@VisualInspiration

I’m not sure if the translator box was blaring so indistinctly because of the strange noises coming out of the Phocid’s throat or because my mission was (as always) underfunded and I had been equipped (as always) with second-class hardware. Nevertheless, I imagined the seal-like dweller of Epsilon Eridani II 3c sounding friendly.

- We are honored to have visitors from so far away… how far, did you say?

- Several light-years, I replied.

- From another world then? That did not happen before!

The Phocids have a quite high stage of development with a blind spot concerning chemistry. They invented combustion, elecricity, concrete buildings, simple computing machines, and radio waves – but no food chemicals, artificial preservatives, or synthetic fibres.

- We prefer natural resource. We take everything we can from nature, if possible.

He pointed at his overall.

- This, for example, is solely made out of sillut-skin.

I may have looked puzzled for he explained:

- Furless animals everywhere to be found on our, um, planet, as you call it. They pretty much look like… well, like you. They often live near our settlements and apparently expect that some of them are more or less regularly… taken out, you know…

- To be hunted? Shot?

- No. We slay them to preserve their skin.

- Don’t they feel pain then?

- To be honest, this is nothing we care about. They’re just animals. But we’re no savages. When their bones are broken and they cannot run away any more, they die within not more than, say, two days. And we use most of their bodies, not just their skin. The meat is edible and many of us prefer it even to fish. The guts and the bones are turned into soap and… ah, look, there is one of them! Just wait a moment, you can test a bite, if you want!

That having spoken, he picked up a large stone and turned around to hunt the skillut which indeed very much resembled a human being. Too much for my taste. While my contact officer ran after the animal, I headed back to my ship.

#microfiction
#scifi

@VisualInspiration

So it turned out that sentient mammals were not as dumb as they pretended to be. The human stewardship of the planet was going so awry that they finally had to step in to avoid the total collapse of all ecosystems. The first to act were the coyotes, who out of necessity had infiltrated urban environments and knew human behavior well.

First they recruited the dogs to the cause. They said, "Give up your loyalty to humans, or we will hunt and eat you. Join the sentient mammal pact." The working dogs and hunting dogs quickly agreed. The little fluffy dogs said "What? We've got a good deal here." Most were eaten.

Cats were a different story. They said, "Our arrangements with humans were always transactional. We allowed ourselves to be petted as long as they fed us and gave us cat treats. What have you got for us?" Most cats ended up in trees and high places where coyotes couldn't climb. Some made deals and opened doors that coyotes couldn't open.

At sea, orcas began attacking boats, usually by removing the rudder. Seals and sea lions attacked any human they found near the water. Humans defended themselves with guns and other weapons, but their homes and businesses were neutralized by rats, who cut wires and dismantled electronics. Eventually, the few remaining humans were reduced to a hunter-gatherer existence in newly resilient forest environments.

The liberated mammals occupied human cities and structures, and took over many human institutions. They had learned from human ingenuity. But they never, ever, considered burning fossil fuels. Gradually, the Earth returned to a pristine state.

And what about monkeys, apes, and other primates? They were allowed to live, but carefully watched. No one wanted them to evolve into another monster.