With Carmilla Carmine graciously allowing Plaze to use one of her gun factories and turn it into a console factory, all Plaze needed to do was figure out how to mass produce his consoles and games.

…Which was a problem, considering Plaze only just recently reached proficient knowledge on how to create his console, not the games.

Which was why Plaze and Jessie were busy trying to decipher the magical electricity that made up his first game.

It was late at night at this point, but because sinners "technically" don't need sleep, they chose to just keep working.

All of the side effects of sleep deprivation still apply. But that won't kick in until they spend a few days in this state. And Jessie still had to go work, so that was a natural buffer to keep her sane.

Plaze, however, kept tinkering. Trying to understand what game developers do to create the cartridge which their games run upon. How his empire will one day function through tiny electrical currents of 1s and 0s.

Which is how Mehira found Plaze in his room, 2 days without sleep, slowly losing his grip on reality as his notebook was rapidly being filled with words only Plaze could understand.

Mehira cleared her throat to get Plaze's attention, doing so successfully, she said, "Plaze, you have 3 months to get this finished. You're wearing yourself out, and you're almost out of time for those 20 souls I lended you."

Plaze dismissed her, continuing to tinker with an "empty" cartridge using the tools Jessie left for him as he hastily explained, "I need this damn console finished! It's been 2 days! If I don't do this in 3 they'll-"

Then Plaze angrily hit the floor as he shouted out in anger and realization, "THEY'RE NOT IN HELL WITH ME!"

Mehira raised an eyebrow, "Something from your previous life?"

"3 days was the limit," Plaze said, still continuing to figure out how to input everything in the layers of the cartridge, "It doesn't apply anymore, but it's a good work ethic!"

Mehira shrugged, not too concerned, "Well, if it hits day 3 and you're not finished, you're coming with me so I can teach you how to fight."

Erasing his current progress due to an error he made, Plaze off-handedly asked, "Why?"

"Guns are less effective when you get into the hundreds and thousands of souls," Mehira explained, "Then, it's your physical power and magic that will do the fighting. I would prefer it if you weren't a pushover."

Plaze snarled, but not at her, but at once again failing to line everything properly, "You don't own me."

Mehira nodded in agreement, "I don't. However, you'll become an Overlord one day, and you'll need to defend your turf from anyone who might try to conquer you."

Plaze momentarily paused.

Right, rival gangs who would want to topple him just as he is going to do to Hammer.

Plaze had to admit, that was going to be an issue if guns didn't work and Plaze had to physically fight. Because Plaze doesn't know how to fight, as guns were the only viable method of attacking on Earth.

Plaze hasn't even fired a gun in a few years. He preferred not getting into a fight.

With that, Plaze decided that if can't complete his cartridge by tomorrow, then Plaze will accept Mehira's teaching lessons about fighting.

If he did finish the cartridge, then he'll get that sorted before he goes to fight.

Plaze gave Mehira a slight nod, "Fine. You're right. But if I finish this before tomorrow, I'm going to get my production lines going before I fight with you."

Mehira shrugged, "Your choice. Though, while I'm here, I suppose I could give you a quick rundown of how businesses work in Hell."

Plaze momentarily paused his progress to ask, "Hm? Is it any different from Earth?"

Mehira nodded, "A bit. It mostly has to do with the ways people are tricked into giving up their souls to the owner of that business."

Now that was very interesting. Mehira already told Plaze about how companies offer memberships with discounts in exchange for their souls, but it did make sense for there to be more ways than that to steal a soul.

Plaze turned his focus to Mehira, "Alright, I'm listening."

Mehira sat down on a nearby chair, fiddling with her witch's hat as she began explaining, "So, soul contracts are very free in the way that they work, but there are some limits. For example, you can't permanently own a soul you've never seen before. However, you can own a soul for, say… 1,000 years, with some limitations on the control you have over them, if you've never met them. For example, in casinos, before you enter you have to sign a contract that states that if you act maliciously and start breaking the rules in their casinos, the owner gets to own your soul for a month. Anything more than that, then they put a few restrictions in, such as only fully owning your soul while you're inside of their building."

Mehira quickly stopped explaining to catch her breath and steal Plaze's water, which was sitting on the counter next to her, "Hm. Another thing to note is that even if you only own their soul in specific situations like that, it still gives you the power of a full soul. Speaking of power, multiple people can own a single person's soul, but that single soul will be split amongst them, lowering their power and allowing the soul to have some of their restrictions lifted. It wouldn't work if all of the owners were all demanding something at once, but that's unlikely."

Mehira opened her hand, creating a fiery silhouette of a person to show off to Plaze, "It's important to remember that every sinner is still an individual with their own thoughts and actions. It's important for your business to understand where the line is for a man. People will absolutely not enter into a business that has you sign a contract that says a misdemeanor will surrender your soul forever. But they might be willing to sign a contract that forfeits control inside of that building for the next month. It all depends on the quality or scarcity of your product."

Then, Mehira crushed the silhouette with her hand, letting the embers fade away, "By the way, keep a tight grip on your production lines to ensure your monopoly. Arcades aren't that popular, and Hammer is mostly a tank Overlord, so arcades are scattered all over the place in small chunks, but mostly belong to her. That's barely a monopoly, as there are a lot of people in Hell that could create an arcade machine if they wanted to. Tanks, however, Hammer has a much tighter grip over, and due to how a tank is made, it's hard to find one that isn't made by her. You'll likely be undercut by Vox trying to make something similar, but never allow for the engineers who make your consoles to be taken away. Otherwise, Vox will produce something of equal quality, and you'll lose customers until the day Vox decides it's better to just kill you."

Plaze tilted his head, "Why not just work with Vox? He owns all of the TVs, doesn't he? If I just focus on making the consoles and use his TVs as the medium, we both profit, don't we?"

In the same way that Plaze and Mehira working together was mutually beneficial and fighting would be stupid, working together with Vox just means that they could corner the industry to shut down any competitors. What was wrong with that?

Mehira frowned, "There's an Overlord named Valentino who controls most of the porn industry, from magazines, to videos, to the brothels. I hear that ever since getting into a partnership with Vox, he's been exploding in popularity, however… I hear that Valentino is the lesser partner of the two, and that he has to listen to Vox over his own thoughts. He's practically trapped in that situation because Vox could kill him anytime he wants."

So less of an equal partnership and more tilted in Vox's favor because he's more powerful.

Yeah, that doesn't sound appealing to Plaze. Even if producing his own TVs to compete with Vox would be more expensive.

Plaze nodded, "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind."

Satisfied, Mehira stood up from her spot and said, "Good. Now, I still have some business to take care of, so good luck in your attempts to get your console going."

Plaze didn't reply as he immediately got to work.

Mehira sighed, "Hah… I should stop working with newer sinners, it's such a hassle to explain everything everytime."

Plaze didn't hear her as she left his apartment room.

Plaze painstakingly spent the next 2 hours taking notes of the steps required to assemble the cartridge in his notebook.

However, he was finished. Plaze now had a step-by-step instruction manual on how to create a cartridge using the precise tools that Hammer used to create her arcades, proving it was possible to make use of Hammer's technology to create the future.

Once Jessie arrived, Plaze triumphantly yelled out, "I DID IT! TAKE IT!"

Plaze threw his notebook at Jessie, who caught it easily, and she quickly skimmed through it, "Hm… Yep! I think it's usable! I'll get in contact with Carmilla and get the machinery in place. It'll be a bit hard to get by Hammer, but it should still be possible."

Plaze smiled, "Thank you, Jessie. Now… I'm going to sleep."

Jessie nodded, "Enjoy!"

Plaze didn't even bother trying to hit the bed. He just hit the floor and turned off his eyes, quickly falling into slumber.

Jessie warily eyed Mehira, who, through Plaze's eyes, found Jessie and decided to accompany her as she walked towards Hammer Industries, where she could steal a few pieces of equipment for the production of Plaze's consoles, "Hm, you know, I don't really trust you."

Mehira didn't look offended as she asked, "Why?"

"You're a hellborn demon, aren't you?" Jessie asked, getting a nod in return, "You don't like sinners very much, do you?"

Mehira raised an eyebrow, "What is there to like about them? I'm here purely for my own gain."

"Exactly," Jessie said, "That's why it's a bit worrisome you're sticking around Plaze so much."

Mehira simply stated, "He's the furthest any of my previous experiments have gone. I'll admit, I'm more excited for his success than he is."

Jessie narrowed her eyes, "Previous experiments?"

"Don't worry about it," Mehira refused to answer Jessie's question, shrugging her off, "Besides, what I have planned in mind won't hurt Plaze."

"You don't consider having your soul owned to be harmful?" Jessie accused, her voice steady, "That's mean, Mehira."

Mehira waved it off, unconcernedly saying, "You sinners and we hellborn have different views of the soul. Consider it a culture difference, it doesn't really matter to me anyways."

Jessie sighed in annoyance, "This is why the hellborn should just stay in their own rings."

Mehira genuinely looked frustrated at Jessie as she glared at her, "If the other hellborn want to avoid the conflict and war of the Pride Ring, they're free to do so. But I was never meant for lust or greed, or any of the other rings. This is my home. Don't demean me by saying I shouldn't be here."

Jessie wouldn't win in a fight, so she dropped the topic with a click of her tongue, "Tch, fine. It's okay though, I'm sure Plaze will be a responsible Overlord who won't get into an unequal deal with you."

At that point, they finally made it to Hammer Industries, where the arcades were made, and Jessie left without another word.

Mehira responded with a sly smirk, "An unequal deal? It's impossible for that to happen between us, no matter what the words on the contract are. I benefit, and he benefits. It's just a matter of who benefits more."

With that, Mehira turned around and left the area. There were still plenty of souls to be gathered, after all.

Plaze was woken up by the ringing of his phone.

Then, he remembered what he did before he went to sleep. He had finished all of his designs for the first console and game.

Plaze figures that must be why someone is trying to call him, likely to ask for clarification or to hammer out a small detail or two.

Grumbling, Plaze reluctantly answers the phone, "Plaze speaking."

Jessie answers, "So, I have everything basically set up. There's just a few minor issues that we're going to need your input on."

So basically what Plaze had guessed. Go him.

Plaze asked, "Alright, what do you need?"

"First of all, company name and console name," Jessie asked.

…Shit.

Well, he was named Plaze, so the company should be Plaze…

Plaze…

Plaz…a.

Plaza.

The Plaza, yeah.

"Name my company The Plaza," Plaze said, "Then name the console the Plaza Entertainment System, or the PES."

Jessie hummed, "That's a pretty lazy way to name something."

"Hammer Industries, Valentino Studios, Voxtech…" Plaze began to list off. Nobody in Hell had a good naming scheme.

"That's fair," Jessie deadpanned, knowing full well that Plaze was right, "The Plaza it is, debuting with their first console, the Plaza Entertainment System and its first game, Super Mario Bros."

Plaze nodded, "Yep. Now that I know how to make one game, it should be easy to make a few others. I'll submit those designs after tomorrow, since I'm going to be working with Mehira today."

"Do you want to delay your debut so you have more than one game, then?" Jessie asked.

That's a brilliant idea, actually. Makes the debut not so underwhelming, "Yes, do that, please."

Jessie humphed in affirmation, "Got it. See you later, then."

"See you," Plaze said.

Jessie hung up the phone, and Plaze decided to just call Mehira to work right away.

There was only so much time 3 months had, after all.

And it was still September.

AN:

Typical Skryb moment, having the pacing be glacially slow. 8 chapters in the span of 1 month in hell.

I can't seem to ever get the pacing just right.

[2 Chapters of backlog left. This heat is cooking me. I'm cooked.]