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The Nature of Predators 2-6
🕑 Added 2024-01-25 12:00:12 +0000 UTCMemory Transcription Subject: Tassi, Bissem Scientist
Date [standardized human time]: March 14, 2160
The human settled next to me at the table, fiddling with the utensils as if to gauge their weight. He’d spent much of the time while FAI scientists were trickling in explaining basics, which had already been passed along to Naltor and I. Haliska, meanwhile, was doing her best attempt to sink into a chair, while Nulia seemed to be watching the reactions as real-time quality control. I noticed the Gojid speaking up, each time Dustin’s words were misinterpreted or unclear to some Bissems. Perhaps I could encourage her to take the lead, and get her to open up a little about her personal life. The Terran xenobiologist had seemed like any other person, when he spoke of his past as an orphan.
“You say you were raised by a human, Nulia?” I prompted. “How did that lead you to become a sociologist, and to wind up in this first contact party?”
Nulia leaned back, hesitating. “My home life was…difficult, at times. It’s a long story, but much like Dustin, I wound up living on Skalga—home of the Venlil.”
“Hold on. I thought Dustin was from Earth?”
“He is. He was…forced to evacuate from his planet, like many other humans, due to unforeseeable events. Don’t ask me. Stayed with a Venlil as a temporary refugee, and wound up getting permanently adopted. Without his adoptive mother encouraging him and a part-time job studying wildlife with the exterminators—another long story—I doubt he would’ve pursued his passion fully. If you’d like more details, I suggest you ask him.”
“I apologize for getting sidetracked. I was asking about you, Nulia. We’d like to get to know all of you.”
“There’s not much to tell about me. I had a lot of resentment toward my own people, and the human soldier that rescued me also got stuck caring for a Venlil friend. Slanek, his name was; he had a few years where he got better, before there was nothing the doctors could do. Once I understood what was happening, I didn’t want to be around and watch that decline. Poured myself into studies; to graduating and getting far away from Skalga. I started learning Vrit before I’d ever gotten my certificates…perhaps that’s a selfish motivation.”
“You don’t want to open up to people, because you’re afraid of losing them,” I guessed. “That’s understandable.”
“That’s for you to judge. I was one of the youngest Gojids to graduate with a degree in my field. Whatever my personal issues, I can assure I’m both qualified and stable enough to analyze your society.”
“I’m not worried about your qualifications. I’ve just started to get this crazy fantasy in my head that we could become…friends. We could bond.”
“I’m happy to get to know more about Bissems, and see where it goes from here. Do you ever just people watch, Doctor? Just look around and make observations like you’re some omniscient narrator?”
“I can’t say I do.”
“Perhaps I understand,” Naltor chimed in, from a few seats down. “Always watch the exits. Count the potential threats. You never know when a situation could go sideways.”
Nulia waggled a claw. “That isn’t what I mean at all. I just mean, you look at a person’s behavior and imagine what they’re feeling. What their life might’ve been like. I do that on a microscopic scale, and it follows that, as a sociologist, that’s what I’m doing on a wider scale.”
“Any observations you can share about how our development compares to your own?” I prompted.
“As things stand, you have a lot less…outside interference. On a less bleak note, Bissem flightlessness influencing religion is one of the more intriguing topics I’ve found. How you must’ve compared yourselves to other birds, to the point of one faith proclaiming that Kail took that ability away from you.”
Haliska glanced up for a brief moment. “I find it interesting that Bissems view it as flight being taken away, rather than swimming being given to them. There’s nothing more joyful than splashing around in the waves on a hot day.”
“I’ll agree with that. It’s too fucking hot here,” Naltor commented, gesturing to his Selmer blubber meant for the arctic. “If there wasn’t water, I’d melt into a damn bubble.”
“The Bissems love water, Haliska, but the reason for their comparisons is simple. We often do not appreciate what we have, and we want that which is not within our grasp,” Nulia commented, ignoring the Selmer. “That’s why I’ve spent so much of my life wishing my mother hadn’t abandoned me, despite having a chaperone who nurtured me to the best of his ability. It’s natural.”
I tapped my tan flipper on the table, watching out of my periphery as platters of food were carried into room. “I’ve spent a lot of time, wishing that aliens would arrive and solve all of our problems. Do you think that means I don’t appreciate Ivrana? I most certainly love our homeworld; I just want it to the best it can be.”
“Forgive my honest answer, but I suspect it reflects on what you believe about Bissem nature. You think that you need fixing because of your flaws. Accepting imperfection is…difficult, in general, whether it’s wishing for flight or wishing for more love in the world. Sometimes, it’s easier to believe there’s a magical fix.”
My eyes lowered toward the ground, weighing the truth in Nulia’s words. Given that she’d devoted her career to studying different societal motivations, and her professed affinity for watching people’s behavior, I shouldn’t be surprised that her assessments were so spot on. While I was a half-hearted believer in Hirs, and an afterlife at the center of Ivrana, I could recognize the validity of Haliska’s comment on Kail as well. Instead of despairing at our own flightlessness, we could marvel at how swimming gave us the means to create a society; if we hadn’t been driven to fish and circumnavigate the seas, we wouldn’t have developed many of our gifts so soon. What would Bissems even be without fishing?
Those other alien birds that Dustin mentioned before could fly, but if I could trade places, I wouldn’t. For all our flaws, and all my hopes that we can behave in peaceful fashion, there is so much that I love about Bissem culture. We’re unique, and blessed to be joining a sea of diverse cultures.
Haliska’s expression looked a bit queasy, as several fish cutlets sat in front of her. “That’s a…real dead animal in front of me. Not something grown in a lab.”
“You knew that,” Nulia warned. “Pull yourself together.”
Naltor leveled a direct stare at the Thafki. “There’s vegetable dishes as well, per Dustin’s request. Is there something I can get you?”
“No. Thanks,” the blue-gray mammal murmured. “Maybe, just…no one t-talk to me for a minute? Please? I need to breathe.”
The human turned away from his back-and-forth with FAI scientists, who were hanging on his every word. “What a bounty you guys have laid out for us! I see that you even cooked one of the trays; that must’ve been Tassi’s doing. You listened when I said we heat our meals.”
“Of course I listened. There’s nothing I want more than to learn everything about your species,” I replied. “I hope it’s to your liking. Please, help yourself; as our guests, we’d like you to eat first.”
“Well, I’m not one to turn down something that smells so delightful. I appreciate all of your effort and the special accommodations; all of you staying late, on the last day before the weekend, away from your homes and families, just to spend time with us. Now, I’m not just the first xenobiologist on your world; I’ll be the first to sample your food! The flavors of Ivrana will be a blessing to my tastebuds, I have no doubt.”
“Now watch him spit it out,” Naltor joked, as Dustin heaped a preshfish cutlet and a scoop of greens onto his plate.
“Whatever it is, it can’t be worse than surströmming. Fermented fish some crazy folks at home eat, despite the fact it smells like a rotten corpse! I better stop talking, or I’ll kill my own appetite.”
Haliska was pulling at her rounded ears, after the human’s jovial remarks, and batted Nulia’s paw away as the Gojid tried to intervene. I was about ready to step in on the Thafki’s behalf, despite the fact I didn’t know for certain what I was witnessing; my gut was telling me that she shouldn’t be anywhere near this table. Cameras were streaming her erratic behavior to the world. I decided not to spoil the moment, and break up the festivities, until Dustin had enjoyed our offerings. The human’s eyes twinkled, as he sliced off a meager bite of meat and inserted it into his jaw. He pushed it around on his tongue for a moment, before his lips curved up in approval.
Nulia shot a concerned look at Haliska, before grabbing a preshfish cutlet for herself. That seemed to be the snapping point for the Thafki, who bolted from the table with manic eyes. Several FAI scientists gasped in alarm, while Naltor attempted to stop her; the blue-gray alien ducked his grasp, with the advantage of her short height. I watched in disbelief as she ran off, toward where the public was lurking. She couldn’t just roam our streets at first contact; I knew the Selmer general was thinking the same thing. Outside of a controlled environment, there was no guarantee of her safety, or from the military’s point of view, ours. There was nothing to stop reporters from cornering her either.
Dustin stood from his chair. “Haliska! You can’t run off. This is their planet; we’re their guests! We don’t have permission to wander…Hallie! Stop! You’re causing a scene in front of hundreds of cameras. You can’t run away from the Bissems on their own world. Ah, damn it!”
“I can’t have an alien roaming loose on the streets. What the fuck has gotten into her?” Naltor spat.
“Please, don’t hurt her. I know she has no right to scamper off, when we’re just building trust, but she’s having a panic attack. I beg you to forgive her transgression.”
“I’ll have my men collect Haliska, but you can forget waiting until tomorrow to give us the full story. I want to know why she did that, right now.”
“Not here. Let’s take it somewhere private; Dr. Tassi can come as well, if she wants. For those watching, the Thafki species has some…residual trauma that caused Haliska to react in such a way. I’d rather not spell out something so sad to everyone as part of our introduction.”
The Selmer general narrowed his eyes. “Fine. If you’re not truthful though, I might have to find a reason to detain Haliska for questioning.”
“General Naltor! That is crossing the line,” I spat.
“I don’t care. I’m not having any detail left out when it’s information Bissems need to know, and when it’s affecting their self-control.”
“There’s no need for us to get ruffled feathers. We can settle this privately, like adults.” Dustin wolfed down a few more bites of his food, before abandoning his plate. “Please, show me to a secluded spot. I’ll be more than forthcoming.”
Naltor rose from the table, seeming to weigh bringing security along for the conversation, before deciding that he could handle the human’s unimpressive physique. Nulia shared a few whispers with Dustin; the Terran asked the Gojid to stay with the other FAI scientists, and try to smooth things over for the cameras—as well as to soothe Haliska if she was brought back in our absence. I followed with my own reluctant curiosity; while I wanted answers to what happened in that atrocious war, and how it tied into a feast, it felt wrong to threaten the human’s teammate to ensure his cooperation. The Selmer general was just lashing out from fear, since whatever hypotheticals he was conjuring about the missing details were likely getting more sinister by the minute.
Haliska didn’t like seeing the fish brought out, and she definitely didn’t like Dustin and Nulia putting cutlets on their plates. The human said it was a panic attack, and that the Thafki had “trauma.” Does Haliska see herself as the fish, somehow? That’s a deranged conclusion, isn’t it?
Dustin waited as Naltor shut the door to an unassuming office, before sitting down in a chair. The human’s expression looked crestfallen; I could see that he was distraught over how the dinner had fallen apart. He knew as well as we both did how the populace would be reacting to Haliska’s sudden departure. It made the aliens look emotional and unstable, as Ivrana’s first impression of how they’d interact with us Bissems. Speculation must be running rampant about the Thafki’s behavior, and we’d have to make a statement about it sooner rather than later. The Selmer general had a point about getting to the bottom of this without any further delays.
“I’m going to tell you everything, without any exclusions, but I’m begging you not to freak out, Naltor,” Dustin sighed. “We need to try to…get through this, together. Humanity will help you every step of the way.”
The Selmer folded his flippers with a cross expression. “I have a feeling I’m going to love what you’re about to say.”
“You’re not. The thing about galactic history is, it’s an absolute clusterfuck. It just gets worse the more you hear. If it’s any solace, we had to jump right into it with nobody to turn to, when it was still an ongoing phenomenon: not just a thing of the past.”
Nerves constricted my throat. “You’re doing an excellent job at instilling…dread, over how dark this story might be.”
“I’m sorry, Tassi, but I’m trying to break it to you straight, without inspiring panic. So here it goes. That species that wiped out the Thafki homeworld? They’re called the Arxur, and they perpetrated hundreds of gruesome raids, which were…tailored toward collecting sapient cattle.” Dustin waited as a gasp escaped from my beak, and Naltor leaned in with disbelief. What kind of abominable civilization would hold thinking people as livestock? “Yeah. It’s ugly. Haliska’s kind only had 12,000 free individuals, while millions were only just liberated and brought to the Commune as part of the Treaty of Sol.”
“I…that’s beyond horrible. Why would anyone want to eat other sapient species?!” I shrieked, before noticing Dustin wince at my volume. “Sorry. I just…the feast brings up memories of this Arxur species’ atrocities toward her kind?”
“Yes, but I’m afraid it’s more complicated than that. When humans came to space, we were considered…abominations by the Federation, the ruling entity that saw ‘predators’ as monsters. They had quite the liberal definition of predators, but our binocular eyes made us especially offensive. Many still consider it disgusting that we eat meat, even today. Now, the…founders of this Federation would abduct members of pre-FTL species, and use them in genetic experiments to ‘cure’ them. To make them…allergic to meat, and wipe everything predatory from their past.”
Naltor’s brain seemed to be freezing, or so his dumbfounded expression would imply. “I’m sorry, what? What the actual fuck? When you were saying our first contact would’ve been different, you’re saying they would’ve…cured us.”
“Nulia’s species was cured, and you uncured her,” I added, feeling my head hurt as the gears turned. “She mentioned it to Haliska.”
“We helped undo the gene edits forced on many races. We’ve tried to uncover every species’ true history, and give it back to them. Prejudice against us has been something we’ve struggled with. Humanity was nearly wiped out when we achieved FTL, and it was the Federation that tried to kill us, because of what we were. They tried to cure us, and it failed by their own ineptitude. Like they would’ve failed with you, because you’re obligate carnivores.”
“So they would’ve just killed us?” Naltor chirped. “That’s fucking great. Are these species still a threat? This is something the military needs to know about!”
“We won that war. We have control of this sector, and have neutralized or assimilated parties that might be a threat to you. Candidly, the threats you’re facing are more…diplomatic in nature. We’ll support your efforts and protect you, if anyone raises a wing against you. However, there are many who will compare you to the Arxur: the now-exiled species that ate sapients and fed on cruelty. Bissems are the only other obligate carnivores we know of. These prejudices will lead to a challenging and unfair introduction, no matter how much we try to step in.”
I felt as though the human had kicked ice into my eyes, a cold shock that threatened to pull out my emotions via tears. After all of my fantasies about putting forth a good first impression of Ivrana, Dustin laid out that aliens would be prejudiced against us…because the other sapient carnivores fucking ate people. How could we convince them that Bissems wouldn’t do that, if they’d studied us for so long and still not arrived at that conclusion? Fishing was such a central part of our culture, that I’d never even considered that it was what triggered Haliska’s fright.
For all my fantasies about what aliens would be like, and how eager I’d been at Dustin’s speech for what they could teach us, I’m not sure there’s a place for us in this Sapient Coalition. Besides, Ivrana isn’t ready to hear that other spacefaring species would’ve killed us, if we’d been discovered before humanity!
“All of my life, I wanted to find you.” My voice sounded broken, discouraged, and defeated, as the realization that Bissems were incompatible with friendship in the stars sunk in. “I wanted to learn about you, but not like this. Not such an unspeakable past.”
Dustin pursed his lips. “I know we’re…they’re not ready to contact you, but we couldn’t wait. Your overfishing on Ivrana has reached the point of no return; without outside help, there will be global consequences and mass starvation. I won’t sugarcoat it. You’re amidst a complete marine ecosystem collapse. Your oceans are acidifying, and they store fifty times more CO2 than the atmosphere. It’ll start making much of Ivrana uninhabitable to boot. Bissem scientists know this, Tassi; I think you do too.”
“I know the oceans are dying. The waters are becoming more orange, polluted with algae, than ever. I don’t see what I can do about—”
“We need to come in with lab-grown meat, so that you ease the burden of fishing on your environment: beyond what farms can do. We’ll help you clean your oceans. We have robots that can scour for plastic, and we can help reintroduce endangered species, before it’s too late. There’s zero time for inaction. All of our simulations have shown this. We don’t need all Bissems to cooperate with each other, but we need you to cooperate with us.”
“That’s your plan? You said yourself you didn’t know how the Tseia would react! That you didn’t want an ICBM in your hull!” Naltor challenged.
“That’s…part of my plan. I want you and Tassi to help us establish relations with the Merlei Huddledom, the Confederation of Vrital, and the Tseia Nomads. And if you can accept the unpleasant truth of the galaxy’s past, we can plan your introduction to the Sapient Coalition. Humans defeated prejudices that were much stronger and more nefarious, so there’s no reason you can’t prove yourselves too. We could take you to many worlds, and you can learn so much about what’s out there. Do you still want that?”
I drew a shaky breath. “I reckon we want to keep humanity in our corner. If there’s something I can do to help our first impression, I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t try.”
“If we didn’t try.” Naltor’s eyes were unwavering, reflecting that there was no room for argument. “If you’re taking Tassi on a joyride across the galaxy, I wouldn’t want to miss out on whatever she learns. I feel obligated to protect Lassmin…and all Bissems’ interests.”
“Great. Then I say we give it a week or two for your diplomatic corps to give us some pointers, and make any advance calls that’ll help us. My team can survey reactions to first contact from our outpost, to shape our decisions. In the meantime, I can take the two of you to see Earth; to be the first Bissems on another planet, as our guests. Does that sound like a plan?” Dustin asked.
I composed myself, finding my resolve. “It does. Thank you for…giving us the full explanation, Dustin. We’re glad that Earth survived for us to visit.”
“We’re glad you’re willing to give us a chance, even after all that you’ve learned. I’m excited to see where our friendship will lead.”
General Naltor dipped his head in acknowledgment, before leading the human out of our conference—satisfied with the explanation of the galaxy’s history. I ensured that my expression didn’t betray shock or sorrow, before following the duo back toward the feast. The Selmer military official spotted a sniveling Haliska standing with a group of soldiers, and in a rare display of tact, he ferried her into the private room where we’d been: away from the feasting, cameras, and commotion. I tried not to slip into mourning for my dream, when there was still one prospect to be excited about. Friendly aliens had invited me to visit their planet, and that meant in a short time, I’d be standing on soil that was light years away from Ivrana!
Ingratiating ourselves to the Sapient Coalition might’ve become more daunting than it already was before, but with the fate of our homeworld on the line, I wasn’t backing away from the challenge.
A/N - The chapter of the feast! Haliska's panic attack, after Nulia and Dustin both dig in to the offerings, forces our human visitor to offer up an explanation of all that's amiss with the galaxy and its history. Naltor and Tassi are both horrified to learn about the anti-predator biases and Federation atrocities, as well as how Bissems will be likened to the people-eating Arxur. Dustin also explains that the SC needed to make contact now due to critical, unsustainable overfishing, which could lead to mass starvation.
Will Tassi be able to maintain her optimism and excitement for alien life, after learning the truth? How will she and Naltor respond to Earth...and will Bissems be able to make inroads with the Sapient Coalition?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting!
Comments
Feranmi Akinlade
How can Nulia and Dustin show zero sensitivity to Haliska's trauma, and still be classified as good guys? The entire Thafki race was driven to functional extinction by predation. The sheer atrocities they must have witnessed as a people. Yet when Haliska expresses discomfort at the site of cattle consumption, all Nulia can say is "get over it"? And this is a case that was easily avoidable. She could have been excluded from the banquet and the hosts would be told her race have specific diet sensitivities to be discussed later. (Though in truth there was no reason to delay discussing such important context. Another issue with this chapter's plot. You don't have to go into full details. But give them the bullet points so they have an accurate idea of federation history right off the bat). I think this is the biggest instance of character assassination in all of Space Paladin's work. Your characters are usually so well written but this particular case is impossible to rationalize. Unless we lean into it and explore Dustin and Nulia having racism toward "prey" races and that is presented as a character flaw throughout the story. Otherwise this chapter just doesn't make sense..
Corporal Chunk
Gimme the link, wait a sec i'm not even in the Discord
Guardian
I actually asked if there was a star map on the Discord soon after I joined. I think I saved the file I was shown to my HD; it's not a 'true' star map, but it suited my desires. I xan try sending you the file, or linking you to the Discord conversation, if you like.
Charming Cobra
Me catching up and seeing multiple posts: Yay! Also me: Noooo what happened to Slanek??? My boy!!!!
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm I am having so much damn fun right now, you... probably have some idea, actually. "Unless we uncover in the future that she was somehow blackmailed to join this mission..." We tend to think of blackmail in terms of criminal activity, but that isn't necessarily correct. After all, this is the Coalition's first big contact with a brand new species. It's a big deal, you understand, and it absolutely has to go right. Having a semi-aquatic species there, someone that the Bissem could really relate to, is absolutely essential to the success of the mission. You... *want* the mission to be successful, don't you? "... she would also know that the real reason her species was sacrificed to the Arxur was their affinity to water." That might be irrelevant. Dustin was 14 when first contact between Earth and the Federation was made. Let's assume that Haliska is the same age as him, for the argument. Clearly, she knows that the Arxur used to eat Thafki, probably alive in some cases. We assume this is because she was told this is what happened, and we assume it's because she was *told*, because we don't want to think about the alternative. "He did not tell them that Arxur weren't originally the people eating monsters they are today, but were intentionally pushed in to that role by the Kolshians as part of their conspiracy." Maybe it was never emphasized during mission prep, so he didn't think it was important enough to mention. Or maybe, just maybe.... "It just does not make sense this is the first time Haliska had to tolerate someone eating a meat dish..." The first time she's had to tolerate someone eating a meat dish? Certainly not. The first time she's had to tolerate someone eating meat that came directly from an animal and not a nutrient solution? That's harder to say. Under what circumstances did she last see someone eat *raw* meat? There's a couple possibilities I can think of, but there's one in particular that I would prefer not to think about at all.
Some Lvm
@PhycoKrusk I too keep thinking about, and am finding sabotage more and more palatable, but also, I find Haliska less and less deserving of sympathy. Why did she agree to go in the first place? Unless we uncover in the future that she was somehow blackmailed to join this mission, her presence means she is either willingly participating in the sabotage, or is so impressively stupid she went on a mission without knowing anything about the species they were meant to contact. A reasonable person does not agree to take up a critical mission they know they can't stand, and SC normally isn't known to coerce its citizens... Also, it is all about predator rhetoric - yes, she would remember how things were, but she would also know that the real reason her species was sacrificed to the Arxur was their affinity to water. I am actually kind of pissed at Dustin because he omitted a crucial part when explaining Arxur and the Federation to the Bissems: He did not tell them that Arxur weren't originally the people eating monsters they are today, but were intentionally pushed in to that role by the Kolshians as part of their conspiracy. Also - lets face it: they were eating cutlets. Food that has no resemblance to a corpse of a creature, no features of a body. There would also be no signs of blood, this isn't a raw stake. The only way this was triggering, is if Haliska was programmed with the whole "eating corpses" propaganda by the Feds. And finally: what were her crew mates eating on the ship on the way there? We know NoP warp drives take weeks just to cross Fed space, so it probably took them a month or more to get to the Bissems home planet. Sure, Dustin might be used to vegetarian cuisine because of his foster family, but I bet at least Nullia shook of any vegetarian habits as soon as she could, probably just to spite Marcel during her rebellions teen years. It just does not make sense this is the first time Haliska had to tolerate someone eating a meat dish...
PhycoKrusk
@Lvm Replying late, but: Image *is* everything on first contact, so don't send someone with Haliska's personality. "Predator rhetoric" has nothing to do with any of this. The fact that Haliska is one of a species that had been reduced to a minimum breeding population for hundreds of years because the rest of her people were literally being farmed for food? That matters a lot more. If she is roughly as old as the others, or is in between Nulia and Dustin in age, that means she is old enough to remember that being the state of affairs. You're assuming that she made it through the interview and prep before the mission, just as I am assuming that she was a last minute substitution, going back to her only given qualification of "they wanted a semi-aquatic species to be here." Everything about her behavior and presence suggests a last minute substitution, and if we are now entertaining the possibility of the Coalition sabotaging the mission, then there is no reason to place any of the blame on Haliska. Especially when we know that bureaucracies will do incredibly stupid things just like this because, after all, the people making the decisions are obviously the smartest people in the room, as dumb people never stumble into positions of authority. Nulia's profession is to observe people, yes, so it's only fair to assume that would mean she has the presence of mind to observe that Haliska being present at the feast had the potential to become a serious problem. You know, I keep thinking about it, and the more and more I think about it, the more and more plausible sabotage keeps sounding....
Wholesome Redditter
It’s the Yotels
Alicja Pielichowska
There was one on the subreddit some time ago, I don’t think I’ll be able to find it again tho
Adam Myers
I am sad for both.
Corporal Chunk
Maybe even during the Federation era too?
Corporal Chunk
Hey, quick suggestion here, can you make a political map of NoP?
PhycoKrusk
Who said anything about narrative errors? These are all points of intrigue!
extraintelligence
You raise valid points. With that said, I am trying to keep my criticisms to one per chapter; I want to help SP overcome narrative errors, not discourage him.
Ryeloaf Breadmen
The gross incompetence on display here is genuinely irritating. They've been preparing for this for a decade and yet they behave like a couple of random people decided to go down to the planet on a whim. Haliska was clearly incapable of participating in this mission, yet they put her on. She starts freaking the fuck out, and they just go, "oh we'll just ignore that. Definitely won't be concerning to the people we just cryptically jump scared with our arrival." And it just keeps getting worse. I find it very difficult to believe these are the people who studied for a decade for this to become fluent in the language and culture. They act like they were just 3 randos picked off the streets, told, "make first contact" and were given 4 hours to prepare
Some Lvm
@Apogee: I have not considered the possibility of sabotage from the SC, but now that you spell it out, it seems plausible... @PhycoKrusk - I agree with the second half of your comment but not the first. Short of locking Haliska in the ship, which probably meant disobeying orders, I don't think there is anything they could or should have reasonably done. It is totally unfair to blame them! This is a first contact situation - "image" is everything! First impression is everything. Stopping to interact with your hosts to take care of teammate who is being unreasonable, is not an option. And lets be clear here - Haliska does not have a medical condition. I don't know how old she is, but it has been 23 year since the Federation was defeated, their "predator fear and hatred" was uncovered as a false rhetoric and coercion needed to remain in power. If she is roughly the same age as her crew mates, she had all of her adult life to shake off the Fed programming, and get comfortable with different types of food different people need to eat. The fact that she has somehow managed to pass through all the interview and prep before this missions suggest a big problem - she either lied or hid things, possibly intentionally. As for Nullia, I think you are confusing a sociologist with a psychologist or a social worker. Nullia's profession is to observe people, not to comfort them and solve their mental problems. And the fact that they are stuck on this mission together, does not mean they are actually friends, they may just be coworkers...
PhycoKrusk
No, it isn't right. I don't doubt that Slanek is dead, but this is too clean of an explanation. She couldn't stand to watch his decline, so she left? Ok, I can buy that. But Marcel is only a chaperone? He was pretty dead-set that he was going to adopt her, and now this? No, we aren't even getting half of the story; something more happened. As to Haliska, the only evidence we have for "years of training" is that she speak Vrit fluently. There's a dozen ways that someone could learn a language, and most of them have nothing to do with being on a first contact team. She might well be embarrassed that she couldn't keep it together during such a pivotal moment, but I am thus far convinced that, given her nervousness with the entire situation, coupled with her own reported qualification for the mission being "I'm semi-aquatic," she was clearly a last minute replacement, either because the person she's replacing fell ill or was likely to fall ill, or because of bureaucratic meddling, or even both. All is not well within the Sapient Coalition, but maybe that shouldn't surprise me. It's been 23 years, after all; plenty of time for the people that knew what they were doing to be replaced by people that went to College.
extraintelligence
I'm really disappointed to have learned of Slanek's death like this. I get that what the squids did to him caused irreversible and degenerative damage, but for him to be rescued in the climax of the last book, only for his death to be merely an offhand mention in this one, is a real gut punch. I invested a lot emotionally into the character, so for him to be figuratively tossed aside is not a nice feeling. --- On another note, if cooking is foreign to the Bissem, it stands to reason they wouldn't have cooking implements either, such as ovens, stoves and baking/frying pans. I wonder, did they put it in a kiln or forge, or did they plate it and hit it with a blowtorch? In any case, it almost certainly wasn't cooked properly, but they get points for trying. Also, I bet Haliska's going to feel really bad about that; undergoing years of training only to fail at the critical moment is so awful, I can barely comprehend it.
Mark Baculna
Oh the yotul could swim and do surfing and sail.
SimpleArtist
Welp, good we're keeping the tradition of "professionals" being horrendously incompetent at their job.
SimpleArtist
Humanity saw themselves in the Arxur, they were a "You are us, if everything went wrong". I think the Arxur would saw themselves in the Bissen, a "You are us, before everything went to shit".
Apogee
No, not sad for Marcel just sad for Nulia. That she never seemed to go through a properly vetted adoption process. I doubt she would have wanted to be moved around even more, but I think it would have been better in the long run. Poor girl
Apogee
I definitely think it was a political move to either deliberately sabatoge first contact, or was a cruel test to see if the Bissem were ‘bloodthirsty’ or an attempt to ‘prove’ they are. There is still plenty of Bigots in government, it was too widespread and deep seated belief to scrub out in only a few decades. And more fed planets have ‘joined’ the SC. There’s a lot of space for people in high places that still fully believe the Federation rhetoric.
BigSneppy
>HFY story >look inside >humanity saves the day
Adam Myers
Yep. I wonder what Nulia’s current thoughts on Gojids and Humans are.
Adam Myers
I am thinking it was the Yotul. The Yotul do not like uplifting, at all. I would not be surprised if they were involved…
Adam Myers
@Mr. Walker, probably not as much as you would think. The fact is that most of the world’s easily accessible petroleum and coal reserves are already mined out and the up and coming developing countries are likely to piggyback off of the green research done by developed countries. So, we are probably approximately near peak emissions (in my view).
Mr. Walker
I think the evolutionary path most likely to produce intelligent plants would be something like a eusocial insect-hive. The "queen" is the mother-tree, the motile plants would be like soldiers and workers that forrage for food, cultivate symbiotic fungi, and defend the mother-tree.
Mr. Walker
@Adam Myers I mean, we probably won't go the way of Venus, we are still heading for a lot of pain and suffering.
Mr. Walker
@Alan . . . Clarification Request: NoP "Greys" i.e. Arxur -or- Roswell / Betty & Barney Hill Abduction "Greys"
Danny Luca
Is anyone else depressed by reading Nulia call Marcel a chaperone and not her dad? 😞
Danny Luca
She called him a chaperone and not a father!! That makes me sad 😭
Danny Luca
But is it comparable to the amount dropped on the Duerten?
PhycoKrusk
No, this actually is unrecoverable. The situation will deteriorate further, then will change into something different that will have a path out of it. But the situation of this first contact is unrecoverable; this is no way to fix it.
Mark Baculna
Or did he mean he was hallucinating from lyme disease?
Mark Baculna
Ooh sapient venus flytraps
Some Lvm
@PhycoKrusk: possible, but it brings up the question - is it better to reduce the team to two, and give up a certain biological similarity than to have and unstable and unpredictable member of the team causing a massive diplomatic incident on first contact? How much is Thefki being semi-aquatic even useful here? Their having the contact on land, and a civilization at Bassem's level of development would totally expect aliens to be different... @Tobias Sumrall: totally agree - they were planning this mission for a decade. An environmental collapse does not happen in a day or a week. They totally could have taken the time to train a replacement.
Willy
Honestly its not that annoying because if you know SP things need to happen or seem unrecoverable for shit to happen. “Humanity fixes all in the end!!! Woohoo!” -DeadPan-
T___
The fish probably had eyes left, fins at least.
T___
Dustin worked for them as well, remember?
T___
It was quite jarring to read from an offhand comment that a) Slanek got worse and didn't make it, and b) Marcel failed to offer Nulia love, security, attention and essentially a good childhood.
PhycoKrusk
Friends, I won't lie to you: I'm fucking pissed. Yes, Nulia, she did know ahead of time what she would be faced with. Just like you knew what the probable outcome of her being there was. The difference is that there was, apparently, an excellent chance that she wouldn't be in complete control of herself, whereas you were in complete control of yourself the entire time, and pressed onward with an action that was very obviously going to cause a scene, and it's obvious that you did this because you ran out of patience. I'm sure you're a very good sociologist, but you're a terrible crew mate and an even worse friend. Almost as terrible as Dustin, who knew the exact same risks with having Haliska there, but went the extra mile by being more concerned with putting on a show for the cameras than for her mental well-being. Naltor just met her, and he's doing a better job of looking out for her than the Blunder Twins are. Lastly, I'm disappointed: The Sapient Coalition has clearly fallen into the exact same habits as the UN before it; image above all else, efficacy only when it's easy. Bureaucracy strikes again! Zhao wouldn't have let this happen; the fact that it did means that he's out, either replaced by a buffoon or worse, by a committee. If Zhao's out, Tarva's out too; competent people have a bad habit of getting in the committee's way when they try to do dumb shit, and have to be shuffled off to where they can't actually do anything. Isif, the last remaining competent leader, is either trying to hold the Collective together long enough for a calmer generation to take the reins, or has already been removed. Kaisal is competent, yes, but he's not leader material, and if Isif was replaced by any of the old guard, then Kaisal's out too. This is an unrecoverable situation.
PhycoKrusk
Haliska is there because she's a replacement for another crew member who couldn't go for some reason. They were probably Thafki too, but had a much more even temperament and wouldn't handle everything much better. So why send Haliska when she clearly doesn't have the temperament? Because she's the only other semi aquatic that's fluent in Vrit; I wouldn't be surprised if she was one of the linguists who worked out the language program and initially had no intention of ever actually going.
Willy
My thoughts exactly. Shit first contact team.
TheGoldenTank TGT
It does make you wonder why they selected her in the first place; could they not find a more suitable Thafki for the job?
Tobias Sumrall
This is my one and only complaint so far about NOP2. A first contact scenario is ALWAYS going to be a fraught endeavor that must be handled to perfection, or as close as possible. Your FIRST first contact scenario, doubly so. This should have been overplanned for to the point of absurdity. Your first first contact scenario being with a species of OBLIGATE CARNIVORES, the only other ones known besides the Arxur? Haliska had no right whatsoever being on this mission, regardless of her species' aquatic leanings. If people eating meat gives her a panic attack, she should not have been in the room with live-streaming cameras. This was a clusterfuck of historic proportions.
Mike Barth
Probably some dumb government member of a herbivore species demanding they get to send a herbivore representative.
Mike Barth
Dustin also worked for a place where he may have seen rotten corpses on the regular and work alongside William Kane as well as regularly interacted with human refugees and UN troops so had more chances to enjoy normal human casual talk, also he's a nerd and couldn't help but talk about surstromming like how he'd throw facts out as a kid...He's a nerd.
Mike Barth
Really does seem like some dumb decision by a herbivore species senator in the USC council forcing in on some stupid agenda. So believable for me because politicians are super out of touch for sensible ideas when they can push something instead.
Byron Ritchie
Yep unfortunately
Edmund Lam
I hope the Bissem get to try sushi and crudo when they visit Earth. Not fugu though.
GeneralLDS
almost more than the amount thrown at earth!
Willy
All Omnivores should of been first contact in my opinion, UN has bad decision making unless it was influenced by another species and making a meek herbivore go just to make sure they didn’t get eaten. Still the lack of biological knowledge still persists.
Willy
To be honest i find it kinda fucking annoying that Dustin is like “you need to cooperate. Your planet’s ecosystem hangs in the balance.” Why focus on the wishy washy stuff about exploring planets and just fix their home planet from the goodness of your heart. The bissems are basically in a situation where “you need to join or else,” like fuck man.
Niko15
Dustin, with all due respect, shut your filthy, corpse-eating mouth
Some Lvm
Well, now I have to know what happens when space penguins meet their earth counterparts!
Some Lvm
Oh, SP you bastard - that's how we learn about Slanek's unfortunate end??? Snuck in as a side conversation? Ok, ok, I am actually more upset he didn't get better permanently, than anything else, I really feel sorry for the little dude. Also, I think they should have forced Haliska to spend a month doing survival training on earth with humans. Sure - she might not have lasted two days, but they had a decade to prepare for this mission, and yet she totally blow it...
TheBlack2007
I don't think so. She probably watched plenty of Humans eat lab-grown stuff and talked it into herself it was no big deal, only to then be blindsided when the Bissem hauled in the real deal.
AFoxGuy
I know, that’s what’s heartbreaking to me. The same spark of optimism that Naltor had at the beggining (like NoP1) was immediately replaced with terror and skepticism because reality wasn’t as glamorous.
Vladi Vladi
he also forgot to mention the "worst Government in History" is responsible for creating the baby eaters because they tried to cure them and then intentionally let them radicalize, practice eugenics that turned them into sociopaths and destroy their own culture and starve their people. And how it was thanks to an Arxur's compassion and intelligence that peace could even be reach. Like it still is the herbivore's fault, they can cry and complain about fascist carnivores all they want, its their fault, they failed biology class and then never studied, not the Arxur, not the Omnivores. I'd rather the Bissems learn the whole truth: that you can count on one claw the amount of herbivores, true or not, who aren't insane cultists no matter how much you try to disprove it
Vladi Vladi
I mean that's the Passive Observer style of conversation, the wallflower. Such people exist, I'm one of them
Willy
I’m rereading this page and i think the thafki was there as sabotage. Because why would they bring someone who knows their obligate carnivores but lacks basic self control. The trauma from previous carnivores definitely got someone from the SC to plan this bs. I feel it. It’s a very SP like writing style. Something needs to happen for plot.
EliasArt2Life
Agreed! There’s been an upsetting lack of aliens coming into contact with their Earth lookalikes throughout NOP1, the miniseries, the one-shots, and NOP2 (up to this point). The only mention of this was when Sovlin compared the bear tattoo on Carlos to a “Nightmare of a Zerulian”. At the very least, I wanted to see a Zerulian’s reaction to finding out why so much of humanity colloquially calls them “Teddys”.
EliasArt2Life
Haliska probably had said that she would be okay with the Bissem’s food choices, but was not actually prepared. I’m torn between sympathy at what she’s going through, and frustration that she didn’t know her own limits. Still, could have been worse. Could have also been a whole lot better. I’m now wondering if the reason that THESE three were selected is because no other (relevant) species wants to have a part in it? The Duerten and Krakotl have been some of the most opposed to meat eating. The Yotul probably didn’t want to be a part of this on principle, since they are so against uplifting species. I mean, we’ve got a human, a Gojid raised by a human, and a Thafki who lives on the Commune, which was made by humans. It’s making me wonder if the other species are giving the equivalent of “it’s your problem” to humanity, and the group was formed in an attempt to cover up the actual LACK of diversity in the first contact team.
Blake S
What a insult too, humanity took it in stride, but to go up to a perfectly normal race, march up to thier planet and make them prove thier emotions are genuine or else is simply apauling.
Blake S
The quadrapedal predatoy feline is out of the bag now. The galaxy knows your here and we cant take it back sorry
TheBlack2007
Dustin omitted quite a few tidbits in his rundown of Galactic History though. Like how Humanity only survived because the Arxur stepped in and we kinda owe these baby eaters the continued existence of our Civilization. And that was after humanity tipped them off about the Extermination Fleet and a good dozen Alien Worlds being all but defenseless, which got them all glassed for their trouble. Wonder if this ends up coming back to haunt him. Not sure if disclosing would have helped his case but if Naltor now finds out because some UN Admiral runs their mouth I have a feeling he'll stop being that trusty.
Abby
"Yeah, so basically before we came along the galaxy was split between the Nazis who eat babies and the Nazis who think anyone with forward eyes or is neurodivergent wants to eat babies! Yeah, and it turns out they were actually conspiring together to keep the galaxy in a perpetual state of total war, crazy right? Also, the only reason we lived is that the baby-eating Nazis came to save us from the vegan Nazi extermination fleet because a rebel of theirs thought we could help them not eat as many babies. And get this, the whole thing started because the vegan Nazis jumped to a wild conclusion about a prion disease they faced a thousand years ago! They thought they were doing some sacred duty curing the entire galaxy of predators, or else everything would fall to entropy. Isn't that something? They've spent all this time curing every primitive species they found by making them allergic to meat and erasing everything from their history and culture that doesn't fit their ridiculously narrow definition of a model prey species, and they created and were working with the baby-eating Nazis just so everyone would be shocked into going along with it! And anyone like us they couldn't cure, they just killed them, neat right? Everyone was brainwashed so bad it took even the few friends we made years to realize we weren't just barely containing our bloodlust, and they'll surely think the same about you! Anyway, you want to join the Sapient Coalition?" Tassi and Naltor: "Nah, ecological collapse sounds good thanks"
Amanda Chowning
What freaked her out wasn’t eating fish. I don’t think the team ever expected her to eat it herself. What freaked her out was that it was real fish not lab grown, and that everyone around her including her two buddies were eating it. It was implied the veggies asked for were for Haliska and maybe Nulia. Dustin wouldn’t have had any issue eating fish, being human and likely not a vegetarian his entire life. Dustin’s concern was more that the fish was cooked, and was surprised they actually did that instead of sushi.
th3h4ck3r
I wouldn't be surprised that a (probably excattle) Thafki was included as an internal sabotage, probably by some of the races that didn't want an obligate carnivore joining the SC.
The Lost Wanderer
Well... That could have gone much worse. Please Space Paladin don't take that as a challenge
TheBlack2007
"Do you ever just people watch, Doctor? Just look around and make observations like you’re some omniscient narrator?” Getting a bit Meta now, are we? Not that I'm complaining, but that one had me chuckle for a bit after that hell of a downer that was Slanek's ultimate fate. Poor guy!
extraintelligence
In all fairness, it might be that they thought they had prepared for every eventuality, but something they simply hadn't accounted for affected the outcome. For instance, Haliska might have spent years practicing sitting at a table while people ate raw meat, listening to conversations about it, etc, and had gotten to a point where she seemed to be in control of herself. What they didn't count on was that she had developed a coping mechanism of "it isn't real meat, it was grown in a lab," and even when she was told otherwise, that doubt would always be in her mind. Now that she's actually on Ivrana, her coping mechanism is working against her, because she can't deny that the fish in front of her was once a real, living animal. I would prefer to read about this, of course, but it would make sense that no one is going to know what happened until it's investigated. SP15 has his moment when it comes to characters and organizations making questionable decisions, and I have not been afraid to be critical of them, but this one seems plausible to me.
Dookus Maximus
We need to remember that half of the purpose of the visit was to introduce ourselves (SC) to the people of Ivrana. Someone more like them makes sense in that context, and I'm sure the Thafki diplomat thought they could hold it together.
Dookus Maximus
How about no
Apogee
F
Greg Gougeon
The general won a lot of my respect this chapter. He really showed a about face in his attitude when learning the truth and did not immediately go on the defencive like a lot pf military people would do.
Amanda Chowning
Didn’t they specifically mention the commune being geared towards cattle rescues? Both being a Thafki and living there independently increase the likelihood, but together are pretty damning. In addition to most of their race being cattle as recently as 20 years ago, realistically one or more of her parents, or Haliska herself, were likely cattle rescues. Dustin shouldn’t have pushed her personal limits when it was fairly obvious she wasn’t going to be ok at the feast. And a Yotul would have been a better choice to send as a species. I don’t even blame her at this point, her panic attack was understandable. Someone in the comments of a previous chapter suggested she should stay behind and “run diagnostics” on the ship during the feast, and that’s what should have happened. Heck, they could have had Dustin and Nulia do the feast, while Dustin and Haliska do a swim like she suggested. Haliska’s suggestion wasn’t taken seriously, more of an off handed remark about how she’d rather be swimming than doing the feasting, but it legitimately wasn’t a bad idea. All they have to say was their species diets (Bissem and Thafki) weren’t compatible and she could be of better use on the ship for a few hours.
Blake S
I love how even tho Haliska is having a mental breakdown, she still pipes up to obses about swimming. Tafki are so adorable. I think Haliska voluntered to go on this mission because when someone was describing the bissem to her, all she heard was swimming.....swimming.....water.........swimming.... Like its all she fixates on.
Blake S
Its possible they did, Haliska did specifically call out that the fish they were eating used to be alive. Which seemed to be the straw which broke the camels back. As relatively normalized as meet consumption seems to be in the SC, They would have only had lab grown stuff to practice with.
Wesley Rigg
He didn't get better after NoP1, and Nulia refers to him in past tense.
RaptorRed
What if the sapient plants ate animals, perhaps even sapient animals?
Blake S
Saying the tafki wernt at the top of food chain is the understatement of the century.
NextMan
I believe they were talking about his brother Jimek’s work with the Exterminator Guild.
Blake S
Well now they could send in a team of all bissems and maybe rope some arxur into the fold as well. "Do not be alarmed we only eat things that are alive.... f##k i mean we only eat flesh, but not the kind of flesh your made out of, uhhhh im forgot something on the ship (waddles away furiously) "
Blake S
I dont think he died i think his mental state just got worse, if you can beleive it. The way its worded they might have gotten him to a point where he got a few good years in a somewhat coherent state before he declined. (Sounds like excelent bonus chapter btw). It would suck for everyone involved to get thier slanek back only to know it wouldnt last and he would be taken away from then again any day now. To go through that trauma again.
Blake S
It seems they didnt want to panic the bissem over the food issue, and wanted to avoid hints. It sounds like at least nulia was keeping tabs on her while dustin handled outreach. If i had to guess they did practice this with lab meat but the fact they were once living animals as haliska pointed out was too much for her and they bounced. That being said id have to reread the first chapter as Haliska seemed suprised that nulia could eat meat, and the expedition team may not have planned this out as well as they could have.
Tazeell
I legitimately hope it was an anti predator political move. It's about all that could salvage this chapter for me. My ability to suspend disbelief got shattered pretty hard by them allowing the most obvious shitshow in the universe to happen.
Blake S
Sounds like slanek stayed very sick and unholesome big oof. Im sure marcel, as caring as he is, had to split his attention between nulia and slanek.
Blake S
Oh hey sp anwsered literally all of our questions from the last post, neet! Allso poor Halaskai, id actually reread the archives report since the last chapter and yeh she 100% was a cattle farm survivor. 12,000 free to millions of rescues. She has to be one because nothing like that sweet sweet trauna to get the story beets flowing.
Yannis Morris
Yeah I was confused on why Haliska didn’t take the offer of a vegetable dish. (Also you can really just say herbivore. “Obligate” is a word used to describe the capacity. If she physically can’t digest meat then she’d be an obligate herbivore. But since that’s largely unconfirmed, we can’t make that judgement on any species in the galaxy)
Tazeell
I knew it, I knew it, hell everyone knew it, why the heck did they bring a damned thafki to this feast! At this point the whole group of em should be pulled off first contact for incompetence! I can stretch my suspension of disbelief to certain extents but this goes beyond it into a forced conflict for plot convenience. There had better some damn good reasons this shitshow was allowed to happen.
Yannis Morris
@th3h4ck3r The Arxur were pointed at *all* of the attacking parties’ homeworlds. Not just one
Yannis Morris
It’s sad how that’s an accomplishment and not an expectation
Space Paladin
Heh, no they shouldn’t. Don’t worry, you’ll see why soon…
Space Paladin
Naltor’s fears that aliens could do what Bissems did to the fourth subspecies (wiping them out) is pretty justified, by the virtue of what the Feddies did…
Wingit98
Dustin and Nulia should have been eating meat around Halliska beforehand as exposure therapy if they were going to do this. I got some serious secondhand embarrassment from this. Really threw her into the deep end while having to participate in front of hundreds of cameras. Also, wtf Poor Slanek. :(
Willy
There is an echo of truth to it tho. Former feds are unstable.
Willy
Slanek was already a lost cause after his memories got biologically corrupted and no longer had a transcription signature. His death doesn't really surprise me, it just makes me wish he didn't do anything stupid and was the normal him and got help.
Tyler Ellis
C’mon Dustin, anybody with more than two brain cells to rub together would have told you that bringing a Thafki to a carnivorous feast was a bad idea. How did you think she would react? you’ve nearly scuffed everything you’ve worked for. It’s not like the Bissems would have been pissed if she was absent… then again maybe that’s an insult to their culture idk but now you have a lot to explain!
ToddTheSquid
Their heads would probably explode.
ToddTheSquid
I think if you're hearing limes say anything you may need to see a doctor. Fruits shouldn't be speaking to you.
th3h4ck3r
She doesn't know we practically allied with them though. Some conversations are going to be a lot tougher than this, like how we were saved by them by pointing them to one of the attacking parties' homeworld. Also, there's probably going to be some Arxur action in the future; Isif wanted to build a corp of diplomats in the near future in NOP1. But the Bissem will be caught in the cross-fire of the repercussions of a galaxy-scale humanitarian and diplomatic conflict they barely understand and in didn't they didn't even participate in the first place.
Willy
My hope right now is that humans don't put them through a "flawed" empathy test. Because empathy in it's self takes into account previous experiences as well as cultivation, not weather or not another species gets eaten. Hopefully there won't be a need for the Bissems to go through that nonsense. But for us to simplify empathy is already a no go.
ToddTheSquid
They probably did, actually - But here's the thing, that was in a controlled and familiar environment. Not an alien planet she'd never set foot on, surrounded by aliens she didn't know who reminded her of the people who genocided her species, with cameras and microphones pointed directly at her for billions more to see. I'd personally crumble just from the cameras alone irl, and I don't even have ex-fed societal programming obviously. All of that combined? I'm honestly not surprised that she broke down.
Overwatch_the_protogen
F
Swan
Nulia mentioned he had a "Decline" and that there was "Nothing more the doctors could do"; We don't know if he's dead or not, but it sounds like he may as well be, and not in a pretty way
Apogee
So, there’s a lot of talk about the breakdown and having a Tafiki on the first contact team. I suspect it might have been a political move made by someone who doesn’t like ‘predators’ I bet she was a cruel test to see if the Bissem would hunt her for showing weakness, under the guise that an aquatic species would need to be on the first contact team. Also F in the chat for Slanek, may he Rest In Peace. (Nulia spoke of him in the past tense) Now I’m wondering what Marcel is up too, it seems the relationship between him and Nulia is…distant. Not that I’m surprised. I doubt Marcel was a good parent, especially being so preoccupied with Slanek.
sticksnstones
Eh, I'm sure we'll find out eventually.
sticksnstones
"It made the aliens look emotional and unstable", ha ha... yeah we definitely wouldn't want the newcomers thinking poorly of the former Fed species... that'd be out of character for them... ha...
Apogee
I agree and had a similar thought, it might have been a political move made by someone who doesn’t like ‘predators’ I bet she was a cruel test to see if the Bissem would hunt her for showing weakness, under the guise that an aquatic species would need to be on the first contact team.
Colin Jordan
He may be dead due to what looks like medically induced dementia
Apogee
I suspect it might have been a political move made by someone who doesn’t like ‘predators’ I bet she was a cruel test to see if the Bissem would hunt her for showing weakness, under the guise that an aquatic species would need to be on the first contact team.
Sobek
I demand that the Bissem be taken to Antarctica to witness penguins. This is not negotiable. I also suspect it will take some effort to get the other Bissem powers to play ball, but if the Sapient Coalition plays their cards right and pushes forward the sustainability and ecological restoration effort as a apolitical and purely humanitarian thing they will succeed.
Shingi
Well...that was dumb of them to bring along someone so traumatized to an obligate carnivore world. Food was going to come up at some point
Colin Jordan
I dont think he's dead but that they couldn't reverse the brain scamble
S1nsational
First Ari has a disconnect to his adoptive parents, now Nulia seems to have had a crap childhood being raised by Marcel. Is Dustin the only actually happy cross species adoption? If we learn that he too is estranged from him mom and brother I'm going to get depressed
Byron Ritchie
Oof that’s going to leave a bad taste (pun intended) At least the penguin general and scientist seem sympathetic to the thafki’s plight after being told the truth
sticksnstones
I thought it was more like the brain damage worsened til he couldn't remember his own name.
Amanda Chowning
When we were guessing races in the space suits I was guessing Yotul partially for this reason. It was obvious we had a Human and Gojid, but people were making guesses what the third species with the long tail was going to be. The most popular guess was Venlil, and I figured that was second most likely. But I was heavily leaning towards it being a Yotul, and considered it the most likely option- It seems like they would want to keep a close eye on the uplift being how against it they were as a whole, with them worried about them experiencing the same imperialism the Yotul experienced under the federation. The Yotul also fit the long tail thing, and are probably the most predator friendly race in the SC outside of the humans.
sticksnstones
Yeah, sounds like he's roughly where we last saw him.
jr_aye
I hope these two go to meet Vysith at some point. That would be interesting.
Davis R
A bit odd to have someone at risk of a breakdown going on a first contact mission, something you don’t want to mess up, to a high stressor environment where they are most definitely going to break down.
snidramon
I'm gonna go against the grain here, and say that the feast was ruined by Dustin. The dude *knew* that food is basically the most controversial topic in the galaxy, and still insisted that a feast was a good idea, despite the fact that "I'm so sorry, but we aren't sure if your food is safe for us to eat yet, and it's definitely not for the obligate herbivore in our group" would have been a very simple way to push that discussion down the line. Statistically, that thafki *was* cattle, or is immediately related to someone who was.
Stueymon
Oh no. Poor Slanek. Pour one isopropyl alcohol out for the Venlil buddy
Willy
Wait... so Slanek is dead!!??? Shit fucking Kolshians man,
Willy
Wait what happened to slanek again?
Willy
Well there it is, I don't know why it's so hard to break out of prejudice even after almost 30 years.
Alekss Žukovskis
Slanek is dead. Never thought id cry for a story character.
Yannis Morris
Crazy how this is happening so close to the anniversary of the war’s end
Elliott
I wonder how the former Fed species would react to finding sapient plants.
paintmelikeyoudoyoursheilas
I don't think he's dead. It sounded more along the lines of irreparably psychologically damaged by the torture he endured
paintmelikeyoudoyoursheilas
I remember hearing a lime previously that talked about how humanity HAD a small mitary. It will be super interesting to see how sol looks now, imagining the absolute armada protecting earth. Loving the new volume in the series. Looking forward to seeing where this goes. Especially looking forward to potentially seeing issif again, being the galaxy saving Chad he is and the yotul as well.
Nicole
Huge oversight not to have had halsika(pretty sure I spelled her name wrong) practice being around people eating actual fish since they should've predicted the bissems would want to host a feast
Abby
Dang, so Slanek's dead huh? That's really too bad.
BigSneppy
Damn, Fs in chat for Slinky
Yannis Morris
Well she already knows the Arxur are exiled and quarantined and stuff
Lord Tvlor
A yotul to keep an eye on how the FC is progressing makes more sense. I feel like they would have insisted. Picking "a thafki" because "they like water" is a little stupid.
Adam Myers
Meh, probably not. Climate Change discussions were more complicated due to the situation we found ourselves in. We are thankfully mostly on our way out at this point.
Adam Myers
Probably politics.
Adam Myers
I think the Yotul would be a wild card. They would probably be both in the anti-interventionist bloc and in the pro-human bloc (along with the Harchen, Krakotl, Tillfish, Thafki, Mazic, and Venlil).
Adam Myers
Probably not many better alternatives given the mission parameters.
Adam Myers
Then again, Jimek might have made him forget a lot of it by being so accepting.
Adam Myers
Meh, that could have gone badly for other reasons… Keep in mind the Yotul are very, very against the uplift.
Adam Myers
Yeah, vague is king, let them incorrectly fill in the details themselves, particularly if those details would probably be better to believe for now than the truth.
Piittis
Yup, certainly went as well as expected. The imminent destruction of Ivrana's entire ecosystem certainly explains why the humans felt it was necessary to reach out to the Bissem. (Maybe that was alluded to earlier, but I have bad memory) At this point I think that revealing a part of the truth to the Bissem public would be the best option, because a quick mention of past trauma isn't really enough to satisfy the public. They could just say the Thafki weren't at the top of the food chain or something; it lets the Bissem know that the Thafki were used as food, but doesn't reveal the full horrific truth behind that.
Adam Myers
Poor Slanek,I wonder how that affected Nulia, did she feel bad at his passing? What is her current relationship with Marcel.
Adam Myers
I really liked this chapter. I think Dustin missed another detail (not mentioning the role the fed played in the Arxur’s fate being the first). Dustin: There is a silver lining. Tassi: What? Dustin: You have nothing to fear from the Arxur. Tassi: What do you mean? I thought you said they eat people! Dustin: They did, and don’t now, but they didn’t consider herbivores people unlike, you and I. Tassi: (Horror) Naltor: What? Dustin: So, the reason humanity exists is because the Arxur allied with us. Yeah, clusterfuck, like I said. Tassi:… Nalto:… Dustin: So, there is one race that will absolutely love your diplomat other than us and wouldn’t dream of offending or harming you… The Yotul are pretty cool too, they were only 20 years into fed brainwashing, so they are fairly chill with us meat-eaters. They don’t like that we are uplifting you, given their trauma of the fed uplift on them. Tassi:I think I am going to puke. Naltor: Dear god.
Snappa
Now I want a follow-up with slanek. Extra sad with a side of heartbreak please
Alan
Oh boy. Three different societies and all of them have to acknowledge that something is going wrong with the planet. This is going to be like the greys landing and trying to get us all to agree about climate change.
Corporal Chunk
Ik, he should've said that too, and also R.I.P. Slanek
Corporal Chunk
Ok.. why the fuck did they invite the damn thafki diplomat, they seriously couldn't find anyone more stable? Any other species? The damn Venlil even since they're probably more used to humans than anyone else, like goddamn
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:Arxur_sad:
Mr. Walker
Should have let her sit this one out.
Mr. Walker
He got swept up in the moment. I wonder how Jimek is doing.
Intricate Zebra
Methinks that there was a lot of political shenanigans in the SC to make it so at least one not so strongly human aligned species was present on the first contact mission and "well, they're also semi-aquatic" was just the casus belli to do so. It has been 20 years, so it wouldn't surprise me to see political factionalism becoming more of a force. There's likely a strong social conservative/anti-interventionist bloc extremely against uplifting species without immediate existential cause, even more so since the Bissem are so culturally different from the majority of the SC species. Also wouldn't surprise me if the Yotul were the head of that bloc lol.
Fever Dream
Slanek...
Charles Michael Santos
There it is, as expected haliska ended up ruining the feast, I have to question how the SC could let an unstable person like haliska be with the first contact crew and also why they didn't bring proper diplomats during their first ever first contact experience.
th3h4ck3r
She seemed upset at the whole "actual dead fish" thing. Knowing how upsetting eating even lab-grown meat is for Ex-Feddies and for visiting a species so focused on fishing, it seems like a HUGE oversight that they didn't even do one final test where Dustin and Nulia ate an actual fish in front of her, knowing it would 100% come up at some point or another.
Paperclip
Next chapter, I'm booting my PC up for faster loading times. I'm coming for your throne, man.
AFoxGuy
Ok first off… SLANEK GOT FED DEMENTIA? FUCK THE FEDS. Secondly… man I’m heartbroken all over again with how General Naltor is realizing Space was kinda fucked up…. Just like humans did at the beginning of NoP1
Jonathan Cardoso Mota
I mean... I fully believe that Haliska is the best they could find. I fully believe that she TRAINED indeed, she was in a ship with omnivores after all. She'd probably shared plenty meals with them. She thought she was ready for it. But we only really know if we're ready or not when the time comes. And she was not.
Anemoia
You'd think growing up with Venlil would've taught Dustin how to be mindful of prey species, but I guess not. Dude just casually uses the words "rotting corpse" to describe something humans eat while sitting feet away from a Thafki on the verge of a one-woman stampede.
Roscuro
Dayum, that's...a lot of bombshells.
Mylax Kindflame
Who fucking vetted the Thafki diplomat? They seriously couldn’t find *one* that wouldn’t immediately lose their shit upon mealtime? I get that they’ve got trauma, but you’d think they’d have trained her to handle this. At the very least, it was a good idea for Dustin to tell them the truth. Of course it’s a bit more complicated than they made it out to be, so I hope they clarify things a bit more.
Swan
I'd hoped Slanek got a happier ending but oh well; hope he got a few good years atleast. Also: Guess my nuke theory was wrong
XavHD
Should have brought a Yotul instead
John Benjamin Cate
Well that went as bad as expected. I had hoped we would be able to see some alien traditions at the table before it happened, but there it is. I just hope she is able to calm down and talk now.
Themu 050
How
pogman
Already three comments, damn
Corporal Chunk
Second
Paperclip
Ooh, Dustin left out the part where the Arxur were normal (minus the nazis) at First Contact and their people-eating situation was partially the fault of the Federation trying to "cure" them. Also, heavy implication that Slanek died because of his lobotomy, so R.I.P.
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