First Individual

The first individual is the character who has discovered the new creatures. At the start of the short story, they inform the second individual that these creatures are made out of meat. In spite of the second individual’s incredulity, the first individual assures them that “There’s no doubt about it” (1). They are convinced of their findings because, as they tell the second individual, “We picked up several from different parts of the planet, took them aboard our recon vessels, and probed them all the way through” (1). Whether the reader interprets the two characters to be humans or aliens, the first individual is undoubtedly a space explorer. They have therefore been searching for other lifeforms, and have thus come upon the meat creatures during these interplanetary explorations.

Throughout the first half of the short story, the first individual’s primary occupation and goal is to convince...