By S. T. Eleu

nixtip ay-loy, ip’n calm uffno remain 
while es-tee injection blemps clabe
now, rabtunsic inbee not much longer, mayt –
nixtip, nixtip, nixlo, hello, hello, hello 
understanding?

yes, but what was in that needle?

a little orunz, a little n’krees
you know — basic gray matter modifiers
so we can communicate

you are the sociolinguist Earthship sent down, no?

because if we erred again 
and you are just another dignitary
or cleric or celebrity or [gulp] reporter

we apologise

the effects of the mods should dissipate 
within two or three sweat cycles, maybe even one
since your neurology would be less than 
optimally wired 

I am the sociolinguist     but only the sociolinguist
solely here to help those with power on my planet understand 
cultural context

ap roaf temp vuh pam
ip fenzempf ip tam

not again
please tell me I do not need another injection

you do not need another injection

but more colourful idioms do take longer to process

so let me rephrase

recreation before business will keep us real
and make it all the more difficult to deceive the deal 

so let me, your Rend cultural liaison, take you out tonight
so as to show you what an evening in Grenshad City can hold

* * *

thanks for joining me at the bar
the sport on the screen is jexflin, similar to your football
but players use only their tails
and our world tournaments occur every two cycles
for anything less would be an affront 
to the passions, pockets, and prefrontal cortices
of the fans

and would be an absurdity 
no Rendlin could either fathom or tolerate, no

true in perpetuity, my new Earth friend

with all this fervor for sport, Maynoo
would you say competition is favored 
over cooperation on Rend

not in any way

we engage in sports solely as fantasy role play
as a way to sate primal energies
but on the day to day, omnisymbiosis governs
not only our actions, values, aspirations 
but also our connection to Rend, as lifeforce

in fact
overtaxing Rend’s resources is an indefensible crime

and by indefensible crime, you mean
punishable by reclamation

* * *

how did it go last night at the talks

in a word: bizarre
in two: stomach churning
in three: WTF

am I right in understanding
you eat each other

only in cases of 
reclamation and endlife donations

as long as the body is fresh and disease free

I did not catch what you said there
at the end

no matter, but the concept cannnot be
all that alien to you

aging worlds have to be creative in how 
they manage overpopulation and dwindling resources

as the dominant species upon this planet
we have done all we can to promise our world 
we will not grind it down into an uninhabitable wasteland
and have long since come to terms with the fact

we are our own most prolific source of protein

to that point, upon death, we may elect to be distilled
into nutrient-rich food pellets

of course, reclamation of the untenable among us
augments the supply and allows the criminally indebted 
one last chance to be productive rather than reductive

I would think your populace would have caught on
to the whole being cannibalised consequence
or to the idea that if you are what you eat
it might not be the best idea to snack on a serial killer

and there would go your supply
that would leave a void affront demand

a void with fangs, reduced taboos, interminable hunger

in theory, yes — in actuality, not so much
we are all animals who have always done animal things

when stomachs grumble, when obsessions brew
when vitriols erupt, when loves sour

face it, we live in an eat or be eaten universe
we’ve just learned how to have our cake
and double frost it too
without wiping 68% of the biodiversity off our planet

and if we are to compare our two worlds 
you cannot deny that Rend remains

lush in verdancy
rich in resources
wild in its biodiversity

while Earth, again, suffers 
suffers its latest in a long line
of catastrophic environmental collapses
to the point that it is now at risk of apex predator extinction 

. . .

your silence speaks truer than any natural law
forgive my frankness
but the problems facing your world require 

honest

examination
if your kind is to survive

* * *

evening, Earth wordsmith
news reports say final rounds of talks have begun
can you confirm

yes

so you now know why you are here
as sociolinguist

yes

less to serve as translator for dignitaries
than to help the people of Earth shift
the very foundation of their cultural perceptions

yes

you have a surplus; we have a deficit
your planet is dying; we have a solution

yes

and yet you seem so very, very sullen
is it because you fear 
the deal will be made or not be made

yes

it seems you need an evening away
from troubles and duty

you could go to the beach and drink with the firin’ flies
or you could go out with me and drink your ills away
in good company

I’d like to          but only if the alcohol
wasn’t made from your mother

our alcohol is plant and microbe based
anyway, Mother was reclaimed ages ago

sorry, I had no idea

don’t be
I’m the one who turned her in

stop right there

I do not want to know anything more

just need to souse myself to oblivion 
then curse my world, my people

people who couldn’t solve a simple sustainability equation
ever ignoring the consequences of perpetually 
overtaxing(x) a planet(p)

p – 2(x + 10)2 = ∞f’d, with [p] = {𝑥 ∈ ℝ: 2 > p}

people who, now, must contend with being 
the newest chicken nuggets of the galaxy

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