This time, the white expanse solidified into a shore line where ocean and land tentatively met. It felt comfortable and warm as Aria sighed with relief as she knelt down on the shoreline and ran a feathered hand through the sand, letting the individual grains sparkle in the setting sun as the ocean washed over her dress and knees. It felt so real as the smell of the ocean engulfed her, filling her with the feeling of nostalgia as she sat down on the sand and stared at the beautiful view. She knew it was just a simulation, but she couldn't even remember the last time she'd gotten to be at the beach like this as she felt so tempted to just ease up and while away her time just on this beach forever. It was tempting...so very, very tempting.
"Whoa," Andrew said in surprise as he stood beside her, his tennis shoes resting over his shoulder, leaving his feet bare as his blue, webbed toes fascinated Aria as they watched the sunset shimmer over the water.
"I love the ocean," Aria sighed as she wished this moment could last forever as the beauty and peace she was experiencing felt like a warm hug she yearned to snuggle into and never let go of. "I lived in a desert for most of my life and loved the rich colors of the land and the unique smell of the rain as the creosote bushes scented the air, but as much as I loved the desert, I fell in love with the ocean the moment I saw it. I miss it."
"H-how are we here?" Andrew asked in awe as he let a wave rush over his toes, making his scales glisten as Aria noticed that a small rainbow-like reaction happened like the inside of a shell with each of his scales, making them shine beautifully in the setting sun.
"We both desired to be here and because we shared that same desire, it merged into an experience we could share," Aria said with a sigh of longing as she shifted off her knees and sat back and held her knees and thought about what would happen next as a shiver of fear ran through her. "Once we open up about our desires, however, who knows what will happen. There may be some we feel safe sharing, like this beautiful beach view right here, while other desires may make us want to turn and run. This powerful technology bound some of the fiercest souls together in friendships that continue to this very day! However, there are those who got incredibly broken and fell apart after they shared their desires together through these machines. I'm scared, Andrew...scared that you'll run and we'll be trapped in here forever."
"How do you think I feel? You aren't a m-murderer, are you?" Andrew asked as his body tensed up as he asked the question, making her laugh out loud at the thought.
"Ha ha ha! No! I never killed anyone," Aria said with an easy smile that turned into a thoughtful one as she looked down at the sand as she picked some up with her feathered hand and slowly let it run through her palm. "It's completely against my nature. You, however, don't have that luxury, but don't worry. I know you meant well, despite the blood on your hands. Pickers can't be choosers, you know?"
"Then what d-desires do you have that make you think I'll up and leave?" Andrew asked quizzically as he leaned his arms on his knees a little and leaned forward to look at her better. "Apart from the desire to m-murder, nothing else sounds scary enough for me to run away from you."
"I could think of a lot of things that would make a soul turn and run, but most of them are hopefully unlikely to be held dear between the both of us," Aria said with a shudder as her imagination went to dark places before she shook her head and stared hard at the ocean for a while. "You know...I didn't want to say this in front of anyone, because it's too close to home for me, but given our current circumstances, I can't ignore it anymore. You...remind me so much of someone...someone I treasured deeply in life and miss every single day."
"I d-do?" Andrew asked hesitantly, like the question caught him off guard as he looked away from her as he blushed and ruffled his blue hair a little with a hand before looking back at her curiously. "Um...who d-do I remind you of?"
"My husband," Aria answered frankly as she turned her head and looked at him straight in the eye as she said it, while Andrew just stared at her like a fish out of water, which made her chuckle at the irony of it as she sighed and laid down on the sand in a helpless gesture. "I know! He has to be back on Earth, still, and I hardly think he ended up here in Hell. He was so good to me and our son...he worked so hard to provide for us. At least, I sure hope he's on Earth! The thought of him going to Heaven and not seeing me there right now is enough to make me want to cry! It's been bugging me so much that I feel so relieved to just get it out of my system, finally. It feels good to get it off my chest."
"I'm f-flattered and all, but don't we have a limited amount of time before Angel Dust gets back and s-shoots us?" Andrew reminded her apologetically, like he wanted to continue the conversation, but he was worried about more pressing concerns. "I'd rather not get shot, thanks!"
"We don't have to worry about that," Aria said with a smirk as she rolled her eyes at him before she turned over onto her stomach and looked at Andrew with her elbows digging into the sand, while she rested her chin on her feathered hands. "This simulator is based on the same design as the history simulators Heaven created to share knowledge at an almost instantaneous rate. There's got to be one or two left in Hell from when the ministering angels used to still walk its streets back a hundred years ago, since I used one, obviously. A simulator like this can share vast amounts of information in an instant, making you feel like you've taken an entire day to thoroughly study and read a subject, only to find that only five minutes have passed in real time. It's loosely based on the same phenomena as dreaming, where you experience the dream while you sleep like it lasted all night, but in reality, it only took up five minutes of it. It's incredibly handy when you want to learn about the history of anything, like the first war in Heaven and all the tech that's been used and created since that time. I should know, because that's what I did for the first week after I died. I had a lot of catching up to do and countless lifetimes to cover!"
"W-well...that's great and all, but...how do we g-get out of this thing once we're done?" Andrew asked as he started to get antsy as he stood up and paced through the soft, ocean waves as they ebbed and flowed over his toes. "I've n-never seen anything like this machine and you're still stuck inside it and there's n-no windows or doors! How did Mr. Kingsley put you in this thing in the f-first place?"
"How this machine accepts a subject is a bit of a problem," Aria admitted as she stood up and dusted the sand off of her orange dress as she turned and folded her arms and faced Andrew calmly. "When the simulator is turned on and it's empty, it readies itself to receive the subject who is ready to be processed. The very first person to touch the simulator once it's on will appear inside the simulator and become the subject, subsequently locking them in place until they're processed. As long as a subject is inside the simulator as the subject, anyone else but the subject can get in and out of the simulator by walking in and out of the see-through walls. They act more like water to others as long as a simulation isn't running. It would be easy for Mr. Kingsley's lackeys to carry my unconscious body into the simulator by putting my hand on the see-through wall first before anyone else touched it, activating me as the subject, while everyone else would be marked as non-essential. Then the lackeys get to leave, while I'm stuck in the machine until I go through my entire desire simulation. Never thought I'd see one used as an impromptu cell, though."
"I see," Andrew said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his blue hair before turning to her and shrugging. "If you s-say so. So...we just...d-desire something and go from there?"
"Pretty much, but it'll be me pushing the narrative forward first, since I'm the primary subject," Aria said with a shrug of her own as she rubbed a feathered arm awkwardly before smiling at him apologetically. "It's just...after I reveal a desire, a desire of yours will inevitably be revealed. Heavenly tech always tried to stay true to the law of Karma to help keep things fair on both ends. What you give, you ultimately receive. As much as it pains me to admit, we're going to have to spill at least one of our deepest desires before we'll be considered processed for the day by the machine. After that, I should be able to just walk right out of the simulator scott free!"
"Well...shouldn't you get s-started, then?" Andrew asked awkwardly as he helplessly gestured toward her, which left her feeling remarkably reluctant to say anything as she groaned.
"Andrew...whatever happens...know that I will do my best to not run away from you, okay?" Aria promised awkwardly as she tentatively moved to reach out to him, making him flinch away before realizing what she was doing as he allowed her to rest a hand gently on his shoulder. "We can get through this together, but only together, okay? So please...promise me you won't run. Everything depends on our courage to see this through to the end."
"I can't p-promise you that," Andrew said defensively as he looked at her apologetically before pulling away from her. "You'll understand s-soon enough why I hide, while Damian plays."
"We'll see," Aria said stubbornly as she reached out a hand like she was waiting for Andrew to take it, making the water demon hesitate before doing so. "Just breathe and remember that this is an educational simulation, so whatever happens in the simulation stays in the simulation. We can either be hurt by what we learn about each other or we can be stronger for it. So, if we can let go of any guilt we have and accept each other, then everything will be just fine! Hahaha...oh man, this is going to suck."
"Ha! N-no kidding," Andrew said with a laugh, catching Aria off guard as she chuckled, too, disarming the situation as the ocean dissolved, turning into a deep jungle as night fell, leaving the shadows deep and foreboding.
Their laughter quickly died as night birds and the sound of the wind rustled through the thick jungle canopy. A hiss began to grow above them, making Aria look up into the darkness. She didn't know how to feel as she expected something to jump out of the darkness at any moment. There was nothing at first as the jungle sounds continued, making her feel cautiously optimistic, but as the hissing grew louder, Aria felt something coil across her skin.
Wait...skin!?
"Ahhh!" Aria shouted, taken aback by the sensation as she looked down and realized she was back in her original demonic disguise as a massive, green snake coiled around her body as the beads on her flapper dress began to dig into her skin! "Ow! Andrew! Help!"
"Warning! Warning! Explicit desire confirmed!" a robotic voice emanated around them, making Aria blush scarlet as she knew instantly what desire had manifested so brashly! "Do you wish to continue?"
"No!" Aria insisted with abject embarrassment as the snake held her in its coils, but paused as though frozen in time as Andrew watched from the ground, stunned at what he'd just witnessed. "Well!? Get me out of here!"
"Wait a m-minute! W-what was that voice?" Andrew asked as he paced while looking at her as she could almost see the wheels turning in his head as a small smirk played on his face like he was trying not to laugh. "D-did I hear that right? Explicit desire?"
"Just get me out, already!" Aria insisted angrily as her blush grew worse, but Andrew began to climb a tree right next to her until he was about eye level with her as he stopped on a huge branch and leaned on the trunk of the tree, smirking.
"Oh no, Miss Aria. I think I d-deserve to understand what's going on here," Andrew said with that smirk growing more devilish as he sat down on the large branch and got comfortable against the trunk of his tree. "I'm in n-no hurry. Go ahead! I can wait."
"What!?" Aria cried out, surprised that Andrew was just sitting there grinning like that as Aria struggled to get out of the coils of the snake, but they wouldn't budge as she realized she wasn't getting anywhere as she fought hard not to panic. "So you're just going to leave me stuck here, while you just sit there and watch?!"
"The view isn't so b-bad," Andrew commented with that relentless smirk. "Besides, this is your explicit d-desire. What were you hoping to d-do, exactly?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Aria said quickly, the heat coming off of her cheeks like a furnace as she refused to look at him.
"You're running away from this conversation, M-miss Aria, and you promised you wouldn't run away from me," Andrew pointed out in a good-natured tone.
"I can't just...talk about this," Aria insisted with a stab of fear in her voice as the shame of it blazed on her face as she refused to look at him, making Andrew suddenly soften a little at the sight of it.
"Hey, it's okay!" Andrew said as he scooted away from the trunk to get as close as he could to her without falling off of his branch. "Do you r-really think you're the only one who has desires like this? I really did d-date Angel Dust and worked for Valentino, you know. You have to be willing to d-do a lot of things people see as shameful or g-gross in their line of work. I get it. You d-don't have to be ashamed of it. Actually, to be perfectly honest...I think it's actually pretty f-fucking hot."
Aria stared at him to see if he was just saying that to make her feel better, but from the purple blush blooming across his face and the sideways glances he was giving her while he pushed his glasses back up onto his face, she blushed as she realized he wasn't joking. Aria had to swallow hard after that as her pulse quickened at that revelation. She prayed hard to God to know what the heck she was supposed to do with that new piece of information!
"I...I don't want to be unfaithful to my husband, okay?" Aria said with desperate conviction as she turned and looked at Andrew pleadingly as she said it, making the young man shrug as she sighed in exasperation. "Look, a lot of my sexual desires were still being addressed by my husband back on Earth. I was beginning to open up and have fun, but a lot was left undone or...unspoken. To think I have to finish what we started with a total stranger from Hell, no less, terrifies me! I don't want to betray him!"
"Let me g-guess," Andrew said as he scooted back to the trunk of the tree and leaned on it a little in a relaxed pose. "You're afraid that b-by going through this simulator, you'll be cheating on your husband with m-me, right?"
"I know it sounds stupid, but...our thoughts turn into actions, right?" Aria said as she felt the turmoil ebb and flow through her as she tried to make sense of the fear and anxiety she felt. "Will I act on these desires later with you in the real world if we experience them here? I can't physically leave this makeshift prison without being processed, but am I really innocent of any wrongdoing, no matter what I face inside of this thing?"
"D-don't you already know the answer to that?" Andrew asked as he gestured to her with an open hand before putting his hands behind his head to cushion it against the tree as he closed his eyes. "We have to accept all we see without guilt or whatever and move forward, right? You just said that on the beach."
"I know...I just...forgiving others is so much easier than forgiving yourself," Aria said with a sigh as she groaned, knowing that she had no choice in the matter as she turned and looked at Andrew imploringly. "Can...can I trust you?"
"It depends on w-what you mean by trust," Andrew said carefully as he stood up and leaned on the tree as he looked at her and shrugged. "C-can you trust me to get you out of here? Probably. Can you t-trust me as a person? Probably not. I have my own s-shit to deal with, given that I ended up in Hell, remember?"
"I get it, but...when I gave myself to my husband...it was all of me," Aria whispered just loud enough for Andrew to hear as the forest sounds continued around them as the moon moved from the shadows of the trees to find their little canopy, bathing it in gentle light, revealing Aria's pleading and terrified expression, while Andrew's was still left in shadow from a branch just above him, leaving him in partial darkness as his face remained neutral. "Do you have any idea how terrifying and exhilarating that is? Sigh...I'll let you in on a little secret. My greatest desire...the deepest one...is to trust my entire soul to another human being knowing they accept all of me and won't break me. That desire also terrifies me to my very core. Thankfully, my dear, sweet husband kept that promise and then some, but now I have to do it, in part, with you, knowing next to nothing about you, and yet I dared to call on you instead of Damian. Why? Why did my very bones insist you were safer than your counterpart, when I don't even know you, while Damian confessed again and again about how much he wanted me?"
"I d-don't know," Andrew answered helplessly with a shrug, his expression looking like he was laughing at the very idea, but it was like he was laughing at himself as a soft, contemptible chuckle escaped him. "I already know I c-can't be trusted, so your instincts are pretty bad. Then again, I'm the only one who really knows what Damian is, and you still didn't f-fall for his false promises and advances, despite his charms and easy smile. For that, I'm grateful and r-really impressed, given what kind of a f-fucking bastard he is. I really hate having to rely on him, sometimes."
"So...what now?" Aria asked as she became more aware of the coolness of the snake's skin against her now sweating body as she sent a thought to her choker to take off the beads from the flapper dress she was wearing, but nothing happened, making her sigh in frustration as a new problem began to form in her mind.
"What d-do you mean?" Andrew asked as he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Can you...can you promise not to hurt me with...with anything you find out?" Aria begged sincerely as she looked imploringly at Andrew as a primal fear she couldn't even vocalize overwhelmed her as she emotionally choked on the next few words. "I can't...I can't move forward without knowing the answer to that!"
Andrew took his time as he muddled it over, making Aria sweat with worry as she bit her lip and hoped he wouldn't say what she dreaded he'd say.
"I think t-that's up to you, not me," Andrew said finally as he sat down and relaxed against the trunk of the tree, again, as he gestured an open palm to her.
"What do you mean!?" Aria asked in a panic, but she already knew where this was going as she could almost feel the coils of the snake begin to squeeze once more, filling her with fear!
"This s-simulator is about trusting your whole self to someone by f-facing your own desires you run away from, right?" Andrew asked sincerely as Aria looked away from him and reluctantly nodded. "Then what I do ultimately d-doesn't matter. As much as I might want t-to run off and do something else as all of this desire stuff of yours happens, and trust me, I d-don't feel like running from you so far, I gave Alastor my word that I would keep you safe and I know better than to p-piss off The Radio Demon."
"So I just have to trust you blindly not knowing for sure if this will even work?" Aria asked incredulously as she felt the Holy Ghost confirm her fears and suspicions, leaving her feeling trapped as she struggled for a more reassuring answer! "There's got to be another way! Any other way than this!"
"You f-finally see the problem, then," Andrew said with a shrug as he leaned on the trunk of the tree and closed his eyes again. "In that case, wake me up when you're ready to d-do this thing. I have a feeling you're going to have to t-take some time with this one before you're going to be up for it."
"No! There's got to be something else! Anything else!" Aria cried out as she went into a full on panic attack as she struggled hard against the coils of the frozen snake, but nothing yielded as Aria felt the helplessness rise inside of her! "Help me!"
"Help yourself f-first," Andrew stated calmly as he yawned and settled even more into the trunk of the tree like he really was going to take a nap, making Aria wonder if she should shout at him or plead with him to make him move!
Aria hesitated as she realized that if she did either of those things, she'd probably be actively pushing Andrew away, and everything inside her told her that that was a very bad idea. She wanted to get out of this simulator, but she realized she wanted to do it without having the consequence of being processed. Aria knew there was no escaping this stupid contraption any other way, but this level of trust demanded of her to regain her freedom was so terrifying that she was actually contemplating just staying suspended in this scene forever. It would be better than offending God and betraying her husband, she thought to herself bitterly as she wondered how God could even think to leave her in a situation like this without a way out!
That's when the Holy Ghost gently, but piercingly told her that she already had a way out, but that she was listening to her fears instead of her faith. He let her know that God didn't condemn her actions for what would be required inside the simulator and that she needed to trust God and move forward with faith. The way for her to be set free was already in place. All that was required of her now was to trust God and face her fears.
"...Alright," Aria whispered with a gasp as she fought to catch her breath, pushing down the fear that brought her to tears as her chest tightened at what was about to happen to her.
"What was that, M-miss Aria?" Andrew asked as he opened one eye to look at her and saw something that made him open his eyes completely as Aria stopped struggling and just stayed there with an expression of utter surrender.
"I said...continue the...explicit desire," Aria said hesitantly, but she knew she already made her decision as the coils of the snake shifted as its head turned to look at her with those piercing yellow eyes.
"Your confirmation to continue this explicit desire is acknowledged!" a robotic voice chimed in as Aria looked at Andrew with an expression that haunted him, making him suddenly stand and turn to face her fully as the simulation continued.