Memory transcription subject: Estala, Prestige Extermination Officer, Krakotl to Venlil Extermination training leader.
Date [standardized human time]: July 22, 2136
“What are we even doing here?”
The Venlil to my side asked the question as we walked through the streets, slowly marching through the never ending day that Venlil Prime offered. Both of us were fully kitted out, silver flame retardant suits shining in the sun and flamers in hand as we walked in lockstep. Normally I would avoid wearing the warm bulky uniform for day to day duties, but this wasn't a normal day, was it?
“I don't know what you mean. We're on patrol, we are Exterminators, that's the job.”
The Venlil’s name was Halek, he was an… okayish Exterminator, probably wouldn't make the cut on Nishtal, but here on Venlil Prime he was a perfectly average officer. Perfect for this kind of work.
“But we've just been walking in circles. Shouldn't we be… doing something?”
It's called a patrol, otherwise known as a fancy term for walking in circles…
To be fair to Halek, I knew what he was getting at. Ten paws ago everything had changed, ten paws ago the worst possible thing to happen to Venlil Prime had happened.
Humans had returned from the dead, and they were hungry.
They were the second known instance of sapient predators, the important facts about them being their predatory brutality against each other, and that they wiped themselves out a hundred years ago with nuclear fire. Apart from the second part was false, that hadn't happened, the predators had survived their own cruelty, and Tarva had… Welcomed them.
“We are doing something, we're being visible.” I responded, not breaking my stride. “Look around you. The herd is terrified, the news of the predators finding Venlil Prime has everyone practically stampeding over the slightest noise. By patrolling here we are being visible, telling the herd that we will continue to protect them no matter what.”
The streets were normally far busier during this claw, the bustling herds of shoppers and commuters had been replaced with a mere few stragglers clinging together for protection. Only those who absolutely had to leave their homes were doing so, most people were still bunkering down against this new predatory threat, terrified at the horror we had found ourselves in.
“But isn't there something we should be doing something proactive instead?”
I couldn't help but give an unintentional chirp of laughter at that suggestion.
“Like what? Regardless of the hundreds of calls we're getting about seeing humans in their garden, none of the blasted predators are on the planet yet. So unless your suggestion is to jump in a ship towards their homeworld of blood, flamer in hand…”
I watched Halek give a shudder at that thought before going silent once more, leaving us to our patrol. I looked around at the near empty streets and terrified populations, and wondered just what Tarva and the rest of the Venlil government were thinking.
Originally I'd assumed the Venlil leader was simply buying time for the Federation to get here, a smart move when a human invasion fleet was approaching in orbit. Pretend to submit to their savagery and await the Federation military to solve the problem. However, reports from the Venlil military suggested they’d driven away the Gojid defence force, and since then the government had locked down all communication to the universe outside of Venlil Prime, stopping people like myself from calling Nishtal for aid.
Everything suggested that the Venlil leader’s pleas of a “friendly” predator species were actually believed, insanity that lead many to suspect these beasts had some form of mind control over prey. In retrospect, I don’t even blame Tarva that much, regardless of the danger it puts us all in. The Venlil were well known for their empathy and weakness, the fact that an intelligent predator race could abuse what made the Venlil model prey was no real shock or surprise.
“So what’s going to happen next? They say they’re creating an exchange program, I guess for any poor souls who want to feed themselves to the predators.”
I have a small sigh. Tarva claimed that the predators had empathy, that they could be trusted and were harmless. We knew better than that, didn’t we? It was a naive statement wishing for a world where beasts didn’t rain down from the stars and devour innocent prey. There was no case were something that consumed flesh could be considered a normal reasonable empathetic person.
“I don’t know why the government are doing what they did, or how these predators lied to Tarva and hid their bestial ways. But I do know that a predator cannot contain its instincts for long. The mask will slip and something will go wrong long before they reach Venlil Prime. Then, the Federation will deal with these primitive beasts. They probably won’t even make it to the planet itself before they stumble, we’ll probably never even see a human, no matter our job.”
—----------
Memory transcription subject: Estala, Human Methods Advisor to the Exterminators.
Date [standardized human time]: March 11th, 2137
I sat on the chair, the lack of a perch making the seat uncomfortable as I slumped awkwardly on the padded surface. Jkob had a better degree of stability on his own seat to my right, while we both looked across the desk at the single Venlil on the other side. The room was a simple office: a desk, a set of chairs, computers, and a few filing cabinets for any rare physical documents. The Venlil we were here to see had decorated her working space slightly; pictures of her family and a few potted plants scattered around to give the area a little bit of life. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Dashnek glared at me from across the desk, her tail flicking angrily, side to side, as I patiently waited for her to speak, the Venlil’s silence stating her displeasure. Dashnek was not one of the names on our list, but she was a source of information about those names, and someone I trusted to keep this quiet from the rest of the guild.
There is a human saying: Amateurs talk tactics, professionals study logistics. Dashnek didn't do patrols or attend predator sightings, and her last firearm certification was older than I was. But the giant machine that was the Exterminator Guild needed people to run it, and Dashnek was one of those people. She'd been here forever, knew everyone and everything about the guild, and would be a good first start on whittling down our list of suspects.
“You should be resting! You are on medical leave!”
The Venlil practically growled the words at me, her annoyance clear, the elderly Venlil making me feel like a hatchling again with the first words she’d spoken since I’d entered the room.
“Well, I have a good-” I started to respond before being cut off again.
“And you should know better than to be helping her with whatever.. this is. I thought you were more sensible than this, Jkob!”
This time Dashnek’s ire was focused on Jkob, who slunk back into his seat as the Venlil pointed her claw at my Letian coworker.
“Well the boss said there was a good reason for it…”
“I don’t care! Do you know how much liability you two are putting us in by not taking your medical leave. The guild is under attack; both from ‘Skalgans’ who seem to blame us for every ill done by the Federation, and predatory lawyers lying in wait like Shadestalkers in the shadows. Estala is one of the few Exterminators with a mildly positive public opinion, especially with humans. So what do you think would happen if you end up seriously hurt because you decided to push yourself irresponsibly while injured?”
There was a moment’s pause as I began to respond, only to once again be cut off, confirming that this question was rhetorical.
“There’d be conspiracies of what actually happened to you and people would blame the guild as a whole regardless. Not to mention the liability the guild would have if you make a mistake while in this state! So please explain, Estala, what is so important that you’re breaking medical leave and providing me with cryptic notes about needing to talk about something off the record?”
I sat there in my chair, wondering if this time she wanted me to actually respond, pressed back in my seat as I was scolded for my ‘irresponsible’ actions, feeling as if I was back at school on Nishtal, being told off for being naughty. For a moment my eyes drifted to the singular window in the office, despair filling me as I saw the opening was shut. There would be no flying away from my problems today.
“Well, we have reason to believe the Heartbreak Killer is an Exterminator, and that they’ve killed over 40 other people because of an anti-predator ideology, and those are just the victims we’ve found. Every moment we wait is a moment they might realize we’re onto them, and we can’t have this be an official investigation because whoever is doing this has access to our systems. We’ve got a shortlist of suspects, but Jkob and I are hoping you can make it shorter and tell us which Exterminators have known alibis or the inability to commit these crimes.”
There was a pause as the sheer magnitude of what I’d just said kicked in, her ears and tail falling back as the amount of negativity, liability, and just general moral issues that would befall the guild if we didn’t catch this monster before this information became known to the wider public sank in. Dashnek paused for a moment, the elderly Venlil taking the pad of information I was handing her and giving me a suspicious look.
“Well, I guess that information does change this slightly. You still should be resting, but… time does seem to be of the essence.”
“If it helps, Estala was already on the case before we figured out it was an Exterminator.” Jkob childishly added, causing me to give the Letian a glare before Dashnek gave an annoyed beep in my direction.
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“Fine. I’ll help. But after this I’m resetting your medical leave, and you will have the rest that you need, Estala, no ifs or buts. I swear by Solgalik I will get the humans to physically keep you in one of their facilities if that’s what it takes for you to stop working!”
I kept my head dipped as the Venlil gave me a final bout of chastising, before she finally looked over the information I’d brought along, kept off of the Exterminator databases just in case our target was still watching for any investigation. Dashnek would occasionally look something up on her computer as she went over the list of names and times we’d provided, muttering to herself as she cross-checked something.
She knew everyone in the guild. I liked to think of myself as someone who took effort in learning about the members under my command, but a lot of these names were Exterminators before I’d even arrived on the planet. Her job was to deal with personnel problems: legal issues and the like. While she wasn’t perfect, as nobody could be in an organization as large as the Exterminators, if anyone could narrow down our search it was her.
“Here. Not sure about all of them, but these can’t be your killer.” She handed the pad back, this time with 13 fewer names on it, nearly half of our job done in less than a quarter claw. “A bunch of them worked with a security company that hires ex-Exterminators, their shift timings wouldn’t allow them the freedom to be at Dawn Creek that often. A few have pro-human leanings they keep to themselves, including one in an adorable relationship with a human. Lastly, one of them is a functioning Fainter, only found out when they came across a predator for the first time and locked up. Didn’t go in their public record due to privacy reasons.”
I couldn’t help but give a chirp of success as the difficulty of our task was reduced in an instant.
“This is why we came to you Dashnek, you’re the best.”
She gave another small beep of annoyance, tail flicking towards me in a warning manner.
“Don’t think flattery will stop me from forcing you to rest, Estala!” The Venlil then turned her wrath upon Jkob again, pointing a claw towards the Letian “And you need to make sure this idiot doesn’t hurt herself more. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that the cast on her head is new, we need less brain injuries.”
Jkob gave a shrug and a small quip back as we both got up to start to leave. “Boss is well known for her hard-headedness.”
Dashnek gave a few undeserved amused tail flicks at that. “That she is.”
“I’m standing right here!”
The absolute cheek of these two! After mumbling a quick set of thanks to Dashnek for her work I left the room with haste before the pair could continue to insult me, feeling properly chastised for my refusal to rest.
All I wanted to do was avoid my deep-seated problems through work. Was that too much to ask?
I felt a wave of relief as my pad began to vibrate, giving me an excuse to focus on the incoming message and allowing me to avoid talking about my deep-seated problems through work. That feeling of relief was replaced with anxiety as I saw who it was contacting me. Minister Rolem.
Maybe he’s finally come to his senses and is letting me help him.
I clicked the message, eager to see what the High Minister had to say. While his plan to blend the exterminator duties with the police was an understandable one given the multiple incidents and disasters the district had suffered, it wasn’t a perfect solution to completely disband their exterminators in their entirety. Already, I had found evidence of calls being ignored due to them being far beyond what the police signed up for. Not a single predator sighting was looked into, and more worryingly, there were several calls about a violent crime being ignored. Hopefully Rolem agreed with my proposal to reintroduce the Exterminators to Dawn Creek under my series of reforms.
To: [email protected]
From: HigMVenDW.Rolem.Gov
File link attached: 390.4burn.lzd
To my concerned friend Estala. The data you have sent over is indeed concerning. The disbanding of the Dawn Creek extermination office along with the others in the other towns of the District of Dawn Creek was not a choice taken lightly, I assure you. And I must thank you for bringing up the failures and growing pains that necessitate addressing for true stability going forward.
However, I must deny your proposal of using the arsonists of surrounding districts to address these concerns. To have done so is a violation of the District Jurisdiction procedure, and frankly causes issues when your fire-loving maniacs try to barge in and damage what little trust my people have in my cabinet.
As you can see in the attached file, we have 4 officers penned for this violation of jurisdiction, and more specifically for reckless endangerment of life and property. We were lucky to have doused the forest they attempted to set ablaze as soon as they were on the third tree. You may send us payment for the fines, and we shall release them into the custody of the head office for processing and reprimand.
Please inform the surrounding districts that Dawn Creek has no need for invasive arsonists, and any who complain are free to bend over and stick their heads in each other’s asses. Yes, keep that in. Thank you.
My Dearest Regards,
High Minister Rolem
No no no no no no no! Inatala damn it! No! What is the idiot thinking! What was the adjacent guild thinking!
With a level of despair, I opened the attachment as I saw the report of a group of four officers who had responded to the predator sighting a few paws ago and started setting fire to the area because they had found an active den. They’re not even supposed to be using flamers outside of emergencies! I didn’t know who I wanted to throttle more: Rolem, or this group of idiots. Sure, it was only one incident of four morons doing the wrong thing, compared with the hundreds of calls the surrounding districts had been dealing with in Dawn Creek, but the single incident would be enough of an excuse for the anti-Exterminator Magister to start enforcing district jurisdiction.
Inatala damn it, this is going to ruin everything!
With a flurry of anger I started composing a response, rage and annoyance fuelling my frantic button presses.
Dear Spehing idiot.
While I’m absolutely appalled at the actions of the officers in question for being morons who seemingly can’t follow simple edicts like ‘stop using flamers you speh-headed twats’, and I am planning on shoving my foot so far up their ass they’ll no longer need their annual medical checkup, stopping the local districts from covering up the fallout from this failing experiment of yours is absolutely brahking moronic, and you should check your ears for feathers!
The Skalga Exterminator guild can hardly handle the job thrown at them, with Venlil Exterminators already scraping the bottom of the barrel for their hires regarding people willing to do the job, so expecting the police to take over these duties is like throwing an egg out of a window and expecting it to fly! What if there’s another human riot? You think a group of police officers who hide under their decks at the thought of meeting a human are going to deal with that? This is going to end in tears and sadness because you are being a empty-headed stubborn fucker!
But let me explain what’s going to happen, since I seem to be the only person with two braincells to rub together on this Maltos forsaken tidally locked stupidly high gravity fucker of a planet! The police are going to miss something, probably a lot of something's, the surrounding guilds will no longer deal with it and someone is going to get hurt, or even killed! Some Feddie thinking idiot is going to take it into their own hands to deal with a human sighting because nobody turned up, or a human is going to kill themselves with alcohol poisoning because they’re too stupid not to overindulge in the rocket fuel you Venlil call a drink, which nobody will respond to because the police will be too busy crying in the corner at the thought of having to interact with a ‘predator’.
Then it’ll become a media issue, you’re going to get removed which I really don’t want, because while you’re a stubborn idiotic moron who is going to be the death of me, you at least want change. Instead, you’ll get replaced by some Veln supporting cunt and everything is going to go back to stupid Feddie thinking! All because you can’t get out of your own way, because you’re a dumb, moronic, Speh headed, brahking cloaca sniffing featherless CUNT AND EVERYTHING WILL BE TERRIBLESADFV ASKDJFVASDFMV CAKLSJFGDVMNALKJSFDVN
The pad clattered onto the ground from my hands, as my final flurry of pure angry typing caused the device to slip from my wings. It left me breathing heavily, feathers fully flared out in rage, Jkob staring at me as he stood in the empty hallway.
“That good, Boss?”
I gave a sigh, closing my eyes and taking several deep breaths to calm myself down, letting the annoyance of people not doing what they need to do slowly leave my body.
“Rolem just stopped other districts from helping Dawn Creek, which is going to be an issue.”
“Wait, is that going to impact our investigation?”
I massaged my temples, trying to relax, giving a deep sigh before reaching down to pick up my fallen pad.
“No, we’re head office. He can’t stop us as our jurisdiction is the entire planet. But it is going to cause issues.”
I gave a final sigh, turning back to the message I’d written out, preparing to rewrite the text into something more professional. I had a habit of requiring several drafts to write a professional sounding message when stupidity was involved. It had taken me three attempts to write a message regarding the Ipsom Grove Mango farm that didn't involve threats of physical violence. But instead of the interface to write a message, I was greeted with two words that sent fear running through my body.
‘Message Sent’
“No no no no! No! Undo! Delete! No!”
In my final flurry of rage I must have pressed the wrong button and accidentally sent the message. A message where I called a member of the government a cloaca sniffer…
“Jkob, Jkob, Jkob. You’re good at IT and computer stuff. How do I delete a message I sent!?”
“Wait, you sent the first draft Boss? I did tell you that you shouldn’t put your rage messages directly into the reply to. You can’t delete the message once it’s left your device.”
I stared down at my messages in horror as a second notification arrived, a small little icon representing the worst thing that could happen right now.
‘Message Opened’
“OK, new plan. We break into his office and hit him over the head until Rolem forgets about this message and I don’t get fired.”
Jkob didn’t bother to grant that plan a response as I continued to spiral into panic, full flight mode filling my brain as I tried to work out how to fix this.
No wait, I got this, I have an excuse!
I quickly hit the reply button, for once feeling glad about constant human led attempts to break into my digital systems and change my profile details. This would be the perfect excuse.
Dear Rolem,
Please disregard this last message, as I have been hacked by the well known human terrorist group Humanity First.
Thank you.
Yeah, this will work, this will totally work. Smooth, perfectly believable.
My pad immediately dinged in response, causing my feathers to rise. It had received a message.
To: [email protected]
From: HigMVenDW.Rolem.Gov
Thank you so much for your prompt reply. I must say it is refreshing to have someone of your office talk so plainly to me, where they are speaking like they would to a common citizen rather than a schmoozer trying to gain favour.
I appreciate that you care so much about the function and safety of this planet, and look forward to hearing about the rearranging of these officer’s internals. Rest assured, there are projects being researched and implemented, things that even a dumb featherless cunt like myself will be able to understand. I do hope this correspondence can continue, I am deeply curious what other opinions you might have.
Dearest regards,
High Minister Rolem
Well… fuck.