The Gardens of Deathworlders: A Blooming Love (Part 126)
Part 126 Uplifting (Part 1) (Part 125)
Harthkyr Rompchil is, by all accounts, an upstanding and respectable leader in the field of pre-Ascension sapience studies. As a Rythimpkin, a middling scaled-theropod species with few notable accomplishments or individuals, it was relatively easy for her to earn an important place in her peoples’ history. From the award-winning research she published on sapient species incapable of Ascension in her early career, to her tenure as a professor at the Ko Ko Kroke's StarMoon Royal Academy, and on to her current role as the Galactic Community Council science committee. She had practically become a household name among her kind. At no point in time had she ever been accused of anything untoward or immoral. No one ever suspected her of coercing intimate favors from her students when she was already married, especially not those of other species. The fact Tarki Gebron Shlin could undermine her entire career by simply releasing a few sensitive recordings genuinely humbled her into submission.
Fliuthinkar Fliuquotchel, on the other hand, seemed like every other Derubion. Their kind's reputation as considerate and wise ancients had been earned by countless individuals and innumerable acts over millions of years. By the simple misfortunate of his species’ Ascension to the galactic stage over four hundred million years ago, Fliu knew his name would never be remembered. There already were countless Derubion names in history books throughout the galaxy. Their accomplishments included being one of the four founding members of the GCC. And unlike Harthkyr, Fliuthinkar held no secrets worth keeping, no aspirations of greatness, and certainly nothing that Tarki could use to blackmail him. His curiosity and compassion are both strong enough that he only needed to be informed of the Uark'thilik situation to gain an interest in it. In contrast to his colleague and her concern about her legacy, the chitinous cephalopod was simply excited to be alive for such a momentous occasion.
It had been less than forty-eight hours since the two GCC Committee Heads had conversed with Tarki. In just that short amount of time both had been able to force a limited consensus in their respective committees. While neither were ready to bring any proposals to the Budget Committee, they had accomplished enough. After a vote by both the First Contact and Pre-Ascension Sapience Committees separately, they then came together for a joint resolution. While a few other individuals on the two committees had received pointed calls from Tarki, they would have eventually come to the same decisions regardless of her intervention. However, instead of it taking under two days, that verdict may have been years in the making. Though this wasn't necessarily what Harth or Fliu wanted in their legacy, both found a sense of pride in how quickly their respective committees had come to a consensus.
“Are you all ready?” Tarki asked towards the fairly large collection of Uark'thiliks elders gathered together for another yet another incredible event in their species’ history.
“As ready as we shall ever be.” Elder Kilpcha glanced over her shoulder towards the congregation, all of whom displayed color patterns of anxious excitement. “And you say that one of the two people we will be speaking with is similar to my people? Just more… Reptile-like?”
“Exactly.” Tarki confirmed while hiding her devious smirk behind a perfectly crafted professional guise. “Representative Harthkyr Rompchil is what we would call a theropod, meaning she has a similar body shape to your species. However, her kind never evolved feathers the way your people or my people have. Reptiles, theropods, and avians are all generally-” Before the gold and tan eagle-woman could continue with her explanation, her tablet let out a loud notification sound. “We'll talk about that later. It looks like Representatives Rompchil and Fliuquotchel are both ready to start. Unless there are any objections… I will begin this meeting.”
The Ko Ko Kroke Royal Ambassador let a few seconds of pause to ensure anyone who wanted to say anything could. To her delight, everyone seemed totally ready. With Elder Kilpcha chosen by her peers to take the lead, she stood next to Tarki. Behind them, elders from every single Uark'thilik village sat on either chairs carved from wood or cushions crafted from soft plant matter. In front of them all was a large metal and polymer panel connected via long, thick cable to the comms array of Binko's shuttle. After a few moments of silence followed by the start of a soft hum, two realistic and completely accurate holographic projections appeared with both sporting color-emitting translators on their bodily centers. While one was certainly familiar, sharing the same general shape as Uark'thilik but appearing due to the lack of feathers, the other would be completely alien to these early development theropods if it weren't for their exposure to Turt-Chopians.
“Royal Ambassador Shlin! And you must be Elder Kil-p-cha! It is a genuine honor to meet you.” As Fliu's gurgling voice filled the meeting cave with a jovial tone, his simplistic chromatophores and the translation device on his bulbous, armored head/body flashed with joyous colors. “I'm sure you already know this, but I am Representative Fliuthinkar Fliuquotchel, Head of the Galactic Community Council First-Contact Committee. Please feel free to call me Fliu. And this is my colleague, the Head of the pre-Ascension Sapience Committee, Representative Harthkyr Rompchil.”
“You may call me Harth.” The scaled theropod spoke in a more neutrally professional manner than the armored octopus and gave a slight bow. “I would like to begin this meeting by saying that my fellow committee head and I are both deeply honored to speak with you today. It is incredibly rare for GCC representatives to have meetings like this with people who have yet to Ascend to the galactic stage. Events like this usually occur once every few thousand generations. And your particular situation is truly the first of its kind.”
“It is an honor to meet both of you, Fliu and Harthkyr. As you obviously already know, I am Elder Kilpcha of the Tall Spire Village. And, uh, we don’t really have shortened, easier to pronounce nicknames. If it isn’t burdensome, please call me Kilpcha.” The elder Uark'thilik nodded her head in a manner almost identical to Harth’s early bow while her feathers flashing in beautiful patterns of purples and oranges. “I have been chosen by my peers you see behind me as the one to represent the entire Uark'thilik species. If I may, I would like to start this conversation by making a case for why my people should be allowed to keep a translation device and power generation system so that we may have an easier time learning from and maintaining the information and historical archive left to us by the Ingthops.”
“Let me save you the effort, Kilpcha.” Fliu interjected as one of his tentacles revealed a tablet which he used to send Tarki a message. “Harthkyr’s committee and mine both already agreed to both of those requests. You should have the official documents at any moment, Royal Ambassador.”
“We have resolved that providing technology which likely already exists in some working capacity on your homeworld would not be considered technological uplifting.” Harthkyr added, again using a very neutral tone which came across with simple colors from her translator. “Thanks to the Turt-Chopian students studying you, your homeworld, and its history, we have indisputable evidence that a surprising amount of the infrastructure left behind by the Ingthops is either still functional to a limited degree or easily repairable. Even without any assistance or interference, your people would likely develop to an early industrial level within just a hundred generations. A reliable translator would simply help to reduce the potential of misinterpretations leading to tragedy. That being said, we will not be authorizing anything else besides a long-lifespan, no maintenance generator and a translator. Anything more could lead to negative long-term effects to your people's cultural development.”
“I see we are in general agreement.” Kilpcha didn't hesitate in her response. Though there were a few murmurs from the people behind, all were in support of her stance. “While we do appreciate what has been done for us so far, we would rather continue on our own in terms of learning about our world and the galaxy beyond. The message left for us by the Ingthop President requested that we use their gifts as an aid, not a crutch. We will need to learn about things like medicine and politics on our own. What applied to the Ingthops may not be right for us. The same could be said about other sapient species throughout the galaxy. When future generations eventually make it to the stars, we want to be able to say they did so with a helping hand and not simply by the graces of others. Knowledge can be given but wisdom must be earned.”
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Though Tens had grown up on a space station, he understands underground structures fairly well. The Nishnabe Confederacy's Industrial Zone 14, the place that produces the BD-series mechs, is itself an mostly subterranean facility. Despite intentionally spending as little time there as possible, he had learned to navigate the labyrinthine corridors and elevators. That made him uniquely qualified to act as a guide for the Turt-Chopians and Uark'thiliks who wanted to brave the depths and investigate the buried mysteries of this world. Thirty people joined him on this particular outing, including a dozen trilaterally symmetric students, even more adventurous theropod scouts, and a couple of Qui’ztar honor guards. Between them all they were sure to find something of historical importance. And with only about a day before the archeological expedition and guard detail needing to begin packing up, everyone present was excited for their own reasons.
The initial entry point was a ruined building that may have once been a hundred story skyscraper. Now, however, it wasn't much more than a dirt-covered mound with a hole large enough for a few BDs to walk side by side through. From there the group made use of empty elevator shafts, partially caved in corridors, and collapsed floor segments to descend. A soft flow of air from works above and ample open space as they got deeper ensured there would be enough oxygen to breathe. Nevertheless, Tens's mech acted as a vanguard to spot any dangerous gas pockets or unsafe conditions. As the group plunged lower and lower, small artifacts were uncovered. Some technological doodads even showed signs of functionality. For the Turt-Chopians, this was a find of a lifetime. The Uark'thiliks, on the other hand, felt a deep sense of reverence for the incredible accomplishments of those that lived on this planet before them.
“Come on, everyone. Just keep following the lit path.” Though Tens was outside of his mech, he had his helmet fully deployed and visual feeds from his ear machobe’s sensors running in the small HUD screen off in his peripheral vision. “We're only about ten minutes away from the main street-level. But take your time and be careful. If anyone gets hurt, we'll have to turn around.”
“It's strange to realize there are so many more ruins just below our feet.” Grompcha had stayed close to Tens's side throughout this journey. Her fears of the unknown lair of the evil metal beasts being vastly overwhelmed by her curiosity, especially with their slayer at her side.
“Have none of your people ever tried to explore this area?” A smile was clearly visible on the Nishnabe warrior’s face rather than the white skull with tears of blood that he usually displayed on his faceplate.
“Well… Yes, but…” The young Scout's expression and coloration turned a bit somber. “No one who has ventured this deep and returned to the surface. Instead, an evil metal- I mean, a Hekuiv'trula warform would emerge.”
“You can call them whatever you want, Grompcha. They're all dead now.” Tens placed an armored but compassionate hand on the theropod's shoulder. “But it is still dangerous to explore ancient ruins like this, even without the evil metal beasts. It would be very easy to slip and fall, get injured, and then be unable to climb back up to the surface.”
“You said it, Tens!” Lenthum blurted out while descending the rope down to the landing that Tens and Grompcha were waiting at. Despite his appearances, this specific Turt quickly distinguished himself as the most physically fit among his peers and the first to catch up. “I'm glad so many of your people were willing to join us on this expedition, Grompcha. I think my friends would be seriously struggling without your peoples’ assistance.”
“Honesty, I think some of them are just hoping there's one or two of the bipedal evil metal beasts hiding somewhere.” Grompcha looked up at the landing about a dozen meters above the one she found herself on and couldn't help but laugh as she saw two of her fellow scouts trying to tie themselves off to the safety line. “They want to become warriors like my mother. That's why they're all carrying spears with them.”
“Are you trying to say-?” Lenthum couldn't even get his question out before Tens started cracking up.
“Your mother killed a warform using spears?!?” The Nishnabe warrior’s laughter echoed through the dimly lit cavern. If it weren't for the colors of ardent respect being displayed by his translator, his question may have come across the wrong way.
“She killed one with a spear and two more with a trap she set up.” Though her mother's death still weighed on her, the pain of such a loss never truly goes away, Grompcha felt a genuine sense of pride fill her soul. “That's the reason she was and is so well respected by my village. She sacrificed herself to draw the evil metal beasts away from the village because a few babies just couldn't stop crying. The scouts found her spear, a lot of blood, and not much else. But that's just the kind of woman she was. Willing to save others no matter the cost to herself.”
“Now I know where you get that fire in your soul.” Tens smiled down upon the young scout. “It's a shame I never got to meet her. I know her spirit is smiling whenever she watches you from the next life.”
“We… We don't really believe in an afterlife.” Grompcha tried to force a smile on her face as she looked up into Tens's deep brown eyes. “But it is nice to think that part of her continues on and is watching over me and my brother. And if there is something that comes next… Maybe I'll be able to see her again and tell her wonderful stories about the children she sacrificed herself for.”
“My people like to believe we have evolved past spiritual beliefs.” Lenthum's tone implied he didn't share that interpretation of the universe, much to Tens's relief. “That's just because some people don't want to consider the possibility that their mortal actions will have immortal consequences. I believe that the consequence of being a bold and loving person, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for others, may be a painful end in this life, but also eternal peace and happiness in the next. It may not be true. I know some of my classmates would tell me I'm naive for believing this. But I truly do believe your mother's soul is somewhere else, somewhere beyond our mortal perception, and is looking down on us with a smile on her face and pride in her heart.”
“I… I think I would like to believe that as well.” Death had always been something on Grompcha's mind. In a way, her entire species had formed their culture around accepting that forces beyond their control could take their lives at any moment. She had already lost both her parents before the age of sixteen. Many people in her village had experienced similar tragedies. And while some certainly liked to imagine their loved ones had walked on to a better place, many others considered such thoughts to be a crutch. “It's nice to think that my mother and father have been reunited. That they can watch over my brother and I. That I will be able to see them again someday. Even if it probably isn't true, it is comforting.”
“When we get back to the surface, I'm gonna see if Tarki will let me call someone for you and some of your elders to talk to.” Tens could see a few more people were starting their descent down to this landing and decided it was time to move on. “You and your people have dealt with a lot of painful loss. I have a friend who's helped me lift me up when the losses I've experienced weighed me down.”
Posted Jul 5, 2025, 6:09 PM UTC