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The Nature of Predators 181
🕑 Added 2023-12-25 12:00:16 +0000 UTCMemory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: April 9, 2137
I wasn’t sure what I imagined human funerary traditions would be like. Not too long ago, before I grew close to the gentle-hearted primates, I wouldn’t have imagined a predator race would hold sincere burials at all.
Carlos would be laid to rest in a funeral plot all of us chipped in to pay for, right in Tyler’s backyard of Columbus, Ohio. It was a small ceremony consisting of people who worked with him in the past, and our ship’s crew members, who’d arrived on Earth after a dragged-out journey back from Aafa. Several stops had been made on our voyage home, to unload Kolshian prisoners and drop off passengers at Skalga and Leirn. Per my deceased friend’s wishes, we hadn’t invited his family, despite how heartbreaking that rift was. The quiet ceremony unfolded with little fanfare, and some human religious figure arrived to say a few words.
Samantha Harris had made the detour to pay her final respects to her longtime companion. Tyler and Onso were watching a virtual livestream, since the two of them had moved to Leirn for the time being. The apartment had been left into my care, though I was told that “ya gotta pay the rent now, Sovlin. Don’t ya dare get me evicted.” I was surprised by my commanding officer’s decision to move away from Earth, and wondered if it was all for his exchange partner’s sake. Officer Cardona was never coming back to reclaim his dog from his father? Why wouldn’t he want to continue his ramen chef duties, with Hunter and I as roommates?
Overall, it felt good to be back on the predator homeworld, but I hated today’s circumstances: knowing that Carlos hadn’t seen the return home with us. His body would be lowered into a hole in the ground, with a simple headstone denoting the years he’d been alive. That was what the one person who’d shown me immeasurable kindness was reduced to. A human priest was reading a passage that stated, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted”, before offering words of solace. I knew little about how Terran religions compared to Gojid religions, but that sounded like nonsense.
There’s no comfort in a loved one’s death. Just pain, loss, and heartache. Mourning is knowing a person is gone, and they took a part of you with them.
Unlike Sam, I’d turned down the opportunity to speak at the funeral; her statement had been a short admission that she missed his kindness. I had no idea what I would’ve said if I stood before everyone, but I could barely bring myself to be at this ceremony and honor Carlos’ life. I could still see the bullet hole in his helmet, and recalled shaking his spacesuit. Too many people that I cared about had been taken in recent months. Ever since the cradle’s fall, terrible events had played out before my eyes, all while I tried to atone for my own hatred. I was grateful that Hunter, Vysith, and Aucel were standing beside me, reminding me why I bothered to persist, confront my demons, and seek happier days.
Tears rolled down my face, as the funeral drew to a close; I couldn’t wait to bolt from the premises. I thought if I had spoken before the crowd, I would’ve commented about the lessons Carlos taught me on open-mindedness, and understanding opposing viewpoints. That was how I wished to remember him, not as the embalmed corpse locked in a wooden box. We might’ve unseated the Federation, but I’d never forget the costs it had required. Regardless of what my plea deal and my conscience had said, there was nothing left for me to give to any war.
I was an old man, who wanted to help his found family navigate their present reality. It was time to make a positive difference in the world, like the humanitarian work Carlos partook in before this all started. That was what the Peacekeepers were truly about, and those were causes that I could put my personal touch on.
“Hey, Baldy.” Samantha walked up to me, dabbing at her binocular eyes: watery pupils I’d once thought deceiving, with false emotions. “Wherever our friend is, I hope he’s at peace. Too many burials in too short a time frame. I hope you’ve got something happier on your slate, now that this is over.”
I flicked my claws. “I used to think I deserved my suffering. Since I survived instead of Carlos, I’m going to try to find a way to heal myself…and to make a difference in post-war Earth. There’s lots of people like my three younglings here, who could use some guidance. Setting them all up for a bright future is my new mission.”
“Fuck, I sure could use some guidance myself. Now that I’m here…I either have to grapple with the fact my home and my family are long gone, or I’ll find a way to ship out. There’s nobody. Not even Carlos. I could live with running off with the UN if he were here.”
“There’s no need to leave or go it alone. You can stay here, with us, Sam. You know Earth better than all of us. I know I haven’t been your favorite person, but I care about you. I hate seeing grief tear others apart like it did to me. We can have our own family, a support network, right here.”
The auburn-haired soldier forced a smile, before, to my surprise, she wrapped me in a fleeting embrace. “Thanks for offering, but I’m sure as fuck not living with the Yanks. Too much soda, guns, and star-spangled bullshit going on here; it’d make putting up with a racist war criminal not even the worst part.”
“That’s not all America is, any more than you’re kangaroos and koalas!” Hunter protested.
“Well I like my kangaroos and koalas, and it beats dealing with Sovlin on a daily basis,” Sam responded, pulling away from me. “I’ll be fine. Some time to grieve John…it can’t hurt any worse. Ah, enough about me. Why don’t we say goodbye with some happier news? Like how the fuck you don’t have to uphold those minimum five years of service?”
I shifted with discomfort on my paws. “I have Marcel’s blessing; I reached out to him. He wanted me to…get help before, and he still does. If there’s anything I learned, it’s that I’m not predator diseased. I have PTSD. I told the UN the truth, and got a statement from Dr. Bahri advising that I was unfit for combat duty. With the war over, they’re happy for me to fulfill our pact through community service. It’s part of their mission.”
“Don’t I know it. I reckon they want to not just rebuild Earth, but forge our cities into true interplanetary hubs. The UN wants multicultural acceptance, where, once they get past the ‘predators scary’ phase, aliens feel welcome. Since you’ve acquired such an…interesting cast, I’m sure you’re up for it. If I heard about an Arxur, a Kolshian, and a 1970s human living together, I’d have thought it was a joke.”
Aucel kept me positioned between her and Vysith. “I would have too. You should’ve seen how I reacted when Sovlin told me. Living around a gray…it’s a quick way to get over being disgusted by humans.”
“That’s unflattering. My people might be monsters now, but I’m not one of them. I have more in common with the Terrans than the Dominion,” Vysith commented.
To say the living arrangement had been awkward at first would be an understatement. Once the United Nations gave the sign-off to Aucel’s asylum, after learning her relation to the heroic Recel, it’d taken a great deal of convincing about how ancient Arxur had been empathetic and civilized. The female Kolshian was more in line with the belief that humans were the exception to the predator rule; I could understand how long that notion took to work through. There was no telling whether she’d seek a use for her botanist expertise now, perhaps cultivating a garden in predator lands. Helping her adjust to Earth, keeping her safe from humans who didn’t like her citizenship, and coaxing her out of this fear, was the least I could do.
Sometimes, it just takes time to get over things, and I believe Aucel can come around. She’s learning tolerance for how predators live, at their ugliest, by being here. She has a strong moral compass, and she trusts me. Everything we both believed is gone, but we’ll shape something new. Together.
While it was an accomplishment for Aucel to be in the same room as two predators, Vysith and Hunter had both graduated to the next steps of their life. The pre-Dominion Arxur had considered how despondent the other grays found in the Archives were, and decided to set up a support group. With Giznel unseated, the path had opened up for her to join the UN Peacekeepers: something she was leaning toward doing. Her presence on Earth no longer needed to be hidden, because of it being an affront to Betterment. As one of the few members of her species not involved with the atrocities, Vysith could prove Arxur weren’t always monsters to the galaxy.
Hunter Garner was still adjusting to present-day culture and technology, with occasional mishaps that reflected his primitive upbringing; however, his fiduciary field of study wasn’t obsolete. When he approached me about delving into xenoeconomics, I thought it was the perfect use of his skillset. All of humanity would be exploring that field from scratch, and he’d proven to be quite absorbent to those concepts. As the United Nations opened its doors for trading, there would always be roles for the numerically savvy. I still thought he should change his name if he wanted to do business with herbivores, but that was a moot point.
“While they’re arguing about whether Arxur are disgusting, why don’t you tell Sam your other service?” Hunter slapped me in the back, right on a large, bald patch devoid of spines. I flinched, not used to direct contact there. “To your people.”
I groaned, as Sam fixed me with a quizzical glare. “I’d rather not. Sam will make fun of me, and it’s a sore spot.”
“I’ll let you in on a secret,” the Australian soldier replied. “I’ll make fun of you no matter what you say, because deep down, you like it. Plus, you owe me for having me call Onso a slur. Spill.”
“Ugh, Hunter, now I’m fucked to the Protector’s Cloud! Look, when I talked to the UN, I might’ve gotten them to sign me up for the cure reversal. The first Gojid trials are moving forward this week, and I volunteered. Now, I know what you’re thinking about how I hate being a former omnivore, but this is just about the allergy, like Marcel testified to the SC. If I’m living on Earth, I can’t die from a whiff of your grossness.”
Hunter clapped his hands with delight. “We’re going out for burgers after the procedure. Take back that Gojid pride!”
“I don’t know how Gojids are rebuilding our culture, and I don’t want to be involved with it. After what happened to the cradle, I doubt it’ll even be recognizable. I’m not proud of my ancestry, even if they were just people. Meat-eaters aren’t monsters, sure, but it’s still sickening. It’s like eating a slab of your…skin!”
“You already watch me eat raw, bloody meat,” Vysith commented.
“That’s different. You will die without that, and I don’t ‘watch’ you. I purposefully turn away, and I wish you’d go do that in a closed room.”
“It takes me all of about two seconds to devour those tiny human cuts. Do I need to isolate myself for basic survival functions, just because I’m a flesh-eater? I understand you may feel uncomfortable watching an Arxur tear into meat, after what you saw with your family, but I don’t wish for you to feel ashamed of me.”
Aucel shuddered. “Being around you during mealtime is so…visceral.”
“Hey, it’s not her fault that she has fangs that could snap us in half?” I offered, in an uneasy voice. “Though she is terrifyingly capable of killing us with a single bite. It reminds me of certain things.”
Samantha rolled her eyes. “And yet our canines were scary. How exactly were we going to bite you, and snap you in half?”
“With the power of sass and evil sadism, obviously.”
“You make a compelling argument. My sarcasm is a weapon of sass destruction.”
“That was a fucking terrible pun,” Hunter griped. “He won’t even get the rhyme through his translator!”
“That sounds like Sovlin’s problem. Seriously, Baldy, I’m not gonna make fun of you; I think it’s great you’re getting uncured. I’m not your shrink, but for what it’s worth, I think chowing down on a burger might be a great idea. Not even because you want to switch your diet. One bite is all.”
I scowled. “Why the fuck would I do that? I just learned how you get lethal diseases from eating meat!”
“All talk to keep you afraid. Our stuff is monitored, and it’s safe. I think you should try meat, just once, to prove the Federation doesn’t have power over you. To prove to yourself that you won’t change or struggle with bloodlust, because you broke your herbivore crap. It’s a way to come to terms with what Gojids really are. Maybe…think about it?”
“I don’t know. It’s eating carcasses, even if it’s artificial. I hate what the Kolshians cost my people, and yours, but I don’t know if I’ll ever do something like that.”
“I doubt you thought you’d jump out of a predator spaceship to a moon either. Sometimes, you take the leap anyway. You’ve come a long way from wishing we’d all go extinct, and bristling up at the sight of me. I wish you the best of luck, Captain Sovlin. It was an honor to serve alongside you.”
“Likewise. Don’t be a stranger, Sam.”
My surviving guard ducked her head, awakening me to the reality that I was no longer a prisoner: not to my life, not to my genes, not to my guilt over Marcel and the cradle, not to the United Nations, and certainly not to the Federation. I was free to live my life however I pleased, whether that was down the path of burned flesh patties or not. Hunter’s amber eyes twinkled with affection; to think I once would’ve seen human vision as proof that he was incapable of kindness. There had been a great number of leaps I’d needed to take internally, with everything I ever knew crumbling. Revelation after revelation challenged my certainties and beliefs until none survived.
I had come a long way from my first encounter with humanity, savoring an innocent man’s suffering out of misguided vengeance for my daughter. How laughable was it that even after I’d been convinced of humanity’s empathy, I’d believed they were struggling not to pounce on us at a moment’s notice? While my therapist had refuted the existence of Terran bloodlust, I had nagging concerns about Gojid proclivities. After what Maronis told us, it was apparent that such constructs were inventions to keep us afraid of regression…all because of a poor understanding of odd diseases. When I talked to Vysith, even she knew what it was: as an Arxur from hundreds of years ago!
The truth is that I don’t understand predators at all, but I know that they’re not defined by their diet. I won’t be defined by that either, anymore.
Aucel gazed at Carlos’ casket, as Samantha retrieved a flower and placed it atop the cover. “They associate…beautiful plants with death?”
“I don’t know why they do it, any more than why the Venlil decorate their plots with flowering bushes,” I remarked. “I’d guess it’s about making ugly things beautiful. Like why the City of the Flora is so gorgeous…to hide the shadow caste’s ugliness underneath.”
“Is that a good thing?”
“It depends on what you’re hiding. One is a gesture of love for someone who’s no longer around, perhaps symbolic of life’s fragility. Another is beautifying the oppression of someone no longer around, symbolic of their lies’ fragility. If he was here, Carlos might’ve said it’s our beliefs that make a thing good or evil.”
“He must’ve meant a lot to you, to imagine what he would say now. But that only asks the big question about our morality, with the causes forced on us in the past. What do we believe now?”
“I believe all of us have suffered enough for one lifetime…that we don’t have to let the wounds of the past hold us back. That the truth about ourselves may not be pretty, but that it can’t be something we run from. And I believe it’s worth trying to build something better.”
Vysith lashed her tail. “Something better, hrr? Maybe one day, I’ll find the strength to help my people…and you to help yours. But for now, let’s go home.”
“Yeah. We can figure out the future together, Dad. I’ll be ready for anything, as long as I have your support,” Hunter agreed.
I ruffled the human’s brown hair, just how I used to with Hania. In that moment, I wasn’t a broken man who’d been grieving his family for years, a captain who’d unraveled his own life’s purpose, or a devastated conscript burying a guard-turned-friend. I was a father who wanted to see his children succeed, no matter what path their lives took. The galaxy’s future under the United Nations could be prosperous, and I couldn’t wait to settle down and watch the future unfold. My life’s intersection with the predators had not only freed me from my past, but like the casket’s flowers, it made my present reality a bit more beautiful.
A/N - Sovlin's finale: the first of our remaining POV characters! Our Gojid narrator attends Carlos' funeral, and discusses with future with Aucel, Vysith, and Hunter on Earth, fulfilling his bargain with community service post-war. He also has elected to get gene edits, and will at least consider taking one bite of meat as a middle finger to the Feds. Samantha wishes Sovlin all the best, before leaving our Gojid to ponder his newfound freedom and continue into a better future as a father once more. Do you think that Sovlin came full circle, and that his family will thrive on the human homeworld? Do you think that he'll end up taking that single bite as his friends advised?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting! Three more chapters to go; Onso's ending, Tarva's ending, and then one to conclude it that might be a bit...surprising if you're not stalking Discord.
Comments
Xelav
I'm kinda sad that the NoP is coming to an end :(
Yannis Morris
@PhycoKrusk Wasn’t it more “Oh 30% of the people we’ve been at peace with for centuries were predators. Humans are alright”?
Namel909
See ! Told you so, a bit of ducktape and tomorow he will walk again. Now living on as a ghost rent free in a PTSD ridden veteran barly able to make it thru the day without the ones around him pushing and pulling him along. What a fine stach of perfectly vegan drugs he can use to try and silence his past but yet the next morning all his problems are back to stay. Good thing he is so mental that the quack freed him of service that he can live of off the pension with his group of missfits Hell maybe his predator addoption sone will become a galxi stock market billionair or make enough money to found the first non vegan Grey flourshop. sss
EliasArt2Life
@Some Lvm Well, he was in college, so that would place him at early adulthood.
print Path
And I love you too random citizen (If you know you know)
TheDudeAbides
" poor understanding of odd diseases. When talked to Vysith, even she knew what it was: as an Arxur from hundreds of years ago!" So even the pre-fed Arxur knew about prion diseases? Makes sense but it's still kinda funny.
CyberpunkGandalf
My guess: Sam will become a recurring character in NoP II. I think a bounty Hunter specializing in former Fed authorities and war criminals
pogman
I love you too
Amanda Chowning
Tyler’s dog really needs to get shipped to Leirn since he’s moving there, or I’ll be upset with these characters, lol. Leirn is canonically mentioned to allow dogs and cats. Heck it is likely the only herbivore homeworld that does right now. And Onso specifically mentioned wanting a dog similar to Tyler’s until he was able to get a Hensa of his own. We just need one sentence confirming they shipped Tyler’s dog over, it isn’t hard. And if it’s a permanent move, it would make sense, unlike temporary military deployment. Heck, they would have to be shipping dogs and cats over already for the Yotul anyways. PLEASE, I’m BEGGING you here, at least ONE sentence confirming the obvious. I’m just assuming they just didn’t bother mentioning it to Solvin, because it makes zero sense to leave the dog with Tyler’s father permanently. Like if they were moving to Skulga it would make sense to leave the dog behind. But Leirn already has dogs and cats, and the Yotul themselves keep them, not exclusively humans. And I really doubt if the Yotul are keeping them the human residents wouldn’t be. Of any planet besides earth, Leirn would be my first choice to live on. It’s the only planet besides Earth that even seems appealing to me. Canonically they allow dogs and got rid of their exterminators. The Yotul are also possibly the only race even more human friendly than the Venlil, seeming the least brainwashed of the herbivores. Space Paladin made a species and planet I really fell in love with, lol.
Amanda Chowning
Ok, there’s now THREE character one-off’s I want to see. 1. The Mallin one we already know we’re getting. 2. Vysith’s pre-archives. I mentioned in the last week or so in another comment that Space Paladin clearly had an idea there and we never got to see it… And as of this chapter… 3. A Sam follow-up. We got a pretty conclusive ending for Solvin and his three roommates. But I feel that Sam’s journey hasn’t ended yet, and her path forward is less clear. It’s implied she’s going to stay in contact, but I’d like to see how she goes forward from here.
Quenten
Absolute banger. Merry Christmas!
Tazeell
Quite the odd little family unit, love the little band though they certainly haven't gotten written much.
Mr. Walker
EGGS!!
Conure King!
I think most bars would look the other way for serving hunter under the table lmao. It would probably take a glare from the aforementioned Arxur however.
Some Lvm
How old is Hunter again? Not sure they will let him in to a bar in the US on the "But I was frozen for 160 years" claim... (Many other countries actually have their drinking age at 18)
DemonVee
I would love to see a story with some significant time skips. Seeing how Aucel stance towards Vysith changes over time
Apogee
True very true
Some Lvm
> If I heard about an Arxur, a Kolshian, and a 1970s human living together, I’d have thought it was a joke. Joke? No joke! We can haz bonus story plizz? Pretty plizz? Ok, seriously though - I have to know how Aucel reacted to first meeting Vysith and what it took to get those two to get along! Who is with me? Also, did Hunter ever show Vysith the Gorn episode for TOS?
Tyler Ellis
I know he betrayed Tarva but I really am in need of a glim healing arch.
Gumcel
I do hope we at least get a reference to sovlin in nop 2, even if he’s not prominent or even a pov character.
Jacob Garcia
Probably not, but I think it would be the biggest F you to the Federation that he could make.
Gumcel
It’s a caste that people are born into. So there would be people with menial and average jobs because you need people like that to maintain cities obviously. Also there’s no way they would let them leave the underground lol.
Apogee
Well said
PhycoKrusk
That's because most people who write it into movies don't actually think about it or try to take it in any larger context. It's a religious thing that speaks about "comfort for mourners," so they put it in to try to make the script more relatable of they're trying to connect with the audience (some Hollywood writers), or to show the disconnection between religion and the proletariat, if they think the audience is stupid and they have to explain everything for them (most Hollywood writers).
PhycoKrusk
@Yannis And that was after months of constant, personal contact with Humans. Any Venlil could have changed their mind under the same circumstances. Several did, even; we have Callsi as an excellent example.
PhycoKrusk
It's been kind of common, I think, to associate Vysith's behavior around Hunter (what little we've seen) with how a mother might keep her son in line, but after this chapter, yes, I can absolutely see Vysith as the eldest sister in this band. It actually makes more sense, and even works better for the dynamic. After all, Sovlin never really seemed to think much about being a husband, but he's thought an awful lot about being a father. He'd practically adopted Recel (which, looking back, is probably why he'd had his initial crisis anyway, struggling to understand how he could've driven his son away), so it would naturally follow that he'd do the same to anyone else physically and mentally younger than him that was in need of guidance. Wouldn't that be a helluvan interview? "I really did think of him as my own son. I think that's why I surrendered to the UN in the first place. He saw what was in front of him almost immediately as wrong and hardly hesitated at all to help Humanity, even though he'd been trained to effectively do the opposite. You see your son do something like that, and you have to wonder what you did to make him act like that, and then you start to wonder if maybe he didn't have the right idea. I owe a lot to Humanity, but I owe everything to Recel."
richfiles
I'm sure she don't savor poopin' though. In = savor Out = privacy Sovlin and Aucel will get used to it over time. Exposure therapy will fix that... For the in part, not the out.
Conure King!
“An Arxur, a Kolshian, and a human walk into a bar…”
Space Paladin
The war had been ongoing for centuries
Space Paladin
You’ll probably spot some new things, especially in terms of irony and foreshadowing, on the reread!
Space Paladin
Merry Christmas!
Space Paladin
Thank you for taking the time to catch up! I hope you enjoy the end, and the NoP adventures to come
Yannis Morris
@PhycoKrusk When the UN informed Tarva about the Arxur’s side of the story, she was already in the mindset of “Humans are proof that Predators are not inherently cruel and evil simply from being predators. Arxur are like that either because it’s an Arxur thing, or because something happened”. Hearing the Arxur’s side of the story just led her to decide “Something happened” and then after Meir’s dying wish and Isif’s empathy test she decided that the Arxur on a species level weren’t beyond saving
Thank you very much SpacePaladin 🙌
Space Paladin
It’s hard to let go…but it’s time to say goodbye
pogman
try thru reddit
pogman
I did tear up
Space Paladin
Merry Christmas!
pogman
She's like a child to him if you're talking about Vithys
Space Paladin
https://discord.gg/pascap — integrate discord to your Patreon to be able to access the lounge!
DemonVee
You'll see it if you click into SPs channel and than click on membership. If you scroll down it's right over quick links.
DemonVee
There is an invite somewhere on SPs patreon
DemonVee
Glim... Future leader of the Venlil First movement.
DemonVee
From the sound of it, probably not... Vyisth appears to be closer in age to Hunter and Aucel. Sovlin is just starting a mini orphanage.
Dookus Maximus
I love you all and your silly good natured bickering
Dookus Maximus
A very satisfying end to his arc
Dookus Maximus
They may not be set up for chewing
Dookus Maximus
Perhaps it is not what he wished?
Thrownawaz
Wait, does this mean Sovith is canon?
Edmund Lam
I think Glim is even more broken than Sovlin, and is very far from healing.
Joe bro
Well for starters, happy holidays! Secondly, good wrap-up. Thirdly, if I'm being honest, I'm betting that the final chapter is gonna be Kalsim finally being visited and shown first-hand what the galaxy has become for the better; only then realizing what he was to lost in the sauce to see. But that's just me.
TheBlack2007
Also, Isif's tenderness around Nulia might have given her a push in the right direction.
PhycoKrusk
No, but it does have a lot to do with Sovlin, if you look back over the track of his life after Cilany broke the conspiracy. I kind of feel like the, I assume, priest was intending that bit for Sovlin specifically; sometimes, they just know.
PhycoKrusk
"Well, I met them both at the same time, one thing led to another, and here I am!" "That doesn't tell me anything." "Oh, well, that sounds like a personal problem, I don't know if I can help you with that."
PhycoKrusk
I don't. I don't think he's going to remain a strict vegan once he discovers cheese, but I don't think he's going to throw a fit about it anymore either; just be quietly vegetarian (like Marcel). Especially once he discovers the wide world of Indian food.
Apogee
Wonderful chapter! I especially liked the flower discussion and the symbolism therein. Solivin has come a long way! And because I feel like it, I will explain that one Bible passage that got mentioned: In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ did not say that happiness depends on good health, material possessions, and the like. He pronounced truly happy those “conscious of their spiritual need” and those “hungering and thirsting for righteousness.” Related to these two factors needed for true happiness is Jesus’ seemingly paradoxical statement: “Happy are those who mourn, since they will be comforted.” (Matthew 5:3-6) Jesus was not saying that people would automatically be happy when they lost a loved one. Rather, he was speaking of those who bemoan their sinful state and its consequences. These godly mourners “will be comforted.” (Compare Luke 2:25.) Among the comforts forthcoming through Jesus Christ are forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. Really that passage has nothing to do with funerals
PhycoKrusk
Tarva also only recognized Humans as being an exception for a good while. The only reason she came around so quickly was a combination of constant exposure and spite; she may not have recognized it, but she knew what she was seeing, and being told not to believe her lying eyes "impugned her sacred honor." If you look back over the text (which I don't expect you to do because it's a lot), you'll see that every time someone challenges her, she pushes back against them, and as we get later in the story (and she goes longer and longer without getting her programming refreshed), she becomes more and more forceful about it. Everyone else we see come around didn't require constant programming to remain docile (except Slanek, who was getting his programming constantly refreshed even if no one realized it), and in the case of Sovlin, his demeanor was almost the same as Tarva's, but since he was being constantly challenged in the opposite direction, it took him comparatively longer to reach the same conclusion.
PhycoKrusk
It's a city, not a civilization. It was a secured and fortified place so that the administrators could work uninterrupted. I will accept your argument about children, but any adults down there were down there specifically to support and continue the conspiracy.
Yannis Morris
Oh my gosh, guys. Glim pov for the final chapter
EliasArt2Life
This was a good conclusion to Sovlin’s story! He gets to start a new life with his found family. I’m sad to see NOP1 ending, but stories are better with an ending, anyway. Besides, and ending is often just a form of beginning. Merry Christmas everyone (at least, that’s what time it is when I’m writing this).
PhycoKrusk
Ah, but he didn't call him "dad"; he called him "Dad." Looks basically the same, I know, but it's clearly a nickname calling back to when Sovlin asked if he could "mentally adopt" Hunter and he sarcastically (but lovingly) called him "dad." It'd be like you referring to an older gentleman who isn't related to you but kind of falls into that same role as "Pops."
PhycoKrusk
@Vee Given that the Farsul States are/were a gerontocracy, that tracks, since such a form of government can only persist on the belief that the eldest on society always knows best, which is obvious hogwash; the eldest know what worked best previously, and true progress can only come when they work with the younger to synergize old knowledge with new discoveries.
Cera Treascair
Wonderful present to all of us! Also, this was so sweet~
PhycoKrusk
I mean, he did it in a prior chapter, but there it was definitely joking and not really serious. This feels serious, and it makes me happy.
PhycoKrusk
Thinking it's easy to get a gun in America just points to you never having tried to get a gun in America, and that's fine; lots of people haven't tried. As to the Second itself, what is a "militia"? The framers of the Constitution understood a "militia" to be an armed fighting force composed specifically of citizens and not soldiers, and understood the members of "the militia" to be every able-bodied man of fighting age, and we know this from their personal and professional correspondence. (What "fighting age" means is a little less certain, but to the practices of the day, if you were old enough to manage property, you were likely "fighting age") The "modern interpretation" is, in fact, what appears to be your interpretation, and that's fine; unless you dig into the history of it, you might not come to a different understanding, and the fact is that most people have incomplete or incorrect understandings of many things because they don't need to know the correct ones in their day-to-day life. I agree with you that a person ought to be proficient with their armaments, but any government-mandated "proficiency" is just another flavor of literacy test, and will be used in the exact same way for the exact same reason.
Byron Ritchie
What a nice Christmas present for all of us! And glad to see sovlin getting over his prejudices
How do I get onto the discord?
Blake S
I think Aucel getting used to a human named hunter and a 7 foot vsyth with no pov has to be the most yah dah yah dah'ed plot development of the entire series. This isnt a complain tho as its a excelent preamble for that sovlin family sitcom styled bonus chapter everyone wants.
Tyler Ellis
The 2nd Amendment is the most libertarian thing America has ever conceived. And it’s not a law it’s an amendment. It was conceived to allow the people to have a voice and stand up against tyranny. It’s the most anti fascist concept I can think of. And I’m not trying to turn this into a debate I just want to say can we please stop slinging that word, fascist, around, it pretty much lost all meaning and credibility now days. The modern definition of it should be “literally anything I don’t like or disagree with.”
ColdBlooded Network
Merry christmas. Thank you for the chapter.
Ella
It's hard to believe that we're almost at the end. I feel like I could read about these characters forever, but at the same time, I'm glad we're getting a clean ending. Sovlin's had quite a rough journey and he deserves to settle down with his adoptive family.
Tyler Ellis
To be fair the Feds held this belief long before the contacted the Arxur. Not just sapient predators but animals too. To them humanity was nothing more than an intelligent animal with complex emotions. So it wasn’t really about “oh the Arxur are evil so humans must be too” it was “predators, sapient or not, have all been predators since the beginning of time itself and must die”.
BiasMushroom721
Sov-I'llFuckinAdoptEveryone-lin
Paul
*laughter
DemonVee
I wish there was more of them too, though I believe we saw the moment where Sovlin asked Hunter to call him dad before the chapter we met Vysith
DemonVee
They've been using computer models to do their research for who knows how long. Something that could easily be misused when you're too arrogant to realized that your shiny toy can only work if you have the full under of physics/chemistry/biology... etc. Constantly expecting new results from the same data you used over and over again. I guess over reliance on technology and rear religious adherence to their dogma could have ironically stifled their progress.
Intricate Zebra
I'm seeing it already: 20 years down the line, Old Man Sovlin will be making a cameo in the sequel series as a background character at a restaurant ordering a 12oz New Yorker Medium-Rare while the two new story characters are talking about whatever astropolitical nonsense is happening over a meal.
DemonVee
It's only set 20 years into the future no? I can't imagine Sovlin is that old if he can still fight.
DemonVee
If you want to associate the 2nd amendment with any ideology (Or at least the modern interpretation as Bollinger mentioned) the worst you'll get is it being anarchist. How can the right to bear your own arms be interpreted as fascistic (An ideology that's a poster boy for authoritarianism which strips autonomy from the people and grants it to the ruling government) when having the ability to own weapons goes against the absolute authority and control such states strive for?
Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you spacepaladin for writing such an amazing story
Yannis Morris
@Mr. Walker The crippling belief that no one else knew anything worth knowing.
Delta
Ah deary me. I had fallen so far behind in this series, but now I have caught up, having binged it in the last few days. This was a really wonderful story, thank you so much for dedicating so much time and energy to this project.
Yannis Morris
The worst part about considering humans an exception to the rule about Predators being evil is that it isn’t even a rule. At worst, they had a sample size of one that they used to justify so much horrible bull crap. Every time the Feds’d hear “Predator” they’d think of the Dominion’s evil. And in truth, the Arxur weren’t even the only “predator”. They were just the only one unable to digest plants. Literally… It annoys me so much because this wasn’t even a rule at the most generous of times. Tarva was able to recognize that this wasn’t the natural state of predators after meeting humans. Bless Tarva but I wish that wasn’t a unique point of view.
Mr. Walker
Merry Christmas Space Paladin! Merry Christmas fellow fans!!
craig spaulding
“an Arxur, a Kolshian, and a 1970s human living together” I can’t be the only one who read this and imagined a sitcom.
Mr. Walker
Hunter: "Ok, the mice are gone, but none of the traps have been sprung!"_ Aucel: "Well, what could have happened to them?" _ Vysith: "Hey, we are all out of those speedy little snacks that were in the crawlspace."
Mr. Walker
Shadow Caste and Shadow Caste fun-sized!
Cooldude101011
Since Carlos was military I expected a military funeral with a gun salute.
Cartoon dinosaur
The shadow caste was a large population. Meaning many of them were probably just something like farmers. Not involved in the atrocity. Also they probably had children. Where those children also given to the duterian? Space paladin? I am asking you this question.
PiñaPiloto
The end in nigh! This is a good story, once it's over I'm gonna reread it all back to back for the full experience.
Wesley Rigg
You are wise.
Mr. Walker
I am not touching this discussion.
Mr. Walker
Old Sovlin: "Back in my day, everyone was allergic to meat and we set wild animals on fire!"
Mr. Walker
Between this and B12, I am convinced that the Farsul don't know how to do research.
Mr. Walker
Maybe the "Dad" development happened offscreen?
Paul
I strongly request a bonus of Sovlin's living situation in the style of a sitcom.
Mr. Walker
I want a sitcom about these four weirdos sharing an apartment. Also: "“It takes me all of about two seconds to devour those tiny human cuts. Do I need to isolate myself for basic survival functions . . ." Well, I assume you poop in private. Also, learn to savor your food!
E G
Very nice to see Sovlin find some peace in the end. He was always one of my favorites.
Wingit98
I worry about what hate crimes this group may face in the future from the HF type folks. One of them very publicly tortured a human the second he saw one, one very recognizably comes from a race we all know eats children and massacres worlds, and one is from the race that masterminded the whole anti-predatory conspiracy that threw the whole galaxy into this mess to begin with. I can easily see any one of them being accosted on the street or followed home. And the only human on earth to vouch for them is one from over 150 years ago who is baffled by the modern world. Really makes me wish Tyler came back with them to help them learn to navigate earth on their own more. Also.... Hunter calling Sovlin "dad" feels really premature. I feel like we've had far too little of them together to have earned that yet.
David Bollinger
Actually, the 2nd amendment is specifically about the right to bear arms as part of a well regulated militia. I mean, I'll agree that it isn't fascist, but the modern interpretation of arming yourself to overthrow oppressors has nothing to do with the original intent of the amendment. It was about military people being able to have personal firearms so they could quickly respond to threats. So, unless you're a member of something like the national guard, or the local police, or a military reserve unit or something, the idea that the second amendment should apply to you is nonsense, because you aren't a part of an organized militia. Personally, I'd like to see the supreme court overrule the modern interpretation of the second amendment, and insist that anyone who wants to own personal firearms either be a member of some sort of organized militia where you are given a background check and proper firearm safety training before you are allowed to own guns, or be licensed as a hunter which also requires a background check and firearm safety training. I think it's much too easy to own a gun here in America.
Joe King
Merry Christmas, Happy new years, here's to good drink, good times and a good read!
Wesley Rigg
Holy shit that's awesome.
Wingit98
I really don't wanna get into a political debate here or anything, but.... Fascist? To allow you as a private citizen to own your own weapon? It seems far too libertarian to be anything approaching fascistic.
PassengerNo
So we have proof the ancient Axrur did know about prions. @SpacePaladin How many years as the Federation been at war with the Axrur? I've forgotten the number.
print Path
So I should change it back to first?
ToddTheSquid
All three of you commented at the exact same second. I think you're in a three-way tie for first.
Space dust
This is truly beautiful, an amazing way to send off a intricate character, also with vysith possibly joining the UN peace keepers could we see her in a position of power say a commander or general in NOP2 ?
Youre a swedekisser arent you
Aucel reacted better to Vysith than expected, not that I'm complaining. I imagine we may perhaps see Sovlin's adopted family in the sequel, showing us what they've accomplished (though the hedgehog himself will probably be dead or close to it by then).
Paperclip
Yeah, we're gonna need a follow up on these guys. I want to see how they bond over their much-needed peacetime. This finale was really beautiful and I'm already missing the space hedgehog. Also, Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
Wesley Rigg
It's weird. When checking on the mobile app print path is first. When checking on PC with a browser I'm first.
Wesley Rigg
Fascism is the oppression of the people. 2A is designed to prevent the people from being oppressed by giving them the power to kill the oppressor. 2A is anti fascist.
Merry Christmas! Great ending for Sovlin’s arc, having Hunter calling him dad was amazing
dmg
Smh that that pseudo-fascist law is still a thing 100+ years into the future
pogman
Nah you're first
Wesley Rigg
2ND amendment is still around soft confirmed. HELL YEA!
print Path
Ah man
Wesley Rigg
me
Wesley Rigg
check again lol
print Path
Crap idk who First
Wesley Rigg
Tied for first with pogman and print path!
print Path
Apparently me and wesley were first at the same time (Happy Arxur face)
pogman
new SpacePaladin content yay!
