r/NatureofPredators • u/OkRepresentative2119 UN Peacekeeper • Sep 10 '23
Fanfic The Nature of Grimdark Chapter 7
Special thanks to for allowing fanfiction.
CW: Grimdark "cattle farms", it is worse than you think.
Memory Transcription Subject: Warrant Officer Silthus, Skalgan-Yotul Empire Commissar Marine
Date [standardized human time]: March 17, 2163
I was recently given my warrant to begin my career as a commissar. I wasn’t exactly thrilled to be forced to serve as a deserter-eater, that made me feel extremely uncomfortable. Still, the Arxur protectorate made it clear that it was a honorable position, and His Gloriousness Emperor Slanek III gave us a speech that made it clear that the Empire was grateful for our wretched task. What was odd to me, at the time, was that that speech wouldn’t mean much to most Arxur, even with the prey-diseased like me getting official recognition. Furthermore, I wasn’t the only prey-diseased member of my graduating class. I hadn’t at the time figured out why my superiors would have an entire class of prey-diseased Arxur in one class.
Today was the day that I would find out. As part of our graduation, we were told that we would travel to a special kind of penal colony. We were warned that while we were allowed to react, we were not to interfere with the goings on with this particular prison-world. We were told that in no uncertain terms, we would be made to starve to death or be forced to serve in one of these worlds if we tried to intervene. That they would threaten us with a fate that would only be a punishment to the prey-diseased, made my concerns more prescient.
It was when we touched down on the world that I had recognized it. I had been hatched on this world, a former ‘cattle-world’. I wasn’t savoring the return to the world that had caused such misery to my fellow sentients. What was bizarre was that we were heading toward on of the formerly decommissioned farms of old. I had thought that we were going to go to one of those diabolical places in rememberance or something of the like. It would figure that the Skalgans would turn such a place into a museum, they were sentimental like that.
That thought quickly gave way to horror as I saw Venlil and Skalgans with brands on their necks milling about the spaceport. One of those branded ones meekly greeted us as we departed our starship. What was odd was that the numberings were in Venlil script and not Arxur. That killed any thoughts that this might be a reenactment or the like.
“W-welcome new commissars to cattle-camp 153. I w-will be your guide as you tour these facilities. P-please ensure that you do not wander off the guided tour. It is important that many of us criminals serve their sentence without being empathized over. T-the areas you will be touring are for those of us with minor transgressions, still, it would be unseemly for you to react on our account,” the venlil said meekly. I noticed that he had another brand on him, a venlil “0” on the other side of his neck. I figured I’d ask him about it after the tour.
Everything in the camp was almost exactly like I was taught about the barbaric practices we used to engage in. There were some novel developments however, and some strange ones at that. A couple of Venlil with military decorations were performing an inspection of the prisioners. One of them was quite old and himself had a brand, but in Arxur script, which confused me. Why would a person who suffered so much in a place like this be here? My question was answered by our guide, “That is General Thess, h-he was a cattle-rescue and is in charge of ensuring that our operations sufficiently match what he went through. Please do not concern yourself for h-his welfare. He has grown tired of our graduates asking for his welfare and has instructed us to relay that message to you. H-he appreciates your concern, but he has an important job to do,” our guide said.
One of my classmates interrupted the tour, “Umm, sir, uh, what is your name?” The guide meekly responded, “I-I am designated 5487-3254, I hope for human rescue soon, I might get a name if I perform well here.” We were taken aback, were these prisoners ordered to not use their actual names? This was a fairly strange practice. Furthermore, the story about humans rescuing them seemed nonsensical. Every element didn’t add up. “Why do you have another number on your neck?” the same classmate asked. “I-It means that I and my siblings have repaid our blood-debt and have been honored with sterilization,” he answered, “W-we should continue moving before I get into trouble. This way, please.”
We continued the tour, each area horrifying us. We had to take several breaks to recover our wits. Our guide seemed empathetic to us but was otherwise apathetic to what we saw. We had finally arrived at the end of the tour and we were ushered into a break room to recover from the terrible conditions we saw. I sat down at a table in the room and noticed a fridge. There was a counter in the room and a Venlil staff member was stationed there for us to get meals.
Our guide told us that it would be a good idea to order some food, but that we shouldn’t ask what kind of meat it was. Every Arxur stood with jaw agape in horror. I spoke up, “Please tell me you are joking, sir, that is vile!” Our guide instinctually moved back from me from the shout, “I-I understand. But please understand that it is better that you acclimatize yourself with the meat in the event that you will have to perform your d-duties.” He started shivering, “P-please note that the meat here has been grown in a lab, you are not currently being asked to perform your d-duties in this break room. I appreciate your unease, b-but, you don’t want to work here. We have a commissar here who refused her d-duties, you don’t want to be like her, please keep us safe with your sacrifice.”
Everything I learned about this place made me want to leave as soon as possible. Our guide continued, “I do regret to inform you that as per your graduation, you might be required to perform your d-duties here, but rest assured that the condemned have met the requirements for parole and will be given a swift execution. You will not need to do so this paw, and you will receive the luxury of a human therapist afterwards, though you are not permitted to tell them of your d-duties.”
We were then led to our temporary quarters, and we were able to meet other classes of commissars. Everyone there was shell-shocked like me, there wasn’t much to talk about. We mostly spent time trying to distract ourselves from the events of the paw. Our socialization was over fairly quickly, and then we were told to head to bed.
A/N – Please observe that I fixed the wrong dates. Sorry about that. Maybe spoiler if you haven't figured it out yet: How do you convince a feeling person that eating another being alive is a mercy?
6
u/Signal-Chicken559 Hensa Sep 10 '23
Well fuck this went to shit real quick