HiveSight: A Perspective on Terra

This may very well be the best course of action. Voxen, the mission’s assigned Xyndri, and Raxor have both expressed interest in observing the work structures of Terrans. The main issue with doing so is accessibility.

Simply observing the work structures is difficult from afar. Observing them directly defeats the purpose of doing the observations altogether. This problem will likely require further thinking.

Lumina has already begun observing the outliers of Terran individuals. Though their choice of individuals is… questionable. Flying directly into the most viewed video logs located on the Terran data-site “YouTube.” Their speech patterns become more “Terran” with every passing Lum. But if this one’s Thalorix deems it to be a worthy cause, they may do with their time what they will.

This one has decided to observe the recent forays into greater space travel spearheaded by a conglomerate of Terrans on Sol-4’s Terran colony, Kratos-1. According to the Terran news sources, there is a scheduled launch within the next seven Terran Days.

This one is most excited as this is the first test launch to utilize a Subspace Resonation Engine! A workable SRE would see Terrans joining the Greater Galaxy within one to five Terran years rather than one to five Terran decades, even without Xylopthia interveneing!

It’s also made me want to create small “research” analyses on certain aspects of the “Terran” race and send them to this blog as though I’m providing the crew with additional information.

Would I be allowed to do that???? I just think it would be fun. If not, that’s ok!!!!!! I might make em and post em on my own blog anyway, I just wanted to know if I could provide this one with the “research” as well. /pos

This one is always open to receiving research data from any sentient being in the Greater Galaxy.

Sentients, greetings and gratitudes! This one has news!

Lumina has come to this one and has expressed an interest in pursuing first contact with the Terrans of Sol-3 sometime in the near future. Lumina stresses that, were it not for Raxor showing them Terran media of encounters with extra-planetary entities, that the contact would likely be immediate.

This is a pronounced change in Lumina that this one had not expected! Jumping into the research as they did, this one had expected first contact to be approaching, however, for Lumina to take the concerns of their crewmate into consideration… It is simply unlike any Thalorix behavior this one has seen. It is… refreshing.

On a more personal note, Lumina has started incorporating Terran mannerisms into their speech and body language. They have begun gesticulating with their primary arms, crossing their secondary arms at about the middle of their torso. They have begun referring to themselves as “I” as the Terrans do.

That there is no issue with this must be stressed. It is a logical step to take in the effort of making the eventual meeting with the Terrans go peacefully. Matching actions and speech with a sentient is the typical step taken in order to begin building relations. It just typically takes a more significant amount of time.

Following will be the transcript of the crew meeting in which Lumina approved first contact.

—Transcript Start—

Elysia:       The date is 4682C 4A 6L, time is one quarter Xylopthia rotation. The assigned Thalorix, Lumina has called the crew together to discuss first contact. Absent is the assigned Xyndri, Voxen. Present are, the assigned Ithorin, Elysia, the assigned Valkorin, Raxor, and the assigned Thalorix, Lumina. This one now passes control of the meeting to Thalorix Lumina.

Lumina:     I thank you Ithorin Elysia. As you have, no doubt, noticed, I have delved deep into my own research of the sentients of Sol-3. While you, Elysia, sought to find how they had become what they are, and you, Raxor, sought to identify any threat they may pose, I investigated who they are. What separates them from us, and what separates one of them from any other one.

*Lumina places the hand of one of their primary arms on the juncture between their abdomen and thorax*

Lumina:     Obviously, given their lack of biological castes, finding this degree of difference between individuals was difficult. Outside of varying changes in color, the Terrans do heavily resemble each other.

Raxor:       By the Queen’s left wing is that an understatement! Can’t tell one from the next myself!

Lumina:      Valkorin Raxor, please.

Raxor:       Apologies Thalorix.

Lumina:     My conclusion may seem… controversial. Please hold any questions until my explanation has finished. When I look at humanity as, instead of a species, but as a singular caste, I find the differences in individuals to be nearly identical to the differences between any two members of the same caste of our own species. Elysia, you rather enjoy combing over cycles of data correct?

Elysia:       Correct. This one finds such data analysis to be soothing.

Lumina:     But Ithorin Permisia does not. Also correct?

Elysia:       Permisia does tend to enjoy a more ‘up close’ approach yes. Prefers to be on-site to make new discoveries.

*Lumina dips their antennae*

Lumina:     Terrans are much the same.

—Transcript End—

This one believes that Lumina is trying to convey that the crew should begin looking at Terrans at more of an individual level. But this one is unsure. Please, if any of you Sentients have a perspective, inform this one. This one could not bear to be the reason for the failure of this mission.

In addition, if any among you have questions, this one would be happy to answer.

Greetings Sentients. With the passing of a few Lums, the changes presented in Lumina have become more… pronounced. This one can hardly be in the research deck without encountering Lumina examining the social culture of Terrans of many different varieties. They truly appear to have taken to this role in ways that none of this crew could have predicted!

Raxor has taken to research of their own. They have begun studying the various fauna of Sol-3. One phenomenon Raxor has discovered is the concept of “domestication.” This is the process through which a wild creature interacts with a sentient race in such a way that, over generations, changes to the creatures DNA are shown to make interaction with the sentient easier.

One common change presented in most examples of domestication, is that the creature will become smaller. Raxor has taken an interest in the creature from Sol-3 known as a wolf. Quadrapedal, furred apex predators that exist in a pack structure. Perhaps the creature’s existing pack structure made for an easy victim of the domestication process, as the domestication of the wolf was the first recorded instance of this phenomenon.

Initially, wolves and early Terrans competed for food. This would become especially egregious during the harsher cold periods known as “winter.” The wolves would invade Terran settlements to search for the stores of food the Terrans had built up to sustain themselves. Sometimes these invasions would be successful. Sometimes the invading wolf or wolves would be killed. Sometimes the invaders would kill a Terran.

Records seem to be unreliable, but one theory is that a settlement discovered that, if they left some amount of game away from the stores, the wolves would take that and leave the rest of the settlement be. Over time, the settlement became the default feeding area of the wolves.

The next part is mostly speculation. Perhaps another predator had invaded the settlement. This predator had been found by the Terrans and a battle had ensued. The wolves, hearing the struggle and realizing that their new providers had been in danger, ran through the barriers into the settlement and, to the surprise of the Terrans, began fighting alongside them against this shared threat.

This one knows that may be a dramatized view of what happened, but the important part to realize is that some event happened which forced the two species to work alongside each other. Then calmer wolves, more willing to work with Terrans, were welcomed into the settlements permanently, while more aggressive wolves were sent back out into the wild. This selective breeding of the calmer individuals eventually begot evolutionary changes in the wolf to the point it could only be a new species. A species that Terrans have colloquially named “dogs.” Raxor found this entire idea to be utterly fascinating and is now hoping that the Terrans will allow them to have a dog of their own.

While this one had never heard of the process of domestication before, this could purely be due to other species having never considered this. Xylokthians, for example, keep and breed the Xylo-palm flies as they produce the staple crop of Xylopthia that is roughly akin to Terran honey. But never had this one considered that, prior to Xylokthian interference, that the palm flies could have been an entirely different species. Perhaps some event in the past meant that the ancient palm flies could not survive in the wild while the protected individuals could thrive. Or perhaps, regrettably, the ancient Xylokthians did not allow any temperamental individuals back into the wild as the Terrans did with the wolves.

The Terrans history is beginning to make this one believe that there is more to this one’s own history than they are familiar with. It is unsettling…

Greetings Sentients. Since settling among the debris, Lumina, this one’s assigned Thalorix ambassador, has started venturing out of their designated chambers. From the time of leaving Xylopthia, Lumina has only been seen out of their chambers for mealtimes.

More surprisingly, Lumina has begun to enter the research deck. They appear to have a passing interest in the culture of the Terrans. This one will attach a transcript of one of Lumina’s inquiries with physical descriptors.

--Transcript Start—

Elysia:        Fascinating…

Lumina:      *Walks up from behind Elysia* What is?

Elysia:        *Startles* Oh! Lumina… This one was just analyzing the small groups the Terran’s divide themselves into. It appears that many Terrans will group together in order to raise their young!

Lumina:      *Leans forward, focusing intently upon the view screen. One of the digits from their primary limb indicates toward the image* This is one of their young?

Elysia:        *Dips their antennae* It is, yes.

Lumina:      It is so… small. *Moves their digit to a different individual* What of this one? They look different from the other three.

Elysia:        *Dips their antennae once more* That is one of their females. Terrans appear to be highly sexually dimorphic.

Lumina:      This one, what are their roles?

Elysia:        Her.

Lumina:      *Looks towards Elysia* Apologies?

Elysia:        While some Terrans use the terms, “They/Them/Their,” it is not typical. Those are regularly known as plural pronouns to Terrans. This one, *Elysia gestures to the Terran* uses the singular female pronouns “She/Her,” as an expression of identity.

Lumina:      She/Her...

--Transcript End--

Since this interaction, Lumina has become a staple of the research deck. Regularly they will read page after page of Terran culture. This has been a relief, as this has freed some of this one’s time to begin looking into other aspects of Terra.

This one has begun looking into the dietary habits of the Terrans. It is important to know what sustenance is available on Terra prior to attempting first contact. One could only imagine the devastation if none of the foodstuffs were compatible with our digestive tracks.

There was a surprising revelation to come from this. Terrans were omnivores. A Terran can, with little preparation, just as easily consume and digest meat as they can plants. This is in stark contrast to the diets of the Xylokthians. We subsist, largely, on glucose and water.

This one had a moment of disappointment, thinking that Terran foods would be incompatible with this one’s species. At least, this one was worried, until the discovery that Terrans are absolutely addicted to sugars.

Terrans add sugar to just about every item in their diet. They add sugar into their drinks. Terrans have crafted a drink that contains, in 12 ounces, more than the amount of sugar needed per day for a human to survive.

They have named this drink “Coca-Cola,” and this one truly wishes to try it.

Greetings Sentients. Elysia of Xylopthia here. This one has a question for any willing to answer it. Is the current style satisfactory, or would more of a prose approach be more preferable?

That the Humans hate war is a good thing, it means they won't start trying to fight you unless something goes REALLY wrong. And as a single, rather small ship, your peaceful intent is somewhat obvious. I don't think you have anything to worry about

(I don't know if you're an ask blog or not, but I love what you're doing and am interested with where you're going with this. Have a good day!)

Sentients of the stars, welcome back. This one’s ship has been placed among the debris field near Sol-4 for nearly two Terran weeks at this point.

This one is, unfortunately, unable to find the original comment, but one of you sentients, who is apparently from a not dissimilar race to the Terrans, commented that the size of this one’s crew would likely inform the Terrans of this one’s noble, diplomatic intentions. In addition, the species’ distaste for war would likely make them hesitant to attack unprovoked.

Bringing this up with Raxor has improved their mood. They had forgotten that other war-species have the urge to start conflicts and are driven to attack interlopers immediately. Raxor still urges that first contact should be done remotely…

A constant monitoring of the Terrans short-range communications has been underway.

Unlike this one’s own race, instantaneous communication is not reserved for the upper echelons of society. Any Terran with the resources may acquire the technology to achieve it. A far cry from the Xylokthian communications channels. These channels are reserved for Thalorix and special diplomats. This one has happy to have been given access before the mission began, although this one is many light-years out of range for it to be of use. Perhaps it was a symbolic gesture of importance.

Regardless.

The average Terran appears to give little to no thought to conflict given their communications. This has also eased Raxor’s mind. Raxor finds the Terrans to be a strange mix of Thalorix and Xyndri, in that they behave as the Xyndri but appear to think as the Thalorix.

An individual Terran can, seemingly, lose themselves in menial moment to moment tasks, much as the Xyndri. But most tend to have a view of themselves reminiscent of the Thalorix. Placing themselves in a position of greater import.

It truly is fascinating.

This one is excited to make first contact, but will have to wait authorization from this one’s assigned Thalorix ambassador, Lumina.

Sentients, in light of the recent revelations provided by this one’s companion, Raxor, the ship intends to temporarily land on an asteroid situated within a band of debris that encompasses the Sol System between the fourth and fifth planets.

This one intends to begin construction of a temporary hive upon this asteroid to act as a base of operations within this system. Originally, this one had intended to use the fourth planet as this base. It appears, however, that the Terrans have built numerous habitats on the surface. Attempting to build there may be seen as an… act of aggression. Given recent discoveries… this would be unwise.

This seems to be a good time to describe the race that this one is from. For simplicity’s sake, this one will use terms from Terra in order to familiarize both this one’s self and other with the species and language.

The Xylokthians are a race of insectoid individuals. Appearance-wise, there is a passing resemblance to the Terran wasp. Large compound, faceted eyes allow this one’s race to have a wide field of vision that is predisposed to tracking movement.

A pair of antennae are used to interpret sensory input from the surrounding world. The length of the antennae is determined by the sex of the individual in question. As a female, this one’s antennae are on the shorter end of the scale. Raxor, as a male, has longer antennae.

There is a pair of thin wings located on the back of every Xylokthian individual, though these wings are vestigial in a large portion of the species.

Like the wasp, Xylokthians have six limbs. Unlike the wasp, only some of these limbs are considered “legs.” The number of legs is determined by the caste of the individual.

This one’s race is divided into four castes and the Queen. The castes are as follows:

The Xyndri, the “drone” caste: The Xyndri are the most numerous of the Xylokthians. They have two primary limbs used for grasping and tactile manipulation located near the upper part of the thorax. The four secondary limbs have two purposes, movement being the primary purpose. Each secondary limb ends in a claw that can bend inward towards the body and lock into place. This is used to grasp and carry large amounts of weight for some distance. The Xyndri are also one of the two castes that can make use of their wings. They also manage the building of hives. The Xyndri are comprised entirely of female individuals. At average, they stand at 2.7 meters (8.8 feet) tall.

The Valkorin, the ‘soldier’ caste: The Valkorin are the second most numerous caste, with approximately one Valkorin to every three Xyndri. Like the Xyndri, the Valkorin have two primary limbs and four secondary limbs. The two primary limbs are dense with striated muscles making them stronger than other castes. This is used mainly in combat situations. The four secondary limbs serve the same movement purpose as the Xyndri’s, butlack the grasping attachement. The wings on the Valkorin are vestigial but can be flared outwards as a show of intimidation. Some Valkorin have taken to dying portions of these wings with bright colors or patterns. The Valkorin has an even distribution of males and females. At average, they stand at 2.2 meters (7.2 feet) tall.

The Ithorin, the ‘scholar’ caste: At one Ithorin to every five Valkorin, the Ithorin are the third most numerous caste. Four primary limbs used for grasping and tactile manipulations allow for a greater range of manipulation of materials for study. The vestigial wings on the Ithorin are longer than the wings of the other castes, ending shortly above the ground. As a bipedal caste, the Ithorin stand upright, and while that may indicate that the Ithorin would be tall, the average height is but 1.8 meters (5.9 feet.) The Ithorin have an equal balance of male and female members.

The Thalorix, the ‘royal’ caste: The Thalorix are, appearance-wise, nearly identical to the Ithorin. There are but two differences. The Thalorix’s wings are functional and shorter, proportially, and the Thalorix are taller. The average height for the Thalorix is 2.1 meters (6.8 feet.) Outside of this, the Thalorix are the noble caste of the Xylokthians, and as such one member of each generation is chosen to be the new Queen. The chosen member is fed a special mixture of naturally produced chemicals that begins physiological changes in the individual. They will approximately double in height being the most notable change. All Thalorix individuals are female.

Something of note, this mission includes one individual of each caste. This breakdown of the species needed felt needed, as each member may have a larger part in these reports going forward.

Sentients. This one has news. Upon encountering Raxor in the halls of the ship, this one inquired into their change in disposition. What could crush the spirit of this one’s companion so?

Raxor’s response… It is worrying.

--- TRANSCIPTION BEGINNING ---

RAXOR:        The Terrans… they do not enjoy war.

ELYSIA:        That is good, yes? Too many of the new races seem to revel-

RAXOR:        No.

ELYSIA:        No?

RAXOR:        They are a war race. Their history and evolution are paved in the ashes and blood of their enemies. Yet they do not revel. The Skellesian Bloodmites revel. Their weapons are made to draw out battle and prolong suffering. Barbed rods for the rending of flesh. Heated blades to ensure the enemy stays standing no matter how much is chopped off.

                      The Stol’oon of Grumha revel. Their cowardly tactics involve slowly terraforming the planets of surface-bound races while they are defenseless to stop them. Slowly cooking as the atmosphere of the only home they have known becomes their crematorium.

                      The Terrans? They do not revel in war. They hate war.

ELYSIA:       This one does not understand. The race was molded by war, yet hates it? Do they hate what it has made them? Are they a drink that hates the shape its container has forced upon it?

RAXOR:       They hate the acts. This one asks Elysia to consider, if one despised an action but the action was needed, what would they do?

ELYSIA:       This one does have experience with this. This one dislikes having to configure variables in simulations. This one wrote a script to automatically program variables if given a planetary identification code.

RAXOR:        Why?

ELYSIA:        To get it done as quickly… and…

RAXOR:        Yes.

ELYSIA:        By the Queen. Have the Terrans… streamlined… war?

--- TRANSCRIPTION ENDING ---

This was not the end of the discussion, Raxor proceeded to request a cancellation of the mission. They claim that the Queen would not have allowed the mission had she known.

Unfortunately for Raxor, after more than the expected number of delays, the ship has already entered the Sol System.

Sentients, Terran media is fascinating. By this one’s observations, it can be largely broken into two separate areas. This one would label them as: 

Fiction - A uniquely Terran phenomena, fiction encompasses stories and tales that are known to be untrue but are made purely to entertain. Media under this category often, but not always, imbues a select Terran with abilities that are extraordinary. This Terran, known as ‘the protagonist,’ is then placed in situations and conflicts that require their unique abilities to surpass. When the protagonists themselves are not extraordinary, the situations often are.

Non-Fiction - By conventional linguistic dynamics, non-fiction, meaning ‘not fiction,’ should encompass any media that does not fall under fiction. Non-Fiction media will be either reports on events that happened, or recreations of events that happened earlier in history.

Further than that the Terrans have a form of media that, to this one's knowledge, is also unique to Terra. Animation. Thousands upon thousands of images with only minute differences are played sequentially and at various speeds to create the illusion of motion.

The effect is too slow for the perception speed of this one unfortunately. More fortunately, the ship’s AI was able to artificially increase the rate and number of frames in the downloaded media for this one’s race.

The effect is quite astonishing.

---

This one observed Raxor moving through the halls of the ship this Lum. They appear… forlorn. Are they perhaps disappointed with the level of warfare shown by Sol-3?

---

Additionally, a delay has thrown our course off track. A large grouping of space debris was on a collision course with this one’s ship. A delay of approximately three Lums is expected.

As this post seems a bit short, this one will ponder on some aspects of Terran physiology.

At first glance, a Terran is relatively hairless aside from patches of hair covering the top of the cranium, under the manual limbs, covering the groin, and, on male specimens particularly, spatterings across the torso. As this one said, this is merely at first glance. Upon closer inspection of the data from their internet, the entire body of a Terran is covered in an extremely fine layer of hair. Function is unknown at this point.

Unlike many sentients in the Greater Galaxy, the Terrans have somewhat significant sexual dimorphism. Meaning the male and female specimens can vary greatly in physical characteristics. This dimorphism starts as largely insignificant in the Terran’s larval years, and stays insignificant for 1.1 to 1.5 Terran decades before a process called ‘puberty’ begins.

During puberty, the Terran’s brain begins to secrete various levels of hormones and the dimorphism progresses based on the levels of these hormones. The end results appear to vary among individuals, so this one will wait until the opportunity to interview a Terran becomes available.

Hello again Sentients! This one had to rush to post once again!

The decryption of the Terran language is done! This one had wondered why the decryption had taken so much longer with Sol-3 when compared to many other known planets… Now that it is done, this one can tell you why.

Sol-3 does not house a language. It houses over six thousand separate languages! Magnitudes more than any other known planets. The previous largest number of languages to a single planet was three.

Epsilonia-4 houses three individual races, each with its own language. But Sol-3… Sol-3 houses only one sentient race. They have been so divided that language has spread out in a fractal. The closer two of the points on this fractal are, the more syntax they share but at either end of the fractal… the languages may as well be in different Stellar Systems.

Moving on! The decryption has informed the crew that the most spoken of these languages is called, English [Een-gah-lee-sh]. This one has begun calibrating our translator chips to place English as the priority and storing audio of any other languages for review later.

The Terrans, who refer to themselves as “Humans”, also seem to have a vast repository of media stored on a network of interconnected servers referred to as the “internet”. As there is likely a wait of seven Lums before arriving in the Sol System, this one has decided to review some portion of this media labeled as “movies” or “film.”

This one has asked Raxor, the bodyguard of this one’s crew and a member of the Valkorin or Soldier Caste, to review the saved history of Terran Warfare. The Queen will want to be aware of any threat these Terrans can present if she decides that we are to be Sol-3’s introduction to the greater galaxy.

Before signing off, if any among you have questions this one can answer to better inform yourselves about the galaxy at large. Please do not hesitate. This one would not have begun posting if this one were afraid of interaction.

Many apologies Sentients. This one has meant to communicate sooner, but this one's queen ordered an immediate launch of the ship commissioned for this quest. The Vexyrian Solathor, or the Astral Horizon, and its crew of four individuals has been traveling since this one's last posting.

As the current date is Xylokthian Date: 4682 Cycle, 3rd Azuran, 18th Luminalis, the quest has been underway for six Luminalis (or Lums.)

In this time, this one has been able to read more of the data captured by the un-piloted Xylokthian astral drone.

This race of Terrans is most perplexing. According to captured electronic transmissions (language decryption only being partially complete,) it appears that Sol-3 does not have a single leader.

This alone is not unusual, many planets have multiple races present with each having its own leadership. However, there is but one sentient race on Sol-3. The Terrans have placed down arbitrary borders and divided themselves on the basis of everything from population to which side they fall on of a natural waterway.

It is most confusing. Never before has this been seen in a space-faring race. Then again, space-faring normally comes about at the same time as interstellar travel, due to the large distance between locations on the stellar scale.

The Terrans have only recently traveled halfway across their own stellar system. This next part is found most fascinating by this one! Could any of those among you sentients imagine stellar travel without Quantum Vacuum Thrusters? This technology, so familiar and comfortable in the mind of Sentients across the galaxy, has only recently been conceptualized by Terrans!

That's correct, this one said "conceptualized!" As in the Terrans only recently even imagined the technology!

So how do the Terrans navigate their system then? They primarily achieve this feat through chemical propulsion! They ride fire to their destination!

With that exhilarating and terrifying factoid, this one must resume research. The next time this one posts, the language decryption should be complete so that this one may begin practicing both speaking, and working the language into this one's posts.

Sentients of the Stars, both known and unknown, this one welcomes you. Greetings and salutations.

This one is named Elysia and, for those sentients unfamiliar, belongs to the Xylokthian race. A full description of this one's race would drift this post and delay the purpose of this editorial, so will be held off for the moment.

On Xyloptha, this one's home planet, this one is a scholar, researcher and diplomat. For the talents this one holds in these areas, this one's Queen chose to send this one, of all xyloke possible, on an expedition to discover and catalogue a race that was recently discovered at the edge of known space!

This one could not have been more excited! That was what thought tore through this one's mind. A new species! New cultures and sciences! And so many questions!

What is their life based on? Is it carbon-based like this one's own? Silicon-based like the noble Luminari? Perhaps rarer still, boron-based like the stalwart Xalorian?

Upon receiving the geologic survey data, this one's questions grew more numerous...

The planet, at the first and barest of glances, appeared to be a garden world, but some of the information discredited this.

Rather than a solid outer layer, the planet almost appeared to have a segmented exoskeleton! The separate plates moved and shifted, albeit slowly, and had the potential to not only change the landscape, but trigger chain-reactions that could (and often do) vibrate the outer layer and even spill the planet's molten life-blood across its own surface!

This one's conclusion is that this planet, dubbed Sol-3 or Terra based on intercepted transmissions being radiated from the planet, can be categorized as a Deathworld.

A more specific classification will have to wait until this one can observe conditions on the planet's surface.

The current date is XD (Xylokthian Date): 4682 Cycle, 3rd Azuran, 12th Luminalis

When this one has learned the dating system of these... Terrans, this one will display the converted date.