Chapter 12
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The fox-eared, fox-tailed tailed humans stood up at the sound of Ivan's voice. He watched as their ears twitched and already knew that the appendages were definitely a part of their body.
Mazur barely spared a glance toward their appearance before commenting, "Actually, the greater mystery is that why throughout the galaxies we know, the evolution into humanity recurs so often. Compared to that, something like strange ears and a tail are nothing."
Ivan wanted to rebuff Mazur, but before he got the chance, the group of fox humans knelt before him and cried out in their strange language. Ivan didn't know what they were saying, but he understood they were pleading to him for something. Some of them even grabbed onto the corner of his clothes desperately, but the eel skin savagely cut open their hands and caused those people to retreat in fear and pain.
At the rear of the group, Ivan spotted a young malnourished girl about 13 years old, her unkempt hair a tangled mess extending halfway down her back. She was dressed in rags so dirty the original color could no longer be seen. She appeared to have been in a lot of conflicts as bandages stained in old blood could be seen on her body. A large circular hole had also been made on the side of one of her ears, causing the tip of the fox-ear to droop slightly.
The girl had amber eyes devoid of emotion, to the point where she appeared almost lifeless. What Ivan interesting him the most was how she was secluding from the rest of the group. They would look at her in scorn, some even called her 'kivsharr', something which seemed to be an insult.
Ivan walked toward the malnourished fox-girl slowly, the crowd of beggers rapidly parting in fear of being cut up just by touching his armor. The fox-girl, seeing Ivan walking over, calmly stared back without fear.
Ivan's perception was far greater than what the girl realized. He could see the dagger clenched in her hand behind her back clear as day. Her knuckles whitened around the handle of the blade as Ivan stopped in front of her and squatted slightly to match her height.
Stretching out a hand, he pinched the non-resistant girl's chin and moved he head from side to side to inspect her condition. The girl finally became aggressive, whether it was out of fear or desperation, and brought forth the knife to stab Ivan in the neck.
Ivan was completely prepared for this and releasing the girl's chin, shifted deeper in the fourth dimension. The girl threw her weight behind the dagger, but rather than stabbing Ivan in the neck as she intended, the attack passed straight though him. The lack of expected resistance caused the girl to lose her balance and stumble forward, falling through Ivan's body as if there was nothing there.
"Kivsharr!" Several people in the crowd cursed and spat on the ground before looking toward Ivan in fear and prostrated on the ground seeking forgiveness.
Ivan ignored the group of people as he heard the sound of running footsteps coming from between the trees. He wasn't sure what was going on but the group of people prostrated began to quiver in terror.
A group of five fox-men wielding strange automatic rifles and wearing a military uniform charged out of the surrounding trees. Perhaps it was a trait of these human specie, but they were incredibly agile and ran as fast as leopards.
The soldiers saw the Poseidon first and were completely stunned at its size. The spaceship towered above the trees which led both the refugees and the soldiers chasing them here, but they were all stunned by the sheer size of it once up close.
Ivan and Mazur were soon spotted, and while Ivan looked somewhat similar to them, Mazur, who was covered in silver fur and had a cat face, was completely alien.
"Masvir ruyat lemu!" One soldier shouted as the group nervously aimed their guns at the two.
"I assume they want us to surrender," Mazur commented wistfully. "It appears we are inside a country in a state of war."
"If we surrender or let them go, our position will be exposed. We can only kill them."
"Our ship is too big and doesn't have a cloaking device, we will be detected sooner or later anyway."
Ivan and Mazur's nonchalant ethereal voices unsettle the fox-men soldiers, and after several shouts, they opened fire. Ivan felt nostalgic seeing conventional assault rifles once again and stood still as the bullets passed through his body like he was an illusory image, completely unable to touch him.
The little fox girl who had vanished from Ivan's side as the soldiers arrived, appeared like a ghost beside one of the soldiers and stabbed her dagger through his eye, instantly killing him. She was ruthless as she grabbed his gun and instantly shot another soldier through the head.
The three remaining soldiers hadn't noticed this as they stared in horror at Ivan who was impervious to their bullets. Ivan walked toward them and when he was within five meters from one of them, spear shadow appeared momentarily between Ivan and the soldier before piercing through the soldier and shredding his body into two mangled pieces.
Blood and pieces of organs flew out of the soldier instantly became a corpse, and a silence fell upon the battlefield as everyone apart from Mazur was stunned.
As it was only a single face of Ivan's four-dimensional body which could manifest on the three-dimensional plane, that single face was naturally unable to hold the four-dimensional eel tooth spear. This didn't stop him however from using it to stab at the three-dimensional plane with his full body.
Within five meters of his body, he could undetectably strike with this lethal attack, the spear tip capable of tearing apart all three-dimensional matter.
The two remaining soldiers became terrified and tried to run away while randomly firing back, but Ivan didn't give them the chance to escape. He ran far quicker than the soldiers and an instant later, two more spear shadows flashed by and tore them into pieces.
When Ivan turned around, he saw the little malnourished fox-girl, she was also trembling in fear while aiming at Ivan with the assault rifle in her hands. The crowd that had prostrated to Ivan fled in fear, the only ones to remain being the fox-people hit by stray bullets and had now become corpses.
The fox-girl wanted to fire at Ivan, but the latter rapidly closed the distance and confiscated the gun for her. He grabbed her wrist to prevent her from running and ignored the girl as she struggled to get free, even to the point of flashing her sharp canines and biting down one his hand.
"Have you taken a liking to the little girl?" Mazur asked amusedly as he had also captured one of the beggars and suppressed him on the ground.
Ivan merely shrugged his shoulders. "Children are mouldable, guide them properly from when they are young, and they will forever be loyal to you. But to find a child who can overcome their instinctual fear is truly a rare thing."
Looking at the assault rifle in his other hand, Ivan couldn't help but also ask Mazur, "Even though the world has a different history and evolutionary cycle, why do they create the same weapons?"
"Because the technological development is primarily related with energy. Once a civilization discovers kinetic energy, they naturally find ways to use it for logistics and personal travel, like trains. With electricity comes more advanced studies on material composition, eventually leading into information age. Fission reactions provide greater sources of energy, and as a result of conflict more destructive weapons such as nuclear warheads."
"Inventions are developed as a result of new discoveries, so while the aesthetic appearances vary, the base technological tree remains the same."
Ivan nodded in understanding as the base hatch of the Poseidon lowered. The fox-man Mazur was leading quivered in terror, his legs giving out and preventing him from walking any further. Mazur paid no heed to this though and heartlessly just dragged him onwards.
In contrast to this, the young fox-girl Ivan was holding by the wrist began to act more like violently in an attempt to escape. It wasn't until he saw her nails bleeding from trying to scratch his hand that he stopped and tried to placate her. The young girl couldn't understand what he was saying though and continued her desperate struggle.
"Hiovus ku! Hiovus ku!" The girl screamed in her struggle with all her voice.
Ivan was unsure if she was shouting for him to let her go, or curse him, he could only wait until Mazur came up with a means to understand what they were saying before finding out.
Mazur dragged his captive to his lab, at which point even Ivan was unsure as to what his fate would be. The best scenario for the captive was some comprehensive scans of his body to understand his physiology. On the other end of the spectrum though, it was very possible for Mazur to directly remove and dissect his brain.
Ivan dragged the malnourished fox-girl to the dining area and pushed her into an empty seat in the middle of the room. As soon as he released her she tried to escape, so he had to put her back on the seat and motion for her to stay until she finally ended up sitting still.
He went over to the other side of the room and ordered the ships computer to prepare a meal. Ivan had expected the girl to try escape again, only to look over his shoulder and find that she was being surprisingly obedient in remaining at her seat. She had turned her head and was watching him with her large amber eyes.
The Poseidon still had a massive amount of food stored, none of which Ivan and Mazur could eat. He placed a dish along with a glass of water in front of the fox-girl, indicating for her to eat it. She was so malnourished the greatest thing he could do for her was give her a full meal.
"Savros… Ilis ptor von," The girl said meekly before picking at the foot with her fingers, ignoring the fresh blood on her nails from trying to scratch Ivan.
Ivan took a seat opposite and watched over her as he scooped large fists of food into her mouth with her hands as if she hadn't eaten in days.
Once she was done eating, Ivan pointed to himself and said, "Ivan."
He then pointed to her to indicate for her to say her name. The fox-girl looked down at the empty plate lifelessly and murmured, "…Kivsharr."
Ivan knew that this was some form of derogatory term, but he still didn't know what it meant.
"Hmm, so perhaps I should give you a name," Ivan spoke thoughtfully to the fox girl, despite knowing she couldn't understand what he was saying. "The old Latin word for fox is Vulpes, so let's call you Valeria."
Valeria, or so Ivan decided to call her for now, just sat in silence and looked at her plate. Her ears would twitch though as she listened to Ivan monologue.
Mazur entered the dining area a little while after with a strange cat like smile on his face. "This human specie is quite interesting. They're joints are more flexible, especially the ankles, than those of an original human. The bone density his much lighter and muscles designed for instantaneous bursts of strength. They are specialized in being both fast and agile. Of course, they are a little more fragile than an original human, so I guess it evens out in the end. We should think up a name for this specie of humans."
"Vulpes," Ivan stated simply as he watched Valeria's ears twitch occasionally. "Is that name taken?"
"No, I don't believe it is. What does it mean?"
"It's Latin, an ancient language from back in my time. It means 'fox'."
"A very appropriate name," Mazur nodded faintly, and thus the name for this human specie was decided, 'Vulpes'.
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The fox-eared, fox-tailed tailed humans stood up at the sound of Ivan's voice. He watched as their ears twitched and already knew that the appendages were definitely a part of their body.
Mazur barely spared a glance toward their appearance before commenting, "Actually, the greater mystery is that why throughout the galaxies we know, the evolution into humanity recurs so often. Compared to that, something like strange ears and a tail are nothing."
Ivan wanted to rebuff Mazur, but before he got the chance, the group of fox humans knelt before him and cried out in their strange language. Ivan didn't know what they were saying, but he understood they were pleading to him for something. Some of them even grabbed onto the corner of his clothes desperately, but the eel skin savagely cut open their hands and caused those people to retreat in fear and pain.
At the rear of the group, Ivan spotted a young malnourished girl about 13 years old, her unkempt hair a tangled mess extending halfway down her back. She was dressed in rags so dirty the original color could no longer be seen. She appeared to have been in a lot of conflicts as bandages stained in old blood could be seen on her body. A large circular hole had also been made on the side of one of her ears, causing the tip of the fox-ear to droop slightly.
The girl had amber eyes devoid of emotion, to the point where she appeared almost lifeless. What Ivan interesting him the most was how she was secluding from the rest of the group. They would look at her in scorn, some even called her 'kivsharr', something which seemed to be an insult.
Ivan walked toward the malnourished fox-girl slowly, the crowd of beggers rapidly parting in fear of being cut up just by touching his armor. The fox-girl, seeing Ivan walking over, calmly stared back without fear.
Ivan's perception was far greater than what the girl realized. He could see the dagger clenched in her hand behind her back clear as day. Her knuckles whitened around the handle of the blade as Ivan stopped in front of her and squatted slightly to match her height.
Stretching out a hand, he pinched the non-resistant girl's chin and moved he head from side to side to inspect her condition. The girl finally became aggressive, whether it was out of fear or desperation, and brought forth the knife to stab Ivan in the neck.
Ivan was completely prepared for this and releasing the girl's chin, shifted deeper in the fourth dimension. The girl threw her weight behind the dagger, but rather than stabbing Ivan in the neck as she intended, the attack passed straight though him. The lack of expected resistance caused the girl to lose her balance and stumble forward, falling through Ivan's body as if there was nothing there.
"Kivsharr!" Several people in the crowd cursed and spat on the ground before looking toward Ivan in fear and prostrated on the ground seeking forgiveness.
Ivan ignored the group of people as he heard the sound of running footsteps coming from between the trees. He wasn't sure what was going on but the group of people prostrated began to quiver in terror.
A group of five fox-men wielding strange automatic rifles and wearing a military uniform charged out of the surrounding trees. Perhaps it was a trait of these human specie, but they were incredibly agile and ran as fast as leopards.
The soldiers saw the Poseidon first and were completely stunned at its size. The spaceship towered above the trees which led both the refugees and the soldiers chasing them here, but they were all stunned by the sheer size of it once up close.
Ivan and Mazur were soon spotted, and while Ivan looked somewhat similar to them, Mazur, who was covered in silver fur and had a cat face, was completely alien.
"Masvir ruyat lemu!" One soldier shouted as the group nervously aimed their guns at the two.
"I assume they want us to surrender," Mazur commented wistfully. "It appears we are inside a country in a state of war."
"If we surrender or let them go, our position will be exposed. We can only kill them."
"Our ship is too big and doesn't have a cloaking device, we will be detected sooner or later anyway."
Ivan and Mazur's nonchalant ethereal voices unsettle the fox-men soldiers, and after several shouts, they opened fire. Ivan felt nostalgic seeing conventional assault rifles once again and stood still as the bullets passed through his body like he was an illusory image, completely unable to touch him.
The little fox girl who had vanished from Ivan's side as the soldiers arrived, appeared like a ghost beside one of the soldiers and stabbed her dagger through his eye, instantly killing him. She was ruthless as she grabbed his gun and instantly shot another soldier through the head.
The three remaining soldiers hadn't noticed this as they stared in horror at Ivan who was impervious to their bullets. Ivan walked toward them and when he was within five meters from one of them, spear shadow appeared momentarily between Ivan and the soldier before piercing through the soldier and shredding his body into two mangled pieces.
Blood and pieces of organs flew out of the soldier instantly became a corpse, and a silence fell upon the battlefield as everyone apart from Mazur was stunned.
As it was only a single face of Ivan's four-dimensional body which could manifest on the three-dimensional plane, that single face was naturally unable to hold the four-dimensional eel tooth spear. This didn't stop him however from using it to stab at the three-dimensional plane with his full body.
Within five meters of his body, he could undetectably strike with this lethal attack, the spear tip capable of tearing apart all three-dimensional matter.
The two remaining soldiers became terrified and tried to run away while randomly firing back, but Ivan didn't give them the chance to escape. He ran far quicker than the soldiers and an instant later, two more spear shadows flashed by and tore them into pieces.
When Ivan turned around, he saw the little malnourished fox-girl, she was also trembling in fear while aiming at Ivan with the assault rifle in her hands. The crowd that had prostrated to Ivan fled in fear, the only ones to remain being the fox-people hit by stray bullets and had now become corpses.
The fox-girl wanted to fire at Ivan, but the latter rapidly closed the distance and confiscated the gun for her. He grabbed her wrist to prevent her from running and ignored the girl as she struggled to get free, even to the point of flashing her sharp canines and biting down one his hand.
"Have you taken a liking to the little girl?" Mazur asked amusedly as he had also captured one of the beggars and suppressed him on the ground.
Ivan merely shrugged his shoulders. "Children are mouldable, guide them properly from when they are young, and they will forever be loyal to you. But to find a child who can overcome their instinctual fear is truly a rare thing."
Looking at the assault rifle in his other hand, Ivan couldn't help but also ask Mazur, "Even though the world has a different history and evolutionary cycle, why do they create the same weapons?"
"Because the technological development is primarily related with energy. Once a civilization discovers kinetic energy, they naturally find ways to use it for logistics and personal travel, like trains. With electricity comes more advanced studies on material composition, eventually leading into information age. Fission reactions provide greater sources of energy, and as a result of conflict more destructive weapons such as nuclear warheads."
"Inventions are developed as a result of new discoveries, so while the aesthetic appearances vary, the base technological tree remains the same."
Ivan nodded in understanding as the base hatch of the Poseidon lowered. The fox-man Mazur was leading quivered in terror, his legs giving out and preventing him from walking any further. Mazur paid no heed to this though and heartlessly just dragged him onwards.
In contrast to this, the young fox-girl Ivan was holding by the wrist began to act more like violently in an attempt to escape. It wasn't until he saw her nails bleeding from trying to scratch his hand that he stopped and tried to placate her. The young girl couldn't understand what he was saying though and continued her desperate struggle.
"Hiovus ku! Hiovus ku!" The girl screamed in her struggle with all her voice.
Ivan was unsure if she was shouting for him to let her go, or curse him, he could only wait until Mazur came up with a means to understand what they were saying before finding out.
Mazur dragged his captive to his lab, at which point even Ivan was unsure as to what his fate would be. The best scenario for the captive was some comprehensive scans of his body to understand his physiology. On the other end of the spectrum though, it was very possible for Mazur to directly remove and dissect his brain.
Ivan dragged the malnourished fox-girl to the dining area and pushed her into an empty seat in the middle of the room. As soon as he released her she tried to escape, so he had to put her back on the seat and motion for her to stay until she finally ended up sitting still.
He went over to the other side of the room and ordered the ships computer to prepare a meal. Ivan had expected the girl to try escape again, only to look over his shoulder and find that she was being surprisingly obedient in remaining at her seat. She had turned her head and was watching him with her large amber eyes.
The Poseidon still had a massive amount of food stored, none of which Ivan and Mazur could eat. He placed a dish along with a glass of water in front of the fox-girl, indicating for her to eat it. She was so malnourished the greatest thing he could do for her was give her a full meal.
"Savros… Ilis ptor von," The girl said meekly before picking at the foot with her fingers, ignoring the fresh blood on her nails from trying to scratch Ivan.
Ivan took a seat opposite and watched over her as he scooped large fists of food into her mouth with her hands as if she hadn't eaten in days.
Once she was done eating, Ivan pointed to himself and said, "Ivan."
He then pointed to her to indicate for her to say her name. The fox-girl looked down at the empty plate lifelessly and murmured, "…Kivsharr."
Ivan knew that this was some form of derogatory term, but he still didn't know what it meant.
"Hmm, so perhaps I should give you a name," Ivan spoke thoughtfully to the fox girl, despite knowing she couldn't understand what he was saying. "The old Latin word for fox is Vulpes, so let's call you Valeria."
Valeria, or so Ivan decided to call her for now, just sat in silence and looked at her plate. Her ears would twitch though as she listened to Ivan monologue.
Mazur entered the dining area a little while after with a strange cat like smile on his face. "This human specie is quite interesting. They're joints are more flexible, especially the ankles, than those of an original human. The bone density his much lighter and muscles designed for instantaneous bursts of strength. They are specialized in being both fast and agile. Of course, they are a little more fragile than an original human, so I guess it evens out in the end. We should think up a name for this specie of humans."
"Vulpes," Ivan stated simply as he watched Valeria's ears twitch occasionally. "Is that name taken?"
"No, I don't believe it is. What does it mean?"
"It's Latin, an ancient language from back in my time. It means 'fox'."
"A very appropriate name," Mazur nodded faintly, and thus the name for this human specie was decided, 'Vulpes'.
The fox-eared, fox-tailed tailed humans stood up at the sound of Ivan's voice. He watched as their ears twitched and already knew that the appendages were definitely a part of their body.Mazur barely spared a glance toward their appearance before commenting, "Actually, the greater mystery is that why throughout the galaxies we know, the evolution into humanity recurs so often. Compared to that, something like strange ears and a tail are nothing."Ivan wanted to rebuff Mazur, but before he got the chance, the group of fox humans knelt before him and cried out in their strange language. Ivan didn't know what they were saying, but he understood they were pleading to him for something. Some of them even grabbed onto the corner of his clothes desperately, but the eel skin savagely cut open their hands and caused those people to retreat in fear and pain.At the rear of the group, Ivan spotted a young malnourished girl about 13 years old, her unkempt hair a tangled mess extending halfway down her back. She was dressed in rags so dirty the original color could no longer be seen. She appeared to have been in a lot of conflicts as bandages stained in old blood could be seen on her body. A large circular hole had also been made on the side of one of her ears, causing the tip of the fox-ear to droop slightly.The girl had amber eyes devoid of emotion, to the point where she appeared almost lifeless. What Ivan interesting him the most was how she was secluding from the rest of the group. They would look at her in scorn, some even called her 'kivsharr', something which seemed to be an insult.Ivan walked toward the malnourished fox-girl slowly, the crowd of beggers rapidly parting in fear of being cut up just by touching his armor. The fox-girl, seeing Ivan walking over, calmly stared back without fear.Ivan's perception was far greater than what the girl realized. He could see the dagger clenched in her hand behind her back clear as day. Her knuckles whitened around the handle of the blade as Ivan stopped in front of her and squatted slightly to match her height.Stretching out a hand, he pinched the non-resistant girl's chin and moved he head from side to side to inspect her condition. The girl finally became aggressive, whether it was out of fear or desperation, and brought forth the knife to stab Ivan in the neck.Ivan was completely prepared for this and releasing the girl's chin, shifted deeper in the fourth dimension. The girl threw her weight behind the dagger, but rather than stabbing Ivan in the neck as she intended, the attack passed straight though him. The lack of expected resistance caused the girl to lose her balance and stumble forward, falling through Ivan's body as if there was nothing there."Kivsharr!" Several people in the crowd cursed and spat on the ground before looking toward Ivan in fear and prostrated on the ground seeking forgiveness.Ivan ignored the group of people as he heard the sound of running footsteps coming from between the trees. He wasn't sure what was going on but the group of people prostrated began to quiver in terror.A group of five fox-men wielding strange automatic rifles and wearing a military uniform charged out of the surrounding trees. Perhaps it was a trait of these human specie, but they were incredibly agile and ran as fast as leopards.The soldiers saw the Poseidon first and were completely stunned at its size. The spaceship towered above the trees which led both the refugees and the soldiers chasing them here, but they were all stunned by the sheer size of it once up close.Ivan and Mazur were soon spotted, and while Ivan looked somewhat similar to them, Mazur, who was covered in silver fur and had a cat face, was completely alien."Masvir ruyat lemu!" One soldier shouted as the group nervously aimed their guns at the two."I assume they want us to surrender," Mazur commented wistfully. "It appears we are inside a country in a state of war.""If we surrender or let them go, our position will be exposed. We can only kill them.""Our ship is too big and doesn't have a cloaking device, we will be detected sooner or later anyway."Ivan and Mazur's nonchalant ethereal voices unsettle the fox-men soldiers, and after several shouts, they opened fire. Ivan felt nostalgic seeing conventional assault rifles once again and stood still as the bullets passed through his body like he was an illusory image, completely unable to touch him.The little fox girl who had vanished from Ivan's side as the soldiers arrived, appeared like a ghost beside one of the soldiers and stabbed her dagger through his eye, instantly killing him. She was ruthless as she grabbed his gun and instantly shot another soldier through the head.The three remaining soldiers hadn't noticed this as they stared in horror at Ivan who was impervious to their bullets. Ivan walked toward them and when he was within five meters from one of them, spear shadow appeared momentarily between Ivan and the soldier before piercing through the soldier and shredding his body into two mangled pieces.Blood and pieces of organs flew out of the soldier instantly became a corpse, and a silence fell upon the battlefield as everyone apart from Mazur was stunned.As it was only a single face of Ivan's four-dimensional body which could manifest on the three-dimensional plane, that single face was naturally unable to hold the four-dimensional eel tooth spear. This didn't stop him however from using it to stab at the three-dimensional plane with his full body.Within five meters of his body, he could undetectably strike with this lethal attack, the spear tip capable of tearing apart all three-dimensional matter.The two remaining soldiers became terrified and tried to run away while randomly firing back, but Ivan didn't give them the chance to escape. He ran far quicker than the soldiers and an instant later, two more spear shadows flashed by and tore them into pieces.When Ivan turned around, he saw the little malnourished fox-girl, she was also trembling in fear while aiming at Ivan with the assault rifle in her hands. The crowd that had prostrated to Ivan fled in fear, the only ones to remain being the fox-people hit by stray bullets and had now become corpses.The fox-girl wanted to fire at Ivan, but the latter rapidly closed the distance and confiscated the gun for her. He grabbed her wrist to prevent her from running and ignored the girl as she struggled to get free, even to the point of flashing her sharp canines and biting down one his hand."Have you taken a liking to the little girl?" Mazur asked amusedly as he had also captured one of the beggars and suppressed him on the ground.Ivan merely shrugged his shoulders. "Children are mouldable, guide them properly from when they are young, and they will forever be loyal to you. But to find a child who can overcome their instinctual fear is truly a rare thing."Looking at the assault rifle in his other hand, Ivan couldn't help but also ask Mazur, "Even though the world has a different history and evolutionary cycle, why do they create the same weapons?""Because the technological development is primarily related with energy. Once a civilization discovers kinetic energy, they naturally find ways to use it for logistics and personal travel, like trains. With electricity comes more advanced studies on material composition, eventually leading into information age. Fission reactions provide greater sources of energy, and as a result of conflict more destructive weapons such as nuclear warheads.""Inventions are developed as a result of new discoveries, so while the aesthetic appearances vary, the base technological tree remains the same."Ivan nodded in understanding as the base hatch of the Poseidon lowered. The fox-man Mazur was leading quivered in terror, his legs giving out and preventing him from walking any further. Mazur paid no heed to this though and heartlessly just dragged him onwards.In contrast to this, the young fox-girl Ivan was holding by the wrist began to act more like violently in an attempt to escape. It wasn't until he saw her nails bleeding from trying to scratch his hand that he stopped and tried to placate her. The young girl couldn't understand what he was saying though and continued her desperate struggle."Hiovus ku! Hiovus ku!" The girl screamed in her struggle with all her voice.Ivan was unsure if she was shouting for him to let her go, or curse him, he could only wait until Mazur came up with a means to understand what they were saying before finding out.Mazur dragged his captive to his lab, at which point even Ivan was unsure as to what his fate would be. The best scenario for the captive was some comprehensive scans of his body to understand his physiology. On the other end of the spectrum though, it was very possible for Mazur to directly remove and dissect his brain.Ivan dragged the malnourished fox-girl to the dining area and pushed her into an empty seat in the middle of the room. As soon as he released her she tried to escape, so he had to put her back on the seat and motion for her to stay until she finally ended up sitting still.He went over to the other side of the room and ordered the ships computer to prepare a meal. Ivan had expected the girl to try escape again, only to look over his shoulder and find that she was being surprisingly obedient in remaining at her seat. She had turned her head and was watching him with her large amber eyes.The Poseidon still had a massive amount of food stored, none of which Ivan and Mazur could eat. He placed a dish along with a glass of water in front of the fox-girl, indicating for her to eat it. She was so malnourished the greatest thing he could do for her was give her a full meal."Savros Ilis ptor von," The girl said meekly before picking at the foot with her fingers, ignoring the fresh blood on her nails from trying to scratch Ivan.Ivan took a seat opposite and watched over her as he scooped large fists of food into her mouth with her hands as if she hadn't eaten in days.Once she was done eating, Ivan pointed to himself and said, "Ivan."He then pointed to her to indicate for her to say her name. The fox-girl looked down at the empty plate lifelessly and murmured, "Kivsharr."Ivan knew that this was some form of derogatory term, but he still didn't know what it meant."Hmm, so perhaps I should give you a name," Ivan spoke thoughtfully to the fox girl, despite knowing she couldn't understand what he was saying. "The old Latin word for fox is Vulpes, so let's call you Valeria."Valeria, or so Ivan decided to call her for now, just sat in silence and looked at her plate. Her ears would twitch though as she listened to Ivan monologue.Mazur entered the dining area a little while after with a strange cat like smile on his face. "This human specie is quite interesting. They're joints are more flexible, especially the ankles, than those of an original human. The bone density his much lighter and muscles designed for instantaneous bursts of strength. They are specialized in being both fast and agile. Of course, they are a little more fragile than an original human, so I guess it evens out in the end. We should think up a name for this specie of humans.""Vulpes," Ivan stated simply as he watched Valeria's ears twitch occasionally. "Is that name taken?""No, I don't believe it is. What does it mean?""It's Latin, an ancient language from back in my time. It means 'fox'.""A very appropriate name," Mazur nodded faintly, and thus the name for this human specie was decided, 'Vulpes'.
