In effort to counteract the global effects of the industrial scrubbers – and continue gathering resources to further Eas-Enerang’s plans – the colonial administration authorized large-scale harvesting operations in its districts and protectorates. One of these protectorates was known as the Patriotic Corpocracy of Chicxulub and was the site for the biggest and deepest drilling venture in the history of the Apiary. Prospecting A.I. detected a colossal and mysterious anomaly far underground the Chicxulub region, which were speculated to be bounteous untapped lodes of rare and exotic deposits. What was not known at the time by anyone, was that the anomaly was the pocket realm home to the Surts.

As it turned out, the Surt Object was what brought the extinction of the dinosaurs when it crashed into Tir-Torzor, after striking the ancient alien spaceship during the Cretaceous Period. Chicxulub was the impact point, and the resilient extremophile Surts made their home in between the planet’s lithosphere and asthenosphere, sustaining their lives by drawing energy from the heat of magma. The Surts spilled out onto the surface when the drilling breached the boundaries to their world, igniting the current ongoing conflict against them the Apiary calls the War on Lethiferous Extremophiles.

I discovered that the Apiary was holding a surt as prisoner on a colonial prison on Tir-Tentuntay. I was fortunate to attain permission to interview it – and record the entire interaction between us both – which you can read here fully transcribed:

(Prisoner 7245 is fully restrained in an apparatus that keeps its human host from germinating. Surt germination entails a catastrophic fission process, resulting in a forceful explosion and two new individual surts. To help prevent this, coolants are pumped through the host, and an extinguisher-type system is directed at it for rapid response.)

A.I.: Wake up, Prisoner 7245.

(Apparatus hits Prisoner 7245 with extinguishers, causing Prisoner 7245 to scream itself awake in shock and pain. Extinguishers stop, and Prisoner 7245 glares and snarls at me.)

CN: Hello, I am Cirus Naut. I am an historian, and I would like to learn about your kind and how you got to this point, being in these restraints that prevent you from germination. I mean no harm. I am not like your previous interrogators that hurt you to get answers. I can get the information I need from other sources, but my people find it best to get history from the rawest experiences available. All I want you to do is just relax and answer my questions to the best of your knowledge. Are you ready?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: We will start off with the basics. What is your name?

(Prisoner 7245 growls.)

CN: Preferred pronouns?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: How old are you?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: What is your age?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: Where did the Surt originally come from before coming to Tir-Torzor?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: Before coming to Earth?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: To Gaia?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: To Terra?

(Prisoner 7245 says nothing.)

CN: Is something wrong with the translator? I don’t think th-

P7245: Why?

CN: Pardon?

P7245: Why ask?

CN: You were not answering any of my questions.

P7245: Why ask questions?

CN: You are the only one of your race to be captured alive inhabiting a host. From what I learned from the Apiary scientists that studied your kind thus far, the Surts have no spoken or written language of their own, but instead communicate with one another through chemical reactions and movements. Your hosts give you the ability to speak and understand their spoken or written language – albeit somewhat difficult as such concepts themselves are very alien to your people – therefore making the job of translation that less complicated. You have been part of this conflict from the very beginning, so I assume you must have a wealth of information about what happened and why. I assure you, if there is anything that you feel is still worth hiding, I am not interested. So…are you ready?

P7245: Surt.

CN: Okay, thank you, but I would actually like your personal name, not the name of your race.

P7245: Surt is one. Surt is all.

CN: I see, and how old are you?

P7245: Surt no tell age. Surt no care. Surt no tell origin. Surt no care. Surt no tell pronoun. Surt no think pronoun is. Surt no care.

CN: Yes, but-

(Prisoner 7245’s veins start to glow and pulsate.)

P7245: Surt no care!

CN: Okay then, no more personal questions. Then do you mind telling me what happened when you and your people were brought to this planet?

(Prisoner 7245’s veins stop glowing and pulsating.)

P7245: Surt sleep in rock. Rock hit ground. Rock drive Surt deep beneath surface. Live. Sleep.

CN: Did the Surt ever visit the surface before the drill?

P7245: No. Surt sleep.

CN: Alright, can you tell me about the day when the drill came?

P7245: Surts sleep. Wait. Mans make hole. Surts awake. Sense life. Surts rise.

CN: How could you tell there was life on the other side of the hole?

P7245: Fear.

CN: When the scientists experimented with a few of your non-hosted kind, why was it that whenever a human test subject was in the vicinity, the animal test subject were always ignored in favor of said human? Do animals not express fear?

P7245: Surts sense mans’ extra.

CN: Which is what?

P7245: Hatred.

CN: Are humans the only ones with hatred?

P7245: Mans’ most potent.

CN: Why is that?

P7245: Fear. Misery. Rage. Sorrow. Disgust. Resentment. Mans’ most potent. Most common. Best host. Surts take hosts. Hosts give energy. Energy life. Surts germinate to multiply. Germination destroys. Destruction give fire. Heat.

CN: By the time of your capture, the Surts held almost six percent of the planet’s land area. The hot climate and the fires made the environment more suitable for your people, but not enough to make expansion so rapid. How did you manage to achieve such a feat within a short time?

P7245: Surts find old mountains of fire. Smoke. Loud. Shake ground.

CN: Volcanoes? Interesting.

P7245: Surts find old hidden places. No fire. Surts sense decay. Rods. Sludge. Giant tubes pointing up holes. Decay give energy. Surts collect. Feed. Unstoppable. Spread.

CN: Fascinating, sounds like you found nuclear materials. You said “unstoppable?”

P7245: Yes. Surts fight lifeforms. Lifeforms use hot things. Feed Surts. Surts kill. Take hosts.

CN: When did the Surts cease to be unstoppable?

(Prisoner 7245’s veins start to glow and pulsate.)

P7245: Empty Ones. Unfair. Unfair!

CN: Take it easy now.

P7245: Vengeance!

CN: You do not want to set off the security measures. Please, calm yourself before you set them off.

(Prisoner 7245’s veins stop glowing and pulsating.)

CN: When you say, “Empty Ones,” you mean the fighter drones?

P7245: Yes. Empty Ones come with no fear. No hate. No good hosts. Surts fight Empty Ones. Empty Ones use cold things. Hurt Surts. Kill Surts. Empty Ones few. Hard to kill. Empty Ones make world dark. Cold. Surts no think how. Have heat. Return to heat. Empty One hurt Surt. Take Surt.

(Prisoner 7245’s veins start to glow and pulsate.)

P7245: Surt will find Empty One. Will kill Empty One! Kill all Empty Ones!

CN: Wait, wait-

A.I.: Attempted detonation detected.

CN: Thank you for your time. I have to be going now.

P7245: Surts kill all! Will take world! Kill all!

(Apparatus hits Prisoner 7245 with extinguishers, causing Prisoner 7245 to scream in shock and pain.)

P7245: Surt hurts! Hurts!

(Prisoner 7245 screams in shock and pain.)

- End of Recorded Interview -