The Nature of Predators - Human Exterminators 2 (5/9)

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Memory transcription subject: William Kane, Human Exterminator

Date [standardized human time]: January 21, 2137

Rauln picked up on my distracted demeanor from the moment I picked him at Luala’s; my minimal responses to his jabs were far out of the normal. The words from the meeting were playing in my head, over and over, as if they were my favorite song. HF’s cause had offered everything I hoped for, and it was notably devoid of any proposals to bomb cities or cause anyone harm. The tasks dished out were almost espionage-like, scrounging up information and sabotaging systems that threatened humanity. The speech before the local meeting had felt like a rallying cry, the kind given in movies when morale was at its lowest. How could I not have committed on the spot?

“Since humanity had the audacity to send radio waves to the stars, the Federation was there to put us down. Their only interest in a living human is one that is crushed beneath the heel of their ideology, a subject that’s been cowed and altered at a fundamental level. The Archives are yet another reason we owe those fools no concessions, certainly no apologies. If we do not resist, what will our existence be? Will we exist at all?” the masked figure declared from the screen, waving a fist above their head.

The smoky-furred Venlil hopped off the public transit, swishing his tail lazily. “Look, Will, I know compared to bloodstains, leaving dirty pelts wherever you please must seem ‘clean.’ But it’s encroaching in my space; how the fuck did a pair of socks get under my bed? Your feet must be filthy, for the white fabric to be black.”

“Yeah. Sure,” I said absent-mindedly.

“Even if the UN submits to their lunacy, we do not have to. The only one who can stand up for us, is each of you. We stand up, and we say, ‘Appeasement is done! It’s over.’ The human spirit is forever unbridled, and we won’t be tamed like the Venlil or the Krakotl. They put us as a G on their aggression scale? We’re a fucking H! We’ll have justice for the billion who died on Earth; we’ll show them we’re number one. Resist, my friends. Tear the xenos down and build a new society!”

“…really should cover your chalky face too, if you’re gonna wear all that shit. Last warning. Pick up your coverings, or I will throw them all away. No, scratch that, I’ll burn them with my flamethrower,” Rauln rambled.

I played with the ring on my finger. “Totally, sounds good.”

“Well, if you’re not even going to argue, I’m definitely burning that shit. Predator contamination littered across my home, my precious home. Hey, by the way, did you eat Fyron last night?”

“Fyron…we had a good time. We did. Thanks for asking.”

As the morning approached, my exuberance had morphed into trepidation over snooping around in exterminator data. Subtlety was the opposite of my style, with my tendency to wave the xenos’ flaws in front of their face. Paulo had suggested that I could retrieve all the personnel files, using my portal access, and give them to Humanity First so they could hold anti-human actors accountable. After having the exterminators called on me multiple times, I understood the need to put an end to encounters with brutality. However, neither Volek or any of my companions would grasp why I was swiping the information.

What happens if they catch me? I want to help remake the exterminators, but this job helped put me back on my feet; I’m not out to ruin anyone I like. I don’t want to get caught and be fired, and since I’m already on probation, they’re watching me.

“You’re not listening to me at all, are you?” Rauln waved a paw mere inches from my predator eyes, and it was all I could do not to show open contempt. I tried to walk the final few steps to the extermination office door, but the Venlil physically stood in my way. “What’s wrong with you? You’ve been acting funny since you talked to that HF guy.”

I snapped my head toward him. “Another Venlil reminded me that you held innocent human kids at flamethrower-point. That’s what you almost got fired for, and why Volek stuck you with me. What were you thinking that day? How close were you to immolating a helpless child?”

“That…was a long time ago, William. Humans are predators that don’t seem like predators. Those are the worst kind of all to me, you know that. If you try to tell me my mother deserved to get mauled by that beast, I’m going to take a fucking swing at you.”

“I’ve felt bad for you for so long, that I never thought about what you said, all the way back when Volek introduced me. It was something about it taking the entirety of your control not to ‘cleanse’ the school.”

“Well, I was scared. First day of school, and a human already attacked a Venlil. It proved my worst—”

“Answer the question! How close were you to doing it?!”

Rauln slumped his shoulders, dropping his gaze. “If any one of them made a wrong move, I would’ve done it, Will. I would’ve set them all ablaze. I wanted an excuse, just like I searched for any excuse to kill you, when you first showed up. It never occurred to me that predators could have any real feelings. I did some fucked-up, hateful shit because I lost my only family; we’re in the same herd on that.”

My eyes bored into his forehead with unyielding rage. “I can agree that we’re similar, in too many ways. You believe I have ‘real’ feelings now?”

“Of course I do, you absolute prick! I let you live with me. I can fall asleep around you and your fat predator ass, and I don’t worry about contamination when you touch my shit.”

“But you still thought I had bloodlust.”

“I said I found it difficult to believe you didn’t, with your kind’s hunting past and your tendency to snack at every murder briefing. Am I on trial here? This isn’t how you treat your so-called ‘little brother,’ who has done nothing to you except tell you to clean up your messes.”

“Aliens can never really care for you; the predator dogma is always in the way. If they’re going to fear you regardless, why shouldn’t we set out to instill that fear?” The words of the HF leader rang in my ears. “There’s no question that some are smart enough to submit to us, but xenos don’t see you as a friend. They side with you because they want to stay alive. A wise enough line of cognition. They want to abuse your protective, trusting side, even as they claim you don’t have one.”

My heart sank in my chest, wondering if it was true about Rauln. “I…I’m starting to think I see you as a little brother, and you still see me as a monster…a monster you can get to do your bidding.”

“What on Skalga has gotten into you?” the Venlil hissed. “That’s—"

“I’m on probation. I can’t be late for work, with Volek up my ass. We should finish this conversation later.”

Before Rauln could protest, I shouldered my way past him to the main entrance. My boss looked up when we entered, squinting with confusion as my partner shouted for me to wait. The last thing I needed was to pull a confession from my fluffy roommate that he never cared about me, and that my brotherly attachment was indeed unrequited. While I didn’t fret what xenos thought of my supposedly-fake feelings, it would be humiliating for the other humans who worked here to see me crying.

Volek stood at last, and wrapped her tail around my wrist. “Conference room. Now.”

“I just walked in the door!” I objected. “What could I possibly have done this time? Blinked my forward-facing eyes threateningly?”

“I have a hunch you’re a little friendly with the victim’s associates. Should we take this somewhere private?”

“Uh…no clue what you’re on about, but by all means.”

My mind was racing as the feisty Venlil receptionist pushed her way through the desk area. Rauln looked shellshocked after our conversation, and I noticed his fur standing on end after overhearing the accusation of my coziness to Humanity First. It wasn’t clear where Volek had gotten that idea from, but I hoped it wasn’t my Venlil roommate; perhaps it could’ve been Luala, if Rauln jawed off to that irksome bird yesterday. My truce with the Krakotl was over, should she be involved in any way. Regardless of the source, it was game over for me if Volek had concrete proof of my new allegiance. I wouldn’t be able to complete the side work for Paulo.

Fuck. Does Volek know I’m planning to steal her files? She couldn’t possibly know—unless they’re surveilling HF meetings, somehow having eyes in human turf.

Volek took a seat at the far end of the conference room table, and gestured with her tail for me to shut the door. I’d been around xenos for too long if I could decipher the slight differences in those movements. I closed the door, noticing Fyron staring with inquisitive eyes as I was pulled aside yet again. The gray walls of the cramped room seemed to be closing in on me, while I tugged out a chair. My cocky smirk was long gone; I didn’t want to be fired, and struggle to find even the most unappealing work once more. The reason I joined the exterminators was because I needed a job.

My boss pulled up a report on her holopad. “How exactly did you ‘confirm’ that the victim was Humanity First? You ID’d our man as Luca Ricci, and claimed that he collected ‘charitable funding’ according to Rauln. Then, when I press him on his hackle-raising statement, he says that you asked those bastards directly. That requires a lot of explanation.”

“It was just me doing the legwork, boss, and looking for some people who knew the victim.” Relief stopped my hands from shaking, realizing that Volek wasn’t on to my conspiracy against the guild. “Why does it matter? I got the info that was needed, went the extra mile. If you tell me to abandon the case, just because Luca’s HF, I’m gonna fucking go apeshit.”

“You can’t seriously be asking me why it matters. We’ve been trying to track down the fuckers who committed that bombing for months, and you had an inroad to get in touch with them all along? You need to spill the seeds.”

“All I know is that if you talk to enough people at bars, you’ll find someone HF and proud of it among drunken humans. They blab to me because I’m not a xeno, so that’s your problem there. What’s important in my book is finding out who killed Luca, and stopping them from killing again; I’m not here to play counterterrorism. I’m juggling enough unrelated roles in this mix-and-match job as is.”

“Keep your comments to yourself. I am pleased with your work out there. It’s an interesting angle, and it definitely prompts us to consider whether HF was involved in the murder. Look, I need you to follow-up on Luca’s accomplices, pronto; whoever you talked to, get me a list of names.”

“What? Volek, I think it’s a much more likely theory that someone knocked him off for being HF.”

“And how would they know that?”

“I, uh, they probably heard him talking about it,” I lied, suddenly feeling self-conscious about the ring on my finger. “Or something. Maybe they captured another HF member and forced them to talk?”

What if Althea tipped Volek off about what this symbol means? The boss would’ve known on the spot how entrenched I’d gotten then and there, but she could just be playing me now.

The PR specialist narrowed her eyes. “William, I’ve spent a lot of time on calls with the UN. I need to be kept in the loop, and have a full range of information to provide for your people; the diplomacy angle is my job. So you’re gonna go back wherever you found your source, and ask more questions. You’re gonna poke in every corner, exactly when, where, and how I tell you to. Friends, family, fellow conspirators: primary suspects. Have I made myself clear?”

“You’re nothing if not clear, boss. Prey couldn’t have done this to a predator, that’s your take?” I grumbled.

“It has nothing to do with prey or predators. I care about being thorough, and proving to your people that we’re competent. The guild needs to sort its own matters, for the sake of survival in the post-human age.”

“Starting off by accusing other humans is yet another example of your discriminatory bias. We’re all bloodthirsty monsters who just slaughter each other, huh? You can’t make it a minute without blaming us for everything that’s bad in the universe.”

“You’re making zero sense, William, and I question whether you need to be pulled off the case. Even if the killer’s from outside this guy’s circle, it’s the logical place to start. If Luca was receiving any threats or had any enemies, who would know? The people close to him! And also, how can we piece together what happened without learning where he was last seen alive? That witness might have vital info, and set us onto a trail of breadcrumbs. And if the people close to Luca are innocent, we can clear them with alibis.”

“For once, you’re making sense. I guess I should figure out his last known whereabouts.”

“You guess? It was your advice on that very first case: to gather alibis and find out if anything odd happened in the victim’s life! But I guess you only follow your own tips when it suits you.”

Dark emotions stirred in my chest, after the brazen put-down from Volek. How dare the Venlil weaponize my words against me? I couldn’t argue that she had a point, but being accused of hypocrisy by a Fed was a kick in the teeth. It was a struggle to rein in my temper, but this exchange had the benefit of washing away all uncertainty over snatching the files. The receptionist might’ve given me a chance months ago; however, the way she singled me out for doing the same things other exterminators did, whether brutality or ignorance, wasn’t fair. Even if she was content with the state of reforms, I was not.

It was time that others stopped talking down to me, and treating me like I should hop to every alien’s request. Just like Rauln, my boss saw me as a monster to do her bidding and protect her from judgment. The Humanity First speaker had been right, about putting an end to the appeasement and concessions. Change was coming, and Volek wasn’t going to be able to control its direction much longer. I forced a polite expression, seeing myself out of the room as soon as I received a tail flick that loosely meant “scram.” My cover wasn’t blown, and getting the files to HF could end anti-human bias once and for all.

I stormed over to my desk, briefly checking that Rauln wasn’t waiting to ambush me and that no coworkers were paying me particular attention. After logging into the portal, I hunched over my screen in an attempt to obstruct it from prying eyes. Swiping to the personnel files, I jammed the thumb drive into my display port; downloading the files would take about a minute, due to encryption and security protocols slowing the speed. The sole source of anxiety was being caught in the act. Once I got the data out of here, I was out of the woods, quick and easy.

“What happened in there, Will?” Fyron had approached my desk without warning, and I made a hurried attempt not to exude guilt. “Rauln told me that Volek accused you of being…friendly with the victim’s associates. Who are—”

I monitored the download progress out of my periphery. “Volek questioned my methods of acquiring certain information. In other news, circles are round, one plus one equals two, and humans have binocular eyes. You did notice my eyes, didn’t you?”

“Every damn day, though I was polite enough to never point it out. I’m not in the mood for your games, Will. I was your first friend here, and by here, I mean anywhere on this planet. Where did you go last night?”

“I blackmailed you just so that you wouldn’t ask these questions. You were my first, uh…”

“Xenos don’t see you as a friend.” Remember? Naive idiot! Fyron has some angle of wanting to protect herself, if I turn rabid on the rest of the squad or something.

Fyron grabbed the collar of my shirt, catching me by surprise. “Fuck you, William. If you think I’m more worried about my embarrassing fanfics than your welfare, think again. Where were you? It’s a simple question.”

“I went out to visit some friends.” I wriggled out of her grip, and leaned back to avoid further attempts at grappling. “Could be a new routine. Talk to people in the refugee community, see how we can make things better here.”

“That’s a half-truth, at best. I’ve never seen you act this distant with me. It can’t be over that…book. What did I do to you? Are you mad at me for being a Farsul?”

“No. I’ve opened my eyes to a hurtful reality. It’s been brought to my attention that aliens can never truly care about a human.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding. I’ve invited you to hang out with me at the one activity I have outside work that’s fun, and you and I have always had rapport and banter. The goofy shit we talked about last night—the way we joke around. I do care about you, Will, and that’s why I’m hard on you when you’re not being fair.”

“All you do is tell me to ‘stop being a prick.’”

“Well you haven’t done it yet.”

A message flashed on screen showing that the download was complete, and I put my display on sleep mode with relief. If anyone had been charitable to me from the start, it was Fyron. Part of me wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, despite my skepticism of my coworkers’ true intentions. Sure, just like Rauln, she saw me as a monster—the weird, vampiric humans in her story proved that. However, her fascination with that caricature meant it was possible she didn’t hate us. I could see the reason in what she said; I still viewed us as friends in my heart, even through my recent doubts.

“I’m sorry, Fyron. I’m going through some shit,” I quietly ejected my thumb drive, and pocketed it. “Volek wants me talking to anyone Luca knew. I’m gonna get on that. Just need to finish the case, and I can breathe.”

The Farsul issued a tired sigh. “Stars know we have enough predators working here now. Someone else could handle the case.”

“No! It has to be me. This is about more than the case. It’s about all the shitty things that happened to humanity…to people I loved.”

“Then I’d like to help. This assignment is getting to you, and you can’t do it alone. If you want to talk, about whatever you’re going through, I’m here for you. You’re one of the only people who supported me these past few days. That meant something.”

“It’s nothing. Krakotl al Pastor should’ve spoken up. Why didn’t she, huh? It’s a sad commentary when I’m the one who takes a stand. Look, I’ve got to get going.”

I hustled away from my desk, eager to transfer the drive out of my possession. Through this information, capable minds would be able to work on reshaping the guild, expanding upon my efforts. My statement beating up Derva clearly hadn’t delivered the intended results, so these unconventional means were the only way to end exterminator brutality against humans. While I delivered the data, it would be easy to gather statements from anyone who knew Luca; Paulo had been cooperative with my past questions, so he could put me in touch with the necessary contacts.

This was the swing of fate I needed to find direction in my life. I could kill two birds with one stone; solve the murder case, and solve humanity’s needless suffering. William Kane wouldn’t be the name of a coward anymore, because soon, I’d be a thankless hero to millions of Terrans without a voice.

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A/N - Part 5! William, encouraged by the lingering memory of the HF speech, goes ahead with their request to swipe the personnel list. Our narrator has been pushed into full-out suspicion of his friends, outright accusing Rauln of using him as a guard dog, and struggling with his feelings of friendship toward a concerned Fyron. Even Volek is asking questions about Mr. Kane's involvement with HF, and pressing him to focus more on cracking the case.

What will come of Will's data theft; will his colleagues find out, or will HF ask him to do anything else on their behalf? Will our spiraling exterminator be able to follow through with questioning Luca Ricci's associates, making some progress on the murder?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! The next few chapters are spicy, so stay tuned!