The Very Hungry Vel'Koz

by ILoveEpikMeme

In the light of the moon, a little pile of ash lay on the ground. On one of what the indigenous intelligent species called a "Sunday morning", the warm sun came up, and a not-so-little void monster burst out of the ashes. He started to look for some food. Each day of the week, he disintegrated a town for the knowledge within. But he was still hungry.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: A New Hope

As Vel'Koz drifted over the terrain, he directed his mind to what new endeavour he could put his efforts into. There was nothing for him to learn about the biology of the different species on this planet, of course, but could there be another aspect of these life forms' insignificant existences that he could examine?

A quick grey streak crossed his path, and Vel'Koz, swift as one of the tube-like creatures that infested this place that the species here called "snakes", calculated its trajectory and intercepted it with a beam of void energy, disintegrating the animal as it was disappearing into the "trees". He learnt nothing new from the creature, but there was no harm in trying: though he was hunting for a new purpose in life, he still continued to destroy all in his path, just in case he could find a single additional secret about these beasts that had been hidden from him.

After having annihilated scores of these animals and found absolutely nothing new from them, water had begun to fall from the large clouds of moisture in the air, as it sometimes did on this planet. Through the light veil of liquid, Vel'Koz could see a settlement of humans in the distance, perched at the crest of a hill. In the past, this would have excited him immensely, for it was always intriguing to test how they would react to his sudden appearance and rather rigorous search for information. However, none of them ever survived preliminary testing, so it dawned on him that he should examine the humans using alternative methods.

As he focused his primary eye upon the village, he noticed some of the population flapping their "mouths" at each other from under the cover of some of the structures as they seemed wont to do. From his first arrival here, Vel'Koz had always found this strange: what purpose could this serve? It was somewhat of a mystery to him. His first thought on this observation was communication, but if that were so, why was so much discussion needed? Were their languages simply inefficient at conveying large amounts of material? Rubbing his tentacles together in anticipation, and scratching his head with his last, he decided on a new approach to data acquisition: for the moment, he would observe the humans without being present, and obtain the knowledge about their behaviour in this way. Creating an intrusion would only mean that the samples started the incessant screaming and crying, and Vel'Koz was tired of hearing such pitiful noises. Therefore, he dug his appendages into the soft, moist earth, and watched the humans from a distance.