This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Huge-Animal-8818 on 2024-09-14 19:41:59+00:00.

The world moves in blurs of white and black, light and darkness. I am floating in the nothingness of my own existence with the only proof of my existence being the excruciating pain I’m feeling. The pain of being burned alive from the thorax outward. I hear no sound nor smell any scent. I am alone, falling into the chaos of the colourless void, burning to death.I stay like that for what feels like years until the pain fades into nothing more than a lingering ember, crackling first within my body, and later on the surface of my charred skin. My ears finally catch a voice amidst the chaos. It’s a human voice. A male, judging by the deeper sound.

“The nanites have finally managed to stabilise him.”

Another voice joins it, speaking in broken High Veilharan with an intense foreign accent.

“Your Elder will be alright. With the latest nano-med technology, the medical team managed to stabilise him.”

“Thank you! How can we repay your kindness?”

This final voice soothed my stressed mind. It was my apprentice, Rua zu Fern. She had survived the attack.

As relief washes over me, I feel myself finally leaving the chaotic void and entering the land of dreams, my consciousness escaping me once more.

*

As I open my eyes, I am met with a white room, full with elegant shapes and barren of almost all decoration aside from a single screen showing a set of images from a jungle planet.

Next to me, an excited Rua grabs my hand and puts her forehead to it.

“Thank the ancestors, you’re awake!”

I try to speak but my voice struggles to leave my throat.

“Rua. Where are we?”

She smiles and opens the curtains revealing the world outside of the white room.

“We’re currently in Terra, or as some of the humans like to call it, Earth.”

The window was revealing a grand cityscape covering the world, extending to the horizon. A few flying vehicles were darting across the gigantic buildings, like the insectoids back home during a feeding frenzy.

The city was intricate, with each building being a unique masterpiece of architecture with it’s own distinct style. There were some similarities here and there, but overall, each building was a sole beacon of art amongst a forest of wonders. Upon closer inspection, I realize that many of the details of the buildings were complimented by greenery. From small bushes to trees, this city of steel and stone was also a city of nature.

“And to think we used to call them savages”, I say, my voice still coarse.

Rua nodded. “The medical team forbade me from being permanently in your room, claiming my mental health would decline if I was in a state of permanent worry. So the emperor assigned a cultural ambassador to give me a tour of the district. The Terrans, which is what the humans born in the human homeworld call themselves, are so diverse culturally that it borders on the impossible.”

The door to the room slid open and a human dressed in aquamarine with a white coat entered.

“This is Chief of the Nano-med Department, Doctor Dorian Grey”, said Rua in the human language of English”

“Elder Prin, I am glad to see you have finally regained consciousness”, said the man. It was the same voice I had heard in the void.

“Doctor, thank you for saving my life.”

“You are welcome Elder. There are a couple of examinations I would like to perform, as well as direct you towards one of our Xeno-Physiotherapists. Nanites are a marvel, but there are still limits to what they can do, and a 3-week coma is bound to cause some muscle atrophy.”

“Three Weeks?”, I look in confusion at the doctor and Rua.

“It’s a time-measuring unit humans use. It’s a seven-day period in Terra.”

I tried getting off my bed but my legs quickly gave out from under me. Luckily, the doctor quickly grabbed me and sat me on the bed with ease.

“Take your time Elder. In the meantime, we have informed both your leaders and the Emperor of your awakening. They should arrive within a few days. In the meantime, the Emperor has given strict orders to make sure you regain your full health, both physically and mentally. So, for now we are going to perform a couple of tests and then, you can rest a bit more.”

*

The next weeks flew by in a gust of experiences and amazement.First, the entire Council of Elders broke Veilhar protocol and visited Terra, as a whole, in an official declaration of friendship for the relentless efforts the human medical team made in order to save my life.

The Terrans were incredibly welcoming, giving the Veilhar diplomatic entourage a tour of the entire planet and its thousands of different cultures. We were left in awe at the millions of ways the humans had to express them and their ancestry. They were all so unique and yet, they were all connected by their history and by the ones who had preceded them. They were probably one of the best record-keeping species in the galaxy, outshining even the Veilhar Ancestor Vault. They could trace their history back tens of thousands of years and some families could trace their family just as far in a marvelous display of art and genetic history called “family tree”.

They had developed a series of sub schools of archeology, separated by both time periods and objects of study. Elder Kriz was fascinated and quickly proposed an academic exchange program so our Veilhar scholars could learn about the new innovative methods the humans had developed of discovering the truth about the past.

But like the old Veilhar saying goes, the rain precedes the flood.Soon after the declaration of friendship, many of the members of the Galactic Community cut diplomatic ties with us.

The humans, despite their friendliness towards us, still refused to release the K’krai imprisoned in the Preservation Station, claiming that they were as much a prisoner as any pre-ftl species. They had everything they could hope for in the station. They could live in their communities and have general autonomy to govern themselves.

We tried to plead with the Emperor, but he was adamant that the K’krai had no place in the galaxy and that this was for the best.

After a final attempt the Emperor sighed and looked at the council, his previously jovial smile faded into a grim scowl.“If they return to the galactic stage, we will eventually be forced to erase them. Permanently. This is the only way we can maintain their existence and our own in balance.”

Something in his stare made my back fur stand up. That was the stare of a predator. The stare a killer.

The stare of an Emperor.

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