Chapter 14: Paradise of the Abyss
Mekata was okay, which made Aleph a little happier. While Hanada was not a good person in his mind, Mekata had always been nice and helpful. He was good. But so were a lot of other people in Valhalla and now all of them were gone. All the people at the Coliseum, their neighbors on the small island… Okamoto. Okamoto had done a lot for him; he'd trained Aleph well to become a Messiah, even if they didn't realize it at the time. It had hurt a lot to realize that so many people he'd once known were gone in an instant. So while it was nice to have Mekata back, it seemed that no one else could have escaped with him.
And there were people lost when Basilisk and King Frost had been in Holytown. And now that Moloch was there, anyone who'd gone there after he'd defeated those two was also dead. And people who had been in the Factory must have died as well. Thinking back, Aleph recalled how Okamoto had taught him about the past, when the nuclear catastrophe and the Great Flood had wiped out most of the world's population. And now, a small portion of that were survivors to what Demiurge, the seraphs, and Lucifer had done to them.
As Abbadon had said, they couldn't move on because the key to the passage to Gemorah was missing. They had to question the residents of Tipherth about where the key was, which Aleph wasn't good at. That led him to thinking over what had been happening. At one point, there had been billions of people in the world. He'd read about that somewhere. And then it all got reduced to those who lived in Millennium and the underground. And then… that was reduced further. How many people were left in the world?
...was there a point to trying to save them, or was the world so far gone that it and humanity were bound to die off?
That question troubled him, but it wasn't one that he'd thought of himself. No, that had come from Set. Aleph felt a chill on remembering that, much like remembering the aftermath of his battle with Demiurge. He had been in the bar with Mom and Louis. Like before, something about Louis amplified the music in Aleph's mind. As much as he claimed to be just a musician, there was something special about him, an important power. He was Chaos, but a different kind of Chaos than Aleph usually heard. Or, maybe more Chaos than most. He might even be Lucifer if that was the case.
Unfortunately, the way Louis amplified the music meant that Aleph had heard a strange call that seemed like it'd come from far off and yet from every direction. That had been answered by a powerful beat, an omen that he'd felt was overbearing. It made being in the noisy crowded bar awful. Thinking that maybe getting away from Louis would help, he'd fled the building. But that didn't help. Once he heard Set's power, there was no escaping it.
It grew and grew, a tune he was familiar with but had never truly noticed until it was there blaring out every other possibility. By the time Hiroko and Louis got out to him, it had been deafening, not letting Aleph think at all. It made him feel under intense spotlights even in the dark of the Abyss, like he was being examined over every inch of himself. Without having heard it from Louis, he knew this was the highest judge in all existence; he just hadn't realized it was actually only one half of said judge.
Then Set's voice filled his mind. "Foolish innocent child, you have been found wanting. You are not worthy of bearing the mantle of the Messiah. But since you have managed to go beyond your reach and take it, answer me this: what will you choose to do as Messiah? And can you fulfill your choice's demands? Or will you fail and cause everyone to perish needlessly and painfully?
"And do your actions matter at all? Humanity has been decimated, almost thoroughly destroyed. How can you save the world when there is so little left to save? This world is sick and lost, wrong to its very core. I can feel that in my blood. Are you humans worthy of being saved? Are you worthy of being saved, Aleph?"
Aleph had attacked out of panic then, wanting to get away from this judgment. He knew Set would destroy him for an answer it did not like, or for getting no answer at all. Thankfully, standing up to Set was enough to drive the dragon away. And now that he had some time of not doing things, Aleph ended up thinking about all the questions Set had had.
They were all such unpleasant questions, though. If the world was worth saving. If he was worth saving. But then, Yuji had told him that those who stood against him would try to discourage him. They'd want him to give in to them. Aleph had the ability to change the world, though, and he could make it better. Continuing on might get tougher, but someone had to change things. Someone had to make things better. And if he could, he might as well be that someone.
"Aleph, were you listening in?" Hiroko asked.
"No," he said. "Sorry."
"It's fine," she said. "According to the residents, there are a number of space-time distortions scattered across this region of the Abyss. Some of them were caused by Abaddon's power, others were made by similar demons. These pockets are like rooms without a building, as Louis says. So the key could be in any of these little rooms since Abbadon said nothing more about which one it was. No one we spoke to knows anything more about where."
"They were able to tell us that one of the pockets is much larger than the others," Louis said. "It's large enough to have gained its own town, which does have some of these folks worried. So we could look into over a dozen small rooms, or this one large one with the town."
"The larger one might be more useful with a town potentially in it," Hiroko said.
"Okay," Aleph said.
One of the skeleton warriors went with them to show where the large pocket was. They were similar to the holes he'd encountered in the Factory mines, but in the air rather than in the floor. As the dark of the Abyss wasn't the curse of darkness, they could see the holes as sparkling swirls hanging in the air. The large hole didn't actually look large enough for a town. However, it was on a hill that ended abruptly in a slimy darkness that reminded him of the gap left behind by Abaddon eating Valhalla.
They could walk inside much like going into a doorway. What they found inside was nothing like the Abyss, though. This was a sterile white room, much like those in the Center. Lined up along the walls, there were dozens of machines much like the recovery vats. Or more accurately, like the transporters into Arcadia. A myriad of electronic hums surrounded them.
"I thought they said this was a town?" Hiroko said, sounding unnerved.
Aleph went over to one of the vats and hovered his hand over the input pad. With some guidance he got the vat to identify its inhabitant. Tomas Tank, a former Tournament Champion and a resident of Arcadia. "Arcadia," he said.
"This place doesn't suit that name at all," Louis said, looking over the vats himself.
"Mmm." Aleph couldn't explain that himself, even if he could talk properly. This place was only like the portal to Arcadia, not Arcadia itself. But, this man was a resident of Arcadia. And so was the woman by him, and the woman next to her…
As they were searching around, the vat at the back of the room hissed in releasing its inhabitant. Aleph turned to it in time to see a hidden seam shift aside, letting out a familiar man. Gimmel's clothes seemed more wrinkled than Aleph was used to seeing and his hair was matted messily. "Hello Messiah," he said in a way that made Aleph uncomfortable. "I suppose I should congratulate you for making it this far into the Abyss. But, I didn't expect you to drop in at this place."
"Who are you?" Hiroko asked defensively. It seemed she didn't like him already.
"Gimmel," Aleph said.
He nodded. "Yes, I am Gimmel, the lead programmer and administrator of Arcadia."
"Isn't Arcadia an area up in Millennium?" Louis asked.
"Yes and no," Gimmel said. "Arcadia is an area in Millennium, but it's not actually there. Much is what is physically up there is the machinery that keeps the rest of Millennium safe and habitable. The place we're in right now is also Arcadia, the physical side of things."
"What are you talking about?" Hiroko asked.
Aleph could understand it now. "Illusion."
"I believe you've got it," Gimmel said. "This is the truth of Arcadia. All residents have their bodies stored here. What they see, and what you see when you visit the district, is all an illusion. A dream of paradise, if you will. Everyone is happy here; I make sure of that."
"Do they know they're living like this?" Hiroko asked. "It seems drastic."
"Dire times like ours often call for drastic measures," Gimmel said. "I have kept them safe from everything's that happened in the rest of Millennium. Most of them are not aware of the specifics, but they all have signed forms of consent agreeing that once they move into Arcadia, they will not leave. And as far as they're concerned, it does not matter. They're living in a perfect beautiful world where they don't have to care about anything."
"But you're living in the Abyss," she said. "Why is this part of Arcadia down here?"
"If you must know, this space-time pocket in the Abyss was claimed by Millennium long before I existed," Gimmel said. "You are aware that the seraphs were in control of Millennium as the elders. What you likely don't know is that they had several plans going before they decided to push ahead with you. They took things rather too hastily in that regards."
"Then why didn't you do anything about it?" Hiroko asked.
"What?" Aleph asked.
Gimmel smiled a bit. "That's precisely what I was thinking: what could I have done about it? I became aware of our true situation not long after I was given life. It wasn't that hard to figure out from the fragmented memories I began with, and the lack of good evidence of myself existing for very long. But by the time I reasoned that out and found evidence of the truth in the lab, Aleph was already gone. I attempted to confront the elders about it, but as I'm sure you're aware, they didn't like being challenged. But in my case, they gave me Arcadia to direct."
"And you let them distract you with that, then," Hiroko said.
"My my, no need to be hostile," Gimmel said. "I assure you, I have no intentions of harming others or stepping on their toes."
"But you have yourself based down here in the Abyss, which the demons see as their own," Louis said.
For a moment, Gimmel glanced over at the musician like he'd forgotten that he was there. Then he looked back to Aleph and Hiroko. "As I was saying, this pocket of space-time was claimed for Arcadia before I existed. The demons weren't using it, for one thing. For another, you see, the world before Millennium was built was considered to have a mundane character. The growth of reason and science led to this, as humans could explain more and more about the world without resorting to the involvement of other beings. Natural magic was a rarity, ensuring that demons had a difficult time existing there.
"But it also meant that the seraphs had a difficult time existing in the world. We humans were left to our own devices, which may have ultimately lent itself to our own undoing. But in the desperation of the times after the great catastrophe of nuclear war, people built structures that allowed for magic to be reintroduced into the world. The Great Temple of Gaea and the Grand Cathedral of the Mesians were both such places where beings of spirit like demons and angels could act freely. However, the temple got washed away in the Flood and the Cathedral collapsed in on itself due to an earthquake not long after the flood waters retreated."
"How does that all explain this place?" Hiroko asked, making Aleph worry some. Did she not like his friend? But this was strange and Aleph wasn't sure if he'd be happy shut up in an illusion for the rest of his life. What was right?
"It is a part of the explanation," Gimmel said patiently. "Sorry if I didn't say it was quite lengthy. But think about it. This is a space made separate from the rest of the Abyss, yet it is still a part of the Abyss. The Abyss is a realm of spirits, thus it has no mundane aspect for them to worry about. One can fuse spirits together to form new ones, as is often done with the Heretic Mansion. And a demon can fuse with a human; it has been done before. So why not attempt to fuse one space with another? That would introduce an environment more suitable for the supernatural."
"Wait, but why the Abyss if it was angels behind this?" she asked.
"Mostly because if things went wrong, it wasn't in their territory," Gimmel said. "And things did go wrong. This pocket of the Abyss does connect directly into the quarter where Arcadia is said to be. As a result of that, the space within Millennium began to lose its mundane character. Ultimately, that was what they were after, but they had to seal off the Arcadia passage so demons couldn't use it."
"But we walked right through here, so the demons could come upon your people here," Hiroko said.
He held a hand up to that. "That is because I detected Aleph approaching. He really does stand out down here. Normally if demons try to come in, they enter into Arcadia as the residents see it. But they're only given a small bit of space to see the paradise we've built here; they aren't capable of going any further in. When I saw that you were coming in, I opened up the passage for you to come to the back rooms of Arcadia, so to speak."
"So Arcadia is an illusory dream where humans live outside their bodies, but within a space that is both in Tipherth and Malkuth," Louis said.
Again, Gimmel only gave Louis a brief bit of attention before losing it again. "Yes, at this time, it may be the only place where somewhere like Arcadia can exist." He shrugged, but was smiling. "I'm well aware that the elders have been trying to distract me, but it was such a fascinating challenge that I couldn't resist. So many people have claimed that utopia is impossible, but why must it be? With their needs and safety fully assured, with all reason for conflict reduced to near nothing, with nothing to make them suffer, they want for nothing. I've achieved a utopia of happiness here; it's almost a shame that the elders were not around when I finished.
"But then, I'm also glad that they're gone because they've made far too many terrible mistakes. One would think that because they're angels, and such high-ranking ones at that, that they'd know better. But they called upon a false god who ultimately made things worse for everyone. And most of all you, dear Aleph." He came over and put a hand on Aleph's shoulder.
"Hang on, how can you call this utopia when these people are all hooked up into computers like, like..." she got frustrated a bit at not finding what she wanted to say, so skipped it to say, "well they're living in a fantasy of utopia, a dream that doesn't really exist. It's living a lie, much like you four in the Messiah Project were with the implanted memories."
Gimmel frowned briefly, but calmed himself to look at her. "It seems to me that everyone in Millennium was living a lie. They were content to lose themselves in work and play to ignore the fact that the world outside Millennium will need centuries to be properly inhabitable again. But while they ignored it, they certainly knew the truth from the daily demon reports and records of the past. So if they were escaping in the first place, why not give them a true utopian sanctuary to escape to? And given all that has gone on lately in Millennium, it seems that my wards here in Arcadia were truly the safest of them all."
What all had gone on, with everyone dying. "Mmm," Aleph said, closing his eyes trying to keep calm too.
"Well why should you perpetuate lies and leave your wards all to be vegetables?" Hiroko asked. She definitely didn't like this.
"I assure you, I take very good care of them, like a father takes care of his children," Gimmel said. Then his grip tightened and Aleph felt a brief disorientation.
When he opened his eyes, he was in a similar hall, but without Hiroko and Louis. "Mom?" he asked, worried now.
"Don't worry, she'll be fine," Gimmel said soothingly. "I've closed up the entrance to this place again so that we're safe. Sorry about the sudden transport, but I was getting a strong feeling that she was going to shut down our little talk too early and insist you both leave."
"Mmm." But what about Louis? It was odd that Gimmel apparently forgot entirely about him.
"She has such a strong will," Gimmel said. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised since she found her bearings quickly after escaping the yoke of the Factory. Arcadia ended up taking in many of those released from the Factory in what you did, and they still need a great deal of assurance from the others that they can relax here." He released Aleph and put his hand to his chin. "And I can tell that she cares about you a great deal, loves you as your mother. In these circumstances, I can't blame her for being protective of you. It's fine if you wish to take care of her, but take caution not to let her will hold too much of a sway over your own."
"Mom… good," he said.
Gimmel nodded. "Yes, I agree with that, she is a good person. She's simply not trying to understand what I'm doing here. If she could experience Arcadia for itself, she might just change her mind. But, this isn't the time for that."
Feeling glad that Gimmel could accept Hiroko even if she didn't want to accept him, Aleph nodded. "Key. Gemorah."
He raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh, is that what you're here for? I suppose you must be after Abbadon's key."
"Yes," he said, since that was who told them the passage on was locked.
"That's peculiar," Gimmel said. "As I understand it, the locks between the parts of the Abyss are a new thing, though I couldn't get out of the demons why exactly. But there should be multiple keys, as multiple demons have permission to move freely from one sphere to another. I suspect that it's one of their ploys. In the past month, they've greatly added to the confusion in Millennium with false messages and orders, mostly to make the seraphs look bad. I do have Abaddon's key, though."
"Please?" Aleph asked.
He smiled and caused the key to appear in his hand. "Of course." He handed it over, but kept hold of his hand for a moment. "I'll give you this freely, but I request some more time to speak with you. There are things I've been wanting to tell you, sometimes for a long time. But as Hiroko, good she may be, was interfering with our talk, I had to bring you over here for some privacy. And if you think I'm misunderstanding you, don't hesitate to stop me. We'll figure out a way to communicate, for even the deaf and the blind have found such ways."
"Okay," he said. "What?"
"First, I must admit that Hiroko did see immediately to things that many others haven't," he said, then gestured to the vats around them. "This is indeed all lies. Lies within lies, even the angels would lie. They lie to demons to use them, they lie to us humans to control us, and they even lie to themselves, although I cannot comprehend why they go so far. In fact, my discovery that I was an artificial humanoid was only the beginning for me. I kept searching for the truth, but only found lies covering up lies, based on more lies. As such, I came to the conclusion that everyone from humans to humanoids to angels to demons, we're all delusional.
"And delusions sprout from sickness, even from the process of dying. Did you know, there's a state called euphoria which describes a feeling of lightness and joy as a person is dying. If everyone is delusional, wrapped within their lies, it indicates some sickness that goes beyond an individual level. And I thought, are the delusions we accept and even pursue a result of the world itself slowly dying from all that has occurred to it?"
"Bad," Aleph said, feeling sad about that. That could explain why so many people were dying all around him. But, he had chosen to be the Messiah. He needed to save the world. But, how? He needed to save the world from a sickness that hurt everyone.
Gimmel nodded seriously. "But it's not something I can talk about freely with other people. Most of them wouldn't believe me. It's a terrible premonition to live under. No matter what I researched, it only seemed clearer that a slow death of the world was the actual truth. That is, as long as we're still neglecting to think of the world. And that leads into why I am so devoted to Arcadia, why I love this place even if it is yet another bundle of lies."
"What?" he asked.
He walked up to one of the vats, smiling now. "What I'm about to tell you may seem complicated, but it's something people do all the time. Arcadia is a place of illusions; it is based on lies. But then, it's also a real place. There is a truth that Arcadia does exist. Now that may be a truth that only holds with those who are here, who live within Arcadia and believe it to be true. But belief is a powerful force, able to make truth out of lies.
"For instance, the seraphs believed they had brought God to them. That was a lie since they actually brought out Demiurge. But then, he is an aspect of God, one tied to a system of belief that was a tangent of the mainline beliefs that eventually became the core of the Church of the Messiah. So it is true that they did indeed call God to them. At the same time, it is false that they called God to them. And they believed in that powerfully until Gabriel stopped believing it. So in their view, they had called upon the true God."
"What?" Aleph said, confused by this idea of something being true and false at the same time. That shouldn't be possible. But, Gimmel was very smart. If anyone could see how such a thing could work, it would be him.
"If you had faced Demiurge when Gabriel still believed in him, it would have been a more difficult battle," Gimmel said. "Arcadia is a truth and a falsehood, a reality and a dream. But here's the thing: all of the people who live there are happy and safe. That is undeniable. And if that statement becomes false, I do all that I can to address the problem to restore the truth. In fact, Arcadia may be a better solution to humanity's current predicaments than Millennium itself is. We can protect humanity within this dream until the world has been healed and we can safely go back out into it."
"Mmm," Aleph put his hand to his head, trying to find a word that would encompass the question he wanted to ask. Questions, actually, there was a lot more he wanted to know.
Gimmel turned back to him. "But just a bit ago, I was talking about the world being delusional, possibly with the euphoria of it dying. That is something I worry about, but it's not what I want to believe in. I want to believe that we can save the world and make things better. I want to believe that by experiencing an actual utopia in Arcadia, that people will want to remain within such a society even when they are released back into the world. And you, as the Messiah, are the one who can make such beliefs into the truth. You are the one who can save the world from itself."
"Yes," he said, feeling better for it. Gimmel was talking about confusing things, but if it all ultimately meant that he wanted things to be better too, then it was fine.
"Wonderful, I knew I could believe in you," Gimmel said with a smile. "I would like to keep Arcadia out of all this conflict, as a sanctuary to keep the people here safe. And I have been recruiting others in Millennium to join us, those who wanted to find refuge from all the insanity going on there. I had to open up a large expansion to our town and put the newcomers into a training program so they know how Arcadia works, but the vaults here were ready for this expansion and much more than that already. So then, I can count on you to take care of things in the world while I keep the people here safe from all harm?"
"Yes," Aleph said, feeling relieved of that worry. It was unfortunate how many had already died. But they could save whoever they could and make the world better for all of them.
"Good, then there's one last thing I'd like to tell you," he said, patting Aleph's shoulder. "It's about Beth."
"Mmm, gone," Aleph said. He still wondered why his miracles couldn't save her.
"She doesn't have to be gone for good," Gimmel said.
"What?" he asked. She had told him that people didn't come back after they died. But, maybe there was a way?
"She is..." he paused. "Actually, those of us who are artificial humanoids like all of us in the Messiah Project are a different case than natural humans. We were purposely designed, and so, all of our data is stored within the Center's database. Beth cannot be revived from the injury she took in the Coliseum. However, she can be reconstructed anew from the designs she was built from. In the elder's last days, my permission to access such records was revoked. But I have managed to get back in. The biotechnology lab is still in good shape, so I can give her a rebirth."
"Good," Aleph said, smiling at that. Since Daleth was much nicer now, maybe they could all get together as the friends they should be if Beth was back.
"There are a few issues in doing so, I admit," Gimmel said. "It would be difficult to reclaim her memories of the time she actually spent with you; letting her recall her own death would be traumatic. And I am aware that the false memories she had were causing some friction between you when you two should have gotten along perfectly with each other. As such, it may be best to bring her back with a blank memory. Are you okay with that?"
That would be tough, since he couldn't even tell her of the things they'd done together. But it would bring her back. "Yes."
He nodded. "Good, then I'll get to work on that. Once she is reborn, I will transfer her immediately into Arcadia to keep her safe. Beth was meant to support you even in battle, yes, but bringing her back with a blank memory will mean that she has no experience in such situations. But you are basically halfway through the Abyss already. I'm sure you'll locate Lucifer soon and settle these matters for good."
"Okay," Aleph said.
"Then let's get back," Gimmel said, taking his arm so he could transport them back to the first hallway. "Hello, we're back," he said to Hiroko. Oddly enough, Louis wasn't in sight; Aleph could still sense him nearby, though.
"What was that for?" Hiroko asked angrily.
"Mom, okay," Aleph said, going over and trying to calm her down.
"There were some things I needed to speak to him about," Gimmel said. "As I said, I mean neither of you harm. In fact, I will welcome you directly into Arcadia if you would want to see how it is for yourself. Now, we've discussed matters and I've given him the key you need to move ahead. Do be careful as you go into the deeper regions of the Abyss. The demons of darkness and chaos are always unreasonable, but they keep out of Tipherth for the most part. They will be much more numerous and powerful ahead."
Hiroko closed her eyes briefly, then said, "I still think Arcadia is a bunch of bad ideas, but thank you for helping us."
"You're welcome," Gimmel said kindly.
"Louis!" Aleph called out after he'd stepped away from the other two. For some reason, that confused them.
Fortunately, he came back into the hall right away. "I'm sorry, I just got curious about things," he said with a smile. "Are we ready to head on?"
"Yes," Aleph said.
Once they were gone and the entrance to the Abyss was again secure, Gimmel looked over the vats of the dreamers who inhabited his utopia. Lies upon lies… and every truth was tarnished by lies and guesses. He felt a little jealous of these dreamers, and of Aleph too. They saw what they saw and took it for truth because it was what they saw. Unlike them, he could not be content merely with what he saw and what he was told. He needed to know more of things. And thus, he fell into an abyss of his own, layer after layer of lies and he still didn't know how deep he'd end up when he finally found the bedrock of truth. Or if he'd ever find such a thing.
These dreamers were happy with accepting truth in what they saw. Aleph was troubled in some way, but he was quickly reassured and seemed positive still. Gimmel had to take the lies he saw and heard, accept them graciously even when they tormented him when he was alone. Still, he did want to believe in Aleph. No, he did believe in Aleph. He knew he could make things better.
But would he? Without the foundation of knowing himself, Aleph was a leaf being blown about by whoever was currently talking to him. His mother did indeed have a strong influence over him, which was why Gimmel had to get Aleph separate from her. Hiroko didn't approve of Arcadia, possibly due to superstitions and this area being her first look at it. If she'd been allowed to, she could have convinced Aleph that it was bad and get him to shut down Arcadia entirely. After all, Aleph had an uncanny intuition when it came to computers. If he was put at the administrator controls of Arcadia and told to do something without being told how, he'd probably find a way to do it. Gimmel doubted that Aleph truly understood what he was capable of. In watching him, it was clear that being able to command miracles without being able to understand them made for an extremely dangerous and unpredictable person.
Now, if only he had been able to resurrect Beth faster, to send her with Aleph to steer him back towards founding the thousand-year reign of God... that would ensure that Arcadia's utopia became true utopia, all throughout the world. It might even be better since the delusional seraphs were out of the picture, unable to ruin what should be perfection. But he did not wish to repeat their folly and hurry along things that shouldn't be hurried. Beth needed to be revived in a stable and healthy state, one that could anchor Aleph better than Hiroko was currently doing.
At least he'd convinced Aleph that, no matter who he ended up following, he should leave Arcadia alone.
"Excuse me, I've come about your taxes," an unfamiliar voice said from just behind him.
That should be… Gimmel turned around and found a demon there. He seemed to be a man dressed in elaborate robes like a church official, but he had the face of an owl. "Who are you?" he asked.
"I am Lucifuge, one of the highest officials in the Abyss," the owl-faced man said. "Oh, but don't worry, I am not violent at all. I am merely here about your taxes, since your town inhabits a space within the Abyss. Now then," he opened up the book he had for a reference.
This was unfortunate. Opening up this doorway to speak with Aleph had allowed this demon to slip inside. But, at least it was Lucifuge. Gimmel had long ago made plans should this demon try to intrude on Arcadia. "Hold a moment," Gimmel said, taking on a friendly tone to cover over how serious and prepared he was for this encounter. "If we are going to negotiate about the existence of Arcadia and its relation to the Abyss, I would like to do so in a peaceful, reasonable, and, most of all, legal manner in accords with the legal systems of our area."
"Certainly," Lucifuge said, being equally cordial.
"So are there any other demons in here with you?" Gimmel said. He'd already gotten an answer from the earbud speaker attached to his terminal: there were none. But this needed to be clear.
"No, it is only myself," he said.
"Good, then let's discuss this matter like gentleman," he said, his arguments at hand.
"Indeed," Lucifuge said.
A/N: In video games, especially RPGs I find, there tends to be battles there just for the sake of having another battle, like here with Gimmel. It's the way of the medium, so I tend to forgive that. But turning this into fanfic, I feel like Gimmel is more likely to do this: use his connection to Aleph to convince him to leave Arcadia alone. Now whether or not that happens depends on what Aleph decides on, but that's later.