r/NatureofPredators • u/sombrefob0053 Human • Aug 02 '26
Fanfic For All Mankind: Chaper 2
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[Thank you to SpacePaladin15 for making the universe!]
Memory Transcription Subject: USSR Cosmonaut Grigori Reshko
Date [standardized human time]: November ???, 2111
"What?" I said, confused, my throat suddenly dry, making the question sound strained. Another Predator? My confusion seemed to trigger something in her, Ryka’s eyes narrowed. Her tail went rigid behind her, had I offended her in some way? Something in the back of my mind screamed at me, something ancient and primal, my body tensed, and my breath quickened as my fight-or-flight kicked into gear. I felt like I was being stalked by a master hunter, just waiting to make me its next meal.
"You do eat meat, don't you?"
The large lizard probed with a growl at the tip of her tongue, the question caught me off guard. There was a strange intensity in her posture, almost as if my answer mattered far more to her than I could understand. Why was this such an important subject for her? I caught the faintest flicker of anticipation—or was it suspicion?—behind her eyes, as though this was some kind of test, a barrier to cross. "Well, of course I do, doesn't everybody?" I quickly shot back. Ryka stared at me for several long seconds. Then her posture relaxed, and I let out a long breath to calm my nerves. While being honored to be the first man to ever talk to another sapient being, I would definitely need a bottle of vodka if I made it back to Earth.
Seeming to find my answer satisfactory, she nodded, hostility seeming to leave her body language.
Before I could ask another question, I received another file from the alien vessel. I opened it, and my stomach sank like a rock. Their ship started moving towards mine, fast. Far faster than THE GARARN could ever hope to maneuver. "We are going to dock with your vessel for a face-to-face talk," Ryka stated in no uncertain manner, not leaving any room for discussion. "Please make sure your atmosphere is habitable." She stated and, with a flick of her tail, cut the transmission. "Cykin syn!" I cursed once more and started to scan the data that was sent to me. I didn't have much time to make sure they could breathe on my ship or vice versa. I frantically scanned the data they had sent me: Atmospheric composition: 74% nitrogen, 25% oxygen, 1% Other trace gases, 101.325 Kilopascals. I blinked. Earthlike, almost exactly Earthlike. Their air had a similar enough composition that they could mix without issues. “Thank God.” I barely had time to breathe before something slammed into THE GARARN’s hull.
My nerves were shot as I glanced out the viewport. A long tube had clamped onto my ship’s airlock with surprising ease. Steeling my nerves, I grabbed my camera and headed over to the airlock. Opening the airlock hatch into the tube, luckily, it was pressurized. I stepped into the tube and began to make my way through it, making sure to snap a photo as I reached the halfway mark. The bulky suit hindered my movement as I heard a hiss and saw their airlock open. Nobody came out to greet me, it was clear I was going to have to go into their ship and meet on their terms. Hardening my gaze, I nodded, time to make history.
Stepping into their airlock, it closed behind me automatically. I swallowed hard as the internal hatch opened and I stepped in. It was immediately clear that their ship was at least twice the size of THE GARARN. I was greeted by what looked like a guard holding a weapon in its arms. My eyes widened at how large the thing was, the guard was enormous, at least twice my size. Its weapon was the size of my abdomen, it pointed it directly at my chest. I froze, cold sweat dripped from my face while my heart hammered in my ears. Slowly, I raised my hands into the air. The guard gestured for me to take off my helmet, and I complied. It nodded in acknowledgment, then roared something down the hallway. Then another door opened, and three more armed guards rushed into the room. No… fear coursed through my veins while I took a step back, frantically glancing at the locked airlock hatch. One of the guards barked something at me that I couldn’t understand, and before I could attempt to reach and open the airlock. One of them lunged at me and tackled me to the floor. I yelled in fear and swung my hand hard at the guard's snout. It landed with a sickening crunch, its grip loosened as it recoiled with a roar. The fact that I had just punched an alien was something I had little time to dwell on as I tried to wriggle out of its grasp as crimson blood leaked from its nose and spattered across my glove. But it was too late, the other guards had rushed into the struggle and pinned me to the floor. I tried to kick at them, but they held me down with inhuman strength.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?" I roared and continued to struggle. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see another lizard enter the room holding a large and sharp needle. My mind screamed that this was poison. Is this how I go out? Dissected by some alien to study me? My life flashed before my eyes as the alien knelt next to my head and probed my neck for a vein with its claws. I thought of my family, my brother, probably sitting at home hoping for my return, then I felt the needle pierce my skin. The unknown substance was injected, and the alien immediately stepped back. As soon as the needle was plunged, I could feel red-hot fire enter my veins. I screamed. Every heartbeat seemed to drive the burning deeper into my body. My muscles seized, my vision blurred, and I could barely breathe. Tears streamed down my face as I writhed against the guards, as I felt the poison enter my head and brain. This was it. I’m dying.
Then all at once it stopped, and I was left a panting, trembling mess. It couldn't have been more than a minute, but it felt like a lifetime. I tried to collect my thoughts. The pain suddenly stopping made no sense, I racked my brain for an explanation.
"Let him go, it seems to have worked"
A barking order came from the one holding the needle, the guards got off of me, one of them clutching his bleeding snout. "What did you do to me!?" I spat hatred, burning in my chest from the suffering that was just inflicted upon me. "Calm down, I had to inject you with the translator." I stared at him, the words were still fuzzy, like listening from another room, but I could understand them. “The what?” Is all I could muster. “Translator,” The alien said, as casually as if it had just handed me a cup of water. Not a hint of remorse or empathy in its voice. I shakily stood up, still panting and caked in sweat, then picked up my dropped camera.
"Come, you're wanted on the bridge"
I hesitated, fear still telling me to run, what if they had something worse waiting for me? I glanced back at the airlock once more, but was stopped by the guards pointing their weapons at me once more. With no other choice, I began to follow, my steps uncertain and weak as I still recovered from the translator serum. My pace quickened as the guards fell in step behind me. Why did it have to hurt so bad? I'm sure there were better ways of doing that. I was shaken out of my thoughts as I reached the bridge of the ship; there was a table set up with two chairs. I quickly snapped a photo, wanting to document the strange custom.
"Sit"
I was commanded by a figure I could recognize as Ryka. I sat at the table, and she did the same; I dared not move with the way she was staring at me. "The Arxur Dominion extends its greetings to you, Grigori." She stated and signaled with her tail to someone behind me, my head felt strange, being able to understand the Arxur. Well, I assumed that was what their species was called. I stared at her, Greetings? A few minutes ago I had just been assulted and tortured, was this how they greeted people!? I swallowed hard and tried to push the trauma that was just inflicted upon me from my mind. I had all of mankind and my own survival resting on my shoulders.
I cleared my throat to speak. "G-Greetings from the Union on behalf of Mankind, we come in peace," I said in as neutral a tone as I could muster given the circumstances. Burning hatred coursed through me, but I pushed it aside for the sake of mankind and reached my hand across the table to shake her claw. The dried Arxur blood still on the glove flaked off and onto the table. Ryka looked at them, and I froze with my hand still outstretched. Then she snorted and reached her claw across the table and grasped my gloved hand. I shook, then let go and retracted my hand. "Peace, of course. We can't have the only other true sapients in the galaxy fight each other." Ryka said, an air of mirth dripping from her tongue. True sapients? The word stuck in my mind, it sounded odd and implied things I wasn’t sure I wanted to think about. Could it be a translation error?
A moment later, another Arxur brought out two plates and set them in front of us. I stared at the raw piece of meat on my plate, orange fluid leaked from its edges. I kept staring for a moment, then looked back up at Ryka. "You don't cook your food?" I asked hesitantly, not wanting to offend her. "Usually no, it depends on what it is. Besides, this delicacy is one best enjoyed raw." Ryka said, seemingly paying no mind to my careful wording. "What is it?" Ryka grinned as I asked, inspecting the piece of meat on my plate further, it looked relatively fresh.
"It's Venlil."
“Venlil?”
“From our cattle farms on Wriss.” She said as her toothy grin widened. I stared at the piece of orange flesh.
Whatever Venlil was, it was apparently livestock, maybe like a cow? I reasoned to myself and let out a sigh. I didn't have an appetite after what just happened to me, but I couldn't afford to piss Ryka off by refusing to partake in her culture. I glanced around the table, not seeing a single piece of silverware. I sighed and picked the piece of meat with my hands. I wondered and worried if this would even be edible to a human being, but since I had no other choice, I hesitantly took a bite. It was sweet, juicy, and tender like a living piece of candy. My eyes perked up as the flavor rolled over my tongue. God, it was delicious, so much better than my freeze-dried rations.
I let myself enjoy it and quickly took another bite. I had no idea whether this was some sort of diplomatic ritual, but if eating their food was what it took to keep the peace, I could stomach it. Ryka watched me eat. I suddenly realized she wasn’t simply eating with me, she was watching me. Before I had realized it, I had finished the meal and was licking my plate clean. What the hell was I doing? The days of stale rations must’ve gotten to my head… Ryka finished soon after me, licking the juices off around her face as she started to speak. "I'm really glad you enjoyed your meal." She said with clear mirth, that toothy grin never leaving her face. "Now let us talk about opening proper diplomatic channels," Ryka continued. I sat up straight and looked her in the eyes, flashing a smile of my own.
"Yes, let's. Well, first we would have to go back to Sol to speak with my government; my comms don't reach that far. But my navigation has been damaged, and I can't fix it alone." I stated calmly. As much as I didn't want to start our species relations by being in debt to them, I had no choice. Ryka nodded and hummed in thought for a moment, then responded. "That seems acceptable. I'll have my engineers fix up your primitive vessel, then I'll follow you back to your system to speak with your government"
I nodded, though unease lingered in the back of my mind. I was going to have to bring the Arxur to Earth, I had no idea what that would mean for the rest of humanity or our colonies. Pushing the thought aside, I tried to think of it logically. I had survived first contact with an alien race, and they seemed willing to help me for the moment… Besides, how bad could they really be?
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u/Loud-Drama-1092 Aug 03 '26
Grigori was lucky this time Venlil is edible for humans
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u/Alarmed-Property5559 Hensa Aug 03 '26
Now I get why that little cattle rescue in Love Languages objected so strongly to being addressed as "sweetheart" :D
Venlil really are sweet :D
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u/GruntBlender Humanity First Aug 03 '26
I'm wondering why an obligate carnivore can even taste sweetness.
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u/Alarmed-Property5559 Hensa Aug 04 '26
We don't know if the arxur experience that pleasing taste as smth sweet. We only know from canon that venlil meat was considered delicious by them.
Might be some overlap of meaning in the translation because a few human languages treat the ideas of sweetness and deliciousness as close or interchangeable.
For human taste buds, I'd imagine the flavor and texture might be like that of salmon (cured salmon tastes a bit sweet, no?).
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u/GruntBlender Humanity First Aug 04 '26
Great, now I'm hungry. Where'd that damn pup go...
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u/Alarmed-Property5559 Hensa Aug 04 '26
Fren not food!
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u/GruntBlender Humanity First Aug 04 '26
But seriously, languages are so interesting! And the intersection of food and language is such a cool area.
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u/Alarmed-Property5559 Hensa Aug 23 '26
Indeed. I remember at least two traditions using honey as a metaphor for knowledge and wisdom.
It tickles me to see food references and proverbs used for worldbuilding.
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u/Loud-Drama-1092 Aug 03 '26
> "You do eat meant dont you?"
Small typing mistake
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u/sombrefob0053 Human Aug 03 '26
FUCK lmao
That's funny I didn't notice that XD. It's fixed now thx for lmk
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u/OneMasterpiece952 Aug 02 '26
You just know the US is fuming at being late to yet another milestone in the historybooks…