Empyrean Iris Story Collection

Humans are Space Orcs: Dancing with Death

Note: this next bit of writing takes some artistic liberties when it comes to some to some of the science. This means there may be slight inaccuracies. Try to suspend disbelief for the moment and enjoy :)

From The Intergalactic Journal of Mechanics and Biology

The human cortical system is a marvel of biological engineering. It has multiple backup systems with feedforward and feedback processes. Damage the brain, and instead of death, you may simply damage only one area of functioning. In some cases the damage does not remain long as other parts of the brain are re purposed to fill the role of the damaged cortical tissue. Humans had been under the impression for the longest time that their ability to regenerate neurons in the CNS was lacking. However, in comparison to other species with similar cortical structures, this ability is astonishing.

Humans are the only species known to be able to survive damage to cortical tissue.

However, there is one great issue with the human brain, and that is its extreme use of energy requiring at least 20% of the body's energy overall to keep functioning. Additionally the human brain requires sufficient nutrition and hydration. Any number of these issues can impair functioning to such a complex organ.

To add to this, additional memory processing can only happen when paired with sleep.

Sleep is a construct not totally understood by the rest of the galaxy. While certain species are known generate phases of reduced consciousness similar to human "meditation", they do not demonstrate the complete shut-down of conscious function that humans do. For the complete functioning of this apex predator, the brain requires at least eight hours of unconsciousness. In comparison to similar cortical structures, the process of sleep in humans is comparable to only one thing.... Death in other species.

The ship was quiet, terribly silent with only the distant thrumming sound of the engines. It was an odd fact about human space life. Eight hours or more of a solar cycle, the humans lay silent and unmoving completely unaware of the world around them, lying as if dead.

After nearly a year aboard the ship, Krill had gotten used to the odd fact, though it never ceased to amaze him and slightly terrify him.

The first time this had happened, he had been horrified out of his mind.

It was his first day aboard the human ship, and he had spent the last 12 hours at Captain Vir's side taking a tour of the ship and getting to know the human crew. The humans had been terrifying, but they had also been friendly smiling at him with their sharp white teeth and predatory eyes. They had introduced him to their odd greeting behaviors "handshakes" and "high fives". To his additional surprise, the humans had wasted no time in making fun of their human counterpart for the loss of his eye, still bandaged and heavily monitored by Krill and the other medics aboard the ship.

Instead of feeling insulted the man had laughed and joined in declaring himself a "cyclops."

Interestingly, after a while, krill had noticed an odd behavior among the humans. They were slowing down, their eyes drooped, and occasionally one of them would open their mouth wide taking in a massive breath as they did so. A "Yawn" By one of them would begin a chain reaction to multiple other humans in the vicinity.

Eventually, the captain laid a hand on his arm, "Well Krill, that's the ship for you, now get some rest, if you have any questions, I will be in my quarters."

Following their captain's example, the rest of the crew slowly disbanded. The ship grew oddly quiet, and the humans had vanished.

Krill wandered about the ship marveling at the intricate structures and barbaric construction employed by the humans. He had so many questions, and he was sure one of the humans would be willing to answer it for him. The problem was finding a human, as it seemed, there was no one aboard the ships. The lights were dimmed eerily and there was not but the distant roar of the engines. Krill wandered around for some minutes opening doors and peeking inside, but finding nothing.