Stepping inside the building's foyer, Ed found it to be as pristine as the rest of the city. The room had a modern minimalist design, and the tiled floor was so clean that Ed could make out every detail of his face reflected back at him.

Two young women sat behind the receptionist’s desk near the entrance, wearing a professional and pleasant smile. One of them was an imp, while the other was a sinner with slight lion-like features. Just by looking at the sinner, Ed could tell that she was incredibly proud of her appearance, and that she put great effort into looking the best she could for the company.

“Welcome to the office of Hellish Habits! How may we help you today? Do you have an appointment?” The imp receptionist asked.

Victor stepped forward to handle the conversation, even putting on a professional and charming smile that Ed hadn’t seen from him up to this point. “We are the representatives sent by Mr Milani. Our meeting should be in an hour’s time.”

While Victor set everything up, Ed continued to look around the foyer. To the left of the entrance was an open space with several elevators running along the far wall. To his right was a waiting area made up of several couches. He saw a few people in finely dressed suits sitting in the waiting area. Some were relaxed and casually reading magazines, while others were nervously shuffling through the papers in their hands.

“... Please take a seat over there, someone will be with you shortly.” The receptionist said.

With a thank you and a wave goodbye, Victor found himself a seat in the waiting area, with Ed following close behind.

Sitting together at the only empty couch, Ed continued to observe the people around him. There aren’t too many people around right now. I might as well do some testing while I wait. Taking a moment to ready himself, he willed his eyes to see the strings around him.

The strings reappeared in his vision, as if they had never left. They coiled tightly onto the peoples’ bodies, but were undetectable to everyone but him. Golden strings dominated the room, flying out in every direction imaginable. The red strings were fewer in number, but no less prominent.

Let’s see what I can find. Ed focused his attention on the man who was reading a magazine. The strings that led into the future were still too numerous to count, so he decided to focus solely on the ones leading to his past. More specifically, the one leading to his sin.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Zoning in on the red string, he found himself falling back into the void. He panicked for a moment, but calmed down upon remembering that he was able to use his new ‘thread sense’ to monitor what was happening in the outside world.

Ed found himself floating in front of an old rundown apartment complex. Standing on front of the door was the man from the foyer, dressed in a form fitting suit, and shaking hands with another man. A contract was bundled up in his hands. A timelapse played out in front of Ed’s eyes, as the building was demolished, despite the pleas of the tenants that had lived there for decades.

With nowhere to go and a lack of proper compensation, some of the former tenants of the building were forced to live on the street. They had to watch with their own eyes as their homes were destroyed to make way for the expansion of the nearby shopping centre.

Typical greedy businessman. And he’s doing all this with a smile on his face. He’s probably trying to do the same things here in Hell. I wonder if he’s from Pride or Greed. Honestly either one sounds like it could work.

All the while, Ed had stretched his senses into the outside world by secretly transforming his body underneath his clothes. He sensed as the elevator approached the ground floor.

The void snapped out of existence, returning Ed back to the building’s foyer as he heard the ding of the elevator.

Two people walked out of the elevator and purposefully made their way to the waiting area. One was a middle-aged man with a wolfish face and neatly combed salt and pepper hair. The other was a slightly younger Japanese woman whose hair was neatly tied up in a bun. The man had an air of confidence about him, while the woman gave off a stern and cold aura.

They approached Ed and Victor, who stood up immediately. After a solemn handshake and introduction, they all made their way to the elevator.

“How was your travel? I heard there was a bit of a delay?” Oliver asked.

“Yes. There was an accident on the train, but we made it here without any further issues.” Victor replied neutrally.

A tense Silence filled the elevator as they made their way up. This feels pretty tense. I hope Victor can handle this.

Ding!

The silence was broken by the sound of the elevator door opening. Ed found himself immediately immersed in the busy noise of the office space he was walking into. The room was loud and boisterous, with people constantly moving back and forth. And the room itself was in vast contrast to the office space Ed had spent the past month of his life in. There were wide open spaces, with splashes of colour and vitality everywhere Ed could see. The atmosphere of the room washed over him, easing the tension that had built up in him during the elevator ride. This place feels so much livelier than the company’s office space.

Sadly, this atmosphere was ripped away from Ed all too soon, when he was led into a private meeting room. The door was shut behind him, blocking out the noise from outside.

“Let’s get down to business.” Haruko said, already sitting down at the table.

“Of course. Here’s the agreed upon document.” Passing the document over, Victor sat across from the woman. Ed and Oliver sat across from each other as the room fell silent, with only the occasional turning of the pages breaking the monotony.

I wonder what they did to get here? It might help in the negotiations, so I might as well check.