Memory transcription subject: Estala, Ex-Krakotl to Venlil Extermination training leader.

Date [standardised human time]: November 15, 2136

“What are you doing, human?”

I could see the predator in front of me, clearly the bloodlust and instinct taking over as it screamed its feral cry into the forest. I stepped out of the trees as I made myself known to the beast, instantly stopping its cry as it fixed its predatory gaze on me.

Inatala’s Talons…

It might have been the exact reason I was here, but seeing its eyes lock onto my figure filled me with a pure icy terror. Even with my training, being alone with the intelligent predator caused fear to paralyse me. I may not be a noble herbivore worthy of life, but I was still prey; every feather from my legs to the top of my head screamed at me to run, to fly, to flee.

But that wouldn’t do now, would it?

The thing stared at me, confusion and hate emanating from its forward facing eyes, murmuring to itself as it looked at me hungrily.

“What the… hell?”

The predator was probably confused that a free meal was presenting itself so easily. Not that where I was currently standing would do: In order for the predator to devour me in front of the recording device I’d have to get closer.

I focused entirely on the action of moving forwards. One step at a time, one foot over the other, just focusing on closing the distance.

Then the federation would no longer have the problem of human’s sweet words causing herbivore to go against herbivore. The Venlil would no longer have the problem of predators in their midst.

They would no longer have the problem of my corrupting presence.

“Whoa whoa whoa!” The predator's eyes widened as I started to move forwards, panic filling his voice. “What are you doing?”

I watched as the human slowly bent over, its eyes never leaving me as it slowly fumbled around on the ground with one of its hands before standing back up now carrying a large rock, the action of arming himself being done with all the subtlety of a tree branch to the beak.

“What’s going on? Stay where you are!”

Was that… fear? From a predator? Because of me? I stopped for a moment, confused, before a thought entered my mind.

I could kill this human.

Humans for all their evil and deception were surprisingly weak when unarmed. They had no claws, no teeth, no armour to protect themselves. If they could use their tools or their silver tongue to entrap you they were deadly, but completely alone out here?

A single slice of the talons through soft skin would be enough.

A few other Krakotl had even managed it during their suicidal attacks, severely injuring and in two cases even killing a human. I was still technically an exterminator after all, and killing things… killing predators was my job, was my duty under the guidance of Inatala.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

But what would that actually accomplish? One dead predator out of millions? The original plan was far better, and I might not find another opportunity like this again.

I slumped into a sitting position, just a few feet away from the predator, my eyes lowered to the ground as I repeated in my head exactly how I needed to act.

I am prey. I am just trusting naive prey. Nothing more than just an easy meal, completely comfortable around this vicious predator. I have no idea about its true evil. Just normal trusting prey.

“I just wanted to know why you were shouting, alone and with nobody around.”

I waited, hoping that the combination of reminding the predator that we were completely alone, and the sight of a prey just sitting there in front of them would be enough to tip them over the edge.

It seemed to be working, as the expression on the human’s face turned from the worried anger, to a softer expression as its piercing eyes studied me for any weakness.

“Are you OK?”

Those were not the three words I expected to hear from the predator. I tried to work out the angle of attack those words signified, cocking my head in confusion as I looked up at the beast.

“Your feathers are… You OK?”

I looked down at myself. Plumage that was normally a shiny iridescent blue was instead dulled and dishevelled. I hadn’t properly groomed myself since the news about my true condition broke, and large patches were missing from where I’d pulled them out due to stress. Any other Krakotl and most federation species would know something was wrong, but how would a predator lacking empathy know? Or care for that matter?

“I am fine, I am disease free and healthy.”

I took a wild guess as to the human’s inquiry. Perhaps he was worried that my physical condition represented something wrong with my flesh. Humans cooked their meat, didn’t they, so maybe they had less tolerance than other predators for lower quality food?

The human narrowed his eyes for a moment, that predator gaze filled with faux concern, slowly lowering themselves to the ground and sitting across from me before responding.

“If I tell you why I’m shouting, will you tell me what’s wrong?”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. I didn’t really have any plan for talking with the predator aside from making myself known, as I expected to have been killed already. Seconds turned to minutes, the human’s eyes never leaving me, patiently waiting for my response. It was an excellent performance, many others would have undoubtedly fallen for the fake empathy.

Still, I had no idea how to progress this further, so I gave a slight nod, causing the predator to give a small teeth filled snarl.

“I’m tired. Don’t get me wrong, I love the Venlil and they’re adorable, but having to watch every movement every turn of phrase… seeing them jump or shudder because I moved too fast or used a metaphor. It’s tiring. I’m tired of everyone being scared of me, I’m tired of hearing about Earth, not knowing if…”

The human gave a sigh as it lamented about how difficult it was to keep its predatory ruse going.

“I broke a dude's leg 3 weeks [21 paws] ago.”

Now this sounded more like the truth. I could imagine the predator grabbing a poor Venlil, breaking open its legs with those strong hands to get at the bone marrow inside. I wondered why it was confessing to such an action, before remembering that if it was about to eat me it would make no difference whether I knew or not.

“I went to the library, caused a stampede because I fucking sneezed. I just wanted to get some Venlil myths translated, and ended up breaking someone's leg because it was all a bit dusty.”

To be fair to the predator, that also didn’t sound unlikely. The Venlil were skittish at the best of times and stampeding was a legitimate problem, human or no human.

“Heck I’m literally tired, this gravity is no joke and the lack of night is messing with my sleep pattern. It’s nice to just come out here, and be able to scream and shout as much as I want without worrying about giving the Venlil a heart attack.”

The predator stopped, staring at me intently as it finished its explanation, it taking a moment for me to realise that it was waiting for me to respond in kind. I desperately wracked my brain for a lie: I couldn’t exactly tell the predator of my plan.

How did humans constantly come up with the correct lie to say so easily?

“I… uh. Since the news broke, about the… uh from Cilany, I can’t… do…”

I trailed off lamely as my brain failed to work out a believable lie. Somehow, it seemed to satisfy the predator however, as he gave a slight growling sound indicative of light amusement.

“It’s fine, if you’re really not ready to tell me you don’t have to. I’m Joseph by the way, and you’re more than welcome to sit here with me if you want.”

I couldn’t work out what its goal was, why it just wasn’t taking this clear opportunity, what exactly this hunting strategy could be. Still, it wasn’t like I had any other ideas.

“I’m Estala”.