The Nature of Predators - Human Exterminators (6/9)

First | Prev | Next 

Memory transcription subject: William Kane, Human Refugee

Date [standardized human time]: November 3, 2136

There were no words exchanged, as I entered the exterminator’s dwelling. My hands began shaking, alongside the sudden realization of my isolation. If the Venlil wished to follow through on his threat of “putting me down,” this was the perfect opportunity. In my wounded condition, I was in no condition to be sidestepping flamethrower attacks.

He said he wanted to talk. Maybe he knows something about the case…besides, how are you going to walk home like this?

My gaze swiveled around the modest apartment, which had a simple open floor plan. There were only a few hundred feet of living space, which was packed with furniture. Rauln was crouched beside an ice machine, and filling a bag with the frigid cubes. He hesitated, before filling a second container with frozen water. The Venlil brought one back to me, and gestured to a small bag on the floor.

“First aid.” Rauln collapsed into a chair, and I flopped onto the couch. He studied me, as I pressed the ice pack against my chin. “I…I can’t believe you can resist my blood scent. Your control is better than I t-thought.”

I fixed my eyes on the plaster ceiling. “Humans don’t find blood appetizing, Rauln. There’s nothing to control.”

“I watched you eat right in front of those sickening pictures at the briefing.”

“I opened my food for a knife demonstration, then remembered that I hadn’t eaten all day. Also, it pissed Volek off, and I like seeing her angry. The corpse had killed my appetite prior to that, okay? I almost projectile-vomited inside my suit, which would’ve gone all over my face and been gross as shit. I haven’t seen a dead body before.”

“Me neither. I’ve heard about the Intestine-Eater, but in p-person…it was horrible.”

The Venlil squeezed his eyes shut, and drew some shuddering breaths. This was progress, if he would show any emotional vulnerability in front of me. I wasn’t sure what I’d said or done to earn his favor; perhaps it was as simple as not turning into an animal from blood loss. It might’ve been my admission of genuine feelings too, which Rauln had proclaimed I didn’t have.

The exterminator did deserve some sympathy, after what we’d stumbled across today. Before Earth, it would’ve stuck with me for a long time; compartmentalizing death and bloodshed was getting easier. Rauln needed some time to process the grisly sight, and honestly, it had been insensitive of me to stalk him home. Even another human would’ve reacted poorly to a coworker following them for hours.

“I’m sorry. Those pictures must have been a graphic reminder,” I said. “Truth be told, I don’t know shit about CSI. I just know that on television, they always take pictures of the body and put it in evidence.”

Rauln flicked his ears in disgust. “You have entertainment about people getting murdered?”

“Hey, it’s like your Exterminators show! It’s about the detectives, and the investigation, tracking down the killer…it’s the same damn premise. Just a person is the bad guy, not an animal. You hear me? You do the same fucking thing with Venlil getting mauled by animals.”

“…I never thought about it that way. It’s kind of fucked, really.”

“Yeah. I guess it is.”

“Following me home is more than ‘kind of fucked’ too.”

“That wasn’t cool of me. I, um, shouldn’t have done a stake-out or any TV nonsense on you. I just thought since you found the body, you could’ve done it. I don’t have the info to know if you were in the right place, right time for the other murders yet—”

“That’s the stupidest predatorshit I’ve ever heard! I’ve never even been to Nishtal—”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you couldn’t be a copycat.”

“I was seven when the first Intestine-Eater kill happened on Venlil Prime. That would be the fastest predator disease manifestation I’ve ever heard of!”

My eyes stretched wide, and my head popped off the couch pillow. It wasn’t clear when the first kill took place, but I didn’t imagine it could be that long ago, if it had been Kalsim’s case beforehand. Oh shit, was Rauln a minor? Had I just attacked some kid who was living alone, and lacked any parents to care for him? My reddened knuckles suddenly told a different tale than a glorious smackdown.

“How old are you?” I gasped.

“Fifteen.”

“…fuck my life. No wonder Volek is sympathetic to you. God, I can’t believe I punched a fucking teenager! I would not have hit you, or stalked you, if I knew you were a kid. I might be a lowlife, but I do have standards…”

“I’m not a kid! Don’t insult me! My birthday was three months ago; we’re legal adults at fifteen.”

“So you just joined the exterminators recently, seeking revenge? It’s still fresh?”

“…no. It’s been almost four years since Mother died, and I applied for the guild the very next day. She was all I had. They took me in.”

“Oh God, this just keeps getting worse.” I groaned, shaking my head in dismay. “They hired an actual kid to burn animals, right after you were orphaned?! Now that’s beyond fucked. Honest-to-God child labor…why didn’t I think of that?”

“Are you old for a predator? I imagine you don’t live long, with all the violence on your planet.”

“Life expectancy is eighty plus, my dude. I’m twenty-seven…twelve years older than you.” I definitely have to protect Rauln. I should be the mature one, not rolling around in the mud with him. “My parents had me when they were both eighteen, then didn’t have another kid until my sister, twenty years later. I was more like her uncle than her b-brother.”

Tears swelled in my eyes, as I remembered holding my sister in her baby blanket for the first time. I had always wanted a sibling, but seeing that angelic face had been magical. There was no telling what her life could’ve been, if it hadn’t been snuffed out so young. Even though I lived a few hours away, I wanted to be involved in her life. I would call my parents on the weekends, and talk to them about how things were at home.

When first contact happened, my mother reassured me that everything was going to be okay. The idea of a savage interstellar war and aliens wishing extinction upon us for existing terrified me, from the get-go. Now, I’d never hear her voice again; nothing was ever going to be okay. Rauln understood what that feeling was like, perhaps more than anyone.

Keep it together, Will. Why the fuck are you crying? Rauln doesn’t want to see your face turn into a scrunched-up tomato.

“I’m sorry. I had no idea a human could hurt like that,” the exterminator said.

“I’m not looking for pity.” I wiped my eyes furiously, and massaged the inflamed tissues around my ribcage. “More important things at play. How old is chicken nuggets?”

“Who? My translator decided on ‘precious metal lumps’ for the second word.”

“I thought your translator was great at semantic meanings. Luala. Her age. And Fyron too, while you’re at it.”

“29 and 32, respectively. Don’t quote me on that.”

“So it totally could’ve been the bluebird there. Now that I ruled you out as a suspect, the killer is obviously Luala. Call it human intuition. Tomorrow, we’re going to follow her and go through her things. You could tear apart her locker and her desk for me?”

“I’m not doing that. You hunting me wasn’t acceptable, so it’s not being done to someone else.”

“But now I know that you’re innocent, and also that you’re an angsty fifteen-year-old. Think about it, Rauln. The first crime happened on Nishtal, and our Krakotl birdbrain transferred here around that time. I don’t remember seeing her, not while I took your gun and whistled to the dog. Do you?”

“No.”

“That’s eyewitness testimony. Evidence, right there! We have reasonable suspicion, so we have to investigate. Are you in or out?”

“Let’s get some sleep, William. We need to get up and go to work tomorrow.”

Rauln removed the ice pack from his chin, and gestured for me to stay put. He threw the frozen bag in the sink, before wandering down the open floor plan to his bed. I rubbed my arms, feeling goosebumps underneath my sleeves. The rain had left me freezing my ass off, and this ventilation was chillier than I was used to. Venlil liked interiors cooler than us, due to their fluffy pelts.

I thought about asking Rauln for a blanket, but I didn’t want to leave his good graces. It was surprising that the exterminator let me crash here, rather than giving me the boot, to begin with. I wasn’t sure I could hoof it back to refugee housing in my current state. I removed my wet shirt, and kicked off my shoes. My ice bag was also dropped to the floor, before I curled up into a ball to conserve body warmth.

Despite shaking from head to toe, I squeezed my eyelids shut. My passage into slumber was swift, a deep state of recovery as my body mended itself. It felt like my eyes blinked back open in no time; aches persisted in my ribcage and my jaw. I was buried beneath something soft and heavy.

“What the…” I groaned.

My groggy pupils surveyed a brown duvet, which was draped across my barren chest. Its warmth was merciful, and it had some thickness as well. I threw off the blanket, before seeing Rauln staring at me, in the sideways manner of a Venlil. He had two prepackaged fruit salads underneath his arm; his bleary eyes were orange, like he hadn’t slept.

“Here. Lunch.” The Venlil slammed the plastic container on the couch, and pointed to the blanket. “You were shivering.”

I raised my eyebrows, wondering briefly if the fruit was poisoned. “Thanks. How long have you been watching me? It’s a little creepy, man.”

“Couldn’t sleep. Instincts went crazy, the second my eyes were closed. Sleeping around a predator…bad idea to be left defenseless. It is what it is.”

“I’m sorry. I can leave.”

“We are leaving—to work. You slept for too many hours. We have to catch public transit now.”

I grabbed my wrinkled shirt, and wandered off to a washroom to relieve myself. Much better. I found a brush on Rauln’s sink counter, but it had clumps of fur stuck to its bristles. There went the idea of combing my hair, which was a disheveled mess. Splashing water on my face didn’t erase the cuts, but I was able to scrub off the dried blood.

Wearing the same clothes again wasn’t ideal either, but there was little I could do to make myself presentable. I noticed a few blotches of orange on my sleeve cuffs, which were clearly Venlil blood. I rolled them inward, trying to hide the evidence. Perhaps it would be possible to wear the firesuit around the office. I returned to the living area, and braced myself for the looks we were going to receive.

I clapped my hands together, smiling at the exhausted Rauln. “All set here. Let’s go make Luala our fall girl. You can’t hang your partner out to dry now.”

“Ugh, fine, we’ll pry into Luala’s private affairs. Now get the fuck out of my home, predator.”

The thought of the Krakotl riding the lightning, and me teaming up with a Venlil to make it happen, put a skip in my step. My upcurved lips morphed into a predatory grin, and I slapped an arm around the exterminator’s shoulders. Rauln flinched away from my touch, hurrying out the door.

I snagged my woefully-insufficient fruit mix, and walked with my partner to my second day on the job.

Hopefully, today will be less eventful than the inaugural festivities.

—

The two of us arrived at the extermination office, just in time for the start of our shift. Volek shrieked, picking up on our battered states. The assertive Venlil rounded on us, flabbergasted by the cuts on our faces. Bruising was also visible on my furless chin; it was a shame I’d trimmed my beard, on second thought.

“What happened to you two?!” she screamed.

“Oh, Rauln wanted to know what a human laundromat was. Long story short, we got locked in a washing machine.” I made clicking sounds with my tongue, and drew circular motions with my pointer finger. “Around and around, nasty business. Someone finally let us out—”

“You better get the fuck out of my sight! I left the package in the briefing room, William; you’re welcome.”

“Do you want a handwritten thank-you card? By the way, where is the toddler section of the office? I don’t quite know my way around yet, but I heard you start ‘em young.”

“Humans. Always so haughty, like you’re some moral paragons. Get to work.”

That particular remark rubbed me the wrong way, but I decided to hash this out after picking apart Luala’s life. Rauln yawned, as we wandered to a briefing room. My pupils flitted toward the desk area; most exterminators were still disgruntled by my presence. Fyron scrunched her ears with confusion, spotting the predator-hating Venlil cooperating with me.

I beckoned to the Farsul, and she hustled over to the private room. Checking to make sure Luala hadn’t seen us, I closed the door. My gaze drifted to the fruit salad Rauln had provided, and my stomach suddenly vocalized that it was breakfast time. Most important meal of the day, right? I began to pop off the lid, and the smoky Venlil shot me a withering glare.

“If you start eating in front of the corpse pictures again, I’m going to torch your freakish, pasty body with prejudice,” Rauln growled.

I threw up my hands in protest. “Don’t be like that! You didn’t give me time to eat breakfast, before rushing me out the door. How am I supposed to think without brain fuel?”

“That’s your problem. I swear, I will get my flamethrower.”

Fyron lashed her tail. “What is going on between you two? Rauln doesn’t seem like he actually means the fiery death threats, and you guys look like you were in a Mazic stampede together.”

“William is spending his spare time hunting his coworkers,” the Venlil answered.

“That’s not what happened!” I returned his glare, and he shriveled under my forward-facing eyes’ intensity. “Sorry. I was just doing the bit. I know I scare you.”

The Farsul took a step back. “Okay, I am confused, and slightly alarmed by what I’ve heard. S-start explaining.”

“Well first, we need to get your alibi. Make sure you’re not the murderer.”

“As if I c-could do something like that. What is an alibi?”

“I told you this at the briefing already. It’s a reason you couldn’t have done a crime, like—”

“I didn’t do it. I would never!”

“I like her alibi,” Rauln chimed in.

I palmed my skull in frustration. “An alibi is concrete evidence of your innocence. Where you were, who you were with, et cetera.”

“I see. Well, I’ve never even been to Nishtal,” Fyron replied. “I go to a book club on my off-days, so if any kills h-happened during that time frame…oh, and I have work logs to exonerate me on other days.”

“I’ll check on that. Right, in the meantime, our main suspect is Luala. We’re gonna catch that drumstick red-handed, but I’ll need your help: both of you. You in, Fyron?”

“T-that’s my partner. We were very close, at one time…she couldn’t have done something like this.”

“Psychopaths are good at pretending. She could’ve done it right under your nose. And if she’s innocent, searching should clear her name, right?”

“I don’t like this. I’m going to make you apologize to her if you’re wrong, Will. You’ve treated her like shit.”

“Naturally. She’s a Krakotl. Are you gonna help me or not?”

Her floppy ears scrunched up in hesitation. “If I must. W-what do you want me to do?”

“You need to find Luala and distract her. Rauln, while Fyron is keeping our tweety bird away, you’re going to go through her things. Her desk, her locker, her holopad, even her lunchbox—leave no stone unturned.”

Rauln flicked his ears. “And what are you doing, while we’re taking all the risks snooping around?”

“I can’t rummage the office unnoticed. I am going through her personnel file, and stalking her social media accounts. Making a timeline of her known whereabouts during each kill. And I’m going over the UN’s crime scene report, which I doubt either of you want on your plate. Not Venlil…or Farsul appropriate.”

“Hmph. You owe me three credits for the fruit package.”

“I’ll only pay you if it’s any good. That green fruit looks radioactive.”

“I’ll take you to court, predator. Three credits. Don’t make me sue your ass.”

The two exterminators wandered out of the briefing room, commencing my conspiratorial plan to investigate Luala. I wandered over to Volek’s delivered files, and skimmed through the contents. If there was any detail that could implicate the Krakotl in here, no matter how minuscule, I would find it. Rauln might’ve been a dead end, but I wasn’t giving up the hunt for the killer so easily.

Besides, this human exterminator was too stubborn to accept that it wasn’t the Krakotl without serious proof of her innocence. Know thyself, right?

First | Prev | Next

A/N - Part 6! Rauln and Will have a heart-to-heart, and we learn that the anti-human Venlil is hardly an adult by his own species' standards. Meanwhile, Fyron and Rauln get roped into investigating Luala, as Volek continues to tire of Will's shenanigans.

What will the deep dive into the Krakotl turn up? Is our biased narrator chasing another dead end, or does it actually make sense with her coming from Nishtal?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting!