Veridis Quo

Interlude 9

The human condition. What was this condition? What made one human? What did it mean to be human? Was it true that humans were ready to mingle all year-round? Those were the sort of curiosities begging to be discovered and answered by the greatest thinkers of the world.

Got a little excited there, whoops~

Let us take a step back before diving into the deep end of the pool.

Throughout history, the human question remained far-fetched, fantastical even. An imagined creature built upon the primate template, something that shouldn't exist in nature – it didn't actually exist, but still.

Presuming the theory of evolution was the closest to a universal truth, there was no reason for a physically inferior race to evolve alongside the animal kingdom. While evolution often mishappened, connecting a common link between a mythological creature to a real one was fandom at most.

However, indulging fantasy here and there wasn't inherently bad. Everything was good in moderation, as they say! Except cigars, alcohol, crack, ect. Those were the exceptions. A lot of everyday luxuries were exceptions. A thoughtful critique for another day.

In order to find the path to the human question, we must first define what the question is. And before that, we must first-first define what is a human.

By science and folklore, a human is a relative of the primate family whose ancestor is unknown, not even connected to the dinosaurs. A human is a bipedal creature that possesses sapience like any other sentient species known to animalkind. Its face is true – flat, the nose is prominent compared to the other primates, a patch of hair usually atop the head as well as weaker concentrations in the armpits and genitalia. That was the general picture of a human.

In a simpler summary, a human was a prettier version of the chimpanzee; pleasing to the eye, a pampered doll, the face in particular was an intriguing object in many cultures around the globe.

Since culture was mentioned, one would be responsible to address the cultural clashes regarding the origins of humans. Religious groups claim whatever they want, there was no end to the superstitious inventions of the mystic arts. "If you're a bad girl, a human will steal your socks at night!" "Good cubs brush their teeth, or a burly human uncle will punish you!" "At the end of a rainbow is a pot of gold. But be careful, a human guards it! If you try to steal his gold, he'll steal your soul!"

There was no evidence to back any of the myths derived from religion and other unorthodox followings, hence they were just myths.

The desired analysis should be purely logical.

So, what was known about the human specimen?

Not much, actually.

For a majority of history, humans existed in the minds of wistful youngsters, a fairy tale to teach morality, though some tales were... dubious at most. Like the tale of the red-hooded wolf girl who went to visit her grandma and walked in on her making love to a human lumberjack! In quite the detail as well!

There wasn't much available to formulate a complete thesis on the matter. Seeing as science failed to shine light on the human question, the coin had to be turned.

Until that day.

It was an uneventful night like any other in the coastal city. There was absolutely nothing special about it, no holiday of cultural significance or a social gathering like the stupid blue moon festival or whatever those dumb herbivores called it. And it was one of those nights, when harvesting animals for their goods wasn't on the menu.

That night was destined to be another night.

Then, it appeared.

A new star in the sky.