spacepaladin15
patreon
The Nature of Predators - Star Crossed (1/13)
🕑 Added 2024-03-13 11:00:09 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Chloe de Vries, United Nations Consultant
Date [standardized human time]: January 5, 2150
The start of a new year was often when people on Earth tried to usher in change, though few had resolutions that took them as far away from home as I was going. When I’d applied for the position around Aafa’s orbit, I hadn’t expected to get it; my only training was an online webinar program that was the most basic requisite for any diplomatic role post-first contact. The upfront signing bonus they were willing to pay for only a month of guaranteed work, in addition to the starting salary, was a red flag, of course. There clearly was a shortage of humans who wanted to preside over Kolshians, interacting with them on a day-to-day basis.
There weren’t enough Terrans in general to go everywhere that needed aid, but…still! I assumed there would’ve been more requirements, though I figured they could train me on the fly. As soon as I’d boarded the shuttle for the station, there was no getting out of it. It had to be fine; they wouldn’t just leave me to sink-or-swim in a sensitive situation, with beings that weren’t human. How did that ever become normal to the folks in the big cities? It didn’t feel like any of our millions of years of evolution were tailored toward interacting with sapients that weren’t our own kind.
The fact was, I’d never even spoken to an alien. In total, I think I’d only seen two of them back home in the Netherlands. While there was mass immigration to Earth from a variety of species, most settled in the larger nations, or in United Nations hotspots such as Vienna. EU countries like mine had a number of programs to draw in extraterrestrials, but even so, those initiatives rarely included small towns; I was agoraphobic, so I avoided the cities like the plague. To go from never saying hello to a Venlil, to processing asylum requests from the much-less-cute species that radicalized the galaxy: it was an overwhelming prospect.
“Thank you for flying with TASS: Terran Automated Spaceships is the proud choice of the United Nations, serving Earth in her mission of humanitarian outreach! Sapient Coalition funding keeps our flights to all corners of the galaxy alive, so we need the support of people like you. Please leave a positive note with your embassy contact about the quality of your flight,” an artificial voice read out, startling me.
I placed my two bags at the ready—one for each hand, carrying everything I’d need for an extended duration living above a quarantined world. This was definitely my first time in space, and the infinite blackness was rather unsettling; it was an unspeakable amount of emptiness that made me feel dissociated from myself. This would be my only view from the station, a complex that orbited Aafa’s moon. Humanity had never relinquished control of the orbital defenses, even after forcing the natives to demilitarize. I found my eyes wandering toward the strange, cool-colored planet, in the hopes of something to latch on to.
That doesn’t help. Everything is too unfamiliar, or unnatural. We’re a long way from home, and I don’t have a clue what I’m doing out here.
A tremor passed through the walls as the vessel docked, ending the days-long journey. I tried to tell myself that I just had cabin fever, and that I’d acclimate to this eventually. A United Nations job was the best gig that anyone with my lack of qualifications could get; this was the chance to get some kind of career trajectory going. I’d fizzled out at too many attempted pursuits, whether it was being a failed bicyclist in university, a musician whose folk songs got all of ten views on EarthVid, or flunking out of engineering courses when I tried my hand at a “real” career. Maybe this was what I needed: a giant reset button, far away from my failures. Today would just be onboarding and training, after all, so I could make it through.
A young man with crisp black hair locked eyes with me as I dismounted, and he crossed the landing pad with bored disinterest. “Chloe de Vries? You’re the new consultant?”
“You could sound a bit more impressed,” I managed.
“Hmph. As if we’re not drowning in casework as-is; you don’t have the look of someone who’s been around the block.”
“Well, I haven’t been involved with anything like this before, but that means that I’m a blank slate to work with. It’s a little early to write me off.”
“Whatever. I’m Kenzo, and I’ve been asked to settle you in here. Walk with me.”
“I’m right behind you. I’m going to do my best to learn, and get up to speed so I can help with the workload. There’s a lot of…people depending on us, sounds like.”
Kenzo slanted his eyebrows down. “What’s there to learn? You interview them, type up what they say, and forward it to Immigration Services for their review. Most get turned around with a quick rejection, so you make them accept that and move on.”
“Yeah, I got that from the job posting. Hey, can you slow down a bit? You’re practically running…can’t you tell me a bit about this place, and what the Kolshians are like? Anything I should be aware of? Please. I’d really appreciate it.”
“It’s a small station. Offices are on this floor, sandwiched in the middle; living area on the top deck, and the guests stay down the lowest one. Upstairs, you sleep over on the left, while food and hanging out are on the right. Not that hard. You manage to get lost here and that’d be special.”
“Seems simple. But wait, that still leaves me with questions about the Kolshians. What are…what are they like? What’s it like for us, living here?”
Kenzo continued speedwalking through the hallway, despite my prior requests for him to slow down; I noticed the beefy security guards spread out across the premises, who gave him slight acknowledgment. Most of the office doors were closed, though I could catch a glimpse of a gelatinous pink blob through one that was cracked open. My fingers gripped tighter around my bag, and I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. The simple idea that we were speeding past Kolshians left me uneasy, and desperate for any crumb of information on how to deal with them. Their thoughts and emotions must be distinct from ours, as a separate species, and that was difficult to grapple with.
I wish I knew what this guy’s problem is, though it can probably just be chalked up to not wanting to deal with newbies. Still, it’s his job, and I need something to ground me. None of this feels real.
I stopped walking in the middle of the hallway, dropping my bag. “I’m not moving an inch until you pay me the basic courtesy of describing the Kolshians, and this place. Can’t you tell me a bit? It’s not that much of a chore.”
“Seriously? You want to do this right here, out in the open? Do you always ask this many questions, Chloe, the second you show up in a new place?”
“Only when I have zero idea what the fuck I’ve gotten myself into.”
“Let me fill you in. We’re stuck in the ass-end of the Orion Arm, where there’s absolutely fuck all to do. I hope you like sitting on your holopad, because there’s nowhere to stretch your legs up here. No nights on the town, no entertainment, no outdoors. Just space, 365 a year.”
“That’s not a rave review. You don’t like it here.”
“Nobody does. I’m here to collect a paycheck, not because I care about the calamari’s sob stories. You know the heinous crimes they did, for centuries?! And they still act around humans like it’s the 30s—the species that tried to eliminate anything with a face like us, they come up here all the time. They’ll sit right across from you, and you’ll have to keep a level head. We locked these fuckers up for a reason.”
“The Kolshians can’t…all be evil. There was the one who saved Marcel; the UN holds parades for Recel. Besides, the Federation is gone now, along with everything they tried to do. We have them at our mercy, so it can’t be a big concern.”
“That’s a nice story. They can tell you the shadow caste is all gone, out of the picture, but nobody’ll ever know that for certain. All you need is one leftover to bebop up here with the cure, or a Nikonus apologist to bring up something much worse. You want my advice? Don’t get close to them, and don’t trust them.”
“I see.” That doesn’t help me at all on how to talk to them. It just brings up another thing to worry about. “Thanks for the tip.”
“I sure hope that was what you wanted. Now, are you going to stand there all day, or can we keep walking?”
“Walking is fine by me.”
My mind raced with any number of perilous scenarios, while Kenzo had no objections to my brooding silence. What if a Kolshian attacked me because I was some predator to be cleansed, in their eyes? That had to be a real threat if there was a need for this much security. The idea of being hit with an alien bioweapon was something I wasn’t ready to have as even a remote possibility, regardless of whether humanity could reverse it now. If someone smuggled in a more familiar attack device, like a bomb, how would we even escape the station? Would that vent all of the oxygen, and I’d suffocate in an instant? I didn’t know how this all worked!
The Kolshians were quarantined because they’re incongruous with our existence. You won’t know who’s sitting across from you…and there’s no shortage of cases. Oh God. I’ve got to find a way to drag out whatever the onboarding process is.
I began plotting ways in my head to get out of interacting with the aliens. Days from Earth and with a pretty penny on the line, it would be a poor move to bail on day one. Perhaps there were other roles that I could get moved into: janitor, kitchen staff, errand girl. There probably weren’t people lining up for unglamorous roles in a place like this, so I could still earn my keep. I’d happily scrub floors or grab coffee for pricks like Kenzo if it was a human-facing role. Maybe I could test the waters on what job openings they had, and broach the subject with a tentative approach. There was no shame in admitting to myself that I was wholly unqualified and unready for this; I’d been kidding to think I was suited for diplomatic work, let alone with this species.
“This is your office.” Kenzo flung open an unassuming wooden door, which had an empty name card on the outside. There was a water dispenser in the back, along with a glass desk and a spinning chair. “Your calendar will be assigned to you automatically. Like the posting said, eight-hour day, and you’ll get a 40-minute lunch break. Your performance will be closely monitored, so don’t get any ideas to slack or take liberties.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Where to next? Living quarters, I assume; I need to drop off my bags and get settled,” I said.
“You’re in Room 12, but you can find that on your own time. Leave your bags, and set up your workstation login. Interview sheet’s not gonna type itself.”
“Wait, what? Are…we’re doing a practice interview?”
“What do you think I am: a professional hand holder? You’re gonna do your fucking job! It’s not that hard.”
“I’m not sure who put a stick up your ass, but I literally just got here. I thought there’d be some kind of learning curve…you could take it a little easy.”
Kenzo snorted. “We are taking it easy on you. You’re not getting slammed with one after another for a few days. I only put one on your agenda for today: some xenobotanist named Kelvanis. The file loaded on your station has all the info you need.”
“I, um…why don’t you sit in on this one? You told me they could be dangerous; I don’t know self-defense, or…”
“Panic button is under the desk, behind the cabinet drawers on your right. If you’re threatened, you call security, but you better not trip the silent alarm unless you’re in fear for your life.”
“Why aren’t the security in the fucking room?“
“It intimidates the visitors. Their comfort takes precedence over our safety; thank Secretary-General Kuemper for that call.”
“You’re not going to coach me on how to handle this at all? What is wrong with the UN: setting people up to fail?” My throat was clamming up, and I barely refrained from begging. This couldn’t be happening this quickly. “My only de-escalation or predatorphobia training is a joke of a webinar.”
“Well then I hope you were paying attention. Kelvanis is on his way. Sink or swim, fresh meat. Good luck!”
“Wait…Kenzo, don’t do this! I’m not ready.”
The door clicked shut as Kenzo ducked away, leaving me alone in an office that didn’t feel like mine. I slid my bags under the desk, and sank into the chair in a trance. My head sank into my hands, as the gravity of my predicament set in. My eyes slowly peeked out from the crook of my elbow, landing on the holographic display I’d been advised to log into. While I knew I needed to look over Kelvanis’ file to have the slightest inkling what to do, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Every fiber of my being wanted to bolt back to the ship, and refuse to leave the cabin until they took me back to Earth. After all, given my lack of any training and my present spiral, I was clearly going to flub this appointment with the Kolshian. There was no reason to put myself through this humiliation.
That’s not fair to Kelvanis, is it? With the amount of cases the UN is processing, he probably waited a while to get up here. His life could be in imminent danger, and if he gets sent back, he could be killed.
I drew a shaky breath, talking to myself in the hopes of inspiring courage. “Whatever Kenzo said, there was Recel being a decent guy. If there was one, then there must be others.”
It was a matter of making it through this one interview, as best as I could, for Kelvanis’ sake. He was a sapient being that hadn’t done anything to me…yet. It would be more dignified to be able to tell my family that I had spoken to an alien, and decided the job “wasn’t for me.” Bailing without a single meeting would make my résumé look even worse. I forced myself to sit upright, trying to make myself look presentable; out of the corner of my vision, I confirmed the location of the panic button. My first instinct was to fake a smile to mask my nerves, but it wasn’t long after that I remembered how aliens took that expression. All I could do was try to turn my consternation into a more neutral emotion, and to disguise my breathiness.
My twitchy fingers pranced across the keyboard, setting up a login with a quick facial recognition scan. Kelvanis’ file materialized on my screen once I was finished with the setup process, and though I tried to read it, my brain couldn’t make sense of the words. “I can do this” was the mantra I repeated to myself in my head, however little I believed it. It was all I could do to pretend to be busy, while praying that the Kolshian would carry the conversation—that I could listen to and document their response in my present state. Stuck in the only place with non-military humans in this star system, I waited for the first alien I’d ever engaged with to walk through my door.
A/N - Part 1! We meet Chloe, a new caseworker who lacks experience or qualifications, and after some less than encouraging tidbits from mentor Kenzo, she’s thrown straight into her first case: despite her fear of aliens, never interacting with one before. She sets herself to finish this case, so she can bolt back to earth without abandoning an asylum seeker. What do you think of this glimpse of how the UN is handling the Kolshians? Will Chloe be able to get through her schedule appointment with Kelvanis?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting! Kelvanis’ POV is next.
Comments
Some Lvm
When I started reading NoP, I never though I would get to a story titled: "Country bumpkin takes job meant for AI, goes full tentacle hentai". Yet I still can't stop reading... Seriously though: it totally sounds like this job could be handled by AI, and that would be less stressful for the Kolshians than sitting face to face with a human. Not that I have any sympathy for the Kolshians, any of them. Recel was unique, just like Issif turned out to be the only "defective" Arxur to reach the rank of chief hunter.
Rhuidean
Mentor is a strong word for Kenzo
Neu5Ac
I'd like to offer you a penny for your thoughts. With you given ten cents rather than the customary two, my profit margins are going to be enormous.
gilean23
Heh are you referring to Kenzo or Chloe? I’d say despite her anxiety, Chloe did pretty damn decently. Kenzo, on the other hand, was completely unprofessional.
Space Paladin
The 2130s!
everything very
Is the "30s" in this context meant to be the 2030s?
Space Paladin
What happens outside the SC is not something the UN interferes with. We saw with Fyron how Farsul on SC, non-human worlds are treated…the plot of a third HE series actually would’ve been her getting hate crimed, and Venlil trying to send her to Kessler’d Talsk “where she belongs”
John
Thank you politicians very cool.
Rowan Ruble
Ah government work, one person doing the jobs of ten people, with barely any funding and no training whatsoever.
Michael Halpern
I'd say Chloe's lack of experience to bias her makes her more qualified than Kenzo.
Cartoon dinosaur
Not what I wanted but has piqued my interest, Space paladin, How are the kolshians and farsul doing on other world? especially the Dueturian shield world, I would imagine they would institute exterminations of them, did the U.N. send party's to rescue them? And what of the ones on S.C. worlds? I'd imagine with humanity being the minority they would pass laws heavily against them. Like make it so that they cant get medical treatment and hate criomes killing a lot of them? will we ever learn what happened to them????
Guardian
Well, Kenzo did mention a panic button and cure-bombs, so I'm under the impression that not stationing on Aafa proper is a precaution. I, for one, would get really pissed if I couldn't eat In-N-Out burgers anymore, to say nothing of threats on my life or actual attacks.
Willie
I hate Kenzo- Chloe is so real tbh... does she have a relative named Piter? Cause that last name feels like a reference SP.
Stella
Kenzo is such an asshole. I like Chloe. :)
PhycoKrusk
Prediction: Chloe will end up dealing with more than just Kelvanis, and even though she basically only delivers rejections, she nevertheless develops a reputation on Aafa for being the rare predator with actual empathy and actually trying to help, asking questions in very specific ways so she can get favorable answers for their application, along with the belief that a lot more of them would get accepted if she was running the show and wasn't being held back by the bureaucracy. Just my ten cents.
PhycoKrusk
Hypothesis: Kenzo is actually at a supervisory level, after his supervisors at his previous assignment "recognized his hard work" and rewarded him with a promotion and a transfer to somewhere that they wouldn't have to deal with him anymore, and by that point, he was too invested in the retirement pension and wouldn't dare leave until he gets the few years in he needs to reach the next vestment level.
PhycoKrusk
Welcome to governmental employment.
PhycoKrusk
I get the feeling Kenzo is where he is specifically so no one higher up _has_ to inspect how he acts. Anymore.
PhycoKrusk
He's a government employee in a position nobody else wants, which means that compared to most anyone else we're used to dealing with, he is almost impossible to get rid of. Furthermore, given his attitude, I honestly get the sense he's not there because of the paycheck, but because it's punishment: He was causing too many headaches elsewhere, so they gave him a promotion and a nice, cushy posting at Aafa where his interactions with the rest of his organization - and the amount of reputational damage he can do - are minimized.
Space Paladin
Glad that you enjoyed the Dutch representation! We actually do get some mention of your 2100s flood control efforts in a future chapter 😅 I believe the Dutch name is most often spelled Chloë too
EliasArt2Life
Yeesh. That place is a mess. It makes sense though; only really empathetic people, people who just care about money, or people who want a chance to hurt Kolshians would take that job, and that last group is probably being screened out (Kenzo seems to fit into the middle group, more than the last). Plus, for people like that, most of them are probably going to other worlds for other types of work. There aren’t NEARLY enough viable humans for this, and goodness knows that other species of alien aren’t going to help. And THAT’S before realizing that humanity is also doing this with the Farsul. Even still, this place is pretty bad. The atmosphere here is like they’ve completely given up. I would like to see the UN come and fix the place up. Although, that would probably result in Chloe getting fired for lack of any real qualifications or training. Or maybe, they’d actually train her. Something tells me that Kenzo was wriggling out of doing his work, and he was really supposed to help her more. Chloe might be good at this. Aliens seems to feel more comfortable when they notice that we can be scared of them too.
Thrownawaz
Hi! Where does the line to suplex Kenzo start?
Space Paladin
Five years
Space Paladin
The name is a hint 😅
Space Paladin
Plenty of reasons. It’s the center of the galaxy so quality of life is good on Earth, it’s the only place with an UN tampered culture, it’s the best place to live if you have disabilities or “predator disease”, and it’s incentivizing people for all sorts of projects like Project Chronicles or just for diversification!
Qwerty Smith
I don’t actually see why a large amount of aliens would have moved to Earth It would mostly be embassy staff apart from the Venlil, who are going to get favouritism. Maybe the a lot of the Krakolt stayed on Earth as well?
Elliott
Damn and I thought I worked at places with bad HR
Invariance
"Star Crossed"? This should be good. Sounds like this could be Something About Purple.
Sci-fi reader
William Kane's nephew?
Swan
I get the feeling that heads would roll if someone higher up inspected that place with how Kenzo acts
mitsos_pr
I am ok with Kenzo being an asshole. We haven't had an asshole human character in a while, it was starting to feel unnatural
Stellar
Man Kenzo is an asshole
Dragon Writer Luc
US DST started Sunday
Dragon Writer Luc
I see we have some people still learning about DST after Monday's post.
S1nsational
Why was this posted an hour earlier than normal?
StormTheSquid
I'm pretty sure Kenzo is singlehandedly responsible for the fact that they're willing to accept someone with basically no training or qualifications. He must scare off every single person and constantly refuse to do his job as an onboarding person, like he is here. Irl, he'd be fired already. Either the UN is so short staffed that they can't afford to promote or hire someone else into the onboarding role, or employment in general has somehow gotten *worse* in the future. Utterly horrendous.
Corporal Chunk
Do you have a new schedule?
un_pogaz
>“I sure hope that was what you wanted. Now, are you going to stand there all day, or can we keep walking?” "I still have questions." Kenzo opens his mouth to protest, but I stop him. "But I'll find someone kinder to answer them." >“Well then I hope you were paying attention. Kelvanis is on his way. Sink or swim, fresh meat. Good luck!” Please tell me it's just Kenzo who's an asshole and Chloe's unlucky, and not the whole station that's terribly fucked up as it is. I understand that big administrations sometimes do stupid things when it comes to personnel management, but at this level, it's criminal! You're going to have to turn things around very quickly, otherwise it's just going to create problems and make the situation worse. One excuse I could tolerate is the critical lack of personnel (there should be 3-5 times more people than there are currently on the station), but even then, sending a new employee without a minimum of welcome and mission brifing is absolutely intolerable. Chloe hasn't even had time to put her bags down, for Christ's sake. Very curious to see Kelvanis' mentality. He's a native of Afaa, so you have to be prepared for a lot of Federation bullshit, but at the same time, the fact that he's even want to left the planet indicates that he's probably not a complete moron. Bonus point if this xenobotanist wants to study plants on Earth.
Yannis Morris
There will be comedy in Kelvanis assuming that Chloe is more prepared than she is
Yannis Morris
Like refusing to take another step until your mentor answers any of your questions?
Miguel Diaz
Kenzo is such a dick, very rude
Sayhoun
Nice to have a Dutch person in the story, however we are in The Netherlands a lot more assertive. In our way of communicating and dealings. We wouldn't be so much of a people pleaser and more direct in our approach.
Laser Bread
Also how long is the term for SG in this universe?
Laser Bread
I can't believe that they wouldn't actually put this whole thing on Aafa itself. It seems like that would benefit everyone's mental health. I guess we can't have our workers actually talking to people casually and actually getting interested in their problems and wanting to lift the whole thing because a lot has changed. Just a thought.
StormTheSquid
Kenzo is terrible at his job. Even today, with all the awful managers and the almost complete lack of employee protections, an onboarding this utterly horrendous would be grounds for his termination. "What do you think I am, a professional hand holder?" Yes, as someone who is supposed to do the onboarding, that is quite literally what you are. The fact that he's refusing to even do the basics or answer any of her questions means that he should be fired immediately. HR would have a field day with him.
Pineapplepilot
Holy moly, I've never seen someone as under qualified for "professional conversation haver" as me before. It's like looking in a mirror, crippling social anxiety and everything!
Youre a swedekisser arent you
Poor Chloe is in over your head and you get that feeling across well. Kenzo is definitely more than a little bit jaded, I'd say. I can *hear* the monotone voice in the text. This series will be beloved and also spawn more annoyance at the UN's competence levels. You really get Chloe's feelings of being overwhelmed and out of her depth in her new job position. A real trial by fire situation. I can't wait to see how it works out. (And if you're wondering, yes, I did copy the reviews I gave when reviewing the chapters)
John Benjamin Cate
Hello there Chloe! So sorry you got stuck with a jackass boss. I am honestly a bit doubtful of his process, considering how he’s acting. Yikes.
Logos
As someone from the Netherlands, it's really nice to see someone else from the Netherlands in fiction! It's also nice to know we're still a country in 2150, and that we've managed to keep the sea at bay for another century. Chloe's not a very common name here, but it's not unheard of. De Vries, however, is very common. If I'm not mistaken it originally came from the Northern province of Frysia, to indicate people from there. Now it's found everywhere. Anyway. After the Swedish guy in Cilany's story, it's cool to see someone from the Netherlands :)
Byron Ritchie
Squid kissing is canon!!! Maybe there is hope for the students becoming canon after all!
print Path
My Throne had been reclaimed!
Paperclip
"'The Kolshians can’t…all be evil. There was the one who saved Marcel; the UN holds parades for Recel.'" Holy based, Recel mentioned. We win these. Hope those parades are annual. Also, never mentioned it before but I love the Kolshian naming system. Gives me ancient Roman vibes.
PS1 Hagrid
First
print Path
First
