For once since he had "retired" the Grinning Devil awoke today with a purpose in his mind. He turned his head to the other side of his bed. The gaze of his eyes softened immediately once she saw that lovely mess of long black hair attached to his body like a koala.
The Devil took Khutulun’s hands gently away from his torso while kissing the back of them. She in response muttered something unintelligible under her breath and grappled at his waist, not wanting to let go.
“Don’t leave…” She whispered with her eyes closed.
“I’ll be back soon, Lily” Assured the Devil, leaning closer to her face and kissing her on the forehead..
As soon as he was free from Lily's grip, the Grinning Devil got up from the queen sized bed and stumbled groggily to the bathroom.
His morning ritual began with some sightseeing from the bathroom's window while he did his morning business. Needless to say that the window was tinted in such a way to not allow sight of who was being a peeping tom. One of the advantages of being rich.
While looking for something amusing outside, his mind started to wonder. Since he and Khutulun had retired, life had been… dull to say the least. For him it was tolerable, at least it had been so for the past two years. Being able to use money for fun instead of paying for information from brokers or low class Unknowns was refreshing.
However, he could not say the same thing for Khutulun, now known by her civilian name: Lily. Unlike him, which had had to get used to this new state of the world, she was born into it, molded by it. She did not know anything other than survival when he first met her and her brother.
He had slowly shown her much more, that even if the world was as it is, there was still beauty to be found in it, even when one was born and grown in the darkest pits of it.
A chuckle escaped from his lips as he saw one of the homeless people living in the dark corners of the Polis fighting another one of his kind for a chunk of a half-eaten, half-rotten hamburger. The Grinning Devil was curious if the red liquid that dirtied their faces and clothes was the sauce of the burger or their own blood.
It may sound surprising (or unsurprising) to some, but the world of 2062 was not that much different from the world before the Last Great War. Like the various governments of old, the European Union of Polis (EUP) still used whatever it could to gain control of the local population. Before they used smartphones with apps able to distract you until the end of times, making you forget whatever you wanted to do.
Now that was not something that the lower class of society could afford so they thought of a smart solution: food. Periodically, as a humanitarian aid, the EUP would give a registered person a single meal a day. Considering how big the portions are, that made living on the edges of society somewhat liveable, but nothing comes to you without a string attached.
The Grinning Devil got out of the bathroom and walked towards his laboratory. Once he closed the door behind him, the light turned all on, enticing a shriek of pain from the Devil and a promise to fix that light problem. He will never do that.
Once his eyes got used to the radiant brilliance of the room, he walked past the big central table that hosted on it various scientific equipment and sat by a desk on the leftmost corner, grabbing one of the papers scattered about on it. The one he had in his hand was a lab report about the food on this Polis, most specifically, the one given out as humanitarian aid.
Like he had expected, every fiber of those meals were laced with various chemicals, mostly harmless in the short term, though they would cause complications later on. Most interesting was the presence of an unknown compound that he temporarily called the Lotus Compound, making the one eating it a Lotus-Eater.
It was a chemical that altered the chemical make-up in the brain, making them more forgetful and giving them a sense of satisfaction that could only be reached by eating another meal laced with the compound. Truly devious.
Unfortunately victims had a shorter life expectancy once they had consumed it, leading to various brain related illnesses. His experiments with rats told him that at most one would survive one year while eating the compound before the damage became irreparable and death would follow in the next few years. Although taking note of the low dosage of it, maybe that could last for even a decade if one was more resilient towards it.
The Grinning Devil put the paper down with some annoyance visible in his face as this was not what he was looking for. His hand grabbed another one titled: The Perfect Specimen of Flesh and Steel. His gaze lingered on the page longer than he would care to admit. This had been a long time project of his, trying to mix Human Enhancers with Cybernetics. His experiments for now had given him some insights on how to complete it, he just lacked a compatible human for it.
A list of names was attached by a pair of clips at the top with various numbers next to the names. One of them, unlike the others, looked as if it was written by hand: Ludomir Broz 25?
He remembered that the list here was drafted by him from various observations of some low class Unknowns that would possibly be worthy candidates for the procedure. He sighed while gently putting the paper down.
He opened one of the desk side drawers and revealed the many phones hidden on them. The Devil moved his hand about until grabbing one of them. With his other hand he opened another drawer and grabbed a battery. He put them both on the desk and started putting back the thing together. Nowadays, tinkering with electric appliances was something that could get you in trouble, especially if it was able to connect with the net.
After the rampant development of AIs, all the various networks were locally wired and if you wanted to get on the net, you had to have certification given by the ones who ruled the Polis, otherwise you would have AI tracking your position in the span of microseconds and have the law enforcement on your ass in a few minutes. But the Devil was above that, or to be more exact, Khutulun’s self made VPN was above them, giving him the time to connect with it for even hours if he wanted to. Bless that woman and her tech-savviness.
Once the phone was assembled, he called the only number registered on it.
“All is set.” Spoke to the other person on the other side. His voice changed to sound more robotic.
“If even one thing is out of place…” Casually threatened the Devil.
“There will be no mistake.” Assured the unnamed person.
The Grinning Devil closed the call and disassembled the phone again. This would be a date for the ages. Everything will be perfect.
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Khutulun found herself on the passenger seat with the Grinning Devil driving towards the wealthy Districts of the Polis. Some hours had passed since she got up from bed, she was not much of a morning person, and enjoyed sleeping for many hours in a row, even if it was unhealthy. Since she didn’t need to be on edge as she did when she was an active Unknown, she gladly slept those extra hours.
When the Grinning Devil brought her breakfast while she was still in bed, immediately started turning the gears on her head. It was neither their anniversary, nor birthdays… even the day did not coincide with the date of her brother’s death. So what was it? The question plagued her mind while she dressed for the evening.
Since they were going to the wealthy part of the Polis, they had to dress for the occasion: The Grinning Devil was wearing an all red suit, with a little black bowtie at his throat. His usually long dark brown hair, caught in a ponytail. On the bridge of his nose, covering both of his eyes were gold rimmed black sunglasses that had a red tint to them.
Noticing her stare on him, the Devil turned his eyes away from the road and looked at her.
“You look stunning.” He said in his usual sweet tone of voice, his eyes not looking at her face.
A blush was threatening to creep on her face. She grabbed her designer bag and brought it closer to her chest. Her dress was quite the provocative one. It was similar to a Cheongsam, only completely black and made of leather. It left her back completely open and on the front there was a heart-shaped hole allowing some sight to her naked chest. A golden dragon with two horns atop his head covered the left side of the dress, circling around her neck. Her long black hair braided into a viking ponytail.
“Rylee…” She started by calling him by his civilian name. Obviously a fake one, like hers, but one that they had used often these past two years.
“They are perfect Lily, you worry-UGH” His sentence was interrupted by an elbow blow to his side.
“What’s the occasion?” She asked once the surrounding buildings changed from the dull, lifeless constructions of the Middle Districts to the pompous, chock full of life and lights of the Upper Districts.
“I cannot tell you.”
She just squinted her eyes at times.
“Not even that cute face of yours can make me fall this time.”
“Oh? Are you sure about that?” She moved her hand down his thigh. Immediately she felt him shiver.
“Sure as my love for you.”
Her hand squeezed his thigh and after hearing a squeal from him. she returned her hand to her side. This time he seemed more stubborn than usual and she knew how headstrong he could be, so she decided to go along with it and try to see where it would lead. Rylee being Rylee she knew it would be something amusing to say the least.
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The inside of the restaurants took much inspiration from the many paintings of fantastical medieval court, if it was made mostly of gold and marble furniture. Even the air itself smelled rich, seeing as the air purifiers here were much of a higher quality than before.
All the tables were attached together forming two long lines of people eating food. Attached to these tables, smack right in the center of the restaurant was a see through glass cube. Inside of it there was a team of five cooks working hard on some dishes. Once they were done, they would send the wish through a conveyor belt and it would soon reach the tables and the person who had asked for that specific dish.
“Your name sir?” Asked a man wearing a green and purple jester outfit. The seriousness in which he asked that question created quite the weird feeling.
“Rylee and Lily Schwarz.” Responded the Grinning Devil with his trademark grin.
“Ah, today’s guests of honor, please follow me.” After a brief bow, the jester started walking towards the glass cube. The couple followed shortly after.
“This will be your part of the table, you may order whatever you desire through our digital menu…” - He then hesitated a bit before saying the next line, his eyes looking at the side -
“If you have more peculiar wishes, just the jester icon and I will be at your service to fulfill your whichever need.”
A pang of pity was felt from both the Unknowns.
“Do not worry, if anything goes well, you will be set for good.” Assured the Devil with a toothy grin, which instead had the opposite effect.
The Jester excused himself and left the couple on their own. Their neighbors were far too busy eating to care for them. One of them, an older woman wearing all sorts of expensive clothes and accessories, was groping one of the younger and better looking jesters of the establishment. Both of them were thankful that they were at least a few meters away from her.
“Kill me if I become like that.” Whispered Lily to his ear, causing an involuntary little shiver of pleasure to run down the Devil’s spine. The little rascal.
“Once I grow bored of you, sure.”
“Pfff, like you will ever.” She said while leaning her head to his shoulder.
He hugged her with one arm and then immediately stood up.
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“Something’s wrong?” Her voice became ice cold as her eyes darted around for potential signs of danger.
“Watch.” He said before jumping to the top of the glass cube and almost falling on one of the chefs.
After a quick apology and some talk, the chefs gave him some room in their kitchen as he started cooking up something. These actions attracted quite the attention from the onlookers, wondering what kind of cybernetic or genetic enhancement he had to make that jump.
Of course this was not done for attention, at least not just for that. The glass cube can be reached from an underground elevator but that would waste too much time so he decided to jump ahead and get in there. He had already paid to use the kitchen for an hour so it was not a problem.
Khutulun always had a weird sense of taste. One would usually associate that to her being an Enhanced Human but the Grinning Devil was one too and he was not such a picky eater like her. Spending so much time together with a person allows you insight to even how much salt is needed for a dish becomes uneatable for them.
Using his own enhanced sense of taste, he made various dishes from many different cultures. As soon as he did the finishing touches to the Cajun Shrimp Pasta, he sent them going. He said thanks to the chefs and prepared to jump out but he felt someone grab his arm.
“Please, work with us!” Almost begged one of the Chefs. His thick German accent very discernible in his way of speaking English.
“Sorry, you could not afford my rates.” Responded the Devil in German before jumping out and right beside Khutulun.
“As always, you put quite the show.”
“I would say it is more that the show follows my every action.” Smugly declared Rylee while sitting.
“Shame it is not so in the backstage…” Said Lily looking down at him.
“Hey!”
Khutulun giggled, hiding her smile under her hand.
When the food plates came to her, she stabbed one of the shrimps with a fork and a smile formed on her face.
“You know… I used to dislike shrimps?”
The Devil’s eyebrow rose. “Would have never guessed.”
“You are not good at guessing.” She said, pointing the fork at him.
“Only when it comes to you.” Both laughed and began eating.
Khutulun was not as much of a picky eater as the Devil made her out to be. Honestly she just enjoyed seeing him try so hard to please her. Not in a malicious way of course, to her eyes this continuous process of getting better at cooking for her was how his love for her took shape. Love is shown through actions after all, not words. In this way he could keep himself busy too, so he would not get bored in this retired life of theirs like her.
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Now he had gone quite the extravagant extra mile. It was a few minutes before midnight when they reached the Himmel Pavilion, the giant casino complex right in the middle of the wealthiest of the Upper Districts.
“I thought you hated gambling?” Asked Khutulun with some suspicion. Knowing how much he hated to lose, especially money, this came as a weird choice.
“Can it be called gambling if I always win?” Rylee pondered loudly.
Lily just rolled her eyes and started walking towards the huge entrance. There a two meter tall cybernetically enhanced guard stopped them and asked for some identification. They both gave them their false IDs and after some unnerving (not really) seconds of silence, he pushed open the gigantic stone door.
Smoke started to flow outside and the sound of machines, coins jingling and people shouting overwhelmed their senses, especially when they stepped foot inside. A loud voice, threatening to burst their eardrums, welcomed them to the Himmel Pavilion, where one can fly with the emotions one can find only here.
Rylee grabbed Lily’s hand and walked toward the Credit Exchange Counter and exchanged some of his Eudo into playing chips.
“Take this and follow me.” Said the Devil while giving her some of the chips.
She obediently followed him to a blackjack table located in the middle of the enormous casino hall. This table in particular had many people sitting and then leaving after a few hands. The only one that always stood there was a young man wearing a cheap pair of sunglasses. His clothes were nothing particularly expensive and attracted some attention because of it. Though the most eye catching thing about him was the huge pile of chips he had before him.
The Grinning Devil had Khutulun sit at the table while he stood there by his side. After she sat, she heard a whistle come from the young man with sunglasses.
“What is a nice girl like you doing here?”
“Pray tell, what should I do then?” Her annoyance herable from her every word.
“Being under the table could be a good start!” He hinted.
She did not even deign him of an answer and just gave an harsh look at the poor Croupier that only showed her a tired smile with closed eyes.
The game soon started and after losing the first few hands, Khutulun knew something was off. The sunglasses guy was always winning, or if he was losing he lost a negligible amount that he would soon recuperate with interest the next hand. She only had one possible theory for this: either the Croupier or him were cheating.
She was now focused on the dealer’s hand, watching them intensely, their every movement. The croupier, seeing this as a challenge, speed up his mixing speed, performing even some entertaining tricks with the cards before putting them down. Lily was sure the dealer was clean.
Using her every advantage, she started to memorize the various and count them. From the side, a smile began to form on the Grinning Devil’s face. He loved seeing her focus so much on something, since in the past few months she looked more dead than alive. This…this was the Khutulun he knew and loved.
Soon after, she started winning some games and her winning started to show. Lily was feeling a fire burning in her belly that she had not felt in so long… she would crush this son-of-a-bitch in front of her, until he begged her for mercy. Oh how would she savor that moment… but before that dream of her could come true, the young man wearing sunglasses left the table.
Khutulun could not believe her eyes. A part of her told her to grab him and pin him to the chair until she told him he was done. But she reigned that impulse in, albeit barely. The young man walked up to Rylee, who meanwhile had run off from her side and was speaking to a few people. One of them being a stunning blonde woman touching him a bit too much for her tastes. The more problematic thing was how he did not seem to care about her caressing his body. The fire now was spreading towards her chest, her hands shaking from the barely controlled fury in her heart.
The young man whispered something to the Grinning Devil’s ear and then ran off to the Exchange Counter. Normally such a thing would be weird, but she was seeing too much red to think about it. Her flirting companion walked up to the vacant seat with the blonde bombshell in toe and sat.
“Now love, a worthy adversary before you.” He declared, bringing attention back again to the table.
She stood silent, for she needed not to speak to crush this promiscuous man before him. Again she gave a hard look at the croupier which immediately began another game.
“You… are better than I expected.” Admitted the Grinning Devil after some hands.
Khutulun would have won most of the games if it were not for that cheating bastard in front of her. Fucker would bend some cards in such an imperceptible way that even with her enhanced sense she had a hard time understanding which cards were tampered and which not. She even began to have doubts that the croupier was helping him.
After some more losing and her winning being reduced to less than half she had previously acquired, as much as she found it hard to, she had to surrender. It was not the cheating that was getting to her head, it was how lovey-dokey that fucking bitch was to her man. When she dared to sit on his lap and try to steal a kiss from him, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. She elegantly took her winnings and left without even saying a word. This was what the Grinning Devil had been waiting for.
After they were done exchanging the fish into Eudo, they got out of the establishment and walked towards their car. There was a word spoken between them, until Rylee tried to open his mouth. Lily palms smashed into the wall by his side, her face inches from his. He could see the unbridled fury in them.
“You are mine… you understand…?” She whispered.
“I-”
The wall started to crack harder.
“Of course I am, sorry.” He said while gently embracing her and bringing her to his chest.
“Why do you make me feel this way?” Her whole body was shaking.
“Sorry, I thought it would awaken you from your zombie state.” It did work, however he would never say that at this moment.
“Don’t ever do it again…otherwise…” Her head gently rested on his chest while her hand caressed it.
“You’ll kill me.” He finished her phrase.
Rylee pushed her head upward so that he could look at her face, but she resisted.
“Don’t… my face is a mess now.”
“Can’t be worse from the first time I meet you.”
She chuckled a bit, then stomped on his foot a tiny bit.
“Wait… first time?”
“Yes?”
She turned her face to his, understanding visible from every inch of face.
“Today… ten years ago…”
“The day that changed my life… when I met you.” Rylee hands holding a side of her face and cleaning it with his thumb from the make-up and tears that had streamed down on it.
She hugged him harder, threatening to break his spine if she did it any harder.
“Will not be able to make it to eleven if we go on like this…” Muttered the Devil.
“I love you.” She said with her face buried in his chest.
“I love you too.” He responded after giving a kiss at the top of her head.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
This continued for a few seconds, until the turmoil inside Lily’s heart was in a more manageable condition. She freed him from her grasp and laced his arm instead. Rylee laughed at the scene.
“Let’s go home then.”
Khutulun nodded in return.
The plan had successfully brought her back from her dead-like state, but how long would it last? He did not know but he had to find a way to make her keep her spark… even if it meant getting back to the life they once forsake.