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The Nature of Predators 2-4

Memory Transcription Subject: Taylor Trench, Human Colonist

Date [standardized human time]: March 14, 2160

With the minimal amount of sleep necessary, I found myself back on the metro train to the mines: holopad curled in my grasp. Dusty stone walls passed by through the windows, as several weary faces joined me on the daily transport. I kept to myself in the back corner, finding myself listening through earbuds to Noah Williams’ speech on the ...

The Nature of Predators - Nova's Children (4/10)

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There were more difficult explanations in store for Tarva and Noah to give to their children; this time, they didn’t want this next bit of information to be learned at s...

The Nature of Predators 2-3

Memory Transcription Subject: Taylor Trench, Human Colonist

Date [standardized human time]: March 13, 2160

The sound of an alarm clock detonating by my bedside jolted me from a dreamless sleep, much too early.

I stumbled over to the sink and brushed my teeth, splashing some water in my face to wake myself up. The grimy mirror showed my binocular eyes, with twinkling blue irises, and the buzzcut attuned to the warm ...

The Nature of Predators - Nova's Children (3/10)

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There was more blissful ignorance that once existed between the children, aside from not realizing they were from two separate species. Ari wasn’t raised to think o...

The Nature of Predators 2-2

Memory Transcription Subject: Tassi, Bissem Scientist

Date [standardized human time]: March 13, 2160

The alien stood in silence after pronouncing those series of words in our dialect, waiting as we processed its message. Its two partners stood behind it, with the shortest one especially seeming deferential. I gawked at the visitors, setting aside all thoughts of approaching them with numbers and a slow exchange of vocabulary. Some of the clicks s...

The Nature of Predators - Nova’s Children (2/10)

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There’s boundless playfulness within youngsters from any sapient species, but humans and Venlil are particularly high-energy. Endless afternoons in the woods were a rite of passage. With just the tiniest sliver of imagination, anything could become a fortress or mom...

The Nature of Predators 2-1

Memory Transcription Subject: Tassi, Bissem Scientist

Date [standardized human time]: March 13, 2160

Attempts to send messages and search the skies’ radio signals for alien lifeforms usually entailed a quiet day at the office.

I was one of the preeminent experts on how Bissems would react to a first contact scenario, having written several papers on the subject; the protocols that Fishing for Alien Intelligence (FAI) had ...

The Nature of Predators - Nova's Children (1/10)

Children are known for asking many questions. That wonderment over their surroundings and that zeal for learning about everything is like lightning in a bottle. Elia and Ari Williams were an experiment on what would happen when two different species—in this case, Venlil and human respectively—were raised side-by-side. There came a time when the children were old enough to recognize how different they looked, both from their parents and from each other. Perhaps, before they noticed that ot...

The Nature of Predators 184 (FINALE)

Memory Transcription Subject: Captain Kalsim, United Nations Prisoner

Date [standardized human time]: January 1, 2150

Humanity was a species that I had equated to a virus: something infectious that would take over everything they touched.

As I watched the galaxy transform through news reports and a closed internet link in my cell, I saw that I was right on that front. Their culture became a dominant powerhouse, wit...

The Nature of Predators 2 - Wiki Teasers!

Bissem - The Bissems are an aquatic race of flightless, tan-feathered avians with a contentious history. Their world has been plagued by wars and territorial disputes, due to the amplified differences among their factions: three main subspecies (tropical, temperate, and arctic) exist in the present era. A fourth subspecies went extinct during the colonial era. Bissems lack any international forum to settle their disputes, and are currently in the advanced stages of their Inte...

The Nature of Predators 183

Memory transcription subject: Ambassador Tarva Williams of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: October 9, 2137

Under an immense amount of pain, it was difficult to remember why I wanted to have a child in the first place.

I clung to Noah’s hand as the contractions radiated pain through my body, finding it difficult to think. I forced myself to ruminate about how beautiful our family would be, and how much ...

The Nature of Predators - Mallin Follow-Up

This one-shot is a follow-up on our characters from The Sacrifice, as requested by many of you!

Memory transcription subject: Cedric Flynn, UN Space Guard

Date [standardized human time]: May 29, 2137

Not days after I’d left Grenelka on a Leshee ship, an extensive cyberattack decimated their society from top to bottom. There would be...

The Nature of Predators 182

Memory transcription subject: Onso, Yotul Technical Specialist

Date [standardized human time]: April 9, 2137

Rather than settling down on Rinsa after arriving back at Leirn, I had duties to fulfill for my people before heading home. I was summoned to mainland Thysun, after requesting to speak to the Technocracy’s Intelligence Panel in closed testimony; departmental leadership, implemented when we drove foreigners and Federation...

The Nature of Predators - Anorexia (2/2)

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CW: Eating Disorder

Memory transcription subject: Crysa, Zurulian Nurse

Date [standardized human time]: April 27, 2137

It was as if the weight of Colia was on my shoulders, as I forced my legs to carry me back to Adana’s room. This was going far outside the purview of what I ever dreamed I’d have to do to help a...

The Nature of Predators 181

Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command

Date [standardized human time]: April 9, 2137

I wasn’t sure what I imagined human funerary traditions would be like. Not too long ago, before I grew close to the gentle-hearted primates, I wouldn’t have imagined a predator race would hold sincere burials at all.

Carlos would be laid to rest in a funeral plot all of us chipped in to pay for, right...

The Nature of Predators - Anorexia (1/2)

CW: Eating Disorder

Memory transcription subject: Crysa, Zurulian Nurse

Date [standardized human time]: April 27, 2137

Learning human anatomy was one thing, in the emergency room.

When the emaciated predator arrived at the hospital, with sallow skin that hugged her bones, I was a little terrified of her doubtless desperation. I really hadn’t been afraid of Terrans in months, after fighting to pull them back from the brink of death. ...

The Nature of Predators 180

Memory transcription subject: Ambassador Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: April 7, 2137

As I turned to stroll back into the auditorium for Zhao’s resumption, I noticed that Noah hadn’t followed me. Immediate concern blossomed in my heart, knowing how unusual that was. Ever since I’d begun my pregnancy, the astronaut had stuck close to me, like I was a fragile object that might fall apart, if left unattended. Mere...

The Nature of Predators - Venlil Foster Brother (6/6)

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Memory transcription subject: Jimek, Venlil Art Student

Date [standardized human time]: February 2, 2137

There had been a time, long before Cylek’s torment or Dustin’s arrival, that I admired the exterminators. A guild job was a launch...

The Nature of Predators 179

Memory transcription subject: Ambassador Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: April 7, 2137

The past few weeks had been packed with important events, falling alongside the stunning victory at Aafa. With the prototype cure set to be injected into my veins, Noah and I had taken the opportunity to visit Earth after the Skalga referendum. Both of his parents were deceased, but he introduced me to a few of his ...

The Nature of Predators - Venlil Foster Brother (5/6)

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Memory transcription subject: Jimek, Venlil Art Student

Date [standardized human time]: February 2, 2137

Rauln was blindsi...

The Nature of Predators 178

Memory transcription subject: Chief Hunter Isif, Arxur Rebellion Command

Date [standardized human time]: April 6, 2137

After devoting hundreds of thousands of ships to the Kolshian cause, then having a large portion of those vessels turned against Betterment’s mandate, Giznel’s regime had all but collapsed as soon as humanity won. That selfish despot only wanted to save his own hide, at the end of the day; after an offer of e...

The Nature of Predators - Venlil Foster Brother (4/6)

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Memory transcription subject: Jimek, Venlil Art Student

Date [standardized human time]: February 2, 2137

To my su...

The Nature of Predators 177

Memory transcription subject: Onso, Yotul Technical Specialist

Date [standardized human time]: March 26, 2137

When the lab became accessible, I could see excesses of equipment; shadow caste workers must’ve been cleared out, but the traces of their presence were still there. A dirty plate left out on a countertop, a chemical beaker which had been hastily put away, and crimson blood samples still on slates under microsco...

The Nature of Predators - Venlil Foster Brother (3/6)

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Memory transcription subject: Jimek, Venlil Art Student

Date [standardized human time]: February 2, 2137

“Hey! Wait...

The Nature of Predators 176

Memory transcription subject: Onso, Yotul Technical Specialist

Date [standardized human time]: March 26, 2137

I was glad to have a moment to relax and contemplate the city, rather than listen to Kolshian spiels. There were engineering advantages to building underground. Natural disasters aboveground wouldn’t touch the shadow caste, and the insulation of the encompassing topsoil entailed a constant temperature. It wouldn’t nee...

The Nature of Predators - Venlil Foster Brother (2/6)

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Memory transcription subject: Jimek, Venlil Art Student

Date [standardized human time]: February 2, 2137

The call with Callsi had been too close of a shave yesterday, and I wasn’t sure if she still had suspicions. When...

The Nature of Predators 175

Memory transcription subject: Captain Sovlin, United Nations Fleet Command

Date [standardized human time]: March 26, 2137

The captured Kolshian sentry led us up several flights of stairs, after the UN soldiers rejected taking the elevator, and I waited with unease for a trap to show itself. There was only a modest room where an elderly Kolshian, with baby blue skin and a pompous air about him, waited. The figure claiming to be Maronis gestured to...

The Nature of Predators - Venlil Foster Brother (1/6)

Spoilers for Venlil Foster Program; this is a story focused on Jimek, and also follows what we saw of him in Human Exterminators 2. Other spoilers might be present for tangentially related stories such as HE1 and Predator Disease.

Memory transcription subject: Jimek, Venlil Art Student 2023-12-02 12:00:09 +0000 UTC View Post