Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Furry Alien "People"?

As soon as the spaceship landed, Isabel came over. "We need to talk," she said. "Well, we need to talk," said Holloway, stepping out of the boat. "Can you stop telling people I asked Carl to detonate the explosives?" "What?" Isabel said. "Stop telling people I told Carl to detonate the explosives," Holloway said. "You did have Carl detonate the explosives," Isabel said. "Yes, but you don't have to tell anyone," said Holloway.At this time, the protagonist of the topic came over, wagging his tail.Holloway patted it: "I'm obviously known all over the stars for it, and I'd rather not be that famous."

"If you train your pet to blow things up, people will know about it," Isabel said. "And, just to clarify, I didn't say it. The only time I said it was at the hearing, and I remind you , Jack, the reason for the hearing is that you did not follow the procedures, and you are trying to save trouble." "You don't have to speak out at the hearing," Holloway said. "Really?" Isabelle said, pursing her lips tightly. "My understanding is that if someone is forced to testify in a company hearing, she will lose her job if she doesn't tell the truth. Someone asks 'Have you ever witnessed Any other survey violations by Jack Holloway?’ It’s prudent to say so.”

"It made my situation even more difficult," Holloway said. "Sorry for the inconvenience I have caused you by telling the truth about the stupid things you have done." Isabel quickly whispered a long series—she was out of breath, "But since you mentioned it, you still have to say that I lied." The other things you said at the hearing didn't make it easier for me. After the hearing concluded that there was no evidence of illegal operation, I also added a note to my work record. It said that my "judgment may be affected by intimacy Or the bad influence of an affair'. I think maybe this is right, because I choose to be with you, obviously poor judgment. But not the bad influence they think, and I definitely don't deserve such a negative comment, Because you lied, Jack."

Holloway looked at Isabel, remembering the cold anger she had vented on him after the hearing, an outburst that had a faint aftertaste. "I said I'm sorry," Holloway said. "Yeah, you're going to give me that rock," said Isabel, "and I told you, I'd be happy to accept it if you were really sorry. But you're still mad at me for what you did wrong." Angry about it. So I guess I'll wait until the day you're really sorry." At this moment, Baby Fluffy walked up to Isabel and tugged at her pant legs.Isabel looked down.The baby stretched out her hands and Isabel picked it up, cradled it in her arms, and scratched its head.Fluffy seems to be enjoying it.

"It's really like a cat," said Holloway.The conversation with Isabel took a turn for the worse, and Holloway was about to change the subject. "It really doesn't look like a cat," Isabelle said. "That's why I'm going to talk to you, but you're accusing me of talking about Carl, and we're digressing." "I'm sorry," said Holloway, "I offer you a timely little apology. I've had a meeting with Weedon Aubrey VII to talk about it." "Well, I guess it wasn't a very pleasant meeting," said Isabelle. "Yeah," Holloway said, "he was so arrogant to me, I was so hostile to him, he arrogantly threw me a contemptuous deal, I threw him back in his face, and told him to take the law if he messed with me again." means."

"Oh, you do that all the time," said Isabel. "I guess so," said Holloway. "The better I get to know you, the more I can understand why you live miles away from other people," Isabelle said. "Let's get back to what you were trying to say," said Holloway, making his way to the cabin, where he had to get a can of beer. "Okay," Isabel said, "these fluffy, these animals you found, I'm starting to wonder if they're animals." "I think biologists would laugh at you if you said they were plants," Holloway said.

"I obviously don't mean that," Isabel said. "When I say I don't think they're animals, I mean I don't think they're animals. I think there's something else about them." Holloway stopped and turned to face Isabel. "Tell me, you're not going to say what I guess you're going to say," he said, "because I know I don't want to hear it." "I think they're intelligent beings," said Isabel. "I think these creatures have a level of intelligence beyond the average animal. These little things are like humans, Jack."

Holloway turned angrily, threw up his hands, and continued walking towards the cabin. "You can tell me before I reject half a billion credits, Isabel," he said. Isabel followed him, puzzled. "What does it matter?" she asked. "Zara 23 is a third-class planet," said Holloway, stopping in front of the hut and pointing at the Fluffy who seemed to be dozing off. "If this is a 'person,' then Zara 23 is If one of the third-level planets has local intelligent creatures, the Zara Group's survey and mining agreement will be invalidated. This means that everything here has to stop, Isabel. No mining, no drilling, and no mining No more. I can't get a penny out of the sunstone."

"Well, I'm sorry you may have lost a little money, Jack," said Isabel. "My God, Isabel!" Holloway opened the door. "A little money? Hundreds of millions of credits. Billions, billions! Calling that a little money is like saying the forest fire happens to be used to roast marshmallows." ’” He went into the cabin, and Isabel followed. Inside the hut, the plushs were lazily resting around.It was stuffy and hot outside, and Holloway's cabin had air conditioning.Holloway looked around, Mommy Fluffy took a book from the bookshelf, and she and Dad Fluffy were studying that book seriously.He took a closer look, and Mama Mao Mao held it upside down.

"Maybe they're not as smart as you think," Holloway said to Isabel, pointing to the upside-down book.He went to the kitchen refrigerator and got a can of beer. Isabel looked at him and put Fluffy down.It walked quickly towards its family.Isabel walked to the kitchen, "Daddy Fluffy," she called.Papa Momo raised his head curiously from behind the book, and then walked towards the kitchen. "Excuse me, please," Isabel said to Jack.She pushed him away to get something from the refrigerator, and she took the smoked turkey, cheese, mayonnaise, and mustard and put them on the small kitchen table.Then he closed the refrigerator door, crossed the kitchen counter and took the last two slices of bread, which he also placed on the table.Finally, she opened the utensil drawer, took out a butter knife, and placed it next to the food.She looked down at Mao Mao.

"Papa Fluffy," said Isabelle, "a sandwich." Mao Mao let out a happy cry. Four minutes later, all the Fluffy's daddy's sandwiches were eaten, and although he was clumsy, he waved the butter knife and divided the sandwich into six almost equal parts, and gave the last piece to Carl solemnly. "You can teach it to do that," Holloway said. "I also taught a dog to detonate explosives." “I don’t mean to belittle Carl, I love him,” Isabelle said, “but letting an animal step on the detonation panel for a snack is not the same thing as teaching it to make a sandwich, let alone sharing it equally among five other animals.” "A monkey would do that," said Holloway. "Tell me which one," Isabel said. "I'm not a biologist," Holloway said. "Really," Isabel sneered softly, "and one more little thing, even if I could train Papa Fluffy to make sandwiches, I wouldn't have. Not long after you went to a meeting, I walked in and found him making sandwiches by himself. Either it has seen you do it, or it is smarter than I thought, either way it proves my conjecture." "It's seen me do it," said Holloway, putting away the sandwich ingredients. "So what we're saying is this animal has seen you make a sandwich once, remembers where you put all the ingredients, can take them all out, put them together, and make a sandwich from memory, not one, not two, but I did three in a row," Isabel said. "Three?" said Holloway. "After I found out it was making a sandwich, I had it make another one to make sure it was real," Isabelle said. "You're going to fatten them up," said Holloway, closing the refrigerator. "It gave me the second one," said Isabelle. "So sweet," said Holloway dryly, taking another sip of his beer. "It showed that he had higher order cognitive abilities," Isabelle said. "It's called mind reading. When I asked him to make another sandwich, Papa Fluffy thought I was telling him to make it for me because I was hungry. It thinks about my motives and reasons for my actions." "I know what mind reading means," Holloway said. "Know who else does mind reading? Monkeys. And certain species of squid. Even Carl wants to know what I'm thinking." Carl on the floor Hearing its name, the tail flicked across the floor a few times. "Squid can't make a sandwich," Isabel said. "I doubt there's any scientific research on that," Holloway said. "Bread gets limp when it touches water." "Don't interrupt," Isabel said, "nor are monkeys, and neither can Carl. And there's no way they'll learn it just by watching you do it once. Fluffy isn't just an animal, Jack." She bent down and took one for herself. cans of beer. "But that doesn't mean they're intelligent," Holloway said. "I know these little things are smart, Isabel. That's why I took a video of Daddy and sent it to you. These little guys are a big discovery. I know you Would love to meet them. 'Smart little monkeys' are a far cry from 'smart creatures'. Have you ever seen them talk?" "There is definitely communication between them," Isabel replied.Holloway raised his hand resignedly. "It's not that kind of communication," Holloway said. "They squeak, they make a lot of noises, and they do communicate on an animal level. I admit that. But is there any evidence that they talk? Is there language? Are there any forms of communication between them beyond what we see in more intelligent animals?" Isabel was silent for a while, then said: "No." She lowered her head and took a sip of beer. "It's important that you know that," Holloway said. "When I was a student at Duke, I took a course on identification of extraterrestrial intelligence. Although I don't remember much, because I don't specialize in it. But I do remember' The case of Cheng v. Blue Sky Group'. The group's biologists insisted that they are intelligent creatures, and submitted a court ruling to stop the group's mining activities. The court finally listed a list of conditions for judging the qualifications of intelligent creatures, and language—or' Meaningful communication beyond the need for immediate response' — that's listed. It's written into the law." "That's not the only thing on the list," said Isabelle. "It's not just this one," Holloway said, "but this one has stumped Cheng, he can't prove that the Yunfu tribe can speak." "Your position in this matter is unjust," said Isabel. "Yes, my position is not fair." Holloway said, pointing to the fuzzies lying on the floor after eating and dozing off on Carl, "If our little friend is just a particularly intelligent animal, I can Be a billionaire. If they were intelligent beings, I'd be an unemployed idiot, and I have every reason to believe that I'd be hard-pressed to find another survey job. So yes, I'm a stakeholder, and the position is true It's hard to be fair." "Glad you know that too," Isabelle said. "I know," Holloway said, "but even if I'm not a stakeholder, I'm going to tell you that you have to be very sure that what you're seeing is exactly what you think it is. Because once you commit, The Zara Group will legally suspend all operations on this planet. Everything must be slammed on the brakes, waiting for the court to decide whether our furry friend is an intelligent creature. I am not the only one who lost hundreds of millions because of you. If the court rules that Mao Mao is not intelligent Creature, you're going to be a grocery clerk for the rest of your life. So before you say anything to anyone about intelligent beings, be very sure. Are you very sure, Isabel? Isabel was silent for another moment, then said, "No. I can't be sure. I didn't say I could. I'm going to study them further." "Okay," Holloway said, "then keep studying them. Take your video, watch yours, do whatever you want. You don't have to rush, take your time." Isabelle snorted mockingly. "You mean, take your time and make yourself a billionaire," she said. "That's fine," said Holloway, "I'm fine with that and I don't mind." "I know you're satisfied," Isabelle said, gesturing to the furries, "but what about them?" "I don't understand what you mean," said Holloway. "This is their planet, Jack," Isabel said. "If they are intelligent beings, everything we take from this world won't be useful to them later. Maybe you don't know that the Zara Group is squeezing the Maybe you don’t want to know how efficient the resources can be mined, but I know it very well. I have read the ecological impact reports of all the planets mined by the Zara Group. Part of the planets that the Zara Group obtained the exploration and mining license in the early days In fact, the consumption of rare metals and minerals is already close to that of the earth, and even the mining speed of common ores has accelerated a lot. It has only been a few decades, and the mining efficiency of the Zara Group has improved a lot in the past ten years." Holloway thought of the rapidly building construction site next to the sun quarry, and he took another sip of beer, bottoming out. "If they are intelligent creatures, even if we only wait a year or two, the resources they can use are much less," Isabel said, "They are poached before they can use them themselves." "They're still in the sandwich stage," Holloway said. "Mining sunstone isn't a high priority on their agenda." "You don't understand," said Isabelle, putting down her beer. "By the time they can be mined, the minerals are gone. The sunstone deposits you found took millions of years to absorb heat and pressure, and Zara It only takes ten years for the group to mine it completely, and maybe within ten years, the sunstone will be gone, and the jellyfish whose remains form the sunstone will be extinct. It will take millions of years for other ores and minerals can only be regenerated, and some are not even regenerated. What will be left of the furs then?" "I see what you mean," Holloway said. "You're probably right. But I still think you have to be 100 percent sure before you report the discovery of intelligent beings. I'm not saying you can't report, Just to make sure. I say this to you as a friend." "Thank you." Isabel said, "I know, I was just thinking, have you ever thought about how lucky we are, at least in this universe, human beings are spiritual beings who are one step ahead of intellectual evolution?" "Once in a while," Holloway said. Isabelle nodded. "Now," she said, "imagine what would happen to us if half a million years ago, a bunch of aliens came to Earth, looked at our ancestors, decided they weren't intelligent, and took all the minerals and oil? How can we develop now?" Isabelle pointed to the Fuzzies, who were now asleep on the floor. "Think about it, Jack," she said, "what do you think will happen to them if we finish digging up here?"

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