Logbook of the vessel Vesta 0037-A1:
Monitoring specimen 01-0023, also called Dido for easier identification.
Specimen Information:
Codename: 01-0023.
Tentative name: Dido.
Species: Princeps Rex Rex.
Monitoring duration: 34 years.
Biological sex: Female.
Habitat: Temperate forests of North America.
Size: 11 meters (approximately 12 yards).
Specimen status: Deceased.
Logbook Commencement:
Chapter 1. The Dawn of Dido
In the magnanimous land where the saurians reign over the wilds of this blue pearl in the solar system of a wondrous universe, a precious creature broke free from the shell that held her, awakening to a life full of daring archosaurs. Her name was Dido—not queen of Carthage, but sovereign of the untamed ecosystems of this saurian North America.
Her mother watched her with a mixture of tenderness and sternness, for they were no common lineage but partakers of a bloodline that ruled the untamed territories of North America as sovereigns, without a clear or decisive rival to challenge them as apex predators—at least, not yet.
By her mother's side were seven brothers and sisters, all gathered under her protective arm to walk in this mysterious and perilous world for a hatchling of such great magnitude as the tyrannosaurs. Strength was potential, not absolute law; it was trial and hardship that would determine who would ascend to that throne—not merit nor proclamation, but the mysterious force of nature itself.
Their mother led them through forests, streams, savannahs, and arid lands, like a commander training her warriors for battle—she could not protect them forever. Thus, she bestowed upon them her greatest gift: the wisdom to use the innate qualities they had inherited as hunters to survive in this harsh world.
They had to not only fight for their food but also protect it from others who would take advantage of their efforts; paradoxically, they also learned to seize the prey of weaker predators who could not stand against one of their kind.
A tragic event befell little Dido when she was seven months old, newly awakened to existence. On a night of exploration, strange noises echoed through the dense forests, causing the mother rex to wear a troubled and defensive expression. She quickly called her brood to flee the woods. The young obeyed—except for two of Dido's brothers, two impetuous males who got lost.
Realizing they had lost track of their mother and siblings, they began emitting cries for help, frightened, pledging to be more obedient and to follow precisely the teachings their mother gave without fail each dawn and dusk.
The mother cared not for their rebelliousness, only their wellbeing and health. Yet she hesitated: should she leave the six who found her to seek the two lost sons who defied her call, or abandon the two to their fate and thus secure her lineage? But life granted the mother rex a third path.
She found a safe refuge where she could shelter the six offspring who returned to her and set out to seek the two who had disobeyed her summons due to their wayward nature. Meanwhile, the cries of the scattered hatchlings grew more urgent, and to their horror, a troodontid called Paranousaurus borealis had found them—the situation grew dire.
This specimen was no ordinary beast, but a highly intelligent predator, guided not by mere instinct but by an analytical mind and cognition rivalling that of orcas and dolphins. When this male Paranousaurus fixed his gaze upon them, he instantly knew he was not facing mere saurian hatchlings, but future rivals.
He stared intently as if to peer into their souls, sensing the latent fear beneath their gaze. The young tyrannosaurs cried out louder into the dark forest, summoning the heavy, resolute steps of a superpredator—their mother.
The male Paranousaurus was not unmoved by the approaching footsteps shaking the forest floor; he faced a choice—to flee and avoid a clash with the mother or to strike as the perfect killer, removing a future competitor. The sobs rose to a crescendo, as if tearing through the very veil of sound.
Then the sobbing ceased—but the mother rex had not yet arrived. A thick fog began to cloak the dark woods, as if nature itself claimed dominion over this solemn scene. When at last the mother appeared, she found only the lifeless forms of her young scattered upon the earth, their faces bearing the unmistakable mark of departure from this mortal realm. Intelligence had triumphed over magnificence.
From that day forth, nothing was the same. A spirit of melancholy and sorrow followed the mother everywhere—a somber colossus whose impact surpassed that of an arrogant titan. The freedom once held by Dido and her siblings…
Had become but a distant memory, a fading echo of times past when roaming freely across the meadows was the natural order in the school where a mother taught her young.