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The Nature of Predators - Sovlin’s Transcript (12/13)
🕑 Added 2024-11-17 12:00:08 +0000 UTCMemory transcription subject: Sovlin, Gojid Retiree
Date [standardized human time]: May 12, 2151
“Have a present!” the human, who’d introduced himself as Lars Isaksson, handed me a t-shirt. It read I met a predator and all I got was this dumb shirt in Gojid script. “He’ll look great in it, don’t you think, Cilany? Try it on!”
I wasn’t sure what had given the Swede the impression that I would ever wear this; the word “shirt” existing in our lexicon was relatively new to begin with, and was a more broad term for any sort of chest covering. Lars needed a reality check, giving a fragile cloth top to a species with quills on our backs. Honestly, how did he think that would end? Willing to do whatever was necessary to get out of his presence as soon as possible, I donned his gift with a curled lip. It was wretched. How could Terrans stand to have this garbage clinging to their skin at all times?
Maybe I can fake a heart attack and be rescued by an ambulance. I wish I could make myself still afraid of humans, so I can have a real one. I’d prefer to not be resuscitated than to return to this hellscape.
Cilany chuckled. “It needs to be more snug around his belly.”
“It’s good to see you too,” I grumbled. “You know, I asked to catch up with you, not the ice humans. Every slot for the amount of moronic predators I’m willing to tolerate is full. How did you two even meet?”
“Lars is an old friend. He used to comment on my blog and offered to show me some, and I quote, ‘predator entertainment’ in an online message. He wasn’t a fan of Emergency Order 56. I flew out to Sweden and took him up on it, which I guess is pretty crazy.”
“That’s certainly a decision. I try to accept them being a little more violent than we’d been accustomed to, but I don’t think Emergency Order 56 was all bad.”
Lars scoffed, lips curved up in disbelief. “You don’t think the United Nations censoring harmless, fun shit that’s a part of our lives with anything involving aliens, even on Earth, is good—do you? How would you ever really get to know us? That’s a pretty rotten cultural exchange! I got arrested for giving my Zurulian exchange partner plant-based meat. If I was gonna have an alien friend, they should know the real me.”
“Counterpoint: I liked it better when humans weren’t supposed to be all smiley around me. Your entertainment is fine. I liked it when I could watch this atavist Yotul I knew die in video games and break controllers.”
“What happened to this Yotul?”
“Oh, Onso’s a politician now. All haughty and trying to pretend his rocket engineering degree makes him not primitive. If that was true, he wouldn’t be friends with a dumbass like Tyler; and if you knew Tyler, you would understand why.”
“This one’s all warm and fuzzy. I can practically envision him sitting in a rocking chair under an American flag and hear him yelling at ‘predator kids’ to get off of his lawn.”
“Nah, I like children. Adults not so much.”
Cilany gave me a look. “Sovlin. Beneath all your crankiness, I know you’re still a softie. We’ve both lived around humans for decades, so you can’t hate their entire adult population. Anyhow. There’s a lot to catch up on.”
“That’s why I’m here. Reflecting the good old days of ‘36 and the people I knew. We can speed up the catching up bit though, since he’s here. You answered how you met, but not why you live with this annoying internet stranger. I don’t understand why anyone would hook up with a human. What do you see in them?!”
“What? Oh no, we’re not—we’re roommates. Lars is fun to be around, but it’s not weird like that. I can’t imagine.”
“She’s very small. I’m not,” Lars pointed out helpfully.
“I don’t have feelings of that sort for you anyway. Lars is a goofy brother to me.”
“Good, because the idea of being like that with them is repulsive. Ick.” I could feel my few remaining spines bristling beneath the horrible shirt, poking holes in it. It was more subtle than shredding it with my claws. “Is there a reason I smell smoke?”
Lars’ eyes widened, and he rushed for the kitchen as the smoke alarm blared. “Right. I was cooking you dinner. The Wilen special! Why bother having alien guests if you can’t show them Swedish food?”
“Shit. I have to ask with humans, since Protector knows what you put in your food. You mentioned plant-based meat, so are you vegetarian or…?”
“Pescatarian. I eat fish only.”
I snorted. “So you like your dead animals with fins instead of legs. Nice preference, but to act like it’s different! That reminds me of a human who said they’re flexitarian; oh, sometimes they eat plants! Part-time predators only. Last time I checked, that’s just being a normal fucking omnivore. It’s how the damn word was explained to me.”
“You don’t get it. They eat plants when they feel like it,” Lars joked.
“What does the rest of humanity do that’s so different?! Weirdass predators.”
Still grumbling, I shuffled over to a seat at a table, and admired the stark contrast in furniture intended for Harchen versus humans; there was a duality in the decor to fit their cohabitation. I knew how difficult it was to live with Terrans—walking disasters, every last one of them, who only reached adulthood by the miracle known as society. Hunter was lucky that I knew he needed me. I was tired of finding his laundry everywhere, and searched for his damn car keys at least two times a week.
After flopping my rear end down in the chair, I rubbed my eyes. Maybe I was jet-lagged. I was halfway between grumpy and wanting a nap. The scent of Lars’ food actually smelled good, and reminded me that my dietary comments were very much in line with what I wanted to seek Cilany’s advice on. I needed to work up to that subject, for both my own sake and to adhere to politeness. The Harchen reporter and I had been apart for a long time. She was one of my oldest friends, and perhaps the start of my realizing that the Federation wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows.
I remember Cilany’s singular commitment to truth, and I knew it was why she would be a reliable reporter to give humans a fair shake. She was able to let Sam speak about Terran culture and look into the Arxur starvation allegations immediately after joining our crew; her bravery and tenacity were worthy of the utmost respect, in my book.
I angled a claw toward the Harchen, ignoring Lars stumbling around to transport the dishes with haste. “Neither of us could’ve imagined when we first met that we’d spend our retirement on a predator homeworld, living with them willingly. You never thought about going back to Fahl, with your job and your life?”
“We deserve no pity on this matter, but my last moments in Harchen space were seeing an Arxur raid. My job, my life, my home: it was gone. Many of our chants were nature-based, a lot like your culture. I mourned it every bit as much as you miss the little things about the cradle. I don’t want to go back though, knowing that life was all a lie; Fahl is too poisoned. The deeper I looked into humanity, with both their complexity and their darkness, the more I felt like I knew them—like this was an interesting world that could be my home. So I stay.”
“I stay because the people I love are here. Humanity gave me a second chance. They let me forgive myself, and I owe it to them to live out my life here. One day, before I die, I hope that I can…fully turn my back on the Federation. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about.”
“In what way haven’t you turned your back on the Federation? You stayed in the fight against them all the way to Aafa, threw off all the lies.”
“Not all of them. One issue hit the heart of what I believed, and I fear it would somehow make me the worst version of myself. I…you’re a former omnivore, Cilany. What do you think of, you know, being flexitarian?”
“You’re asking whether I’ve gone back to the old ways? No. I had an allergic reaction early on while living on Earth, so I saw the wisdom in getting the cure reversed as soon as I could. I have no desire to be an omnivore though, not when Lars is oh-so-happy to bring the flavor without the actual lab-grown animal tissue. It’s good enough for me. You should try it.”
The Swede grinned, starting to spoon a fake meat cutlet onto my plate. “If you’re curious, this is the perfect and safe way to dip your toes in the pond. You’ll love it. Herbivores don’t like to admit it, but we like these flavors because they’re good.”
I pushed the human’s hand, resisting his efforts to feed me a meat replica. “No. Please, stop. If I’m going to do this, I want the first taste to be the real thing. It has to be denouncing the Federation all the way. I know it sounds foolish, but I’m afraid that I’m a monster…that it’ll change me and spark some mad hunger. In the next breath, I believe it doesn’t do that to Hunter, Tyler, or Sam—not in any way that matters! It’s confusing. I saw a Gojid named Rumi eating fried chicken, and it felt wrong. I don’t know if I should try flesh food.”
“Serious talk, bro? It’s the only way to disprove your fears. The only way to know they were wrong, and that they took that part of you for no reason. There was nothing wrong with Gojids. That was just their Emergency Order 56.”
Cilany nibbled at her food, nodding. “I agree with Lars, Sovlin; the omnivores were victims of the Federation’s sanitization experiments. I think you should overcome that hurdle. These names that you mentioned, the people that you care about? Have them accompany you. If you don’t want diet to define you anymore, then don’t.”
“I’m surprised by your unequivocal support. Maybe I half-hoped you’d talk me out of it,” I grumbled, shoveling down some burnt vegetables with a sigh. “I can’t hate my own people for omnivory, then accept it from others; this belief means I condemn Terrans, deep down. I don’t want to hate humans ever again. I don’t want any predator doubts or Federation ideology lingering in me.”
“You can move on from all of it. The Federation doesn’t have to have any part in this new life you’ve fashioned. You can look everything they told you in the eyes and say, ‘No.’ I believe you have the strength to manage this, Sovlin. You always cared about doing what was necessary for a cause.”
“Always. I just wish I knew which ones were right ahead of time. I suppose I’ll have to take it on faith that is what’s best. I’ll have to believe what was said by the humans, who have always been honest, rather than the Federation liars.”
“It’s like I always told Cilany. Humans aren’t all good, and we sure aren’t perfect, but we have a lot of beautiful things to offer. We just showed everyone love until they came to their senses and loved us back!” Lars declared.
“You’ve seen that humans deserved a chance. Gojids, Harchen…you do too.” Cilany reached across the table, resting her palm on my wrist. “It’s okay to be a predator, Sovlin. You have to let that thought take root in your soul.”
Tears welled in my eyes, as her words struck a chord deep within me. It was time that I took that final leap of putting my actions in line with my changed beliefs, and went with my found family to try meat for the first time. It would complete my transformation from the Federation fanatic who had done all of those shameful things in my memory transcript. I couldn’t believe I had made up my mind to put a carcass in my mouth, but Cilany had given me the final push of encouragement that I needed.
Sovlin would be reborn as an omnivore before the week’s end, for better or for worse. I hoped to the nonexistent Protector that the taste of death wouldn’t awaken a predatory side within me.
A/N - 12! Sovlin learns about how Cilany and Lars met, and how our Harchen reporter elected to be his roommate; we hear why she stayed on Earth rather than heading back to Fahl. Cilany never became an omnivore, but she encourages Sovlin when he asks her the question that’s on his mind—so he can fully move on from the Federation like he hopes to.
How do you think Sovlin trying meat will go; how will he react to his first taste of predator food? Do you expect his adopted family to support him in these efforts?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting! I know the schedule is a bit off. I have a planned rest day at the end of each bonus series now, so with next weekend’s side update off, I’ll reset the schedule to Mon/Wed/Thurs/Sat starting November 25.
Comments
kabhes
I like how Lars isn't dating her because she's an alien, but because she's to small to stick it in.
kabhes
Maybe just give them an apron.
kabhes
Oh that would be amazing.
Ezekiah Kane
While she was working on the Blissful Modernity, her homeworld is still Fahl.
Greg Gougeon
I don't think most people would take the same meaning from the quote you do. Non NOP fans might start steering clear of you.
straw salmon
Also nice chapter 👍😎
straw salmon
“It’s okay to be a predator, Sovlin. You have to let that thought take root in your soul.” Such a good quote ☺️ ima put it on a shirt so everyone sees it 😁 its a good idea right guys?!?!!!?
PhycoKrusk
How about that? So Lars _is_ capable of putting thought into his actions. Too bad he's still Lars. Je suis Sovlin. Je suis....
PhycoKrusk
This is Lars; he absolutely has them on standby.
Gumcel
"You never thought about going back to Fahl, with your job and your life?” Wait I thought she was working on another planet. Also borjor time finale.
Guardian
If I see Sovlin bite into a Double-Double Animal Style from In-N-Out, I will be verah happeh. And then he Tyler can buy him one of their shirts; I wonder if the company would make styles for xenos? Heh.
EliasArt2Life
I would have liked a bit more of Cilany’s POV, but I can understand why this one was solely from Sovlin’s POV. Sovlin’s got a long journey ahead of him; eating meat is the start of the journey, not the end. His real struggle is overcoming his feelings that he is a monster, and confronting his belief that his commitment to herbivory is what’s keeping the monster in check is the first step in that. I’m glad he has his family around to support him through this time.
Anon
Have you ever thought of doing a story on one of the cattle rescues that was born in captivity? It'd be interesting to see how being introduced to their own homeworlds would have gone.
Max Kreuzer
I second ðis
Alekss Žukovskis
the whole internet supposedly weighed a strawberry back in 2020
DDDragoni
With so few quills, Sovlin's grumpiness has become his primary defense mechanism. It's good to be able to see him let that down a little around Cilany, even with Lars around
Sci-fi reader
T shirts for Gojid would just have another opening the back for the quills. Shouldn’t be big deal.
REDemon14
So, either Lars knew Sovlin was coming ahead of time or he has that shirt written in ask kinds of script just waiting on standby. With as bald as Sovlin is getting, a shirt might come in handy sooner rather than later. Order 56 basically became pointless when it failed to prevent the BoE. Meier alluded to that himself in the Main story. I wonder if Lars ever got that expunged from his record. I see Sovlin is still racist to the Yotul in particular XD "I don't see how anyone could hook up with a human" "I can't imagine." "The idea of being like that work then is *repulsive*." All this slander when Lars is right there! Are we really that ugly? At least Lars reason isn't as disparaging. "She's very small, I am not." "The Wilen special" sounds like Wilen has taken a liking to plant-based meat. I wonder how those two Medi-Teddies are doing. Hopefully living a happy life together. I hope we solved the whole "mercury in the fish" issue by the 2130's, otherwise a fish only diet would be dangerous. The fact is cloned would mitigate that problem though. I've never heard of a flexitarian so I had to look it up. It's literally just regular eating. Why did someone give it a different name? I can understand Cilany not wanting to go back to any Harchen world after the raids and revelations of the Feds. Too much negative imagery. It's interesting to see Cilany go from "The humans lured out our fleets to sic the Arxur of us" to "We deserve no pity on the matter". A massive shift in perspective after everything that happened. Makes sense that Cilany got the cure-reversal for protection from an allergic reaction after what happened in her sidestory. One way to get over something is to expose yourself to it in a safe environment. That seems to be Sovlin's plan to overcome this final hurdle. Looking forward to the conclusion to see how this turns out!
Roscuro
The single mention of arxur starvation made me think: "We really haven't gotten a closer look at arxur on earth during clean up." Outside of some fanfics that usually end in defectives staying. Closest we've gotten is Kaisel on the cradle and the mention one of them ate a kitten whole. Could be an avenue worth exploring.
Aerowarrier
Get him a rocket powered wheelchair and he can run over all the annoying terrans!
John Benjamin Cate
Wonderful chapter, love to see Sovlin catching up with his old friend and being a grump with Lars.
John Benjamin Cate
The desire for more is strong, isn’t it?
Harlej
Ah yes, She definitely plays Stellaris
BiasMushroom721
Lil'Grump'Ol'Man!
Alekss Žukovskis
booo
Byne
"I can practically envision him sitting in a rocket chair under an American flag" I assume this is a typo and you mean rocking chair but I for one think Sovlin needs a rocket chair.
un_pogaz
Lars, my dearest Lars, always pushing the joke to the edge of insult. You're funny but you're tiresome. Leave baldy alone, he's got enough on his plate with his own thoughts without you adding to them. Shit, too short, it's pretty frustrating. And yet it's one of the longest chapters in this series, how could it be?
th3h4ck3r
Information does not have mass but electrons do (assuming it's stored in NAND flash), so all in all it's probably weighs a few nanograms total
DreamEnvoy
Considering text doesn't have weight, wouldn't that make it free? :P
DreamEnvoy
"It was wretched. How could Terrans stand to have this garbage clinging to their skin at all times?" Who would guess that Sovlin had such hatred towards shirts. “She’s very small. I’m not,” Lars pointed out helpfully. “I don’t have feelings of that sort for you anyway. Lars is a goofy brother to me.” Sometimes refreshing to see not everything results in romance. “I don’t want to go back though, knowing that life was all a lie; Fahl is too poisoned. The deeper I looked into humanity, with both their complexity and their darkness, the more I felt like I knew them“ If you mean Earth is more genuine than a fed-altered species (as least after 56 ended), then that's a rather fair preference. “There was nothing wrong with Gojids. That was just their Emergency Order 56.” Never really thought of it this way, but I guess there is some parallels between humans and the feds in that we both censored our societies (though obviously the federation took it to a much greater extreme) “It’s okay to be a predator, Sovlin. You have to let that thought take root in your soul.” Read that as it's okay to be flawed. To think I would ever look forward to Sovlin nomming on flesh. Regardless of whether or not he even likes meat, I'll be glad when he crosses that final barrier to moving on from his old self.
Byron Ritchie
Nice to see cilany and sovlin catch up Also does cilany play paradox games? I’m only asking because they’re Swedish
th3h4ck3r
Also pls, make a jump to like 2154 with Sovlin ordering a medium-rare porterhouse. That scene would be worth it's weight in gold.
th3h4ck3r
I'm first? That's crazy
