Weyland's Visit

[7twistedwishes]

On the other side of the door... Hell.

No, no fire and brimstone. A large room, half living room, half office, tastefully decorated and furnished. Thick carpet, a big couch, several recliners, an old-style desk, bookshelves, filing cabinets... and a computer too. Classical music plays in the background and the delicate scent of incense hangs in the air.

The Devil steps aside to let Weyland in enter. No need to make promises of release for him, since he is out of her purview.

Comments

[mechanicalswans]

He offers her his cigarette.

"Your god is cruel," he says, "more cruel than you are. Such a world your people live in--life is cruel in mine, but we were honest about it. The All-Father was never portrayed as kind."

[7twistedwishes]

The cigarette is accepted. "The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and wrath. He takes revenge on all who oppose him and furiously destroys his enemies! The Lord is slow to get angry, but his power is great, and he never lets the guilty go unpunished."

She smirks. "I rebelled against him, and I am being punished."

[mechanicalswans]

"But it was decreed, was it not?" he asks. "If he knows everything, he would know what you were to do. It would have been his will, yes? Why should he punish you for that?"

[7twistedwishes]

The Devil just shrugs hopelessly. "I am not a god, dear, I would not know." Her cold made the ciggy go out and the Devil sighs. "Fact is, I am here to do a dirty job. For example, right now one of my avatars is putting in motion a sequence of events that will lead a protestant preacher to murder someone in broad daylight with a tire iron, over a pointless argument that gets out of hand. He will be gunned down by police... unless he or the guy he fights with remembers to back off, use a bit of common sense and realizes the argument is petty and both are upset about other things."

[mechanicalswans]

"I prefer to test individuals on their own," he says, "without the innocent bystanders. But sometimes it is only by involving the innocent that you can see the depths of a person's character."

[7twistedwishes]

There are no true innocents in my world. "As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. - For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of the Lord."

"All are mine to torment until they prove themselves worthy of more."

[mechanicalswans]

"I like to test them," he says. "Sometimes some people catch my attention, either in a good way or a bad one. So I study them, as one would an exotic animal or a new species of plant. I see how they react to different situations. A good way to help boredom, I have found."

[7twistedwishes]

She smiles a bit. "I have to show you my garden, then..." The Devil pats his arm. "You should not linger here too long, the cold will eventually freeze anything."

[mechanicalswans]

"I have been to the land of the frost giants," he says. "The cold is in my blood, but I defer to you. Where is there to go from here? Back across the ice?"

[7twistedwishes]

"Yes. My avatar is waiting outside the cave, once you get there I can take you to my Garden." She nods, touching his arm again. "Take care, Weyland."

[mechanicalswans]

He reaches up, hesitantly, to smooth back her hair and stroke her cheek.

"Be well, little one," he murmurs, before turning to start back across the ice.

[7twistedwishes]

The avatar is waiting at the elevator. "Now, you know."

[mechanicalswans]

"The world is cruel," he says, lighting another cigarette. "It is enough to make one lash out, I suppose."

[7twistedwishes]

"Not all the time, for most." The elevator starts up again. "But often enough, yes."

[mechanicalswans]

"I do it when I feel the need to," he says. "Which is less often than some, probably, as I have my work. But when I do it, it is cruel. Have I told you about my favorite game?"

[7twistedwishes]

She raises a brow at Weyland, shaking head, but moves over and leans to the man's chest.

[mechanicalswans]

"I like to see what people are made of," he murmurs, settling an arm around her shoulders. "If they come to me, to ask me to work for them, it is easier; but sometimes the commissions are few and far between, so I will go looking for someone. And I will put them in a situation, and give them rules, and see what they do. I just finished a very satisfying game of it, not long ago."

[7twistedwishes]

"I do something similar." She smiles, nodding. "Just, I cheat until they realize the way to win is to not play."

[mechanicalswans]

"Sometimes they surprise me, sometimes they restore my faith that humanity--well, at least that not all of it is bad. Some individual people are still to my liking. And I reward them generously. The ones who fail, though--they deserve what they get also."

[7twistedwishes]

"And what do they get?" The elevator stops with a 'ding', and the door open to dark plains where four foot tall globes of dim light are scattered... thousands of them if not millions.

"My garden."

[mechanicalswans]

"It depends on how they behave," he says. "Some, I kill. Some I enslave, at least for a while. Some I attempt to teach a lesson to."

He steps out of the elevator, cautiously. "What do you grow here?"

[7twistedwishes]

"Souls." She walks ot, holding to his arm. "Once in a century, perhaps twice, one or two souls rise above the sea of mud of human kind."

She gestures to the orbs. "I bring them here, since Heaven would not take them."

[mechanicalswans]

"Why would Heaven not take them?" he asks. "How do the souls rise? Are they just... possessed of greater goodness than the rest? Why would you wind up with them? Are they souls of the dead?"

[7twistedwishes]

The Devil shakes head. "Because they are sinners. Heaven sends them here for eternal damnation, rejects them. But each of them has some quality that endears them to me, and I keep them safe."

[mechanicalswans]

"There is no in-between?" he asks, brow furrowed. "One is either damned or good, and there is nothing else? How dull must it be to be among the good..."