Page 325 of Night's Fall
“How are things, your majesty?”Alekseijoked.
A ghost of a smile flitted overTanyn’slips before he replied, “Thetrolls have been successfully tallied, contained and are ready for transport to the habitat that’s been created for them in theCenter.”
“Final count?”
“Five hundred and seventy-three.”
Aleksei was surprised. “That’sit?”
“That’s it,”Tanynconfirmed. “I’vebeen reading through centuries of reports on these creatures,Lex.It’shorrifying at the same time fascinating, thoughI’lladmit that fascination is morbid to extremes.”
“So warned, tell me,”Alekseiencouraged.
“Through a lot of trial and error, which means not a small number of deaths of observers and trainers, it seems these creatures have two basic instincts.Eatand kill.Theydon’t even copulate unless they’re bored.”
“And this is why the numbers are so small after eight hundred years?”
“That, and it takes resources to keep them contained.Thebarracks they’re in are extensively fortified and cost a fortune to maintain.Butit’s essential.Forthe first few hundred years, they kept getting loose and wreaking havoc.Though, another reason they aren’t prolific is because, with nothing else to kill, they kill each other.”
Aleksei was stunned. “Fuckinghell.”
“Yes,”Tanynagreed. “Theytried repeatedly to create some kind of tactical unit with them.Nothingworked.Theyhave no language, though they do communicate, mostly through frequencies of grunts.Nordo they have the mental capacity to be organized.Noteven something as simple as taking formation or marching.Thiswas discovered after most of their trainers were maimed or killed over decades of trying.Somewherein the early 1500s, they gave up.Theytried again in the 1800s, and early 1900s.Nojoy.”
“Did they harvest the skin?”
Tanyn nodded. “Yes.Wehave a warehouse full of it.Theyalso experimented on it, and unbeknownst to the general public, back in the day when weapons used bullets, our bulletproof armor was made of troll skin.”
“It isn’t stream proof,”Alekseiremarked. “DidArnaudknow that?”
“Absolutely.Andthis is the important newsIhave to share.Thereare recent records about using the trolls for experiments on upgrading thePR60.Andbefore these experiments started, the inventory of trolls was six hundred and fifty-two.”
Aleksei couldn’t hide his shock. “Theyput down seventy-nine trolls for their experiments on thePR60?”
“Another way they contained the population.Theseweren’t the only experiments they conducted on the trolls.”
“Fucking hell,”Alekseirepeated, feeling sick to his stomach.
It seemed they weren’t fully cognizant and they were violent, but they were still living, breathing creatures.
“I’ve made a recommendation to theUTCof rendering them infertile,”Tanynshared. “Allowingthem some sort of natural habitat where they can live as they will, which will likely mean they’ll kill each other off, and then go extinct on their own.Buteven if it’s clear they aren’t quite sentient, we treat animals better than they’ve been treated.”
AsAlekseisawSpikebackgetting closer, he nodded and asked, “Anynews onTatra?”
“After blustering through her presser about her son being unfairly accused, there’s been no word from her.”
Aleksei found this suspicious. “Soshe’s fine with being exiled toSnowyRidge?”
“Tatra is a master of lulling beings into a false sense of security.Askmy mother.Tatrawas her best friend before she stole her husband.”
Aleksei grimaced at the reminder.
But the good news was, this meantTanynwas keeping an eye on her.
“Any word on the tech used during theMasque?”Alekseiasked.
Tanyn shook his head. “Arnaud’sfollowers scurried like rats when he was taken into custody.Thosein his closest circle disappeared, and they didn’t leave much behind when they did.Theywere so thorough in this, it’s clear there was a failsafe in place.Wedo have the docs on thePR60experiments, which we’ll provide to you for the assassination case.I’llalso be sharing all that was gleaned through centuries of working with the trolls.Butit’s early days,Lex.We’restill digging and interrogating those we think might have been involved.I’llkeep you informed if we find anything further.”
“Appreciate that,Tan.”
