I don't mean to be rude but... How/why did Havenworlders (in particular level 4 and 5 ones) develop cognizance? With no prey to hunt, predators to avoid, or environment to tame what made increased intelligence advantageous? -- Anon Guest
[AN: That's a good question. FTR Havenworld level 5 cogniscents are so far theoretical]
Picture... paradise. A perfect world for creatures to roam around and find what they need with few challenges in the way. Egocentric Deathworlders can't imagine how creatures in such a paradise would evolve towards cogniscence. There's no reason to develop big brains.
However... there's no resource scarcity to prohibit growing brains either. Mutation tends to happen a little more often with less to subtract from the lifeform experiencing it. As was mentioned elsewhere in the archives, Havenworlders more or less saunter vaguely towards cogniscence.
As for how they get into space... many create the infrastructure by remote before they ever venture into the unforgiving vacuum. They over-prepare for hazards, at least on the exterior of the vessel. Thusly, Havenworlder spacecraft are dreadnaughts on the outside, and soft candy castles on the inside. Deathworlders often make the comparison to hard-shelled, soft-centred sweetmeats when talking about Havenworlder ships.
Havenworlder colonisation tends to stroll. They have had thousands of years of milling randomly towards a goal and don't see any reason why they should hurry outwards. They're used to environments of plenty.
Needless to say, encountering lifeforms quite unlike their own comes as something of a shock.
S'syr had, with some effort, succeeded in knocking the alleged fruit off of the tree. Scanners said it had a liquid inside its core, but that core lay within a fibrous yet nutritious outer layer, which was inside a hard mesocarp, which was inside an external ablative fibrous layer that could easily defeat most of S'syr's tools.
It was more of a challenge that S'syr expected from an otherwise reasonably soft world. So, too, was the approaching bipedal figure balancing on what looked like a flat, leaflike shape, which in turn balanced on the salty ocean's waves.
When the wave ceased pushing the being, they sat on the artificial leaf and used their arms to paddle closer. "Ahoy!" they called. "Saw your ship land. You stranded?"
Oh, thank the Powers that this creature spoke GalStand. "Yes, the engine failed, and I was forced to land. Unfortunately, the engine also powers the food printer, and I cannot access the food inside this... thing."
"Coconut," said the large bipedal figure. "It's cool. I got a knife, I can help." Instead of using the knife on this... coconut, the creature ventured inside a thicket of plants and, after some crashing, came out with a large stick that they subsequently carved into a point. "It's quicker with a metal stake, but you look pretty frail, so I don't have the time to go fetch one." Rocks proved useful, too. Standing the new stake point upwards, the creature drove the coconut down on the point, shearing the fibre off of the tough outer structure.
Following that was a procedure of sharpened rocks and judicious hammering to excise the hard mesocarp to reach the nutrition within. "Can you handle it from here?"
"Indeed," answered S'syr. "My pardon, but which cogniscent species are you?"
"Oh. Shit. Manners. My name's Ben. I'm a Human."
Humans. Ze had only accessed stories about them. Level 4.5 Deathworlders. S'syr could almost feel hir genes defensively altering themselves through epigenetic adaption to the mere exposure. Even through a livesuit, the alarm at the revelation was almost dangerously shocking. However, the Deathworlder was friendly and hir livesuit's processors took the nutrition from the interior of the coconut to feed to hir without any kind of interference.
"I don't think our lot have met your lot, yet," said Human Ben. "How much time have you got now?"
"Three days, thanks to the food assistance," said S'syr. "I am S'syr. My species call themselves S'sudyoh."
"Soo-soo sudio," singsonged Human Ben. "Sweet. So I have time to cruise on home and get you some better help than a rando on a surfboard. I'll be back before sunset. Offensensitivity warning for the engine on my outboard. It backfires sometimes. Unexpected loud noise, but harmless. I'll see you right, soon as I can."
It was the S'sudyoh's first encounter with Humankind. It would not be the last, and it definitely set the tone for all further encounters. Humans were, despite their dangerous reputation, friendly and helpful.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / antpkr]
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