We tried to tame the humans. We thought them little more than savages. We treated them so poorly. Yet, when danger came, they smashed down their cages and saved us. They had been TESTING us! They have forgiven us, but we cannot forgive ourselves. -- Anon Guest
Gresh would learn later that they named their world Stonetech. They had begun it with the idea of recreating their Earth, but with kinder technologies for the environments around them. To live with their world instead of fighting in opposition against it. Even with stone tools and bear skins they could harness the power of the sun and the wind.
Gresh and his crew felt sorry for these weird upright apes when they found them. Eking out gather-hunter existences and barely scraping through the winters. For a time, it was observation only, but as the observation continued, the crew agreed. They couldn't just leave these creatures to struggle as they were doing. They had to bring at least some of them along in case this lot perished in their wilderness.
What a terrible, magnificent mistake they made.
Having been some time in preparation, the habitat was a near-perfect copy of what they needed to survive, replete with more robust and aesthetic shelters, with an abundance that should help them domesticate relatively easily. There were observation windows and spycams so they could continue their studies.
They thought they had done everything right.
Gresh spent most of his time observing the small sample of Humans they had taken into the environment, which now took up a majority of their cargo bay. Watching and listening as these savage creatures acclimatised themselves to their new home.
The first thing Shar spotted was the fake sky. That was a very sophisticated holodisplay, but she could still spot the seams in the plates behind it. Secondly, she was used to Home Camp, and this was the furthest thing from Home Camp and still be something of a wilderness. Those were awfully convenient plants in her immediate view. Some of the rocks in the tremendously convenient stream were definite fakes, and she could see the plumbing at the bottom of the privy.
Dan and Otz were making the same conclusion. In fact, Otz was rapping on his very pretty shelter in confusion.
"It's plastic," he said. "Some kind of long-chain hydrocarbon made to look like our wattle and daub..." He licked it. "Yeah this is not our ameteur plaster."
"You wanna get sick," said Dan, "That's how you get sick."
"This isn't a wilderness, this is a garden," said Shar. "This is a zoo... and we're the exhibit."
"And there's the tourist," Otz pointed out a slightly darker patch of sky where a very vague shape was bent over something.
"Scientist," corrected Shar. "I'll be a monkey's auntie if whatever-that-is isn't taking notes."
"And we just got to the borderline of farming... damnit." Dan paced out the space inside the "invisible" wall keeping them from the fake scenery. "Ugh. This might be servicable for domesticating things. I'm guessing they're cloning the wildlife because they would not live this long on this small a range."
"Ameteurs," scoffed Otz. "Did they think ahead about genetic bottlenecks? No-o-o-o. Did they ponder enrichment yet? Probably not. Have they realised we can climb?" To prove it, Otz started up a conveniently abbreviated tree and threw a stick at the ceiling. Which bounced. "We know this is a cage, genius!"
The figure in the darkish patch of the sky panicked. Standing up from their huddle. Shar, squinting to see, was taking mental notes. Bipedal, probably digitigrade legs, fluffy? Could be either a saurian or an avian, or anywhere in-between. Pretty common as far as the rest of the universe was concerned. No leads there.
Thanks to deep time, the Humans could have already met them. Which would only cause confusion later on when they met again.
"They're probably avisaurids[1]," Shar said. "Can't get any details until we get a clear look. Mx Blobby out there is having a conniption... And there's some of their friends. Hi, guys. We know you're here." Shar waved.
The lights went out and the hologram provided an artificial night, giving them a clearer view.
"Oh great," singsonged Dan with clear sarcasm. "This is First Contact for both of us. Lovely."
Otz groaned as he descended. "I'll get started on the serpinski triangle, you do the fibonacci numbers."
Shar joined him in the groan. "Dots and lines and shapes flakk me..."
"I'll get some snacks going. This will take a while," Dan volunteered.
"That and an escape plan would be nice," said Shar. She was already sharpening a stick to do dots and shapes. Someone would be watching. Someone would be watching her counting in sequence. If they were decent scientists, they'll also be recording it. Therefore they would see the sequence.
They weren't Galactics, so the GalSimple alphabet was right out.
It took months, and just as they got out, some idiot band of pirates decided to attack for whatever.
"Damnit," muttered Otz. "They're hurting our dudes."
There was a mutual look between the three of them. The not-at-all telepathic message between the trio was, Yes. We've pack-bonded with these idiots. Yes we're going to save them. They hefted their stone tools and prepared to use them strategically.
Hours later, when the last of the bodies had been put away, Gresh was astonished to watch his subjects put together a translator unit when they shouldn't even be capable of understanding what one was.
Some gesturing and confused words and an amazingly short three hours after that, the first message between these odd apes and his people was, "We knew what you were up to the whole time, right?"
[1] Avian/Saurian life forms are so common in the Galactic Alliance that -of course- the Humans made up a word for that.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / trekandshoot]
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