BECOMING AN ANCESTOR

"Here, cute thing, you can eat it, it's delicious, I picked it myself."

"Murr!"

Sighs... it's been three days and these gnus still haven't shown a trace of domestication. Maybe I really shouldn't have eaten the mothers of the calves. The gnus we captured were a young one with 120 cm and the two calves with 90 cm. Modern gnus can reach up to 180 cm, but I've seen some gnus nearly two meters tall. They must have lost size over the years. It's a really cool thing to discover; I've noticed that all the animals I've encountered, even the insects, are a bit larger than in the future. This was expected, given the changes that are coming, many things will have to change.

"Boss, aren't we going to eat them?"

"Again with that question! I already 'said' they're not food."

"But we ate one of them before."

"That was different."

"How?"

"They were adults; these are calves."

"What's the difference?"

"Can calves be warriors?"

"No, they're weak."

"Exactly. Now, Joe, go take care of your group."

"Okay boss, well, they're not that good anyway."

Sighs... it seems that after some time, the brains of some have started to improve at a rate I didn't expect. If I don't pay attention, some will begin to question my decisions, like why we don't eat these animals or why we have to cut down this tree. This is really a good thing, but the problem is if it evolves into why does he have to be the leader? Why do we have to obey him?

Hierarchy is extremely important to maintain order, but if that order breaks, there can be consequences that I may not be able to handle peacefully. I really hope they don't think that having the intelligence of a teenager can challenge me. I'm over 90 years old; I'll show them who's in charge at the first sign of disobedience.

"Come on, girl, you can eat."

"Murr."

"Sighs... I think I know why humans didn't use gnus. I really wanted an easier-to-tame animal, but this is the only one I have any hope for. The animals around in the forest are leopards, ancestors of wild dogs, crocodiles, and small animals and insects. In the savanna, I found gnus and antelopes. Antelopes are too fast to catch, so I stuck with gnus, and they are also relatives of cattle. After all, their nickname was ox-horse. We're going to have a long week."

In addition to trying to domesticate the gnus, I also worked on preparing the wagons. The entire group has over 100 individuals, but only three gnus. That's a logistics problem. I could wait to tame them, multiply them to the point of having enough, but I plan to leave this forest within a year or less, no more than that. However, if I can't tame them, I'll have to use another method. I really don't need to hurry; as far as I know, things will only get difficult tens of thousands of years from now. But since I'm already here, I might as well get ahead.

...One month later.

"Damn!"

"It's no use! No matter what I do, they don't obey me."

"I've tried in various ways, but they show no sign of domestication."

"I try to feed them, but they only eat when they're starving."

"I think we should eat them."

"Not yet, I'll make a few more attempts, but if it doesn't work, they're all yours."

"Hahaha, we'll have meat!"

"I can't wait; it's been a week since I had meat."

"The boss is as good as ever."

"Cornelius, Joe, Fred, don't you have something better to do?"

"Okay boss, we're going."

Recently, they developed apparent personalities, not that they didn't have them before, but now it's more noticeable. Joe is playful, Cornelius is hasty, and Fred is the most serious. In addition to these three, Marcos and Martins also have apparent characteristics. Marcos seems like a charismatic old man who has lived for a long time, and Martins seems like a grumpy old man who has lived for a long time. If it weren't for the fur all over their bodies, their faces, limbs, and the fact that they don't speak, they are very similar to humans. I think they are at the level of Homo erectus. They're not very intelligent, but they've learned to communicate through gestures and sounds, like humans, in a kind of primitive language.

"You'll see, if you don't start obeying me, they'll eat you."

"Murr!"

"You didn't leave me a choice. If you don't want it willingly, it'll have to be by force."