Memory transcription subject: Estala, Ex-Prestige Exterminator, current predator.
Date [standardised human time]: December 13, 2136
“Look, Yegela is best girl and all, but honestly I ship Kalam and Raphial.”
I stared at Joseph incredulously as the human said the most insane thing. Maybe he did have predator disease, how could any rational person take that opinion?
“You’re joking right? Their entire relationship is based around how much they hate each other!”
“I’m not saying it would be a healthy relationship, but it would be an interesting one. Heck maybe a good hate fuck would stop Kalam from being such a whiny bitch half the time.”
I had decided to change my approach to speed things along. Perhaps if I reminded Joseph of things the Federation liked that a predator would naturally find offensive, it would cause him to snap?
Even you know that’s a long shot
I had decided to steer today's conversation to the ever popular Exterminators show. What I hadn’t planned around that not only was the show super popular with Federation species, but it was also super popular with humans, having gained a cult following. Joseph seemingly being one of those who had taken a liking to the show.
The human was sitting on the ground, surrounded by a flock of Flower Birds of varying colours. Seemingly word had spread among the bird world that this particular predator expelled tasty seeds if you chirped at them enough. The same predator who had handed me a bag of mangos bigger than I was as soon as he saw me, the look of joy when he did so was almost… adorable.
Seeing Joseph sitting there in the daylight, surrounded by birds with a dumb grin on his face as he discussed my favourite show… it all made my previous nightmare seem silly. If I closed my eyes it was almost as if he was just another Venlil or Krakotl back at work discussing the most popular show in Federation space. Of course if I closed my eyes I also saw the blood filled vision of the human that haunted my dreams.
Nightmares are nothing more than bad dreams.
What also didn’t help was these random errant thoughts, which had seemingly gotten worse and more insistent. I half wondered if being around a predator for so long had given me predator disease.
“I’m still surprised you enjoy the show, considering what it’s about.”
My statement caused the human to shrug.
“It’s got fun character development, why wouldn’t I like it? Apart from season 9 it’s a very enjoyable, if at times flawed show.”
“Season 9 is the one with humans right? Makes sense you wouldn’t be fond of that.”
Season 9 of the Exterminators had been the latest season, dealing with the “disappearance” of Venlil prime and the appearance of humans. It would also probably be the last season for quite some time, considering that the Harchen government had basically been destroyed in the aftermath of the battle for Earth.
“Nah it was mostly the Venlil Prime stuff. They used actual people’s likenesses, actual CGI’d locations. Was.. too real. Seeing the nice Venlil Librarian I occasionally see get torn apart by Noah was… too much. It stopped being a story and felt more like blatant lies.”
Joseph started frowning as he spoke, before finally brightening back up again.
“Honestly the humans were the best part. Most villains in the series are boring and have basically been beaten repeatedly with the stupid stick, but the humans were super engaging. Honestly I wish I was that clever, would make life way easier.”
A look of confusion covered my face. Surely the predator hadn’t misunderstood the show that badly right?
“You do know that humans are the villains in the show right?”
“Yea, so?” The human returned my confused look in turn, as if the question was silly. “A good villain can be just as entertaining as a good hero. We’ve only known about aliens for what, six months now? Most of our villains and heroes are human. I know it’s unintentional but half the enjoyment of the show is the fact that the main ‘heroes’ do evil shit like burning babies or supporting genocide, while at the same time being sympathetic characters.”
I felt my heart drop at that statement. Having my job, my desire to help people summed up as just “evil shit” was like an ice cold dagger to my heart. I know I shouldn’t care about the inclinations of predators, but hearing the person who was currently carefully feeding a bunch of flower birds inadvertently call me evil… hurt.
There’s a reason you don’t talk about that part of your job. There’s a reason you lock those mewling screams of cubs deep inside your brain where nobody can find them.
“That is- was my job.” I paused for a moment, gathering the strength to continue the sentence.
”If I wasn’t here on Venlil prime I would have probably been part of Kalsim’s fleet.”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Oh.”
The mood trend sombre, a contrast to the nice sunny day that it was. Joseph just looked sad, disappointed almost. Had I messed up? Would the human want nothing to do with me now? Or maybe he would finally attack me in anger?
Somehow Joseph abandoning you is a worse prospect than him attacking you, isn’t it?
“Would you do it now?” the human finally broke the silence, almost seeming to internally decide a course of action. “Knowing what you know, if you could do it now without consequences, would you?”
The correct answer was obviously yes, the correct answer was to aid the federation for the good of all herbivores. But… that would mean specifically taking actions to hurt Joseph, hurt his family. I’d be the one making him cry this time.
Just tell him the truth.
“I don’t know.”
“Not quite the answer I was hoping for, but at least you’re honest.”
The human gave a sigh and shook his head, taking the time to push some of the more adventurous Flower birds away and focusing entirely on me.
“I know the federation has messed you up, so let's start with the basics since I don’t think you’re a bad person: Evil requires choice.”
That most definitely wasn’t right. Some things were just wrong, that’s why every species checked their children for predator disease, to remove evil before it would inevitably do harm to others.
“No, some things are just wrong, evil is evil. Predators are evil because they kill people.”
It took a few moments before I realised what I had said. I desperately covered my beak with my wings as my brain caught up with the words I spoke, panic coursing through my body as I quickly understood what I’d just implied. I did not mean to say that out loud.
“Not that I mean you- it’s just- the case is with-”
“Does that mean you’re evil as well, since you’re a potential predator remember?”
Joseph interrupted my feeble attempts to take back my ill advised sentence, providing me with a far easier question to answer, one I could answer in an instant without even thinking.
“Yes.”
I had expected anger considering that I had just logically implied that he was evil, but instead surprise and shock flashed over the human’s face for a moment, before giving away to a sad pity.
“Wow, they really fucked you up didn’t they? You need a therapist, but until then… Jesus. Ok, apart from predators what’s the most dangerous thing on your home planet?”
That took me a few moments to work out. Nishtal was mostly a safe and happy place, everything that was right with the Federation in one place. But there was one thing that was always a danger.
“Storms. If you get caught in one they can be dangerous, a few people each year will die from getting caught in one.”
“So storms are evil right, because they kill people?”
I scoffed at that silly idea. Where was Joseph going with this?
“No of course not, they’re just storms.”
“Exactly, because there’s no ‘choice’ in the matter. A storm doesn’t ‘choose’ where it blows, it just is. In the same way that I have no choice about the placement of my eyes or you have no choice about your ancestral ability to eat meat. Of course unlike a storm you have free will, you have choices about other things. Since you learned of your history have you had any desire to hurt people?”
What kind of question was that? Of course I hadn’t!
“No?”
“You made any plans hunt a Venlil or a Dossier, I’m sure you could take one in a fight.”
“No.”
“Are you going to eat somebody?”
“No!”
“I mean if you’re worried about the meat allergy I can lend you an Epipen, would fix the logistics of doing such an act right-”
“No! I’m not going to do something as vile as eating someone!”
Where had this side of the human suddenly come from? Why was Joseph suddenly advocating for me to do such a terrible act? Was that the definition of a pack predator, one who was trying to get me to be part of his pack? Was that the predator's final plan?
“Because regardless of your biology, you have the ‘choice’ of harming someone else. While it’s hardly a difficult choice, it is still a choice. That’s why the Arxur are evil, because they choose to be child murdering psychopaths. Evil requires choice.”
I felt myself calm down a little as I followed the human’s logic. I wasn’t sure if I accepted it but… I had to admit it made sense.
You haven’t felt any different since you learned the truth, have you?
Still there was one flaw in my supposed innocence. The original statement that triggered this conversation.
“I still chose to become an exterminator.”
“Why? Why did you become an exterminator?”
The question from the human brought my thoughts back to the nightmare, of that day my entire life had been upturned. That sickening smell of blood that I couldn’t forget.
“When I was ten I found my father’s body after a predator attack. I wanted nobody else to feel the pain like I did. So two years later when the Exterminators offered me a chance to leave the orphanage and help people, I did.”
“Wait wait wait wait, hold on. They hired you at 12 years old from a fucking orphanage?!”
There was a look of shock and anger on Joseph’s face, a sudden change that caused me to instinctively lean back in fear. How was this the statement that caused the predator to go into a rage, out of everything else I’d said today?
“Many soldiers and exterminators are hired from orphanages. It’s a good way for us to aid against the Arxur, for those who otherwise couldn’t.”
“What the- That’s- I- What is wrong with the Federation!”
The human seemed to struggle to get the words out, emotions seemingly overriding any real sense of sentence structure and logical thought. A look of confusion washed over my face at his reaction. Why was he making this such a big deal?
“Ok, we’re going to circle back to that later, since it seems if I get distracted by every atrocity the Federation has done I’m never going to finish my point. Ironically it does however reinforce what I was going to say.”
Joseph took a few moments to take a deep breath, regaining his composure as he continued. I was entirely curious about what he was going to say now.
“The fact is the messed up viewpoint against predators is everywhere in your culture, to the point that there are basically zero voices against it. As much as people want to believe that they are special, brainwashing and propaganda works. While presumably you’ve done messed up things, the simple fact is if you took an average human and placed them in that environment all their life, they’d come to the same conclusion.”
The anger was all gone now from the predator, replaced with a sad melancholy
“Those who chose to lie to you, to remove any chance of finding the truth, tell you doing bad things will help people. Those who decided it was fine to give a 12 year old orphan a flame thrower. Those people are evil, they removed your choice. Of course, this no longer applies.”
A smile widened over Joseph’s face again: I far preferred that to the anger or sadness of before.
“You now have the choice to find the truth. Humans exist, and you have access to the information you need. Whether you decide to open up a puppy sanctuary or burn down the entire forest, that choice is now on you and you alone. The fact that you decided to talk with me when given the opportunity gives me optimism that you’ll make the right ones.”
A lump appeared in my throat at the human’s last sentence. Would he still think that if he knew why I was actually here, if he could see the recording device, if he could see my goal to ‘reveal the humans evil plan’?
Why do you feel as if you’re making the wrong choice?