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The Nature of Predators 131
🕑 Added 2023-07-03 11:00:04 +0000 UTCMemory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command
Date [standardized human time]: February 1, 2137
Tyler Cardona solved our logistical issues, with the plan to show Hunter around Earth; he invited us to lodge at his apartment in Columbus. The blond officer was slated to handle some interrogations of the Archives personnel during the days, but otherwise was free for shore leave like the rest of us. Oddly, Marcel’s friend was non-specific about the specifics of those questioning sessions; yet again, I got the impression there was something I didn’t know about the people taken from the base. Tyler only stated that it was better the less I was made aware of.
If the humans were torturing Farsul staff, I couldn’t blame them for succumbing to fury. Earth couldn’t afford negative public relations now, though, from what I heard. Rumblings reached my ears, as we departed Monahan’s ship, that the United Nations was planning a massive diplomatic convention. Venlil Prime was especially shaken by the news that the Federation had performed drastic alterations on them, and the issue had taken front and center in their election. I wondered if these discoveries would be what toppled the Kolshian-Farsul conspiracy for good.
The Farsul won’t be around on the galactic stage anymore, regardless; they’re banished to their homeworld for the foreseeable future. The duration of the war, at the minimum.
After a rough night’s sleep on a water mattress, I awoke to the sound of a slamming fridge door. Hunter was already awake, and Tyler was showing him the icebox’s contents. Did ancient Terrans have the concept of freezing food, or did they worry about spoilage at all, with fresh prey available for consumption? It would become evident quite soon how advanced (or not) the 1960s human was. I wished again that the Yotul, Tyler’s exchange partner, was here to manage the primitive-minded aspects of this stay on Earth.
“Everyone likes mac n’ cheese. See, I can cook!” Officer Cardona strode over to a microwave and popped the door open. He then fumbled with the packaging box, sliding a small carton out. “That work for you, Hunter?”
The ancient predator squinted at the box, staring at the ice crystals within. “You eat this…cold? Oh shit, is that one of those fancy microwave things? I heard those irradiate your food, and take all the nutrients out. Hell, I even heard the Soviets use it for mind control.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I chimed in. “It heats up water molecules. It’s basic science.”
“It’s like putting nuclear fallout in your food!”
“The radiation isn’t ionized. And mind control? Were your people st—”
Tyler coughed, before sliding the tray into the microwave. “Let me just punch a few buttons. It’s perfectly safe, I promise. We’ve had hundreds of years to see if it’s not, y’know?”
“Exactly. Regardless, why would humans ever think something so crazy and unfounded?!”
“Says the one raised in the Federation.”
“Ouch, Tyler. You’re comparing Dossur to Mazics there.”
“It was a different time. Humans had less refined views on…many things. Like the Captain told you, we had enough nukes pointed at each other to end civilization in one go. Isn’t that right, Hunter?”
The brown-haired primate nodded. “Yeah. You see, the Soviets want to destroy democracy itself—they’d like it if we’re all communists! When I was in school, we did drills of nuclear attacks, and the teachers had us hide under desks.”
I couldn’t avoid gaping in horror, as a mental image materialized. Had humans really taught their children that they could be irradiated at any time, the way the Federation did with predator attacks? The rhetoric would sound paranoid and unhinged, if there hadn’t been a very real threat of nuclear annihilation. I couldn’t imagine living in a world where the possibility of self-inflicted extinction loomed over their heads. What was the point of hiding under a desk against an atomic bomb?
Furthermore, the translator took its time chewing on the first part Hunter said, before conveying “communism” as a classless society. It wasn’t evident to me what that had to do with democracy, but Hunter spat the term with disgust. Carlos’ words from back at Sillis, about not viewing others as people, rang in my ears. Perhaps this nuclear standoff originated from an ideological rift? It sounded like this “Soviet” tribe, a name I’d never heard before, were viewed as the enemy in Hunter’s territory.
“What’s bad about a classless society?” I queried. “Wouldn’t equality be a good thing?”
The microwave dinged, but Hunter’s eyes were boring into my skull. “Oh fuck, are the aliens commies? Did…did the Soviets win? We didn’t try hard enough to sniff ‘em out…shit, they’d kill me for criticizing them and all. Lay it on me, Sovlin.”
“I didn’t know Earthlings…killed people for free speech? I have no idea who these ‘Soviet’ people are, and I have no equivalent for the word communism. From what my translator says, it sounds like an unattainable ideal. If ancient humans knew how to have everyone get by, I am all ears. I joined our military to provide for my family; it was a well-paying, respectable career.”
“Sovlin, most countries today have lax laws on speech, and you won’t be taken to the handful that don’t.” Tyler placed the steaming food by Hunter, handing him a plastic fork. “You can say whatever you like about humans and our government. It’s considered a basic right.”
Hunter pushed waxy yellow food around with his silverware. “You’ve never heard of the Soviets?!”
“Sovlin has no reason to know them. The Soviet Union collapsed at the end of the twentieth century. Broke into several independent countries.”
“That’s righteous! And now that I think about it, the Aussie called me a ‘Yank’, so USA still exists?”
“Correct.”
“Unreal. I was surprised you let a chick carry a gun…she sure didn’t act very ladylike. Must be distracting, having eye candy around on the battlefield. The tongue on that one…seemed like a shrew.”
I flinched with surprise, hearing such objectifying and belittling remarks from the primitive predator. The blond human looked appalled, and his eyebrows arched up with disgust. Officer Cardona’s fists clenched and unclenched, while his teeth baring seemed like the unfriendly kind. Reading between the lines, I could sense that ancient Terrans didn’t believe females belonged in certain professions. It also sounded like Sam’s speech patterns didn’t align with the passivity Hunter viewed as fitting.
Did the males see themselves as better, due to a higher propensity toward physical strength? Maybe Earth truly wasn’t a charitable society when we observed them.
“The fuck did you just say?” Tyler hissed.
Hunter chewed on a mouthful of food. “What? I mean, it’s bonkers. They’re the fairer sex. Pretty girl like that belongs at home, not fighting aliens on another planet.”
“Look, I know that was the prevailing thought in your times, but you better drop that idea quick. You’re gonna get some teeth knocked out, if you don’t. If Sam’s capable of doing the job and willing to take the risks, why shouldn’t she serve? It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from. Everyone has an equal chance to prove themselves nowadays.”
“You’re getting hot under the collar there. I only want to protect women! Was polite to her when she was around. I didn’t mean for you to come unglued or anything…like I told Sovlin, I don’t belong here. Clearly culture isn’t the same.”
“You call denigrating half of humanity cultural?” I growled.
Tyler palmed his head. “Tolerance is part of what I meant about ‘less refined views.’ It’s no different from you calling us predators and your insults toward Onso. It’s not an excuse, but I don’t think Hunter knows better…stems from a place of ignorance.”
There must’ve been recent changes in humans as a species after all, so I gleaned some insight into how the Federation could frame pre-FTL Earth as an uncivilized world. Perhaps Hunter had some problematic views from his upbringing, though I didn’t imagine it could be that difficult to show him the errors in his thinking. There were some positives in notions he espoused, such as democracy and the right to critical speech. On a separate note, Tyler’s arguments about my predator hatred being similar fell flat; that was related to personal trauma.
Why would anyone else cling to biases, when shown the flaws in their thought? Especially a primitive waking up…Hunter should realize he needs to catch up with more enlightened minds.
Hunter abandoned his half-eaten meal, and padded over to the couch with a frustrated look. He cradled his head in his hands, breathing a flustered sigh. The human snatched a remote, but looked confused by the sea of buttons on the touch interface. He set it back on the coffee table, wringing his hands in frustration. Tears welled in his eyes, which I suspected was his overwhelming dread returning. I found myself a spot next to him, and picked up the remote.
“I’m not gonna make it a day here,” Hunter groaned. “My opinions seem to be an issue.”
I switched on the streaming services. “Oh, have I ever been there. I’m still there! It’s hard to know that there’s a problem with your thinking, when it’s how you were taught. If you’re open-minded and you try to be kind, it’ll all work out.”
“Tyler thinks I’m ignorant...”
“Let’s drop the subject, and revisit how, er, societal norms have…changed later. Why don’t you tell me what you were studying in school?”
“I was getting an economics degree. First person in my family to go to college, didn’t wanna work on a farm forever. Studying the markets and managing finances, the ebb and flow of the entire system…I enjoyed it. Your turn. Why did you wind up joining humanity’s cause after your planet fell?”
“I did terrible things fighting against Earth, because I hated predators and I wanted you to suffer. I turned myself in when I realized you were genuine people.”
“What terrible things did you do? Like Hitler stuff?”
“Like…who? Wait, I heard that name when that Coth abomination was talking about the Arxur’s ‘Prophet.’”
“A ruthless, murderous despot, Sovlin, a name spoken with disgust on Earth to this day,” Tyler chimed in. “Both of you shouldn’t ask about topics that will cause only anguish.”
Hunter narrowed his eyes. “Uh…was Sovlin actually like that?!”
“No. He tortured a POW. I’m not making excuses for him, but Marcel…the victim agrees that Sovlin has suffered immensely for his acts, and wants him forgiven.”
“Wow…honestly, knowing his background, I was expecting something a lot worse. Next question. What are those rectangle graphics you’re cycling through on the TV?”
I glanced down at my paw, realizing I was skimming through the humans’ media collection on autopilot. The fact that Hunter glossed right over my crimes made me wonder what the metrics for evil were back in his times. From what Tyler said and past comparisons to Arxur figures, it stood to reason that Earth was once home to predators of unfathomable cruelty. Most Terrans possessed even-keel dispositions and were emotional creatures, but the savage outliers could gain power then. Laws and morals weren’t as stringent on a societal scale, or so I was beginning to gather.
“This is a streaming service. That’s where that ‘video stream’ phrase came from earlier. It has a collection of movies and shows that you browse,” I explained.
Hunter’s eyes widened. “And you can watch any of them?! There’s…hundreds of options!”
“Thousands, more like. Every film known to man is on one subscription service or another.” Tyler moseyed over from the kitchen, gnawing on a breakfast bar. He plopped himself into a reclining chair. “Stop and start it at your leisure, binge watch an entire TV season if you want, no ads on the full tiers. Cable hasn’t existed at all for over fifty years.”
“That’s unreal. You have unlimited…constant entertainment. The pictures on those, uh, movie reels look so clear too! We had three TV channels, and you watched whatever was on. Primetime just switched fully to color this year…what was ‘this year’ for me.”
“Are you saying your television wasn’t in color?!” I asked in bewilderment. “How do you have a visual show without using any colors? Was it just an audio ‘show’, like a podcast?”
“A what? Is podcast like radio?”
Tyler jumped in. “Yes, but it’s accessed by episode at leisure. And Sovlin, TV in its early days was in black-and-white…monochrome, if you know that word.”
“I see,” I breathed. I’ve never heard of such a primitive visual medium. “Well, why don’t we pick out a movie?”
“You just passed Satellite Wars with Manny Griffin! I love that movie; we can give you and Hunter a history crash course.”
Mimicking a human shrug, I clicked on the title Tyler mentioned. Studio introductions gave way to a burning fire, before the camera panned up to a missile slamming into a power station’s smokestacks. Screams were echoing through the air, as panicked actors ran across the screen. The camera cut to a predator that I vaguely recognized from the Escape from the Cradle promos, who had a panicked look in his binocular eyes. Dirt and grime was smeared across his oily skin.
Holy shit! Why would they show what’s basically a raid in such vivid detail? You can see the missiles hit!
The lead actor, likely Manny Griffin, was helping a half-conscious human limp along. Orange light detonated behind them, and the two primates went flying. The camera dropped to the ground, turning blurry as a ringing sound echoed through the speakers. My spines were bristling from the intensity of the scene. The fog cleared from the lens, showing Terran hands fumbling to get up.
The shot followed Manny, who was calling out the missing comrade’s name. The human’s eye whites suddenly became glaring; it was a look of primal horror, before he skidded over to a shrapnel pile. I shrieked, realizing the actor was kneeling by a bloodied corpse. The violence was graphic and uncensored, photorealistic even! A pole punctured through the fallen primate’s heart, and purple-red liquid soaked through his white shirt. I averted my eyes, trying not to throw up while Manny issued a despairing wail on screen.
“Oh my…they actually showed the injury!” Hunter had gasped at the gory sight as well, despite supposedly being from a more violent Earth than Tyler. “That looks real. That’s…worse than Psycho.”
I kept my gaze on the floor. “T-that is a sick thing to show the audiences, in the opening scene no less. They didn’t show blood in your time, Hunter?”
“Not many did…it was pretty taboo. Brutality shouldn’t be depicted in detail.”
Tyler paused the movie, scratching his scalp. “Maybe this was a bad idea. This is about the human cost of the Sat Wars, so there’s a lot of stuff getting destroyed and chaos.”
“I see why you humans censor your movies around us,” I grumbled. “I can’t believe a pri—ancient Terran has a better take on immortalizing brutality than you! Though I shouldn’t be surprised, when you play games about shooting other humans.”
“He does what?!” Hunter demanded. “Man, what is wrong with you? Are you a serial killer, to even call that a game?”
The blond Terran snorted. “For fuck’s sake, I feel like I’m talking to Sovlin. It’s adrenaline, a power fantasy, and it’s a normal pastime nowadays!”
“Please tell me you’re joking. This planet is nothing like the one I left. There’s no wading into the future; it’s more having an ocean of madness dropped on my head!”
Hunter had his nose scrunched with disgust, though this time, I agreed with his input. The display of violence modern Terrans treated as entertainment was revolting. The primitive primate stalked off to the guest room, and Tyler watched him leave. So far, I’d failed in my promise to help the out-of-time predator integrate with his homeworld. I’d only learned disturbing things about his time period and views, yet Officer Cardona still managed to surpass Hunter’s violence tolerance.
Humans are exhausting. How can one species be such an enigma, and have such an extensive collection of sordid oddities?
Hunter’s response to bloodshed afforded a definitive answer to his thoughts on violence, and willingness to perpetrate it himself in a bind. He would’ve gotten sick boarding the cattle ship back at the cradle, just as Carlos had! Despite understanding his backward worldview better now, I had no idea how to help him adjust to the norms of the modern era. Whatever the reawakened Terran said, this was only wading into Earth’s offerings; there were greater extremes on the scales of both technology and entertainment than we saw today.
“We haven’t even introduced him to every alien species, and the history of the galaxy yet,” I remarked to Tyler. “We haven’t tried to locate his current relatives. From the stuff in your apartment alone, he’s having a reaction to just about everything.”
The blond human sighed. “Just about everything has changed. The hand of progress moves things forward, y’know? You and I would be lost 150 years in the future too.”
“Forget the future. I’m lost in the present.”
“Hey, you’re not alone in that. It’s hard thinking for yourself. But you’re part of the whole ‘hand of progress’ now. 150 years from now, I want us to still be here and the Kolshians to not.”
“You and me both. We’ll have to see what comes of your hush-hush diplomatic convention. Maybe the Archives will change things.”
“I don’t know much, man. I’m sure it’ll be broadcasted back home, when it goes down. Some alien hotshots are coming into town, and the UN’s silence is more about figuring out how to sell it to the Humanity First crowd. The truth about the uplifting shit has all of our allies rattled though, so we gotta seize the day.”
“The Venlil must be losing their minds. I wonder how Slanek is doing.”
Tyler’s eyes darkened. “I know the answer to that. It’s not my business to say more, but Slanek…isn’t well. Not to mention, the Battle of Mileau is still ongoing, deadlocked.”
That declaration made my heart sink, as I recalled how angry Marcel’s exchange partner had been after my appearance. The Venlil had been through tremendous trauma, bouncing between grueling battlefields and watching a friend’s torture. Part of whatever was hurting him was my fault. The new revelations about Venlilkind could have been the stressor that tipped the scale, and lent to a full-on breakdown.
There was nothing I could do to help Slanek and Marcel, however; I had to focus on the person I could still make a positive impact for. There had to be options available to aid Hunter in fitting in, and learning the proper etiquette of our time. Humans were fundamentally different all those years ago, in some ways. Good traits worth salvaging existed within him nonetheless, so I wasn’t going to write him off as a savage predator yet.
A/N - Part 131 is here! Hunter is plunged headfirst into 22nd century Earth, learning of the fall of the Soviet Union and presenting some bigoted views that are very much not in-line with human society. Sovlin also watches his introduction to everything from microwaves, podcasts, streaming services, and CGI violence in movies. Do you think Hunter will be able to adapt? What should Sovlin's next steps be?
As always, thank you for reading and supporting! (And if anyone's for some reason not clear on this, character views are 120% not my own.)
Comments
Assailant
I was wondering how the boomer mindset was gonna be addressed, if it would be at all: I think this is a very good way to handle it: condemning the actual thoughts without reproach while acknowledging that the people who held those beliefs were still fundamentally people (I find that oftentimes, when writers write old-timey people interacting with more modern people, they tend to either completely ignore the more anachronistic sensibilities and ethics of those people, or else make them into just walking bundles of misogyny/racism). Kudos for having Hunter feel like a believable, good person from a bygone era who holds some unfortunate views about the roles of women in society but is not some irredeemable woman-hating misogynist.
The Magician
I'm just gonna say, Hunter sounds like an Econ Major of yester year. He's not a NASA aficionado engineering student or futurist looking progressive. He was on the path to working himself into an investment banking position, a Wallstreet or big Corpo. Boomer.
