Tisis

Zero (N)

Log entry 23

Yesterday, I finally managed to fix the auxiliary power generator to make the distress beacon work again. This will prove much more beneficial towards our rescue than the large 'SOS' Sirus built last week from all kinds of rocks, but I'll have to give him some merit for trying. It can't have been easy to move all those stones into position, much less make them align properly. Now all that's left is hope that the patchwork I did won't burn through before anyone hears the message.

Status update on Sirus' progress with Zero.

After initial problems with the specimen Sirus decided to call 'Zero', it appears that it has accepted Sirus as its new Alpha. Our attempts to find its pack in the past have all come up empty, which, in conjunction with its apparent fondness of Sirus, leads me to the conclusion that its pack either left it behind or got killed, although we found no traces or remains of a similar creature.

Not that that really means all that much on this planet.

Zero remains wary of and often growls at me whenever I approach Sirus. It appears that it still considers me a threat to its new pack.

I hope that it will accept me as another part of the pack soon though. I would hate it, if it attacked me during a high stress situation.

It would clearly break Sirus' heart if I had to put the creature down.

"I think it would help, if you stopped referring to him as 'it', Nym," Sirus suddenly addresses me, while playing with Zero.

I seriously need to stop murmuring to myself when writing these logs.

I watch the two of them for a moment longer and shake my head at his carelessness. That thing has proven to be capable of biting through bone easily, that he plays with it without even some sort of protection on himself is testament to his foolishness.

I remember confronting him about it, but he just smiled at me and explained that trust is the beginning of everything...it's a downright miracle that he hasn't lost a limb yet, honestly!

I clear my throat and ask, "What do you mean with that?"
"You keep talking about Zero as if he was a thing. He is not. He is a living creature and he has feelings. Would you like being called a thing?"
"That...he is an animal, Sirus! He lacks the intellect to even grasp the concept of identity, let alone assume one for himself!"

Sirus shakes his head and coos to Zero, "Don't listen to the mean old Asmodea. She thought I was 'just an animal' too at one point, she'll come around. Eventually."
I mutter, "The verdicts still not out on that issue...", but the two of them just ignore me.

I sigh and look at our little hideout.
Ever since Zero joined our merry little band, things have really started to pick up. He is doing terrifyingly well at hunting, often taking down small animals all by himself and presenting them to Sirus like a trophy of some sort.

We even took down a few larger animals with Zero cutting off their escape routes and Sirus delivering the killing blow...come to think of it, Sirus has been acclimating to the new surroundings far better than I did.
If this continues, he might not even want to leave once help arrives...if it ever does.

I look over to the two of them again. The way these two interact with each other is on a level that goes completely over my head though...sometimes it feels like Zero is just an extension of Sirus, but of course that's nonsense.

Humans aren't capable of feats like that...but maybe Zero is?
I've once read, that people say more with their body language than they say with their voices, so maybe Zero is naturally gifted in interpreting Sirus' body language and reacts incredibly well to the vocal cues he gives out?

But it takes years of training and repetition to teach an animal this level of obedience and yet Sirus managed to do it one month.
Either that guy's the best trainer I've ever heard about...or that...dog...is far more intelligent than I gave him credit for.

But if it is, if it truly possesses an intellect capable of actually perceiving emotions other than the basics, if it is truly capable of understanding and thinking rationally instead of acting on mere instinct, it is even more dangerous than I had originally assumed.

For if it is capable of thinking rationally...it might well betray us the instant the odds turn against our favor.

Which can happen at any given moment.