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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/micktalian on 2025-07-05 18:09:03+00:00.
Part 126 Uplifting (Part 1) (Part 125)
Harthkyr Rompchil is, by all accounts, an upstanding and respectable leader in the field of pre-Ascension sapience studies. As a Rythimpkin, a middling scaled-theropod species with few notable accomplishments or individuals, it was relatively easy for her to earn an important place in her peoples’ history. From the award-winning research she published on sapient species incapable of Ascension in her early career, to her tenure as a professor at the Ko Ko Kroke’s StarMoon Royal Academy, and on to her current role as the Galactic Community Council science committee. She had practically become a household name among her kind. At no point in time had she ever been accused of anything untoward or immoral. No one ever suspected her of coercing intimate favors from her students when she was already married, especially not those of other species. The fact Tarki Gebron Shlin could undermine her entire career by simply releasing a few sensitive recordings genuinely humbled her into submission.
Fliuthinkar Fliuquotchel, on the other hand, seemed like every other Derubion. Their kind’s reputation as considerate and wise ancients had been earned by countless individuals and innumerable acts over millions of years. By the simple misfortunate of his species’ Ascension to the galactic stage over four hundred million years ago, Fliu knew his name would never be remembered. There already were countless Derubion names in history books throughout the galaxy. Their accomplishments included being one of the four founding members of the GCC. And unlike Harthkyr, Fliuthinkar held no secrets worth keeping, no aspirations of greatness, and certainly nothing that Tarki could use to blackmail him. His curiosity and compassion are both strong enough that he only needed to be informed of the Uark’thilik situation to gain an interest in it. In contrast to his colleague and her concern about her legacy, the chitinous cephalopod was simply excited to be alive for such a momentous occasion.
It had been less than forty-eight hours since the two GCC Committee Heads had conversed with Tarki. In just that short amount of time both had been able to force a limited consensus in their respective committees. While neither were ready to bring any proposals to the Budget Committee, they had accomplished enough. After a vote by both the First Contact and Pre-Ascension Sapience Committees separately, they then came together for a joint resolution. While a few other individuals on the two committees had received pointed calls from Tarki, they would have eventually come to the same decisions regardless of her intervention. However, instead of it taking under two days, that verdict may have been years in the making. Though this wasn’t necessarily what Harth or Fliu wanted in their legacy, both found a sense of pride in how quickly their respective committees had come to a consensus.
“Are you all ready?” Tarki asked towards the fairly large collection of Uark’thiliks elders gathered together for another yet another incredible event in their species’ history.
“As ready as we shall ever be.” Elder Kilpcha glanced over her shoulder towards the congregation, all of whom displayed color patterns of anxious excitement. “And you say that one of the two people we will be speaking with is similar to my people? Just more… Reptile-like?”
“Exactly.” Tarki confirmed while hiding her devious smirk behind a perfectly crafted professional guise. “Representative Harthkyr Rompchil is what we would call a theropod, meaning she has a similar body shape to your species. However, her kind never evolved feathers the way your people or my people have. Reptiles, theropods, and avians are all generally-” Before the gold and tan eagle-woman could continue with her explanation, her tablet let out a loud notification sound. “We’ll talk about that later. It looks like Representatives Rompchil and Fliuquotchel are both ready to start. Unless there are any objections… I will begin this meeting.”
The Ko Ko Kroke Royal Ambassador let a few seconds of pause to ensure anyone who wanted to say anything could. To her delight, everyone seemed totally ready. With Elder Kilpcha chosen by her peers to take the lead, she stood next to Tarki. Behind them, elders from every single Uark’thilik village sat on either chairs carved from wood or cushions crafted from soft plant matter. In front of them all was a large metal and polymer panel connected via long, thick cable to the comms array of Binko’s shuttle. After a few moments of silence followed by the start of a soft hum, two realistic and completely accurate holographic projections appeared with both sporting color-emitting translators on their bodily centers. While one was certainly familiar, sharing the same general shape as Uark’thilik but appearing due to the lack of feathers, the other would be completely alien to these early development theropods if it weren’t for their exposure to Turt-Chopians.
“Royal Ambassador Shlin! And you must be Elder Kil-p-cha! It is a genuine honor to meet you.” As Fliu’s gurgling voice filled the meeting cave with a jovial tone, his simplistic chromatophores and the translation device on his bulbous, armored head/body flashed with joyous colors. “I’m sure you already know this, but I am Representative Fliuthinkar Fliuquotchel, Head of the Galactic Community Council First-Contact Committee. Please feel free to call me Fliu. And this is my colleague, the Head of the pre-Ascension Sapience Committee, Representative Harthkyr Rompchil.”
“You may call me Harth.” The scaled theropod spoke in a more neutrally professional manner than the armored octopus and gave a slight bow. “I would like to begin this meeting by saying that my fellow committee head and I are both deeply honored to speak with you today. It is incredibly rare for GCC representatives to have meetings like this with people who have yet to Ascend to the galactic stage. Events like this usually occur once every few thousand generations. And your particular situation is truly the first of its kind.”
“It is an honor to meet both of you, Fliu and Harthkyr. As you obviously already know, I am Elder Kilpcha of the Tall Spire Village. And, uh, we don’t really have shortened, easier to pronounce nicknames. If it isn’t burdensome, please call me Kilpcha.” The elder Uark’thilik nodded her head in a manner almost identical to Harth’s early bow while her feathers flashing in beautiful patterns of purples and oranges. “I have been chosen by my peers you see behind me as the one to represent the entire Uark’thilik species. If I may, I would like to start this conversation by making a case for why my people should be allowed to keep a translation device and power generation system so that we may have an easier time learning from and maintaining the information and historical archive left to us by the Ingthops.”
“Let me save you the effort, Kilpcha.” Fliu interjected as one of his tentacles revealed a tablet which he used to send Tarki a message. “Harthkyr’s committee and mine both already agreed to both of those requests. You should have the official documents at any moment, Royal Ambassador.”
“We have resolved that providing technology which likely already exists in some working capacity on your homeworld would not be considered technological uplifting.” Harthkyr added, again using a very neutral tone which came across with simple colors from her translator. “Thanks to the Turt-Chopian students studying you, your homeworld, and its history, we have indisputable evidence that a surprising amount of the infrastructure left behind by the Ingthops is either still functional to a limited degree or easily repairable. Even without any assistance or interference, your people would likely develop to an early industrial level within just a hundred generations. A reliable translator would simply help to reduce the potential of misinterpretations leading to tragedy. That being said, we will not be authorizing anything else besides a long-lifespan, no maintenance generator and a translator. Anything more could lead to negative long-term effects to your people’s cultural development.”
“I see we are in general agreement.” Kilpcha didn’t hesitate in her response. Though there were a few murmurs from the people behind, all were in support of her stance. “While we do appreciate what has been done for us so far, we would rather continue on our own in terms of learning about our world and the galaxy beyond. The message left for us by the Ingthop President requested that we use their gifts as an aid, not a crutch. We will need to learn about things like medicine and politics on our own. What applied to the Ingthops may not be right for us. The same could be said about other sapient species throughout the galaxy. When future generations eventually make it to the stars, we want to be able to say they did so with a helping hand and not simply by the graces of others. Knowledge can be given but wisdom must be earned.”
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Content cut off. Read original on https://old.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1lsg4tg/the_gardens_of_deathworlders_a_blooming_love_part/
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