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

First | Prev

Memory Transcription Subject: Gress, Krev Hostage Negotiator

Date [standardized human time]: August 13, 2156

It took hours even for someone of Shenala’s skill to get into the database. I took the opportunity to catch up on a few winks, while Rameki and her team still tended to a tied-up Vael. There were a number of worrying implications that kept me restless, such as how whoever did this evaded the mind scans that the Listeners’ department had to go through. My eyes snapped open as soon as my Trombil contact called me back; I was eager to hear whether she’d found any results. The consequences, especially if she was wrong about this accusation, could land her somewhere like Omnol Valley. She’d probably have better odds, sailing over to the Federation and claiming to be a predator, than challenging the Listeners.

For all I knew, there was someone watching the very person watching me; Shenala and I might’ve gotten a bit too friendly over the years. What if the Consortium realized what I’d asked her to do? Was I endangering myself and my family? I didn’t want to believe that my government would harm me when I only wanted to save lives, but I’d been told from the start never to ask questions about that Department. Still, I couldn’t leave someone with that much power on the loose. Surely, they’d come around and thank me, since my mind was only filled with dedication to protecting Avor’s citizens.

We can’t have vigilantes with access to everyone’s data and whereabouts. We can’t trust this individual’s version of justice, or target-selection process. Regardless of how cruel Vael’s offense was, this perpetrator is going after someone for childhood wrongs. What’s to stop them from going after literal children—something I couldn’t bear?

“So? How’d your foraging expedition go?” I prompted, disguising my own nerves with a yawn.

Shenala cleared her throat. “I found one hit. A Jaslip named Bauldan was in his class level, and attended school during the year Vael tormented Nolle. Bauldan went on to join the Listeners, and to work on Missing Persons Reports.”

“Missing Persons Reports. There must’ve been one sent out for Nolle, and he looked into it. Instead of closing the case, he—”

“—kept the information for himself, pieced together everything that happened, and took matters into his own three tails. Bauldan’s file notes say he has a strong sense of justice, and during surprise examinations, everyone said that he truly cared for the people he looked for.”

“Did he trip facial recognition around Vael’s office?”

“Two weeks ago. Bauldan altered the footage in our database, but I was able to locate the original. You were right, Gress. You can’t be here to arrest him yourself, or handle this in the traditional way, but a team of Underscales is quietly removing our Jaslip friend. I tipped them off, and they seemed more impressed than angry. Suffice to say, Bauldan won’t be troubling anyone anymore…and Vael can go home.”

“Excellent. I’ll let Rameki know that we can undo the chains. Thank you for trusting me on this, Shenala; I only wanted to remove the rot from your ranks. I needed you, and you really stepped up.”

“It was nothing. The theory made sense to me, when I thought about it, and you have this habit of usually being onto something. The Listeners trust you’ll hold your tongue on this, and if I read between the lines correctly, they’ve taken notice of you. Not in a bad way. You could have bigger ambitions than being a hostage negotiator, you know.”

Taken notice of me? I’m not surprised we’re being monitored, but I’m a little concerned.

“You there, Gress?” the Trombil prodded.

I blinked, poking my cheeks with the sharp tips of my claws. “Sure am, just lost in my thoughts. That’s good to hear. I’m quite happy with my station in life—it’s meaningful work. We save people, and make the Consortium stronger for it. I’m glad to wrap up this case in quick, quiet fashion. Everyone goes home tonight.”

“Except Bauldan, of course.”

“I wonder why he did it. If it was just recognizing Nolle’s name, or if he decided Vael shouldn’t get away with it. Why go to all this trouble for a kid you knew in elementary school?”

“Omnol Valley will get those answers and then some, but they won’t be for your ears.”

“Don’t ask questions, right. Old habits die hard, thinking of it like a suspect in a normal case. It’s your business now—way above my paygrade. I’ll, um, go send Vael home; Rameki too. That bird’s destructive when she’s strung out on kelai.” 

The Trombil laughed. “We wouldn’t want a Resket rampage ruining our victory. Shoot me a call whenever you get your next case.”

Shenala disconnected from the call, and I exhaled a breath I didn’t realize I was holding in. We had a friendly working relationship, but I definitely feared attracting the attention of the Listeners; they didn’t take any chances with their existence and scope being exposed to the public, so being loose-lipped or inquisitive with them was bringing punishment down on your own head. Rameki was unaware of which organization I’d gone poking around for a suspect, and in her mind, it was probably Nolle. I told her it was safe to release the hacked hostage, and let her assume the dead Evinite was the suspect in custody. The Resket officer and I butted heads on almost every mission, but I didn’t intend to expose her to unnecessary danger. The less she knew about the true culprit, the safer she would be.

Given how little warmth I felt toward Vael, I didn’t stick around to accept his gratitude. It was time for me to head home and try to patch things up with Nevi. It was obvious that we needed to have some serious conversations about my line of work, if she was still throwing that at my face every time we fought. Despite the personal sacrifices and dangers I placed myself in, it wasn’t something I wanted to give up; my careful words to Shenala, about the work being meaningful, were true. Saving lives empowered me, and I’d dare to say I was quite adept at solving the interpersonal puzzles laid out through my cases. As I dragged my feet toward the transit pod, my holopad rang with the emergency frequency. I swiped to accept, worried who might dial my number.

“This is Gress speaking.” I tried to steady my claws in case cameras were watching me, but an unfamiliar number dialing me now, of all times? It was uncanny. “Who is this?”

A Jaslip’s guttural voice answered. “I think you know. I’ve been following your work, ever since I lost connection to Vael.”

“Bauldan?! What is it that you want?”

“Relax. It’s not my intent to hurt you; if it was, we wouldn’t be talking…but I don’t harm innocents. You wanted to know why I did what I did for Nolle. I’m more than willing to share that, without Omnol Valley or any mind scanner.”

“And why would you tell me, of all people? If you have this number, you know…”

“You might’ve messed up a lot of my plans, but I’m impressed by how easily you figured things out. The work is important, Gress. Someone needs to finish what I started.”

My blood ran cold. “What is it that you started?”

“Not a whole lot, I’m afraid. I had a list of people that got away with terrible things. All inspired by Nolle. Like you, I see the worst of sapientkind in my work, when they can’t hide from the sky-eye. Listeners do too much listening, and not enough to actually change the shitty people who face zero consequences for the things they’ve done.”

“You tried to hack a Trombil’s body to stage a suicide.”

“I merely turned what happened to Vael’s victim back on him. My downfall was thinking he deserved to sit with it…but Nolle suffered for years as a hapless child. A few hours was too kind for Vael.”

I hesitated, trying to switch my brain into hostage negotiator mode. “It couldn’t have been easy for a Jaslip to get into the Listeners. What about Nolle would make you throw all of that away, and become a vigilante?”

“Quite frankly, I know what it is to be judged and called names. It always bothered me, seeing the Evinite kid treated like a pariah, but I didn’t do anything. How could I, when I’d be called words like terrorist or extremist even if I was brave enough to claw those bullies in the snout? It stuck with me for years. Nolle and I were…part of the people that nobody stands up for.”

“This is the only way to stand up? Not raising awareness, or…”

Bauldan huffed. “My time is limited, Gress. I know they’re coming for me, and I don’t plan on running. When Nolle’s case came across my desk, it was destiny. I’d always wondered what happened to him, and when I found out…I thought about him all throughout the hibernation season. I kept digging further until I’d pieced it all together, just like you did.”

“I figured it out to know why you did it. To see who was really behind it.”

“So did I. It all traced back to that horrible bullying, and I could still remember how they terrorized that kid, plain as day. It consumed me. Vael was just…living his life, finding success in cybernetics, while Nolle never had a life. My point is, I wasn’t going to stand by, not while I had the power now to do something. I began planning, and making a list of monsters who deserved punishment. There’s so many forgotten wrongs that I aimed to repay.”

“Why not do it the legal way? Have them…exposed or arrested. No one needs to die. We’re the good guys; we don’t do things like the worst of sapientkind.”

“Are you sure about that? I’m being hauled to Omnol Valley because we don’t have a shady view of morality? Look, it doesn’t matter, Gress. My work was too important. Do with these files what you see fit, but don’t do nothing. If we share one objective, it’s that we care about justice.”

My holopad dinged with sudden file transfers, overriding the safety protocol; I scrambled to try to shut off the device, but it wouldn’t respond. The Jaslip Listener could be installing any manner of viruses or incriminating software on my device…though for the latter, my memories of this call would exonerate me. I shouldn’t have stayed on the line at all, except that curiosity had gotten the better of me. Curses flew out of my mouth as the download completed, and the files opened without my authorization. They appeared to be notated similarly to case files, rather than an overtly malicious program, with full identification cards and details scrawled all over each one. 

“What is this?” I demanded.

A growl reverberated in Bauldan’s throat. “My list. I want you to have it. Among the great people in there, there’s a Krev who abuses obors and makes videos of it: to the tune of a hefty profit, if you see his financials. There’s a Smigli casino owner who moved here—as you know, their gambling industry has a not-pretty side—but still feeds off of old debts, that’ll be owed for life by individuals who are drowning. Their games were rigged, you know, and I have proof! Some of those were Krev tourists taken for everything they’re worth.”

“It’s games of chance for money. Sinking fortunes on that is sad, but it’s legal on Omnol; if you had proof it was rigged, you should’ve shared that.”

“It would’ve risked exposing the Listeners, all of this, and it was deemed not important enough to be worth that. I would’ve done this a different way if I had a choice, but they just wanted me to stand by. There’s so much more, Gress. A Trombil running an underground bite-brawl ring. One participant was severely injured, and instead of taking her to the hospital, they dumped her in a swamp. There’s a Jaslip in my enclave, who slipped anti-hibernation drugs into his worker’s drinking water, all because his profits had met expec—”

I huffed in irritation. “I get it, Bauldan. If you think I’m some vigilante who’s going to pick up killing them where you left off, you don’t know me. What did you honestly think I’d do about this?”

“Make an anonymous tip, like you planned to with Soressa—you have a reporter in your corner. Social media is an option for that too. Or, find evidence the legal way, which doesn’t bring the Listeners down on you, so the bastards can be taken down. If you can’t find evidence, frame them for something else! I don’t care how you go about this, but just don’t do nothing. There are victims here, like any others you’d save.”

“I’m a hostage negotiator. I don’t investigate old cases, or settle scores from years ago. I certainly don’t want to be seen as aiding you, and have the Listeners turn on me.”

“Of course you don’t, but they’ve already turned on you, Gress.”

My eyes narrowed with suspicion. “What do you mean?”

“My time is running out. Look, you’re about to get a call for your next case. My advice is not to accept, because it won’t end well for you. There’s more going on here than you know.”

“What is going on, Bauldan? What case will I supposedly get next?”

The Jaslip hesitated. “One with all the cameras. Good luck, Gress. Don’t let the bastards get away with it.”

The vigilante Listener hung up the call, leaving me dumbfounded at his last words. He must be trying to espouse paranoia about my next case, in the hopes of making me focus on his list of people that deserved their comeuppance. How could Bauldan know about a case that hadn’t even happened yet, at some unspecified time in the future? I stared at the files he’d forced onto my holopad, hovering over the delete button with a claw for several minutes. I told myself the reason for my hesitation was if the Listeners came asking about this call, and it was perceived as deleting evidence. However, part of me wanted the full story of what they’d done, and hated that they’d gotten away with terrible misdeeds.

Is it really the right thing to play a part in none of these victims’ stories seeing the light of day? Bauldan had a point about them getting away with it, while the ones with the power to stop it watch. I know they have a bigger picture in mind, but still; there has to be more we could do. Besides, the pricks on this list could hurt us if they’re left alone.

I tucked the holopad back onto my belt, not having reached a decision on what to do about the files. What mattered was that a rogue Listener wasn’t out there playing god, and that I’d stopped any bloodshed from transpiring under his judgment. It was time to think about how I’d complete the paperwork, and how I’d raise the topic of Shenala to make me skip the memory scans—nothing about Bauldan could be documented. For now, it was important to see Lecca, and to think long and hard about where my priorities fell. I didn’t want to risk not being around to see her grow up; it wasn’t like I could solve the world’s problems, no matter how much they tugged on my heartstrings.

As my back foot stepped into the pod, my holopad buzzed. A new case, so soon after I’d wrapped up the last one? So much for going home and getting a restful night’s sleep; this would only dump more fuel on Nevi’s fire. Squawks of frustration also came from Rameki’s rundown crew, realizing that they couldn’t go home. We’d been out late enough on this case that it was early morning, with the sun peeking through the orbital rings up in the sky. The Jaslip Listener’s warning echoed in my ears, as I read the content of the message. Bauldan might’ve meant that this would put a lot of eyes on me, given how important the listed hostages were: five Krev figures that were household names. It was a great deal of pressure, and could have significant backlash if I failed.

“Jaslip extremists, parents along with their children, have captured five crucial personnel of the Krev state at a conference center. These hostage-takers are armed, and are believed to have been radicalized in the Esquo’s Fighters enclave.”

The Listeners must’ve gotten word of this incident before I did, judging by Bauldan’s warning. Regardless of whether this assignment would bring me unwelcome attention, it was a compliment that I was trusted to handle it. I wouldn’t turn away from such a volatile, high-profile situation if my duty called for it. I changed the destination on my pod, accepting that my life was about to change drastically. Normally, I’d read the case file on the ride over, but I needed a few minutes to recharge my brain. Perhaps I could steal a few minutes of shuteye on the way to Tonvos Pyramid, though it was doubtful. It was difficult to slip into a peaceful slumber when the monstrous implications started to set in. 

What kind of parent would drag their children into such horrific acts, when they were too young to judge for themselves? It was abusive, in my book. I was sickened to think that Lecca would ever feel threatened by me, and these extremists used their kids as hireling thugs. I had to find a way to bring this case to a bloodless resolution—not just for the Consortium’s continuity of government, but for the Jaslip kits who had no agency in this debacle. The difference between Bauldan and I was how I cared to avoid anyone’s death, and that was what I intended to prove to the world.

This would be a defining moment in my career, and just like any other case, I wanted to do everything in my power to save every life I could. 

A/N - The finale! Shenala figures out that a Jaslip Listener named Bauldan went to school with Nolle, and wound up assigned to his missing persons case years later; he calls Gress to explain why he got involved, having been persecuted and jeered himself. Bauldan sends his list of “monsters who deserve punishment”, in his words, to Gress, and pleads for him to see some justice delivered. He also offers a prescient warning about not taking the next case assigned to him, claiming that the Listeners turned on him. However, when our hostage negotiator hears about the targets, he interprets this warning as being about the cameras and attention.

What do you think of Bauldan’s parting warning? Do you agree with our rogue Listener’s list and plans for vigilantism? Should Gress have turned back from that case while he had the chance? We know all too well how the Jaslip incident ends…

As always, thank you for reading and supporting! Cowboy story is up next!