Voice

[gundhamster]

[As the recording starts, there's the faint sound of movement in the background as Gundham is exploring a bit of forest.]

So, as it seems our 'hosts' - if we can truly call them that - are intent on keeping us here, it would behoove us to acquaint ourselves with the surroundings. I will say that as far as prisons go, this is not the worst. However, I do have a question. Are any that can access this familiar with the local wildlife? I've been attempting to observe but having just arrived, I'm sure my scent is unfamiliar enough to have them on edge.

However... there is wildlife here. That in itself is... unexpected.

Comments

[gundhamster]

No, I cannot talk to them as I can you, however that is not an issue. I have spent my life studying and learning about various animals, far more than I have spent learning of humans if I'm honest. I have no need for such pedestrian communication as talking.

We understand each other perfectly fine without it.

[disasdeer]

So what do you do with them if you don't talk? Grunt and make noises? Animals still talk in their own way here, by my understanding. There's nothing pedestrian about being civilized.

[gundhamster]

I listen and observe. I have learned how to read body language and understand their needs and desires. There is a lot to learn from the natural world to those with the patience to listen.

[disasdeer]

You seem very knowledgeable about animals.

[ He's crossed fully into 'fucking with this guy' zone. ]

Is that a good assumption?

[gundhamster]

Indeed it would be! The mortals of my realm even ascribed the title of "Ultimate Breeder" to me, but such a title only scratches the surface of my true power!

[disasdeer]

What does being the "Ultimate Breeder" even mean?

[ Because he is sure that he has a wrong idea. ]

What do you breed?

[gundhamster]

In Japan, it is customary to have an 'animal breeding club' as part of after-school activities that focus on taking care of various animals, usually rodents of some kind given the relative ease in caring for them. However, I took care of many animals from dogs and rabbits to bears and wolves.

[He rattles this all off with a casualness to it that sounds like he's recited such things a million times before. For him, caring for animals is just second nature.]

I've helped several species be brought off endangered lists as well as having bred a new breed of hamster.

[He still hasn't ascertained the fate of that hamster after the whole... thing he was involved in took him away from them.]

[disasdeer]

[ Everything Gundham is describing is kind of... creepy? Yeah. Creepy is the word he's searching for because breeding animals is odd when you are one. He'll try to understand this. ]

That's a club activity?

[ Interesting. ]

Why hamsters, though? They're pretty...uh, tiny. I mean, it sounds safer than wolves.

[ This is all weird, give him a moment. ]

[gundhamster]

Yes, in a school setting it is designed to teach responsibility and empathy to children.

As for my hamsters, they are but one of my projects. They are often overlooked because they are simply thought of as rodents that are beneath the notice of most. However, I have dealt with wolves, bears, and all manner of animals in the past.

[disasdeer]

Interesting. Does it work?

[ Sorry he's still weirded out by the entire idea of it. ]

I've had small mammal classmates, even hamsters and mice. Never underestimate someone small.

[gundhamster]

I wouldn't know. The work I undertook was not sanctioned by an official club, but rather carried out on my own. Humans are a deceitful lot that I would prefer to avoid.

[The wording of that statement sounds... odd to Gundham but he's just going to assume for the moment that this is someone who feels as passionately about animals as he does.]

Wise words. The more unassuming the vessel, the greater the power they can wield.

[disasdeer]

Are they? The ones I've met here are interesting, not necessarily deceitful, though. Haven't known them long enough to judge.

[ He wouldn't know, of course. ]

True in many ways.

[ He's been there, done that for most of his life. Hello being constantly underestimated. ]

I have to ask, what is your familiar?

[gundhamster]

[Gundham is just going to let the subject of his own experience with betrayal slide. No need to get into that for now at least. Just going to focus on the question.]

A direbear. Something of a... ironic perversion of my history, but the less said about that, the better.

[disasdeer]

Ah.

[ Doesn't ask. Doesn't need to know because he wouldn't share, either. The bear thing sure causes some flashbacks for him. ]

I've never seen one of those before. Or heard of them. Are they larger than a normal bear?

[gundhamster]

[Gundham is thankful for the lack of questions. The resemblance to the pet bear he had and the maniacal automaton that plagued his world was enough to unnerve him.]

When outside, he prefers to be the size of a small horse, but shrinks down to large dog size when indoors.

[disasdeer]

So...not too big.

[ Listen, man, his reference for bears and horses both is a little odd. ]

Oh that's smaller than I thought when I think of a bear.

[gundhamster]

[There's a long pause as Gundham does a mental recap of all the bear breeds he'd worked with over the years. As well as horses to make sure he wasn't misremembering.]

What breed of bear have you encountered that would grow to such size? My familiar is larger than any known breed of bear, to my knowledge.

[disasdeer]

The one bear I knew was...over two hundred centimeters. A brown bear.

[ Listen man, he has a certain mental image that he's putting on here, and knowing it's a familiar means there's no reason that he couldn't look like someone at home. ]

He towered over me and others.

[ Louis is...considerably shorter. ]

[gundhamster]

[That statement only confuses Gundham more.]

By brown bear standards that is fairly average. There are brown bears that can grow to be up to 273 centimeters.

[There's a beat.]

...how large are the horses you're familiar with?

[disasdeer]

The ones I've met are just a bit shorter, I think.

[ Yahya is larger than life, though so it's really hard to compare. ]

Definitely not larger, though. Seems larger, but I think it's just who it was not what species he was.

[gundhamster]

Where on Earth are you from that this is the norm?

[Gundham is just going to be very confused for a while.]

[disasdeer]

A place without humans. It's just us animals.

[ It's fine, Louis is just so used to not having a clue what people are talking about that he readily accepts some things. ]

[gundhamster]

[Gundham looks at his phone incredulously. He's going to overlook the 'us' animals part because in his mind he's thinking Louis is talking about living alone among the wilderness like Tarzan.]

...I did not realize such things actually happened outside of movies and books.

[disasdeer]

The no humans thing? I mean, it is what it is where I'm from. Maybe that's fictional words for you.