The Nature of Predators - Krev Exchange Program (4/7)

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Memory Transcription Subject: Flevi, Krev Opinion Columnist

Date [standardized human time]: March 31, 2160

Risliv’s obor shelter was a sprawling installation, packed with Krev volunteers of all ages. It was rare to have a non-Krev visitor in general, but it had to be the first time the staff had a Terran visitor. A young girl who was welcoming guests froze at the sight of Indrek, and her lengthy tongue poked out of her mouth in surprise. The clipboards she held for volunteers to fill out clattered onto the floor. This didn’t seem to help her nervousness at all, as she tried to scoop them up in a panic. Indrek had been trying to wear an impervious scowl, hiding that he might feel any softness toward aliens and that he despised the stares, but the primate immediately knelt down to help collect the dropped surveys. Every person in the entry hallway was gawking at him, and I saw a parent barely restrain a child that was trying to run at the human.

“You’re…one of the…” the Krev staffer stammered.

“People who want to adopt an obor?” Indrek finished slyly. “Oh, you were going to say human, weren’t you?”

“I…you’re so…”

I placed a paw on his shoulder, which he immediately shoved off. “Indrek wants an attack obor.”

The employee looked even more floored. “We have…Fivral Striders, Bannivers, and other breeds with a b-bad reputation, unfairly so. The f-fighting rings weren’t their fault, though they can protect your family. I’m sure h-humans want to feel safe, so maybe you want a scarier breed. There’s some this way, if you’ll follow…” 

“No, not those scary obors. He wants to rescue one of the obors that they say are…too aggressive to adopt.”

“Is this a joke? Obor enterprise?”

Indrek shook his head. “You’re gonna kill those animals. I want to give them a second chance. I know what it’s like to live a life in captivity, and it’s a bloody waste.”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Concern for the burly miner snapped the employee out of her awestruck, glassy-eyed state. “If you’re going to just let them go, they can’t survive on their own!”

“I’m not planning on releasing them; that’d be another death sentence.”

“Someone could very easily get hurt, should you bring unfit pets back to Tellus. Not just you—other people would be in danger from your decision too! And I doubt you know how to handle an obor, properly deal with it.” She swallowed, organizing her thoughts. “Plus, you being another primate, or doing that thing where you flash your teeth, could provoke them. It’s a public safety risk; I couldn’t bear it if your pet attacked a human child that came to visit.”

“I understand. Wouldn’t bring the critter around anyone else, and I accept the risks for myself. Patience, discipline, and a safe place to lay their head could do wonders for the obor. Maybe it doesn’t work out, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. We shouldn’t give up on their future, just because someone decided they’re mean.”

“I’m s-sorry, sir, but I don’t think I can let you have an unadoptable obor. It’s not going to behave like a human. It’s too dangerous for everyone involved; there’s no way I can sign off on this. You’re not qualified to have a volatile animal in your custody. Look, there’s lots of other obors, and I’d be happy to show you them...”

I cleared my throat, pulling up my social media page on my holopad. “I’m a famous journalist. See how many followers I have?”

“What d-does that mean? We can schedule an appointment to show how we treat our obors, and h-how donations keep us from having to put down our oldest…”

“I’m saying I could start livestreaming this interaction, of you denying a human the opportunity to care for a traumatized obor, and having the audacity to think we could care for them better than other primates. Because I’m sure Indrek could learn, and everyone would feel terrible about you denying him a fair chance. It would be your face on the video, after all. Or you could not go viral, and let him pick out one single obor that he wants.”

“He’s really cute. I feel guilty telling him no…”

“So don’t. Humans deserve special treatment, after all the poor things have been through.” I shot Indrek a withering look, signaling him not to object to my patronization in this instance. “It’s the least we could do. And really, who would know how to handle a primate’s violence better? The adorable whiskers don’t mean he couldn’t handle it. He’s had a hard life.”

“Adorable whiskers?” Indrek hissed, and I stepped on the foot he’d injured; the human hissed in pain. “Yes, I’ve had a hard life. Please help me. This is all I want in the whole wide world, and if I can’t, I don’t know what I’ll do.”

The worker’s face softened, though she still hesitated. “Aw. I guess I could make an exception, b-but my boss can’t find out t-that you were unqualified and all. Protocol.”

“Thank you. Your boss won’t find out from us, but how could anyone get mad about helping this sweetie? It’ll save you and the shelter the wrath of the internet anyway,” I chuckled. “Where are the unadoptables situated?”

“It’s the metal door all the way at the back. I’ll go let the guard know to let you in; just give me a minute. The obors are in c-cages, but don’t get too close or put any body part you’re not willing to lose on the wire. We’re not liable if they bite off any fingers. I still hope you pick different ones.”

“That’s up to Indrek. No harm in us looking. We’ll go pick out pet supplies while you warn people about us. I’m going to help him find out what he needs, so that he’ll be as qualified of an owner as he can be!”

“F-fine. The shop is right here by the entrance, and all proceeds go to the animals. Have a, um, cute…I mean, nice day.”

The Krev staffer scurried off, and I steered Indrek into the supply shop before anyone saw him curl his lip with disdain. The primate looked like he wanted to wring my neck over the “sweetie” remark, despite the fact that I thought he’d caught onto what I was doing. It was still fresh in my memory how he hated us infantilizing his people, and also bore a grudge over decades of suffering and mistreatment. The appeal of a vicious obor might be as simple as transference, believing they’d been subjected to similar circumstances. I thought a pet might do Indrek some good, giving him someone he could open up to and care for; this might ease his pain a bit. At a minimum, it would return a cultural facet that’d been lost on Earth, since Terrans had the most diverse array of pets I’d ever seen. They seemed willing to care for anything, even fish that they couldn’t do anything with!

I read that some humans even keep reptiles. We’re scaled mammals, of course, but that means it’s not hopeless that they might fawn over the Krev in return! I really wish Indrek would do that, so I didn’t have to fight my petting instincts so hard; we could trade head pats, and…

Indrek cleared his throat, pulling me to the corner of the pet necessities store. “I don’t know whether to tell you that was amazing, or to be furious at you for everything you said about me.”

“It worked, didn’t it? You wanted to see those obors,” I huffed. “For what it’s worth, she had a point about the danger. I hope you have seriously thought about and understood the risk you’re taking. It wouldn’t hurt to go looking at the nice rescues first; they also need homes, and you might gravitate to one.”

“I know what I want. It’s not to encourage Krev not to see me as a person, Flevi, and we’ve fucking been over that.”

“You’re never going to see that staffer again! Look, disagree with my methods if you want, but they see you as a cute, piteous primate regardless. Remember what I told you about burning sticks, when they mocked me about being a cira? It got the desired reaction. They see you as adorable, so you might as well use that to your advantage. You won’t get many advantages in this world, and my philosophy is to exploit any you have.”

“I don’t want to be some master manipulator, like fucking Hathaway. Besides, I don’t want anything from the Krev, other than for the whole damn planet to get fucked!” Indrek shouted, and I gestured for him to lower his voice. “Like you and this whole world wanted my society, my world, to get fucked. I promised myself I won’t forget; you all can’t just be nice, and coo at me now.”

“Indrek, please calm down. I know you’re stressed, and there’s been a lot of attention that you don’t like, but I’ve liked talking with you on more level terms. I think you’re…nice, beneath that prickly exterior.”

The human scowled. “The only reason I’m being more tender toward you, is because, despite the fact you helped perpetuate our oppression, I know you got neglected by the same system too! You won’t try to use their prejudice as an advantage, or make me appeal to it, again. Is that clear?”

“Yes. I’m on your side. I’m just trying to help you do what you want to. I’m going to help you get stocked up on obor supplies, as much as I can afford.”

Indrek’s demeanor shifted, a devious smile arching his lips. “Oh, I thought this was getting billed to the exchange program, like the trip over here. Seems like part of swapping cultures, doesn’t it? A human learning to care for obors. I was going to pick out a generous amount of non-perishable food, let the government pick up the tab.”

“In that case…” I grabbed the large shopping cart, rather than a basket. “I say we load up. Some of these things could always be…donated to Krev writers in need, if there was too much.”

“Understood. Let’s start with how I mark the space monkey as mine. I haven’t seen Krev walking obors on a lead, so, do you have something like collars—bands you put around their neck—to mark your ownership? How do you do that?”

I winced at that question, and tried to figure out how to provide the answer. Indrek’s expression shifted to one of suspicion, apprehensive of the response I’d provide. This was going to be a difficult subject to explain to the human, one that he might find cruel; it’d likely already been done to whatever obor he’d want to adopt, since breeders commonly implemented the procedure at birth. It wouldn’t be possible for him to choose for his pet not to have this adaptation, though he could decide what route was appropriate based on his own bodily sensitivities as a primate. I herded Indrek toward a wall of dangling pendants, with different colors, sizes, and designs. He poked at them with his fingers, which wandered to the metal ring they were attached to.

I hope Indrek doesn’t explode when I explain this practice. He might think all Krev are abusing their obors, and that we don’t deserve to have them!

“Obors don’t like anything obstructive, so we wouldn’t put anything around the neck; they’d be able to slip off or remove them anyway. We have a practice of…” I buried my face in my claws, and was seconds away from curling into a ball out of embarrassment. “…poking a hole in an earlobe.”

The human leaned over. “You’re mumbling; speak up. I couldn’t hear the last thing you said.”

“We poke a hole…in an earlobe with a needle, to hang identifying markers on. Look, it doesn’t seem like it hurts much, and it’s quick! It only has to be done once. The pendants can have lots of holographic data, a tracker inside it for if they get loose, and it shows unobtrusively that they belong to someone, at a glance. I understand if the thought of having a rock hang from your wiggly ear is horrifying to imagine, and all I can say in our defense is that Krev love our rocks!”

A look of horrified realization spread across Indrek’s face, confirming my fears. “I know you love rocks. I had to dig them up for you pricks for years.”

“You look shocked and upset. We don’t have to get any of these. I could, um, help you speak out against the practice, and advocate for why a primate wouldn’t want it.”

“It’s not that. It’s fine, totally fine. Let me just pick out a tag, and we’ll move on.”

“Wait, what’s wrong? We have to talk to each other. We’re exchange partners!”

“I don’t think I should tell you.”

“Why not? I love hearing your opinion on things; I really do want to learn about you and other humans…as people.”

Indrek placed his fists on his hips, mistrustful yet swayed by that last addendum. “We…do the same thing, to ourselves. Humans pierce their ears to wear…earrings as fashion accessories. Fucking hell, I can’t believe I’m telling you this. You’re going to be unbearable.”

I went silent, tongue flitting out in disbelief. The thought of a human with colorful stones dangling from their ears, as part of their fashion, had my heart leaping about with enthusiasm; the mental image blew all of the other cuteness out of the water! They wore obor tags on their own, because they liked them. That was reassuring, since it meant the primates couldn’t have minded their insertion that much after all. I held in my kneejerk response about how badly I wanted to see a human wearing one, knowing it’d incentivize Indrek to, first of all, avoid ever satisfying that itch, and also to never confide in me again.

I forced myself to act nonchalant, like I didn’t care about this soon-to-be internet sensation. “I guess we both had the same idea then. That’s cool. If I had ears on the side of my head, I’d do it too.”

“Hmph. Cool? That’s it?” Indrek prodded.

Humans love rings. Rings on their ears, their fingers; I can picture Indrek with hoops on his beard, like it’s perfect for a claw to poke through. My claw.

I pretended to browse the pendants. “Yeah, it’s cool that you have diversity in what you wear. I like that, um, you like decorating your body. It’s creative! Do you personally have…anything like that?”

The human’s scowl deepened, but he reluctantly picked out two simple, black hoops with interest. “I got my ears pierced when I was a preteen, angry about Earth, but they sealed back up because I stopped wearing them. No sense wearing them to the mines. I, um, like these. Wouldn’t mind…getting them done again, if there’s a machine to do that. Exchange program’s bill, right?”

Please do. Please! “If you like it, I think you should go for it. No reason to worry what aliens think anyway, and like I told you, the machine is quick and painless. You’re tough enough, right?”

“Yeah. I’m not scared of any needle. Wouldn’t have had this done if I was.”

Indrek lifted his shirt without warning, and I caught my first glimpse of the world’s most rubbable belly. The human had an ink doodle of Earth etched into the skin by his stomach, right below what appeared to be a date written on his chest; I imagined it was the day of the bombing. I had no idea these adorable apes drew on themselves, only made possible due to their absence of fur. It was so tempting seeing a primate without a full pelt, and only a few scarce hairs over his barren skin. My paw instinctively reached to pat his stomach, though at the last minute, I made myself poke the precious artwork. He lowered his shirt and glowered at me, eyes steaming. It wasn’t my fault; he had no idea how much temptation I was suffering! The Tellish miner looked as smooth as a stone all over, so satisfying to run my palm over…

“It’s like it’s a part of your skin. I wanted to see what it really was,” I explained hurriedly. “What is that?”

Indrek scrutinized me, before reluctantly picking out a shiny green jewel from the shelf; presumably, this ring was for the obor. “I will not be poked and prodded. No touching. It’s a tattoo—a permanent reminder of Earth that I can take with me. She still looks like this, gorgeous as ever…continents unmoved, even after we are gone, and all we built is turned to sand.”

“I’m glad your planet still exists in some capacity. It would’ve been even more beautiful, when we could’ve seen all you built with your…precious hands. I don’t even mean that in a patronizing way. Just think that you crafted all of that, from sand once.”

“What a crying waste that was. A few dipshit birds flew in. They huffed, they puffed, they blew the little piggy’s house right down! I don’t want to talk about this anymore. What else do I need before I can get my obor, and get the fuck out of here?”

“Food. They like insects, vegetables, and fresh berries, but you can get giant bags with mixes of all those along with primate nutritional pellets. You’ll want some cookies to reward good behavior. You’ll need bowls to put them that can’t be easily picked up—and spilled.”

“That’s all reasonable.” Indrek followed where I pointed to various items, inspecting the cookies with particular curiosity. “I wonder if these are…never mind. What else do I need?”

“Unless you want a filthy obor, you’ll need grooming products. A brush, shampoo, spray to keep bugs from nesting in their fur, and one of those sticks right there for them to clean their teeth on.” I waited for the cute human to scurry about, before moving on. “Find them some toys, and stuff to climb on. Obors are very active, and trust me, you will not like what happens when they get bored. Unless you enjoy having random things smashed.”

Indrek arched his eyebrows. “I do not. One jungle gym set going into the cart.”

“Get yourself a cage with some verticality too. You might need to put them away for a time. Also get some obor locks in case you need to stop them turning door handles, or opening cabinets.”

“Got it. This is a lot of shit, Flevi. Very glad this is on the exchange program’s bill. But how the fuck are we going to get this all to Tellus?”

“They do shipping. Again, exchange program’s bill, so go wild. Support the animals, if you catch my drift.”

“Alright then.” The human took that encouragement to grab ceiling bars and a swing. “Is that it?”

“Hm. A bed, and…” I hesitated to offer my final idea, but couldn’t resist the mental image of the furless primate with an obor strapped to his chest via a carrier. “…grab a chest carrier, in case you ever want to take them out with you. They like being held anyway. It’s built for Krev, but get the biggest size, and it should be adjustable enough to work for you! After that, we’re all done.”

Indrek grunted, not noticing what I was up to; it was a legitimate purchase for obor owners after all. “Okay. Thanks for the help, Flevi.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m happy I could help.”

“Alright. Let’s check this stuff out.”

“Oh, no need. The cameras over there noticed everything we put on the account, and I have the bill right here. I can just throw it on the exchange’s tab, request shipping, and leave it all right here; it’ll show up at the vault.”

Indrek’s head whirled over to the metal lens, and his jaw parted. “There’s cameras just watching us?! Is this all the time, or just a weird surveillance store thing? How did it know everything we picked up?”

“It’s for convenience and security. We weren’t planning to shoplift, so what difference does it make?”

The human’s face had paled a bit. “How would it know the package is for me, and not you? Just because I touched it, or did you tell it?”

“It just knows. I understand you think the Krev are the enemy and hate being watched, but there’s no reason to freak out about a little AI helping us out. You’re the one who wanted to get out of here as soon as possible, so I’m not sure what the big deal is.”

“It’s…it’s nothing, Flevi. Just seems like overreach, like spying, and feels creepy as shit. I sure as hell don’t trust the Krev to let them invade my privacy either. Let’s get an obor, and get the fuck out of here.”

Baffled by Indrek’s strange behavior, I herded him out of the pet supplies shop in the hopes he’d forget this outburst. It would be interesting to see how his encounter with obors that were deemed too aggressive for adoption would play out. I hoped that he’d find a companion that soothed his troubled heart, and that this excursion wouldn’t end with him getting his fingers bitten off as the Krev staffer feared.

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A/N - Chapter 4! Flevi uses her journalistic ties and primarily Indrek’s cuteness to talk a staffer into allowing them to visit the most dangerous obors in the shelter, which the human doesn’t approve of. The duo go to buy obor supplies on the exchange program’s dime, and Indrek gets to see what’ll be needed to care for the animals. During the excursions, he learns that obor tags have some overlap to earrings, and also shows off a tattoo of Earth when talking about other human body accessories.

What do you think of all of the necessities/responsibilities of obor ownership? Do you agree with the Krev, that it’s too risky for Indrek to adopt one of the violent obors? How do you think the unadoptables will react to a human? 

As always, thank you for reading and supporting!