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The Nature of Predators - Nova's Children (3/10)
🕑 Added 2024-01-13 12:00:10 +0000 UTCThere was more blissful ignorance that once existed between the children, aside from not realizing they were from two separate species. Ari wasn’t raised to think of himself as a predator; the importance of his binocular eyes was lost on him and Elia. Aside from the occasional question about why her brother got different meals, there wasn’t even a hint at anything tangentially related to humans being predators. That would change in school, when kids shied away from humans. While there had been much improvement in Skalga, and especially its capital, there were still holdouts of bias—things that children that young could only pick up from their parents’ whispers.
“Avoid the predators. They’ll eat or hurt you if they’re hungry or in a foul mood.”
“Humans are a violent species. If their binocular eyes are pointed at you, don’t make eye contact. It’s either a challenge or them sizing you up as a meal.”
“Maybe humans aren’t as cruel as the Arxur, but they’re both predators. All predators eat people sometimes, whatever they say.”
“Any normal Venlil is afraid of predators.”
Comments like that were still whispered around many families, with humans on Skalga cited as a reason not to wander too far from home or talk to strangers. Ari noticed the children that avoided him, on that first day of class, and wondered what he had done to frighten them. It didn’t escape Elia’s notice, since the duo walked to school together. The young Venlil wanted to get to the bottom of why some peers were mistreating Ari, so after informing him of her plan, she approached some of them to get answers. The human crouched behind a corner, eavesdropping on the conversation.
Elia scowled, stomping up to a group of children with vindictiveness. “Why are you avoiding my brother?”
“Because he’s a predator, obviously,” a child answered. “Predators have nasty diseases from eating flesh. Those will kill people even if they don’t!”
“Humans are just ugly. They’d be bad enough not having fur, but those eyes are scary. Look how they move all over the place—to track prey!” another shouted.
Elia shoved the kid, causing him to land on his rump. “Take that back! My brother isn’t ugly.”
“You…live with him? Get away from me! It’s clear that predatory aggression has infected you.”
“What aggression? What do you mean about tracking prey?”
“You don’t know? Predators have bloodlust. They desire to eat living things, and enjoy the suffering of their prey. Anything with forward-facing eyes is dangerous. When your brother grows up, he’ll want to eat you.”
The other anti-human child flicked her ears. “They can’t help it. They’re monsters. Some of them learn to control those impulses, but there’s a reason we burned predators for years. Killing them is the only way to stop them from hunting Venlil, or contaminating us with traces. Everyone knows that.”
Was this true? Ari…didn’t want to eat people. He didn’t want to be a monster, a predator. He covered his eyes with shame; partially to hide those forward-facing pupils, but also to hide his tears. Elia was confused more than anything, unable to relate her brother with what those children said. The duo agreed to ask their parents whether this rhetoric was true, and if Ari might eventually want to do terrible things. It was all that was on the young primate’s mind, all day. Would other Venlil—maybe even his mom and Elia—burn him alive? That thought terrified Ari! When the human kid came home sobbing, Tarva and Noah rushed to comfort him, just as they had when his ribs were broken.
Elia sniffled. “Mom? Dad? What’s a predator?”
Noah’s shoulders slumped at once. “It’s…a term used by people who don’t like humans. In nature’s terms, a predator is any animal who hunts another animal for food.”
“I take it you learned this at school?” Tarva prompted, waiting as Elia nodded in the human way. “It’s used by people who wrongly believe that the humans are dangerous, and will eat people. There was…another predator species that did this, but it was never humans. Some people will always hate Ari, or be afraid of his eyes.”
“We didn’t want you to think of humans like that, Elia. We’re just people. There is nothing wrong with or dangerous about Ari and I; hateful children who ignore all scientific proof and want to be stuck in fear are wrong.”
Snot bubbled in Ari’s nose. “Am I going to have…bloodlust? I don’t want to hurt Elia.”
“Of course you’re not. You’re just a person, with the same complex feelings as your sister. If anything, Elia is probably more aggressive and physically dangerous than you.”
“What about with sicknesses? Why did they say predators carry diseases?” Elia swished her tail from side-to-side, recalling what they’d said. “They said meat gives him diseases. Is that why you feed me differently? Why would you make Ari sick?”
“Ari needs to eat meat to get certain vitamins. Venlil are herbivores, which means you need, and are supposed to, eat plants alone. The Kolshians wanted to blame binocular-eyed creatures for their diseases, and started those disease rumors. Part of why we cook meat is to kill bacteria, so there’s nothing to worry about.”
“Humans have been great friends to the Venlil, and have become a species I love dearly,” Tarva interjected. “You know that you’re different, Ari, but what you need to eat to stay alive doesn’t matter. It shouldn’t matter to anyone that’s worth your time.”
“They said that Venlil burn predators alive!” Ari blurted. “Should I be…scared of Venlil?”
“There are people that will want to hurt you, but burning is a cruel and forbidden method. Humanity has fended off past attempts to kill you, so that it wouldn’t be your experience. You and Elia can learn how to protect yourselves, but I hope it won’t come to that. You don’t deserve that for existing.”
A growl rumbled in Elia’s throat. “That’s all so unfair, and so stupid! My brother deserves better. I won’t let anybody hurt him.”
Memory Transcription Subject: Elia Williams, Venlil Athlete
Date [standardized human time]: October 2, 2152
When Ari told me that the results had come in, I was frustrated that he’d chosen to have them mailed to a pickup station, rather than sent digitally or mailed to our house. Before he spilled the truth about the ancestry test at the dinner table, he hadn’t wanted our parents to see it—and he said he knew that Noah had monitoring software installed to watch our computers and holopads. I hadn’t caught onto the fact that our father was surveilling our digital whereabouts, but I assumed Ari had a measurable degree of certainty if that was his claim. Now, the need for secrecy was over, so I agreed to accompany him to retrieve the results and told my parents where we were off to. The anticipation was eating my sibling alive.
“You sure you don’t want us to come with you?” Tarva asked.
Ari crossed his arms. “I don’t. This is something I want to figure out for myself.”
“Okay then.” Noah was scrolling through his holopad, pulling up a particular message with an upward swipe. “Hey, Elia! It looks like you got into the University of Michigan! We should add that to the list for college tours, next time we go to Earth.”
I groaned. “I told you, Dad, I don’t want to go to university. It’s worthless for athletes. I just submitted those applications so you’d leave me alone.”
“It doesn’t hurt anything to check it out, and have the option available! If they’re giving you a full athletic scholarship, it won’t cost a thing; you might as well learn as much as you can, and use what’s basically free training. You could raise a lot of awareness for alien athletics on Earth too. Maybe even take some sponsorships!”
“Whatever. Can we go now?”
“Elia! You won’t disrespect your father like that,” my mother hissed. “How exactly do you plan on making a living income, outside of the ‘once every four years’ Olympics—which might not happen again, if the event doesn’t draw enough support? You’re a talented runner, and we’re proud of that, but you need real skills too.”
“Running is a real skill! Maybe I’ll start a parkour channel—”
“‘Parkour?’ Like those crazy humans who jump off buildings and roofs, often endangering their lives?”
“Yes! I’m considering my options.”
“Young lady, you will not pursue such a stu—”
Noah raised a hand, spotting Ari’s anxious stare. “Let’s have this discussion later, Tarva. Ari wants to see those test results, and we shouldn’t keep him in suspense over our views on his sister’s choices. When we go to Earth for those college tours, we might be able to visit any of his biological relatives that he locates—if he wants to.”
“I don’t know what I want. Just let me think about it,” Ari sighed. “Bye, Mom, Dad.”
“Walk safe. You need anything, whether it’s to talk or to be picked up, you call us.”
“Yes, sir.”
My brother shuffled out the door, starting the walk several blocks down to the pickup facility. The two of us had each donned hoodies, in order to disguise our identities; neither of us felt like being recognized, as the well-known figures we were. My running shoes thudded against the pavement, as I jogged several steps ahead of the human, who refused to give chase. I thought about teasing him about predator instincts—being driven to dash after the fleeing prey—but I wasn’t sure how he’d react to that right now. Ari didn’t want to be reminded that he was a predator, even as a joke; he felt like enough of an outcast.
Maybe these results will help him find a sense of belonging, and conceptualize what humans really are. So he can throw back at any doubters what’s really in his genes: I don’t have to see the test results to know it’s not eating Venlil.
I was grateful that we’d finally have answers, and that with any luck, we could put these troubled thoughts in Ari’s brain to bed. The poor human looked queasy, as though he could barely bring himself to find answers. If there was something negative in the results about his parents, or why they’d given him up, that would make finding out the truth a mistake. I didn’t think he needed his worst fears confirmed. Maybe I should look at the test first, and scope out the info, in the hopes my brother wouldn’t get hurt. However, Ari might have objections to that, so I should only offer that as an option.
As we walked past the shop entrances and octagonal buildings, I noticed the reflection of four Venlil tailing behind us, who seemed to be pretending not to stare at us. Someone must have recognized us despite the disguises; the Terran garb was a giveaway, in many ways. They didn’t have the courage to approach us, which was fine by me, since we were in a rush. I wasn’t sure Ari could put on his dad’s mellow, salt-of-the-earth mannerisms right now. Actually, I hoped they weren’t reporters, though; the last thing my brother needed was for this excursion to wind up plastered on a tabloid.
Ari pushed open the door to the post office, drawing a deep breath. “Well, this is it. I have the code for Box 7. Let’s…look at it when we get home, okay? I want to be somewhere private.”
“This is your decision, bro. I’m here to help you,” I assured him. “Would you like me to pick it up for you?”
“No. I’ve got it. I…have to do this.”
The human marched up to the box, numbered 7 in Venlil numerals, and punched in the correct code; several observers seemed surprised that he hadn’t needed to switch the language interface to English. He slid his slender arm into the slot, pulling out a weathered envelope, addressed to him in Terran script. Reading and speaking both languages proved helpful on occasions like this, in ways that translators couldn’t keep up with. In a society where convenience seemed to get more valuable by the year, not having to tote around a visual translator on either planet was handy.
“Right. Back home we go,” Ari mumbled.
I peeked my head out the door, spotting the four Venlil from before waiting outside the post office; they were attempting to pretend they were in a casual conversation huddle. Something about them was off-putting; a voice in my head was telling me that they were something more sinister than fans, though I hoped that was paranoia. Whatever the case, it was creeping me out, with what basically amounted to confirmation that they were following us. My plan was to walk around them, since we were in broad daylight, then attempt to lose them by scurrying off down an alley. We knew the roads of Dayside City like the back of our paw.
I can’t sprint too quickly to lose Ari, either. In short distances, I’m faster, so it’s my job to protect him.
I drew a deep breath. “Don’t stare, but those Venlil over there have definitely followed us from home. It’s like they’re waiting for the right time to…ambush us. Maybe that sounds crazy, but…”
“I saw them before, but I tried to shrug it off. I’m getting the same bad vibes,” Ari answered.
“Heading away from home is a bad idea, so we want to try to stay in the line of sight of others. This is a public square with lots of foot traffic. Let’s steer a little ways around them, huh, and then make a run for it down the shortcut. We can lose them.”
“This could be video number one for that parkour channel.”
I chuckled. “I’m not worrying about filming right now. Just keep close to me.”
The two of us marched forward, trying to steer a wide berth around the quartet; my fear was at an unreasonable level, with the chasm of dread growing as I peeked at their darkened eyes. They reminded me of something with the way they seemed to have a hierarchy, and even their huddle was a particular formation. I tugged my brother wide, walking in a diagonal line to the other side of the street. Our stalkers’ eyes darted toward us. As well-known individuals, and usually tagging along with a human in Skalga, I was used to keeping my head on a swivel. However, I’d never encountered anything that weirded me out like this did.
With sudden movements, as if they were springing an ambush, an unmodded Venlil took a leap in front of our position; he seemed to be the son, about my age, of a crippled female from the older generation. As we were startled by the stranger blocking our path, and signaling a confrontation, the other three circled behind us. I felt cool metal pressed against my skull. My first thought was that it was a gun, but when it dawned on me that it was a larger instrument, I figured it was a flamethrower. Those weapons were forbidden, and had been collected by the government years ago! Were these anti-predator individuals, here to hate crime Ari—maybe for being human, or perhaps singling both of us out for who our parents were.
“Don’t scream. I’ll light you up and give you a reason to scream,” the female growled. “Walk calmly into that alley to your right. Don’t draw attention.”
Ari gulped, seeming to have a flamethrower at his own head. “We don’t want trouble. If you want our money, you can just take it; I can transfer some credits to you right now!”
“We don’t want your credits, Ari and Elia Williams. We want you because your mother infested our world with predators, and she is the reason we lost our job in Tonalu City—why our guild closed down! None of this would’ve happened without Tarva. We traveled a long way, did a lot of research, and waited patiently for this conversation. Now walk, or the last thing you feel will be white hot flames!”
My heart hammered in my chest, as I weighed out options. Despite being in a crowded venue, the Venlil walking by were shockingly oblivious, too lost in their own world or their holopads. The handful that seemed to notice sped up, turning a blind eye. I didn’t like the idea of complying with these vindictive exterminators, who’d apparently gone out of their way to track us down, but I didn’t see another choice. If they were just going to kill us anyway, then I hoped they might not do it by flamethrower—for the sole reason that our screams would attract attention. Maybe Ari could talk them down, or I could find an opportunity to fight back.
Raising shaking paws over my head, I headed into the alley at flamethrowerpoint, and my brother followed.
A/N - Part 3! We see the children learning about Venlil views on predators, and how some Venlil even hurt predators...and it becomes relevant in the present. The test results are in, and as the children slip away from the latest argument over Elia not wanting to go to university, their adventure is derailed by a group following them: who know who they are, and blame Tarva for extermination guilds getting closed down. Will Ari and Elia be able to figure a way out of this? What do you expect their captors to plan to do with them?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
Thalia says trans rights
Oh hooray, an attempted space lynching. I'm sure that won't cause an upwelling of generational trauma from Noah
BXSinclair
Absolutely, if they're gonna kill you anyway, make them do it in public
BXSinclair
They should have security, but any competent security would have intercepted the exterminators before they got close to the pair Then again, if the security are non-human, which is highly likely, that could explain things, as it's only been 15 years, any security they have would have to be old enough to be unmodded, so they might not have learned the whole "competency" thing
Rick VanHoute
Not letting your captors take you to a secondary location is the best you can do. Most times if you comply it won't end well.
Willy
Aren’t there a bunch of aliens on earth?
Willy
SP, please don’t let it end like this! Not Elia and Big Bro Ari!!!
Willy
They never were
Luiz Henrique Alves
@Gumcel, that's still working age and some 30 away from retirement
Mundane Purpose (big E)
These exterminators need to be put down like the rabid animals they are. I want heads to roll-and not the kid’s
Wesley Rigg
Agreed. I'm just wondering how subtle the rescue team is. I don't think even with the violent games that they are ready to see firsthand what a shotgun will do to someone's head.
Corporal Chunk
But wouldn't you call the police?
pogman
They're incapable of having fur, we are and yet we mostly don't. Hence the novelty of being "furless" in the galaxy
HiMyNameIsFelipe
My take is: due to the security issues the Williams family may face due to who they are, they are constantly observed by security forces. When the siblings left, they were probably also being followed, but much more discreetly. They probably noticed the tailgaters and prepared for backup and a counter ambush just in case. Now that the ex-terminators are at it, they are moving into action. I am making stuff up for my sake please let me be somewhat right
Wesley Rigg
Anytime I mention NoP to my dad he tells me that I read the most depressing shit lol.
Yannis Morris
And now I desperately want more
Wesley Rigg
William Kane and Rauln to the rescue! And William is still an asshole! And Rauln is still a pyro! And they still act like they hate each other! Let's traumatize these kids lol.
Lunam
....................Maaaaaan I am hoping for some Grade A Skalgan violence from Elia. Rambouillets/Mountain Goat vs the Ouessant GO!
autotheftgrand
You know? I'm starting to get the idea these people aren't very stable.
autotheftgrand
Missed that part. Makes you think they might just be bitter about losing their jobs, huh? And all this rhetoric is designed to rationalize their quest for petty revenge.
DemonVee
I wonder how they rationalize that... Willingly using the unmodding procedure that was handed to them by predators to help their children... But predators are still evil of course.
DemonVee
You want Humanity to take Venlil children and forcefully re-educated them like what the Farsul did... Even when looking at this on a callus mathematical level, that would be a disaster. Not only would it destroying the SC that's suppose to stand for freedom and equality between each species in an instant, as yes... That would be exactly what the Federation would do. Because you can't lead a revolution against an entity and expect it to last long when you repeat the exact same mistakes. But it would also take Humanities closest ally, a species so rebellious and fierce that the Federation considered glassing them, and turn them against you by proving everyone's imperialist accusations... Sending a clear message to other species in the Galaxy and undoing everything. You can't expect a zero tolerance policy for domestic issues. Either you give people freedom to live their lives and let some crimes slip through the cracks, or you turn your reign into a police state and start committing crimes on your own people. Plus, how I see it Skalga seems to have things relatively under control considering it's been only 15 years and their biggest initial concern was that they would be recognized as well known figures. Like, the crazies here are lashing out because of "how much has changed".
Sworishina
Nah, one of the Venlil in the exterminator posse is unmodded, remember?
SimpleArtist
That's true, however, I reckon Elia woundn't be feard and hated by most of the planet, like Ari is being right now
TheBlack2007
Most of the hostilities within the group are either Rauln on Fyron or William on Luala and Rauln. Usually, the worst Fyron receives from William is some mild teasing about her interests - which doesn't automatically spell toxic relationship. With some work on themselves the two might actually have made it work out - not holding my breath though.
autotheftgrand
Like she realized this after the fact and re-remembered it that way? Also, oh yeah, memory transcription. I guess she couldn't've died before at least getting a brain scan, so she'll probably be ok. Maybe that brain scan was performed in a hospital burn ward on a, now permanently disfigured, venlil but hopefully not. No idea about Ari though.
autotheftgrand
What? "This'll teach you for dyeing your ears young lady! You're not an adult until I say you are!"
Blake S
Oh my god tarva sent them, the timing is to perfect
Corporal Chunk
Ah shit, they might "Cure" ari too if they somehow got the cure from the kolshians
Mark Baculna
He had a mental breakdown. He was so invested in tarva that when he realozed tarva is about to lose another that something in his brain switched off. Let us all pray for his recovery.
Yannis Morris
“They’d be bad enough not having fur” Don’t let's this kid talk around Harchen/Tilfish/Verin/Mazic (perhaps), Takkan, Kolshians, etc
autotheftgrand
I just had the most horrible thought. They're gonna beak Elia's legs and make her like a Venlil SHOULD be. Cut her nose off too.
Piittis
It'd be very nice to see this group of morons accidentally torch themselves alive during whatever ensues. Exterminators could certainly use a taste of their own medicine.
Space Paladin
Humanity First could attack them on Earth too, for being xeno sympathizers/xeno kids :/
Bungus Grungus
Because that would be pretty messed up to do.
ToddTheSquid
I have an extremely intense desire to climb through my phone and rip the flamethrowers from the hands of these twisted, vile creatures, threatening to burn *children*, and give them a taste of their own medicine.
Guardian
If the envelope is indeed destroyed, would it jot be possible to resend its information? Of course, SP has said in another reply thread that this is a 'c9ming-of-age' story, so allow me to propose a wild theory: No heroic cameos. The siblings win the day themselves, either through some soul-searching or ass-kicking. Ari retrieves the results, but deposits them in the nearest wastebasket. He doesn't jeed them anymore; he knows who his family is.
Mike Barth
Going to be honest I really don't see that relationship holding up more then on an off because of how volatile and dysfunctional that group is. Pretty sure if an actual serious attempt at a relationship happened they'd hate each other even more within 3-5 months.
Gumcel
Yeah but they’re an exterminator from tonalu city; whereas vana was the owner of a flamethrower company in dayside city.
Gumcel
Either a stroke or an ai took over his computer.
Gumcel
Pretty sure he was 27 in human exterminators; so he’d be 42-43 now.
Gumcel
15 years
Vladi Vladi
why not? Its only been 20+ years since the war ended. Why shouldn't the aliens be mistrustful and violent?
Vladi Vladi
Your response makes perfect sense, as what i proposed is intentionally what the Federation would do. Indeed, threatening people that they must either tolerate the demonic refugees and teach their children the same or have their society collapse is not a democratic solution. But what response should humanity employ in its desperate mission of attempting to convert Skalga into a Pro-Human world in a timely manner?
Vladi Vladi
yeah, silencing and controlling people is illegal under the UN. The entire point of democracy is that everyone has a voice. But that doesn't mean you should stay idle as people move from threats to violence.
PhycoKrusk
She's going to sell Wheaties.
PhycoKrusk
They aren't doing what you have suggested because Earth is not doing imperialism anymore. It's very telling that your proposed solution to the issues on Skalga is to subject the indigenous population to a set of rules you would never agree having forced onto yourself.
Amanda Chowning
Hey, U of M! I graduated from The University of Michigan, lol. I really want to see her go there, haha. And looking at the comments, seems like I’m not the only Michigander here.
Conure King!
Did you fall on your keyboard?
Amanda Chowning
As someone who graduated from U of M, I’m super excited to see it here.
Conure King!
The same reason antivaxxers exist IRL.
Cinnomen Sticks
All exterminators are evil and should be pushed off a cliff
Vaill the protogen
Space paladin your a evil person, I didn't think it was gonna happen like this
PhycoKrusk
The idea isn't that you'll be safe (although, let's have it, that is what usually gets communicated), but that there'll be witnesses. Most people will be deterred by this fact, and the ones that aren't probably wouldn't be deterred by anything.
Tyler Ellis
That whole notion of “if I get in view of the public I’ll be safe” is a misconception. You are no safer in public, think about it, you see two strangers getting into an altercation in a public place, you don’t know the context of the altercation or who started it, one of them even has a weapon, are YOU going to be the one to jump in and break it up? Of course not, everyone else will have the same line of thinking to.
Some Lvm
Hmmm. Skalga does have higher gravity than earth, doesn't it?
Some Lvm
@TheBlack2007 my first play through went all the way with a shotty. Very good in early game, I just wish I knew gorilla arms give you boost to weapon requirements... My favorite weapon in Doom too, both the original and 2016. They aren't really realistic, but you can't beat a shotty in video games. As for Noah, you would be surprised what a good dad will do for his kids... Although I suspect either someone else comes to their rescue, or Elia is about to show what she learned from some earth culture, "Get away from her you bitch" style.
Serpent_Bon 274
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Mr. Walker
Well, memories change when we revisit and rethink them. These are memory transcriptions.
Serpent_Bon 274
L
everything very
This did occur to me as odd to think you have a gun to your head but then still have mental clarity to guage if it's quite right
richfiles
Man... Elia better not get Nancy Keriganed right before her big Olympic debut!
Vladi Vladi
ok...why isn't human military intelligence monitoring Skalga and deeply infiltrated in all domestic affairs though? How could humans let Venil and other aliens educate their own kids with no supervision? They KNOW the aliens aren't gonna forget their programming its part of their religion and culture. For any other alien planet, who actually cares, right? But Skalga has the highest human population, after Gaia. They should've bunkered down and made a clear statement: either you raise your kids exclusively with the estabilished truth, regardless if you actually believe in it or not, or you don't get electricity or heating and all your farms get raided. "But that's Predatory! That's what the Federation would do!" I wonder why? Is it because its hostile alien space that would never buy their wild theories otherwise? The aliens are the exact same people they were thousands of years ago. These are still Venil, aggressive, stubborn goats who only listen to you if they fear you or have no other choice. They don't care that humans saved them. They don't care that humans found the truth. Why should they care? They are old, have nothing to lose. Letting them be independent means making the lives on human refugees on Skalga miserable for generations...a VERY democratic world government move, but still foolish
SimpleArtist
And this, my friends, is why is inmoral to CHOOSE to raise a Human in Skalga, depite having the means to move to Earth.
Mr. Walker
"My first thought was that it was a gun, but when it dawned on me that it was a larger instrument, I figured it was a flamethrower. " --- NOOOO!! YOU MONSTERS!! DON'T YOU DARE HURT THIS WHOLESOME SIBLING DUO!!
Yannis Morris
Hate to stand against Elia but you gotta do something monetizable between Olympic attempts. And hey, no reason it can’t still be something athletic
Yannis Morris
At least my negative predictions still had the fam together when they were getting hatecrimed. And now we got kidnapping
Mr. Walker
Geesh SP15. Right in the feelings
Mr. Walker
It might be easier to parkour on earth.
Mr. Walker
Oh! Maybe his parents are a pair of on the run from the law! Sophie "The Butcher" Schneider and her husband Lawrence "Claw" Kacey. Wanted for mass muder, drug smuggling, sapient trafficing, money laundering, terroristic threats, and space piracy.
EliasArt2Life
Honestly, the kids should have been told about the Predator stigma before going to school. It’s either a couple extra weeks of blissful ignorance, but having to confront the problem on society’s terms, or breaking it to the early, but they have time to prepare on their terms. Their ignorance didn’t protect them from the truth. I’m going to guess that Tarva or Noah followed the kids, and will come to rescue them. Either that, or one of the passerby who saw the confrontation tells the proper law enforcement. Let’s hope neither of them get hurt; Tarva already lost one kid, and either of them getting burned will torment her.
TheBlack2007
I thought more about the one my Solo uses in Cyberpunk 2077 - Low Tech and low budget but lots of power for when you need to blast someone straight through the wall behind them, all while blabbering nonsense like Old Man Henderson himself! Don't see Noah go full-on dunk and buzzed scotsman though.
PhycoKrusk
Guess we get to find out if Ari does actually have the Williams charisma. Or maybe he's got that "predator ingenuity", and turns their unmodded assailant against the rest of them.
Mr. Walker
'Snot bubbled in Ari’s nose. “Am I going to have…bloodlust? I don’t want to hurt Elia.”' --- Should probably warn him about intrusive thoughts at some point.
PhycoKrusk
I hate that what you said is technically true. Guess we get to find out just how fatal a Human's fury actually is.
Alekss Žukovskis
Supertechnologically advanced shotgun, i might add. Like magnetically accelerated, armor-piecing sedatives
PhycoKrusk
I would guess E-lie-a, but I've been thinking Eel-ee-a to myself since the start, and now I don't know.
Space Paladin
It is slice of life/coming of age in many ways, but they also have unique attention and challenges, with who and what their parents are—I’d be remiss not to work that into the story. Especially thematically with what happened to Tarva’s first daughter
TheBlack2007
You're right. Didn't read the "about my age" part properly. Could still be them, though - being one big, unhappy, disgraced, formerly wealthy turned poor family. Not sure if we ever learned anything about Cylek's family beyond his mother. The youngster may have been well on his way when shit truly hit the fan.
Apogee
But this son is unmodded and is younger than cylek would be
TheBlack2007
I can't believe I haven't thought about this before reading this chapter over for a second time, but could the mother-son duo be a disgraced Cylek (Jimek's Bully back from his school days) and his mother, Vana - who used to own a flamethrower company and was heavily involved with the Guild?
Space Paladin
Fixed!
autotheftgrand
"pulling out a weather envelope," is that a special kind of envelope or is that suppose to say weathered envelope?
TheBlack2007
It's probably a mix of both. Overall Venlil and other Alien societies likely grew more tolerant of Humans since the main motivation behind their Xenophobia was fear stemming from misinformation and ignorance. And fear can be countered by exposure. As Humans just continued to live among them and most people realized they weren't vicious, bloodthirsty or even just more dangerous to be around than the average herbivore. This however doesn't mean anything in regards to those who actually hate Humans for what they are and how they have upended an order that lasted for centuries. Namely former Exterminators and their associates.
Anemoia
Ik, I'm not saying treatment of humans got worse, because Ari being able to simply walk down a busy street and only get stares and street crossings is a hell of an improvement from a life-or-death scenario. What I'm saying is the general sentiment of human-phobia must be much easier to propagate now that there are adults who were never alive for those days
th3h4ck3r
If anything, now we see how anti-human racism is now ingrained and normalized at a societal scale, not just like NOP1 where it's mostly a panic/fear reaction but now it's just true xenophobia that's become part of the local culture.
th3h4ck3r
It states that it got much better. We didn't see a lot back in NOP1, but things like threatening to shoot humans for entering bars was a thing and human kids were almost torched because of a school fight. And even today, it seems like most humans live in some sort of ghetto outside the city, probably the same one built for the refugees from the BoE. So comparatively, being the Boogeyman to some random Venlil kids and having people cross the street to avoid you is relatively tame. As much as it hurts to see people avoid you, it beats people wanting to *lynch* you.
Anemoia
Regarding the 3rd person pov at the beginning, I imagine anti-predator sentiment has actually increased a little since the end of the war, rather than decreased. It's easy to tell your kids times were so much better before humans when they weren't alive to see for themselves.
PiñaPiloto
FUCK, man. I was hoping this would just be a nice slice of life story. Y'know, a break from the senseless violence and racism woulda been nice SP.
Niko15
Nothing like being kidnapped on a way from the Space Inpost
Space Paladin
Obviously, this story is sunshine and rainbows, like all my stories! *innocent smile*
autotheftgrand
I think William was in his 20s during NOP1. I thought that was a bit young for a grizzled, doesn't play by the books but gets results, cop type of character. He'd be in his 30s or 40s now, not even old enough to be one day away from retirement.
autotheftgrand
Okay, its hilarious we're all coming to the same conclusion. Somebody needs to swoop in and save them! Particularly somebody with experience handling murderous Venlil.
Edmund Lam
Ari, I am your father…
BigSneppy
Maybe they’ll get saved by Billy Kane and his Farsul wife
DemonVee
Haha I hope... Just a sneaking feeling tho, did William have a baby brother/sister or niece/nephew who died during the invasion of Earth? Wouldn't it be a huge coincidence if there was a connection between the two just as they met]
TheBlack2007
Up next we have Noah grabbing his shotgun and going off to save the kids. The line of him keeping digital tabs on the kids was probably dropped for a reason and the shotgun is a little freedom of interpretation on my end.
Some Lvm
Ok, so totally not the direction I expected this story to go... Angry vindictive exterminators? Oh boy...
Some Lvm
I think I found Ela's parkour channel, and it looks like she decided to go blond again: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULdtRjpOkQE
Adam Myers
Wolverine here living in Wolverine (no really), lol
Adam Myers
That was what I was thinking too. I am surprised to hear my alma mater referenced. I am pretty stoked about it.
Wingit98
I mean, look how long racism has survived on just our planet with just our species
Jason Young
Hmm given the amount of years that have passed its probably more likely that a Jimek who obviously tutored under Willam Kane and the rest saves the day
Taliesyn
Oh, also, as a Michigan resident, I approve of Noah's excitement for the U of M acceptance, even if I'm a Spartan myself.
un_pogaz
>a voice in my head was telling me that they were something more sinister than fans, Are these four Venlil with a very short furcut, like exterminators? Obviously, such fanatical institutions don't like to disappear without taking as many innocents with them as possible. I'm genuinely curious to see how important the remains of the Federation and the Exterminators will be in NoP2. Curious to see how it will end (no fucking chance that 2 children so diplomatically important has not under surveillance). And who will be the savior: Police, Nulia and Marcel, William Kane and the Four Musketeers, Jimek and Dustin, by themselves? Place your bet!
Byne
I predict the kids will escape relatively unharmed but in the scuffle the test results will get burned by an errant flamethrower blast. Or Ari will drop them and the ex-terminators will get them and publicize the results if they show negative stuff about his parents. Either way I dont think Ari leaves with the results.
Byron Ritchie
I wonder if a certain exterminator squad will save the day?
th3h4ck3r
First Venlil Wolverine! Go Blue!
TheBlack2007
And now, enter one aged Human-Venlil exterminator duo to save the day...
Byron Ritchie
I’m thinking the same
Taliesyn
And today the Venlil will get to learn what happens when you fuck with a human's children.
Paperclip
The HE cast always finds a way into separate stories, like ants into a home. It's inevitable, so why not welcome it?
Edmund Lam
Will my favourite asshole William Kane come to the rescue?
Paperclip
Also, is her name pronounced Ell-ee-ah or E-lie-ya? It's been destroying me for a bit now lol
Youre a swedekisser arent you
Oh god, the children are in danger. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA Why'd you have to hit us with the rainbow, SP? Why?!
TheGoldenTank TGT
Oh boi, the kids are one step away from turning into marshmallows. Hope they get out alright...
Andrew Boivin
I’m slowww
Paperclip
Wow, this took a sharp turn REAL fast. It's interesting that the predator rhetoric survived even into the unmodded generation. Shows how even with tons of evidence, ignorance still thrives.
print Path
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