prisoners of Sol, coming out on our next main update day, so I hope you’ll stick around to see that! The last time I moved from an IP, we got NOP, and I think each series gets a little more badass! There’s a lot to spark your curiosity: humanity is locked in a pocket dimension, and we must find out who did this and why. There are birds, there are snake people, there are mysteries and moral conundrums—and I think people who liked the interactions of NOP1 will take to this, because a new kind of culture shock is definitely there.
I really hope you’ll be there in a couple of days to give it a shot, because I have so much conviction that it’s my best writing and will be a new, fun sandbox with zany corners of its universe. As always, thank you for reading and supporting; whether you’ve been here three days or the whole three years, you have kept me going through what’s frankly been a pretty dark, painful year. I will always love you guys and hope to be able to put out fun content for a long time to come!
Comments
Altava Afrori
So worth It. I started reading about halfway through your process of writing the first NoP. Definitely enjoyed It and can see how It has improved over time. Easilly a favorite story of mine. I hope I can buy more paper copies one day, I have the first NoP book you released and eagerly await the rest. Something to put on a library shelf to know I have a peice of this history to appreciate In the future. Thank you for showing me this awsome world.
Matthew
So sad to see it go. I would have liked some more world building, but you really closed every story line acceptably. I loved it.
Alekss Žukovskis
goodbye NOP. you will forever be special to me.
Amigo1016
It has been an awesome ride. I am sad to see it end, but glad at how well it's all come together.
AlphaAllNight Gaming
Sad to see it end, but I was one hell of a ride!
Ezekiah Kane
"There are birds..." how long until they get bombed?
mitsos_pr
Thank you Space Paladin. As many have said, NOP has been something to look forward to in easier or tougher weeks. Lots of love and looking forward to the next story:)
DDDragoni
I mostly avoided that drama, but I believe it was mostly holdover Discourse from NOP1
pogman
its so over 😢
erickjosemolina
Conque ya termino eh,para serte sincero esperaba unas guerras a dimensiónes galacticas y porque todo lo que recuerdo apenas se a explorado menos del 3 por ciento de la galaxia, pero bueno,este la primera historia que sigo hasta el final,y no me arrepiento, espero estar aquí contigo en las próximas historias 😁
DeWhit
Really? I must have missed that…what was the problem with Marcel making a reappearance?
JHD
Thanks for the story!
DDDragoni
There was a more conclusive ending planned for Marcel, but after his initial appearance caused a wave of Discourse, SP decided to drop that storyline
DeWhit
Jumping off your critique of characters being dropped/underdeveloped, when Marcel made an appearance and slanek was mentioned, I kinda figured robo-slanek would make an appearance at some point, even if it was a short section at the very end. I felt his reintroduction was even hinted at, so I was a little disappointed that it was never brought up again. All we know is that Marcel is still hoping to get his friend back, and that’s the last we hear. For such major characters from NOP1 I’d figure they’d get at least a more conclusive ending to their story…
Byron Ritchie
That didn’t answer my question but thanks and happy new year
Greg Gougeon
Thank you so much for this story and this universe. It brought me so much joy. I knew I had a little happiness around the corner every week because there would always be more stories. I thougthly enjoyed nop1 and nop2. You even inspired me to write one fan story. The "cattle education video version 2." It was fun to try out writing. I will 100% be sticking around for your next story thanks again.
EliasArt2Life
Critique Okay, before I go into characters and plot points, I want to talk about the series as a whole. NOP1 had a problem with having too many characters. Now, I didn’t feel this way, but I noticed that it was common in the comments for people to beg for information about other characters and occasionally complain when a POV went on too long. In total, NOP1 had 8 POV characters: Tarva, Meier, Slanek, Sovlin, Kalsim, Isif, Onso, and Glim. NOP2 solved this problem by reducing the number of POV characters to 4: Taylor, Tassi, Meier, and Quana. I honestly think that this was a good decision. My only qualms are that I think it would have been a bit better with 5, not 4, and there’s a distinct lack of alien POVs. At its core, NOP1 (I’m EXCLUDING the miniseries and side stories from this) was given from alien points of view, with only 1 of 8 POVs being from a humans, and that human died early on. NOP2 has a 50/50 split, and one of those POVs (Quana) ended right at the end (and I believe she had the fewest number of chapters on TOP of that). A fifth POV from an alien might have made this feel more in line with NOP1. Of course, the real question is if this series should even BE like the original? Think about it; to perfectly capture the feel of the original, either the Remnants would have to be the main focus, or the Consortium would have had to fear humanity, both of which would have felt like a copy-paste of NOP1. NOP2 takes place in a different era than NOP1, so why SHOULDN’T it be different. Overall, I’d say that different is good, but perhaps straying a little more towards NOP1 would help make people feel the same way they did with NOP1. Now for, what I consider, the big problem that this series had. I think the problem was introducing too many plot points and characters. Now, I’m not saying that you can’t make a story with tons of plot points and have it work out, but it’s a very difficult thing to do. In this case, tons of plot points were started, but ended unceremoniously. The Anti-Bissem speciesism? They fight it for a while, and then it sort of fades away after Meier makes his speech, and gets brought up less and less until the story says that the Bissem are generally accepted. The Yotul rivalry with humanity? Never really goes anywhere past the start of the series. Jones offering to work unofficially? Never brought up again. The Ghost Farsul appear more than halfway into the story, continuing the almost forgotten plot point about the starlight incident and tying into he Remnant plot-line. Then they get raided and beaten offscreen. The Consortium’s robot army? Beaten in the first major confrontation. That’s not saying that EVERY plot-line is bad or unsatisfying: Space Paladin has a love for writing intrigue plots, and it shows. The slow, subtle burn of everyone realizing just how bad the Consortium is was done incredibly well! The idea of the Ghost Farsul tying together the Consortium, Sivkit, Starlight, and Remnant plots was GREAT, it just needed to be fleshed out more. A more substantial backbone to support the weight of so much of the plot. Adam Meier’s plot-line of guiding the SC away from the complacency it’s fallen into was also well done. The SC plot-line was intriguing, and a GREAT example of some of the pitfalls that can occur after you topple a millennia old civilization and then build a new institution. And the Sivkit plot-line was something I doubted would interest me, but ended up being a great addition to the story after all! In terms of characters, a lot of them were either left un-fleshed out, or dropped without much content. Arjun and Cala were introduced at the same time, but only Cala is still hanging around Taylor by the end, and her role has been mostly reduced to making expositionary comments. Compare them to Carlos and Samantha from NOP1, who had similar roles, and you’ll get what I mean; Sovlin’s guards had distinct personalities and worldviews that played off of Sovlin to provoke his growth. Cala does that at first, but then Taylor accepts her and that interplay kind of stops. Syba also is MIA, after helping Meier with talking to the Shield, she soon vanishes from the story. Hathaway also disappeared. After the terrorist attack, he gives a speech to convince the a Tellarians to stay on Tellus, and then disappears until Taylor’s finale where it’s mentioned he got jailed. Hathaway stopped acting as an antagonist (well, to be fair, he wasn’t the most consistent antagonist before that). Dustin, Nulia, and Haliska were super important to the story at the start, but the Jones comes along and uses them to manipulate Tassi, and then they disappear. We don’t see Nulia and Haliska once (although they are mentioned a few times) after they turn in Tassi, and Dustin appears less and less until he vanishes and is only indirectly involved with the plot. This is neither a satisfying send off, nor a good utilization of these characters’ potential. There could have been a heated confrontation, or one or more of those three could have had a change of heart or apologized to Tassi. But there’s not, which makes Jones’ manipulation feel more like an excuse to get those three out of the story than anything else. Overall, I think that more effort should have been put into the characters that we DID have, rather than adding more and saturating the cast, only to need to prune it later. If cameos are to be included, I think it would be better if they were more like William Kane and Rauln. They appear for one scene, and then bow out, without giving any inclination that they’re going to be sticking around. Okay, now that the overview is done, let’s talk about the major plot-lines. The Consortium Conspiracy, although it ended a little too easily for all the buildup, was pretty good! I think it was obvious that something was up, but that’s not the point. The enjoyment I got from the slow reveal of just how bad the Consortium was made for a VERY engaging and satisfying story. I like how the abuses used by the Consortium are similar (if not the same) to the ones voiced by the Bissem and Meier early in the story, making it clear that this is a path the SC could have gone down as well. The fact that they knew everything from the start was good too. However, that realization ALSO makes some of their early actions… a little shakey. Just what their plan is/was is unclear? They don’t really seem to have an end goal. They sort of just become a cybernetic galactic threat at the last moment, but if that was always their goal, why not expand after they realize that the Federation is gone? I mean, sure you can probably hand-wave it away, but it’s kind of hard to figure out what they were really planning. That’s okay for the Federation, who were stuck in the past, but NOP2 posits that the Consortium was trying to embrace and abuse the future too fast. Not thinking things through to that extent doesn’t seem like them. The synthetic plot-line. Ah! Everyone’s FaVoRiTe topic. Okay, honestly, I think it’s GOOD that this plot-line got so many people talking and discussing it. For writers and artists, getting people to talk and debate is a crowning achievement! For that ALONE, I think this was a good plot-point. But aside from that, I think it was legitimately well thought out and structured. Especially the attention to detail of everyday things a synthetic human wouldn’t experience. I feel like the ramifications of a near synthetic galactic apocalypse needed to be expanded upon, though. Once again, this plot-line ended too soon. The Remnant plot-line. I feel like this was a missed opportunity. With the Ghost, there was a potential for the Remnants to become an actual threat, manipulating the SC, to try to tear it apart. But their manipulation was cut WAY short, their fleets get swept aside, they and the Ghosts are beaten offscreen, we don’t really get a look into their society, the way we did with Aafa or the rest of the Federation, and the members of the Remnants don’t do much to differentiate themselves from one another (aside from the Yulpa and Malti). The Ghosts are also underused. They mostly seem to exist to turn the conflict back onto the Consortium and to give exposition. Despite their threatening introduction, we don’t see anything of them, not get to understand much of who they are and how they’re coping with the state of the galaxy. The SC plot. Actually decently done and fleshed out. It introduces the problem, there’re twists and turns, strife, and moments where people have to put aside their differences to come together. My biggest gripe is that it gets mostly completed with Meier’s speech in the middle of the plot. It would have been better if it had added nuance (because no one wants just more of humanity bending the knee and predator suspicion) and been stretched out to conclude alongside the battles against the Consortium and Remnants. While the SC struggles to get along, we’re loosing the war, and us reconciling our differences coincides with us winning. Cliche, I know, but cliches exist for a reason; they work. Okay, now for characters. Taylor and Gress were the two I was most skeptical of. I was worried that Taylor had been through too much and would need more time to heal before entering into a relationship, and I felt that Gress’ treatment of Taylor was off putting. I thought that even if the story SAID they made it work, it would be unconvincing. I am happy to say that I was proven dead wrong! Taylor’s recovery and growth felt surprisingly natural for its rapid pace, and having Gress go through his own mental crisis which forces Taylor to grow up more and become GRESS’ rock was a FANTASTIC narrative decision that actually got me really invested. Tassi. I liked getting the Bissem point of view as a group of (mostly) untainted aliens at the start, and wish that it was more heavily relied upon. However, Tassi’s own mental health breakdown overshadows most of the potential for that. I enjoyed her POV, but eventually found her perspective on things became a bit predictable. The loss of the First Contact Team from her POV also hurt this, as she lost 3 people to bounce her point of view off of. Loxsel wasn’t exactly a person she could bounce her thoughts off of, and Meier wasn’t always there for her to bounce her thoughts off of. Overall, a good character, but needed aliens to be around her. Most of the most interesting NOP1 characters had humans around them all the time (Tarva, Slanek, and Sovlin). Adam Meier. Honestly, this was a REALLY good concept for a character, and this series knocked it out of the park with this one! A combination of discovering one’s own identity, a man out of time, and people only seeing you by your legacy. A very interesting set of traits and character plot-lines, and I’m satisfied with how they came out. I don’t really care what people argue about in the comments, if Meier is actually a person or not; the story says and treats him like he’s real and sapient, so I’ll go off of the story. Not like we have ACTUAL synthetics of this type IRL we can point to as reference for inaccuracies. Also, the best part, HE CHANGED HIS NAME SO I CAN STOP GETTING WHIPLASH READING THESE STORIES AND THE COMMENTS!!! (Joking) Quana. I’m going to be honest, I don’t really like Quana’s POV, and it’s not just because her decent makes me uncomfortable. As I said early on, NOP1 was primarily told through the eyes of aliens. So, for one of our TWO alien POVs to be so heavily overshadowed by baseless hatred… I feel it just strips the narrative of even more of its already sparse use of alien viewpoints, when it’s already not using its full potential. Cherise. Not a POV character, but I think she deserves this mention. I liked seeing her go from a downward spiral to regaining her lost innocence. I wish we got to see more of that recovery I feel like most of her tine was spent before her descent. Conclusion: I won’t say that NOP2 is perfect, nor that it doesn’t have major problems, but overall I still think it was good and worth reading. The characters, ideas, and plot were good, they just ended too soon, and needed a bit more time to cook. I’m thankful for what we got.
EliasArt2Life
Safety comment in case your browser shows the first reply, like mine does.
EliasArt2Life
Okay, I always try to limit judgement until I’ve read/seen the whole thing, so I want to give an overall series critique now. I’m posting it in the replies to this comment. Please keep in mind that my critique is MY OPINION I’ve found that I almost never give a critique that everyone agrees with. So, please, if you disagree with what I say in my critique, be aware that I won’t be debating anyone who disagrees. Also, LOAD REPLIES AT YOUR OWN RISK. SERIOUSLY. I’ve written a small essay here. Thank you everyone, and thank you @Space Paladin for a great set of series! I’m excited to see what you’ve cooked up in Prisoners of Sol.
Space Paladin
I’m going to keep writing! New book this weekend!
fastinn
you will be missed nop thanks and goodbye
Kevo
If he did that… I’d read it
boomheadshot257
Thank you for the wonderful reads and stories, I'm happy to be aboard this ship with everyone who got to enjoy these. I can't wait to see what else you got instore for the future.
SnackcakesMcGee
Fuck, man. I loved this story. I'm sad to see it end, but I always knew it couldn't go on forever. I'd like to thank you for this, and I hope you keep writing.
Anthony Mears
Thank you souch for these stories. i have enjoyed it all. So, no "the Nature of Herbivores"with sapient plants attacking the plant Eaters for being monsters?😁 just kidding
JValz
Thanks so much SP! Absolutely LOVED this story, this series, this universe of challenge, hope, and triumph! You should be so proud of this achievement, ESPECIALLY because it was excellent from start to finish with a genuinely satisfying ending! Thank you again!!! Looking forward to reading Prisoners of Sol!
Shajenko
Thank you very much for the stories, SP! I will make just one request. Please take more breaks. Burnout is a terrible thing.
Roscuro
I think the endings are fine. Just fine. There was definitely a lot of threads that could have been explored a lot more and others that I will imagine you will completely write out if you ever put this to physical copies. Are you still going to do nop side stories or are you completely done with the universe?
Aured
Fantastic! I love that Meier has a Jaslip daughter. So cute. Thanks for the fantastic story - it's been a fun journey. I'm excited to see your next project.
Space Paladin
💜
Space Paladin
It’s been my absolute pleasure!
Dcluigimario
I guess I didn't know that you read fanfics because other people convinced me that reading all those fanfics probably would make you worried about certain things or mess with your motivation and flow. I could understand, but hearing you say that I'm very happy that you enjoy all the fanfics that come from your story. I've been having a lot of fun typing mine myself.
Space Paladin
I did read fanfics for years! I enjoy many works
Tyler Ellis
So glad to see NoP getting the rest it deserves, I don’t doubt that the fan fics will keep the series alive for many many more years! Do you plan to release a 2nd physical copy? When will we see our first look at Prisoners of Sol?
Wesley Rigg
.·´¯`(>▂<)´¯`·.
Nul Atlas
You know Space Paladin I havent read through nop 2 yet, but I have read nop 1 and all the extra bounus content Ive been a fan since around chapter 50 of Nop1. Hell I remember reading why humans dont go to war when I was in High School. This has been the greatest few years of my life reading your works on Nop 1 and etc, I will miss this universe. I am excited for what comes next, and I only wish you luck SP, because I will still be there to read it. As always, Tarva and Noah chapters are the best.
Wesley Rigg
Dew it. Write what you want, no matter what anyone else says. https://youtu.be/j8zRlLHheb0?si=GGHTN28jWlGQ_O1N
Wholesome Redditter
This is truly our nature of predators
Faces The Wind
Thank you for your dreams, Space Paladin. They are beautiful!
DDDragoni
Farewell, Adam Meier. You were thrust into existence as a new form of life, pioneering an existence once thought impossible. And on top of that, forced into dealing with a turbulent political crisis as well. But you handled it all with grace and dignity, paving the way for peace and for others like you to find their way in the world, even through your own identity crisis. And in the end, you found your own meaning, your own identity, and your own goal- raising a child in need of a parent. And farewell, Nature of Predators. From the day I first discovered this story and stayed up reading until the sun came up, this world, characters, and story have captivated me. It's been a hell of a ride, but all good things must come to an end, and it's time to set sail into new horizons. Thank you, SpacePaladin, for sharing this story with us.
Sayhoun
Thanks for the final on the end of the year :) happy, healthy, prosperous 2025 everyone. And looking forward to the new story
Space Paladin
Thank you for the kind words; I’m glad that I could brighten your day with this little story, and I really appreciate that it’s held true for quite a long time!
Space Paladin
Thank you for the kind words and for leaving a comment, it’s extremely important to me to hear such positivity 💜 I look forward to give you more cool stuff to gnaw on!
Matthew Mclemore
What a journey Paladin! I heard your first hfy story on TikTok, that lead me to seek out your reddit, and it snowballed from there! I read the 15 chapter series, and then binged nop1 as there were about 80 chapters out. Onso's oneshot around chapter 102 brought me to your patrion, and I've been a supported of your work since. Excited for the new book and tons more!
DDDragoni
Not every story needs to be told in canon. Let your imagination run free- or try your hand at writing them yourself.
Empi3
Happy new year, man. Be someone your father would be proud of xD
Byron Ritchie
How was he weak? Why did you feel disgust? Do you have any problems with gay people?
Empi3
He was a weak character. I only felt disgust towards him.
Byron Ritchie
Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happen Also looking forward to prisoners of sol but please show more mercy to the birds this time 🥺🙏 But seriously thanks for all your wonderful stories
Varker Maceta
Never left a comment on here as I never really thought I needed to. Thank you so much for NOP mate. I found HFY and thus NOP at about the same time as I started working. Major project deadlines and busy or intensive days sonce could be silver lined by a new chapter I could read going home or in a break. Especially the first few shorts released on Patreon was a stressful time for me so stories of the Foster Program are burned into my memory of moving flats and leading a part of a project. Really looking forward to Prisoners of Sol in 2025. Thank you SP.
Byron Ritchie
Why?
Kevo
Or our fav penguin or exterminator duo.. or isif. But the rabbit did stop talking silly tho
Gumcel
“I intend to join you in immortality.” I mean Adam will die of old age eventually, metal degrades the same as flesh. It’s only immortality if you consider making a robot facsimile and inserting memories into it the same person, which Adam clearly doesn’t. o7 nop
Dcluigimario
I have loved your work since day one, back when I first listened to a narrator read why humans avoid war on YouTube. I'm really sad that this is the final chapter in the book, part of me was hoping that you would use the other 80 chapters that the first book is known for to do a little bit of universe building that doesn't involve war in conflicts. Kind of like the second half of the second book being a slice of life kind of story that visits all the main characters. But I guess I'm also happy with this. I'm looking forward to your next book. Do you ever read the fan fictions that people write about nature of predators in the subreddit? If so what are some of your favorites?
ratmanjac
Never left a comment on the patreon before despite reading on here for a year now. Thank you for your work SP. Nature of predators is one of my all time favorite science fictions now, and it's been the first story I've actually bought on paper since "I have no mouth and I must scream" in High school. I will be invested in you're future content. Keep up the good work !
Shrimppuff90
OK we better be getting some side stories of the rest of the cast. How's Taylor doing as a dad? Has Onso stop trying to cause problems? And has our favourite rabbit finally decided to stop speaking in 17th century?
Space Paladin
💜
Quiidek
SP this has been one of the most beautiful journeys ever. You're writing is some of the greatest I've seen. You know how to pull people in. I'm super happy to have been here to support it and read this amazing story. You've brightened my days when they seemed dark. And given me something to look foreward to after long hard days of work. It's been a wonderful- almost three years of reading. I'm exited to see the great success that PoS WILL get. I'm all here for it. Bravo my friend. I'll forever treasure your works close to my heart. Damn good job.
Ravenpaw3
This has been a wonderful three years reading about this universe. I hope to see the other parts of NoP 1 published one day and look forward to reading Prisoners of Sol.
TheBlack2007
Been a little late to the party and only jumped on about 1 1/2 years ago but still I would like to thank you for creating this wonderful Universe. I'll definitely stick around for your next story, too.
sticksnstones
That... probably sounds for the best. I admit, I was expecting Slanek to be in a deep coma and Marcel was waiting for Virnt to figure out a full consciousness transfer instead of robo-reincarnation since y'know, that's just a copy of the person. If Slanek is confirmed dead by NoP2 I'm not sure why Marcel didn't just have a copy of him made once Meier worked out. Glad to hear Marcel didn't pull a Slanek and do something pointless, terrible, and tragic.
Space Paladin
Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad that NOP could help you through a difficult time!
Space Paladin
I had something very dark planned for Marnek, which I canceled due to fear of backlash; people are very heated about those two. Suffice to say, Marcel may or may not have been found dead by a memory transcript scanner with a note saying to bring him back when Slanek could be too
RaphaelFrog
I'm glad I could stick around to read your stories! I'm looking forward to see what you have in store >:D
Space Paladin
That’s very kind of you, thank you for sticking around for all of that time! Much love ❤️
Space Paladin
I’m glad you enjoyed the series—and thank you for sticking around! 🙏 Hopefully I can give you something that’ll lift your spirits!
Space Paladin
You’re welcome to make NOP videos, but I don’t plan to interact with the universe any further, certainly not by answering lore questions and such 🙏 there’s an entire fandom that does that sort of thing! I truly want to move on
Space Paladin
Something ends, something begins! I’m glad you’ll have some fond memories of my story, and hope that you’ll make more ahead with the new adventure too!
Space Paladin
Thank you! I’m glad that you stumbled across the series 😅
Empi3
Allright. Hyped for the new story. But please no more gay taylors. His chapters were the absolute worst.
PhycoKrusk
Oh, Meier. Even without Esquo being restored, Launa would still have a homeworld to visit: Earth is her homeworld. Your home is not where your ancestors come from any more than your culture is what you look like. Your culture is what you do and what you believe, and your home? Your home is where your heart rests. Launa's home is Earth, where her daddy is. Meier's home is Earth too, where his little girl and his interests and fascinations reside. And our home? Our home is right here, with these words we love to read and all the wonderful friends we read them with. Even I found home; I can't remember the last time I started a fight!
Nul Atlas
Wow so this is thr finale I need to catch up on Nop 2
REDemon14
Hey, 4 year timeskip. Adam Meier, Terran *Citizen* huh? He really has retired. Good on him, he deserves it. SIGH PAPA MEIER! Aw, Launa sounds just precious! She would also be around 4-years-old most since that’s when “Osir” Jaslips were born. Tiny Jaslip Puppy! It’s cute that Jaslips play fight and nip to show affection. Good thing Meier can take them, with his metal “bones” and all. Hold up! Wait! SHE HAS LIL’ BOOTIES?! AAAHHHHH! THAT IS TOO CUTE! Well Launa. If you didn’t keep trying to bite daddy to the *bone*, you wouldn’t hurt your teeth. Meier is right about school being important (if the education system isn’t as garbage as it is in the States). They are both a decent place for getting knowledge *and* finding friends. Speaking of, I feel like she’s gonna make a lot of friends at school, especially humans (I mean, a sapient wolf-fox joins your class and you expect them *not* to get the attention of humans? She may have issues with kids putting their hands on her with unwelcomed pettings. Arguably better than what her predecessors had to deal with.) Also, *TAIL WAGON*! I imagine every milestone of your child’s life is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. A reminder that, while they are your child, they are becoming their own person. I do wonder what a synthetic like Adam would do when they have nothing to do. I guess he could always clean or chat with others like him? Aww. Aged Kuemper is kinda sad. Especially her being described as “hoobled-over” and clutching a cane. It’s nice that even though she disagrees with this Meier identifying as someone else, they can both agree to disagree and leave it at that. I wish more people could be like that. Huh, so he lives in Austria now or has Meier lived there before? I forgor. I’m hoping that travel in between countries is much easier now. Poor Kuemper. She really wasn’t cut out for the role of Sec-Gen. I can tell it left a mark on her. Super cool to hear that Earth and many of the SC worlds had adopted the orbital ring tech. Safe to say they won’t be used as a death trap for their people and with gives a place for more people to live, especially Skalga. Nice that worlds are being rebuilt and recovered. The Jaslips now have Esquo to return to if they so desire, Aafa has started to rebuild (with Kolshians as full citizens too! Yay!), we even have members of the Shield break off cut ties with the Remnant (who are undergoing rehabilitation) and join the SC. There are still some holdouts but there almost always is. An Arxur exchange program? That sounds awesome. Rather shocking that a *Thafki* would even think about joining it, but they did and I’m proud of them for that. Happy to hear that the Arxur are now starting to be depicted in a better light in media. They even became members! Good on them! Granted it was with a two-thirds vote but, after centuries of horrors and tragedy, two decades of isolation, and three years of benevolent exposure, that’s a pretty substantial progress. I still expect some trouble for the Arxur in the future, but in time, things will heal. I wonder if there's been any progress on fixing the Sivkit's backs and education. Given everything that has happened to humanity in the past 30 years, things have changed in ways that are nearly unimaginable. God. This is it isn’t it? The final chapter of Nature of Predators. Man. What a ride. I quite enjoyed the series! It was a largely fun ride (I say largely cause some of the topics are dark enough to bring my mood down but that's just me). I loved the characters and their interactions with each other. Looking forward to Prisoners of Sol or PoS (very unfortunate acronym)! May it being you greater joy! Oh also, HAPPY NEW YEAR :D
Kevo
Someone was bound to ask lol
DreamEnvoy
We only just got introduced to Launa and I already love her. A wonderful end to a wonderful series. The galaxy, while not perfect, is showing positive progress. And the interpretation of synthetic life is left open. I've only discovered NoP about a year ago, but it helped me through a somewhat difficult year. It's definitely up there among my favorite web series, and I look forward to giving PoS a shot.
AnonymousDoge
If this is the end of official NoP content, then hopefully some folks will continue some of the main story plots that were unresolved through fics. I'd personally love to see Slanek's story finished.
Matěj Kratochvíla
Wow, it was a hell of a ride. It's so sad to see something that has become a part of my life to end, even though I always knew that day would come, still. Now I understand that with the end of NoP you want to dedicate your time and energy to this new project, which I'm looking forward to. But it is also because of that I want to ask one last time. Is there a possibility you could still give us Human Exterminators 3 as the last bonus content for NoP?
Alekss Žukovskis
NEW SERIES?? OOOGA
Hello There
Best three years of my life Paladin, cant believe that it is finally over. NOP will hold a special place in my heart for a long time to come. I can’t wait for the next chapter in your writing Paladin. May Sol yearn for freedom
Kevo
What a nice ending to my fav story. Didn’t realize it’s been tough this year for you, gonna miss this series, hopefully we can revisit one day in the future with just a small story lol. I’m so sad it’s over. I will stick around regardless for your new IP
Alekss Žukovskis
my inner realist says, SC people find this fast progress to be too fast. i wonder how will the fanfics spin this. how were jackals made before brain scans using alient tech and such
John Benjamin Cate
Grand that he adopted a child! Launa is going to have a good life. This was a nice ending, quietly hopeful for the future while looking out at a new dawn. Fantastic!
Adam Myers
I enjoyed it, but I wish things turned out better for you this year. I would love to have seen the plan you cooked up after writing chapter 40, and I really wish you occasionally give us a book chapter still. I understand if you can’t, or even if you have to take a very long break, but I really hope to see it. I am planning on trying to produce some video-media for NoP, please let me know if you are chill with discussions about monetization (if it seems like a good idea at the time) and occasional lore/vibe checks if in the absurd chance I get the opportunity to make a video series. I am interested in seeing your new series, but I do wish to give caution. You had lightning in a bottle with NoP, regardless of what numbers you see, know that you are an accomplished writer. Keep at it and you might catch lightning twice, just don’t go in expecting it. You got this.
Swan
Damm, feels weird to say goodbye to an era; feels fitting that you published this on new years tho :) I look forward to seeing what you have in store with this new IP, but I'll certainly look back on NOP with fondness
Aditya
And so it ends, I gotta say, a beautiful wrapup to a beautiful universe. Finding this series one random September day was something i don't at all regret
Heroman3003
I've left many big reviews talking about contents of the chapters, but for this one I want to keep it simple. It's a good conclusion is what it is. It didn't resolve every possible plot thread, it left some things untouched, and it kept open the question of the synthetic life. But it looked back at what was, at what is, and what could be and gave us a glimpse of the universe. It's been a great ride. I am not asking for it, but I am hoping that after some time away, you might be able to either look back or even revisit this world. Definitely not for another whole book, though. Because it's a great world that you've created, SP, and we all loved it and stuck with it all the way. The fandom will live on, the fanfics will keep going, and I am setting a timer for how long until we get half a dozen unofficial NoP3's :P And in meantime, even though I am in on it already, I want to put a wish for success and prosperity of the next project~ To another journey. Great chapter and great work as usual!
Jhon Bustamante
😭
