Challenge #02589-G032: Deception
Anyone who’s had humans aboard their ships will know one thing for certain, even when asleep, humans can be very loud. They call the harsh, almost predatory growling-like noise, snoring. There was a reason if you want to allow humans to have quarters aboard your ship, you sound proof it. However, it’s also often an indication of the human having an obstructed airway when they sleep, which could be, from a medical standpoint, worrisome. However, once you heard that sound, you knew they were well and deeply asleep. But then again, enemies also knew that sound meant they were asleep, too. What they didn’t know, was how well humans can fake the noise and take someone off-guard. – DaniAndShali
Science has attempted to figure out why Humans snore. Some theories say that the snarling growl would be enough to frighten predators from attacking their sleeping bodies. Some insist that it’s merely a byproduct of evolution going with whatever worked well enough at the time. Whatever it is, it has become very important for a crew to know what their Human(s) sound like when sound asleep. Of course, there’s always the ‘light sleeper’ who can go from unconscious to wide awake at the least provocation. In all cases, sound proofing is beneficial to the crew.
What’s important about knowing the Human(s) normal noises is the simple fact that Humans know they snore. Some are even aware of the exact sound they make. Humans are also mimics. It’s what has made them foremost in xenolinguistics in all of known space. All of these things can create a perfect storm, just like the events that occurred on the Miss Adventure.
Piracy, the Vorax, or both are common hazards in the outer space lanes. One of the many reasons why it’s advisable to have at least one Human aboard. One or the other had happened to the Miss Adventure, the records were never clear and the combined efforts of witness testimony and forensics on the remains were unable to determine which forces were at work. Either way, they used a chemical sleep agent and literally dragged the crew to a holding area whilst they raided the ship.
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Challenge #02588-G031: Find-a-Family
He had stolen a lot of items before he was caught. He wasn’t a pirate, he didn’t go raiding ships, but they treated him nearly as badly as if he had been one. He would sneak aboard stations with lax standards, swipe small but expensive items from cargo holds that were in the process of loading, and escape. Problem is, all thieves get caught sooner or later. And a teenager like him, homeless and no longer caring, didn’t normally have a future in this galaxy anyhow. At least that’s how he viewed it.
He was young, not unintelligent, and he wasn’t crazy, he’d just given up living any other way. He was a perfect candidate for their new trial prison. Bought into a building with no bars on the windows, no locked doors, he was stripped down, made to thoroughly wash, then dressed in what appeared to be very comfortable pajamas. He was laid in a pod bed with a hood of electronics that slipped over his head covering his eyes and ears. He felt the slight sting of a shot in his arm and then.. when his eyes opened again, he realized he was a small child again, but in a home. A home that loved him, something he’d never experienced before. This was the experimental Virtual Prison. While the prisoners slept, the special pod keeping their bodies healthy and clean, the virtual helmet with its careful programming, gave the prisoners at rehabilitating into a new life. This was a new, humane, place with no violence, no cruelty, and the condensed virtual program meant the prison terms, which often in normal prisons could last decades, needn’t last more than a single year. – Anon Guest
He was thirteen, borderline starving, and unhealthy for certain. Filthy, wearing clothing that fit only on a technicality. Rags protected his feet from anything too sharp or too cold, though a solid layer of horn-hard epidermis grown in defense of the world helped with that. His eyes darted back and forth as he tested the chains and their hold on him. The cold metal desk he was chained to was bolted to the floor, and so was the slotted chair he crouched in. Anyone looking at him could see that he was a lost cause.
The Human who entered was clothed in Public Services grey, striped with Security Purple and had highlights of Maintenance Orange. Their identity patch had the Multilingual White boundary. This, the child could read. The letters on it meant nothing to him, they were just… shapes. This, to the boy, meant A Person Who Must Be Avoided. A Hazard. He flinched and failed to escape. The chains held him fast.
“You speaking GalSimple?” cooed the Hazard. They had a small object in one hand. Round, golden brown, and smelling fresher than anything he’d grubbed out of a refuse receptacle. He watched in terror as the Hazard carefully placed it on the table within his easy reach. “You having name?” The Hazard retreated, putting their hands up and away from their body. “Is good. Is food. Is good food. Nom nom?”
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Challenge #02587-G030: Gung Ho
You say “martyr” and I say “I love my family.” Sometimes you have to accept that humans make peace with the concept of sacrificing a life for their loved ones (no matter what species). Get on that bike and RIDE, b@tch. – Ride or Die
This is why Humans are considered insane. Their sense of self-preservation is subservient to the greater good. They can look at an overloaded sled, figure out the importance of the supplies needed at the destination, and throw themselves off for the pursuing predators. Many will grab an axe or a blade and vow to make things difficult, but the result is often the same.
It is more often scattered remains found by the villagers at a later date. Sometimes - rare, celebrated times - it is the sacrifice staggering into the village with extra layers made out of bloody wolf hides.
There is not a mother amongst them who would not die for their child. No parent who would go down fighting just for the chance that their progeny has a chance to escape. There is not one among them who will refuse to go out fighting for their pack. There is nothing more dangerous than a Human who has told the Last Lie. They have nothing left to lose. They call it, “Ride or Die”. It is very often both.
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Challenge #02586-G029: A Friend of a Friend
We love, we protect, and we only want you to carry our own with you when you escape. Please, please, take our tiniest and most vulnerable with you when we sacrifice ourselves for an exit (X1000% if it’s our pets, who can’t even deal with the galaxy we brought them into) —HUMANKIND c/- Protection
“You lot go on, I’ll catch up. Just do me a solid, okay? Make sure Tibbles is safe with you.” Human Fil was torn between what they planned to do and the promise they needed in order to do it.
“Tibbles will be safe with us,” vowed Gork, even though Human Fil’s phlegmatic pet lizard scared five colours of crap out of them. It set off every single one of Gork’s instinctual hazard alerts. Nevermind that the creature had two modes - slow and slower - it felt to Gork like it was a three-Siwu[1] package of concentrated threats.
The Human had told the Last Lie, and the ship was falling apart around them, but Gork kept their word. They got together three of Human Fil’s best friends and gathered up lizard, terrarium, bed and toys. No matter how creepy its skin nor constant its gaze nor unnerving its flicking blue tongue was. The sacrifice did not include the most vulnerable that Human Fil had pack-bonded with.
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Challenge #02585-G028: The Hand on the Tool
A: This blade, with its razor sharp edge, can cleave through flesh and bone easily. Due to the various materials to make this, no blood or grime will stick to this blade.
B: you know out of context that is scary until you realise it’s a Butcher knife. But the way you hold it and the precision you use it is terrifying. – Anon Guest
[AN: I derped and did a prompt out of order. Apologies for the inconvenience.]
Cookie continued chopping zucchini with near mechanical precision and skill. “Aw, you’re not buying into that space orcs nonsense about Humans, are you? I’m cooking ethically-sourced vegetarian food, here.” The knife in question was now placed with precision and care near the chopping board so Cookie could sweep the finished product into the pot. “We don’t even have any nature-sourced protein[1] to cut like that anyway.”
“Nevertheless,” protested Graax. “It’s the way you say it and the way you use it… I know a knife is just a tool, but in the wrong hands?”
“Pfft. I cut myself more than I cut a living being,” scoffed Cookie. Then the shipwide alarms went off. Pirates! Cookie did what any Ships’ Chef would do. They made sure all meals in progress were at a stage where they could wait, and then made sure their knives were sharp. Cookie handed a fillet knife to Graax. “Remember what you were saying about the wrong hands?”
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