A Picture is Worth...

   Gundham hums, leaning back against Aslan. She is right. Extinction is a natural part of the Earth’s cycle but since humanity grew into the dominant species the rate of extinctions has risen to an obscene amount. If it were up to them Gundham is certain they’d wipe the entire planet clean in no time. Yes, he knows there are some that seek to preserve what remains but he can’t believe that is enough. Humanity has proven their cruel and undeserving nature far too often.

   “Hmm, yes,” he mutters, a harsh tint entering his eyes. “Mortals are quite adept at slaughtering the weak, even among their own kind.” There is a sigh and he appears to relax, eyes closing for a moment. He does not need to slip into one of those moods. This is a civil conversation and Wrenne appears to agree with his views, at least somewhat. He should move on, as she has.

   “Much of the new species of beast that are discovered come from the depths of the oceans,” he explains, eyes opening. He watches her reach for Aslan, a little curiosity in his gaze. Is that what she wishes for now? He slips to the side, allowing her easier access to the beast. “Very well, but be gentle and calm.”

The sudden tenseness in his words caused her to freeze for half a second, breath hitching in her throat. It took all her strength to keep much of her fear from showing. Even those few seconds terrified her- more than any kind of dark magic bravado he’d boasted about before. She didn’t believe that he was cursed, or any of the typical excuses he used to keep people away- but there was one thing he was right about. He was dangerous. Anyone who found themselves on his bad side, or provoked his anger would be in for a world of pain.

Not that it would stop her from doing her best to get along with him.

   “Exactly,” he says, eyes lighting up a little as she references the terms given for these phenomena. He didn’t think she’d have that sort of information. Very few people do. In fact, he almost never gets to talk about this sort of thing. Gundham likes to believe he would have become a geneticist if he didn’t focus all his time on breeding the animals himself. It is still a possibility but at this point he doesn’t think he’d be able to spend all his time in a lab, rather than out in the field with the beasts himself. It would be less exciting.

   His face falls a moment later. Her next question causing a little disappointment. He knows of a fund created specifically to help the cheetahs but it is a long and difficult process and the cheetahs are so very fragile. The likelihood of them being wiped out anyway is quite high. He can’t say if there is a lot they can do.

   “Hmm, there is research dedicated to this endeavour. Quite a large force of mortal scientists and conservationists but there is very little that can be done. Most work is done to maintain the habitats of the cheetahs in order to allow them to branch out and prosper but mortal progress across the Earth is difficult to stem. Another aspect would involve genetic manipulation and quite honestly humanity has caused enough problems to the beasts of this world. … It is very likely the cheetah will die out and there is nothing that can be done.”

A smile crossed her face as his lit up, relaxing a little more. The fact that she could see him this happy brought her joy, as it contrasted with his usual demeanor in such a nice way. Who knew he had such a love of genetics? Being a breeder it stood to reason that he could understand genes and how they were passed along, but he cared about the subject so much that he knew about it in more than the sense than how it would apply to his job. It made her want to learn more, to deepen her own knowledge through his.

As his face fell a moment later, she joined him in somber silence. To learn that there was nothing to be done at this point for such a wonderful breed of large cat... it truly saddened her. “I know extinction happens to almost all species eventually, but... I wish we as people didn’t play such a big part in it.” Adapt or die- that was the way of the world for millenia. 

Ishimaru paused to wring his hands at her words, moving away somewhat as she began to clean next to him and tensing. It was unusual to have someone so close to him that was not attempting to harm him so he glanced towards her as she spoke and ensured she was not terribly close to him. He fought back his anxiety as it practically yelled at him to flee though and resumed what he was doing, holding his hands as steady as he could so he could clean more properly.

It was rather difficult due to how dry the paint was however, making him conclude that it was most likely done at night. He would need to possible look at the cameras or speak with the security in that case. Her tone brought him out of his thoughts and he nodded along with her, slightly confused by how she was acting towards him. She sounded… pleased to be assisting him? Everything about her tended to puzzle him so he assumed this was yet another instance of that.

“A-ah… I-I… I-it is n-nothing to be c-concerned about… I-it is m-merely my duty… O-oh my… I-I shall c-certainly do my b-best in that c-case… T-this sort of v-vandalism should not h-have occurred in t-the least… I-I am i-indeed… I-it normally d-does not but t-there is a r-rather unruly d-delinquent that c-continues to do t-this… I-I am u-unsure how on e-earth to deal w-with him…”

“I’m more than happy to help, Ishimaru-san. Two heads are better than one, and four hands are better than two.” She chirped, using some of the strong smelling soapy liquid to wash away some of the looser paint that either hadn’t completely dried or simply loosely adhered to the metal. It was unpleasant work, but necessary.

“There has to be someone you can talk to about this stuff, right?” She asked, scrubbing away at a paint spot on her locker that seemed quite adamant about staying in place. Nothing could ever be quick and easy when it came to inconveniences. “Maybe they can help point you in the right direction. The school wouldn’t enjoy hearing that their property gets regularly defaced.”

   “Hmm,” He hums, turning to face her. Gundham settles onto his butt, leaning backwards and reclining against Aslan like this is something he does all the time. The lion only shifts to make himself more comfortable and appears quite happy with this arrangement. He even yawns, showing how relaxed he is right now. Gundham crosses a leg underneath the other, a hand rubbing at his chin. If she is interested than perhaps there is nothing wrong with him continuing.

   “Well … if you insist,” He clears his throat, hand waving to indicate it is safe for Wrenne to come closer, even sit in front of him if she wishes. “Since the cheetah’s genetics are all very similar, so similar that they all have almost the exact same gene map, they suffer certain abnormalities due to an increase in recessive genes. In the cheetah’s case this means quite a few of them are either sterile or have become less fit than their cousins, hence why they cannot run at top speed for a long period of time.

   They are also no longer capable of adapting; thus, they cannot create ways to combat the ever-changing pathogens that plague our Earth. It is likely the cheetahs will one day be wiped out by a simple virus. … It is quite saddening yet fascinating to see how natural selection works in this way.”

“Right, right.” Wrenne followed the other’s motion, walking forward slowly so as not to alarm the animal, before sitting down in front of the man and looking at the beast so close to her. Had this been any other situation, she would have been lunchmeat by now. In fact, the presence of a living, breathing lion in front of her made it somewhat difficult to keep up with his conversation. Still, she could follow it fairly well. 

“Fewer genes to mix and match means traits that aren’t the best have a better chance of shining through if they’d normally be covered up.” The Founder Effect, The Bottleneck Effect- history was full of cases where species had odd genetic ratios that stemmed from loss of individuals, inbreeding, or a mix of the two. And she hadn’t even thought about the role viruses would play.

siren-hatane:

“W-well, yes, but… You shouldn’t be cold either.” Her cheeks turned red, an addendum to the cold that whipped around them both. “Um… well, we’ll be able to get inside soon, right? So I’m sure it won’t be that bad.” If nothing else, there had to be a way to keep both of them warm.

“But until then! You wear this!” Gonta unbuttoned his jacket and hung it on Wrenne’s shoulders; it was big enough to be mistaken as a blanket. “Are you warmer now?”

siren-hatane:

“But if I do that, won’t you be cold?” As chilly as it was, she was the one ill prepared for the day and the temperature outside. There was no need for her to pass the burden off on someone else.

“There’s no need to worry about that! Gonta will be fine, he’s been in the cold many times before, it’s not so bad for him. He insists you have to wear it, you’ll get colder much quicker if you don’t!”

@siren-hatane

“If you’re getting cold, you can borrow Gonta’s jacket. He thinks it’ll be warm enough to keep you comfortable!”