Chapter 3: Race to the finish line
I've been in this so-called Hell for four days now. For now, the residents of the hotel think that I really am a child, an odd child with magic in me, and the capacity to kill, but a child none the less. And for now that is exactly what I want.
I had a conversation with most members of the hotel along the days, and here are the highlights of each:
------ Vaggie ------
"So, what exactly is going on with the demon Alastor? Are demons usually that powerful?" I asked at the woman that had used a spear similar to mine in order to threaten me.
"Oh? Well, no. Not usually. He is a rare exception."
"Really? And do you know why?"
"Well... ahm... no. Not really. But if I have a word of advise for you is this: stay the hell away from him. He is one of the most dangerous demons in hell. Not only for the power he wields, but because he is basically a serial killer that broadcasts the screams of his victims through radio, which is what earned him the nickname of 'radio demon'. And he's also a deal maker."
"What do you mean with 'deal maker'? You mean like a merchant?"
"Oh, no, no, nothing of the sort. He deals on souls. Basically he offers something you want, and he gives it to you, in exchange for your soul. Then, after he delivers his side of the deal, you become bound to him for eternity, or until he releases your soul willingly. There is nothing that he can deliver that is worth that price. And so far as I know he has never released a single soul from his service except to broadcast its screams in his radio show."
"I see. And any demon can trade in souls?"
"I mean, technically, yes. But it's something bad, okay?"
"Okay. But then why would anyone want to trade souls?"
"Because... well... the more souls he possesses the more influence he will have. If you own a soul, you can force the person to do anything. That gives you a certain 'influence' and the most influential demons, then become overlords."
"Overlords?"
"Yeah. People with influence over chunks of territory. They enact their will on those living in their territory, even if they don't directly own their souls."
"Oh! So basically mobsters, and gang leaders."
"Exactly."
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From that conversation I learned that any soul could gain more influence by owning other souls. But it would be impractical for a single soul to own too many souls directly in order to gain enough influence, and just like mobsters on earth, and the military, and basically any well organized group, there would be hierarchies. There is the top leader, the overlord, and he owns a small amount of souls directly. Let's cap the number to, let's say 10, and each of those must have another sub group of souls that they own, and their subordinates has another sub group of souls they own, and this structure of owner and slaves can be repeated as many times as necessary, making this a geometric progression upon the number of souls owned. Even if you reduce the number of souls that each owner can have to only two, it takes only 20 layers of repeated ownership to reach over a million enslaved souls, and only 30 layers total to reach a billion. If you make it three souls per owner, the amount of layers for each is reduced to 13 layers for a million, and 19 layers for a billion. Further yet if you use 10 slaves per owner, the number is reduced to 6 layers for a million, and 9 layers for a billion. Simple math.
In other words, if I would want to obtain influence in this place, in order to guard my own well being, I just need to be a good squadron leader: a general with effective captains and lieutenants. Thank you for that information, Vaggie. It will be very useful indeed.
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I tried to talk to Alastor and Husker too, but neither was very receptive to my attempts to strike conversation, to make them talk about themselves. Alastor dodged most interactions and simply left before I even got to ask him anything, and Husker usually tried to scare me off with an insult and a yell, not that such intimidation tactic would work on me, but I preferred not to antagonize him. We'll see if I can obtain further information from either of them in the future, but for now that avenue is closed.
As for Nifty... talking to her was entirely useless. She liked to speak about bugs and cleaning products. And I wondered if she either had some form of brain damage, or if she simply was strange by nature, and I inclined to the second one. Still, she creeps the hell out of me.
------ Angel ------
The other person I spoke to was Angel Dust. He told me his full name as a way to try to pry my full name, but I dodged the question all together. Still, the highlight of my conversation with him was this:
"So, how did you end up in... well... your line of work?" I asked him.
"Oh! Well, I-I don't really like to talk about it."
"Hmm. Okay, I understand if it makes you feel uncomfortable. But is it just because of the job itself?"
"Ahm... Well, I guess it's more... my boss. He can be 'difficult' to work for."
"Hmm... Difficult? What do you mean?"
For a moment I see terror drawn on Angel's face. And he only adds "Just difficult. I-I really don't think it's an appropriate subject to discuss with a child."
"Okay. I won't press for more answers in that front. But, I just have one more question. Does he own your soul?"
The surprise on his face is expected, really. I can tell that for a moment he hesitates. He then lowers his gaze to the ground, and with a tinge of shame on him, he nods his head.
"Oh! Sorry to hear that." I say to him, with a tinge of empathy in my voice.
Poor creature. He thinks that I cannot connect the dots. He is in the adult-film industry, with a boss that owns his soul, and that therefore can force him to do anything at all. It doesn't take a genius to get the logical conclusion from that premise. Angel Dust gets regularly raped on a weekly basis, in front of a camera, for every demon on hell to see, so he puts on a fake persona as a coping mechanism with a horrible situation from which he cannot escape from.
And not only that, but he oozes fear and hatred towards his boss. That is what happens when you are a bad manager: your employees turn against you, and that is a sure way to make them betray you. Perhaps Angel could be useful in some way in the future. But for now, I shall leave him be.
------ Charlie ------
Charlie was kind enough as to tell me the story of hell. She read it all from a book she had. It was mostly a tale about how Lucifer and Lilith became the king and queen of hell, and how Charlie herself is actually the daughter of both, making her the princess of hell, and the heir to the throne in case something would happen to the current king, that is, Lucifer himself.
So, this means that there is another inherent structure of power in hell: Royalty. And not only that, but apparently, Lilith, a human soul, was capable of obtaining so much power that she could even influence other demons in hell and make them powerful too, or at least that is what I gathered from the tale that Charlie read for me. Whether that is true or not, remains to be seen.
But at the very least, now I understand why Alastor wants to be around. If any soul can own any other soul, and there is such a thing as royalty, then that means that each soul is not worth exactly the same as all others. It would be vastly different to own the soul of a royal demon, which probably possesses other inferior vassals, territories, and even magic of their own, than to own a low lifer with zero influence. In other words, in order to become influential, you don't need to build your network from entirely low-ranking souls. You could simply become the owner of either an already powerful overlord, or a royal demon. Which takes us back to Charlie.
Charlie is not, by any means, an average demon. As princess of hell, she wields a lot of influence, but her tame and meek nature makes her weary of using that power and influence. To some extent, that is good for the rest of us, but the fact that she underestimates her power, leaves her open for an external attacker. Which then takes us back to Alastor. Anybody with half a brain could see it once exposed like that: Alastor wants to take over the princess' soul. For what? I don't know yet. But one thing is certain: if what keeps this hotel from being overrun by attacks is the influence of the princess and her desire to keep it safe from conflict, then it is my own personal necessity to ensure the safety of the princess and her soul, out of a selfish need. So, if the princess is too naive, then she cannot be entrusted with the safety of her own soul. Which means that now I am on a race to see whom of us gets her soul first: Alastor, or me.