It Takes Time <To Be Properly Taken Apart> - Chapter 02
Chapter 2
Chapter Length: 4,500 wordsCultural Exchange: Part I
"A partner?" Punica blinked several times. This was really not where she had expected this conversation to go. "In what sense do you mean the word?" It was a slightly awkward question to ask, she realised, but the galaxy was a very large place, and Terran was infamous for its words which could have as many as a dozen or more meanings. The awkwardness seemed to spread immediately to Raqi, as the mask of confidence which she had put back up was promptly vaporised. For the first time in the conversation, she looked at Punica with a completely unmanicured expression; both her posture and voice taking on one of embarrassed frustration. "Um... Romantic, I guess? Well, not just that, uh-" She let out a low hiss, and Punica noted that the woman's cheeks had turned slightly red. "Look, 'partner' is a shitty word, but I don't have a better one. There isn't any word that accurately conveys what I mean. The specifics don't really matter; I don't want to explain it!" The abrupt change in demeanour caused something to stir within Punica. The knot of vines that formed her humanoid form's torso constricted ever so slightly, and she could feel a particular warmth gathering around her core. Although she had little personal experience of this sensation, she recognised it immediately: it was what most of her peers on the Longbough had referred to as the 'cuteness response.' Whenever a xenosophont did something particularly adorable, any affini observing it would find themselves almost irresistibly compelled to lather the creature with physical affection, often by wrapping it up in their vines, stroking it, petting its head; etcetera. It was a behaviour somewhat similar to the way Terrans interacted with the domestic creatures they kept as pets on their world, such as cats and dogs. The urge to, as a particular colleague of hers had once put it, 'scronch them.' The actual underlying mechanism was significantly more complicated than this explanation, but that was the general gist of it. Either way, this phenomenon was responsible for several of Punica's vines beginning to snake out forward towards the still-blushing Raqi, intent on giving her head a light ruffling. The instant they did so, though, the atmosphere changed in a heartbeat. Raqi's eyes went wide, and she leapt backwards- not as fast as the vines could move, but fast nonetheless. Even had she not done so, though, Punica's attempt at physical contact would never have reached her: for the moment her vines extended to the region of space a little over a foot from where the captain had been standing, she felt them press against a solid object. "Oh?" Punica let out a surprised noise. Despite her continued attempts to push forward, her vines remained stalled in mid-air. The pressure receptors scattered all across their surfaces returned the feeling of a solid object, but she could see nothing. Or, wait... As she shifted her eyes to inspect it from another angle, she noticed an ever-so-slight distortion. Between the woman and her was an almost invisible barrier, comprised of what seemed to be something akin to glass. Immediately upon noticing the barrier, Punica sent out vines in all directions. She quickly found that the glass extended around her in all directions, forming a cube with four sides, the area of which was around thrice the size of what the airlock had been, and which prevented her from moving any further beyond its confines into the ship. "My," she commented. "That is some very clear glass. I didn't even notice it was there until my vines touched it." She turned to see that Raqi was glaring at her. Her teeth were bared, and her pupils had dilated to the size of saucers. The look took Punica aback, and she instinctually withdrew her vines; a small shock running through her body. "I'm sorry, Raqiflower," she spoke, voice filling with worry. "Did I do something to alarm you? It wasn't my intention to-" "Do not-" She was cut off mid-sentence by a venomous refutation, "-call me that." Raqi's voice had grown as cold as ice. As Punica watched, she stood back up, the look of fury persisting for a moment before mellowing into one of barely concealed hostility. "My name is Raqi. You will refer to me as that, or not at all. Do not think to assign me any names which I myself have not chosen. In the same vein, do not even think to try and touch me." She gestured towards the glass with one hand. "I had a suspicion you might try and drug me while we were speaking, so I created a wall between the two of us as a precaution. I'm disappointed to see that it was already necessary." Punica's brows creased inward. In an instant, the pleasant warmth that had filled her core had vanished, replaced with a painful cold sensation that - just for a moment - left her reeling. She was not used to interacting with xenosophonts in the way that some of her kin were: She had been told that many of them - particularly those not yet domesticated - could be quite averse to affini mannerisms and habits, and that they were often verbally or physically forceful in their rejections. It was apparently something you got used to, but for Punica, this was the first time she had experienced it. Perhaps because of that, it stung immensely to have her attempts at friendly interaction pushed away so harshly. "My apologies," she spoke, trying to force her voice to remain steady. "I did not mean to offend. I will refer to you only as Raqi, or Raqi Marr from now on, if that is acceptable." After a moment, the last part of what the other woman had said clicked in her head. "I also assure you that I had no intention to drug you. You merely did something that I perceived as cute, and so it was my wish to pat your head in response." Raqi's demeanour shifted just as abruptly as it had a moment ago, the fury on her face morphing into baffled confusion. "Cute? What do you-" She halted mid-sentence, mouth remaining open for a moment, and then rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I'm going to ignore that part of what you said." She cleared her throat. "So: You mean you weren't trying to inject me with something just there?" "No?" Punica tilted her head. "I have no reason to do that, at least not presently. I merely wanted to run a vine through your feathers; that was all." Raqi looked suspicious, but the open hostility had disappeared. Her next words came in a guarded tone, but there was a hint of curiosity as well: "What would you consider a valid 'reason' for doing so?" The plant hesitated for a moment. Raqi clearly knew enough about the affini to have erected a glass wall in advance of their conversation in order to stop Punica from touching her, which suggested a relatively high level of familiarity with their culture. That was baffling in the first place for a feral Terran: Accord feralists usually believed things like that the affini could steal souls with a touch, or that they were capable of phasing through the hulls of ships; but it was eminently clear by this point that Raqi was not of that persuasion. Her willingness to engage at all with Punica would have been enough to show that, but there was both a nuance and a familiarity to this question that was throwing the plant for a loop. Slowly, Punica raised the right arm of her humanoid form. The upper half of the appendage opened like a lid to reveal a thickly packed bundle of dozens of individual vines, each tipped with a different type of flower, needle, bud, or other ending. Five at a time, she caused them to extend out from her arm, holding them each around a foot from her body. She observed as Raqi watched the display with wide eyes; whether from curiosity or fear, she could not be certain. "By 'drugs', I presume that you are referring to the various chemical compounds that we commonly carry around in our bodies for use on xenosophonts," she began. "We commonly refer to these as 'xenodrugs'; the literal translation of which is 'drugs for xenosophonts', as the name suggests. This translation is missing certain important nuances, however: We only refer to a chemical cocktail as a xenodrug when it is intended for recreational use on a sophont. Antibiotics, painkillers, and prescription drugs used in the treatment of certain severe illnesses would generally not be called xenodrugs. With this description in mind, I only have a very limited quantity of xenodrugs grafted to my body at present; the majority of chemicals I can synthesize in my injectors are exclusively for use in my research, and would do nothing if injected into a xenosophont's body." Raqi was still staring at her. This prompted Punica to realise that she hadn't actually answered the other woman's question. "In answer to your question: Excluding the aforementioned medicines, most if not all xenodrugs are only used either for domestication, or recreational activities. Exceptions include those which can be administered in the case that an individual is experiencing a state of heightened negative emotion: such as for example an anxiety or panic attack. In those cases, we would commonly administer them a low-dose tranquiliser to stabilise them." She thought she had finished, but then another clause occurred to her, and she quickly added: "Obviously, we'd also do the same for any sophont who was depressed, or otherwise upset; in order to get them out of that headspace as quickly as possible. That's just common courtesy, after all." The other woman was silent for several seconds. Her expression moved through a number of different emotions, such that Punica had a hard time telling what she was thinking. "So, if I'd stayed upset there, would you have injected me with something to calm me down?" Punica nodded quickly. "Absolutely. I would feel terrible if my actions caused you lasting upset, and I wasn't able to resolve it immediately." It seemed for several moments afterwards that Raqi had begun staring through Punica rather than at her. Her gaze appeared to have locked onto some spot on the wall behind her, and both it and the rest of her body remained completely motionless for quite a long time. Just as Punica was beginning to wonder if such an injection might actually be in order, Raqi's eyes snapped back to hers, and she began to speak. "Right. Uh. Sorry, was just processing that for a second. That makes sense." She gave an exaggerated nod. Punica frowned. "You do not sound very convinced. Is there something that I failed to explain?" "Uhm, no, I don't think so, it's more just- How do I put this..." She seemed to spend several seconds struggling for words. "Uh, on the off chance that you find some way out of that glass box: I would like to request that you please do not drug me no matter what you perceive my emotional state to be, or for literally any other reason whatsoever." Punica had been meaning to get to that, so this saved her the trouble of bringing it up. "You seem rather worried about the concept of being subjected to xenodrugs. Might I ask why? They're absolutely not dangerous, I assure you." "It's not a danger thing, I just really don't want any drugs messing with my head," Raqi replied. Punica tilted her head further. "Why not?" Raqi stared at her. "...Call it a cultural thing. It'd take too long to explain, and it's not really important right now. Just don't try and give me anything, please; okay?" For a moment, the affini hesitated. The way the conversation had gone in the last few minutes was leaving her increasingly convinced that the woman standing in front of her may not actually have been a Terran at all. It wasn't so much the things that she was saying; but rather what she wasn't saying. If Raqi had been some kind of a Free Terran, she would not have referred to a desire to avoid being drugged as a mere 'cultural thing.' Most likely, she would have gone on a rant about how the affini were mind-controlling imperialist weeds, but there had been no hint of that in their dialogue so far. The way she worded it made the request seem more like an attempt to convey a personal preference than any sort of demand. This situation just kept getting stranger by the minute. Still, Punica made a note to avoid telegraphing it any more than was necessary if the time did come that she needed to inject Raqi with anything. If she had to give her any drugs, she'd do her best to make sure there was as little leadup as possible to the dosing; that way the period of panic would be as short as possible, and it would minimise the risk of creating lasting trauma. Any negative emotions she felt would only have a few moments to manifest before the drug wiped them away, anyway: so as long as she was careful, any potential harm could easily be smoothed out once the xenosophont had been put into a more relaxed state. Generally speaking, the same technique was also employed to rid xenosophonts of their fears regarding said chemicals. The Compact's chemists possessed numerous compounds that could be used to induce high levels of suggestibility; from where it was a relatively easy matter to rewrite even deeply-rooted beliefs pertaining to the aforementioned issues. She suspected from the girl's reluctance that Raqi would probably need some work of that type doing on her, but it would have to wait for now. She affected a tone of playful concession. "As things are right now, I wouldn't be able to even if I wanted to. I was unable to find any opening that I could have used to escape from the airlock you had me in a little while ago, and I doubt you made this glass box with any less thoroughness. Not, to be clear, that I'm at all inclined on attempting to escape at present anyway. If it makes you feel more comfortable to have a barrier between the two of us, then I am perfectly happy to leave it there." Punica was pleased with her response. This way, she had been able to avoid lying to Raqi. The affini disliked the use of direct falsehoods if they could help it, and preferred to try and simply circumvent potentially troublesome subjects when in discussions with undomesticated xenosophonts where possible. The blue-haired maybe-Terran did not seem entirely convinced; but nevertheless, she seemed to relent. "...I suppose that works. You'll have to forgive me if I don't exactly trust you at the moment, given everything I've heard about your kind." She nodded immediately. "It's entirely understandable. The spread of propaganda is a well-understood phenomenon within the Compact: it's a hurdle we have to work to overcome frequently when domesticating new species. It's very common for various worlds and races to develop a warped view of us and our practises, based on faulty information that they've received from other sophonts prior to making contact with the Compact proper. What I mean by all of that is: I won't take it personally." "Mhm." Raqi hummed. "That's... exactly what someone who was doing all of those things and wanted to make it sound like they weren't would say to cover it up, but I guess at this point it's your word against theirs." She nodded. "Yes. I don't believe in that regard there is much I can do, not without access to a database in order to produce evidence for my claims." This line of logic seemed to go down well with the xeno, because she could see Raqi's body language relaxing somewhat. "That's fair. We can get to the bottom of that later; it's just a tangent anyway. Going back to the main topic, I was hoping that you could explain to me - in your words - what it is that the Affini Compact does exactly." She raised a hand. "The purpose of the Domestication Initiative, for example. I've heard how other races perceive it, and stories of what the affini's motives for it are: but I'd like to hear it from one of you yourself, if that makes sense." Other races? That confirmed it. Prior to their domestication, the only xeno species that the Terrans had made contact with were the Rinans; there was no way, with that in mind, that a Terran would talk about 'other races' in plural. This meant that, as Punica had begun to suspect, Raqi Marr was not in fact a Terran. This explained several of the strangest inconsistencies in their conversation so far, but it also opened up more questions than it answered. If Raqi wasn't a Terran, then what was she? Why did she speak fluent Terran? Perhaps most concerningly: Why did Punica not recognise her species? It seemed impossible that Raqi could be from an uncontacted race, but Punica had never heard of a species that looked this similar to Terrans. Surely if the Compact knew of such xenosophonts, she would have heard of them by now- but the alternative meant that... She brought herself back to focus before she could let the thought drag her any further down a spiral. She needed absolute confirmation before she began worrying about that. Sucking air in around her core in a mimicry of Terran breathing, she spoke aloud: "I would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Before I do, though, might I ask first from whence exactly it is that you hail?" She inquired, leaving the wording intentionally vague at first. The girl's eyes narrowed suspiciously, her voice hardening. "Why do you want to know?" Hm. There was no avoiding it, then. Punica steadied her voice, and answered: "Up until a short while ago, I had been under the impression that you were some variety of Terran; albeit an extremely unusual one. However, as we have continued conversing, I am starting to believe I may have been operating under an incorrect assumption. Your physiology is unlike that of any Terran I have ever seen: I do not have any explanation for the facial markings that you possess, or your feathered hair and ears. I had assumed at first that these must be biomods, but I am starting to doubt that is the case for a number of reasons. As such, I did not wish to proceed without first inquiring as to your race and place of origin." The feather-haired alien brought a hand up to her mouth; the exact same contemplative gesture Punica had made just the day before. "Quite perceptive, aren't you? I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you. They're never going to come into contact with the affini, after all: so anything I tell you about them won't matter anyway, regardless of what you turn out to be like." This piqued Punica's curiosity even further. "What do you mean by that?" "You are correct that I am not Terran. I am a landamaeri; I hail from a civilisation called the Landamar Mobile Fleet. From the way you talk about races, borders, and planets, I presume you haven't met many species like us. But basically: We don't have a home planet. We're nomads. We move our society from place to place, gathering resources from uninhabited planets and doing trade with nearby civilisations, then we move on to the next region of space." There was a subtle hint of satisfaction in her voice as she continued. "That's why, no matter how large the Affini Compact's borders get, it will never come into contact with the Mobile Fleet. Our island ships will simply move away before you expand anywhere near them." Punica tried her best not to show how badly the xeno's words had shaken her. The so-called mobile fleet that Raqi had made mention of was completely unfamiliar to her, and so were landamaeris; she was absolutely certain she'd never heard of either of them, and if they were present in the milky way and known to the Compact, then that would not have been possible. Punica had an at least cursory awareness of every race that the affini had come across in the milky way; it was a necessary part of her education in her younger years, as she had to be prepared for the eventuality that she might encounter one of them and need to be able to treat or otherwise help them. With that in mind, for the landamaeri to have somehow been missed on her curriculum was unthinkable. This left only one other alternative: that Raqi was a member of an undomesticated race, and from an entirely uncontacted civilisation. If true, this had enormous implications. For starters, it meant that none of the xenodrugs Punica currently had in her body could safely be utilised on her without the risk of side effects. This in turn meant that, should the two be forced into some kind of confrontation, the only thing Punica would be able to rely on was her phytotoxin: a chemical she had tinkered with over the years for maximum compatibility with as many xenosophont species as possible, which had the sole effect of inducing sleepiness in those it affected. The chemical composition of it was mundane enough that she was fairly sure it posed no possible harm to any organic lifeform - barring immensely unlikely allergic reactions, which she was well prepared with various antidotes in the event of - and so it would likely be safe enough to use on Raqi. Whether it would actually do anything was another question entirely, and one that she could feel herself already starting to grow anxious over. The thought of being the only affini around a clearly very twitchy sophont was not something she enjoyed. However unusual this situation was, though, it was still something she had been trained for. As with so many other highly improbable scenarios, all affini received a modicum of training on first contact procedures for just such a situation. Punica simulated another deep breath, feeling cooling waves of air run against her core, and did her best to push the worry about her drugs from her mind for the time being, deciding to focus instead on maintaining her conversation with the sophont. Considerations about pharmaceuticals could wait; for now she needed to focus on managing the conversation and making a good impression. If she could keep the situation under control, she would ideally never have to find out if her phytotoxin worked on the xeno. She affected a Terran smile, voice filling with a genuine appreciation as she went to reply to Raqi. "That is absolutely fascinating. Your assumption was correct: I'm not aware of a significant number of our ward species that have tendencies like that; perhaps for the exact reason that they would simply move away before we came across them." At this, Raqi smirked. "Perks of not being tied down in one place: if trouble starts coming your way, you can just pack up and leave." There was something in her face, and in her voice when she said it. Something about these words held some kind of deep meaning to Raqi: Punica could sense it. There was an unconcealed pride in what she had said; particularly the first half of it. It was the kind of belief significant enough to wind its way into a conversation, even when one was otherwise trying to keep themselves guarded. "It does sound convenient. I take it, then, that you left this fleet to come to the Compact; in order to search for a partner?" There was that look of embarrassment again. Was the subject of intimate relationships a sensitive topic in Landamaeri society, she wondered? "In essence, yes." She extended both arms out to her sides. "So, don't get your hopes up about getting a new race to add to your list of domesticated species. It's just me." Punica let out a soft, melodic laugh. "We don't look at our wards on a species level, Raqi Marr. Referring to them that way is only a convenience done for categorical discussions, the likes of which we're having right now. We value each and every one of them as individuals; not just as members of a collective. We care about their personal happiness and wellbeing, regardless of how big or small the groups they come from are." She began to smile. "In that regard, we would be just as excited to bring you into the Compact as we would an entire species." The woman blinked several times. "Inos-" -she said, a word Punica didn't recognise- "-you plants really are as smooth as the stories say. That is frightening." Punica's voice grew more mirthful, some of her vines beginning to sway lightly at their tips in a display of amusement. "What makes you say it's frightening?" "Uh... Aha." Raqi suddenly laughed; a light, soft chuckle. "That was a joke. Sorry: inter-species humour can be hard to get across sometimes. Forget I said anything." The affini pursed her lips in a polite smile. It was not a joke, and she knew it. But the subject didn't seem worth pressing right now, and so she decided to let it drop. "As you wish."
TerraTranslate :: Raqi Marr :: Punica Granatum ::
Story Recommendation: Nurture & Acquisitions, by AsphodelVeil While Divaricated is arguably a more exciting story, and perhaps better representative of the general 'vibes' of HDG, I would personally put Nurture & Acquisitions as my #1 story overall set in the HDG universe. It was not until I read N&A that HDG actually 'clicked' with me on a personal level, and I would put that down to their meticulous depiction of the relationship between Terrans and affini, the subtleties and nuances in the way they interact, and how two sides with very differing goals come together to try and ensure that they both get what they want (or at least that one side is made eventually to want what the other side wants.) Gale is also my absolute favourite HDG protagonist, and gets points for I think being the most realistic one I've read as well, in terms of how she handles her surprise introduction to the world of the affini. Her thought processes are an absolute joy to read about, and she undergoes perhaps the most realistic slowcooking of a protag I've seen yet. There is nothing anywhere in Nurture & Acquisitions that felt 'forced'; as in that it needed to happen for the author to advance the plot. Everything written flows in a completely natural and utterly immersive manner, that led me having to feedback to the author that I had no commentary at all on several chapters on account of how I hadn't stopped at any point to think anything during them; so busy was I just enjoying reading. Final Summary: The reason why all the affini architecture in this story is the way that it is.