Chapter Text
The Zakkeuk's Interplanetary Species Log #439 652 837
Reporter - Top Researcher Uzid, Gen. #23 | Occupation - Interplanetary Biologist
Planet - Terra “Earth” of System #211 584
Subject - Rectus Simia “Terran”
Title - Rectus Simia Research Log #2 A
Date - Soneif 47 / Round 7249 | Time - 8:12
Notes - Log #2 B will be submitted at the end of the day (Soneif 47)
Before I could reach my laboratory this morning, one of the members of the Geologist team had trotted up to me with a folder in her claws, saying she had new information about the primates in our examination cells. I eagerly took the folder from her to review the news myself. Now, I cannot disclose the specifics of the contents in the folder, since it should already be logged by the Geology team, but I can say here that our primate's homeworld has been dubbed "Terra", therefore we are naming the new species in our care "Terrans'' for simplicity's sake. They will be referred to as such for the rest of the logs unless new information arises in the future. The scientific name for the Terrans is still up for debate, but these log titles will be changed accordingly and if change should arise, we will notify the Council.
I thanked the Geologist dearly before handing the file back to her and sending her back to her work. When I entered my laboratory, I found a few of my team members huddled around the camera monitors. Curiosity got the better of me and I had to see what they were gawking at. As the monitor's screens came into view, I found that the centre monitor showed a live feed of the Terrans huddled up close to each other on their mat with their limbs entwined, pieces of the branch they were given last night were scattered around their cell. They had their eyes closed and weren't exactly moving, which set off a few alarms. I asked my crew if they were dead already, and a male I didn't know the name of told me that they had sent someone to check in on the Terrans. They were breathing but unresponsive, which led us to believe that the Terrans undergo "sleep" to conserve energy, as some other species do. I am noting here that we have yet to conduct any research on whether or not they have evolved to remain conscious during this phase for defence, like us.
Seeing the Terrans in such a vulnerable state has made me realize that these creatures have really no natural defence systems besides their teeth and thin, nubby claws. It's doubted that these are actually used to harm other creatures, but their use is unknown for the time being. We do not yet know if the Terrans carry any hidden spikes, spores, or sprays. They look far too thin to have evolved for brute strength, so we really don't know how these creatures have managed to survive, that is if their species has survived for long. The Zooarchaeologists have yet to gain permission from the Geologist team to search for evolutionary remains on the Terrans homeworld.
I overheard some of my crew members say that the Terrans were actually passable as "cute", meaning that their appearances bordered infantile and were worthy of protection. My elytra buzzed with agitation and I snapped at my crew, telling them that the Terrans were merely there for us to study, not to parent. Fortunately, they had stopped cooing at the Terrans, prompting Researcher Tyega, Gen #3, to switch the monitors to the overnight camera footage of the Terrans.
Most of the footage contains clips of the Terrans walking around their cell, chittering noisily to each other. The footage will be attached to the end of this log for recording. Tyega fast-forwarded to when Researcher Arius, Gen #47, placed the tree branch into the cell. After waiting a few minutes, the Terrans had picked up the tree branch and brought it over to their mat. They started to lift the mat off of the ground, standing it on its side to block off the majority of their cell. They placed their blanket over the mat and tried to keep the rest of it in the air using the tree branch. The Terrans had created a makeshift shelter, hiding them from the camera's view using the mat placement, but they could still be visible if you walked around the examination cell to see them huddling inside their fort in the corner.
This ingenuity shows that the Terrans can easily create small forms of shelter using very little materials. What irks us is that the Terrans examination cell perfectly protects them from any unwanted temperatures or possible threats, so why would they build a shelter inside their cell inconveniently hiding them from view? The shelter only lasted a few minutes before it collapsed on them, both the tree branch and the mat falling onto their sides. The Terrans crawled out from the blanket, chittering loudly at each other and waving their paws at the objects in front of them. They put the mat back to where it was originally and sat down, examining the branch. The male broke off some of the smaller sticks hanging off of the branch, handing them to the female so she could prop them up into a crude cone shape. The male then started to vigorously rub a stick between his paws on top of another stick as the female draped the blanket over both of them.
This continued for a few minutes before the male threw his sticks across the cell and leaned into his mate. His paws seemed to have turned red and he let the female bring them up to her mouth, touching them with her lips. The meaning of this behaviour is unfortunately lost on us, but if the Terrans let each other place their mouths near the primate's most valuable asset (their opposable paws), then there must be a deep trust bond between the two mates. They sat for a while, communicating with those odd barking sounds and expelling more of the same liquid from their eyes as the day before. I told my crew to make note of collecting this liquid the next time they expel it, so we can study its components to see why they make such a thing.
Their barking grew louder before the female pushed the male away from her and she grabbed the branch to hit the glass walls with. It was a feeble attempt at escape since most of the branch fell to pieces after a few hits. Perhaps Terrans are field creatures, not used to enclosed spaces. But then why would they create such small shelters for themselves? There are so many questions we have for these odd primates, and we hope to get some answers in the near future.
The rest of the night's footage is mostly just the Terrans gibbering at each other and then curling onto the mat for rest. Like the rest of the species we've collected and documented, we've had a tough time figuring out what their diets consist of and how often they must feast. A quarter of the time, we get unlucky and the species expires from food they cannot digest, but we were always able to get a new creature afterwards for further experimentation. We pray to Great Giez that the Terran's diets are more flexible than other species. I ordered Arius to give the Terrans a few Biboae leaves to see if they would eat them. The leaves are harmless if free from Vivora eggs, contact Xor'is Council Biologists for more information. Arius was able to place the leaves inside the Terrans cell with no problems, considering the Terrans were still resting. I will report more on the matter when they wake up.
9:51
The Terrans have finally awoken from their rest. They had immediately noticed the Biboae leaves left for them on a clean platter near the cell door. The female had sat up and stretched herself upwards, then forwards, her length seemed to grow a few inches as she did so. Out of the species we've observed practicing this strange action, we've found that they seem more relaxed after stretching themselves. This leads us to believe that this action is used to reduce tension. This action is also seen primarily in the pack species we've studied so far, so perhaps the Terrans are pack animals as well. We'll be sending in a request to Collection to see if we are able to obtain more Terrans to study.
After stretching herself, the female Terran stumbled over to the platter of leaves, crouched down and picked one up, turning it in her paw. She sniffed it before chittering to her mate and nibbling on the edge of the leaf, presumably tasting it to make sure it was okay to eat. Her mate screeched at her, stumbling off of the mat to place a paw on her back and stare at the leaf in her paws as if it would explode (these leaves do not explode). They exchanged some quiet chitters and the female gave the leaf to the male, letting him eat some as well. His flat face scrunched up as he gave the leaf back to his mate and stood up from the ground, barking at the female while he waved his paw toward the platter. The female barked back before grabbing another leaf to eat.
Returning back to the mat, the male seemed uninterested in the leaves we supplied them, but the female showed that their species were at least able to consume basic flora. Supplying them with different types of fruits and/or vegetables this early may be dangerous, but if the male doesn't wish to eat the Biboae leaves, then we may need to find an alternative food item so that the Terrans don't go hungry.
We've decided to try the bonding process with one of our team members again. We hope that the Terrans will at least know what to expect if the situation gets dire.
10:15
Unfortunately, Researcher Yeiminit, Gen #189, is unable to directly interact with the Terran species any longer, due to xer unstable reaction to the Terran's aggressive approach. For this reason, we are now placing our second most reliable researcher on bonding duty, Researcher Aug'ita, Gen #507. Aug'ita has been properly suited with an antennae-protecting helmet and underbelly armour. She has also been equipped with the common communicator, neutralizing gun, and grass-based treats.
For legalities sake, the Council has told all reporters to list what they are equipping their staff with if sending them to work in dangerous or hostile environments. I do not want any Librarians complaining to me that my logs are over the word count, especially when the Council has asked us to be as specific as possible. If any Librarians have a problem with my logs, place a complaint with the Xor'is Council and let your silent reply speak for itself.
Researcher Aug'ita entered the Terrans examination cell without any trouble or hesitation, but I knew from the way her mandibles clicked that she was putting on a fake show of bravery, most likely to intimidate the Terrans. In response, the Terrans were slightly off-put by Aug'ita's entrance, backing away from the cell door and keeping their small eyes on her. She wasted no time seating herself on the floor and pulling out the small bag of grass-based treats, opening it and taking two out for the Terrans. She held them out in her outstretched claw, waiting for the Terrans to approach her. The Terrans hesitated, chittering to each other quietly while they eyed the treats warily.
It took a few minutes before the female started to slowly shuffle up to Aug'ita, holding her mate's paw in her own to guide him with her. Once the female was up to Aug'ita’s claw, she wouldn't break eye contact with her, causing my team member's mandibles to click a little more in fear, but she remained put. The female Terran quickly snatched the treats from her claw, causing Aug'ita to jump while the Terrans scurried away from her.
Aug’ita remained still on the cell floor while she watched the Terrans quickly chitter to each other. The male took one of the treats from the female, sniffing it and he immediately reeled back, baring his teeth at the treat in his paw. I’m not sure how much I can explain that the Terrans make an awful lot of noise, the shared barks and chirps are nearly constant between these primates, almost more than a Ziqowri flock. We hope our request for one or two more Terrans is heard and accepted because we are starting to believe that the Terrans may be social creatures. We are deeply interested in learning how they interact with different types of Terrans and if they do happen to be social animals, then we are curious as to what their social hierarchies are like.
However, the female Terran did not hesitate to consume her treat. Her mate watched her intensely, chirping quietly before taking a cautious nibble out of his own treat. The female ended up shaking her head hastily while making some low growling or gagging sound. We think that these treats are not suited for the Terrans, and their willingness to consume food items unfit for them might just allude to their lack of wit, or if we wish to jump further, their lack of sentience. As always, more research is required.
The male Terran did not eat any more of his treat, simply opting to drop it on the ground to stare at Aug’ita, who sat motionless, quietly observing the Terrans. His mate went on chittering as she decided to approach my team member once again. She seemed less hesitant in the way she walked but was still cautious once she was in contact length with Aug’ita. To the surprise of me and my crew, not only did the female Terran make physical contact with Aug’ita by placing her paw on my crew member's arm, but she also decided to climb onto her thorax, easily balancing herself along Aug’ita’s spine while grabbing onto her torso.
I could see over the cameras that by the way Aug’ita tensed up and her elytra buzzed, accompanied by the rapid clicking of her mandibles, she was quickly being sent into a panic. We didn’t need another incident like yesterday, so we made sure to tell her over her communicator to quickly exit the Terrans cell and to be sure to ignore the creatures completely. We tried to reassure her that they seemed not to be of any threat to her, that they only seemed curious.
Aug’ita did exactly as instructed, getting back up to her claws and scurrying towards the cell door. In doing this, she sent the female Terran tumbling off of her back, making the primate screech as it fell to the floor unexpectedly. Aug’ita was able to quickly and safely exit the cell and she made her way back to the lab without a single pause in her steps. She was given some Ugu fruit to help her calm down a bit, so she will need to see a medic soon after, but we are just glad that she is physically safe.
Once the female Terran had fallen to the ground, her mate yelped as well, scrambling to the female who was already up on her paws, backing up towards the cell wall away from the escaping Zakkeuk. The Terrans seemed to do their usual loud chittering at each other before the female stomped off towards their mat. The male tried to follow her, but she just barked at him, baring her teeth, so the male backed off and went to lie down on the floor near the cell door.
Seeing the Terrans being aggressive towards their mate is extremely interesting, as it gives us a little peek into what their social hierarchies may be like, and how they interact with each other, or a creature of their own species whom they deeply trust. As always, we are eager to learn more.
10:58
11:46
After observing the Terrans for a little while longer, they don’t seem to be doing much else besides wandering around their cell and just lying on the ground. We’ve decided to take this time to break for a while. I’ll be splitting this log into two, one for the early day and one for the afternoon. Please excuse my unprofessionalism, but if any Librarians have any issue with me inconsistently splicing my logs by time rather than date, then you can go steal a Bagicon egg because that is not my, nor any other reporter's problem. Do not contact me again to complain about how I report my logs, for I do not get paid enough to sit through 24 hours of absolutely nothing just to please your simple, organizing hivemind.
This is Top Researcher Uzid, Gen. #23 of the Zakkeuks, signing off.
11:51
- (Species #439 652 837 - Rectus Simia "Terran" Overnight Footage #1)