Heh, so it was requested it be made a prompt, who am I to say no? :-)
[Submitted picture which is now transcribed below:]
ryivhnn682: Lass deliberately sabotaged their own ship? o_O
bkf482: I can see it, they deliberately crashed their ship, but it wasn't damaged enough where they couldn't have just left. So they deliberately sabotaged their ship so it would look like their ship had been hurt a lot worse in the crash forcing them to stay there despite demands for them to leave.
I can also see the plant people doing a reverse on hir and locking her up, or calling to the alliance to remove hir, by force if necessary.
ryivhnn682: That makes sense. Also sounds like a prompt if you're not lazy "patient" like me and just wait for someone else to do the prompt XD
...
bkf482: Isn't that why you have nutters like me around? LOL :-D To make sure such prompts are made at the request of such wondrous and talented writers? -- DaniAndShali
[AN: All referencing this one ]
So far, the dangerous baby-eating mammal had chosen violence. They ignored the borders, disregarded warnings, purposely inflicted themselves on the planet's surface, threatened the locals, and offered a fraudulent excuse for why they had to stay. Now that they had been caught and detained, they were leaking toxins and adding noise pollution to the charges against them.
The Humans, apparently, called it 'crying'. It was meant to evoke a sympathetic response. The Phlorians viewed it as yet another threat from a vicious predator. It took Human Lass quite some time to realise that this go-to tactic wasn't working. A realisation that occurred once the Guardtrees started pushing her rations towards hir at the end of a long pole.
They had gone to the trouble of providing Human-balanced Nutri-food[1], though it was from the bottom end of the market. Lass' objections were both loud and predictable. "How can I know if any of this came from an animal? I only eat the natural products of plants and fungus? They don't actually hurt anything?"
The distant guard, on the other end of a twelve-sidu[2] pole, yelled, "You are talking to plants!"
Lass folded hir arms and turned away from the bag on the tray. "I will not eat anything that doesn't come from a garden."
More intelligent observers would note that diplomacy was not one of Lass' core essential skills. To the Phlorians, this was straight-up admitting that ze would rather eat a baby straight from the cradle. However, it was also against the law to allow hir to starve.
They offered hir what they believed to be the next best thing, the vermin mammals that their pets ate. Better known to Lass as 'bunnies'.
Lass believed ze was saving them from the Phlorians, and shed hir toxic liquid even more when the overpopulation of 'bunnies' were removed from hir cell.
"You were supposed to eat them," said the Phlorians. "That is what you... omnivores do. You eat anything. Often without asking if it was permitted."
"I am not an omnivore, I am a natural herbivore."
"Don't be disgusting."
They eventually had to give hir foliage and fruits - medical waste - as it was all ze was willing to consume. They did eventually find an expert on aberrant psychology to attempt something resembling a rational negotiation.
Her name was Byskiss, and she was evidently nervous as she made herself comfortable on the other side of the clear wall between herself and Lass.
The Human had just fed, and there were still traces on hir clothing. Byskiss tried to remain above that disturbing detail. "My name is Byskiss. I have come to talk with you about your choices, and how you have chosen to encounter this consequence that clearly disturbs you."
"I am a warrior for the natural way of all things," insisted Lass. "It is my duty to convert all cogniscent life away from the horrible practice of consuming animals."
Byskiss nodded in false understanding. "You would force all life to eat plants."
"It's the only natural way."
"Plants like us? Would you eat me?"
"You're not a plant, you're cogniscent life. You have the ability to choose what you put into the temple of your body... so make it pure and become pure."
"I am... a plant. When I consume nutrients, I put my roots into rich soil. Do you know where that soil comes from? Do you know what makes plants thrive?"
"Dirt is dirt is dirt," Lass shrugged. "You can get just as much out of it by ploughing under the stems of seed crops as you could with -euw- blood and bone."
"Are you willing to commit to that experiment?"
"All I need to know is that my food is pure. Pure plants, pure life."
"Why do you deny your own evolutionary path?"
It was not a very productive conversation. But Byskiss gained a key. "You believe plant products are pure. Would you like to see where your meals come from?"
"Of course. I'm not afraid of farming."
They added the footage into hir datareader. Cam footage from hospital operations, where other Phlorians were having tumours removed or bad organs replaced. Vetinary procedures where feral plant-pets were put down and dissected.
"All this time, Human Lass, you have been eating us. That was your choice. What will you choose now?"
[1] Nutri-food is a concoction containing all the essential elements necessary for sustenance. The cheapest version of this is essentially soup in a bag. In an era where time is money, crops and animal products become expensive based entirely on the investment of time. Thus, solutions like this are literally vital.
[2] Sidu: pronounciation of the acronym SDU, which stands for Standard Distance Unit. This, in turn, is roughly equivalent to a meter.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / VAC]
If you like my stories, please Check out my blog and Follow me. Or share them with your friends!
Send me a prompt [53 remaining prompts!]
