Memory transcription subject: Estala, Prestige Extermination Officer, Krakotl to Venlil Extermination training leader.
Date [standardized human time]: October 9th, 2136
I balanced the supplies unsteadily in my wings: the still warm Strayu brought from a local bakery, a dozen cans of Sprunk, and a large bag of Yatcha root slices. I walked over to the computer station, all but two of the rows of computers turned off during this rest paw as I dumped the supplies on the table unceremoniously, taking my perch and turning to face the only other person in the room.
Salek, the junior Exterminator I’d last seen cowering in fear during the initial emergency when the predators had arrived, sat at his own screen to my left, the Venlil looking at me quizzically as I motioned towards the pile of goodies I’d brought.
“So, thanks again for taking the time here since it’s not your normal shift. I need all paws available for this task and every little bit helps, so help yourself. If we’re still here at the end of the claw I’ll order us something from that new Yotul place.”
Sure, preferably I’d have far more of the herd on this project of mine, more than just a single inexperienced Junior Exterminator, but officially this project was just a simple low priority data analysis: My actual reasons couldn’t be known, of going against the current government narrative and the predatory lies that so many Venlil were falling for. So a single Junior Exterminator working after hours would be my workforce.
“You said it was important, that you had a special data project, about the humans. What exactly is so important that it has to be done right away?”
I gave my wings and full body a stretch as I prepared to get to work, my neck giving a small, audible pop before I turned back to Salek.
“Well, as you know, it’s been 9 paws since the predator ‘refugees’ started landing on Venlil Prime, mixing with the native prey population.”
“Yeah, it's been busy.”
Busy was an understatement, the Exterminator office had been overwhelmed with calls and reports of predator sightings from terrified prey as the things stalked the streets.
“Now logically, you'd expect the predators to have hurt someone by now. While we know they can hold off on their instincts from the original exchange meetings and empathy tests, expecting thousands of predators to not fall to their tainted desire to feast upon a planet of prey goes past all belief.”
“But there haven't been any reports of any human violence.”
I gave a small trill of agreement while Salek’s tail flicked around in confusion, clearly not understanding where I was going with this.
“Exactly! That’s the million credit question. Predators have been on our planet, mingling with the public, for over 9 paws now, but no verified reports of predatory actions. This is not good.”
“Isn’t that a good thing? The humans have arrived, and no damage has been done.”
I gave a sigh, feeling my feathers flatten in despair. How naive was this kid to believe everything was fine, with those things roaming the streets of Venlil Prime? This really was the problem with the Venlil, Tarva and all: Far too trusting, no matter what the actual proven Federation science said.
“No reports doesn’t mean no damage. Where are the injured and killed prey? These casualties should exist by now, which leaves only one answer: They’re somehow hiding their carnage. Working out where and how is the only way to stop it continuing.”
I watched as Salek’s ears pressed against his head in fear of what might be going on right under our beaks, the idea of innocent members of the herd being preyed upon in secret by the predators, never to see the light of day again.
“But-but it might not be the case. How do we know that the humans are hurting people? Maybe they’re telling the truth when they say they don’t want to?”
I gave a small soft chuckle at that, looking softly at the young Venlil sat to the side of me.
“Predators lie, but statistics do not. That’s why we’re here. We need to collate missing person reports over the 8 districts they are confirmed to have refugee centres at. Then we compare that information to historical trends, and then compare those to the same trends of surrounding districts. Then we’ll have proof. It’s just going to take a lot of hard work going through records and collating the data.”
Salek didn’t look convinced however as I finally logged onto my terminal, grabbing a can of Sprunk and getting ready to start my work before I was interrupted once again.
“What if they’re not lying though, and all this is a waste of time? Bradley said that they don’t even have any instincts, that-”
There was an instant as the Venlil put his paws to his lips as he realized what he said, the name, the very distinctly ‘predator’ name causing me to stop looking at my screen and once again stare at the young Venlil.
“Bradley?”
The tone in my voice made it obvious I knew that wasn’t a Venlil name. Salek’s tail flicked around in worry and anxiety as I stared him down, feathers flaring out slightly as I did so.
“I… I joined the exchange program. Bradley was my partner, he’s… he’s really nice.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Sure Salek was a Junior Exterminator, but he was still an Exterminator Inatala damn it! I could understand Tarva or other Venlil falling for a predator’s trick to this degree, but he should know better.
“Why?”
I said the single word curtly, filled with disappointment, making it clear I had expected better from him as Salek continued to squirm under my unblinking gaze.
“I- I was sick of being so… scared all the time! I just wanted to stop being scared of humans of everything! I thought if I actually talked with one, it would help me face them…”
Disappointed. I wasn’t angry or annoyed, I was disappointed. Disappointed that someone from the guild would be so trusting of a predator, to fall for their lies. The seconds passed by as I sat there wallowing in despair, at the predatory taint seeping into Venlil society at its roots. Just what power did these predators have to consistently cause Venlil to fall for their trickery?
“Maam… am I fired?” Salek said the words softly, interrupting my silence, causing me to give a deep sigh.
“No. The Exchange program is government authorized. Why would we fire a government member for participating in such a thing?” I gave a small flutter of my feathers, settling back down onto my perch and looking back at my screen, starting to pull up the records that I needed. “And we still have a lot of work to do, firing you would be counterproductive.”
Salek gave a confused beep, tail twitching in confusion as I motioned for us to start the work.
“You still want my help?”
“Well unless the predators have taken your brain and ability to collate basic statistics, I don’t see why not.”
I ruffled my feathers in an annoyed fashion while Salek continued to stare at me with a blank look.
“Aren’t you worried about me being tainted or something?”
Another sigh escaped by beak as I fully stopped looking at my screen to focus on the young Venlil.
“You are not the first Venlil to be taken in by their trickery, and you won’t be the last. Tarva was fooled by them long ago, and she’s still competent enough to run the planet. If I stopped interacting with any Venlil who had fallen for these predators, there’d be a lot of people I would no longer be talking to.” I said the words sternly and simply, making it clear that while I didn’t care for the beasts who had invaded the planet, I wasn’t about to start fighting the innocent prey they had tricked. “Besides, I guess it’s good to know that you’re safe, for now.”
“Wait, aren’t you worried that I’d be in the most danger?”
At that I gave a small chuckle, turning back towards the Venlil who was so naive.
“You’re officially part of the Exchange program. If anything happened to you, the humans would be the first suspect. They may be predators, but they're smart. They’re not going to do anything that would break their trickery. The only way they’d hurt you is they thought they could get away with it. That’s our problem, isn’t it? Based on how good they are at lying, you’d have to find a way to to get them to eat you on camera to get any solid evidence.”
I saw Salek’s ears once again press against his head, tail stood straight up as he shook in fear at my suggestion, causing me to give out an exasperated sigh.
“I’m not saying do it! I wouldn’t tell anyone to do something I wouldn’t do myself. It’s just… frustrating that with how good the predator’s trickery is, that something this drastic is what we’d need to get solid evidence… It would be an insane idea to actually try, as it would be suicide.”
—-----------------------------
Memory transcription subject: Estala, Human Methods Advisor to the Exterminators.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Date [standardized human time]: March 16th, 2137
I sat in the van, watching the streets of Skalga go by the window while Jkob sat in the other seat. The investigation had been… going. We’d checked on all the easy to find suspects, districts and offices that held multiple easily verifiable Exterminators on our list, meaning now we were down to the dregs. Six names. Six people who still might be the Heartbreak Killer, a little anxiety running through my body as I realized we were getting closer and closer towards being face to face with someone who had killed so many people.
I decided to stop thinking about such a meeting, instead turning to look towards my Letian coworker. Jkob was a solid, ethical and noble Exterminator, hardly a blemish on his record. The fact that this person had been languishing in office IT before I’d started bringing him with me over the last [few months] really showed the flaws in Federation ideology. Such a resource wasted because of fears of Letians having ‘Predator Disease’.
Still, I did have a question for him, considering his generally optimistic demeanour.
“Jkob, how are you always so positive when we’re dealing with the mess the Exterminators have done before?”
“Huh, what did you mean boss?”
He gave me a series of confused ear twitches, stopping his blank staring out of the window to focus on me instead.
“When we were at the ex-facility, or the way some of us are still acting. How do you deal with guilt of what we’ve done so well?”
The Letian gave a shrug, ears flapping in a non-committal manner.
“Well, I never did any of that stuff.”
I stared at him for a moment, disbelief and incredulousness rising at that statement. There’s no way he’d managed to stay clean during all this time. Everyone in the guild had done something that the humans had shown to be bad in retrospect.
“No, you’ve been an exterminator for five years. There’s no way during that time you’ve never PD’d a single person.”
“I was in IT. Only ever went on one patrol when I first started. Not a lot of ways you can Predator Disease test a computer system. Although some patching processes were made by people who are at least a little deranged.”
No, this couldn't be the case, this didn't make the slightest bit of sense.
“But you had exemplary performance reviews. Your firearm scores are the highest in the office!”
“I'm good at my job boss, upgrades and maintenance done within budget and on time.” Jkob responded simply, as if the fact he had very little active experience wasn't a big deal. “And I like guns, sue me.”
I could feel my beak hanging open as I shook my head in disbelief. I'd been bringing Jkob along to confrontations with less than professional exterminators, unruly humans, and everything else the job required. The idea that he had no real field experience was…
Frankly, a sign of how incompetent your average Exterminator on Skalga is.
“Why didn't you say something if I was pulling you from your normal work?”
“Declining exciting assignments given by a Prestige Exterminator seems like a career limiting move.” Again, Jkob seemed unfazed, as if nothing in the universe could change the Letians' easy going mentality. “Besides, the IT stuff is easy. Most of my job is resetting your password whenever the human crack it, boss.”
I shook my head once more, dropping the conversation as the van finally stopped at our destination. This was a nice part of Skalga, expensive housing situated at the fancy edge of Dayside City; far enough away to not be trapped within the busy hustle and bustle of the planet's capital, but close enough to not be considered rural. Tens of uniform and perfectly maintained gardens lay in large lines next to the soft gently curving roads, promising peace and stability.
Jkob and I left the van and slowly approached the home of our next suspect: A elderly Venlil by the name of Tarnek. He'd been in the Exterminators for longer than I’d been alive, a full 33 years, and had garnered a reputation for being a Predator Disease discovering superstar. That was why he'd originally been suspended, for accusing a nephew of some Magister.
He’d also not been seen at work for over 20 paws. That wasn’t uncommon recently, not with the multitude of revelations causing many to simply stop turning up for work. Tarnek’s garden was overgrown when compared to his neighbours' orderly plots, as we walked along the small path, through the knee high grasses, to get to the front door. With a small flap I jumped up to peck at the doorbell, hearing it ring and echo through the small but cosy house. We waited there for a few moments, no movement or sign of life being shown from the property as I jumped up to ring the bell again.
Then I smelled it.
It was a smell I knew intimately, that putrid sickening stench that only came from one source and one source alone: Death. Jkob noticed it at the same time as I did, both of us moving into action at once at the realization something was wrong. Clearly only Venlil had been in the area, as anyone else would have noticed the smell of rot. Alarmed, I tried to open the door, reaching for my gun and putting a single bullet in the lock when it refused to budge, watching the entrance to the house swing open into the darkness within.
Jkob gagged as the smell got stronger while I dove deeper inside, weapon ready, looking from room to room for any threat. The house was clean, well maintained and… homely. Pictures of Venlil pups and other family members stood on shelves next to multiple awards issued by the Exterminator’s Guild, wilted houseplants sat on tables, each memento a reminder of a life lived here as I made my way through the hallway. A fear rose in my heart rising as deep down I knew what I was going to find within.
It didn’t take me long to find the source of the smell, sitting slumped on a chair in the living room. The Venlil had sat there for at least 15 paws by my reckoning, the body rotting away as the claws had ticked by, the smell here overpowering and forcing me to take smaller breaths as I pushed down the urge to vomit. I didn’t need a fancy human forensic course to understand what had happened here. The dried up brain matter splattered across the wall, the wound to Tarnek’s temple, the Exterminator issued firearm still lying on the floor where it had fallen from the Venlil’s paws. There would be no interview of the suspect Tarnek, not anymore.
I could hear the sound of Jkob retching behind me as he finally caught up, his lack of experience meaning this might be the first time he’d actually seen a dead body, at least in this decomposing state. In my many years of Exterminator service I’d seen plenty of the dead, although I still couldn’t help but feel sorrow at the scene in front of me.
There was plenty that would have to be done here: Family needed to be notified, someone to bring a cleanup crew, and so much paperwork. But first, I needed to find the note, if he’d left one. There was still a possibility that Tarnek was still the killer we were looking for, even with the grizzly scene laid out before me, I couldn’t stop the investigation until I was sure.
It didn’t take long as apart from the obvious mess left by Tarnek, the room was tidy and ordered, allowing me to find the pad placed prominently on a side table. I turned it on as the sound of Jkob throwing up in the other room could be heard, the device opening up immediately to show a pre-written document.
To whom it may concern.
This is my confession.
I have been part of the guild for thirty-three years. For thirty-three years I fought to protect the herd from predators and predator taint. I was good at it, very good at it. I could detect the taint even in its faintest forms, the disease at its most mild could still fester and become a danger. I could see those with predator disease who others would overlook, spot the tiny signs of those who needed to be removed from the herd. Over my thirty-three years on the job, I have successfully brought in 471 people to be remanded to facilities.
I’d heard whispers about the facilities, we all had, but I ignored them in favour of what we thought was right. I should have looked deeper, I shouldn’t have pushed away the concerns, I shouldn’t have avoided the hard questions about what I was doing. But to say I was completely ignorant of what happened there would be a lie. I knew, we all knew. But I chose not to think about it. I chose, for my own ego. Because of this I ruined 471 lives. I sent them to be torn apart within those facilities, I hunted them down and caused their suffering, and in many cases' death.
Nobody else would have found them. I had a talent for finding those who would fail the Predator Disease tests who would otherwise remain hidden. That should have been the hint, that these people were peacefully living amongst the herd before I turned up. Had I done nothing, the world would be a better place. How many accolades have I been given, built upon sending people to be tortured? My entire comfortable life built upon the suffering of others, those I sent away to be irreversibly destroyed.
I should have known better. I should have been a better person. I should have been more than just an instrument of pain and Federation lies. I should have, I should have, I should have. I apologize to those I hurt, and I hope you find peace in this new universe being formed. May Sogliak have mercy on your souls, because they won’t have mercy on mine.
Tarnek.
I looked up from the pad, a grim, sombre feeling filling the room as I once again looked upon the body of the Exterminator. This… this wasn’t uncommon in the new reality we found ourselves in. Having everything the Exterminators stood for revealed to be lies was more than many could take, being shown by humans the damage we’d been doing by enforcing the Federation’s will. Some resigned, some withdrew from the herd. A few chose more… drastic measures. I pulled out my own pad to start making the calls I needed to make, resigning myself to dealing with this mess I’d found.
—--------------------
[Transcript skipped by 1 hour]
I gave a heavy sigh as the van started up once more, slowly taking Jkob and I back to the main office. The peaceful upscale street was now filled with Exterminator vehicles, calling in a dead body garnered a quick reaction from the guild, especially considering the new processes the entire organization had taken on. The area was cordoned off, the incident being investigated to its fullest to ensure no foul play, a few humans could be seen, using their ‘forensics’ sciences being used to ensure the death was actually a suicide.
Then, instead of just setting the body on fire to remove the taint, transportation to a proper morgue for a later funeral was the new process. I knew in light of the latest archives releases, many Venlil had requested more ‘traditional’ Skalgan funerals than the pyres the Federation demanded. A ceremony that would undoubtedly be attended by those Tarnek had left behind: three adult offspring and an ex-partner.
I turned to look at Jkob, who was deathly silent. The Letian did not look great, the skin beneath his fur pale, shaking after his first encounter with a body.
“Hey, buddy, are you OK?” I asked, causing Jkob to focus on me instead of his own thoughts.
“Why would he do that, why would this happen?” He asked, a rhetorical question that demanded an answer.
I shook my head sadly, giving a sigh.
“Even before the humans, it was a problem nobody really wanted to talk about. In between all the predator attacks, Arxur, raids and stampede victims, some people can’t cope with the job. Then throw in the absolute breakdown in everything we believed in: the omnivore reveal, the predator disease reveal, the fact that a lot of the population now blames us for the Federation’s lies. People just not turning up for work, or in this case, worse, has become an issue.”
Jkob looked miserable, ears stuck flat to the side of his head, seemingly deep in thought as I explained an open secret amongst the Exterminators, a terrible truth of the impact of such a job on the people who held it.
“Why didn’t anybody check up on him? He stopped coming to work, there should have been some kind of support, someone checking on him. His-his family should have found him before now at least.”
“The guild is overwhelmed at the moment, we barely have a spare moment and ‘checking on guild members’ isn’t something that people want to do right now.” I responded sadly. “We don’t talk about it. Such thoughts of self-destruction are a sign of predator disease, so we just keep it hidden, don’t mention it to anyone. And for their family… I don’t know. With all that has happened, I don’t know.”
Jkob didn’t look happy at that answer, a small look of determination crossing his features as he stared at me.
“It’s not right, it’s not right at all. Someone should be doing something about this.” the Letian paused for a moment, before looking at me deadly serious. “Are you OK Estala?”
“Better than I was. I’m managing, if that’s what you’re asking.” I gave a small shrug and placed a reassuring wing on Jkob’s shoulder as the van continued to drive us back to the head office. “That’s the problem with the situation. Exterminator, Predator Disease patient, the humans. Even the Maltos cursed Arxur if the archives are believed. All of us are victims of the same Federation lies, no matter what side we’re on. We’ve just got to deal with it the best we can.”
One day at a time.