The Nature of Predators - Gress’ Cases (7/8) (Patreon)

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Memory Transcription Subject: Gress, Krev Hostage Negotiator

Date [standardized human time]: August 13, 2156

The drones stealthed their way through the building, with Rameki not caring about the dishonorable subterfuge that entailed. Reskets often found ways to reconcile their honor code with whatever fell outside of it, justifying themselves to their society. The tactical officer took care to avoid clanging against the tight confines, since that could alert the hacker to our plans. Shenala was working on scrounging up any information available on Nolle, but saving the hostage took precedence. I eased Cavic forward, thinking how to calm the technician’s nerves. Cybernetic removals were delicate procedures, so his appendages mustn’t get too jittery during this hasty operation.

Right now, my priority was steering Cavic through camera blind spots to maintain our stealthy status, and getting him into position to burst into the office complex. There wouldn’t be much time, so we needed to make a flashy entrance—busting through the window and going directly to where Vael camped by the glass. His metal legs were helpful in that he wouldn’t be affected by stepping through broken glass; that plan would be problematic for any of us who weren’t decked out in cybernetics or combat gear. Rameki hadn’t been keen on using more nonlethals if this went wrong, so it might fall on me to subdue Vael. I didn’t have much in mind other than trapping him under something too heavy to lift…and if it was too heavy to lift, how was I going to do that?

The Reskets are the brawn. Nothing’s stopping me from putting Rameki’s forces to use again. Just need to start a timer; can’t leave anything to chance after [four minutes] or so. The second that Vael’s limbs come back to life…we’ll still have three others to contend with.

I was distinctly worried that when the power cut off to the Trombil’s arms, it could set off the trigger on accident. It wasn’t like Vael had muscles that could physically burn, but his arm had been locked in perfect stillness—and the slightest wrong movement could mean his demise. The only way to know what would happen when we killed the power was to try; it was less of a risk than leaving him at a cybercriminal’s whims. Whoever did this, whether it was Nolle or someone else, they wouldn’t have positioned the captive reptile by the window if they weren’t trying to make some kind of point. That staging meant they wanted this moment to be witnessed and tell a visual tale.

Any ideology could be radicalized or warped by an individual looking for their misdeeds to be sanctioned. Evinites had motive to hate a cybernetics designer, but the hacking element was what made that bizarre. We had to get Vael out of this bind, and discover what made him so certain Nolle was behind all this. Failure wasn’t an option, if we wanted to know how this incident began and where the firearm came from. We also needed to stay alert, in case the perpetrator was close by, and tried to finish their captive off the old-fashioned way. I thought about what Nevi said about me putting myself in harm’s way, and Lecca attending my funeral.

Shaking that thought from my mind proved easier said than done. There was a point that this job got in the way of what was best for my family, but I loved being able to save lives. Figuring out what made people tick was always a satisfying puzzle, and perhaps I thrived in the high stakes—feeling like I served a purpose. If Lecca wasn’t more meaningful to me than strangers though, what kind of father was I? How could I be there for her, if I had to worry about running off any minute?

“We can’t afford to be unfocused,” I told Cavic, though I was also talking to myself. “Trust your instincts; you know what to do. There’s people right here to back you up, and once the gun is gone, Vael’s hacker can’t hurt you. Just a few minutes where we all pull together to do something good. A nice story to tell our kids.”

Cavic clutched his removal toolset, a robotic eye turning toward me. “I d-don’t have any kids.”

“Well, you’ll impress someone with that story. Think how you’ll look back on this, years from now. Everything is planned out and under control. I intend for us all to go home, and I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Yeah. No, you’re right. T-this shit is every day to you, like cybernetics ops are for me…right?”

Sadly, yes. “Sure is. We’ve seen plenty of things like this, and we don’t put civilians in needless danger. Our job is to do the opposite, so don’t panic. Just relax and trust us. You’re in good company.”

“It’s t-too late to turn back now. Just…have to trust you. Not nerve-wracking at all; it’s totally cool. Totally.”

My calming words reminded me a bit of how my daughter believed that I had all the answers and could handle anything. Sometimes, I thought it was right to admit my own imperfections, but Cavic showed why it was important to feel like someone would catch them if they fell. What was important was providing an air of safety, so they wouldn’t be afraid to step forward on their own. Granted, this Trombil was about my age—having a kid very young made other twenty-somethings seem like babies by comparison. Lecca was the greatest gift to my life, yet I couldn’t deny she had aged me rapidly. It was difficult to bear so much responsibility for a vulnerable sapient.

Cavic isn’t a child, but maybe treating him as such wasn’t a bad idea. He wants comfort and reassurance. It’s natural in times of unusual stress.

“Now!” Rameki shrieked, as a crackling noise hummed through the windows. Her soldiers swung a battering ram at the glass, aimed at a spot Vael wasn’t behind; the Resket began doling out orders before the fragments hit the ground. “Officers, pin Vael to the ground and hold him still. Cavic, get the fuck in there, unless you have somewhere better to be.”

Reskets leveled the Trombil hostage, spreading his limbs far apart; Vael gasped, as the gun tumbled from his grip. “W-what? What are you…”

Rameki raced for the gun, kicking it away from the hostage. I herded Cavic through the door, and the technician got to work removing Vael’s limbs. Unsure what to do—and not particularly wanting to watch a metal arm get unstitched in gory detail—I knelt beside the powerless reptile, trying to pry for information about Nolle. Shenala hadn’t turned up anything yet, so I had to find out the root of his suspicions. Hearing how this all started, at least: there was no time to waste, as we all knew. This might’ve been the most tense, time-sensitive mission I’d ever been on. I showed my scale pendant to Vael, to be sure he knew I was with the police. 

“Hi, Vael. Clever thinking on the trinary. We can talk now; the EMP disabled your limbs, and we’re going to keep you out of harm’s way,” I said. “Why do you think Nolle did this? Do you have proof; did he contact you, or say something that tipped you off?”

The light inside Vael’s metal eye directed itself toward his desk drawer. “It was a note; here’s how it all happened. When I tried to leave for the day, my wheels wouldn’t work. I called for help, but I was the last one in. My arm moved, without my say-so, and pulled a gun from my top drawer—he must’ve been here to plant it. Underneath, that paper. Look!”

I walked over to the desk, rummaging through the sliding compartment. A physical note, not any digital, scannable tab, was taped against the metal bottom. It read, “Who has wimpy arms now?” My eyes narrowed, as I failed to follow what personal meaning that inquiry had. That must have some connection to Vael and Nolle’s brief time at school together, though I lacked the context of what it was. Perhaps the cybernetics-loving reptile had called the Evinite’s normal arms wimpy, and it was as straightforward as taking offense to an insult. It was bizarre to settle a score in such dramatic fashion, years after the offense. The Trombil hostage looked a bit embarrassed, which suggested he wasn’t proud of whatever he did.

“Look, we’re not here to judge you for whatever you did as children, but Nolle is. What does that mean? What would make him hold a grudge over this…‘wimpy arms’ comment? There has to be more to it than that,” I prompted.

Vael’s gaze shifted, turning nervously toward where Cavic was picking at his arm. “There’s not a lot of Trombil in Avor’s schools, so we have a kind of clique within our species. Nolle was an outcast. He was the only one without any cybernetics, and…we were ruthless. I, um, led his persecution. I’m not proud of it.”

“Don’t worry about value judgments. This is life or death: don’t hold back. We need everything you know, to protect you and find him.” Ruthless bullying. I’m starting to get a picture. A tormented Nolle who wants revenge on the one who went after him on a regular basis. “What do you mean by persecution?”

“We’d jeer him as ‘Wimpy Arms’; that was his nickname. We’d, um, put Nolle’s arm inside the locker and slam the door, because flesh can…feel pain. Rip books from his grasp. Tug the…arms in opposite directions, with our greater strength, until they popped from the socket. I feel ashamed and awful looking back, but I was just a kid.”

I felt my eyes harden. “So was he, Vael. Childhood trauma has a lasting impact. Did you ever apologize?”

“No. He left to be homeschooled, and I never saw him again. An Evinite cybercriminal harboring a grudge for decades—I never expected that.”

“That’s a fucked up thing you did, Vael. I never expected that from you,” Cavic said, metal jaw tightening. “What is wrong with you?”

“I don’t know. My stupid kid brain thought I was teaching him a lesson; cybernetics are superior, and I didn’t know any better. You can’t think I deserve to die for a childhood sin. It’s madness. People grow up, change.”

Rameki tilted her head. “Dishonorable people don’t change. I’d be happy to show you how superior your cybernetics aren’t; Reskets having more fighting spirit than a Trombil with a thousand metal arms.”

“Enough, Rameki. I think Nolle already showed Vael the weaknesses of cybernetics. We have to make sure our hacker can’t hurt anyone else and subdue him, because I do agree that nobody needs to die for kids being cruel—a tale as old as time,” I spat. “It’s obvious why Nolle would want Vael to suffer in the public eye.”

“I am subduing him. I have officers holding him down.”

“Are they going to stand there all night?”

“I don’t hear any ideas from you, Gress. Just screech, screech, screech like your obors.”

“Get me a few chains, like you’d use for cargo. Wrap them around his arms; even metal arms won’t be able to break something that thick. We’ll still keep an eye on him, and make sure he can’t undo them.”

Panic showed on Vael’s face. “You’re going to leave me here?”

“Until we can get them all off without endangering Cavic, yes. We’re going to look for Nolle, but we can’t move you until it’s safe.”

“I haven’t had anything to eat or drink in hours!”

“I’ll make sure you’re brought food and water. Sounds like another errand for your unit, Rameki.”

The Resket stomped a leg in irritation. “I didn’t realize you made decisions for my tactical unit, Gress.”

“It’s a basic request. Do you think Vael shouldn’t get food and water? We’re not the Underscales.”

“Hmph. Fetch the things he asked for. Cavic, are you almost fucking done?” 

The Trombil clipped a wire, having almost fully detached the arm. “Yes. I’ll be done faster if I’m not asked questions like that!”

The Resket officers had sprinted off at their ridiculous pace, tearing off fast as a travel pod. I expected their return in swift fashion; they were anything but slow on their feet. A few had left when I made the request for the chains, before Rameki officially backed my order. That would chafe at her ego even more, if she noticed the metal links’ arrival was a bit too soon. Thankfully, she wasn’t the most perceptive; there wasn’t much calculus going on in that pink-feathered cranium. She only seemed content that they reached us before the EMP’s effects wore off. I rushed to help with the chains, gesturing my claws to Vael’s wheels first—we didn’t want him “on the run.” Not that he could outpace Reskets, but it was an unnecessary complication.

This is a prime example of why, unless I lost a limb, I’d never willingly take a cybernetic limb. Mechanical body parts would never truly be yours.

Cavic wrenched the arm away, allowing himself a giddy cry of celebration. “Done! No juice flowing to that baby anymore. You won’t be offing yourself with this arm, Vael.”

“What’s with the coward suddenly growing a spine?” Rameki squawked.

“I’m…excited by my splendid work. I mean, I did it. The adrenaline made me faster, even. Holy silicon, I’m relieved this is over, and I intend to get out of here right about now. Can I leave?”

I patted his shell. “Yes, you did good, Cavic. Thank you for stepping up. Go home, get some rest, and don’t think about this mess anymore; it’s late, and you’ve had enough fun for one night.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice. Uh, good luck, Vael.”

“Thanks, man,” the Trombil designer told his coworker, as his remaining limb was tied up. “I appreciate you going to all this trouble. That goes to the cops too.”

I raised my claws. “Don’t mention it—it’s what we do. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to check in on what’s going on with the search for Nolle.”

“I hope you find him…soon. If you can get in touch with him, tell him I’m sorry. I really am.”

“Not sure he’ll care at this point, but will do.”

I strolled out a few paces behind Cavic, and waited to get out of earshot of Vael to call Shenala. The information I’d received from questioning the hostage—the perpetrator had been on-site to plant the gun and the note—might help her narrow her search net. With the Listeners’ extensive surveillance, something had to show up on the camera, unless Nolle was somehow aware of the network’s blindspots. I supposed the hacker could’ve mapped those out, in the event that he’d tapped into the cameras, but avoiding all of them would imply classified knowledge about Listener operations. That was an unsettling thought, since I didn’t see how an Evinite would know about it.

The ‘wimpy arms’ question is clearly about Nolle, and I agree with Vael. I’m just mystified how he became this technologically competent and up-to-date on our methods.

“Shenala,” I said, as the Trombil listener answered. “Vael is safe. We found out the perpetrator either visited, or sent someone to visit, his office and planted a gun…and a note that’s clearly about Nolle. As a student, Nolle was bullied, physically tormented, by Vael. That’s our presumed motive…”

Shenala cleared her throat. “It wasn’t Nolle.”

“Okay? How exactly can you rule him out from that?”

“Gress, the last time Nolle tripped facial recognition was two years ago. I used pathing prediction algorithms to find the likeliest destination, which was an isolated cave, and I sent a drone fleet to scour the area for any clues. We found an unmodified Trombil’s body…decaying…and received a genetic match for Nolle. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.”

I stopped in my tracks, eyes widening with shock. “What? But that can’t be…why?”

“I searched Nolle’s medical history, and found out he’d suffered chronic pain for years—ever since his nerves were damaged from a shattered arm. By high school, he became addicted to painkillers, as the doctors prescribed him stronger and stronger stuff. The little data I can dig up shows him as depressed beyond belief; he tried to get help several times, but nothing worked. He felt hopeless and was in agony.” 

“That’s awful. I…I don’t know what to say, Shenala.” I paced back and forth in silence, placing my paws atop my head. My heart ached, realizing how twisted and tragic Nolle’s fate had been, all because of Vael’s cruelty. “If it wasn’t Nolle, then who did this? It’s obviously about him; staging a suicide by gunshot makes more sense now. It has to be someone who knows what happened to him—all of it.”

“I agree. We need to find out who already knew Nolle was dead, before that was even recorded in my database, and decided to go vigilante on Vael.”

“You think it’s family, friends…maybe a doctor that treated him?”

“This isn’t my first case. I ran checks on all of them; most of his relatives are dead or on Valle, their homeworld. None have any technological qualifications, criminal contacts, or any worrying behaviors we found. My thought is to expand the pool to classmates, because that’s who would’ve known, but that’s a massive pool to sift through; there’s not anything that tripped a quick query.”

I hesitated, before voicing my sneaking suspicion. “Did anyone who went to school with them go on to become…a Listener?”

“What?! You think it was one of us?”

“I’m sorry, Shenala. Knowing the cameras, hacking cybernetics, possessing an unhealthy amount of info about Nolle and Vael…I don’t see who else has those skills.”

“That data won’t be accessible, even to me. Our identities are heavily protected. Do you know what you’re asking me to do?”

Hack the Listeners’ employee database? “Let’s say that a humble hostage negotiator wouldn’t know the only way you’d find that out. After all, how could I?”

There was a long pause, before she let out a frustrated breath. “You’d better be right.”

The Trombil disconnected from the call, and I mouthed the words “thank you” at the camera, in case she was watching me. If my suspicions were correct, I’d be helpless to find the true cybercriminal without Shenala’s assistance. There wasn’t much I could do now, except curl up into a ball and wait to see if her hacking foray was successful; I didn’t doubt her talent, but even if she managed to get into the Consortium’s most secure database, there was no guarantee that my hunch was right. I’d placed her in a tough position based on my own logical facilities, and I didn’t want to let down someone who’d proven herself to be an invaluable asset. If there was a Listener willing to do all of this, however, they needed to be stopped.

An individual with that amount of power could cause a lot of harm, presumably in the name of meting out justice. The allegory was obvious throughout every bit of the crime—the perpetrator might as well have been screaming that this was how Nolle felt. Regardless of Vael’s part in his long-ago classmate’s lonely, broken death, I wasn’t going to let whomever made him a hostage in his own body get away with their scheme.

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A/N - The second-to-last chapter! In a case with layers to it, Gress discovers what happened between Nolle and Vael, with cruel bullying among the small contingent of Trombil students…mocking his flesh-and-bone limbs. Vael also discusses how a note and a gun were planted in his workspace, while Cavic is able to successfully remove his arm under pressure. After Rameki’s team subdues the hacked hostage, our narrator goes to inform Shenala of the developments…and learns the tragedy of Nolle’s story. This leads Gress to suspect someone in the Listeners is behind all of this…

What do you think of Nolle’s tragic fate, as well as the hackers’ actions and allegory? Does this change how you feel about Vael, or even make you think he deserved to be in that position? Do you agree with Gress that a Listener is the likely culprit?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! One more of these before the Wild West series drops, I hope you’ve enjoyed the twists and turns of the cases, plus the deep dive into Gress’ backstory and the Consortium.