In the days that followed, Knell became very quiet and still. He didn’t listen to any music or even color any pictures. He just hugged his stuffed animals and read his books with a dull expression on his face.

I didn’t like to see him depressed like that. I would almost have preferred it if he cried, or even went “demon mode” again. I could handle his emotions. I didn’t know how to handle…nothing.

When I wasn’t worrying about Knell, I was scouring the news feeds. There had been a lot of public outcry over Knell’s behavior during the gala, and Toll had to defend his Synthesis project on a daily basis. It seemed that everyone else was realizing what I had feared from the beginning: putting the demons’ power into the hands of human beings might bring about a future even more dangerous than the status quo.

However, my main concern was not with Toll’s PR struggles; it was with making sure that no one else was trying to track me down. Luckily, all the videos that had shown up in the news so far were so focused on Knell that no one had thought to zoom in on the face of his “guardian”. But the deltas on my hunting gear could be easily seen; anyone with enough patience could narrow down my identity just by looking through the guild directory.

And if Toll had realized that the easiest way to Knell was through me, then it was only a matter of time until others did, too. Others who wanted to do worse than just ‘research’ him.

One day, I was going through my daily routine of putting my name into all the major search engines, when Peal came calling again.

“Hello, Clarion,” she said in a suspiciously calm voice.

“What is it now?” I asked. “More requests from your boss?”

“To be honest, yes. But I was hoping this could be at least partly a social call.”

She let herself in and looked around. “Is Knell okay? Can I speak to him?”

“Take your best shot. He doesn’t even talk to me much anymore.”

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

Knell didn’t even look up from his book.

“Oh, you poor thing,” she said, floating over to him. “I didn’t do that well in my sympathy classes, but I promise I’ll offer you all the understanding I can muster.”

“I don’t want it,” said Knell.

Peal looked puzzled. “…Well, what do you want?”

“I want to tell Clarion what you were really thinking at the party, and what you’re still thinking now.”

Peal immediately backed off, laughing nervously. She turned to me. “H-he’s still such a wit…anyway, let’s get to the real reason I’m here.”

I returned to my spot on the couch. She chose a spot uncomfortably close to it.

“So, as you know, the Synthesis research is going to continue,” she began. “The people might not be happy, but there are government contracts involved now, so we have a…I think you humans call it a “green light”.

“All that is to say that Saint Toll is still interested in Knell, and he wants to meet with you two the day after tomorrow. I should warn you that this is…the real deal, at this point. The gala was just to test the waters and stoke interest in the project. This next meeting is all business, and behind closed doors.”

“So, that would be the time for me to tell him to give up and get lost?” I replied.

“You aren’t still trying to pick a fight with him, are you??” said Peal. “Because Saint Toll is already very upset as it is! He’s taking the public’s reaction to Knell way too personally, and of course people are already calling him things like “Dr. Frankenstein”…he’s probably dying to have someone to take his anger out on, and if you start up with him, I just know he’s going to go straight after me! He already doesn’t trust me, and since I’ve been around you so much…”

“Why are you around me so much??” I asked. “I know you have my number, so if you really want to stay off Toll’s radar, why don’t you just message me these things? Before, when I first met you, all you did was whine about your “biofilm barrier”, now it seems like you’re trying to make a habit of…being in my house!”

“Well…first of all, since we’re stationed on Earth for the time being, the energy capacity of our biofilm barriers has been uncapped. And…second of all…”

Her fingertips and elbows turned orange this time. “Second of all…um…I-I’d really like to go on a date with you tomorrow night!”

“…What??”

“I’m sorry, I just thought I should get right to the point! I know you hate me, so you can just say no and I’ll go away…”

“He doesn’t hate you,” said Knell, cackling from across the room. “He doesn’t hate you at all.”

He stood up. “I knew it. If books have taught me anything, it’s that people always fall in love after seeing each other at a fancy party. But I didn’t think it’d be this soon…Good for you guys, though. I’m glad you got together all by yourselves. Because I had plans.” He went upstairs, cackling the whole way.

That was the last time I’d ever worry about him being depressed.