Empyrean Iris Story Collection

Animal Planet "Hungry"

"We have just had the opportunity to meet a real life alpha human in their den. Led by doctor krill, we have been able to touch one of these fascinating creatures and interact with him on some level, and now we are following him through his lair as he seems to have heard something. Look, he seems to have stopped."

The camera crew pulls to a halt, and the group nearly trips over each other trying not to get to close to the human who begins to tilt his head this way and that as if listening to some sound. Dr krill moves forward to stand next to the human who grunts and hoots at him in the strange primitive language.

A moment later they begin walking again, and suddenly they can hear the sound of distant noises. It echoes badly in the microphone of their recording equipment, so it is difficult to tell what it actually is, but the closer they get, the more it sounds like human vocalizations, chaotic and loud, much louder than those that the human had made so far. Nervously they shift hiding behind the doctor and the alpha human who walks, relaxed at the front of the group.

The camera zooms in on his back highlighting the powerful way in which his shoulders move to match his body, and the surprising grace with which he balances upright as he moves down the hallway.

"Now doctor, can you tell us a little bit about the strange covering that human wears. I mean besides the Rundi and a few members of my own species who have adopted the style, they seem to be the only one who cover their bodies."

Krill turned to look at them with a dark expression, "Well.... That is a status symbol. It has been tradition, since great antiquity of the humans, to wear ..." He leaned in close, "the skin of those animals they have hunted."

There was a gasp around the circle as they stepped back staring at the human in shock and disgust.

"What is the human wearing now." One of them squeaked pointing towards the fabric covering the human's legs.

The doctor looked back at them, "Oh that, that is.... A Denim!"

The camera crew recoiled in horror staring at the poor denim which had been fashioned into pants for the human to wear, "But that's ot it." That, "he pointed at the heavy brown material covering the human's shoulders, that is a Polyurethane." More quiet sniveling, whatever the creature HAD been, it must have been large and frightening o have a skin that thick, "And what is worse, the humans save the most savage for last, the greatest disonor to poor poor.... Cotton."

"A cotton, what is a cotton."

"It is used primarily as under-clothing next to their most unsanitary bits."

A chorus of ewing

The human turned his head at the sound. The corners of his mouth pulled down in the direction of the doctor who looked back at him with a shrug. The human made a hissing noise at Krill who just waved him off, "Oh behave yourself, human."

The little furry lines above the human's eyes raised, and then he did something most unsettling, he flashed the white's of his eyes at Krill before rolling the colored part of the orb back into place. The group of them flinched at the expression, "What was that?"

"He is trying to communicate dominance to me, it is not working."

The human let off a sharp burst of air from his nose and turned away with a strange shaking of his head.

They continued down the hallway, and the noises grew louder. It was definitely the sound of other humans, and there were more than one of them, which meant there was a group, and that thought was absolutely terrifying for most of the crew members who began to fall back behind afraid of what they were about to see.