Note: These scenarios are speculation. The question to be asked is not: "Which of these ideas is true?" It is, rather: "Which of these ideas does Douglas Sharper know for sure to be false?"
"I still believe they were trying to descend, to retrieve the body."
"Absurd. They employed neither their Linking books nor their great drilling machines to reach the child; they merely shifted stones."
"But we do not know that the child was in pain."
"Did you not hear its cries? No parent would allow that to continue, when there was no hope of rescue."
"Revolting."
"Do you see how it leaks?"
"Its entire body is like an open wound."
"Let us dispose of it and be gone."
"At the cost of a Human child?"
"Only thus can we drive them to the limits of their souls -- if they have souls."
"We agree. Kill the child. Animals will respond with instinctive violence; thinking souls will attempt to discern the truth."
"An error is not a crime."
"If they intended no blasphemy, they would have left upon realizing their error. They did not. The penalty of death is upheld."
"But do the Humans share our beliefs?"
"What is belief? A sacrifice is required, or we are not the Kki. If the Humans are Kki, they will understand; if not, their child's death will bring them one step closer to it."
"At the cost of a Human child?"
"Only thus can we drive them to the limits of their souls -- if they have souls."
"We agree. Kill the child. Animals will flee a superior predator; thinking souls will demand justice."
"And if they think we are the threat?"
"It does not matter what they think. Let them think we are brute killers; let them fear us. As long as they retreat from the Cavern, before their footsteps awaken the Chuuuhtuu."
"Honored, two children entered, and only one was impure. The other had returned the totems, and achieved union with a free Kki soul."
"One who hoards the totems is stained. One who associates with stain is stained. Both were cleansed."
"They have no larval state."
"But it is still unadult. Sonar the shell-rims still unformed within?"
"Yes. Well, the one Human-larva is dead, and the other is unfit. Their adults are clearly a sentient species, so we owe them the favor of culling."
"...Odd that the larva wear clothing, though."
"Perhaps they are imitative."
"Yes. But they have begun the retrieval effort. The survivor will be recaptured within a seventh cycle."
"No Human has tried to escape for many seven-cycles."
"Perhaps many have tried, but only these two have succeeded."
"True. Well, we have sworn to let none fall back into slavery. Surely we owe that to the innocent of the Humans, as much as to ourselves."
"The Human drew a word/thought on the floor."
"Barely a child-word."
"But still a word/thought. If Humans can shape word/thoughts..."
"Bad enough when they only understood writing and mathematics. This is a disaster."
"Yes. We may have to exterminate them."
"Honored, two children entered, and only one was impure. The other had not touched the Kki totems."
"A totem touched by non-Kki is stained. To return a stained totem is to spread blasphemy, to other Humans as well as to us. Both Humans were cleansed."
"The Humans finally offer us the blood-challenge."
"After all this time, they offer the congress of equals."
"We shall send our swiftest warrior, to meet the Human challenger."
"Once the sterility of the nest was breached, yes. We are administering gkechkii, but it is unlikely to be of much use. The larvae were too young, weeks from immune-response consolidation. All will die."
"And the warden?"
"He is under restraint. But his fury is understandable. The entire nest!"
"Nonetheless, he must be charged with murder."
"The Human drew a word/thought on the floor."
"Barely a child-word."
"But still a word/thought. If Humans can grasp word/thoughts..."
"They will be utterly vulnerable to Enemy propaganda."
"If they are drawn into the War, the entire species might be wiped out. We must take drastic measures to protect them."
"Kichhuchiku. [Life ?-(future).]"
"No. The Humans enslaved us for uncounted generations. Prudence demands that we give them no second chance, and Justice demands that they suffer. Let it begin with the intruder."