D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad

--- Hunter ---

Hunter and Meg didn't get anything else relevant from the following conversations between the gardening group except slightly better understandings of how they all thought so they decided to move on. There were plenty of people to listen in on. At least that was the theory. The next set of people they found were sleeping despite it being the middle of the day.

Meg and Hunter had no issue with sneaking into their rooms and taking a quick look around but without leaving obvious signs of investigation there wasn't anything relevant.

The adults… oh the adults. They managed to work out where they all were, it was a bedroom towards the back corner of the compound. Hunter stopped in the corridor and glanced at Meg who shrugged. Hunter decided to be more specifics, "So is it even worth going forward?" The smell was enough of a hint. It seemed the room was soundproof and well-ventilated but not quite well ventilated enough.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Worried about a bit of sex? Seems like a rather weak excuse for a clan member," offered Meg.

Hunter didn't rise to the bait. "I have seen and killed many an animal mid mating. It is an excellent way to find them distracted but at the moment we're looking for information not deaths and I don't see how we could overhear anything useful. It may be a soundproof room but I suspect, heavily, that the soundproofing was never intended for clandestine meetings. I wonder if they even know,"

"Surely they would," said Meg. "Even if they didn't realise at first I imagine someone found out and the news spread from there."

"Right, so back to the question, we skip this correct?" asked Hunter.

"It really doesn't bother me. I was mostly just picking at you to see if you'd go along with it out of pride for the clan. I mean, I was pretty weak with my attempt but that was the point. I don't feel strongly about it one way or the other so sure, let's skip over this room.

Honestly the adults seem to have checked out somewhat based on the fact that young adults that may or may not be teens are the ones voting for what to do," said Meg.

Hunter shrugged and they left the area, passing a few empty rooms and eventually looping around to the gym. Except now instead of working out they could hear two people going at it in a rap battle. Nothing serious and based on the fact you could hear an extra set of voices in the room but no additional scents they were just singing along with a recording.

They were actually quite good, whoever the real people were. Perhaps better then the recording. In Hunter's mind it had too many filters on it distorting the heart of the piece.

Hunter didn't even notice when she started to sway slightly with enjoyment listening to the music. Meg slowed down and Hunter, noticing as such slowed down as well but didn't consciously register she had done some. Meg grinned and debated mentally if she should say something. On the one hand, if she mentioned it and Hunter shrugged it off they might be able to sit around longer and listen.

The music wasn't really to Meg's taste but Hunter was clearly enjoying it.

On the other hand… Meg knew if she mentioned it, the chance that Hunter immediately 'corrected' her behaviour depriving Meg of this enjoyable sight was quite high. It was only a little wiggle but it was reminding Meg of those tiny snakes you could fit on your finger and watch dance. Meg wondered if it was just a thing for snake-based species. Meg hadn't exactly paid a lot of attention before.

So Meg decided it was best not to say anything, and held back a sigh when they got too far away and Hunter sped up again.

This eventually led them to a great spot, and made both glad they'd skipped the adults. Just as they were approaching the door, they could hear the words "Dear Diary" coming from inside. A quick check and it was apparently the aquarium. Slipping inside, Hunter and Meg were both quite stunned by the room. It was mostly dark with patches of soft lightning under all the seats.

The entire back wall was filled with a giant glass tank filled with colourful plants and rocks that provided a soft blue light to the front half of the room. It was stunning… and a little sad.

There was no fish. Not a single one. No crabs, no prawns, no seas or even more exotic things like a kraken or sea serpent. Not that either would fit in the tank long. It was… a touch haunting for all of its beauty. Unlike the plants in the garden which had managed to keep themselves alive long term the fish were gone.

Neither of the demons knew why exactly. Perhaps they never had breeding population to start with. Perhaps one of the more aggressive fish ate the others and then died itself without a proper food source. Perhaps there was some issue with the tank in the past. Whatever the case. They were all gone now.

Focusing back on the speaker, a female by the sound of things though her name would never come up in the narration. "Dear diary, another day and still nobody has made the decision. I don't really know who is right and who is wrong but I DO think it's wrong to sit on this… but everyone ignores me because I'm considered 'the baby' of the place.

It doesn't matter that I'm already fourteen, or that I'm more mature then a lot of the other residents including the adults…"

The teen paused for a few seconds. "Scratch that, especially the adults. They… they really seemed to have just mentally checked out after I turned five and it has not gotten better. I know I've complained enough about that before but… I dunno. Is it some sort of age related disease? Did they just give up?

I want to get an answer but every time I ask… well it's all 'we'll tell you when you're older' which I suspect will never come. Perhaps if the not-quite-adults-but-not-really-old-people…" it was all one word that the translation function struggled with, likely developed either by the girl herself or just the group here.

Still the meaning did get across "… start having kids I'm not sure that will ever change.

"Which… I dunno. They stop talking about that stuff when I'm around. Not that they've hidden any of the resources on the intranet… nor are they the best at keeping it out of the movies and books they recommend me. As long as it's not in front of them they seem to forget it's a problem. Which… urgh just makes me think they're hopeless.

"Which is why I'm tempted to just go and wake Corela myself. If I knew how I think I'd have done it yesterday. They're just going to bicker about this for weeks otherwise because I doubt anyone really wants the pressure.

I'm also pretty sure that's one of the reason they keep putting off doing anything, because finalising this first part makes you responsible and god knows nobody in this damned place wants to be responsible!

"Yes I'm still annoyed about the time they stuck gum in my hair, made fun of me for it, and then harassed me for shaving my head when NOBODY WOULD HELP ME GET RID OF IT. I… I don't hate them but they just… the feel so useless so much of the time. I get they had an established dynamic within the bigger group and all their littler ones… but would it kill them to properly integrate me?

I haven't been five for a long time and…"

Explore stories at empire

The girl sucked in a deep breath and put the tablet she was using down to calm herself. She stayed there silently for a full minute at which point Meg and Hunter glanced at each other as if wondering if it was time to leave. Before they could make up their minds or start a conversation about it, the teen was picking the tablet back up and resuming her diary entry. "Sorry diary.

I do try not to yell at you over stuff like this. I use this time to relax and it's not like I never do anything with anyone…

"I've sort of become part of the 'gym rats' whatever that means… but they're all crazy. I just don't want to end up a fat blob! I don't need my muscles to be larger then my head! At least the karaoke battles are always fun. I think there was meant to be one on today but I… I guess I'm just not feeling it.

"I… I think I need to look into the cryo pods. I don't know if there's instructions for operating them somewhere inside. I certainly couldn't find them anywhere else… I can just… not open them if I don't know what I'm doing. I have the self control for that much. I just have to hope I don't get caught… though. Should I really be telling you this diary?

I keep you private but I'm sure the others know… hmm… welp too late now. I don't want to delete anything I've got stored," finished the teen as she hugged the table to her chest.

*Oh dear. This puts us on something of a time limit… unless we want Corela out and about? Might have to stop our info gathering and get Bower's opinion.*