“But I killed Grenabeloso! How can a bad human anwabi make up for killing a good Onalbi anwabi?”
There was a lengthy pause, during which I imagined Hresah searching for words. “We are on unsafe footing, here. We are at the mercy of the translations provided by the computer. Let us hope that they carry the proper flavors. Your words were that you would be a bad human anwabi. Now, consider. Does the word bad refer to the word human, or to the word anwabi? It is to be expected that you would be an imperfect anwabi, even with help. The very concept is new to you, although you have shown more aptitude for the work than any of the members of your contact team. But as for you as a bad human being… this is a cultural thing. I am forced to try to understand you within the framework of your own culture, and a fascinating problem it is. In our favor is the fact that we seem to be able to reach similar, if not identical, conclusions on issues of morality and ethics. Killing is bad. Life is good. Producing things is an admirable trait. The gulf is not so wide as to be unbridgeable. I have been studying this problem for the last few months. I do not see that you are a bad person. The worst that I see is that you reach conclusions too quickly, without weighing enough evidence or considering consequences. This, however, is the same thing that happens with beginning anwabis. We must give ourselves time to learn. I believe that it will best serve our two races for you to live. You humans will need an anwabi for your contact team. You will be that anwabi. You are more long-sighted than they are, and we will conduct talks with you. You and I will review decisions together. You will learn to be an anwabi. As a side benefit, I will get to study interesting human topics, like owning this valley. That I must ponder more to get the full depth of it.”
I did not trust myself to speak. My life was being handed back to me. I had grown so accustomed to the idea that I would be executed that I had closed down my vision of the future. Now, unexpectedly, I had a future again—a blank slate. What would I do with it?
I steadied myself against the wall of my hut. “Hresah, if you think that I can atone for killing Grenabeloso by attempting to be an anwabi, then I will accept your judgment. I would like to thank you for sparing my life.”
Sudden sharp pains lanced my side as I attempted to laugh. “And don’t forget… we still have to talk about humans and hyenas….”