Okay, so the authors of Pendrive and The Predator's Voices seem to have accidentally started up this daisy-chain thing, and I want in on it. Half because it's a cool idea, that there's this pendrive with music on it that either sorta speaks to people like a sci-fi SCP or is just taken more seriously than it should be by mentally unwell aliens, half because I want some Old Gods of Asgard up in this bitch (Fandom) already.

Thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 for the NoP universe

P1 - The Pendrive

P2 - The Predator's Voices

- - -

Memory Transcription subject: Fel, Senior Venlil Exterminator, Furnace Operator

Date [Standardized Human Time]: December 31st, 2136

The kid in front of me trembled as he placed the small bag on the desk with more care than was necessary.

"Son," I said, withholding a sigh, "It's just a data device. A primitive one, at that."

"It's a Human data device! One that's been found at no less than two crime scenes!" He squeaked out, staring at the plastic bag as if it would jump up at him.

"One of those "Crime Scenes" was the abandoned apartment of an Intelligence Division Exterminator who went missing, whom I'm betting fled the planet." I told him flatly.

"And the other was a burned down Exterminator office, the very one that The Blade was said to have worked at!"

I bit my tongue to contain the growl that name nearly brought out of me.

The Blade. Fucking monster's been running rampant for months, burning down Exterminator offices left and right, killing them us in droves. Foil suits didn't mean anything if you were at the heart of an inferno for claws on end, or being crushed by falling support beams, or trapped until your filters were used up!

"The first one was a pompous coward who signed up for a job he didn't have the stomach for, the second was an obviously Predator Diseased individual who should have been caught by their fellow Exterminators well before that point."

Bile rose up as I used that stars-damned term, but years of practice kept it down.

"And the device just so happened to be at both scenes? I know a curse when I see one!" The recruit insisted, backing up a pawstep.

I loosed a sigh as quietly as I could.

Don't get mad at the kid. He's young, and naive. You were once too, Fel.

"Trel, you're back! . . . Trel?"

"Listen, cadet, even if it's cursed, which it isn't, it won't be a problem for much longer. That's the whole reason you brought it here, after all."

That seemed to calm his shaking some, though he still eyed the data drive with suspicion.

"Now, go ahead and go, tell Captain Zeva that the "Blasphemous Relic" is destroyed and shall harm no one ever again."

That got a half-chuckle out of the kid, making a small grin climb across my snout.

"I'm pretty sure it was comments like that that got you demoted to furnace duty, sir." He said, turning for the stairs.

"I got kicked down here because Zeva's momma has more credits than Zeva does braincells!" I called after him as he climbed up, grin growing at the aborted-laugh sputter that elicited out of the cadet.

Huffing, I grabbed the bag and pulled it up, eyeing the drive inside.

"Cursed." I said bemusedly, opening the bag and pulling out the device, throwing the bag in the furnace behind me and switching it on as I examined the primitive data stick.

"I bet you're just some refugee's smut stash. Eh, not like I got anything worth doing later, so how about we talk, you and me?"

- - -

Closing my door behind me, I eyed my apartment, the labor of thirty cycles spent under the Exterminators.

One bedroom with a bed that creaked, one cramped bathroom, a combined meal and common area with peeling paint, and the only real positive, a very small balcony.

The view it gave me of Nightfall and the constant stars of the Night were just about the only reason I stayed in this glorified box.

"It has to have a yard, a big one! There's plenty of kids who need us, Fel, why only have one?"

I thunked the back of my head against the door as I leaned on it, closing my eyes.

I held my breath.

One, two, three.

And let it out.

"Alright," I said, pulling the drive out of my pocket, "Let's see what those fuelheads were so scared of."

I didn't bother removing my foil suit as I sat down at my computer, heating only worked in this place half the time and any layer between me and the cold was better than just my wool.

Switching on the holo-screen, I reached under my desk for my homemade Human-tech drive. A couple of dives through the trashbins at the refugee center and some creative soldering and coding, and reading uncensored Terran files was as easy as saying please.

"I love watching you make things. You just. . . come alive!"

Plugging data stick in, a brief click was all that greeted me before I was looking over the drive's files.

Which is where my confusion started.

"Anarchy - Lilith Czar?" I said under my breath, "Skin-Deep Comedy - Mili, Heavy Hands - Joshua Du Chene, LA Devotee - Panic! at the Disco, Kokomo - The Beach Boys- What is all this?"

I kept scrolling through the list, each entry seeming to be a jumble of words and names that only occasionally made sense.

For all that they're people like the rest of us, Humans could still be fuckin' weird most of the time.

"Helped him? He can barely even TALK anymore! What did you do to my Trel!?"

Didn't change that they were people, though. I had to remind myself of that. They were nothing like the real monsters I'd seen.

A name pulled me out of my thoughts, making me bend my ears in confusion.

"Dark Ocean Summoning - Old Gods of Asgard? Is this a digital prayer compilation or something?" I wondered aloud, clicking on the title. I wonder what a Human prayer was li-

YEAAAAAAHHHHH-

I slapped at the holo-keyboard, almost falling out my chair at the sudden assault on my ears.

Holding still, I listened for signs of my neighbors, letting out a breath I hadn't known I was holding when I heard nothing out of the ordinary.

I stared at my screen in bewilderment for a long moment, until it finally hit me.

"Oh, it's a playlist! Guess song names almost always being nonsense without context crosses the species barrier for Humans, too!" I mumbled to myself, a smile creeping up my face.

"For being so smart, you can be so goofy sometimes, Fel!"

"Isn't that one of the MANY reasons you love me?"

I slipped some earbuds on and clicked the connector into place, taking care to adjust the volume before clicking on the file again.

Human music, evidently, was loud. Hopefully loud enough.

A heavy stringed instrument I hadn't noticed at first backed the shout that had nearly given me a heart attack, being joined by a second, lighter sounding set of strings screeching it's way in. Percussion thundered in the background, the whole thing making it feel like I was being hammered down into my chair.

Needless to say, I was having a hard time thinking, just as I'd hoped.

Then, with a flourish from the lighter strings, the music pulled back on the throttle, allowing words to surface in the soundscape.

I name the stars over your cauldron,And all that lies beneath your waves

Throwing my voice into your shadow,The Underworld, the Darkest Place!

"Trel, please, just talk to me. What did they do to you in there?"

I slapped a claw against my head, trying to silence my thoughts.

"Why have you been so at it lately?" I growled out, though it turned into a whimper at the end.

A climbing yell from the light-strings pulled me back into the song, only to feel like I was being dragged back down when it climbed back down at almost double the speed.

The onyx kiss of inky waters,The jet black undertow of fright!

From the cold depths now I will conjure,The spiral madness of his mind!

"He was sick, Fel! That kind of disregard for personal safety is a danger to the herd!"

"He just wanted to help him. That's all it was, he saw someone hurting and wanted to help!" I snarl-cried, as if that "doctor" were there before me, still spewing that speh about him as I clutched my head.

Why couldn't I breathe?

Once more the ocean's a lake,So alike a land awake!

A moment of flourish, a quick breath, and then

COME SAVE YOUR SOUL,AWAKE NEW AND WHOLE!

Cold air, silence, seeping into my bones. A grave that shouldn't have been.

"No one will end up like you, be hurt like you were. I promise."

BY NAME I WILL SUMMON HIM!

"What's your name, kid, and why're you joining the Exterminators?"

"Fel, sir, and I wanna help people."

FROME THE SILENCE OF SCREAMS,FROM THE CITY OF DREAMS,

"Trel, I'm coming in!"

"TREL!"

IT'S A DARK OCEAN SUMMONING!

"I can't thank you enough for your advice, Captain, he's come out of his shell so much!"

"Hey, look at me. You're not a monster, you just need help, that's all."

"Tell you what, since it's a first time offense and your young, I'll let it slide this once, okay? Don't let me catch you doing it again!"

And how long has it been since you helped anyone?

The instruments took center stage, a storm on a black sea, and I was cast to the waves. Thundering, hammered, dragged down as breath was left little room in my lungs.

I'd joined the Exterminators for a reason. I hated them with every fiber of my being, but I had a reason.

The horror story falsely claiming,Naming you servant of the Night!

"Listen. You're being demoted, and that's it. Nothing you can do is changing that. Now, you are going to do your job and follow orders. Do you understand me?"

". . . Yes, ma'am."

Or I did, once.

Now rise up by the name I'm calling,Your soul returning to the light!

"Things just aren't the same without you leading, Fel."

"Orders are orders. Can't make too much noise, not with Zeva in charge, but don't worry, I can pull some strings still!"

And I did, right up until I pulled those strings to the point they snapped.

Then, all I that was left was a furnace stoker.

Once more the ocean's a lake,So alike a land awake!

Pups mewling at my feet, half-blind and so small.

These are just animals. With a howling screams behind me, the sweet-stench of burning flesh in the air, and ash on my paws, I realized these were just animals.

I understood, then, that REAL monsters didn't howl, they talked.

COME SAVE YOUR SOUL,AWAKE NEW AND WHOLE!

When did I stop helping?

BY NAME I WILL SUMMON HIM!

Another parent that got scared, another child sent off before he could talk to anyone.

It was so hard these days. Some days, it almost felt like it was too hard.

FROM THE SILENCE OF SCREAMS,FROM THE CITY OF DREAMS,

"It's Nightfall, Fel. What can you do?"

IT'S A DARK OCEAN SUMMONING!

More than nothing, at least! Is that really all I've been doing?

The light-strings flared into a frenzied scurry,

"Hang on, help's coming, okay? Here, grab my paw tight and just hold out, kid! I promise, the medics can fix you up!"

Then, settled into a weightier pace.

"I. . . I'm sorry, ma'am. We tried, but the wounds-"

"I couldn't wait any longer Captain, the way he would just sit by himself instead of socializing, it was just unnatural!"

Heavy eyes, so much darker and glassier than any kids should ever be. What he'd done to his own daughter, why couldn't he have just listened?

When did the bad I couldn't stop start outpacing the good I could do?

For silent lies that which colors the Night,And it may ride in your step from the other side of the moonlight

. . . Did it outpace the good?

COME SAVE YOUR SOUL,AWAKE NEW AND WHOLE!

Stars, when did I become so blind, when did I let my thoughts get so dark, that I couldn't see what they were becoming?

BY NAME I WILL SUMMON HIM!

Why are you only waking up now?

FROM THE SILENCE OF SCREAMS,FROM THE CITY OF DREAMS,

"You've done a lot, Captain, you've earned a rest!"

"We got it Captain, don't worry!"

"Nah, you don't need to come out for this one, Captain."

"This doesn't need a captain, we can handle it."

"Just stay at the office Fel, we'll deal with this."

"We already have it, Fel, just head back."

"We don't need you here, Fel, go back."

"Just stay down there, Fel. I am the captain now, I will deal with this as I see fit."

"Fel."

"FEL!"

"FEL!"

I yanked the earbuds out of my ears, nearly tore the data stick from my drive, and scrambled for the balcony.

The perpetually cold air of the Night greeted me as I gulped down lungfuls, claws scratching at the railing as I gripped it with all my might.

The city of Nightfall greeted me, it's lights glaring out at me, brighter than I remember them being in cycles. I noticed things I hadn't before, new lights for fresh buildings, old ones missing from where they had once stood tall and shined in my memory.

I name the stars over your cauldron,And all that lies beneath your waves

A constellation that I hadn't realized had changed.

I felt the tears drip from me, rapidly losing their warmth in the Night air to feel more akin to rain on my wool.

The onyx kiss of inky waters,The jet black undertow of fright

How long had I been drowning in my sorrow for?

"Trel," I softly whispered, more tears falling at the name, the memories I invoked, "I'm sorry. I don't know when, but I stopped trying."

The horror story falsely claiming,Calling you servant of the Night

"I thought I'd still been helping, but I wasn't It's just been so hard without you, but it's no excuse and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry my Trel, I'm so sorry!"

"You can just try again, silly!"

I whipped around, heart thundering in my chest. That- That had sounded like he was-

My apartment was empty. Like it always was.

Like I had become.

I slid down against the glass panels of the balcony's railing, heaving quiet sobs.

What have I become?

Come save your soul,Awake new and whole

No.

I raised an arm to wipe at my tears, and breathed deep to try and quell the shakiness from my heaving.

By name I will summon him

I can't just let things settle like this. That isn't who I am, that isn't who Trel's mate was.

I can't help everybody,

Once more the ocean's a lake

But I will help Nightfall, at least.

From the silence of screams,From the city of dreams

And it won't be as a furnace stoker, nor as an Exterminator.

I got up, striding with purpose for my bedroom.

Lifting the mattress, I pulled out the key I keep between the bed and the frame, tucked away in a rusted little hole I'd found when replacing the mattress, what little good that did me.

I stared at the key in my palm, contemplating what I was about to do.

As the furnace stoker, I got handed a lot of things. As the former captain, I made sure to retain access to a lot of things.

What I had stored away in that old house I- . . . We had bought would be enough to get me in and out with everything else, without getting caught. Enough to have what I need to put my Applied Sciences degrees to use.

I was done playing with fire, but liquid nitrogen? Now THAT sounded just fine to me.

After that? Fel would only exist to a very select few.

It's a Dark Ocean Summoning

The Captain, however?

I got the feeling everybody in Nightfall was going to hear about him.

- - -

A pendrive sat on a balcony railing, where it had been left behind when the last to hold it had gotten an idea into his head and promptly ran off.

The wind blew strong, and the pendrive fell off, into the waiting streets below.