The Nature of Predators 2-94

Memory Transcription Subject: Taylor Trench, Human Colonist

Date [standardized human time]: March 18, 2161

Agh, my head. I felt disoriented, though of course, I’d heard concussions could do that. Everything had a dreamlike hue, down to my fingers feeling like they were a mile away from me. The explosions kept crackling off around me, as sheer rage at the unfairness of the universe coursed through me. The Krev Consortium was breaking into the cavern to drive us out by first, catching us completely blindsided! Everyone knew what would happen when the herbivores saw our faces, but maybe we needed that to frighten them off. 

God, was there anywhere a hapless predator could find safe haven? We couldn’t even have a life at one percent, because of my failure to furnish up the rent payments. Giant pink birds had drilled through the walls, and upon closer inspection…inspection…it seemed that some humans were species traitors siding with them to attack us, just to save their own hides. What were they promised, to give up everything we’d suffered so much to protect? I hated the xenos who persecuted us in every corner of the galaxy we ever dared to exist, but our own people killing the last vestige of our kind—they were worse.

I just want to go back home to Earth, and live a life where I could be authentic and happy. There is nothing but misery in my existence. What is the point of survival, and why does everyone universally agree that we deserve to fucking die?! 

Through blurry vision, like the fog that sealed over a mirror from shower steam, I could see the cowards hiding. The fact that they must’ve learned we were predators from the sellouts was why they’d advanced the raid, since they hated us. The Krev had more courage than the Federation. To still fight us and maintain their tactics. Surely the humans helping them knew their safety blanket wouldn’t last past the minute our bodies hit the floor? Grief threatened to envelop me at my failure, that our entire mission wouldn’t succeed at furthering our species. 

This was the end of everything if we failed but…I didn’t know how to shoot a gun, not really. I was so afraid of dying, and I didn’t know why. The lights and the shrapnel were overwhelming, but I was desperate and cornered like an animal in this little tunnel; this was the last chance to fight. Maybe I could take some of them down with us, even as we faltered. I hurled a grenade through the opening in the wall, not knowing how it found its way into my hand. Before I knew it, one came clattering back; those human traitor weasels! 

Why…why was I reacting so slowly? It was like my mind was lagging under the stress…

The explosion knocked me back on my ass, and I could feel that my limbs were no longer responding. I couldn’t feel any of my lower extremities; oh God, I was going to die! A fuck ton of my body had just been blown off, and I tried to gasp and wriggle. I attempted to plead for help, but I must’ve been too mangled. Even the tears weren’t falling, though I could feel them trying to claw their way out of me. I looked down at the floor, wondering where the blood was. My head wouldn’t move. I turned my eyes up as the Consortium and the traitor humans walked in, stepping over bodies. 

It’s like the drilling accident all over again. So many humans killed senselessly, lives that no alien would ever care about! I wish I could butcher these bastards like the predator they want!

It was so difficult to string together any thoughts that weren’t just angry. I was confused by the absence of pain, but maybe I was in shock. That was something that happened to be when they lost a lot of blood, and my head had already been fuzzy. I tried to gasp as the traitors led the way into the cavern, having the gall to not only spearhead the pack but to wear the blue helmets of the United Nations. They were mocking the history of the long-gone planet Earth! 

I tried with the last of my willpower to move toward the traitors, until I caught a glimpse of one’s face. It was…my own, with longer hair and healthier, tanner skin. What the actual fuck? This Taylor Trench was walking side-by-side with Gress, blue binocular eyes focused on me and filled with disgust. How could the Krev have cloned me through the concealment gear and everything, just from going out to the landing pad? Maybe there weren’t traitors among the colonists.

I didn’t understand—wait, why was his gun still drawn? I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to die! I surrendered! 

“You know…” Was that Cherise’s voice? She’s whispering to someone, not to other me. She sounded like she was underwater. Maybe a few tough security guards could mount a better fight, but I thought she’d already been with us. “Not that many ark colonists went through the brain scanner checkpoints, Zefriss. I’d bet any robohumans are mostly just mes and Taylors.” 

A gargled voice responded. “That is unnatural to think about. I will help you take them all offline.”

Robohumans…talking about me. Saying there’s lots of mes, but I’m not a robot. No, that must be the “other” Taylor. What the…

With hate in his eyes that I recognized all too well, the other Taylor angled his gun at me. I tried to speak, yet I couldn’t say a word. I was already starting to forget what thoughts had just crossed my head, and what happened to me in the first place. Guns. Invasion. Hurt. Wish I…was never born.

There was a trace of something like pity on the doppelgänger Trench’s face, which gave me a glimmer of hope. That was erased in an instant as several cracking sounds permeated the fog, and the world switched off before I could blink.

Memory Transcription Subject: Taylor Trench, Human Colonist

Date [standardized human time]: March 18, 2161

Fighting through waves of robots was made manageable by high-powered explosives. The problem was when they all started retreating toward the bunker, hoping to reach it before us; the legion was programmed under some delusion to hide among or execute the civilians. We started flying through encounters, needing to catch up to the bots. I couldn’t imagine what was going on in their heads, assuming there was anything at all. I still thought about the way the first robot that I’d executed point-blank had twitched, and how I’d felt stepping over its body. All of the Krev metal soldiers’ data was likely being streamed back to the Consortium’s central headquarters down here, wherever that might be. 

Perhaps humanity could access the logs and learn more about how their control had worked, to ensure there was no chance of breaking it for any future encounters. Right now, there was no other option but to destroy them and not get tangled up in sympathies. General Radai was right: many of the Resket soldiers were likely built after him. It weirded me out, the more I thought that these things—that I was shooting—might be me. The Earth humans didn’t need to worry about the evil empire using their brains for their machinations. I tried to focus on other details to distract myself.

There is a distinct lack of Smiglis and Ulchids in the fighting army, since they’re not very solid combatants. Krev, Jaslips, humans, and Reskets are the ones who they think could hold their own in a fight.

Some soldiers had rode off on motorcycles to catch up with hostiles, though I wouldn’t have a clue on how to handle such a vehicle; it looked cool though, to try if I ever got back to Earth. Now that I had met my biological father as an adult, enough to know both his face and his mannerisms, I could picture him teaching me how to ride a bike. I could imagine little Taylor taking a tumble in the street, and him stonewalling me and insisting to get back up. Maybe that was the paternal voice I was missing to harden me up a bit. It was what I needed to hear now, when I couldn’t afford to stumble.

I refused to duck for cover as we reached the bunker, firing at the metal bodies who were seconds from cutting a large enough opening in the compartment. I could hear screaming civilians trapped inside, as UN soldiers shouted at them to stay away from the automaton guns poking through the gap and spraying anything nearby. I chucked every last grenade that I had clipped to my belt, then kept spewing bullets at anything silver for good measure. Gress nearly ran out in front of me, charging for the entrance mere seconds after the automaton group were downed.

“Lecca!” Gress screamed, loud and shrill enough that it sounded like he was tearing his vocal cords. 

I sprinted after him without thinking of my safety, glad to have longer legs. “Wait for us, please! You’re not helping anyone if you charge off without thinking.”

Cherise shot a sideways look at Quana. “You could say that again.”

Cala took flight as she matched my steps, soaring to a higher vantage point to scan for Lecca; as tough as it was to believe, I was glad to have a Krakotl’s aerial aid. The Krev citizens were elated to hear the United Nations announce themselves and promise a rescue, as we hurried them back toward the escape shaft. I ran up to every child passing by to be sure, but none of them were the one we were looking for. There was no response to Gress screaming her name. 

General Radai wasn’t far behind us, forming a protective shield with his own body between himself and escaping civilians. If advancing robots shot them to spite us, the Resket was ensuring that he’d take the bullet.

“You!” a civilian screamed in an agitated voice, shoving the pink avian. “You’re one of them! You’re the Consortium’s military leader; a fucking delegate!”

Radai didn’t fight back, simply gesturing the way out. “Once, I was. I was a puppet as much as any of the robots; I would’ve never gone along with this, but they took any control I had away. All I ever wanted to protect the people, so please…let me protect the few we have left.”

“It wasn’t Radai’s fault,” Quana barked, to my surprise. “I don’t trust Reskets not to fuck us over, but he isn’t capable of this. Just go: this is your only chance to get off-world. There’s little time. Follow the humans to their shuttles.”

The Jaslip and Arxur alliance hadn’t been intending to hurry Krev civilians to safety in their march on Avor, but I could see Zefriss allowing Krev children to ride on his tail as he made a detour back toward the ship. Cherise had it right: he was secretly a softie, not wanting any younglings to get left behind. None of the kids the gray was toting were Lecca, however, squashing my last hope. I turned my head toward a landing Cala, who shook her head in the negative. I bit my lip, walking up to a hysterical Gress.

“She’s not there, Taylor!” the Krev screamed, after wandering through the empty bunker listlessly. “Humans rescued everyone here.”

I wrapped an arm around him. “There are other bunkers. A few shuttles even got off the orbital rings, before they exploded. This was the largest and closest safe spot to where she might’ve been, but it isn’t the only one. No stone left unturned, right? We’re not giving up.”

“They took everything from me!”

“Gress, they didn’t take me. We have each other. We have a chance to make them pay, right? Don’t you feel so damn angry, even if it’s far beneath that grief? You want to be sure they’re fucking wiped out for what they did to you. I know it.”

“I’m with you, Taylor. For what they did to the Jaslips…and I suppose, also to others…they must die!” Quana growled. “Our suffering does matter.”

“They used all of us. They think they own us, down to our very minds.” Gress blinked away tears, his eyes hardened as he raised his gun. “Not today. I’ll save whatever hostages I can, and I’ll take them down with me. I’ll run my claws through them for what they did: just like Mafani.”

The Krev stomped off without leaving any room for argument, following the path that led deeper down to a sealed off complex that UN drones had found; I could piggyback off of his outrage, heaping more onto my own. We had to lower ourselves from a catwalk at one point, similar to rappelling down toward the Sivkit bunkers. This time, the hidden secrets underground had been unearthed before our boots touched cement. All that we were untangling now was where their tunnel network led, connecting their legion to any points of interest.

The Underscales central hub didn’t impress as we battered through the walls, and found our point of entry to be eerily vacant. Sapient Coalition forces stood shoulder-to-shoulder, sweeping through the dingy corridors for any signs of Consortium activity. Inside each room where we poked our heads, we saw walls of screens depicting various feeds from across the globe, though most were dead. This must’ve been where the surveillance operatives watched their citizenry. The robotic clones likely were all that made it possible to monitor all of this, even with AI flagging things.

Their defenses sprung to life as we opened the door to the server room, where we sought the opportunity to hijack the Consortium’s remote control of their automated assets near and afar. Before we buried this cursed legion, it would help us bring their entire scheme to a close if the United Nations could assume control of their drones. While it was most likely that the other planets had already been bombed to a crisp, this would stop the KC from continuing their glassings against their own people. It might save a few lives that would’ve otherwise been lost.

Our foes, of course, didn’t want us to snatch that small victory away from them. Automated turrets blasted a flurry of bullets at us, tearing through walls and flesh alike. It caught my eye how Quana and Gress didn’t shy back even in the hurricane of incoming munitions; neither of them feared death, though they expressed that in unique ways. If Radai hadn’t stayed back to shield the civilians en route to evac, I imagined he’d been in the same boat. It felt like I was in the minority wanting to survive this bout, though I understood what it was like to feel that it wasn’t worth it—that the world was better off without me. 

“Why did the wall guns curse randomly?” Hysran shouted, not fitting the mood as she crouched at the back with Cherise.

Cherise grunted, tucking her body off in a side room. “I don’t know. Why?”

“Because they have Turrets!”

“Ohhh…okay, where the fuck did you even learn that?”

“I have my ways.”

I crawled forward, finding that the quip did help me to take the turrets less seriously. The armor-piercing rounds for the legion ripped a mechanical gun off its hinge just fine, as I picked it off just as it swiveled toward Gress. My boots scrabbled on the slick floor, while I darted to catch up. The robots sent a fuck ton of bullets sizzling by, with a few replicant humans in their midst to throw grenades. UN forces led at the front lines, using shields to deflect grenades, shrapnel, and bullets alike.

Every second that we let the Krev Consortium remain at the helm of these automatons, we’re stuck in this fight…and more people will die to them.

I glanced at the far side of the room, following Gress’ eyes. I could hazard a guess at his thoughts, after what he’d said aloud about sticking his claws through the legion’s heart. This was their heart, in all of the “glory” of rows of stacked towers. Someone needed to get to their servers and plant the bug, before they could sabotage it. I didn’t want to watch Gress sacrifice himself in a final cry of defiance for Lecca, to “take them down with him.” I all but tackled him, preventing him from running off with Quana.

“No! I won’t let you go,” I hissed.

Gress writhed in my grip. “Let me do this one fucking thing!”

“I will, and I’ll do it alongside you, but I’m not letting you throw your life away! You wouldn’t give up on me, even when I deserved it.”

“Dammit, she doesn’t deserve it, but…” Cherise sighed, before cupping her hands to her face. “Quana? Come back!” 

The Jaslip charged ahead as we all watched with horror; explosives were clamped in her jaw. She looked like she could’ve been the one to bomb Delegates Tower, almost—and that made me wonder about several things, after seeing how possessed she was with anger. Much like spiraling Taylor, she’d been willing to direct it at anyone. Quana ignored Cherise’s shout, and continued on despite the violet blood erupting across her stark white fur. This was a suicide mission if I’d ever seen one, the same as when I charged Cala because my face had been revealed.

With the last glimmer of light in her eyes, Quana leapt into the robots’ midst and let go of an impressive mouthful of explosives. Cherise and I both gasped in horror, witnessing the friend we’d endured boot camp with choose a suicide bombing as her ultimate end. Even after not seeing the Jaslip for a long time, it was shocking; it stabbed at my heart. Was this how Gress felt watching me charge the UN, defiant to the end? The grisly plan worked to blast dozens of metal soldiers to bits, after the payloads roll and clatter throughout the room.

The robots weren’t expecting that play, so they didn’t have time to bring the roof down before our sabotage. I can’t deny that it worked, but just…why? Was she that lost that she no longer wanted to live, only to take them out en masse for what they did?

Cherise choked back sobs. “I…cared about her so much. I would’ve followed her to the fucking Federation’s heart! Why did she have to blame everyone and everything—to value revenge above her friends and her life?”

“I wish I could say I didn’t understand, but I was there once. You’re not to blame, Cherise, for her demons,” I responded, hearing my own voice crack. “That wasn’t going to happen to Gress though: I’ll cling to every second I have in this universe with him, whether he likes it or not. If we’re chasing revenge here, it’ll be more methodical than that.”

Hysran seemed a bit taken aback, but tried to keep Cherise in a cautious position. “I agree. Cherise didn’t have to be dragged down with her on a jealousy-fueled descent. You don’t have to let the things you’ve done and seen take your soul.”

“I second that,” Cala chirped. “Quana made her choice. Let’s not speak ill of her any further. We make it count, and ensure that we’re never so fanatical about anything—because that’s the real danger.”

General Radai had arrived to support our group, having sprinted at Resket speeds to rejoin us after escorting the Krev civilians to safety; I took it that was a piece of good news to soothe us, since that must’ve meant their departure had gone well. Zefriss had not yet reappeared, since Arxur were several paces slower. For Gress’ sake, I had no intention of waiting for anyone else to join. I crept ahead toward the door to a small control room, where we’d insert the code and get the fuck out of here. 

“Maybe once we tap into the Krev’s system, we can use their surveillance to look for Lecca. The UN was supposed to get her out before they learned the truth. They could’ve gotten a message to your ex-wife, and perhaps succeeded in that somehow.” I tried to press the horrifying image of chunks of Quana’s torso arcing out onto the wall from my mind, and steadied my voice. I pressed a hand to the door handle, tensing my legs. “Our answers are here. We’ll find her.”

“You already have,” a mechanical voice spoke, the second I pushed it open.

Even in robotic form, it was obvious which sadistic monster I was speaking to; he’d painted his skeleton in the hopes of looking like his prior form. Mafani was holding Lecca up in front of him with a gun to her skull, which caused my breath to hitch in my throat. The irony was that the prospects of Gress’ daughter getting out from Avor had been slim. It was the Underscale’s personalized torment that kept her alive to this point. 

“Daddy! Obor Daddy!” Lecca screamed, knifing my heart.

Gress felt to his knees. “Please, let her go. I’ll…give you whatever you want to do with your servers. Why are you doing this?”

“I expected you,” Mafani chuckled. “I knew I’d get my victory in the end. I would be brought back and I could ruin your life from the shadows, when you least expected it! Perhaps at her wedding, or…no, no need for her to make it that long now. Ah, to be free to do it to your face is a joy.”

Radai recoiled with disgust. “You’re truly free, aren’t you? The Underscales are brought back as themselves.”

“Obviously. We’re the rulers, and the rest of the people in the Consortium: just games for our amusement. Or mine anyway. We wanted you to know about the Sivkit bunker, since it makes the Federation look scarier. I chose to do it in my own way—telling you about the Jaslips was just so you’d know what a joke you are, that there’s nothing you can do to stop us if we kill a few people here and there.”

“How can you call yourself a Resket?!”

“Quite easily. I don’t grovel for their approval like you: a sad, old man who does what he’s told and thinks himself the pinnacle of moral supremacy. And no, I won’t duel you this time. How will your honor handle that?”

“My honor means nothing to me. I wouldn’t be working with stealthy Arxur operatives if I had any left, would I?”

“Hrrr. No, he wouldn’t be,” Zefriss chuckled.

The Arxur’s shadow had blended in perfectly with the darkness, as Radai seemed to have forwarded our location to him. He’d crawled through the ceiling and popped out behind Mafani in silence, slipping the bug into the control panel undetected. The Underscale had been so distracted watching us that he’d taken his eyes off of the prize. With the off-button for the entirety of the robot legion and the drone fleet now in human hands, we could take the Consortium’s forces down. Metal Mafani shut off in an instant, falling lifeless to the ground and releasing Lecca. His gun also clattered away. 

We did it—all of us as a team. Humanity got the bastards, swiped the rug right out from under them. The outpost they used to control everything left them vulnerable to having it all taken away.

Lecca ran toward Gress, bawling her little eyes out. “Daddy! You came.”

“Of course I did, my precious darling. I didn’t leave you; I hope you know that.” Gress embraced her, shooting a grateful glance at Zefriss and Radai. “I couldn’t come home, but I’ve missed you so, so much, and you fill me with more love and joy than I could’ve imagined. You make me the proudest father in the galaxy.”

“I understand! You were taken away by the big obors, just like Mafani took me away! I wish I was taken away by Taylor too. Did you find Mom? The metal bird grabbed me at school, and I don’t know where she is.”

I cleared my throat, as Gress looked to me for help. “I think she might’ve been taken away too. If the United Nations didn’t rescue her, we might not be able to…get her back for a long time, because she’s too far away for the big obors to reach.”

“Is…Juvre gone too?”

“Probably. I’m sorry. We’re very happy that we could rescue you though, and I’m going to try to help you feel better. We can have a wonderful life as a family back on the big obor planet. Does that sound good to you?”

“Yes!”

“Then it’s settled. What do you say we get the hell out of here, Gress?”

“Please,” the Krev sniffled.

Radai stomped a foot emphatically. “We have what we need. Blow this place up, and don’t leave a thing standing.”

Relieved to have gotten Gress’ daughter out of this nightmarish place, and to have kept him going long enough to find her, I hurried back toward the shuttles that would take us home—to Earth. I hoped that with the Consortium gone, we’d be able to put the Federation’s legacy behind us one and for all, and live the peaceful life I dreamed about.

A/N - A nice, long chapter with tons of crazy twists, excitement, stakes, death, a disturbing POV: what more can you ask for? Hopefully you guys agree this is a worthy trade-off for not launching straight into a new bonus series yesterday (this chapter is the longest in NOP), and what else to say, it all just speaks for itself!

We start off with a point of view from roboTaylor, as the United Nations is breaking in and he is eventually shot by…himself. We see what it’s like to be under the Krev’s control, since he believes that Tellus is being raided by the Krev and finds himself unable to think or speak. How do you feel about the wretched existence of those automaton people, input to believe whatever and whenever the KC wants them to see? Was it truly impossible to save any of them?

The entire prime posse continues on past the robots, and goes to rescue Krev civilians, who remember exactly who Radai is. We see each character participate as they press toward the central hub, to try to hijack the Consortium’s remote control of the fleet and the bots. Quana goes out in a blaze of glory to clear out the legion, so her friends could get through before they sabotaged the servers. We then meet robot Mafani, who is completely self-aware…but accidentally saves Lecca by trying to torment Gress, and completely losing the house with his inattention.

What do you think about the shift in Radai’s motives and strategies? How do you feel about Quana’s chosen end and what it says about her, as well as the contrast between how quick Taylor was to save Gress versus Cherise? What do you think about Mafani’s “great plan” going out with a whimper, and Taylor and Gress saving Lecca to have a family back on Earth? What will humanity do next, with the KC war ended, the Fed remnants in shambles from the blitz attacks, and lots of KC worlds/species in tatters?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting!