You cannot help but dwell on your interaction with Aria last night. Things went well, Perhaps too well. She became comfortable enough to talk to you about her childhood, revealling some pretty telling information about herself. But that let to you running head first into something that you aren't too sure about. Your first impression is that someone has put something in her head that's made her the way she is. If you want to make serious progress with her, these blocks feel as though they would be the key.
Though this brings you back to your concerns around Aria. Even if you somehow discovered the power to manipulate Aria, how would you even use it as this point? You'd certainly want to make sure she cannot betray you but other then that, you aren't sure. You are confused by your current 'almost friends but maybe not' relationship and unsure if you would want to push it further.
You've been experimenting with seeing if you can encourage Aria to enjoy herself in other ways than her norm without really thinking too much about why you might even want to do that. If you are serious about challenging her current mindset you'll have to put more effort into it. Having a doll who would actually know how to give her pleasure would be a good start, though you shudder at the implication of that idea.
Then again it might not even be worth it if you simply intend to make Aria into another one of your obedient servants like the others. Well she'd be far more valuable then all the others but the point stands. Part of you feels like it would only be fitting to grant her more autonomy than the others, but part of you wants to know how it would feel to make her into a doll. In truth, given enough time you could try for both.
Aria is a shapeshifter, after all, once she's yours she could likely be anyone you would want her to be. Giving her just one 'route' or 'mode' would be wasteful. Just like she plays with her dolls, once she's in your hands you'll toy and tinker with her as much as you want until she's perfect. Though you'll have to wrest her soul away from The Conductor in order to make her truly yours.
Before any of that though you have things to do. Today is Soprano's day, you had originally planned on heading over there immediately. After working for souls you would have then liaised with him about removing the fake 'Gary' and reaping the rewards. But you already have all the souls you need so visiting him immediately is no longer essential. It might still be worthwhile regardless, but there might be a better use of your time. You'll at the very least need to see The Merchant once more before the end of tomorrow, though you would rather happen upon him while doing something else instead of wasting valuable time stumbling around aimlessly looking for him.
You have a free morning, might as well use it. You've been putting this off because you don't anticipate it being particularly difficult and because you could do it whenever, but it's probably high time you showed your 'mother' a little love and allowed her to experience her true place in life. You did most of the prep work last time you worked on her, you just need to solidify her mentality as a maid and direct her to her Master. Obviously Zach isn't going to be that Master so you just need to determine how Elisa is going to identify her new Master in the future and possibly what your long term plan for her should be.
You run through some ideas in your head. Elisa is going to be your faithful maid, and just like with Venus you'll use a trigger phrase alongside a specific item to show her who her Master is, and make sure she understands that her Master can change forms, making sure she'll continue to serve you no matter which body you move into after Damien. You decide to use The Diary this time, using the emblem for Venus made sense at the time, but it would be nice to change that later when you have more control.
You decide to keep the trigger phrase fairly simple and opt for 'Service with a Smile.' That phrase in combination with The Diary should prevent anyone from utilising your maid for their own purposes. You'll allow her to keep her relationship with her children, though you'll be the priority moving forwards and you'll replace her nudist behaviour with something less obvious.
Not much point in having a maid if she isn't wearing the uniform. You'll make it so that she wants to show herself off for you, bending and stretching in suggestive ways while she's cleaning to give you a good show. Sometimes she'll have sexy underwear on, sometimes she won't. It will be fun to figure it out each day.
And of course if you are going to make use of your maid she'll have to live with you. You aren't exactly sure how large Damien's place is but you'll hopefully have enough space to move your current family into it along with you. This will let you stay in contact with Lucy as well, though you might need to persuade her to stop calling you 'big bruhba.' Maybe 'daddy' would be better? A problem for some other time. As for the house, well you'll have Elisa rent it out to some other suckers. Rent money and some easy targets to work on in the future may well be useful. You do enjoy your side projects, after all.
You stretch out, Sleeping your mother just to make sure she doesn't wake prematurely. Lucy is still attached to you like an extension of your own body, you haven't been able to detach her since she found out you'll be leaving. Maybe she'll enjoy watching you fuck over your mother? She probably won't even know what she's looking at, but it gives you an odd thrill anyway, knowing Lucy is sitting here on your lap watching you enslave her mother to your wishes. With that in mind you Invade Elisa's dreams.
You can already feel the difference. It's easier to conjure up the images you need. Elisa kneeling on the floor before the door, waiting for her partner to return from work. A quick adjustment and the apron she was wearing is now a maid uniform, for now you'll use a standard French maid outfit, though you'll have to check which kind you bought her earlier. Her mentality doesn't require much changing, you just need to shift her focus. While she's still interested in her son sexually - something you may or may not enjoy at some point in the future - her focus now is on her Master.
While she may be a mother, she is a maid first and a mother second. Her duty, first and foremost is to her Master and his needs and wishes will always come first. But she knows that her Master is kind and benevolent and will not mistreat her or her children. Yes, nothing she sees during her service will convince her otherwise. Other people are not important. She will serve as her Master's maid in every way that matters and in exchange Master will let her and her kids live with him wherever she might go.
You solidify in her mind that her Master is not normal. He is Special and has power. As his maid, Elisa does not concern her with this. She simply knows that Master will take different forms but will always identify himself to her with his blade and with his words. So long as she recognises this and serves well there will be no issues. You focus on enhancing her feelings. She doesn't just want to serve her Master she loves serving her Master. Being called into his service was her greatest joy, even more so than her own children and being given the opportunity to pleas him sexually is enough on it's own to get her wet and eager.
You decide to stop shy of giving Elisa romantic feelings for her Master. Her love and devotion will be entirely submissive and subservient, never will Elisa want to stand on equal ground with Master and though she may ask him for favours or boons she won't trouble him by asking to spend time with him or buy her things she doesn't actually need or anything like that.
Finally you make sure to eradicate any chance that she might get jealous. You plan to have a large number of slaves, servants and lovers and the last thing you want is for them to fight amongst themselves. So you'll keep her focus on you. Maybe some other time when it is more relevant you can fiddle with her relationships with your other subordinates but for now you can leave things as they are. Once you are sure you have made all the changes you need inside Elisa's head you withdraw, leaving her with the knowledge that soon her Master will come to claim her, and her life will truly begin.
With that you are finished, though it will be difficult to determine if your tampering worked properly as you aren't the target of her attention right now, by design. Is there a better way to check?
You'll allow Megan to make herself useful and make you breakfast. The cake she made the other day was serviceable enough even though you didn't actually eat if for breakfast. Why she thought baking it in the morning was a good idea you aren't sure. You'll just have to make sure she prepares something normal this time. Dragging Lucy around with you like the two of your are participating in a three-legged contest you make sure a regular breakfast meal is incoming, shooting a quick Suggestion at Megan to hopefully improve her training performance once you hand her over:
'I want to train and work hard to prove myself to him.'
You haven't actually given Megan your real name, you barely even remember it yourself. But she'll need to get used to you being different people just like all of your minions. After finally convincing Lucy that you aren't going anywhere right now so that she lets you walk normally you go back upstairs to check on your mother, who is now recovering from you Sleep from earlier.
You give her a simple test, telling her that someone called earlier claiming to be Elisa's master. Immediately her eyes light up with excitement and she's demanding to know what he said. You say that he told you that he'll soon be preparing a new residence of her and her children and for her to start getting ready to move. Her face flush, Elisa is quickly up and out of bed, hurrying to get things ready.
Perhaps you've over done it, now anyone claiming that they've spoken to her master can order her around, at least until you appear before her. So you fire a quick Suggestion into her head that her Master wouldn't communicate to her through anyone other than Zach, that should be better. Now you need to eat breakfast, get yourself ready and head out. You'll be meeting with Soprano to decide what to do about Gary. You'll need to have your suggestions ready.
You have your maid mother drop you off at the Myskin Theatre and dismiss her. You assume you'll have alternative methods of transportation shortly. Soprano is as seemingly happy to see you as always. You cannot help but wonder if that will be changing soon.
'Dearie!' he begins, 'I was beginning to think you were reconsidering!' You shake your head. This deal you made with him has the potential for significant gains with little risk. There isn't much reason to refuse it. You should also get round to telling Soprano about your 'move' at some point today though you'll need to decide exactly how much to tell him. As allies go he's been pretty decent but despite his seemingly warm and welcoming outward appearance you get the impression he's actually keeping you at arm's length.
Business associates is likely the best term to describe your relationship, nothing more complicated or meaningful than that. And it does meant that even if you end up being unable to continue this arrangement in the future it won't be a major loss. You'll just need to find another way to earn the souls for your quotas once you move bodies. Coming here as Damien would likely raise suspicion and will likely need to be avoided. Maybe you could come back as Zach once you have a way to reliably switch back and forth between bodies. You assume such a thing is possible.
You allow Soprano to sit you down and have someone make you tea. Then he brings in 'Gary.' Or more accurately he brings in two 'Garys'. One is the same as you are used to, with the exception that he seems to have little if any personality or sense of self at all. This is clearly the fake Gary you will be killing off shortly. The other, well you wouldn't actually believe it to be Gary if Soprano had not told you it is.
The child before you most certainly appears to be a girl. Long hair, long eyelashes, a dress with feminine shoes, lots of lace and flowers and dainty female colours. The child before you epitomises the girly girl stereotype. She even 'carries' herself like a girl. You don't think you actually want to know what Soprano did to Gary. Or Gina, as she's now called. For what it is worth 'Gina' doesn't seem to recognise you in the slightest. Most likely what existed before has been all but erased, leaving a completely different person in their place.
As much as you don't want to know what Soprano did, you'd love to know how it was done. Though you can achieve a similar result yourself via your own power so it is little more than idle curiosity. It certainly is interesting to see how everyone else has different methods and powers and you'd love to know how everything lines up with the Body, Mind, Soul system that The Diary has given you. There is clearly a lot more to it than that, particularly if the Esoteric section in your Inhouse Services is to be believed.
After a brief conversation with Gina, Soprano dismisses her so that you can get down to business. You've already decided you'd like to go for something a bit more dramatic and impactful than a simple car accident. A suicide at school should do the job. It will cause a nice amount of pain and confusion while potentially having a few useful side effects.
The downside will be that it will draw a lot more attention than an accident and the school will most likely be closed for a period of time. Not that you have much business there anyway. Hell, you might have to burn the vile place down just out of petty vindictiveness. Now you just need to iron out the details and convince your business partner to go along with it.
Soprano considers your pitch with interlaced fingers. He doesn't object to your idea but isn't warmly embracing it either.
'It does sound amusing,' he concedes, 'but it does raise issues. I'll set the most obvious one to the side for now and ask exactly what kind of school suicide you had in mind?'
'Hm,' Soprano remains passive, you think intentionally, 'so you'll have him attend school as normal, then head up to the roof during lunch and throw himself off? That 'could' work. Hanging tends to be a more common method of suicide in children, but that takes time and we wouldn't want to risk him being found and 'rescued' before he has a chance to die. A note left on the roof 'could' explain the suicide, if the investigators believe a suicidal child is rational enough to leave one.
'Is there a reason it should be a suicide rather than a simple accident? A death at the school would cause a big fuss either way, it doesn't necessarily need to be suicide. And an accident won't be as investigated as closely.' You consider his point. Would it make more sense to arrange for Gary to fall from the roof by accident? Or perhaps some other school related accident would make more sense? It's worth mulling over.
You outline your argument in a way that you hope appeals to Soprano's specific tastes. He almost certainly knows what you are doing but chooses not to comment on it.
'Alright,' he says, again maintaining a level expression, 'let's say for now I accept your reasoning. Have you considered how you get our fake Gary up to the roof? I doubt the stairs leading there will be freely available. In addition, if you want to benefit from this arrangement you'll need to involved somehow. How exactly do you plan on doing that?' Those are both good questions. If the school is even slightly competent they'll make sure that the children can't get up to the roof easily. And you'll have to take part in this performance somehow or you won't get anything out of it. How to address these two issues?
'I see,' Soprano answers. Increasingly you feel as though you are being interviewed here. With all these questions you are wondering whether you should have just let Soprano make the choice. Though it could be that he's just teasing you. They all seem to enjoy doing that.
'Last one,' Soprano asks, 'and this is, of course the big one. A child suicide in the middle of school is going to attract a lot of attention. Attention that neither of us is going to want? How to do you plan on making sure we don't end up suffering as a result of this?' You had best think carefully about this one. There is probably a number of ways you can confuse the situation and muddy the waters. You have a lot of influence in the school right now, plenty of strings you can pull. You'll need to utilise as many of them as you can to try and mitigate the potential damage this incident could cause. Now you just need to determine the best way to do that.
You actually have a lot of methods to deflect attention away from yourself. You just have to set the scene in a believable way. With enough witnesses and enough evidence of the story you want to tell with little evidence of anything else you should be able to reduce the amount of suspicion arising from this incident to almost nothing. It will likely never be actually nothing, people in the know will always consider the possibility of demon related foul play. But the idea is to leave these people without any real avenues of investigation. Without any threads to tug on they'll have to begrudgingly accept the tale you have painstakingly told them.
Soprano seems impressed.
'Well you've thought this through well enough,' he confirms, 'we'll do it your way. It's your school, after all so if there is any residual suspicion it will likely be directed at you, not me.' He grins at you and you resist the urge to scowl. It won't be your school for much longer, but you'll wait until this little venture has been concluded before you discuss that with him. So with your plan formed and agreed upon you set out for school. Gary will be a bit late, but his 'reluctance' to show up for school in the first place will be another clue leading people where you want them to go.
You have him write out the suicide note in the car. Something simple and straightforward such that a child would use and give him his instructions. He needs to act reluctant, unhappy, like he really doesn't want to be at school. Maybe even frightened. Then he needs to take his friends somewhere fairly isolated to give the bullies a chance to pick on them again. You'll position Sherry and Ami nearby to 'incidentally' witness this scene. Then you'll have Gary run past a few of your Little Angels crying and looking desperate and have them start spreading the news.
A Suggestion to the leader of the bullies to get him to move the way you want. A few Suggestions to Gary's classmates to get them thinking and talking the way you want, plenty of Null Presence to make sure nobody notices you and then all you need to do is steal the keys from a janitor, hand them to Gary and then watch the show from a safe distance. Considering how little you'll really need to contribute yourself to this drama you'll likely have some free time while you wait for the big finale at the end of lunch.
And it presents you with a somewhat unique situation, being present at school without anyone knowing you are here and without anyone being able to recognise your presence. With a lot of Mana in reserve and little plan to use it later in the day you can maintain your Null Presence as long as you want. Maybe you should have time for a little something extra while you are here, assuming you can think of anything to do.
Your Null Presence in place you accompany the 'reluctant' Gary into class. You cast your eyes around the room, noting Sherry and Ami and the vacant seat that indicates that Maria still isn't back in school yet. She must be pretty ill then. You throw a few Suggestions at some of the children closest to Gary to up their concern and lead them into thinking the way you want them to. Then you use the Mirror to contact Sherry and command her to pretend to go to the bathroom so you can leave the room without anyone seeing a door open by itself.
Once back in the corridor you see if you can find the principal's car. A thought to park it closer to the roof occurs to you but a quick assessment leads you to abandon the idea. Even if you could get your hands on the keys you aren't large enough to drive the thing. And you weren't a great driver to begin with. Most likely you'd just end up crashing the damn thing and risk ruining everything. So instead you roam the school for a bit, finding the leader of the bullies and implanting the Suggestion in his head to work Gary and friends over at lunch. Then you locate the janitor's cupboard.
A bit of hovering around the room leads you to be present when the janitor arrives. A Suggestion leaves him to forget to lock the door behind him when he leaves, allowing you to enter after him and pilfer the key to the roof. Now all you need to do is give the appropriate orders and this little performance will run as you desire it. As the lunch bell rings you use the Mirror to command Sherry and Ami to tail Gary and his buddies, making sure they can witness the bullying incident. You then contact Roger, having him instruct Cindy and Louise to be in place to witness Gary's apparent distressed mental state after the incident.
While you wait for all this to play out you slip into a girl's bathroom. Aria might appreciate a few more additions to her collection, and you've got some free time, after all.
Using Suggestions you manage to convince four girls to leave their panties behind after using the toilet, allowing you to pocket them. Maybe you can sell them to Aria later, or just hand them to her as a token of good will. You follow the last girl out of the bathroom and wait outside the door leading to the roof. Fake Gary meets you a bit later. You hand him the key and he takes it. With that everything should be finished and you head out of the building. You won't need to be present for what happens next.
Everything plays out exactly how you wanted it to. For once. It truly is satisfying playing the puppet master and putting on such an elaborate performance for your unwilling and unprepared audience. All of your little puppets performed their roles most excellently. Your Little Angels were quick to spread the news in light of the discovery of bullying and then the death set everything off in a most satisfying way. All your girls will no doubt soon be explaining what they witnessed to the police and Gary's friends will likewise be blaming the bullies for this tragedy. No doubt the school will be closed for a while so they can run a full investigation but you have no reason to believe they will do anything other than accept the explanation you have provided.
It will mean reassigning any of your Angels that were working at the school, though you don't think there were that many of them. But the opportunities presented by this incident might be more than just the malice. The entire school is in an uproar, after all. The blowback from this will likely be felt for weeks to come. A devious and manipulative demon wanabe like you should seek to take advantage of that as best he can. For now you'll just enjoy the immediate benefits.
Massive shock and horror abound across the school. 2,725 Malice earned! And that's before his parents have even found out!
You have unlocked Harder Skin (Level 1). A fairily limited defensive ability, but certainly better than nothing!
You have unlocked Muscle Enhancement (Level 1). Once acivated this causes a rather noticeble gain in muscle strength. Best not use it until you are sure it won't be noticed
You have upgraded your Corrupting Aura! It's now more effective!
You have unlocked Dream Prison! An effective, albeit costly ability that can give significant influence over someone trapped in it or just keep tormenting them for your amusment!
You watch the show with Soprano. He seems impressed.
'Well executed, dearie,' he praises, 'the manipulation of information is an important skill we need in this line of work! You made good use of your influence in this place! You'll do well once you get a bit bigger!' You nod, trying to ignore his hand ruffling your hair. Just so long as it doesn't go anywhere else. You still have time to visit The Merchant before the evening starts, but first you'll need to explain your plan to him. Or at least you need to tell him something. The question is what?
As much as you don't mind working with Soprano and appreciate the amount of malice you earnt from this little side project you likely won't be working with him much in the future and you would still be crazy to trust him. Still, you owe him an explanation if only out of simple courtesy. So you simply tell Soprano you'll be busy with other projects for a while and won't be able to visit him in a while. He's likely shrewd enough to guess that there's a lot you aren't saying to him but he doesn't ask anything else. You say your farewells and he offers you one of his drivers to take you back home. Though you assume he could take you other places as well. So you ask him to drive you around the city while you activate your Sense Presence in order to try and find The Merchant.
Your driver seems to understand what or who you are looking for after a little while. Even so you still struggle to find him. You're even using an ability and you still have difficulty finding him? You really don't understand why this keeps happening…
But just as you are worried afternoon is going to turn into evening you sense him. Thank fuck. You direct the driver where he needs to go and get out. He's at the park today, in a secluded area behind some trees.
'Good to see ya!' he greets you, 'What'll it be today?'
The advantage of this taking so long, Gary's parents now now about his 'suicide.' You've acquired another 500 Malice from their initial reaction and expect more to continue to flow in over the next days. Now you'll need to decide what you want to buy.
You make sure you buy the Magic Screen, the only vitally important item, then you peruse the options available to you. A few more items have been added, and a couple of them stand out. But first, you hand over the silver voucher and in exchange he hands you a box of candles. You aren't exactly sure what they will do but you'll have time to find out later. Next you buy a pocket watch that should keep you from killing yourself again, and a box of matches to let you dispose of bodies. You'll certainly be using those.
'Come back anytime!' The Merchant calls out as you leave. You head back to your ride with your purchases. The driver is considerate enough to pretend he isn't paying careful attention to them. Shit, you need a better way to carry all this shit, there's never enough space in your bracelet. With your business concluded you need to decide what you are doing for the rest of the day. You originally had Megan penned in for this slot, but that isn't essential. You've already done enough with her for how you want her, but pushing her further wouldn't be waste of your time either. Though it might be if you can think of something better to do with it.
You decide you'll spend the evening with your little sister. You need to properly explain the situation to her and make sure she understands. You'll give her Clarity, that should help. You don't really have any specific training in mind you just want to make sure she isn't too upset when you move on.
As you expected, the moment you arrive back home Lucy all but crashes into you, clinging to you and pleading with those big eyes of hers. Yes, you'll sit her down and talk things through with her. She may not be happy with this new arrangement but you'll explain to her that it won't be very long and make sure you spend time with her for the rest of the evening so that she is somewhat satisfied.
Once her thinking process clears up a bit you talk things through with her. She can't argue with you, the hold you have on her won't allow her to, but she's still unhappy. You sit her on your lap and hold her as you explain, she still doesn't really understand how it's possible for her 'big bruhba' to become someone else, but she's less upset about it then she was before. Then she asks you whether you'll still be her bruhba after you change. You assure her that you will be and that you'll still love and care for her just as much in your new body as you do right now. Though you may need to have Lucy change the way she addresses you when you are in your new body.
You'll have her call you 'Mr Rivers' in public but she can still call you bruhba in private. It will take some time for Lucy to get used to that, but she probably won't need to do that for very long. Once you've established proper control over Damien's household nobody will care how Lucy addresses you. With few other ideas for how to train Lucy you suggest to her that she keeps an eye on her classmates and try to find out about their parents. Maybe you can find more potential targets for you now that she understands a little bit more about what you would want.
You spend the rest of the evening playing with Lucy in her room, just the two of you. It's probably the last evening you'll be able to spend time like this, at least in this form. You'll be spending most, if not all of the next day at Roger's place. Again you'll need to decide who else you want to bring with you. Megan will be coming, of course and Sherry should come as well, there's no way school will be open tomorrow after today's incident.
Lucy has a different school but again, you've been claiming illness for the last couple of days so it wouldn't be unreasonable to claim your sister is ill as well and have her come with you to Roger's place instead. A day of training is probably more useful than whatever small amount of malice she cold earn you. Still, it might be best to leave her at school just in case.
You'll bring Lucy with you, a single day shouldn't raise any eyebrows. And you always do better with your training when she's around. Plus you are sure Usa will be happy to see her. You'll bring Sprinkles as well, have the party you were planning on having the other day. You tell Lucy about it and she seems excited. Of course she'd rather spend another day with her bruhba instead of going to school. You spent the rest of the day together and you settle her into bed, checking in with Roger before you end the day.
Today's Storytime is largely about Kairos gathering information about the organisation of the lower end of the demon society. Most of this information isn't particularly interesting to you. What does interest you is when Kairos obtained information about the Demon Supervisors. According to his information, demon incursions into the human world are carefully controlled. Only specific cities, twenty six in total, are permitted to contain demons, the rest of the world is unavailable. This is in place to prevent the demons from causing too much damage.
The Supervisors are in place for a similar reason, monitoring the goings on of their subordinates in the city to prevent too much mayhem. This was before the Acolytes started causing problems, of course. Your information indicates that there are typically four Supervisors per city. If this is to be believed then you can draw up a pretty decent approximation of the remaining demons in your own city.
Your boss, The Torturer only has you. You've met all four of The Conductor's servants present in the city and you know the unnamed Supervisor in charge of Cerberus has usually between three and five subordinates. Which would suggest maybe three or four more demons on the east side of the city. Not really that many more. Of course they are all dangerous in their own ways. You rather hope you can steer clear of the other demons in the city, though your gut is telling you this is wishful thinking at best…