The Nature of Predators - Venlil Foster Program (6/14)

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Memory transcription subject: Callsi, Venlil Bartender

Date [standardized human time]: October 25, 2136

Dustin began to come out of his shell, and I tried to encourage authentic expression. The UN provided vitamins free of charge; I administered them during our first meal of the day. My new renovations proved more suitable to human physiology too. It chilled me how dark his lair was with the curtains, but I wasn’t going to tell him how the lighting reminded me of Arxur tendencies.

Today was an off day, so I didn’t have to head into the bar. Jimek and Dustin had fared well yesterday, left to their own devices during my shift. The predator’s integration was successful enough that I wasn’t preoccupied at work; the imaginings of my son being eaten alive had diminished. Somehow, I’d come to believe that the Terran cared about us.

“Where are we going, Callsi?” Dustin nudged Jimek with his shoulder, and the little Venlil shoved back. The two children couldn’t sit still in the suddenly-vacant public train. “You haven’t told us.”

Other than his ill-fated school day, the human hadn’t traveled outside my humble abode. I felt like heading into the capital’s inner ring, and browsing the local entertainment. My first inclination was to take Jimek alone, since few establishments rejoiced at the sight of predators. However, I wasn’t going to let prejudice stand in the way of including Dustin. The last thing I wanted was to feed his abandonment complex.

We disembarked outside the shops district. The Terran child looked a bit nervous, if I’d gauged the lip biting gesture correctly. Meanwhile, Jimek was enthused about the excursion, since it was a rare treat. His days off from school didn’t coincide with my work schedule often. With how tight our fiscal situation was, we didn’t have many credits to spend on leisure anyways.

The first stipend for Dustin was double what was promised, I recalled. I hope that trend continues, but if they chose to pay us extra…a lot of foster families must’ve dropped out.

The fortunate news was that I wouldn’t have to penny-pinch to afford Jimek’s art school. The down payment, which was a hefty lump sum, was within reach; I hoped to enroll him as a surprise for his birthday. Hopefully Dustin wouldn’t take the gift the wrong way, since my son outright told him that we “got this thing for art school.” What could I do to ease the Terran’s fear of abandonment?

I hoped fun activities as a family unit would help. The workings of the human mind were elusive, so there was no telling how Dustin would react to anything. I could only do my best, and follow any directives given to me by other predators. Perhaps it would be wise to seek advice on his psychological welfare from the UN embassy. It was a frightening prospect to go back there alone, but I’d established a rapport with Olek and Lisa.

I flicked my ears at my son. “Jimek, venture a guess where we’re heading?”

“The gravity arcade?” the little Venlil asked, in a hopeful voice.

“We sure are, and with the souvenir pass. That means you can go to the special exhibit, where you paint in zero g.”

“Stars, you’re the best, Mom! Dustin, you’re gonna love it. All of your human hunting is gonna look boring by comparison!”

Jimek grabbed Dustin by the wrists, and began bouncing up and down. The Venlil was openly squealing, with his ears straight up. The human was flummoxed by this excitement, though he offered an awkward snarl. I thought about telling my son to temper the theatrics, but it was nice to instill happiness. Who cared what any passersby thought?

The predator’s eyes twinkled, as he got his first look at the Venlil capital. The foster program carted him to my place, straight from the spaceport. Dustin had little chance to explore our world and sate his curiosity. From the kid’s perspective, he’d learned aliens existed mere months ago. Now, he was living among extraterrestrials on another planet.

That paradigm shift must be a lot to absorb. Then, Dustin had to worry about censoring behaviors which were natural to humans. His mandate was to overwrite his heritage, or to be shunned by the Venlil. The more I considered his perspective, the more I realized how demanding this arrangement was on a child’s psyche.

“What did you think of us at first contact, Dustin?” I asked softly. “What was that like?”

“It was Friday. They pulled everyone out of class, right after I got the news banner on my holopad.” The kid’s binocular eyes peered into a furniture store. “I remember the teachers were agitated. A SETI researcher—”

“SETI?” Jimek interrupted.

“Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence….hell of a message that day. Humanity wasn’t alone in the universe, not by a long shot. There was an entire Federation, and a war raging with sadistic Arxur monsters. The United Nations would follow the people’s will, because this moment changed our history as a species.”

“Whoa, that’s intense, dude! But you didn’t answer what you thought of us.”

“I don’t think we knew in that moment. It was so quiet in the auditorium, you could hear a pin drop. When they began listing the Arxur’s crimes, I felt hatred. So did a lot of folks, but with the Venlil, uh…”

I swished my tail encouragingly. “Go on. You won’t offend me.”

“I pitied you. Listening to these serious people explain why Venlil were petrified of humans…it made you seem, uh, precious? We wanted to show you that we weren’t scary. We wanted to be friends.”

“You’re doing a great job at that. Isn’t he, Jim—hey, get back here! Wait for us!”

Jimek sauntered up to the ticket booth, and waved for Dustin to join him. The Venlil employee’s face fell, as the predator made himself visible. I forced an authoritative posture, and jammed my paw into the window. The worker was trying to close the pane on us, but I wasn’t letting him deny us service.

“Hi there! We’ll take three passes, souvenir level.” I squinted at his name tag, while forcing a cheery tone. “Darev, is it? That’s a unique name.”

The Venlil employee cowered. “It’s P-Paltan. T-th…there’s other…b-booths.”

“No, Darev, you’re going to sell us the passes. The longer we argue about it, the longer the predator is here. So just sell it and we’ll leave.”

Dustin ducked his head. “Told you I needed the mask, Callsi. I, uh, can go stand somewhere else.”

“No! You’re staying right here with us. What will it be, Darev?”

The Venlil worker gulped, and threw himself at the holoscreen. He printed out three wristbands, as I scanned the credits chip. I fastened one pass to Dustin’s arm, while giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. The human seemed nervous to be out in public; it was like he felt guilty for causing alarm. My foster son did nothing wrong, and he needed to know that.

Jimek donned his own wristband, still bubbling with excitement. The little Venlil dragged the predator toward the entrance, unfazed by close contact. I followed after them, while Darev fell on the floor sobbing. Encountering a human sent him into a nervous breakdown. I couldn’t imagine how it felt for Dustin, to garner such reactions by showing his face.

We wanted to show you we weren’t scary. We wanted to be friends, the orphan’s words echoed in my head.

Very few Venlil were keen on that idea, especially at this popular attraction. There was a lengthy wait to get in the door, as the ticket scanning process resulted in a bottleneck. However, when the entrants spotted Dustin’s approach, they parted like an Iftali hoof. Most Venlil mounted a desperate attempt at a getaway, which bordered on a stampede.

“Awesome, I hate lines! Mom, we should take Dustin places more often! We’ll never wait again,” Jimek cheered.

Dustin gritted his teeth. “I don’t want to scare people off. What did I even do?”

“You did absolutely nothing.” I jogged to catch up to the children, and ruffled his mane reassuringly. “They just don’t know what a lovely young man you are. That’s their loss.”

“You two should go without me. I’m going to ruin your fun, and scare more people, and…”

“We both want you here. We’re not going to let some spoilsports ruin Jimek’s day, are we? He’s bursting to show you around.”

Dustin met Jimek’s eyes, and his petrifying features softened. The three of us scanned our wristbands, ignoring the audible gasps of employees. My son whirled around, so quickly that his bushy tail slapped the human in the mouth. The Canadian orphan hesitated, before chasing after the overeager Venlil.

It should’ve horrified me to see a predator sprinting after my only child. Instead, my heart felt light and airy, and I wondered if the gravity manipulation extended to the lobby. Come to think of it, witnessing other Venlil mistreat Dustin triggered my maternal instincts. How was it possible to feel such emotions toward a beast?

The children entered the first exhibit, through a mock airlock. I peered through the observation window, and chuckled as Dustin’s eyes went wide. The human was in awe, diving into the gravity-free zone. This must be my foster child’s first experience with weightlessness.

Jimek grabbed at the ceiling ropes, and slung himself around. The predator mimicked the Venlil’s example, and did an awkward flip through the air. I barely noticed the panicked reactions of the others in the chamber. All I saw was the childlike wonder in those hunter pupils. The Terran orphan bared his teeth, and surveyed his floating legs with disbelief.

A female shriek sounded behind me. “What the fuck is that thing doing here? Because of it, my poor baby is drinking through a straw!”

I swiveled around, and vaguely recognized the figure as Vana, Cylek’s mother. Her family accumulated a small fortune in the flamethrower business, which lent connections to the exterminator guild. With her son “mauled”, it was no wonder so many exterminators turned up to the school. It was fortunate that Tarva’s orders superseded this Venlil’s ties.

“Cylek got what he deserved. He tormented Jimek for months,” I hissed. “You did nothing.”

“That is pure slander! Cylek is a bright young boy, and he would never hurt a fly. I won’t let some hideous predator ruin him!”

“So you’re not even going to address the physical marks on Jimek?”

“Jimek is odd, and I think he knows few people would miss him. Cylek has a future; it makes the freaks jealous. So your little artist did those things to himself, blaming my darling to get attention.”

“The bullying was caught on video, bitch. And how dare you say those things about my son?!”

“It’s just the truth. That’s the thing about low-income children; they rarely exceed their parents’ position. It’s not like Jimek’s had a good example to learn from, or a mother who’s actually around.”

I recoiled as though I’d been slapped, while anger surged through my veins. If Dustin tumbled out of the gravity chamber and broke Vana’s jaw, I might applaud him now. Acquiring a large inheritance didn’t make this Venlil a better mother than me. Though it was often a struggle to make ends meet, I did everything in my power to give Jimek opportunities.

I narrowed my eyes. “Wow. I feel sorry for Cylek, having a mother like you. It’s no wonder he turned out to be such a predator-diseased blight on society.”

“You’re one to talk about predator disease! Your son is the one living with…playing with a slobbering human. If I had a face like Dustin, I’d throw myself in front of a flamethrower.”

“Then why don’t you? Dustin’s a predator, yes, and he’s still more attractive than you.”

“Real funny, you pathetic whore. Humans can’t do anything besides kill and reproduce. We’d be doing the galaxy a favor, if we made Dustin into a charcoal pile. That mongrel should’ve been liquified on Earth with the rest of its breed!”

“Oh, go rot in an Arxur farm!” I placed my snout inches from her face, and suppressed the burning in my chest. “You will NEVER talk about my son that way again!”

Vana snickered. “Your son?! That’s hysterical! Oh Callsi, I’m going to tell everyone you called a human your child! No one will ever take you seriously again.”

Cylek’s mother stalked off, lifting her chin in a haughty gesture. The flamethrower magnate collected her son, who was in the VR spaceship simulator. From Cylek’s bored look, you’d think he came here every week…which he probably did. Spotting the brat made me want to impede his jaw’s healing.

Of course, that bully and his mom had to be here. Luckily, Jimek didn’t see them; that would’ve killed his enthusiasm.

During my conversation, Jimek and Dustin had snuck into the souvenir room. The impatient children should’ve waited to make their painting; however, I imagined my biological son couldn’t contain his excitement. My paws carried me to the alternate exit, which led from the artistry room. I tried not to let Vana possess my thoughts, as I waited for the kids to reappear.

“Uh…Callsi?” The exit door creaked half-open, and Dustin stayed hidden behind the frame. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

“Great. I hope you two had fun,” I muttered.

“What? Did you hear me? I said not to, um, be mad…I thought you’d ask what I did.”

“Sorry, I’m a bit distracted. What did you do? Oh stars, please tell me you didn’t punch anyone else.”

“Nothing like that. You see, uh, there was paint, and well, we didn’t mean, er, y’know—”

“Whatever it is, just tell me.”

“Alright. Jimek? Why don’t you come out now?”

Dustin ducked out into the walkway, with one arm wrapped around the Venlil. Pink paint dripped from the human’s mane, leaving random splotches in his scalp. Some coloring was smeared on his shirt too, and it dried onto his hands as well. The predator looked like he’d gone on a rampage in an art school.

The Terran cringed under my glare. “Uh, I can explain…”

My eyes turned to Jimek next, who was slinking out with sheepish steps. The Venlil was slathered in paint, like a walking sliver of a color wheel. A horrified gasp escaped my lips, as I saw my sons were thoroughly drenched. My ire shifted away from Vana, and turned against the shy human instead.

“Dustin Leo Curtis. Why in the stars is Jimek purple?!” I shrieked.

The Terran orphan blanched, and averted his eyes. With fury simmering at full force, I resigned myself to teaching the boys a lesson.

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A/N - Part 6 is here! Callsi takes the children for an excursion, and the group quickly runs into some prejudiced Venlil. While the kids manage to have fun, a heated exchange with Cylek's classist mother ruins the outing for our narrator.

Will there be ramifications for referring to Dustin as her son? More importantly, what's the proper punishment for Jimek being purple?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! The votes from the poll are in; VFP will be continuing into next month!