NEIGHBOR
By Jayde Holmes
Part 2: The Green World
Strongest had tried to teach Different about Humans before. Different had been interested, but weary. They had watched the Old Humans, whom Strongest called a family. The concept was difficult for Different; they had seen many animals that raised their young, but Strongest portrayed this concept as something unique to Humans. It was a group held together by friendship as well as relatedness, but Different couldn’t see how the two so consistently came together.
Strongest had attempted to teach them the language of the Old Humans. Whilst the concept of family seemed strange, the concept of language was downright uncomfortable. There was something offensive about reducing concepts and feelings down to simple sounds or pictures. Different felt equal parts pity for the Humans and their inadequate methods of communication, and contempt, but they couldn’t tell where such contempt was coming from.
It wasn’t until Strongest introduced Different to the Human concept of color that they realized why they thought so poorly of the Humans. It seemed completely ridiculous to waste words describing how light looked when every creature would perceive such a phenomenon differently.
(You forget that Humans only ever see the world through one pair of eyes) Strongest had told them. (An individual Human will always see a certain wavelength of light as a certain color. Even if two different Humans see something differently, they’ll apply the same word to it. To a Human, color may as well be an objective truth.)
(That excuse still doesn’t make objective color true) Different had replied. (Especially when you consider the limits of language. Light is a spectrum. Where does ‘green’ end and ‘blue’ begin?)
Strongest had been so amused when Different asked that question. (I’m glad you’re thinking so hard about this) She had told them. (It takes a philosopher to understand Humans. If you want to interact with them, you’ll need to keep asking these questions.)
But that had been the last language lesson for Different. Thinking about colors had taught Different that Humans were unable to distinguish between reality and their own perceptions. For the first time, Different had a reason for the uneasiness they had whenever Humans came up. Humans had a weak grip on reality, and a communication system that only conveyed their own perceptions. They were just too alien.
Over the years, Strongest had tried to reinterest Different in the Humans. Her admiration for them was clear, and in stark contrast to the instincts of the group mind. She didn’t stop pushing her interest until the family of Old Humans that Strongest had been so fond of moved out, and the New Human family moved in and burnt some of the old shelters. Strongest never tried to teach Different about Humans again.
After their encounter with The Man with the Axe, Different spent two days barely interacting with anyone around them. They focused on the incomprehensible part of the group mind hoping for insight and shut themselves off from the world outside their host-tree. When they shut their thoughts down for mental torpor, they watched from afar as an imaginary version of The Man with the Axe came closer to their tree, while his son held his nose and screamed.
(Different?) River Overlooker reached out. (Do you want to go swimming together? There are a lot of armored-fanged-grabbers at the filter today.)
(I need to watch the Humans) Different told.
(Predator can do that) River Overlooker told, so fast that Different realized that she and Predator had already planned this. They saw no way to dissuade the two of them, and so agreed to go swimming. They sent their thoughts flying along the edge of the Forest, until they made it to the river.
As promised, there was a group of armored-fanged-grabbers milling around the Forest side of the filter. The filter was an ancient steel building bridging the river. It was covered in rust, mosses, and dents, with a tall tower sitting atop the north-eastern corner. The opposite corner was covered in rubble and bone-like incorruptible-metal bars. The armored-fanged-grabbers made the whole structure look as if boulders had been glued to it.
Once Different took control of a grabber they extended their tentacles out from its rock-like shell and swum to the base of the filter, waving to attract River Overlooker’s attention. They pulled themself up the wall, strong tentacles finding familiar protrusions in the peeling and rotting metal shell of the tower. Their tension eased a bit as they were reminded of decades of similar climbs they had made with River Overlooker and the others. Near the top large gashes made the climb easier. They pulled themself up between a gap in the withered remains of the handrail. From up here, the abrupt line between the green Human world on the southern side of the building and the black Forest world on the north was striking.
They turned the armored-fanged-grabber’s eye-stalks away from the uninterrupted views of the green valley and its crystal clear river. Instead, they gazed at the canopy of the Forest. There were countless identical host-trees, as well as massive fan-ferns and spindly stick-fungi that reached just below the top of the tower in a sea of comforting blacks and greys. Further north, they saw the higher branches of the hill-trees and sun-hoggers.
They saw the top of River Overlooker’s host-tree on the riverbank, half in the Filter’s long afternoon shadow. She grew in a tight-packed grove of empty host-trees, and all her treasures were hung from her branches in glittering cages. A small treehouse of grey wood and scavenged metal was built across her sturdiest branches and into the trunk of the trees around her, housing her craft room.
Another armored-fang-grabber was climbing up the tower. River Overlooker was sending her relief and happiness to see Different.
(Looking at anything in particular?) She asked.
Different sent her the view of the Black Forest, along with their happiness to see their community so strong. They tried to hold back their bitterness at being on the outside of the Forest, but River Overlooker let them know she sensed it all the same.
(The other side looks beautiful through these eyes) River Overlooker told.
(It’s not natural for such tiny plants to dominate a landscape) Different told.
(It’s still beautiful) River Overlooker told. (But I’ve been more repulsed by it since the attack. I don’t know if it’s because I’m angry about what happened to you, or if Strongest and the other influencers are more disgusted.)
(If they are, it’s probably because of what happened to me) Different told. Now that they were interacting with the rest of the Forest, they could feel more attention on them. Last time they had felt any interest in the group mind was during the procedure to free their synapse buds, and it had almost overwhelmed them.
(Want to race back to the water?)
They scaled down the wall, with River Overlooker winning the race. They splashed around in the river and climbed the banks as the sun got lower. Different almost felt themself forget the recent trauma as River Overlooker found new games to play.
A squeal from the undergrowth sent panic through Different’s roots. A creature – a four-legged, tusked monster with strong hooves and a Human-made saddle on its back – lowered its snout to the river. A brave armored-fang-grabber crept towards the potential prey, but a squeal and massive splash from the monster scared it away.
(That’s a Green World beast) River Overlooker told, memories of Humans riding similar beasts or keeping their smaller kin in pens being shared.
(I know) Different told. (I’m going to follow it.)
(On land?) River Overlooker asked.
(I’ll keep the armored-fanged-grabber safe) Different told.
They dragged themself out of the river, wrapping tentacles around trees and pulling the armored-fanged-grabber through the undergrowth after the beast. Reluctantly, River Overlooker followed. Being more proficient as an armored-fanged-grabber, she caught up easily.
After following the path of trampled shrubs and scarred trees, they found the beast at the fence, and a Human on the Forest side trying to control it.
(An invader) Different told, sending their distress through the roots.
(No this is normal) River Overlooker told. (Humans come here to throw dirt and rocks and shells in the river.)
(Why?)
(To make the water more nutritious for their plants. The filter stops our microscopic creatures from reaching their world, but it also takes a lot of nutrients out.)
(And they think throwing dirt in the river will actually fix that?) Different asked.
(Different, are the Humans attacking again?) Strongest asked. (You feel distressed.)
(We found a Human near the filter) Different told, showing Strongest a visualization of the Human pulling the roped beast through a collapsed section of fence.
(One of My Humans) Strongest said, focusing on the Human’s wavy long hair and dark blue eyes, and how much they contrasted with the straight hair and bright eye colors of the New Humans. (Is he seeding the river or looking for lost-tec?)
(There used to be more dirt throwers) River Overlooker told. (Once a year they’d throw a big moss-covered rock with shelled animals in the river, and throughout the rest of the year Humans would come from everywhere to throw large bags of dirt in. That doesn’t happen much anymore.)
(I don’t see any bags of dirt at all) Different told Strongest.
(Just a scavenger then) Strongest told, her longing for the return of the river-seeders undoubtable. (River Overlooker hasn’t had any issues with them, has she?)
(Strongest wants to know if you’ve had any issues with Human scavengers) Different told.
(I’ve had some get close) River Overlooker told. (They look for lost-tec, and my tree is full of it. But they see my rope and stay away. I like burying the lost-tec offcuts from my projects along the riverbank. It’s fun watching the Humans dig them out.)
(River Overlooker is safe) Different told Strongest. Even though River Overlooker didn’t see a threat from the Human scavengers, Different couldn’t help imagine The Man with the Axe charging towards her. They knew some of that idea reached Strongest, but some of their concern must have reached River Overlooker too, because she apologized for giving the Humans lost-tec.
(It’s good My Humans still respect the ropes) Strongest told. (But I’m worried about them not seeding the river. The Transplants don’t maintain the terraforming. No wonder their crops are dying.)
(Strongest told me just then that the new Humans don’t take care of the river the way the others do; by throwing dirt in and stuff.) Different told River Overlooker. At the same time, they asked Strongest why she cared whether the Green plants were healthy or not.
(I care about the Green plants) Strongest told. (Because even with the river filter, Black plants take their place if the Green ones weaken. When that happens, Green World animals eat Black plants, get sick, and then the Humans get angry at us.)
As she thought about Humans getting angry at the Forest, she couldn’t help transmit her biped’s view of The Man with the Axe attacking Different.
(I don’t think this Human was carrying any dirt) River Overlooker told as they watched the Human mount their beast and ride away, sticking to the shadows of the fern-fans and shooting quick glances at the fields as they rode.
(I’m worried about you Different) Strongest told. (I’ve never known you to be so dismissive towards other creatures and plants.)
(Did you want us to follow the Human?) Different asked.
(What are you possessing?) Strongest asked.
(An armored-fanged-grabber) Different told. As they thought that, they realized their creature’s tentacles were starting to dry up, and that they had allowed leaves to get near the mouth. (I better get it back to the river. I don’t want to hurt it.)
(That’s more like the Different I know) Strongest told, flooding them with relief. They felt ashamed that they had disrespected the armored-fanged-grabber’s body and suggested to River Overlooker that they help each other clean their creatures.
(Before we do that though, I want to show you the cage for the lost-tec I found at the sky-dominator cave) River Overlooker told. (Strongest told me there is a word for it. Raygun; a powerful weapon Humans made long ago.)
(Have you finished the cage?) Different asked.
(The lock will be done by tomorrow.)
When River Overlooker had bought the raygun to Different’s tree, they had wanted to hang it on their lowest branches as a warning to the Humans. Strongest had been afraid that it would encourage another attack.
(That raygun is the most valuable piece of lost-tec I have seen in hundreds of years> She had told them. (The only reason there are even Humans here is because they are looking for things like this. This family has already shown they don’t care about your rope. Let’s not offer them a prize for cutting you down.)
Inside River Overlooker’s craft room, there was a black metal box laying on the floor. The door wasn’t yet installed, and beside it lay all the pieces River Overlooker needed for the multiple locks Strongest had suggested she build. Once completed, this cage would hang in Different’s branches. Even if the Humans did see it and guess at the treasure within, they wouldn’t be able to open it without knowing the correct sequence to undo all the rods and clasps.
Different remembered River Overlooker’s memory of firing the raygun, and knew they’d feel much better once it was hanging in their branches.
___________________________________________________________________________
That night, Different possessed a frill-flyer and took the tiny, bioluminescent lizard for a flight over the Human road.
Different had flown over the Human part valley before, but they had never studied it. There were still trees south of the fence, but they were spread fine, with the dominate plant here being tiny leaf blades stabbing through the ground. Green, that was the color the Humans assigned to this grass, and it included all the shades people assigned to the whole Human world. Despite being nocturnal, the frill-flyer’s color-vision was amongst the best in the Forest. Under the light of the two moons, Different saw countless hues amongst the grass and trees.
Different’s world was confined to a wide sloping valley. A calm river surrounded by low hills. Except for the one steep hill behind the Man With The Axe’s house, but that had an incorruptible-metal tower on top of it, so there was no point in trying to fit it into normal rules of topography.
The Green World was dotted with small homesteads, each surrounded by domestic animals and neat lines of grains or vegetable. With the sun down, the Humans were inside asleep, but Different had seen them outside plenty of times, engaged in activities that made no sense.
They followed the road past an area where green forest crowded around the river, and then abruptly came to a low point that even this early in the year was flooded. Here there wasn’t a tree standing, just shallow ponds with rows of uniform grass shoots rising above the water. Dotted around the ponds were small water-logged huts. They landed on one of the huts to rest the frill-flyer.
Beside the hut, they noticed a few rows of the Human’s staple grain. With the weather relatively dry, the ears were bundled up and placed on higher mounds to await threshing underfoot. They knew from past explorations that beyond the village was a massive communal plantation of this crop and wondered why the people in the river huts needed their own.
They tried telling themself that they didn’t need to know anything more about Humans or their Green World, but Strongest’s concern over their apathy for Green plants weighed on them.
Once rested, they continued to the village. There were three large buildings, with tiny stalls and storage urns tucked between them. The tallest building was a massive stone cylinder with a hole in the top and torches of fire alight out the front. In the torchlight, they could see a spiraling garden of multicolored flowers. They had been planted with limited Human aesthetic tastes in mind and did not create their own light, but Different still had to admit they looked beautiful.
Opposite this was a rectangular stone building, with a wide entryway at the front held up by two dead tree-trunks. On top of the building was a giant skeleton of a beast with a reptilian head, long spiked tail, and massive wing struts where it’s middle legs should have been. Different did a doubletake as they recognized it as a sky-dominator. A sky-dominator held up with wooden scaffolding on top of a Human shelter. They were about to reach out to Strongest to ask about it but retreated their thoughts. They didn’t have a reason to hide, but they wanted this journey to be their own.
Next to the sky-dominator hall was a large wooden building, covered in scorch marks. All the roads converged before this giant house and the hall, and behind the giant house was a large pen full of the curly-tailed beasts they and River Overlooker had seen near the filter. From inside, sounds could be heard, and from the windows came light from small flames or jars of luminescent bugs unfamiliar to Different. They peeked in and saw Humans sitting around, eating, drinking, and making a hell of a noise.
They didn’t seem too threatening like this.
Different didn’t stay long. They flew back, hurrying down the road, and released the frill-flyer back into the Forest just as their grip on it weakened. They wanted to ask Strongest about the Human village, but that would lead to a lesson.
They considered their knowledge of Humans through the night. They decided that even if they were to excuse the Humans for their attack, they still had no hope of ever understanding them.
___________________________________________________________________________
The next day, Strongest dressed one of her bipeds and visited the Humans. Different had never dressed an animal before, nor thought about the effort that Humans put into wearing clothes. They were fascinated by the effort Strongest put into picking the right biped (a tall female), styling the hair on her head and down her back, shining a pair of high, black boots, and washing a grey sleeveless robe. Different had seen similar garments worn at festivals, but usually the Humans stuck with skirts or old dresses covered with raincoats made of reeds. Different expected Strongest to cover her biped’s head and shoulders with a reed-woven raincoat, but instead she draped herself in a sweltering black cloak topped with brown fur.
(It comes from an animal called a bear) Strongest explained when Different expressed curiosity over the fur. Her concept of ‘bear’ was a massive Green World beast larger than a hill-tree with obsidian claws. When Different expressed doubt, Strongest admitted that bears didn’t exist this far north, and her knowledge of them came entirely from Humans.
She topped her ensemble with the sword she had used to defend Different. She kept it in a jeweled scabbard at her hip this time. Different felt reassured at the sight of the weapon, as well as a perverse pleasure in knowing that Strongest was taking it to the Humans who had threatened them.
(I’m going to make sure they don’t hurt you again) Strongest told. (And I’m going to tell you what we’re all saying.)
(You don’t need to) Different told. (I trust you to keep them away. They’ve been good the last few days.)
(Having them afraid is a short-term solution) Strongest told. (Their anger could surpass their fear at any time. Would you like to possess an animal and follow me to the house? You should be a part of this.)
Different was about to refuse, but then they remembered that Predator had lured a pack of bladetails near the fence. They took control of the alpha male and agreed to meet Strongest at their tree. It was raining lightly, but the humans were on the covered veranda at the front of their long house. Six of them, eating rice and vegetables from small bowls with their bare hands, glaring at Different’s bladetail.
Strongest’s biped arrived, holding a purple and gold umbrella over the avatar. She climbed over the fence, then beckoned the bladetail to follow.
(I already knew to follow you) Different told, confused by the gesture.
(It is for the Human’s benefit) Strongest told.
They reached the veranda, and the Humans stopped eating. The Man with the Axe was unarmed, but he stood to face Strongest at the steps. A younger man – not one of the beta males from the original attack – stood behind him with a broom. Behind him cowered two adult females and two children.
“I am The Strongest of Lower Stalax River Forest” Strongest said, translating her meaning to Different. “In Elsini terms, I am the Death Queen of the Forest behind me.”
(One of those concepts was just Human noises) Different told.
(‘Stalax’ is the sound Humans give to both the river, and the Human territory surrounding it) Strongest explained.
“You may call me Strongest, in any language you want but with the honorifics you would give a Human of my ranks” Strongest continued to tell the Humans.
The Man with the Axe continued speaking. Strongest didn’t bother to translate what he said word for word; too many terms that Different wouldn’t recognize. Too many names. Too many things that were only implied.
(He wants me to leave) Strongest told. (He believes we are the instigators of the current feud and wants us to leave his family alone.)
(I did nothing to them) Different told, so angry at the accusation that they made the bladetail growl.
(Control the animal) Strongest told, whilst holding out her biped’s arm as if to hush the bladetail. She then seemed to explode at the Man with the Axe, bearing her own creature’s teeth as she shouted. Even before she told Different her meaning, they picked up on her genuine anger.
“What could we have done to justify the attempted murder of my child?” Strongest bellowed, causing one of the women to drop her bowl and gasp.
“Deepest apologies to Imi-Strongest” The other female said. “We did not realize it was your child in there.”
(I’m not your ward) Different told.
(The word I used means literal offspring) Strongest told. (To be created unplanned, you must have been made by pollinators nearby. As the closest female, it’s likely you are my literal offspring.)
(But we aren’t animals) Different told. (Why should that matter?)
(They are animals) Strongest told. (Besides, I am the closest thing you have to a mentor.)
Different thought they were fine being an orphan, but the hint that Strongest could be more than an attentive neighbor felt uplifting. So uplifting that they couldn’t help lowering the bladetail’s tail. They felt such longing that they barely absorbed the rest of the conversation between the Humans, where Strongest asked if there was any person -any ‘Drid’ to use the Elsini word for Different and Strongest’s species – that it was alright to murder. They barely heard the Human’s excuses, but they found themself reminded of the argument with Know-a-Lot over the foreigner.
The Man-with-the-Axe climbed down the stairs and trudged through the mud. He pointed out beds of flowers, grains, and large fleshy vegetables. All wilting with tenacious black weeds poking through their torn brown leaves. He made the children show Strongest their almost empty bowls of rice. The little hands holding the bowl were mostly bone.
Strongest crossed the biped’s arms and stood unmoved.
“Since you forced the Vynik out, I’ve seen no serious attempts at remineralization” She said. “Terraforming is a purely Human responsibility.”
“Terraforming is a heathen ritual” The Man-With-the-Axe said. “We’re supposed to have faith.”
“Then take your axe to your temple” Strongest said. “Because your god isn’t putting enough minerals or micro-organisms in your river.”
As The Man with the Axe insisted the Forest was to blame for their failing crops, Strongest was more focused on explaining the concepts of gods and religion to Different than translating.
(What’s wrong with the idea of powerful beings living in the sky?) Different asked when they realized Strongest found the concept ridiculous. (Isn’t that where the Humans came from?)
(A lot of creatures came from the sky) Strongest told. (Humans, A.I, all the green plants and animals. Many things have fallen to the ground. No Gods yet.)
The Man with the Axe led the two of them to the barn. He let out the animals – the goats to use the Elsini sounds – and then led them inside, to see the goats that were too ill to run, the droppings nearest them containing barely-digested black plants.
They went outside, where the younger male had already finished his breakfast and pulled on his raincoat. He walked past Strongest and The Man with the Axe with his face downturned and retrieved a herder’s staff from the front of the barn. As Strongest and The Man with the Axe continued arguing, the bladetail caught scent of something rotting. Different turned back to the veranda and saw that the beta-male whose nose Strongest had cut had joined the family. His face was wrapped in leaves, with a herby paste oozing out.
Different went closer. One of the women touched the Cut Man’s face, but he barely seemed aware of her. The other woman offered him a bowl, but he pushed it away. The first woman bought her nose close to his face, and only then did she recoil at the stench Different had already detected.
(One of the Humans is sick) Different told.
Strongest stopped shouting mid-sentence and headed back to the veranda. Ignoring the protests of the adults and the cries of the children, Strongest examined the Cut Man.
“Your son’s wound has become infected” Strongest said.
“Yes.” The Man with the Axe said. “So don’t you lecture me about murdering kids.”
(Do you want to help the sick Human?) Strongest asked.
(So they can come for me again?) Different told. (No, never.)
Despite their anger and fear, they felt guilty. The Cut Man looked like any other helpless injured animal. All their life, they had made sure to take any injured or sick animals to Local-Healer. Refusing to do so now felt wrong. They reminded themself that this wasn’t a helpless animal; it was a person capable of making evil decisions.
The reminder that the Cut Man was a person made Different feel worse. Just days ago, they had defended a being who most likely wasn’t a person; who had no thoughts or feelings of their own. What did it say about them that they would value an unthinking entity over a person with friends?
(I won’t get him any help if it makes you feel unsafe) Strongest told them, her disappointment almost hidden. Almost.
(If you think he should be healed then just tell Local Healer to fix him) Different told. (Don’t judge me for being afraid.)
(I don’t know what the right thing to do here is) Strongest admitted. (What I do know is that my experiences with Humans have given me a skewed perspective. I cannot let my bias put you in danger. It is a Strongest’s job to make everyone in the Forest feel safe.)
The Man with the Axe was talking to Strongest again, but Different could tell she was distracted. Her biped was focused on the Humans, standing statue still under her umbrella, but her focus was elsewhere.
(I’m going to fly to the Headman and talk to him about the situation) Strongest told Different. (You should take the bladetail back to the Forest before Shepherd of the Sky-Dominators gets his sky-dominator here.)
Not wanting to have to control a panicked bladetail, Different retreated without any argument. Once at the fence they looked back and saw that Strongest had folded her umbrella and tucked it into her belt. They crouched down and watched the Humans react with amazement as a massive sky-dominator with red stripes on its black scales and a basic saddle and bridle landed next to the house.
As goats and children ran screeching through the yard, Strongest climbed into the saddle, and her and Shepherd did a running take off. The gust from the wings blew leaves off the roof and flattening at least one fence post. The poor goats bolted in all directions as sky-dominator feet made the ground shake.
Once the bladetail was back with its pack and Different had had time to reflect, they reached out to Know-a-Lot.
(Do you know what happened with the foreigner we found?) Different asked.
(Last I heard Strongest and a team of gardeners and air-tellers were investigating whether the new Forest is large enough to think or not) Know-a-Lot told. (You and Predator were right to stop me. We didn’t know what to look for that day.)
(Would it matter if it was a person?) Different asked. (If there was a foreign forest amongst us, we’d be at war with them. It would be hard to compete with a clonal colony that was already within our territory.)
(That’s so cruel) Know-a-Lot told. (We can’t just kill people.)
(But why though?) Different asked. (Other Forests are competitors for every grain of soil. For every pollinator and ray of sunlight. Why do we respect those who can only ever be our competition?)
(This isn’t like you) Know-a-Lot told. (You do not seriously think that. It’s not about the foreigner, is it?)
(One of the Humans that attacked me is sick) Different explained. (The wound Strongest gave him has become infected.)
(With Green World pathogens or ours?)
(Probably both. Strongest won’t send anyone to treat him unless I allow it. I don’t want such a dangerous Human about, but I feel guilty refusing to help.)
(Why?) Know-a-Lot asked. (It’s just an animal. We put down sick and dangerous animals all the time.)
(Humans are people.)
(How can animals be people?)
Different let Know-a-Lot know they needed time to think. They had always assumed Humans were people but seeing how at odds that view was with Know-a-Lot, they had to wonder where they got it. Was Know-a-Lot the deviant? The part of their mind that existed in the roots knew he wasn’t. Was Human personhood a conclusion they had come to by watching the Humans? Unlikely considering how little they understood them.
Was it an opinion they had absorbed from Strongest, with her admittedly skewed view of Humans? Was she wrong? Or was Different trying to find an easy way out of their choice?
(You really don’t think Humans are people?) Different asked Know-a-Lot.
(No.)
(I’m not too sure about that.)
For the following three hours, Know-a-Lot told Different everything he knew about telepathy and brain structure to try and change their mind.
Later, while Different was still processing all the doubt Know-a-Lot had given them, the thoughts of the Highest of the Forest reached into their mind.
(Strongest tells me that she has left decisions on how to deal with one of the Humans to you) Highest’s thoughts boomed. He was the most influential and well-known person in the Forest, and his attention was overwhelming for someone as young and unknown as Different.
(She tells me she won’t offer treatment to one of the Humans if it makes me feel unsafe) Different explained. (She’s not letting me make tactical decisions for the Forest.)
(Any decision on interacting with an entity outside the Forest is a tactical decision) Highest told. (Even letting a single spore beyond the fence has deep implications. What do you plan to do?)
Different couldn’t stop their anxiety reaching Highest. They hadn’t felt so much pressure since that first day of personhood, where they begged the Forest to release their synapse buds so they could sense the world. Communicating with Highest felt like shouting at the entire Forest at once and being judged by everyone. They wondered how Strongest or anyone else in the Forest could tolerate any interaction with their leader.
(I don’t know yet) Different told. (I really don’t know. I’ve never had to make a decision like this before.)
(I am so sorry you’ve been put in this situation) Highest told. (I wish Strongest and I had just gone back and finished destroying that filter.)
Highest left Different alone after that thought. Once calm, they reached out to Strongest.
(Are you still talking to Humans?)
(Yes) Strongest told. (I’m talking to the Headman. The Highest in the village. He is proving more sympathetic towards us.)
(You feel doubtful.)
(He has seen our weeds, but he is more concerned about meeting lost-tec quotas. I can bribe him with scrap.)
(Do you think that’ll help us?) Different asked. (Really?)
(They’ll build a new fence tomorrow. Make it go around you.)
(Why not just destroy the filter?) Different asked.
(You’ve been thinking with Highest) Strongest told.
(You could have prevented this all from happening centuries ago, couldn’t you?)
(It’s more complicated than that.)
(You and Highest started destroying the filter, but you stopped after tearing down one tower. What happened?)
(We realized we’d be destroying every Green organism that depends on the river. Think about that Different. You would not just be getting rid of a family of Humans. Black insects and microbes would replace green ones. Green plants will yield to black, and the green animals will become as sick as the goats you saw this morning. Highest doesn’t see that; he only sees our Forest growing further south.)
(Maybe that’s for the best) Different told. (You always tell me we need to keep growing the host-tree clonal colony.)
(You can’t imagine how far south the river goes) Strongest told, showing them an ancient memory of her and Shepherd flying sky-dominators as far south as they could hold them. Flying over massive waterfalls and massive Human shelters and still not seeing the end of the river. (This river goes further south than host-trees can survive. Do you think we have the right to destroy lifeforms that we can never imagine? Why do we get to judge?)
(You have made a judgement) Different told. (You made a judgement about an entire ecosystem, but now you are leaving the fate of the Human up to me.)
(It affects you and you alone) Strongest told.
(It also affects the Humans) Different told.
(I’m glad you understand that) Strongest told. (It scares me to see you thinking so easily about poisoning countless parts of the Green World.)
(We’d all be safe if you’d done it though.)
(Do you think I should have done it? You don’t have to accept Highest’s beliefs just because he’s the Highest.)
Different didn’t give an answer, but the idea of so much destruction repulsed them so much Strongest felt it.
(I’ve just finished talking to the Headman) Strongest told. (Shepherd and I are flying back now. We’ll all start work on the new fence tomorrow. If I thought these Humans couldn’t be reasoned with, I’d have driven them out whether you wanted it or not. But this encounter is going to affect you for the rest of your life. I know it’s hard to make these calls, especially without a few years to think about it. But you can’t grow here without having that control.)
(I’m still scared though) Different told. (Is there any way we can move the filter or something? Just to get them away from us?)
(As long as there are multiple entities, there will always be a border) Strongest told. (You’ve gone through so much over just a couple of days. Don’t worry though; I’ll keep you safe.)
(You feel like a mentor) Different told.
They both ended the conversation happy.
___________________________________________________________________________
Different dragged a juvenile biped into the lean-to resting against Strongest’s tree, dreading what was to come. Despite being just a short walk from their own tree, visiting Strongest’s host-tree was always stressful.
She had a two-meter circumference cleared around her tree. Leaning against her decorated trunk and reaching deeper into the forest was a thin, long hut made of the black and white mottled wood of the common-trees, with some thin grey quick-grower trunks used as support beams and drainpipes. The sides were open, though blinds made of woven common-tree leaves kept the elements out.
On the other side of Strongest’s tree was a garden of bright plants nestled amongst her roots. Some specimens Strongest claimed were from other Forests, or maybe even extinct outside her garden. When Different was first learning to possess animals, they had crushed a large plant with glowing red veins. Strongest’s anger at the destruction of the critically endangered flower from the AI Plateau was probably one of the causes of Different’s anxiety.
(Why a juvenile?) Different asked as Strongest’s biped cleaned Different’s biped’s hair.
(This is how they should see you) Strongest told. (As a child; not a tree.)
(But I am physically mature.)
(Yet in terms of wisdom, you are more like one of their children.>
Different knew that Strongest was comparing them to older Drids rather than adult or child Humans, but the thought still rankled them. They shut themself off from Strongest’s thoughts as she dressed the biped in a simple tunic, a grey overtunic stiff with water-proof gel, long socks, gloves, and a reed-woven hooded raincoat.
Together they made their way to Different’s tree. They saw the Man with the Axe, – holding a shovel this time – waiting at the fence. The rain was so light and the sun so hot that he hadn’t even bothered with a raincoat. He wore nothing but a skirt, a wide-brimmed hat, and a hole-dotted overtunic freshly soaked in waterproof oil, open at the front. Next to him was the Older Grandson, also in a skirt and hat but wearing a raincoat. Back on the veranda, the two women of the household sat with the younger children. The Cut Man hadn’t come out.
Different looked towards their tree, where the newly completed raygun cage had been hung up the night before. They visualized the steps they needed to take to undo the lock and found their anxiety fading.
“This is My Child” Strongest said to the two men. “The one in that tree. You may call them…”
(What do you wish to be called?) Strongest asked as she translated her introduction.
(I don’t really care) Different told. (What name does Older Grandson use?)
(Yax) Strongest told.
(That sounds fine) Different told.
(That would defeat the purpose of giving you a name.)
(Do you expect me to find a sound that reflects who I am?)
“…Neighbor” Strongest finished telling the Humans, with hardly any gap in her speech. “They are your neighbor, so their name is the concept, not the word. Say it in any language.”
“There is only one language spoken in this Valley” The Man with the Axe said. He ignored Different’s biped, but The Grandson Named Yax bent down and waved at it, speaking as he did so.
(Yax is greeting you) Strongest told. (You should wave back.)
Different waved towards Yax the Grandson, and Strongest was mostly happy with the greeting, her only criticism was that they should have looked at Yax while waving.
(You must act like a biped while you possess one around Humans) Strongest told. (Otherwise, they’ll feel uneasy.)
(Why should I pretend to be something different just to put them at ease?) Different asked.
Strongest was talking to The Man with the Axe. Talking about Human stuff, that Strongest assured Different they lacked the context to understand. As they talked, Different’s biped heard strange animal calls approaching. They turned and saw Humans riding the curly-tailed tusked beasts. The beta male who Strongest had kicked in the stomach rode on one animal. A female human with slightly darker skin than the rest of the family and hair that puffed out in big curls sat behind him, her arms around his waist. Next to them was an older man with spots of grey and white in his curly hair. Another juvenile with long bouncy hair walked besides them.
Strongest and The Man with the Axe walked towards the newcomers. Yax pulled ahead and ran for the other youth. They embraced, and Strongest explained that they were cousins; both grandsons of The Man with the Axe. Different thought of the newcomer as Yax’s Cousin.
(The Man with the Axe’s Younger Son, his Curly-Haired mate, and the mate’s father, who is brother to the village Headman. As well as Younger Son and Curly-Haired Woman’s two children) Strongest told as everyone dismounted, including a small girl who had been hidden behind the two adults. Strongest included the names of each Human as she pointed them out to Different, but besides Yax, they couldn’t remember the sounds long enough to associate them with the correct Human.
The women and children left the porch to meet the newcomers. Younger Son was escorted into the house by one of the women – The Man with the Axe’s Daughter – whilst the other woman – Cut Man’s Mate – greeted the Headman and Curly-Haired Woman. The three little children huddled together.
(Are they getting ready to make the fence yet?) Different asked Strongest.
(Give them time) Strongest told. (The newcomers are worried about Cut Man. Let the family catch up.)
Family. Different knew that it was an alien, animal concept, but Strongest added her own ideas to it. She made it not just about relatedness, but friendship as well. The type of intimate friendship that Different wouldn’t hope to achieve with even River Overlooker or Predator for many years to come, a Human family had automatically. The obvious role animal instinct played in these relationships, as opposed to logic and decades of building trust, repulsed Different. How could people form such strong relationships from nothing but genetic closeness? It made the Humans seem more animal, and yet the sight of so many people enjoying something so out of reach to Different fascinated them.
Once the family settled, Strongest directed their attention to a small cloth bag she had bought with her.
“I bought a gift for the children” Strongest said, taking out a leather ball. “They and Neighbor can play while we work. Don’t worry; it has been sterilized of Black Forest lifeforms, and Neighbor’s gloves will prevent anyone from getting a rash.
(Play with them?) Different asked.
(Like how you would play with your acquaintances if you were possessing bipeds) Strongest told. (The Human children are good at throwing and kicking games. They have a net behind the barn that they kick stones and hay-bundles in. Lead them there. You’ll have fun.)
Different doubted that. They were also apparently familiar enough with Human body language to guess that the little Human children had their doubts. Yax however thanked Strongest, gave the ball a few experimental kicks, and enticed the children with a game that involved passing the ball back and forth via running and kicking.
Different soon decided that Strongest was partly right. The game was fun, but with no telepathic link between them and the Humans, it wasn’t the same as playing with their acquaintances. Especially when the Humans tried to communicate with them. They were so unused to communicating directly through animals that they weren’t even able to distinguish which of the shouts and movements were directed at them.
It wasn’t until they reached out to Predator, who was much more experienced with pack animal behavior, and showed him what the Humans were doing that the two of them were able to work out some common cues.
Yax left the children to help work on the fence, and Different continued to play. Visiting Granddaughter wore a longer thin dress stiff with waterproof oil and a comically wide hat which hindered her movement. Cut Man’s daughter wore a shorter dress and a reed hood and coat rather than a hat. She also seemed to care little for keeping her clothes clean. She got into the biped’s face more than the others. Different noticed that she had bright irises the color of rubies. None of the other children had such striking eye colors, and they decided to pay more attention to the adult’s features when the game ended.
The little boy – Cut Man’s Younger Son – wore only a skirt and looked better fed than his sister. Yet his energetic play was punctured by brief pauses where he would look towards the family hut. Sometimes Red-Eyes would join him, holding his hand or wrapping her arm around his shoulders.
(What do you think this means?) Different asked Predator, showing the most recent instance of this strange behavior.
(It looks like soothing) Predator told. (Could anything be upsetting them? You told me that one of the adults was sick?)
Different sent rage through the roots and clenched the biped’s fists up. Of course the children would be devastated by their father’s infection; family was as powerful as friendship.
(Everything alright?) Strongest asked.
(What’s wrong with them comforting each other?) Predator asked.
(How dare you try to guilt me like this?) Different asked Strongest. (Why bother with this manipulation? You are the Strongest; your thoughts are as powerful as Highest’s. If you want to heal Cut Man, just heal him. Don’t guilt me with sad Human children.)
Predator was getting worried, so Different explained that Strongest had made them interact with the children in the hope that they would feel sorry for them and consent to saving The Cut Man.
(You always did have a weakness for sad animals) Predator told.
(Which would you prefer;) Strongest asked. (To feel guilty now while you had a chance to act on it? Or later when the chance was gone? I’m trying to give you enough insight into the Humans to make an informed choice.)
(You aren’t my mentor) Different told. (Just do what you want.)
They noticed Visiting Granddaughter staring at the biped, holding the ball and cowering back. For a second Different wondered if she had felt their anger. They remembered that their biped’s body language was probably reflecting their feelings. They tried to relax. They thought about just walking back to the Forest but took pity on Visiting Granddaughter and gestured for the ball.
(What if I was your mentor?) Strongest asked. (Would you like my guidance?)
(I thought you didn’t want a ward) Different told.
(Things will change between you and your little acquaintances) Strongest told. (You’ll be more closely associated with me, and they’ll see you differently. See you more like me. Your thoughts will be compared to mine.)
Different kicked the ball away without watching where it would go. They had always wanted a mentor. With the current crisis, having someone like Strongest so dedicated to them would feel safer. At the same time, the idea of being so closely entwined with someone who had just tried to manipulate them was repulsive. Even more repulsive was the thought of having to make such a huge change to their identity whilst they were so unsure of themself.
(You don’t have to decide now) Strongest told.
The Red-Eyed Girl approached. She spoke – at least, Different assumed those soft sounds were speech – then wrapped her arms around the biped’s shoulders as she had done to her brother. The biped was responding so closely to Different’s feelings that it let out a pained howl.
Had she seen their hurt and confusion through the biped’s body language? Was she sad about what her grandfather had tried to do to them? Was this an example of an animal repeating an instinctual act on a creature that resembled it, or a person emphasizing with someone they also saw as a person? Different asked Predator, but their acquaintance didn’t have an answer.
(Get the children inside the barn now) Strongest told. (Yax’s Cousin has just spotted megasus heading towards us. Could just be Vynik but might be tax collectors. Hide them.)
She gave Different the word for hide, and Different shouted it before they could forget. They broke away from Red-Eyes and beckoned the children to follow the biped into the barn. They hid, and Different tried to shoosh their squabbling with random hand movements. It wasn’t working, but it only took a few minutes for Strongest to declared it safe.
Different walked out of the barn. They didn’t try communicating with the children, but the three little Humans followed anyway. They returned to the fence just as two more tusked beasts turned up. One rider was a female who at first glance resembled Different’s neighbors, but on closer inspection more closely resembled the Old Human – the Vynik – they had seen by the river filter. Maybe it was the same human? Different couldn’t tell. Her clothing was more elaborate than the family’s, being made of woven reeds and feathers. The other rider was a male in similar dress and a noticeable resemblance to Cut Man. Different looked closer and saw that he also had red irises.
Strongest stepped towards the woman as she dismounted then beat her biped’s chest with a clenched fist. She spoke without translation. The Vynik Woman listened to Strongest talk, then spat in the biped’s face.
The Humans erupted in a fury of activity. There was shouting and pointing and the little children cowered behind Different’s biped. Amongst the chaos Strongest’s biped stood statue still. Different reached out to her but she was closed off.
At the end of it all, the Vynik Woman got on her mount and started trotting away. The man stayed for a while, spoke to the Man with the Axe and his family, then walked to his own mount. Before he got on, he spied the children and beckoned them over. Different’s biped stayed as the young Humans rushed towards this stranger and embraced him.
The Vynik Woman stopped to look back, but she didn’t interrupt. She waited until her partner was done. After the hugs, the Stranger took Red Eyes aside, looked at her face, and then said something that started another argument.
(I suppose you have a lot of questions by now) Strongest told.
(Are you alright?) Different asked.
(Silnoka’s grandfather was my friend) Strongest told. Whilst Different hadn’t been able to retain the sounds used for their neighbors, the sound and even the written symbols for the name Silnoka burned into Different’s mind as if it was the most important information Strongest could provide.
(He was my friend, as were his parents before him and their parents. All the way back five generations, to Carica, my first Human friend. When Carica died, I made a promise I would protect her family.)
Different knew Strongest was holding back, and not just because Different wouldn’t understand. They learnt the name Carica just as clearly as they’d learnt Silnoka, along with memories of a massive woman with only one arm wearing Strongest’s bear cape. They also received reluctant thoughts of the sky-dominator skeleton that hung over the town hall.
(A promise?) Different asked, not sure if they understood what Strongest was thinking. Meanwhile the Humans were trying to make Red Eyes get on the beast with the Stranger, but she screamed.
(Humans never really know one another) Strongest told. (They cannot trust each other’s words, so they make other ways to show and demand trust.)
(What’s happening with the Humans now?) Different asked as Red Eyes ran into the house.
(Silnoka and Cut Man’s eldest son – The Stranger, Silnoka’s Mate – want this land) Strongest told. (They heard Cut Man was sick, and as his oldest son Silnoka’s Mate should be the one to get the farm.)
This raised more questions than it answered, but Different tried to remain focused as Strongest addressed all the Humans with her biped.
(What happened with Red Eyes?)
(Pigment that color is rare in Human eyes) Strongest told. (The Elsini find it aesthetically pleasing. When it became apparent that the family would not give up Cut Man’s farm, Silnoka’s Mate warned them that a tax collector was approaching. The people in this valley must give lost-tec to Humans downstream. If they don’t give enough lost-tec, the tax collector will take other stuff instead. It is not unheard of for tax collectors to take aesthetically pleasing girls to use for sex.)
(Right) Different told. (And that would be bad because Human families shouldn’t be separated?)
(It would be bad because sex for Humans creates a range of emotional connections and can be both physically and mentally painful if done wrong. Also, pregnancy and childbirth are dangerous in the best times. For a girl as young and underdeveloped as her, it could cripple or kill.)
Different hung the biped’s head as they imagined little Red Eyes being taken from her friends and tortured. They had no idea what Human sex looked like, but they had seen pregnant bellies before and imagined the poor Human girl dragging one along the ground, scraping it against the rocks.
(I’ve told the Humans to forget about the fence for now) Strongest told. (They need to look for lost-tec. The children are waving at you.)
The Humans were packing up their tools, with the two riders leaving. The two remaining children waved at Different. They waved back, remembering to look at them.
(Why did Red Eyes run inside?) Different asked.
(Silnoka’s Mate offered to take her away, to the Vynik village in the hills to keep her safe) Strongest told. (Despite their hatred of the Vynik, her family thought it was a good idea. But she doesn’t want to leave her father.)
Strongest’s biped grabbed Different’s by the shoulder and led them back to the Forest. They climbed the old fence and went to Strongest’s tree. Different felt so bad thinking about Red Eyes that their biped’s stomach churned.
(Is she in that much danger?) Different asked. (Or is this still you trying to make me agree to save Cut Man? I am sorry for being angry before. I didn’t realize you’d been friends with Humans for so long. I understand now what you mean about being too biased to make this decision. I think I understand why you want to save the Human now.)
Strongest’s biped carefully stepped through the garden to gaze at her tree trunk. She ran a hand over a series of carved symbols, and Different could feel the conflict within her.
(If I had been in a more familiar biped, I would have killed Cut Man) Strongest admitted. (I wanted to slice his throat and see his blood gush out like one of their slaughtered farm animals.)
Different recoiled, both at the graphic mental image Strongest conjured and at the cold satisfaction it gave her.
(It isn’t his fault, what happened to my friends. Rosoblo – Silnoka’s Grandfather – would have lived if he’d been less stubborn. If he hadn’t refused to leave me. And you. Sometimes I fantasize about burning down the village and watching the Elsini Humans burn.) Strongest’s daydream was so vivid and cruel that Different let a howl escape their biped’s mouth. She continued pouring her thoughts into them.
(I want to watch them burn the way they burnt Rosoblo. The Man with the Axe was a tiny child then. I saw him and his brothers kicking Rosoblo’s charred body a few days after the swap. Then they fed him to the pigs. Vynik bodies are supposed to be buried. Their gods live in the ground, not the sky.)
(You’ve hated them this whole time?) Different asked. (That doesn’t make sense. Why would you want me to save a Human that you tried to kill? How can you hate them so much and just let them go about their day? How can you be friends with Humans, and yet come to hate them so much?)
(The Elsini and the Vynik are different cargos of Human. Like two completely different Forests.) Strongest told. (My friends were Vynik, and for generations they competed with the Elsini for lost-tec. My friend Carica almost made peace between the two… but Human group dynamics are complicated.)
She showed Different landscapes down-river dominated by Human shelters. Some of which were larger than every building in the valley combined. She had memories of the two groups fighting, with lost-tec weapons like the raygun causing massive destruction. She showed mental images of villagers dressed like their neighbors or like Silnoka taking carts of lost-tec scraps into the massive shelters, and of oddly dressed Humans coming into the valley and dragging off villagers who had nothing.
(The Vynik and Elsini down-river had a terrible battle a few decades ago) Strongest explained. (In order to reach a truce, they swapped some of their smaller scavenger settlements up-river. This village, which my friends built, was reassigned to the Elsini. The Humans I had grown to love would all go live in the Elsini’s former village up in the hills. Rosoblo wouldn’t leave us. He refused to leave his house when The Man with the Axe’s family came to move in. So they burnt it down with him inside.)
Strongest remembered watching Rosoblo’s house burn. She was trying to make the memory vague for Different, but she just couldn’t block out the screams or the heat, or any of the other gory details from that night. They also felt the shame Strongest felt for not stepping in and saving him. Different gave her a moment to compose herself. As they began wondering about that night, they found that the answer to their biggest question was well known in the group mind.
(Highest has forbidden us from taking sides in Human conflicts) Different clarified. (You weren’t allowed to save your friend. Is it also why I feel so strongly against saving Cut Man?)
(That and my resentment towards the family will be influencing you) Strongest told. (But the group mind is just an influence. Your own experiences with the Humans are more important.)
Strongest’s memory of The Man with the Axe’s attack was shared. Different wasn’t worried about being too dependent on the group mind for their opinions, but it was still reassuring to remember that their dislike of the Humans had an individual source.
(No Vynik are involved in this conflict though) Strongest told (so you are not forbidden from helping.)
(Why are you so interested in having me help the Elsini? They burnt your friend.)
(We cannot hate animals for doing what animals do) Strongest told. (What if they objected to how we treat other Forests? What if they found out what your playmates were going to do to the isolated foreigner you found? As for treating the Human I attacked, this isn’t about them; it’s about you. Humans taught me a lot; including how to be kinder.)
(Humans taught you to be kinder?) Different asked.
(Interacting with Humans will give you a perspective you can’t find from any other creature) Strongest told. (It’s why I’ve been pushing you to be merciful even though I wouldn’t save him. Allowing you to have the same opportunities to interact with Humans is more important than my dislike of the Elsini.)
(Wouldn’t it hurt you though?) Different asked. (If I got close with the Humans who hurt your Humans, wouldn’t that hurt you?)
(It would be extremely painful) Strongest told. (But I would be remiss to prevent you from going down that path.)
(Thank you Strongest) Different told, the mirror in front of them showing their biped’s mouth burst into a fanged smile. (You are the best mentor I could have asked for.)
To Be Continued
Jayde Holmes 