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Uquirapods, and even uquira, are intelligent. They’re not going to be
inventing the wheel any time soon, but they do exhibit traits of complex
cognition. They recognize human faces, recall shared experiences, and even
seem to grasp societal organization structure. They can tell who is in
charge, and that may not be a good thing, depending on how much respect they
receive from that person. A new farming family, for instance, showed up a
few decades ago, and failed to appreciate the value of uquirakind. They
didn’t abuse the critters under their purview, but they didn’t treat them
particularly nicely either. They didn’t smile or hum in their presence. It
was only a job to them.
Their uquira stopped procreating, and simply let their generation die off.
The uquirapods moved over to another farm. The family tried to take them
back, but that’s not how things are done in Quiratan. Humans serve the land,
not the other way around.
A uquirapod can spot the distinctions between a Quiratani, an Eyrenlander,
another Bidan, and a non-Bidan. Researchers are trying to figure out how
exactly they do this, because scent doesn’t even seem to begin to cover it.
Quiratan uquirakind don’t hate Eyrenlanders, but they can definitely tell
the difference, and they know that Eyrenland was run differently. The two
communities started out about the same, but the uquirakind population was
greater in Eyrenland, so scaling up was too tempting to stop.
Since the dead Eyrenlander cannot be buried in his homeland, the burial is
happening in Quiratan. His family and friends are all here, along with the
Superintendent candidates. As they’re gathering around the grave for the
service, uquirapods begin to walk out from the trees and tall grass. Despite
not having humanoid faces, they undoubtedly smile, and it doesn’t look like
they learned it from the humans. It’s a fascinating example of convergent
evolution. They can smile, and they can frown, and while they normally go
about their days exhibiting the former, they are right now frowning. They
understand that it’s a funeral.
But why join them? Why come to lay an Eyrenlander to rest? Again, they
didn’t hate them, but non-Quiratani bodies have died in the area before, and
uquirapods never show up for them. Do they know that death usually isn’t
final, but it is today?
“They are not here for the Eyrenlander,” Zanele whispers to Jande. Zanele is
the only other Quiratani vying for the job. He doesn’t know her that well,
but he hears good things. Her family has roots in an Earthan region called
Kansas, so they farm a lot of wheat. He’s not aware of her intentions for this job, but it wouldn’t be the worst
outcome. “They’re here for us. Specifically, the two of us.”
She’s right. The two of them separate themselves from the group, making it
much more apparent that the uquirapods are primarily here to comfort the
Quiratani. There is a roar in the forest. All the uquirapods roar back. Two
more roars, they return in kind. They do have some kind of language, though
it’s hard to parse. Scientists figured out dolphinspeak centuries ago, but
this vocabulary still eludes them.
Anyway, Jande knows that roar. He’s never heard it before, because they only
do it when they’re in mourning, but he’s heard this uquirapod’s voice, and
it’s unmistakable. Pickpocket comes lurching out of the woods. He is
ginormous. It’s the largest one Jande has ever seen before. The largest
uquirapods don’t even reach an adult human’s knees, but Pickpocket is as big
as a Clydesdale. There have been claims that this could happen, but it’s
never been proven. Jande doesn’t know what it means.
“I know what this is,” Tamerlane says, loud enough for all to hear. “No
matter what you see, you have to let this play out. It knows what it’s
doing, and it made its choice. You’re lucky to bear witness to this. It’s
quite a rare event.”
The oversized uquirapod continues to lumber towards them.
“Should the cameras be rolling?” Dare questions.
“No, they shouldn’t,” Tamerlane realizes. He steps over to Van. “If you have
any respect for this planet, this culture, this species, you will shut them
down. Go to a commercial break.”
Jande steps forward now. “Pickpocket was my sister’s pet. Please, Van.”
Van looks between the two men, and at the rest of the audience, including
the dead Eyrenlander’s family. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a
remote. After he clicks a button, all the drones hovering around power off
and drop to the ground.
Tamerlane smirks. “And the smart dust. Don’t think I didn’t pick up on it.”
Van stares at him for a moment, then presses another button. Nothing
happens.
“I suppose we’ll have to take your word for it.” Tamerlane walks back to his
spot.
Pickpocket makes his way over to the Eyrenlander’s grave, and begins to roar
again, triggering all the little uquirapods to do the same. Uquira don’t
usually make sounds unless they’re mating, but now the ones nearby sound
almost like wind chimes. The air starts to feel different too; heavier. It
suddenly becomes hot and humid. The Eyrenlander’s family backs away as
Pickpocket drops down into the grave, chin first. He can’t fit all the way
in, but that doesn’t seem to bother him.
In a horrific turn of events, the other uquirapods start biting Pickpocket
on the neck. Jande’s instinct is to rush over there to stop them, but
Tamerlane holds him back. “I told you, this is what has to happen. You say
this was your sister’s friend? They must have had a pretty powerful bond.
He’s grieving. They’re a communal species. They don’t even know who their
progenitors are, and they barely understand the concept of family. But it
can happen, in rare instances, though I’ve never heard of it
happening with a human, which is an interesting development. There’s a
reason the eyren stock fell significantly while we were dead. Pickpocket was
taking them all for himself. He was eating them, like we do.”
Jande shakes his head. “He’s dying because he’s lost Laise. Okay. I’ve never
heard of that, but okay. But why do it like this? Why desecrate this man’s
grave?”
“Something will grow here, won’t it?” Ersence asks. “Something new.”
“Something rare; not new,” Tamerlane corrects. “Some in the past have called
it the uquiratree, but that’s just what it looks like on the surface. The
real magic will happen underground, starting at the grave, but expanding far
beyond it. I’m honestly not sure how the boy factors into it, because we’ve
never actually seen this happen ourselves. A very early settler named Irene
de Vries recorded it, and she never mentioned a dead body, though she was
only one of two humans, so the uquirapod at the time might have selected
some other animal’s carcass.”
“I’ve never heard of this tree, or the underground stuff you claim,” Jande
points out, “and I know everything about uquirakind. Where did this
supposedly happen?”
Tamerlane chuckles softly as Pickpocket stops groaning, having succumbed to
his wounds. “That’s the reason we’re here. The last known place this
happened no longer exists. They used to call it Eyrenland.”
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