uplifter n.

‘The reef told us who they were when they arrived.’ ‘Hold on, what? The reef?’…. So Robbie told him what he knew of the uplifted reef and the distant and cool voice of the uplifter. ‘It’s an uplifted coral reef? Christ, humanity sucks. That’s the dumbest fucking thing—’.

Although the word uplift by its nature implies good intentions on the part of the uplifter, which is not in evidence here. From what I can get from the Obin, the Consu one day wondered what would happen if you made some species smart. So they came to Obinur, found an omnivore in a minor ecological niche, and gave it intelligence. You know, just to see what would happen next.