When the alarm rang, I was barely awake, slowly running out of energy producing weapons while the others were testing the prototypes they had come up with earlier.
I felt dread when I read the notification of the alarm.
"Demonic package."
Fuck, it's already this late.
"Sorry guys, but I have other places to be. We will be resuming things tomorrow in the morning." I announced to the others while undoing the transformation.
They quickly began packing their stuff before I could say more, and we left together. While they headed upstairs to leave and enjoy the rest of the day, I still had work to do.
They accompanied me till the elevator, and while they happily took it to go back to their quarters or wherever they spend their free time, I had to walk downstairs toward the deeper levels.
The many guards quickly saluted me wherever I walked. Before I knew it, I was already in front of the cage of the beast, completely surrounded by guards.
Last week one of the guards responsible for overseeing the demons got badly injured fighting one that attempted to escape. He still hadn't mentally recovered from the incident, so I had to replace him while he recovered.
The demon I was in charge of today was given the name the silent claw.
A huge four-legged creature, the head of a puma, with large front legs that hosted some equally large eyes. It was really short; it could barely reach my knee.
I wish I could pet it, but I bet it would rip my hand in half.
It was time to pick it up from its heavily guarded containment zone into a special cage.
There were many guards around us, but only I was allowed to interact directly with the demon.
Usually they would simply lock the entrance of the cage with the exit of the containment room and shock the creature until it got inside the cage, but I had a different idea.
I jumped in first to accelerate things as I was too tired to wait for the beast to go into the cage.
As soon as I got there, the beast backed away.
It was clearly scared of my presence; it was backed in a corner, its hind legs raised, all the while it kept hissing at me.
Oh, I guess you can probably feel the difference in power between us; this will make things much faster.
I transformed into the angelic form and began to get closer.
At first the beast kept hissing at me, then it began to stomp the ground before me as a warning.
How cute.
The moment I got a little too close, it pounced on me, so I kicked it and sent it flying back to the corner it was hugging moments prior.
"Stay down, learn your fucking place." I yelled at the beast.
Mhh, I don't think I can get any closer than this; otherwise, the demon will just think of attacking me.
I looked around; the cage was now properly locked on to the exit, so I took a couple of steps aside.
The demon didn't budge.
"Can't you see I'm giving you a way out?" I told the demon, but it simply wouldn't stop hissing at me.
What is this?
I ignored the question of the demon and formed a spear of light floating above my head. Then I plunged it forward, aiming at the demon's tail.
Oi, didn't your parents tell you it's not polite to ignore people?
The demon moved out from the corner but wasn't at all willing to get into the cage; once again, it tried to pounce on me.
In my transformed form the beast was moving slower than me, so I threw a well-aimed punch and sent it flying into the box.
"It's a demon I'm in charge of for today." I answered the angel.
The people outside quickly closed the cage's gate and began transporting the demon away.
"Young master, that was too reckless. We could've gotten in trouble if you got injured." One of the guards admonished me.
"Whatever, let's finish this delivery quickly so we can all go home in one piece." I answered as I undid my transformation.
We marched, pushing the cage forward through the seemingly endless flight of stairs. Down to a special room with a strange-looking wooden staff stuck on the floor.
Once we got close enough, the space around us changed, and we found ourselves in different facilities.
Wow, the uncle must've suffered quite a lot to get such a convenient artifact.
There we finished the delivery; we escorted the demon into the new enclosure and picked another on the way. This one was already in the transportable cage.
We transported this one to the outside, where a truck was waiting to collect it.
It was my first time seeing the outside world in years, much less the surface.
It was a bit disappointing. This place didn't have the vibrant feeling of the floating city; everything was black and white, even the people around us.
Outside the facility was a large military fortress, with tall walls sustaining large artillery weapons.
After some back and forth between a researcher and the customer, the order was given to push the cage into the truck, and just like that, the transaction came to an end.
Honestly, I couldn't believe everything would've gone this smoothly; I thought for sure they would've tried to fight us or something. Maybe I watched too many movies.
After all, what kind of idiot would start a fight within such a massive fortress?
I wonder if some of the artillery stationed here could be replaced with demonic artifacts. I doubt it. Maybe there could be a way. I doubt the uncle will let me test this…
Unless.
"Young master, it's time to go back home." One of the researchers stopped my chain of thought by patting my shoulder.
"Oh, sure, sorry for making you wait."
"No problem." He answered as he headed back inside.
The two facilities didn't look much different from within; the illusion attached to the first couple of floors was absent, but apart from that, everything else felt pretty similar: the colors and material of the walls, the neon lights, and the black and white floor.
Leo was waiting for me when I returned.
"Yo!" He greeted me.
"Sup!" I said to greet him back.
"I heard you were in charge of the transfer today. How was it?" He quickly asked.
"It was okay; I thought it would've been more dangerous; instead it was pretty ordinary. I was surprised to see how heavily guarded the facilities are on the surface."
"If you think Brama is heavily guarded, you're not ready to see the ones located within the fracture." He jokingly commented as he began to heavily smack me on the back.
"I wish I could see it one day." I commented.
"You will; you'll probably have to get there sooner or later, whether you like it or not." Leo replied.
"That doesn't sound reassuring." I commented.
"It's work at the end of the day; it's not made to be pleasant." He replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"So, did you get in trouble with the uncle?" I asked him, teasing him.
"Nu-uh, He allowed me to keep the axe, so I got away with what I wanted." He happily replied, pointing at the wall towards the large axe stuck in a large barrel filled to the brim with demonic artifacts.
"You should consider yourself lucky; I heard Elvis once getting beaten down for less."
"Not at all; he deserved it. If you think what he did was mild, he lied to you." He quickly corrected me.
"What did he do?" I asked him.
"He got a noble girl pregnant." He explained.
"He did WHAT?"
I was shocked; I never heard of that part. No, I never heard of any of this.
I knew he was reckless but not to this extent.
"Did he marry her?" I asked him.
"No, she killed herself," Leo replied.
Aww, a shame.
"Why?" I grew curious about the girl's circumstances.
"She had a fiancé already, the situation was a mess, and we even had to pay up for the damages; it was a messy month." He said as he recounted the events.
"Wow, I didn't think the life out there could become this chaotic." I commented while looking at the ceiling, imagining the city above us.
"That's because you never leave this place."
I know he probably didn't mean harm with his comment, but it still stung a little.
"I am working here," I commented.
"I never said you were wasting time." He corrected me.
"Sorry," I then apologized.
We headed back to my storage room, which functioned also as my office headquarters and bedroom.
"Did you create anything interesting in my absence?" He asked as he sat on the bed.
"Not at all; we just tested a few things before we tried doing anything dangerous." I replied as I changed form.
"What are you going to do now?" He asked me.
"Mass produce the already approved items," I answered.
"Are you sure you want to live like this?" He asked me.
"I am fine with it," I replied.
"If you keep this up, you'll never leave this place." He warned me.
"Is there a need for me to go outside?" I asked him.
I was so tired; even thinking about it felt bothersome.
"Yes!" He replied with no hesitation.
I could tell he was telling me this out of genuine concern but…
"For what? It's not like I can enjoy the world outside. It's also extremely dangerous… Here at least I'm safe." I said to shut down his argument.
"Don't you want to find a cure?" He asked me.
He was now trying a different approach; the me of a few years ago might've believed him, but now I had completely given up.
"The doctor said it's irreversible." I replied.
"And you believed what they said?" He asked, as if believing a medical expert was somehow the wrong decision.
"What do you mean? They're doctors; they know best when it comes to this stuff. If they can't find a way to heal me, then it's over; there's not much I can do that a doctor couldn't." I explained to him.
I was slowly starting to fade away; even keeping my eyes open started to feel increasingly more difficult.
"But a demon caused this, so if we tracked and found that demon, then we might be able to get your senses back." He argued back.
I wanted to answer something back, but I couldn't; I simply fell asleep in his arms.