I.S.R.I Study project of Inter-Species and Racial Integration.

Prologue

— "Captain's access command. Code alpha-zeta-4-0," Ocxy said from inside his quarters. A feeling of slight uncertainty, perhaps best defined as "unprofessional." After all, it was not like him to lose sleep. Such a thing was extremely uncommon for his race, as Florians were creatures driven by cold and calculated efficiency. The panel lit up, the brief blue light illuminating the captain's quarters, creating a contrast against his slightly grayish skin.

—"The data reported here today will be recorded for personal logs, with possible permission of use for official purposes of the Galactic Federation of Interplanetary Relations, but only if authorized by the official commander of the ship, and with secondary authorization from the human designated Bruno, an individual recognized by the aforementioned organization for the initial purpose of interspatial and racial integration study. The purpose of this recording also serves as a formal request and recommendation for the human to be promoted, and for his previous projects to be completed or extended."

After a long period, explaining in detail the events of the last stellar cycles, Ocxy laid down on his bed, a feeling of exhaustion but relief taking over him.

The captain knew that, even though it was a federation-approved integration program, challenges and difficulties would be obvious. But, at that time, he could never have imagined the events that would occur.

Ocxy, being a respected and capable Florian, with exemplary service cycles, was honored with the recommendation for the project. The team present on his ship, as well as the rest of the crew, were of various different species, so cultural diversity might prove to be a less difficult obstacle to overcome. Even so, there was a certain uncertainty and doubt among his crew members. After all, they had never dealt with the terrible humans. Well, not in a way that wasn't an enemy relationship.

Humans... A species initially overestimated and considered primitive, had a rather turbulent start in the history of intergalactic relations. The debate over the discovery of their species is still a matter of controversy in political discussions, although the facts do not change. Humans are a predatory species, red-blooded beings that evolved on an extremely hostile planet.

Their classification? A native race of a Death World. Such planets were characterized by their extremely hostile environment, fauna, flora, climate and gravity. Everything about such planets classified them as unsuitable for the development of intelligent life capable of developing FTL transports, meaning faster-than-light travel. It also did not help that the first contacts with humans were made in a hostile manner, quickly growing into a war at the level of solar system combat. Human behavior is diversely confusing, besides the fact that they are a species of individuals, not a species of collective singular intellect or a Hive Mind for lack of a better term. Although the galaxy is at peace, and the intergalactic conflict between humans and other species had ceased, the wounds and pains of losses in the war were still fresh. The federation's goal, after accepting the humans' terms and categorizing them as official council members, was precisely to be able to study humans and avoid future large-scale conflicts. Such a project was also named "Intergalactic Racial Integration," which, surprisingly, was proposed by the humans themselves in their first official meeting as part of the council.

Ocxy was in front of the door to the waiting room, wondering if delays were a human custom. No... he had studied all the official information his race had about them, cultures, customs, historical events. However, even with the available information, he had already been warned in advance not to blindly rely on what he read. From the reports and advice of various other members of the project, their warnings were always similar. "Studying them is one thing, but witnessing them in person can be a completely different experience."