There once was a genius scientist named Dr. Ivan Kahl. Dr. Kahl, who had made a home for himself in the Inkwell Isle junkyard, had plenty of wondrous inventions to his name - a teleportation device, a pair of x-ray glasses, and a diamond-powered hovercraft, to name a few. His crowning achievement, however, was his giant robot. Standing at fifty feet tall and crafted from reinforced steel, the robot was a sight to behold even before it revealed its myriad functions and accessories. It came equipped with extendable arms, a missile silo in its torso, and a high-powered ray gun atop its dome-shaped head.
There was nothing it didn't have... except for a soul.
As awe-inspiring as the robot was, it didn't make for a very good companion. It only spoke when spoken to, and even then, most of its speech was limited to accepting commands or asking for clarification on said commands. As a result, Dr. Kahl often felt quite lonely in the robot's company, which was a shame, because companionship was something he sorely needed. He never had any children, and his wife died years ago, and it was rather difficult to make friends at his age.
But his luck would change one day, when the Devil happened to be in his junkyard, rummaging around for parts to create new torture devices. He overheard a wistful sigh, and followed the noise to find the doctor, forlorn, standing atop a hydraulic lift, gazing into the giant eyes of his robot.
"Oh, if only you had life," he lamented. "If only you had... a soul."
And that was the Devil's cue. With a snap of his fingers, he disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared on the lift - right next to Dr. Kahl, who was so startled that he fell backwards onto his keister.
"W-who are you?!" he cried, as if it wasn't staggeringly obvious.
"Relax, I'm here to help," said the Devil, helping Dr. Kahl back to his feet. "I couldn't help but overhear you when you said that you wished your robot had a soul. Now, as you may know, souls happen to be my specialty."
The doctor's face lit up. "You mean you could give my robot a soul?"
"Oh, no, no, no. I can't just let someone out of Hell. That's not how we do things around here."
He paused, taking great pleasure in seeing Dr. Kahl's disappointed reaction, before continuing with his offer.
"However... I could let you borrow a soul."
"Oh?" said Dr. Kahl, looking up into the Devil's glowing yellow eyes. "Do tell."
"I will imbue your robot with a soul, which it will be allowed to keep for twelve weeks. After that, I will show up to claim it. How does that sound?"
After a bit of thought, the doctor decided that three months was better than none at all, so he grabbed the Devil's hand and shook it. "Deal!"
A burlap bag materialized in the Devil's hand as he turned to face the giant robot. He reached into the bag and pulled out a luminescent cyan ball, which fluttered around like a butterfly before plunging itself into the robot's chest. The robot opened its metallic eyes and looked straight at Dr. Kahl.
"GOOD EVENING, MASTER," it spoke, its voice conveying more warmth than one would ever expect from a robot. The doctor's face lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Good evening!" he cried. "How do you feel?"
"WONDERFUL," said the robot, placing a hand over its chest. "ALIVE."
Dr. Kahl jumped for joy and jumped off the hydraulic lift to embrace the robot, which the Devil took as his cue to leave.
The next twelve weeks would be an absolute delight for Dr. Kahl and his robot - or "Ivan", as he decided to name it. Typically, Ivan would start the day by placing the doctor on its shoulder and stomping around Inkwell Isle in search of things they could do together. On one day, the two of them went to the carnival. Although Ivan was much too large for the rides, it decided that it could be one of the rides instead, carrying and juggling patrons while Dr. Kahl watched with great amusement. On another day, Ivan took Dr. Kahl to a mountainous region, and - in an impressive display of both skill and power - used its missiles to carve the doctor's likeness into the side of the mountain. On some days the two would just be content to relax in the junkyard and talk, and Dr. Kahl treasured those days just as much as any other. After all, what he wanted most of all was simple companionship.
But it was only a matter of time before Dr. Kahl's twelve weeks ran out. It was the night of the 83rd day that he had to tell his robot the truth; the two of them were lying in a grassy meadow, looking up at the stars.
"Ivan," he said with a heavy heart, "there is something I must tell you."
"WHAT IS IT, MASTER?" asked Ivan.
A lump began to swell in the doctor's threat. "It's your soul," he said. "It does not belong to you. Nor does it belong to me. It belongs to the Devil."
"THE DEVIL?" cried Ivan.
"I'm afraid so," Dr. Kahl said with a nod. "The deal was that I could borrow it for twelve weeks, to let you experience life. After tomorrow... the Devil will come to take it back."
"NO!" hollered the robot, its LED eyes pregnant with fear and despair. "I DON'T WANT TO GO BACK! I WANT TO STAY HERE WITH YOU! I... I LOVE YOU!"
That was all the poor doctor could take. He burst into tears and threw himself at the robot, burying his face into its metallic chest. "I'm sorry," he sobbed. "I'm so sorry... I love you, too..."
The robot embraced its master, in the vain hope that if it never let go, the deal would be voided and the two of them could stay together.
And the worst part - the part that truly tore Dr. Kahl's heart asunder - was the fact that he couldn't even be angry. Unlike most of the other debtors, he wasn't cheated or tricked. The Devil was very clear about the terms of the deal, and he followed them to the letter. It was the doctor's own fault for agreeing to the terms, without considering how attached he would grow to the robot and how heartbroken he would be when it came time to give back its soul.
He was so focused on the joy he would gain that he failed to account for the pain of loss.