The Rann

A new species has emerged from the ruins of the old war.

They are like nothing I have ever encountered in my whole career as a zoologist.

We named them the Raan after the strange moaning roar they are capable of producing, and some imbeciles mockingly call them Pan, in reference to their strange flat bodies. They really are fantastic creatures, but I am unsure whether or not to call them animals as many do, because of the close contact I have had with the Rann. I have learned since being assigned to the research team, that they are an incredibly intelligent species and amazingly innovative as well!

Unfortunatly many who are unaccustomed to the strange sight of Rann’s flat crablike body, are disgusted by the creatures, especially by the very un-crab like sight of their hundreds of millipede like legs and almost humanoid heads that crane like a turtles from beneath their rust colored shells, and peer about with three pairs of intelligent pupil-less eyes.

I have tried, and astronomically failed, to convince people that they are harmless creatures who only eat by absorbing energy from the nutrient rich mosses and plants that grow up like small gardens from their cracked sells, but humanity is slow to change. Many fear that these strange creatures that we found six years ago, crawling through the radioactive Atlantic dust sea, are invaders or brutal killers. Many band together and cry out in the streets of the metropolises, demanding the extermination of the Rann. I walk sadly up to a Rann who I had nicknamed Flore because of her shell-garden of tiny flowers. She was the youngest Rann in the research base, and had taken a peculiar liking to me. I couldn't help smiling as she lightly skittered her six foot two ton body over to my side and bopped me affectionately with her forehead, while happily blinking her six black eyes down at my face.

“I hope people will see sense and leave you and your kind be” I muttered as I patted her smooth copper head.

Flore let out a mournfully cry, and nudged at my hair, still keening the typical Raaaaraa sounds of her species. “Don’t worry” I soothed giving her another pat. “I wont let anyone take you away...ever.”