Human Daycare Services - part two (Ch. 3)

Credit to a fan on Reddit: Adorable-Ad5225 for the picture.

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Partial memory construct. 

Dream state detected. 

Reconstructing clearest memory. 

I ran. Through fire and smoke and rubble, I ran. This destruction had come suddenly and without warning, but that was nothing new when it came to the greys. The damn lizards always like to brag about being fierce, but they never attack openly. It’s always an ambush, a surprise, never giving us any time to prepare. They caught me in the middle of patrol, and I was stuck defending the shelters, not where I was needed most. 

There was so much blood in the streets. Some of it was the result of lives lost in the stampede as the raid sirens sounded, and those were the lucky ones. The rest were hunted, torn apart by the greys who snatched up any bit of meat they could get their tainted claws on. I pitied those who were caught as their deaths would be slow, and I feared the idea of it even more as I prayed to whatever gods that might be listening to me that they would be safe. 

My grip on the flamer in my hands was so tight that it felt like I was trying to crush the metal in my paws. There could have been stranglers left behind in the aftermath. It had happened a few times before, but at this moment, I did not care. If I met one along the way, they would meet their end in purifying flames with no remorse from me. A monster deserves such an end. 

My suit was suffocating. It made it difficult to maintain my breath while moving so fast, but I could not afford to slow down. I relied on my training, hoping it would carry me the rest of the way. Everything felt disjointed, like what I was seeing my world pass by through someone else's eyes in a blur of motion and color. My vision was starting to blur with tears as every destroyed inch of the city sunk my hope into the deepest pits. 

That was when I saw it, our house, mostly intact, but the door and windows were broken. I rushed through the front door, flamer at the ready as I swept the inside of the house while calling out. 

“Anelia! Anelia, answer me!” 

My voice went unanswered as I practically gasped for breath, vision narrowing as I could hear my own heart thundering in my ears. I stepped over broken glass, shattered photos of me and my wife, and the wreckage of my life laid bare before me. Turning the corner into our living room, I froze, my chest seizing so tight that I thought my heart would be crushed under the pressure. 

In the middle of the floor, amidst broken furniture and rubble, was a large stain of orange blood that stood out in stark contrast against the wooden floor. My steps were unstable as I wobbled closer. It had to be a nightmare. This was all just a horrible dream that I couldn’t wake up from. Yet standing over that stain and feeling my soul crumble into dust, none of it faded away into the waking world. My flamer clattered to the floor as I fell to my knees. I could barely see through the tears as I hunched over, paws reaching out toward the blood of my wife, of my unborn child, and slowly coming to the realization that they were gone. 

My mind reeled, and I blindly hurled blame at anyone and everyone. My boss for making me guard the stupid brahking shelter, the Arxur for their wanton cruelty, and most damning of all, myself. I should have been here. I should have told my boss to brahk off and went straight home when the sirens first sounded out. My stupid logical side told me I’d never be able to make it through the stampedes and the invasion, and I cursed myself into oblivion for it. 

A soundless scream tore out of my open maw as my claws curled into fists of rage. The scream slowly gained substance, and I rent the air with my agony as my shout carried with it a vow that I made to the universe.  

They will all BURN! 

Memory Transcriptions Subject: Falk, former head exterminator of Shady Hills. 

Date [Standardized Human Time] November 24, 2136 

My eyes shot open as I took a shuddering gasp. My heart was racing, and the corners of my eyes were damp as I stared at the sterile white ceiling of my apartment. Slowly I began to calm myself as my mind woke up fully and I realized that it was just a nightmare. I looked to my left, though I don’t know what I expected to see; perhaps a ghost, maybe. Yet all that was there was an empty bed, and it had been like that for three cycles now.  

Taking a deep breath and letting it out as a sigh, I slowly rolled up on the bed and sat on the edge, rubbing over my face as I tried to put the memories of that paw out of my mind. Easier said than done as they were always there, lingering in the back like a shadow over my life. With considerable effort, I got up and made my way to the bathroom where I began the daily grooming process that had become almost mechanical in nature. 

While straightening out my fur I looked at myself in the mirror and saw not even a shell of a Venlil, but a diseased freak. I was quite aware that my thoughts and behavior were far beyond the norm. If it weren’t for the fact that I was an exterminator, I’d be labeled with predator disease in an instant. I used work as a mask to hide it, to pass rage off as duty; violence for service, and that saw me promoted to head exterminator of a guild in record time. 

Now, though, I had nothing; I was, nothing. Stripped of my title, chained to a desk, forced to work amongst fools who did not understand the true danger of that which they flirted with. I could feel the disease within me roiling and churning as the pressure from having it contained grew greater with every passing paw. My grip tightened around the edges of the sink for a moment before I took a shuddering breath and allowed the feeling to flow down the river, though the dam at the end of the flow was starting to get rather backed up at this point. 

After grooming, I ate a bland but filling meal as I mindlessly chewed and stared at the wall. This apartment was small; the only thing that was available on such short notice as my move to the city of Sun-Side Valley was abrupt and involuntary. The silence that surrounded me was maddening, and sometimes my deluded mind filled the emptiness with the ghostly laughter of a family I would never have. My heart ached for it, but the flower of my love was wilted and dry, perfect fuel for the flame. 

With the morning routine finished, I donned my suit, though the vibrant silver that once brought me some measure of relief now felt like a mockery in this place. The streets outside the apartment were bustling and alive with activity, though everywhere I looked I saw taint and corruption. Predators were allowed to walk among us, pretending to be like us, even as they spread their poison into the minds of the dull-witted and easily manipulated fools that walked beside them. 

It was everywhere. Humans standing alongside prey and speaking as if they weren’t imagining ripping out their throats. Businesses letting the monsters inside, with some going so far as to allow mask off zones within their premises. Even now as I walked to the train station, I passed a group of two Venlil chatting with a female human, laughing at jokes as the monster’s barking mockery of humor made the knot inside me grow ever tighter. 

Ignorance and deception everywhere. Am I the only one who can see it?  

Sometimes the answer to that question felt like a resounding yes. Even the exterminators whose guild I was thrust into were betraying their duties in favor of this farce. They walked around without their flamers and with barely any protection at all. The only thing they had were the shock prods on their hips, which wouldn’t do much good against the overwhelming strength of a predator if it came down to it. Despite being almost defenseless, they walked around at ease, barely even staying alert enough to be considered on the job. It was infuriating to witness. 

It all culminated in the guild hall itself. The sacred ground of exterminator who had stood guard against the predator threat for centuries was now defiled and corrupted by the very threat that it had sworn to protect us from. It was filled to the brim with human sympathizers and former predators as it held a majority Gojid population. It galled me to listen to them actually complain that the Federation cured them! 

Entering the front door to the guild hall, I encountered the Venlil receptionist, and he gave me a look that said more than words could. Most of the exterminators here were aware of the reason why I was transferred to this guild, and to say the receptionist considered me an adversary was an understatement. Well, the feeling was mutual. The fool had joined the exchange program and now was under the thrall of human influence. We glared at one another but not much else as I walked deeper into the building. 

The office area of the guild hall was regulation standard with rows of desks evenly spaced out with computer terminals and call stations for receiving reports of predator activity, though I imagined they weren’t very active in this city. I proceeded to my desk, my prison, as I was barred from field duty for the foreseeable future. It was only my previous record of duty that prevented me from being stripped of my badge entirely, but sometimes I wondered if that would have been preferable to this existence. 

From the head of a guild to essentially a new recruit. Worse than a new recruit, actually. A recruit would be able to go out on patrols with a squad to learn the paths and skills needed to succeed, I was just stuck here, being punished for trying to prevent a predator from having his way with defenseless pups. Nobody understood the deceit of these predators. They were not the Arxur. They did not hunt in loud and boastful ways. They lured; they slinked and enticed, and they only struck when they were certain they could get away with it. 

My thoughts on the subject of humanity mattered little in this place, though. There were more half predators here than not, the Gojid having a commanding presence, including the position of head exterminator. Speaking of the predator, Aleric just entered the room, walking by the far wall with his snout in a pad, reading reports most likely. Despite being trapped at a desk, I was still an exterminator, and I had to keep pushing the guild in the right direction, no matter the resistance I encountered.  

I quickly stood from the desk and rushed to catch up with him. Despite the displeasure of having to be deferential to him due to our new rank disparity, I maintained the decorum expected of me. “Sir.” 

Aleric’s snout came out of the pad, but I saw the small, annoyed twitch in his ears when he saw it was me addressing him. “Ahh, Falk, what might be the problem this paw?” 

“Sir, I wish to ask you to augment the patrolling exterminators’ equipment with a greater compliment of gear. They should at least be carrying a single flamer for each squad.” 

“Falk, I’ve gone over this with you before, but we do things differently here. There is no need for flamers to be deployed unless an emergency situation arises.” 

“If an emergency arises it will be too late. The squads will be caught without sufficient protection to keep them safe from attacks.” 

“Attack from what, exactly? Humans? You were sent here because of your unmitigated aggression toward humans clouded your judgment, and you need to start letting go of those feeling before you end up with predator disease accusations levied against you!” 

“IT’S NOT...” I took a breath to calm myself and level my voice. “It’s not only humans that are of concern. What if they encounter a wild predator, or stars forbid, the Arxur launch another attack on our planet? Would you have our defenders themselves defenseless?” 

Aleric let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes in apparent exhaustion, which only served to irritate me even more. “The only wild predators around this part of the planet are little bigger than my paw. I’m sure the officers can handle that much on their own. As for the Arxur, they have been rather busy fending off the humans and Federation forces on multiple fronts. Not only that, but with the early warning systems and the aid from the humans themselves, I believe our planet is safer from invasion than it ever has been.” 

I could feel my tail twitching with agitation, but I still tried to push for change. “That is not an excuse for complacence, sir. Preventative measures are there for-” 

“We do things differently here, Falk, and I’m tired of arguing that with you. You are under my command, and you need to learn that not every problem is solved with a flamer. Besides, there’s a lot of new science being revealed about how we can do our jobs without being so destructive.” 

I knew where that ‘science’ came from as it was part of the human’s attempts at corrupting our civilization by replacing the methods that ensure our survival with ones that leave us completely dependent on them and riddled with predator disease. Aleric’s refusal to see reason was infuriating, and he was a lost cause having apparently succumbed to the human's propaganda and falling back into his predatory roots. There would probably be no saving him when this nightmare was finally over. 

Unable to bend the head exterminator, I was forced to tuck my tail as Aleric returned to work. I was fuming and couldn’t even think about returning to that stars damned desk. I snuck away out back of the guild hall where I could be alone for a moment, and during that time, I let loose my pent-up frustration. I kicked the ground, threw my paws around wildly and even lashed my tail against the wall of the guild hall with soft slaps. I made minimal noise, and I truly must have looked deranged, not that I cared if anyone saw me. At the end, I was breathing hard and felt exhausted, but at least I could continue with the farce without exploding on someone later.  

Upon entering the guild hall again my anger was starting to give way to a growing feeling of depression that had been sinking in as of late. I’ve had everything of worth stripped from me over the course of my life, and now my ability to protect was compromised seemingly beyond repair. I had been made useless, worthless and alone while surrounded by danger at every turn.  

A part of me just wanted to give up, let the weeds have the garden, but the fire within me wouldn’t be satisfied with that. Even thinking about the paw I lost my family for a moment reminded me of why I needed to keep fighting. I made a promise upon their graves that I would never let it happen again, and that the scourge that plagues our universe would be burned to ash. Those deluded by this nonsense would see the truth some paw in the future. I just hoped that when that time came that it wouldn’t be too late to fight back. 

I sat at my desk with a huff of resignation as I prepared for another long, tedious paw. However, just as I was ready to log into my terminal I stopped as I noticed something out of the ordinary on my desk. Just under my keyboard there was what looked like a corner of a piece of paper. That alone would have been strange enough considering the rarity of such an archaic medium, but as I extracted the little strip of paper that could fit easily in my paw, the contents of its surface were equally surprising. 

Are you a true protector?  

The question was strange, and there was nothing else on the paper except an address and a time that was later in the paw. It was obvious that someone intended for me to come to this location, but for what purpose exactly remained hidden. I considered the possibilities for a moment. It could be that this was a message from likeminded individuals who thought that more should be done regarding the defense of the herd. Either that, or it was a setup by my coworkers here who were either going to try and convince me to give up on my efforts or trap me somehow in a situation where they could finally be rid of me. Most of their opinions of my character were barely disguised on a good paw. I couldn’t decide which it was exactly, though my mind was sort of leaning toward the latter considering the way this city was being run. 

Whatever outcome was there, it wouldn’t matter right now regardless. I was stuck at work and there was no getting away from that so long as I wished to have a roof over my head and food in the pantry. I tucked the piece of paper away in a pouch on my hip and put it out of my mind for now. It was curious, though I didn’t know if I wanted to risk walking into an unknown situation by myself. I clicked away at the keyboard, mind wandering away while I filed reports into the correct database, and yet, despite its negligible mass, the weight of that little slip of paper sat heavily on my hip. 

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