Thirty days left.
Teasel waited silently by his desk whilst the other kids in the class chattered indistinctly. In his grubby hands was a tiny flower press he had made ages ago. It wasn't a special day, nor a day that was meaningful for him.
He looked up to see Sheila walk into the dark classroom. Although the room was dimly lit with a single tube of light, Sheila's presence seemed to fill the room with light, warmth and love. A true goddess of the most destroyed upper zone, it was as if she was sent from heaven to save the people among the toxic soil.
Teasel stood up, wondering whether or not to approach her, but Sheila turned to him and smiled. "You have something for me?"
The rest of the students stopped talking as they turned towards the scene.
Shaking violently, Teasel handed his masterpiece to the tall, black-haired girl.
Everyone held their breath and waited for Sheila's response.
A Hug.
"Thank you, Teasel," Sheila gave him her usual warming smile, "but please stop wasting your time on me."
Teasel looked down on his desk, his cheeks burning. He stood in silence for an eternity, but when he looked up again, his eyes were filled with misery and pain. "Would it be alright... if I carry on loving you for the rest of my life?"
Sheila stared at the flower press in her hands, then back at Teasel. "Alright, but I don't want you to waste too much time."
"Sure," replied the boy determinedly. "There isn't much time left for me."
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"Okay, what's the first thing to remember when you encounter a human?"
Mary and Jelly stood amidst the hundreds of thousands of other elite workers inside the meeting hall. The gruff voice of the Head of the Department of Energy, a chinchilla-like creature, reverberated through the massive hall.
"You stay in your damn human form. That is the most important thing to remember. When we are recruiting humans, WE MUST NOT let any of them have suspicions about the existence of Hell before they sign their acceptance paper to work for us."
A loud beeping sound was followed by the large meeting hall doors opening, and workers streamed out. The speech was very brief (Hell absolutely prioritises efficiency, as the shorter the speech, the more effective it becomes). Mary and Jelly quickly followed the crowd out of the hall.
"Hey Mary, have you read the new message?" Jelly asked. "The one about safety?"
Mary sifted through her inbox inside her mind. Aside from a few advertisements for the latest electrical products, there was one new unread message. She selected it and started reading:
Dear members of the Department of Energy,
Due to the injury of one of our workers yesterday, the company has decided to increase the self-defence capabilities of all employees at DE. Please bring your worker's code to visit the Armoury at Layer 25, Special District, to collect the suitable equipment.
With kind regards,
Red Planet Employee Safety Department
"Damn, they rarely let us visit the Armoury." Mary exclaimed. "Are things really that serious since Jenny was attacked by the angels?"
"Yup," Jelly replied while summoning an autonomous cab. "Seems like Heaven is trying harder and harder to reduce our activities in the human world."
As they pondered this thought, the metallic ball-shaped cab arrived in front of them.
"Welcome, Ms Jingo and Ms Mushy." said the cab. "Heading towards Layer 25, Special District, the Armoury."
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The Armoury is one of the oldest departments of the Red Planet. During the 7 Months War with Heaven, the original Red Planet company was formed via the joining of the three largest tool and vehicle manufacturers into a single weaponry producer. After the war, the company was given the freedom to develop on its own without the interference of the Hell government, and this eventually led to the Red Planet of today. The Armoury was and still is the most respected research department in the company, where every year, the most prestigious engineers and scientists across Hell are invited to share their latest cutting-edge research. This has led to astronomically improved weaponry designs (including the BD series, used for harvesting human souls).
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"Wow!" Mary gasped as they stepped out of the cab. "This place looks even better than it did the first time I was here."
Mary and Jelly looked up in awe at the Armoury. The exterior was made entirely of gigantic gleaming sword blades, each one the length of a bus. The structure rose up above everything else surrounding it, dwarfing Mary and Jelly in its shadow.
Like the House of Energy, the Armoury was also a busy place. All types of creatures, some wearing lab coats, others wearing mechanical armour, walked in and out of the facility.
"Let's head to the Z section," said Jelly, who pointed at a small entrance on the side of the Armoury with a bold red letter "Z" on it.
"Welcome to the Z section of the Armoury," a robotic voice said as the two entered via the electro gate. "Mary Jingo and Jelly Mushy, from the Department of Resources."
Section Z wasn't a very large room, but it was filled to the brim with wires, tools, and every type of equipment imaginable. A single person greeted them in front of a desk - a XM-5 robot with shiny black armour. He (yes, robots in Hell are treated as actual people and are given a specific gender when created) seemed to be examining a grappling gun-like object with multiple extendable hooks on one end.
The robot looked up at its customers. "You must be here for your gear. Please take a seat and browse the list of equipment while I finish fixing this Model 6.01 Grapple Gun." He mentally sent the equipment list to Mary and Jelly, and pointed for them to sit on a few broken parts from a mining robot.
Mary and Jelly sat down on the rather uncomfortable metal blocks. Based on her engineering knowledge, Mary noticed that the part under her was the memory drive of the robot. "At least you can enjoy butts for the rest of your life," she whispered to the block. The block did not answer back.
"Hey Mary, have you chosen anything yet?" Jelly asked, excitedly scrolling through her list.
Mary quickly scanned the list, then went into the 'Close Combat' category and inputted her physical characteristics into the system. A new customized list based on her characteristics appeared.
"Hmm..." Mary turned to Jelly, who had already selected several pieces of equipment. "What did you choose?"
"Since my ability is to change my form, I chose a few that don't take up too much space. Here, I selected 'Armour Piercing Plasma Projector' and 'Long Electric Blade', both of which I can easily hide in my body."
Mary nodded her head in approval. "Sounds pretty lit. But what should I choose?"
"Yeah, definitely close combat." Jelly remarked. "And since your excellent physicality is already a good enough melee weapon, there's no point for you to use blades. Why not focus on area weapons? Since we are most likely to encounter multiple enemies."
Mary looked down at her list again, she swiped down. Suddenly her eyes fixed on something, and a nasty grin appeared across her face.
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"Teasel, you shouldn't have tried."
"Huh?" After the gruelling day out, Teasel just wanted to get home as fast as possible, but he turned around reluctantly. Teasel was relieved to see the familiar face of Hans Eins, a boy of enormous size due to an overdose of artificial lipids (he was used for medical testing by the Wind Pharmacy).
"You do realise that Sheila was selected into the propaganda team, right?" Hans asked. "I fully appreciate why you like her, Teasel, but as a friend, I beg you to stop. Sheila is lucky enough to be selected by the Party. If you go any further, you know the consequences."
"I know, Hans," Teasel sighed and waited for Hans to catch up with him. "You know exactly what's going to happen to us by the end of this month. I don't care if I die, but if those bastards ever harm Sheila..."
Hans suddenly tensed and looked straight at Teasel, as if he was trying to tell him something. Teasel realised the security camera behind them, and switched topics. "Anyway, what are your plans for the Education Centre?"
Hans relaxed, and they continued walking. "I heard the food there is ten times better than what we have here. Guess I'm just gonna be eating."
Teasel smirked.
The two walked in silence until Hans stopped. "Oh right, I need to help at the recycling station today. See you later at dinner, Teasel."
"Goodbye," He watched as Hans lumbered away. Then Teasel continued walking home.
"He seems to be the right one!"
"Shush," Jelly put a finger to her lips to get Mary to quiet down. "I heard there are a lot angels here in Zone A."
"Who cares," Mary laughed, but she spoke quieter. " I can't wait to test out my weapon on them."
The two girls peered from between two trash hills at the boy on the street, both holding a BD-X5. Mary aimed hers at the boy, then projected the information from her BD into the air.
"This boy is perfect!" She pointed at the information. "His parents were formerly against the East Wind party, and they were sent to Hong Kong's death camp. The party then brainwashed Teasel- but their technology back then wasn't good enough, so he managed to keep his memory. His rage and hatred levels is nearly 100%. Even if we don't employ him, he's gonna do a hell of damage by himself."
"Alright, let's do it then." Jelly recorded the information. "But we should probably wait a few more days to gather all his stats."
"The dogs of Satan planning their next murderous plan?" Mary and Jelly both spun around, staring into the darkness behind them.
Solid footsteps, growing louder and louder.
"Trouble," both Mary and Jelly whispered.
"Indeed," a tall lithe figure walked out of the darkness. "I am trouble for evil, because I am the weapon of god."