Taking my companion’s advice, I started moving towards the nearest stairwell, cursing the architect's apparent asymmetry fetish. Only one stairwell actually went to all five floors- and that was not the one I was closest to. The building was built into the side of a small hill which meant that floors five, three, and one were ‘ground’ floors. We were on floor three- which was the largest, but its ‘ground-level’ exit was by far the worst for escape despite being the main entrance. If I left that way, I would have to run a few hundred winding yards of gardens and sculptures before I hit a road- where I could potentially hitch a ride with anyone fleeing.

Going up to floor five would let me out on top of the hill, where the golf course was located. I could potentially grab a cart, but then I’d have to drive a longer distance to get to a proper road.

The best choice was going down to floor one. It had access to the parking garage, where I could try my hand at hot-wiring one of the older cars rich people loved driving. The only issue was that I’d have to go down one level, cross it almost in its entirety, then go down another set of stairs in order to get to my goal. However, it appeared that even that plan was too easy for whatever sadistic god was watching me.

I only had a fraction of a second to turn as the door on my left opened. Coming through was the collapsing body of another patient. They were covered in blood and torn clothes, and the mouth of one of those dog-things wrapped around the back of their head. As the door opened fully into my path, the demon released from the victim and immediately stopped moving and huffed at me. The single thick hind leg coiled up before it launched at my chest. I could only bring up a forearm to intercept it before it impacted and knocked me over.

Its mouth felt like sandpaper on my arm as the petal-like flaps of its mouth undulated quickly and held tight. In a panic, I stabbed deep into its side and shoved the handle away from me. Despite my attack, the demon refused to let go as I felt my skin slowly get scraped away. Realizing it didn’t appear to care that it was being filleted, I took a different approach. I pulled out my knife and stabbed into one of its petals, trying to cut it off. That got a reaction as it squirmed and kicked, still refusing to let go of my arm. More confident and full of adrenaline, I twisted my arm and hacked at the second. As soon as I was done, I flung my arm to the side- throwing an arc of blood and the demon away from me and into a nearby wall. Scrambling to my feet, I rushed over and stomped on the disgusting creature which finally seemed to kill it.

As I caught my breath, the feeling of pain returned- shocking me back to reality. The area seemed calm with the demon dead, so I asked “How do you get more perks? I could really use something more,” grabbing my arm in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding.

{Doing what you have been doing- killing demons- grants you experience to use in acquiring new perks adjacent to the ones you already have. Saving other humans grants you metaphorical token that are required for creating or using more impactful spells and equipment. In truth these tokens allow you temporary access to the multiverse spanning… computer we have access to. You can ask me to request it to compute something for you and take direct control or machinery or magic necessary to complete the request.}

“Why not just let us have open access to it?” I asked, tearing a length of cloth from the clothes of the demon’s victim. I had a hard time tying a knot around my upper arm tight enough to slow my bleeding any meaningful amount.

{There is only one for all the universes we act within- and the accuracy of its calculations is more dangerous than any weapon or spell you could ever conceive of, so it requires proof of trustworthiness to utilize. To answer the question implied by your first question, you do not have enough experience to acquire anything new. Please remember that under normal circumstances, we would make a contract outside of a Breach- and you would be guided by more experienced MGs until you proved you could hold your own, and even then you’d most likely work in a team.}

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As we had been talking, I had picked up a nearby piece of door with the handle still attached- doing a poor shield impression. To be honest, I was only partially aware I had grabbed it and struggled to get up before realizing I was holding something in the hand I was pushing against the floor.

“Maybe I do have a kleptomaniacal stress reaction,” I mumbled. Then after a brief period of consideration added, “Ehh- could be worse.”

I made my way along the hall, going as fast as I could while still being conscious of the noise I was making- and much more paranoid about every door we passed. Many of the doors were open- the corpses of the patients slumped on the threshold with bloody hole in the back of their heads. The entire time I felt like I was on the verge of throwing up from the smell, but surprisingly I wasn’t shocked stupid from the sight of the butchery. As I moved along, I could faintly hear shuffling from the floor above me over the deafening silence of my own, growing louder as I reached the open stairwell.

Just as I was about to enter, I heard the distinct huffing noise of a dog-demon- although this time it sounded pained. The emergency lighting let me see the thing well enough, and I stifled a chuckle of vengeful humor. The bastard had tumbled down to the mid-way landing and broken a front leg. Because they were tripedal, it couldn’t stand up- and with how bloated it was it gave off the impression of an eldritch football spinning in circles. I was still wary of what it might be able to do as I crept down towards it, pitiful shield and knife ready.

I would have been disappointed with how easy it was to kill if I didn’t want it to die so much- only requiring a stab through what passed for a skull. Holding myself back from punting it down the rest of the stairs, I carefully listened for other demons before descending.

Floor two was much like floor three, but lacked a dining hall or office space. Instead it had one of the operating theaters located past the stairwell I was trying to reach. Also unlike floor three, most of the doors were closed on this floor- likely because the hospital wasn’t at full capacity and people wanted a better view from the higher floor’s rooms. One of the rooms that was open reeked of alcohol and cigars, making me gag. The body of its deceased owner blocked most of the door, being both tall and round. Had this not been the middle of a life-or-death situation, I would have given into my treasure-seeking instincts to check the room for valuables. Legal substances were surprisingly easy to sell.

Just as I was about to ask Cleo where all the demons had gone, I reached the foyer of the floor. From the quick glance I gave it before ducking behind cover I was able to make out the forms of five of those dog-demons and one bipedal thing turning its head in full 360 turns.

“What the hell is the tall one?” I whispered to my familiar.

{They are a type of trapper demon. When alerted to the presence of a human, they collapse and take on a form that looks injured while emitting moans of pain. When someone comes to help them, they let themselves be picked up before pinning their savior down and calling the others.}

Taking that in I muttered, “Thats fucked.” There was no way I’d be able to take all five dogs at once, but the description of the other demon gave me an idea. “Say, are they flammable?”

{An early demon’s flesh is similar to yours. The tripedal demons are bloated with ULE, which would likely convert to thermal energy if exposed to a source of heat.}

I nodded and made my way back to the fat man’s room. It was easy to identify the cabinet of alcohol as it was open already and a bottle was set on top next to an empty glass. Whoever this guy was, he had a little bit of everything. I was only interested in the higher proof substances, of which I could see ten. The plan was to dump their contents in the hallway and light it on fire after the dogs were in it- hopefully causing them to combust or at least be incapacitated for an easy finish.

I could only take two bottles at a time without risking them clinking into each other- checking the foyer every time I got near. All the demons looked like they were waiting for something, only pacing around and huffing over the minutes it took to set everything up. As expected, the guy also had a lighter on him, although digging through his pockets made me feel sick- a feeling I shoved down a mask of necessity with the others.