031 - From the ashes

Daemon returned to the hotel he had been living in since getting discharged from the hospital.

He still looked the same as usual, even as he closed the door, but he couldn't help but take out the old wallet he had in his pocket. And his mind couldn't help but wander as his fingers stroked it.

He let out a bit of the relief he was feeling through an exhale that was almost a sigh. He was happy that Evelyn had been able to move forward without him. Truly. The man he had seen at her side also didn't seem too bad. But he was also feeling tired and disappointed. The small seed of hope he hadn't dared to nurture seemed to have been crushed in his chest. And maybe the relief was just him trying to convince himself that all was for the best.

It was painful, unbearably so, but he was a little numb to blows after all he had been through. When their instructor at the section had promised six years ago to rid them of any weakness, he had not been bluffing.

He placed the box with the watch at the side, and got out to take off his expensive clothes. He let the warm water from the shower trace his muscles that he was getting back after lying down on bed for too long.

It was helping them relax, and maybe also lightening up his burden along the way. Even if just a little bit, even if it was just an illusion.

He didn't seem devoid of energy like Michael had been, though he had not seen the matter, but that might just be because of how he had been rebuilt by his training.

After he wore something to not risk catching cold, he sat at the edge of the bed in the darkness. He seemed to not think about anything, his even breathing the only visible sign of life.

Even he did not know when he gave himself up to the embrace of sleep. He was woken up from his dreamless state the next day by the rays of the sun that sneaked in through the small opening between the curtains.

He rose himself up, and like nothing happened, freshened himself before leaving the hotel.

He had a breakfast on the way to the rented apartment in the form of soy milk along with some baked products.

He checked the place once he arrived, to make sure he had not had any guest while he had been away. He then placed his bag down, and warmed himself up before using his workout equipment to let out some sweat. With it, he didn't have to change the exercise or the tool he was using to make his whole body active. And that was only an incomplete part of his project.

He took a shower, changed his clothes, before sitting in front of his laptop. After powering it up, he manipulated the device with a seemingly empty hard drive to get his work tools back. He loaded his progress back then resumed his work.

His routine got back to normal. In the next few days, he finished the first and easiest part of his program, which was receiving the signals from the suit. Or rather, transcribing the information contained into the received signals.

The signals would come from the sensors on the suit, and they would be mapped on the human body map integrated into the database. He used his own body for more precision, with his previous scans proving useful one more time.

He took the suit to test the work he did in this period, but his phone rang just then. He would have liked to ignore it, but only Cynthia could be calling him, so he answered:

"Hello?"

He heard a sulky voice from the other side:

"Daemon Peak, I thought you would change now that we are about to get engaged, but you still don't take the initiative to call your soon to be fiancee."

He raised an eyebrow, but he knew better than to argue. And he could indeed be said to be in the wrong:

"My bad. How have you been?"

Hearing Daemon admit his fault, even though his voice felt too flat to her taste, Cynthia seemed to calm down:

"Not too bad. Only, my mother is excited to organize the wedding of her only daughter. She seemed to have even more energy than me despite her fragile health."

Daemon knew that she was not really complaining about her mother. He could even perceive the joy in her voice. But he was speechless at one thing she said. He didn't know if it was intentional, and she said that on purpose, still he would not play along:

"Not marriage, Cynthia. I'm pretty sure it is an engagement I agreed to. And it would be best to keep it intimate."

She seemed about to say something, but she reacted at the last part that got her attention:

"Alright, engagement. But, do you really want to keep it simple? That would be too bad. Mom has actually been discussing with father about how to make it more grand."

"Did you call me for something else?"

Saying that, he removed most of his attention from the call, and resumed what he had been doing. He input some commands in the program, and wore the hand part of his modified bodysuit.

Cynthia fell silent for a moment as she got the message. Daemon would not come back on his decision. Moreover, she felt his waning interest in the conversation. She stopped playing coy, and with a smile got to the point:

"I want to see if you are free to accompany me to choose the clothes."

Daemon focused on the display on his screen as he responded:

"Alright. When?"

"That's great. Tomorrow, is that good for you?"

"Yes."

"Then let's meet at your hotel."

"Hm. See you tomorrow."

"See you~."

Daemon ended the call. With no more distraction, he moved the hand he was using for the test.

He focused the display on the hand part, and ignored the rest of the map. On the enlarged display, a representation of the muscles that were moving were shown. Thanks to the sensors and the database, the program was recognizing the source of the signals.

He nodded, satisfied. He would have to test the whole thing later, but for now, it looked like it would have some bugs at most, with no major problem on this part.

He took his notebook with a smile, and made some notes in it. His smile at the moment was different from any other he had had on his face since waking up at the hospital.

Becoming a soldier, while noble, had never been his aspiration. In his plan, he would have pursued science in one of the best universities, and his scores were good enough to afford him a broad path. Unfortunately, the latter abruptly narrowed down, as the plan failed to keep up with the changes. All because there were just some insults he refused to endure.

The smile he was showing was one of the few things he had not lost over the years. A smile that used to leave Evelyn entranced.