Mission log

Mission log, day 38

Life on this planet seems to be dominated by two species, with both exhibiting a startling diversity in body shape, body size, skin coloration, and hair color/length/texture/coverage. One of the two species is bipedal, and tends to wear clothing, especially when outside the home. The style, color, material, and amount of this clothing is widely variable, though I have been unable to discern a pattern, as individual members of the species often show a great difference in opinion on what clothing is appropriate for a location, situation, or even current weather.

The second primary species is quadrupedal, and generally relies on a dense coat of hair covering its entire body for protection from the elements, and for whatever social paradigms which demand that the bipeds wear clothing.  A select few of the quadrupeds have been observed wearing simple garments, but these individuals seem generally displeased, and I have concluded that they are experiencing some sort of public shaming ritual as a punishment. Nearly all of the quadrupeds wear a single ornament around the throat; the material, color, and decoration of this item shows nearly as much variation as that of the bipeds’ clothing, and displays a small collection of bright metal chips.  Current assumption is that this throat band is a distinction of rank; further study is required to determine whether it signifies rank among the quadrupeds, or to show superiority of all quadrupeds over that of the bipeds.  When quadrupeds are seen in public with bipeds, they are almost always joined by a strap leading from this throat band to the biped’s hand, probably to indicate some form of pair-bonding.

It is by observing these pairings in public that I have discovered a most astonishing behavior linking the two species, in a symbiosis which is unique in my experience.  The quadrupeds generate small deposits of organic material once or twice a day.  The bipeds, in turn, collect these deposits in polymer pouches.  This behavior leads me to believe that the organic material must be highly valued, because it is collected as soon as the quadrupeds create them, and the pouches are usually sealed immediately, perhaps to preserve freshness.  On several occasions, I have followed the biped/quadruped pairings over several degrees of their sun’s course through the sky, and observed that after collection, these pouches are carried for the remainder of their foray, sometimes suspended from the strap which marks the pair-bonding.  Sometimes, the pouches are deposited in collection devices supplied by the Municipal Authority.  I believe that this a form of taxation, levied to defray costs of several stations I’ve seen to dispense the polymer pouches for deposit collection.

Clearly, the value of these deposits must be great, but I have failed in my attempts to capitalize on this knowledge.  In rare cases, I have seen bipeds ignoring the leavings of their quadrupedal companions.  These must be individuals of great wealth and power, who have no need for the bounty of their pair-bonded quadrupeds.  In such cases, I have taken it upon myself to collect the deposits myself, hoping to trade them for local currency.  Every seven days, a gathering of vendors congregates in the heart of the community to sell fruiting bodies and edible roots of several plant species, muscle tissue from less valuable quadrupeds and bipeds, ovum with crunchy shells, and baked comestibles.  I believed this would be an excellent opportunity to both experience the trade system of these people, and learn more of the value of quadruped deposits.  I secured a table and piled it high with a collection I had made over the past week, but was unable to make a single sale.  In fact, I observed most of the bipeds contorting their facial features and moving away from my wares, although in a curious twist, the quadrupeds showed some interest.  Perhaps the samples I had collected had lost their vital freshness.

There is another possible explanation for my commercial failure.  The color, consistency, texture, odor, and size of the deposits is nearly as diverse as that of the quadrupeds who leave them.  I confess that I only tested the flavor of one sample, and was so displeased that I have made no further comparisons of that sensory experience.  Perhaps the samples I had collected for sale did not display enough variety, as did the plant and animal matter of other vendors, or maybe additional processing is required before the product is commercially viable.