The Nature of Predators - Human Exterminators 2 (1/9)

WARNING: Spoilers for Human Exterminators Season 1 and Predator Disease 

Memory transcription subject: William Kane, Human Exterminator

Date [standardized human time]: January 19, 2137

Exterminator was a misnomer. I was something like an animal control detective—three words which shouldn’t fit together in a job title, but the Venlil didn’t seem to grasp that. Humans had been hired by the dozens to fill out various departments, handling jobs which belonged to disparate fields like psychology and criminology; our people were devoted to detective work, with the number of cold cases at hand. I didn’t fit in much with my Terran colleagues, given that I signed on with the “Burning Bambi” club without conditions. While I was the reason for almost all of the reforms that had taken place, not everyone appreciated my efficacy.

Given that most Terrans kept to themselves, my desk’s location among the original exterminators made me a target with aliens too. Running into bigots who despised my eyes was a daily experience, whether minding my p’s and q’s at Rauln’s apartment or out on a job. Persuading Volek to add a kennel in the human section of the office was a miracle of persuasion, and my missions to rescue smuggled pets could be isolated from the predator-hating xenos. I never carried a flamethrower, not since my first mission, but the rest of my squad wouldn’t forsake their incendiary instruments.

Oh, they banned hellfire against infants—only infants, because the second a predator hits maturity, it doesn’t feel pain. Touché.

I interwove my fingers behind my head, leaning back in the spare chair. “Boss, where’s my raise?”

“You’re not funny. What part of ‘put on probation’ do you not understand?” Volek hissed across the table.

“The part where I’m supposed to care. If only you’d take the claims of humans abused by exterminators half as serious as this kangaroo court.”

“You do nothing but stir up trouble; of course you don’t care! The guild spent months litigating the assault charges Administrator Derva filed, and it cost us a hefty settlement. The only reason I had our legal team defend you at all is because I hate those facilities and those people. But there won’t be a next time, William. You can’t just walk around with a chip on your shoulder.”

“I can do whatever I want. The word you’re looking for is should. Rookie mistake.”

Volek stared at me with cantankerous rage. “Every word you say is a ‘mistake.’ Get the fuck out of my sight! Someone called in a body in a dumpster by the train station, and I expect you and your partners to haul ass to make it there. I don’t need an ‘agent of chaos’ anymore; I need you to get with the program or get out.”

“I thought you wanted reforms.”

“Maybe I already got the one I wanted. Now, did you hear my orders about the case, or do I need to point a flamethrower at you to get you moving?”

“Relax, Volek, I’m going. It’s surprising that you’re sending me if you’re supposedly mad at me.”

“There’s no supposedly in this. It’s a human body. It has to be your merry band, so that the exterminators don’t offend…human burial rituals.”

I stood up in a hurry, with newfound urgency to summon my crew to the crime scene. Checking via our web portal, the location had been marked on a map of the city; it was an area of the station that got little foot traffic. Our office received a flood of murder cases since repealing the theory of “predator attacks”, but this was the first human killing that’d been reported to us, rather than the UN. The execution happened in a public venue, not a refugee encampment or a back alley dealing. Anger surged in my chest, as my own experiences of anti-human bias whispered that this was a hate crime.

“Right, I’m going. But just to be clear, why isn’t CSI handling that? Why isn’t the UN involved?” I asked.

Volek lashed her tail with impatience. “Our techs have been notified, along with our contacts at your embassy, but someone has to secure the area. You go in first, if you’re done stringing questions together.”

“Ten-hut, boss. I’ll turn off all critical thinking and blindly follow your orders, like a real exterminator should.”

Ignoring the Venlil PR specialist’s hisses, I marched out of the conference room to collect Rauln, Fyron, and Luala. The thought of other humans being gunned down in broad daylight, likely for the crime of walking around with binocular eyes, made me livid; an attack on one of us was an attack on all of us. The more I thought about the quality of Earth’s cultures, compared to the Federation’s clusterfuck, the more unapologetic I was in my quest to protect humanity and grow its influence. The person who’d done this heinous act was going to pay, and there would be nowhere they could run to escape my search.

As my pupils turned to Fyron’s desk, where she normally was pretending not to be reading her racist romance books on the clock, the Farsul was nowhere to be seen. Rauln and Luala were nowhere to be seen either. I questioned a Venlil exterminator who I’d worked with when I found Bonsen, and she explained that she’d seen my smoke-furred roommate tailing the bird and the cocker spaniel to the break room. That raised my suspicions, along with the fact that the other staff seemed too distracted to look disgusted by me walking past them.

Something must have happened. I’ll have to check social media in a minute, see what’s got everyone so worked up. First priority is finding out what Rauln is up to.

“—had to have known!” my fifteen-year-old roommate shrieked. “You work alongside us every day, knowing the Farsul crippled, weakened, kidnapped, and brainwashed us. Mother could’ve fought back, if it weren’t for you!”

“Rauln, I’ve lived here almost as long as I lived on Talsk…why would I move here if I knew how the Venlil used to be?” Fyron replied.

“Because you fuckers want to mock us at every turn, see us humiliated through existence. You think I’m weak? I’ll show you weak! I’ll chase you off this world like my ancestors did!”

I flung open the door to the break room, just in time to see a deranged Rauln lunging at Fyron. The Farsul made no effort to defend herself, as he pummeled her face; his punching technique had improved since our reflexive fight outside the apartment. Luala had backed away from the furious Venlil, and looked torn about whether to intervene. It hadn’t registered to me what my exterminator partner was implying, but it sounded like the Farsul did something to the Venlil long ago. The Krakotl had mended her friendship with Fyron, though I sensed she still harbored a grudge over her species’ omnivore past.

Rauln was unrelenting, blind to the certain pain in his own paw. As blue blood oozed from Fyron’s wounds, I decided to intervene before she wound up hospitalized or killed. My Venlil roommate didn’t seem capable of stopping himself, or recognizing if enough was enough; whatever had been uncovered in the history books, it must be terrible for him to fly off the walls. My arm locked around his neck in a headlock, pulling him back as he thrashed in my grip. The Farsul coughed out her own blood, and struggled back to her feet to limp away. She looked hurt by Luala’s bystander status in the engagement.

“What are you doing?!” I spat. “That’s enough! Quit fighting me.”

Rauln fell limp in my grasp, though fury simmered in his eyes. “I must make her pay. The Farsul took everything from the Venlil!”

“So I guess you know how that feels now. People tell me I can’t turn Luala into Chicken Afraid-o, just because she’s a bluebird. That means you can’t pulverize Fyron. Fair is fair.”

“I’m not in the mood for your flippant attitude! Kalsim might’ve killed you en masse, but what the Farsul did to us is much more. We can’t walk, feel, or smell because of them. Give me one good reason not to do the same to her.”

“Because it’s what I would do. You don’t want to be like me.”

“That’s…a compelling argument. Fine, but I’m not working with the bitch anymore.”

Fyron grabbed a paper towel from the sink. “You’ll have to petition Volek for a transfer. I’m sorry for what happened to the Venlil, but I’m as shocked by the news as anyone—”

“PREDATORSHIT!” Rauln spat, trying to wriggle out of my grip.

“Easy. Nobody’s even told me what this news is.” I turned my gaze toward Luala for answers, but the Krakotl remained silent. She’d been less than chipper ever since the Bonsen assignment. “We can settle this later, but we have one last case to work together. There’s a body at the train station, and it’s human, so none of you will fuck this up. Unless you think I deserve to be clipped by someone who thinks I’m a filthy predator, you’ll keep your issues to yourselves and FIND THIS PRICK! Am I clear?”

“Yes, Will,” Fyron mumbled. “You deserve to be clipped, but because you’re an insufferable prick, not because you’re a predator.”

“Really? After I stuck up for you?”

“Friends come to book club—”

“Shut up. Luala?”

The Krakotl looked out of it. “Huh? Me?”

“Er, I’ll take that as a yes. Rauln, ohhh Rauln, we’re waiting on you, Your Gracious Majesty. Has temper tantrum hour wrapped up?”

“Everything’s not a joke; do I look like I find this funny? If Fyron’s coming, I’m not. I mean it,” the Venlil teenager growled. “I’m sorry about this dead human, but you know how you said Earth came first to you? Venlil Prime…Skalga comes first to me. The Farsul are an enemy to our existence.”

“Gee, we have that in common, my dude. News flash: this crime happened on Venlil Prime—”

“Skalga.”

“Sure, whatever. It happened on Skalga, so it concerns all of us. Second, I said if I had to choose, I’d pick Earth. You don’t have to choose now, and you’re still choosing that humans don’t matter. That we can be slaughtered like animals on your world and no one will bat an eye. Are we enemies to your existence?! I’ll go alone, without a partner, if you can’t get yourself together, you selfish fucking prick.”

The Venlil scowled at me, though his anger was clearly directed at Fyron. The Farsul gave me a grateful nod, and slunk out the door to retrieve her gear. Rauln wagged a single claw, an evident gesture that he’d only tolerate the squad list this once, and stormed out after her. I thought about following to ensure he wouldn’t resume his attack, but decided that others would intervene if he jumped her in the office. That must be why he waited to corner her in the break room, right?

What’s with that Skalga name anyways? And why would Luala have been talking to Fyron, then clammed up when Rauln went berserk?

The Farsul had owned up to her species’ role in the attack on Earth, back when we first met, so it was difficult to believe she could conceal knowledge of nefarious acts toward the Venlil for years. Rauln’s adamance that her surprise was feigned didn’t make sense. I understood not being able to work with a species, when their presence was an unwelcome reminder of genocide and bigotry. I’d hated that Luala had been falling into a rhythm with me, so it was for the best she was in this sullen state. We should talk as little as necessary to complete the job.

“Will?” the Krakotl chirped hesitantly.

Great, right as I recognize our present dynamic as optimal, she opens her beak and ruins it.

I crossed my arms. “Yes, Lulu?”

“That day with the escaped Zurulian. You hurt my feelings. You really think aliens are inferior to humans, across the board? That we’re beneath you?” the Krakotl questioned. “I thought we were friends…I care about you. It’s hard to talk to you anymore without feeling sad. Disappointed.”

“Rauln cleaned Fyron’s clock, and you’re disappointed in me, for a comment I made last month?”

“I’ve made so many excuses for you to myself, because you’re hurting. I could forgive how you used to treat me, because I thought you weren’t really that person. Now, I’m not so sure.”

“Well shit, you’ve got some nerve. To say this to my face after I decided not to hate you, in spite of what your species did? We have a few jokes, and we work fine as a team. You trusted me enough to free Bonsen, but you’re butthurt because I don’t pretend this rotten galaxy has a single idea worth saving? That I see humanity’s potential, our greatness?!”

“There’s nothing great about this attitude of yours. Even you used to know you’re an ass.”

“You get called a monstrous predator every day, and let’s see how warm and fuzzy you are! We don’t have to be friends, you know; that’s fine by me. Get over yourself, and do your job.”

Luala issued a sad trill, and trudged off with slumped wings to grab her gear. I didn’t bother with heading to my locker, since my handgun was stuffed in my waistband. Hurrying over to my desk, I pulled the firesuit off the coat hanger I’d set up; it was convenient, and saved me a whopping ten steps. My blood boiled at the Krakotl’s audacity, to try to claim that we were friends. We had to work together, so I was polite out of fairness.

Maybe I can chase Luala off our sister detail when Rauln tries to move Fyron. The two human-genocide participants are conveniently partners, so they could be transferred together.

On the truck ride to the site, I could review the exact details of what the Farsul did to Venlil Prime, and why Rauln had decided the planet’s name was Skalga. This would hopefully be the last time the four of us were assigned to work together; it wasn’t right to have to tolerate the species that slighted us every day. Volek claimed she didn’t want a chaotic work environment anymore, so it was time for her to stop arranging the chess pieces to cultivate exactly that. One last case, and then I’d never have to interact with the chirpy bird again.

Thinking about the Terran, found as a rotting corpse in a dumpster, discarded like trash, left me feeling as angry as I had after the bombing. How could it not be a hate crime? Nobody should have the right to get away with slaughtering innocent humans; we sought nothing but peace and mercy, and this was how they repaid us! I would never be able to avenge my family’s demise, but I could rain retribution upon this one perpetrator. As for the aliens I worked with, their emotional, irrelevant concerns weren’t going to ruin my chances at solving the case.

This time, I was ready to solve the puzzle on my own if needed. My commitment was to every human refugee that dared to live on Venlil soil; for their sanctity of mind and right to exist, this murderer must be brought to justice as quickly as possible. The protection and interests of my species were my first and only priority. It didn’t matter what any xenos thought about me.

Next

A/N - S2 of Human Exterminators kicks off! Will is on his last straw with his boss, Volek, after the stunt in PD and his continued shenanigans, but is assigned to the first case involving a dead human. As he goes to collect his buddies, he finds that Rauln is attacking Fyron in the wake of the Skalga news; tensions abound with the Farsul exterminator, who he blames for what was done to the Venlil. Will the teen Venlil make amends with Fyron, or stew in hatred? What do you think William will learn about the human in the dumpster?

In further interpersonal tensions, there's also the issue of Luala being upset over the HF sentiments that William was touting in predator disease, calling humans a superior species. Will responds brashly, brushing the Krakotl off entirely. How will this effect Luala and Will's interactions together going forward?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! Hope you enjoyed all the threads and character drama to unpack: this is going to be a fun ride!