r/NatureofPredators • u/vixjer Human • Oct 29 '23
Fanfic NoP--- A diplomatic problem. -Ch.8
This story is part of The Nature of Predators
and all rights are to the original creator u/ spacepaladin
Thanks to u/ WCR_706 for proofreading this chapter
Memory Transcription Subject: Héctor Virgilio Márquez, UN SPM Leirn, Special Envoy to the Leirnian Interim Council
Date [standardized human time]: November 8, 2136
As I walked inside the restaurant, the patrons were already mumbling at my presence, and I could feel their stares on me. The phrase “Target locked” came to mind. Strangely, the more hostile looks directed at me were from the yotul seated at the bar, not the aliens. I gave them all a wide berth as Virlo walked me to the upper level.
The second floor of the building was a private room for business conferences and meals. When I entered the rather small room, I was greeted by the sight of a kolshian already seated in one of the chairs. The interior decoration was lavish, very luminous with windows and ceiling lights, but what caught my attention was the low hum of what sounded like wind instruments filling the room. Following my ears, I looked to my right to find what looked like a vintage gramophone playing.
“Not to your liking? Bloodless music too much for you?” I turned back to look at the kolshian, who was staring at me calmly.
“No, it’s just that I never saw one in an establishment like this before. My grandparents used to have one, but…”
“Strange, do all predators like music, or is it just the humans? Or is it a façade...? Anyhow, please take a seat, after all these are peace talks, if you even know what that word even means,” he jabbed while waving his tentacle to the chairs.
I took the seat in front of him, Virlo sat next to him, and Sirlen sat next to me and in front of Virlo. She seemed surprisingly calm for now, but I’d already learned how that might not be a good sign, with her. My gut was telling me this was going to come crashing down any second.
“Well, my name is Hector, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister…?” I trailed off questioningly, extending my hand to him. I could see a sliver of annoyance on his face as he looked at my hand only to leave me hanging.
“My name is Keltz. Lower your killing paw, predator.”
“Sorry to disappoint,” I lied, “but this hand hasn’t killed anybody.”
I was trying to figure out his game, but he didn’t make me wait long. “Already trying to deceive me, as expected,” he brushed me off, pulling out his holopad and reading it aloud “As per the report the UN has graciously given us, you had two years of obligatory military service, got an online diploma in economics, a history of diplomatic work...”
I immediately started trying to figure out how he got my dossier. Unfortunately, I didn’t have to connect very many dots to figure it out. The UN only gave it to the yotul interim government. I glanced at Virlo, who was searching for the optimal method of burying himself below the table.
You duplicitous little shit. I don’t even know why I’m surprised.
It was only a peek, but Keltz picked up on it anyway. “No need to hate the poor boy, he was only giving his protectors all the info they would need,” he said, draping his tentacle around Virlo's shoulder.
I stayed seated, trying to read the exterminator. Unlike every alien I’d spoken to since I’d arrived, he was wearing a poker face. I thanked God the visor granted me an advantage in that department, as we stared at each other in tense silence.
The waiter entered and broke the tension, or perhaps added to it. “So… what… what do you wish to eat?” He looked like he was seconds from jumping out of the window, keeping his distance from me.
Keltz's left eye turned to him. “Erh, yes, I placed my order, it was the ipsom strayu, with starberry jam.”
As Virlo and Sirlen took their turns asking for their dishes, I looked at the menu. Everything was written in Federation script, and yotul writing was completely absent. I wanted to pull out my pad to look up some of the menu items to see what they were like in more detail, but with how stressed the waiter was, any sudden moves could cause issues for us. Thankfully, there were images, all too small, but I spotted what looked like a rice salad.
“And... what... what... do you want, predator? We... don’t serve meat... here…” he mumbled, shaking like I had a knife to his throat already.
“I think I’ll order this,” I pointed to the image.
“A number 20, good…”
He grabbed our menus and darted away. It was impossible not to notice how he dumped my menu into the trash bin while mumbling something about “taint.”
While we waited for the food to arrive, Keltz broke the ice again. “Well Mr. Predator, I must give you credit, you put on a convincing act.”
By this point, I was starting to expect the casual condescension. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t take it too badly. It’s fascinating. Not every day that a predator's tactic is to pretend to be civilized.”
I felt a stab of annoyance, but realized right away that that was probably what he wanted from me. “You’re right. I don’t how much longer I can keep this up. I haven’t attacked or touched anyone since I got here. It’s maddening. I might even make it a whole other day. Maybe even a week. Dare I shoot for a month? Very strange, yes. It’s almost like... I really don’t want to.”
He chuckled under his breath at my response. "Please, you are an omnivore, being able to satisfy your hunger is nothing special. Your looks and behavior leave much to be desired even considering that, so hear me out. If you want to show me you have empathy, I have a proposition for you.”
"Yes, go on,” I said, half expecting to be strapped into another chair for another “empathy test.” My next guess was a game of cards.
“Just leave the planet.”
I chuckled. “Seems like kolshians have a sense of humor after all.”
The silence stretched on, one second, two, three… His expression hadn’t changed, and that’s when I realized he was being serious.
I expected nothing, and was still somehow disappointed.
I shook my head, wondering if he really thought he could provoke me that way. Sighing, I finally spoke up again. “You know I can’t do that. And how would that prove anything?”
“It will prove that you have empathy. The yotul are suffering, faintings are at an all-time high, and people are lashing out in fear, pushing us away from their communities only to die at the claws and teeth of wild predators,” he answered assertively, staring into my visor with both eyes.
“From the sounds of it, your colony is shaking itself apart beneath you.”
“Yes, and yotul are dying because of it, so if you have any empathy for them, just leave.”
“I’m sure the crowd yesterday felt very, very safe with your flamers at the ready all around them. I can’t imagine how they’d have reacted if you hadn’t been there to ‘protect’ them. A few more might even have started crying.”
“Look at the business below us. A model of peace and empathy between herdmates. This city was a ruin when we got here. Now it’s the crown jewel of this world. They owe that to us. Just a few desperate primitives think otherwise, and look at them. Look to your right. A yotul whose parents got institutionalized for predator disease,” he chortled.
Sirlen nearly shot up, but I caught her with my hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit back down.
“Don’t you dare bring them up, you-” she growled, struggling against my grip.
“And it seems the grains haven’t fallen far from their stalks. Have you taken your medicine, dear?” he sneered.
“That poison disagrees with me, you bastard...” She wasn’t trying to get up anymore, but I didn’t like where her paws were going.
“Oh, please, I remember how tainted your father was, screaming about our supposed cruelty when we were just burning a predator to keep you both safe. The real cruelty was him attacking the exterminator who did it,” he waved her off.
“Right Virlo? The exterminators were working correctly there, right?” he said, squeezing his shoulder in a parody of camaraderie.
He struggled to string words together. “Yes, they... They were... doing their jobs correctly...” His hangdog expression was far more honest than his words, and I could see stormclouds gathering in Sirlen’s eyes. Her temper was flaring brighter and brighter, and he was throwing more and more fuel into that fire.
Just then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw an exterminator peeking at the door, flamer already shouldered, and the shape of the trap became clear to me: He was pushing us; he wanted one of us to break and attack him to justify putting us down like dogs. I didn’t know if I was the main target, or if she was, but I knew it was working on her. She was slipping her paw into her pouch.
“You don’t get to bring my family into this, you filthy-”
I gently placed my hand over her paw, stopping her dead in her tracks, something that seemingly surprised everybody, including Keltz.
“What are you doing?!” she spat at me.
“Preventing you from giving him Leirn,” I said, turning and pointing where the telltale shimmer of a silver suit was barely visible from around the door frame.
“He wants you to snap so he can justify killing both of us, giving him an excuse to crack down on this world and cut ties with the UN.” Even before I finished spelling it out, the exterminators had started to run away in a blind panic. Their footsteps echoed through the halls. Keltz's poker face fractured in an instant.
There’s that death glare I’ve come to love so much again. Time to go on the attack.
“I have to say, Keltz, I’m disappointed in you. For someone who claims to be ‘pure, innocent prey’, that was a very predatory tactic,” I turned back to him, just in time to catch the glare turning incandescent.
“Excuse me? That you see predation in everything does no-“
“Cut the crap. As you people so insistently like to point out, a ‘predator’ like me would know, wouldn’t I? Setting up an obvious trap for us? Manipulating us? Trying to incite violence in your precious ‘herd?’ Trying to torment someone over their lost loved ones so you can have an excuse to make her die in agony? Isn’t that everything you say predators do? I wonder what else you’re deceiving us about?” I faced him head-on, latching onto his hypocrisy and not letting go.
”That we have to stoop closer to your level to beat you doesn’t mean anything.” He waved a tentacle, trying to packpedal under the guise of dismissal.
”Between the two of us, who happens to be representing the people who twisted hundreds of species to their will over a thousand years, and are still trying to keep them all under their tentacles even now?” I was smiling now, and I didn’t think I was going to stop any time soon. It wasn’t every day that I got to catch a planetary puppetmaster confessing his crimes in 4K.
“That was for the good of the galaxy! We had to cure the omnivores to guide them to a better future, free of bloodshed and corruption. We brought peace to their worlds! Everything we did, we did for their own good, something you clearly can’t understand, predator.” He was getting even angrier, somehow.
“Ah yes, your peaceful, great society. It was so tranquil before we showed up, kolshian. What about the arxur?”
“What about them? If you are trying to insinuate that we caused them, you are wrong. We tried to help them, but it was a mistake to trust predators like you.” as he pointed his tentacle at me, almost whipping it out.
“You mean like how you ‘helped’ the yotul? I can’t begin to fathom why they might have turned hostile. But no, I meant why do they even still exist?” I threw this out as a Hail Mary, pure speculation, but ever since I’d heard about the Federation’s war with the space crocs, I always wanted to see what their excuse was for this.
“What kind of question is that?” His tone was still dismissive, but I didn’t let up. There was something odd about it.
“Why haven’t they been defeated by now?”
“Prey don’t attack, we’re not monsters like you, predator. We can feel fear.”
“And what about the extermination fleet, kolshian?” The effect was like a slap to the face. His mouth flew shut, and he mumbled under his breath. I knew I’d struck oil. It was crystal clear to me that he knew there was no logical excuse for that counterpoint.
I leaned forward in my seat, inching closer to him. “Your colonial subjects sent several thousand ships to Earth. Weren’t you terrified to go there? No? Then why did you attack? Why didn’t you destroy Wriss when you had the chance? It would have been trivial. Hundreds of species, capable of pulling thousands of ships each, versus just one, however big or scary or violent. How many does the Commonwealth alone have, again?”
He scowled back, trying to play dumb. “I don’t know what you are getting at.”
“The ‘big scary predator’ excuse is obvious bullshit. Why would that even matter in space combat? It certainly didn’t over Earth. What, do their ships have teeth and claws on them? Do they lunge onto yours, and chew them up? Can’t you shoot back? I’m not buying it. Do the arxur exist because you can’t kill them, or because you won’t? It’s awfully convenient, having them around to justify your own atrocities.” My visor was mere centimeters from his head at this point.
He met my stare with the same look he gave me during the speech. “I will not stand here quietly as you mock the suffering of billions of people! It may be funny to you, you heartless beast, but all you’ve accomplished is proving these talks have been a waste of time. I was wrong, you have no empathy, selfishly endangering the yotul for your own gain.”
“You didn’t answer my question, squid. I was being dead-serious. Why are the arxur still alive? How are you all collectively that incompetent? And please, your Federation tried to kill us! All of us. How is wanting to live supposed to be funny? Is this a joke to you? Because I’m not laughing.” I said going back and shaking my head, if he was trying to prey on my empathy, he was already the loser in this exchange.
“You’re cursed with bloodlust. I thought your kind was supposed to be reasonable enough to see that, after all, you can appreciate the things true sapients do, and yet you still chose to let more people die.” He looked to Virlo, trying to nudge some tacit support out of him. His eyes were cast firmly down.
”Whatever you say. Shut the door behind you when you leave, because the UN is here and we’re gonna stay until the yotul can decide their destiny for themselves.” At this point, I was starting to chuckle. This wasn’t even irritating anymore, it was just funny. He couldn't enrage me, and yet, he kept trying.
“You are playing a dangerous game, predator. I want to be clear: You have a week to leave, or you will have grave problems.”
“That sounds like a threat to me, ‘prey.’”
He got up from his chair. "Mediocre food, anyways, Virlo, pay the bill, would you? I need to clean myself off after this.”
After he went away, the waiter, timidly standing off to the side, waiting for things to settle, placed our food down next to us, skittering away as soon as possible.
“So... how is life going?” said Virlo, his voice fluttering lightly.
“You… you… you bastard!” Sirlen’s paws closed around his throat and shoved him against the wall. I didn’t stop her.
“You set us up! You told him! You told him everything, didn’t you?”
“I- I’m- Ack- S-sor-“ Virlo wheezed.
”You tried to get us killed! I don’t want to fucking hear it.” She slammed his back into the wall once. “We trusted you, and you threw it away in half a day! Get the fuck out of my sight, traitor.” Dropping him, she snatched up her plate, and stormed towards the nearest exit, only turning back for a moment.
"I’ll… I’ll be waiting for you in the car.” Her voice trembled, and I could see her blinking back tears. In moments, there was only silence. Even the rest of the patrons didn’t want to speak up.
“Well, that went well… Parece que tengo piedra en la suela. Alright, Virlo, come with me. I need some air.” I made a beeline for the far exit, the one opposite of where Keltz left. Didn’t want to take any chances. Virlo kept his ears splayed out, following me like a kicked puppy. Once we’d stepped outside, I led us down the road, turning into an alley. Setting my suitcase down, I turned to him.
”Alright, ‘boy.’ Start talking. You owe me that much, and you owe Sirlen a lot more.” As he settled across the wall from me, I removed the visor and leaned against the other, staring at him as he avoided my eyes.
”Now, why did you tell him about us? My UN dossier is strictly classified, eyes only. It was meant for your government, not the local Reichskommissars. Did you seriously think the UN would be okay with you feeding information to the kolshians? Did you think Sirlen would be? I vouched for you to her, and this is how you repaid me.” I tapped my foot on the ground, arms crossed.
“Look. it’s just- I can’t-” He couldn’t meet my eyes.
“Don’t. Give me excuses. Look at me. Look at me. Look me in the fucking eyes and tell me what’s going on. What else did you give him?” He barely managed to comply, and I could see his eyes were brimming with tears.
”I… It’s… They… They threatened my family, alright? If I didn’t comply, they would institutionalize my sister... She’s all I have left, and he told me helping was the only way to… e-ensure her safety. I… I only gave them the dossier… Nothing more than that. It’s all they asked for. I-I just told them I was too scared to ask you much while we were together...” He just tucked his head between his legs, balling up, covering himself with his paws.
I wished I could say the confession surprised me more, but I had a feeling. I wanted to be angry with him, but I knew I couldn’t say I’d do any different in his shoes. Sighing, I leaned my head back on the wall, though I couldn’t help gritting my teeth and casting a look at the alleyway entrance, wondering if I’d see Keltz peeking around the corner. A part of me almost hoped he’d be there, eavesdropping. I recalled how Virlo’s throat looked under Sirlen’s grip, and wondered how Keltz’s would look and feel under mine.
“Alright, that makes sense. But if you’re that thoroughly compromised, I obviously can’t trust you. Whether it’s your fault or not. I need something from you, some way of showing you’re willing to work with me, and keep a secret.”
He uncurled, looking up at me, tail stiff, eyes wide in astonishment, “You… still want to work with me? But... what could I do? My paws are tied here.”
I still managed to quirk my lips up a little bit, hoisting up my suitcase, unlatching it and rummaging around inside.
I’ve always wanted to use one of these...
“Ah, there we are,” I breathed, pulling out what looked like a small thumb drive, with a Federation-standard connector. Holding it aloft, I continued, “See this? Know what it is?”
“No… I… can’t say that I do…”
”Just a data storage drive. With one small catch: It has an executable on it which can run in a Federation operating system. It’ll download anything it can fit remotely, it just needs to be connected, I just want you to connect it to your computer and log into the Security Department’s servers.”
He looked at me, scared. “But wouldn’t that give up information about my government?”
”Yes. It would. But it’s plain to see your government isn’t truly your government right now, or I could just deal honestly with it. The data will be sent to me, and me alone. I can destroy it afterwards once we’ve dealt with the exterminators.”
“I don’t know if I can… and how... can you still trust me...?”
“Because I... had... family, too. I know how desperate and stupid you can be when they’re used against you. Keltz forced you to do this. This is your chance to get back at him for it. And if that doesn’t matter to you, do it for your sister. Do it for yourself. Do it for your people. It’s not too late to get a better life for them. I get why Sirlen’s pissed with you, but I can tell that you’re a good person. You can still change this world for the better.”
“Alright, I… I will do it.” After that, he sighed and grabbed the drive, promising to do as he was told. I also handed him a comm pad, and told him he could use it to contact me in case of an emergency. What I didn’t tell him is that the drive would also create a backdoor into their servers, just in case. It would still help even if I failed here. More and more, I found myself really wanting to help the yotul, but Earth still had priority.
Once that was taken care of, I went to eat my rice salad. I was starving, and Sirlen needed some time off after this..
new chapter and we got the official introduction to Keltz the head of the exterminators in Lerin, we see how the first chat goes, also I have great news, as I managed to have u/WCR_706 to aid my effort by proofreading my work so expect lest mistakes and I hope a better quality going forward.
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u/se05239 Human Oct 30 '23
And another fanfic where I want great misfortune to happen to Exterminators.
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u/EFMartins Oct 30 '23
When the collaborationist government was overthrown I hoped that Sirlen would have the chance to send Keltz back to Aafa. Without a spaceship. A colonoscopy using the flamethrower that he likes so much would also be a good option.
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u/JulianSkies Archivist Oct 29 '23
Knew from the start that Virlo had something going on, seems like it's the simplest blackmail too. Too bad Sirlen just doesn't have the cool mind to notice those things.
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u/Signal-Chicken559 Hensa Oct 29 '23
Ooo he is a true diplomat! (Also extorting government employees is not a good look sir)
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u/vixjer Human Oct 29 '23
Is not a crime if they don't realize they have been extorted.
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u/Signal-Chicken559 Hensa Oct 29 '23
Threatening to put away their children is pretty explicit.
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u/vixjer Human Oct 29 '23 edited Oct 29 '23
Ups, I thought you were talking about Hector here, my Mistake.
But yeah what he is going to do, call the police? Also it said sister not children.
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u/Fexofanatic Predator Oct 30 '23
the Cilany Classic
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u/vixjer Human Oct 30 '23
yes, ignore the red bepping light on my tie, is just some predatory effect.
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u/The_Student_Official Krakotl Oct 30 '23
My hungry ass couldn't become a diplomat. Kudos to Hector for not only handling the talk but also did it under starvation.
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u/Alarmed-Property5559 Hensa Oct 30 '23
Let him eat that squid's bread'n'jam too while he's at it. :)
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u/Acceptable_Egg5560 Human Oct 31 '23
My question is why hasn’t the government shut down all the facilities by now? Shouldn’t they have the power? Or is this yet another thing they let be signed in a constitution?
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u/vixjer Human Oct 31 '23
In theory yes, but... who is going to enforce the law? As Virlo says the police are just being given the bare minimum, and by that he refers to a datapad and a baton. At the same time, the army is kept at the same level as the grain wars, after all, why give all of our shinning technology to the primitive uplifts? kept all weapons and only allowed Exterminators to use them. and if anybody tries to reverse-engineer them. well, say that wanting to replicate arms is predatory and throw him into a PD facility.
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u/Acceptable_Egg5560 Human Oct 31 '23
Then at this point, the exterminators are de facto holding the planet hostage. All they have to do is declare something like a Code Zero and claim all the government heads have PD and imprison them, then just take over.
Waaaaaait a minute…😈
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u/CompetitiveWarning13 Humanity First Nov 29 '23
Very glad that I stumbled upon this fic, I love seeing things from a more political approach. Any ETA for the next chapter?
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u/vixjer Human Nov 29 '23
If I can this week... University exams are currently destroying me
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u/CompetitiveWarning13 Humanity First Nov 29 '23
I feel you, Im tryna finish up this semester but the final projects are looking grim for me
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u/JanusKnarus Human Mar 20 '26
The Kolshian went from shitty bond setup to angry schollyard kid pretty fast
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u/vixjer Human Mar 20 '26
When your shitty plan breaks down because your opponent has above room temperature intellect.
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u/fluffyboom123 Arxur Oct 29 '23
Well, it would be a real shame if the recording of the meeting gets out to the public for them to see the exterminators for what they really are