Prompt

The humans’ reaction to finding out what the rest of the galaxy thought about them before actual first contact (bonus points mentioning the Pioneer plaques)

The humans learned fast. They apparently learned by messing around with things until something happened that they understood, and worked outwards from there.

And they had learned to read Ulu.

T'reka watched and recorded various humans at the Communications Centre that had once been a Hide Unit. They sat or stood at various info-stations and accessed data on a seemingly random basis.

Most avid of them all was Su-syn. Every single day when T'reka was not active in the jungles of Toxic Island, Su-syn would find her way to the Beach Path Hide Unit and find something to read and translate.

T'reka noted with some strictly internal alarm that today’s exercise for Su-syn was the Wikipedia Galactica’s extensively cross-referenced file on humans. The local addendum concerning emergent capacities for adaptability and amenability towards other species was waiting an extensive peer review and - T'reka was certain - her own demise by natural causes.

“Warning plaque?” Su-syn read. She checked the calendars and resumed her reading. Very soon, Su-syn began experiencing a breathing difficulty that involved a lot of short breaths and grinding noises.

And since Su-syn was very alarmingly gravid, T'reka abandoned her paper-in-progress to glide as fast as she could to the Comms Centre. Concerned for her friend. The sky-raker trees meant that T'reka could climb high and therefore cover vast distances.

When she arrived at the Comms Centre, T'reka discovered Su-syn leaning against the console, water streaming from her eyes, and a repetitive bark of a call coming from her throat.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…” (gasp) “HAHAAAHAHAHAHAAAHAAAA…” (gasp) “HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA…” (gasp) “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!” Su-syn broke off in coughing.

The other humans did not seem at all concerned. “Su-syn,” she called. “Is this normal reaction? Is you wanting medic?”

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she squeaked. “All fine feather,” she added in Ulu. “Who wrote this? It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen…” Su-Syn leaned back, clutching her distended belly and did more of the disturbing calls.

“This is normal reaction to… funny?”

“Yes!” and more of the barking call.

Humans are not alarmed by their status of dangerous animals, T'reka later wrote, Rather, they seem greatly amused by it.

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“Humans perceive sixteen times the colors we do. Do not hide in bushes or vines from humans. They can distinguish your pelt from the foliage with ease.”

There were always things to learn. Things like, once an anomalous shape is recognised, it’s easier to spot. Dappled shadows were better to hide in and blending was important.

“Gotcha!” said the human. “You really suck at hide-and-seek, T'yrt'yr[1].”

“I followed the rules,” she

Hey look what came around with new bits on it! http://siphersaysstuff.tumblr.com/post/73671577343/therobotmonster-moniquill-siderealsandman

Prepare for a barrage of prompts based on it :P

1. “Our strength and speed is nothing to write home about, but we don’t need to overpower or outrun you. We just need to outlast you - and by any other species’ standards, we just plain don’t get tired.”

[AN: I love that post so much that I’m hinging a book

T’reka’s work on Toxic Island was to look for potential new compounds or cures in the dangers of the jungle, but humans have been working with flora and fauna of those levels of toxicity and higher for centuries, including some of the species only encountered by the other cogniscients on Toxic Island since they seeded from Earth

It follows that a) humans have already discovered medical applications using these things

b) humans are probably going to have a lot easier