Nothing foreshadowed trouble, but at night, I was awakened by replicators detecting strange behavior in my "daughter." At midnight, Taylor suddenly started writhing in bed, gasping, and otherwise showing signs of being at death's door. Jumping out of bed immediately, I rushed to Taylor's room to find her sitting on the bed with a sneering grin.

"Well, here's Daddy" - she commented on my appearance.

"Who are you?" - I asked, observing the demon. I couldn't miss the demonic energies. Her behavior made it clear that this was not Taylor at all.

"You, a pathetic mortal, wouldn't understand" - she dismissed me, climbing out of bed and examining her body. - "Flat as always."

"So, you're a Game Figure?" - I guessed.

"What? You know about the Game?" - the demoness was surprised.

"I was sent here by Shub-Niggurath to make sure you don't ruin this world again."

The demoness grimaced as if I had stepped on her favorite tail.

"And how did you get here before me?" - the creature continued its interrogation, removing all its clothes. - "Isn't that against the rules?"

"Explain the rules to me. What are they, and how does the game go?"

"Fine, Daddy. But first... I want you" - she reached out with her scrawny arms.

"On your knees, beast!" - I pushed her away.

"Oh! You like it rough?" - The demon laughed.

"If you don't submit to me, I will devour your soul" - I extended my 'soul-eating tentacles' towards her.

"Never! I am the first! The right to be the main character and not listen to anyone's orders was given to me by Nuhskransurah himself!"

"That was before I appeared here. I don't care who you are or where you're from. If you don't submit, this game can go on without you."

In response, a swarm of angry buzzing insects burst into the room. Ha! I was prepared for such an attack. A black mist surrounded my body in a translucent haze. All the insects passing through it died instantly, turning to nothing in a second.

It seemed negotiations had reached an impasse, and it was time for dinner. My tentacles tore the demon's soul to pieces and devoured it. As always, most of the 'meal' went to Azathoth, and I received a significant portion of the demon's memories. After devouring Danny Hebert, I more or less figured out how to absorb foreign memories without making them part of my personality.

The girl's body went limp and fell to the floor. I was about to delve into the analysis of the demon's memory when the body started moving and groaning.

"What’s happening?" - Taylor's voice sounded.

A quick scan of the 'patient' concluded that the demon had not replaced Taylor's soul but merely displaced it. It was a classic case of possession. Now, after destroying the demon, the girl's soul had returned to control her body.

"Master tried to subdue you" - I offered the most palatable version. - "Get dressed. The danger is over for today."

"What? Ahh! I'm naked!"

I didn't listen to the panicked screams and pitiful laments and left the room. I had important matters that shouldn't be postponed.

Exploring the demon's memories painted a bleak picture. It turned out that the Game hadn't even started yet. No wonder no one was trying to hinder me. I thought I could outplay everyone single-handedly again. In general, the game's world always began with the possession of Taylor's body by the demoness I had devoured. Then came the 'piece placement.'

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When a game piece approached another cape, that cape also received a 'possessor.' It was a demon or an angel, depending on the cape's 'orientation.' Demons possessed villains, and angels possessed heroes. But that wasn't all. If a game figure didn't 'infect' other capes for too long, its ability's coverage area began to expand until it captured the next 'victim.'

In general, the 'conversion' of capes into game figures usually took three to four weeks. But now, the 'well-oiled system' had failed, and it was my fault. I killed the first game figure before it could 'multiply.' Because of this, the figure placement couldn't start at all. If I were lucky, I might actually win simply because no one else would participate in the game. However, the hope wasn't very high. It all depended on how much the local Judge intended to follow the rules. I knew these guys well. At the slightest provocation, they start creating complete arbitrariness, inventing stupid rules on the fly.

Since I couldn't change anything now, I simply went back to sleep. In the morning, I found a disheveled Taylor in the kitchen, trying to make breakfast.

"Hi. How do you feel?" - I asked.

"Not great. My head hurts."

"Okay, then you can skip school today."

"Actually, it's Saturday" - Taylor informed me irritably.

"Even better. Go play on the computer. I have things to do."

"Will you have breakfast?" - she asked weakly.

"No. I've had tea, and I'll have lunch at a café. Goodbye."

With these words, I opened the front door and 'disappeared into the mist.' The weather outside was particularly nasty with morning fog and drizzle. First, I went to the Dockworkers Association, where I excited the crowd with the news that we could start assembling the first refrigerators and heaters next week. We already had a suitable facility and the first dozen workers ready to work from dawn to dusk for a bright future.

By about noon, all the problems were successfully resolved, and I went to 'rob the casino.' As I drove my van down the street, hordes of replicators were navigating the sewer system below. Today, they were to play the role of brute force and a support group. I could no longer trust other capes, so I decided not to take Taylor on the job. A couple of blocks from the casino, I parked in a guarded lot, walked a bit to the side, slipped into the basement of one of the houses, and then emerged into the sewer system where a dozen replicators were waiting for me.

Navigating the stinky passages to the right place, I ended up near the casino. Of course, the casino had no 'secret passages' leading into the sewer, but in several places, the sewer was separated from the basement of the building by only a meter-thick concrete wall. For someone else, this might have been an obstacle, but my superpower allowed me to make holes in concrete at the speed of light. Meaning, it was ready as soon as I thought about it.

I was about to create a new entrance to the casino when a strange company sneaking through the sewer caught my perception. It was a group of Undersiders accompanied by two of Bitch's dogs. It seemed I wasn't the only one who sniffed out that Lung's safe had accumulated too much cash. In that case, plans needed a slight adjustment.

Fortunately, the Undersiders weren't headed towards me but to another 'branch,' where they could discreetly surface and immediately slip into the basement through a barred window. I had also considered this route, but taking it would have meant literally passing through the security room. And that would have been too 'noisy.' The spot where you could get into the casino was hidden from prying eyes by a concrete wall and the wall of a neighboring restaurant. There were no random people there, so the Undersiders had every chance of slipping unnoticed into Lung's lair. Good luck to them, haha.

After dematerializing the wall, I slipped into the basement. The room I entered was occasionally used as a torture chamber, so the stench here was worse than in the sewer. But at least there were no people around. Opening the door, I stepped out and headed towards the hidden staircase upstairs. There were usually two armed guards on duty there, but by the time I reached them, there wasn't even a drop of blood left of the pitiful mortals. My 'black mist' could act beyond the line of sight, so I preemptively deprived the guards of their brains and then their entire bodies.

Ascending the stairs and passing by two more 'abandoned' posts, I entered the hidden room. The setting here was already upscale: red velvet-covered walls, elite furniture, a card table, and... six people playing poker. This place was the VIP zone for special clients. Besides the six players, there were four guards. But by the time I reached the room, none of this dozen were alive.

After surveying the room and turning on forced ventilation to get rid of the lingering opium smoke, I turned to the inconspicuous wall behind which Lung's safe with his 'treasures' was located. The safe was surrounded on all sides by guarded rooms, so theoretically, reaching it without raising the alarm was impossible. However, I had killed all the guards before they realized what was happening, and the Undersiders, who were also heading for the safe, used sleeping gas.

Without wasting a second, I made a hole in the wall and ordered the replicators to take everything valuable from the safe, leaving a 'consolation prize' in return. The robots weren't inclined to waste time, so within a minute, I was richer by one and a half million dollars. After that, I turned off the light in the room and retraced my steps, observing the Undersiders trying to crack the safe.

They managed to reach the right room, broke down the wooden door with a crowbar, successfully bypassed the explosive trap, then Tattletale picked the code to open the iron door, and they all stormed into the safe the size of a room... only to find bare walls and a honey pot on the floor. And next to the 'gift' was a note.