The Dying Game

The cool clean air had a trace of chemicals to it. Styn supposed he shouldn't be surprised when a medical facility smelled like a medical facility. The demon found himself waiting, completely naked, in one of the examining room. His default vitals had all been assessed. A slew of regular check up style tests and questions had been administered. The final request had been to strip down and wait.

Styn wasn't sure what this was about exactly. Hobgoblin had merely told him to show up to a building he had never been to before in Shadow Fall Village. Inside he had found a reception area, where a brief check in had led to everything that had just happened in this room. Their was an air of excitement about the place, and Styn couldn't help but feel that his presence was the reason. Whatever was going on, he stood at the heart of it.

Well I sit in the heart of it anyway. Naked even.

The demon was considered young by his race's standpoint. Only lower class demons need be used as cannon fodder in the wars. Unlike the human and shinigami realms, the demon realm was rarely troubled with invasions from the outside. One part of that might be raw numbers. Styn thought the main reason was that they were winning. If they Shinigami wanted to push back their otherworldly foe they were better off starting in Europe, or even in America. Many of what was once considered the first world, hundreds of years ago, was under Mana's rule.

No, Styn and many demons like him served another function. If soldier demons could be said to be the limbs of the great beast that made up the infernal empire, then Styn would be part of the nervous system maybe. His type of demon directed and perceived the outside world for the true leaders above them. He knew he wasn't demon lord caliber and probably would never be. Only exceptional demons rose much further then their inherent potential. That often came with its own cost.

I'd prefer to just laze my days away. Play a few games, have some fun. Hopefully this check up is over soon. I've been putting in alot of work recently, I think I'll lay low for awhile.

It was a good plan. Further thoughts were interrupted by the soft mechanic whoosh of the steel door sliding open. A buxom demon female with blood red goat eyes and crimson locks entered with a clip board before coming up short. Nudity wasn't really a thing for Styn and many other demons. When you could look however you wanted, the physical really wasn't something to give much thought to.

Many demons these days chose to look humanoid, so it wasn't Styn's appearance that threw her off. It wasn't even the casual way he lounged on the sole table that triggered the pause. No it was the short piece of flesh that dangled between his legs that received the attention. If Styn had to classify the look, he would call it puzzlement.

"It's a smaller target like this, lets leave it at that then shall we?" Styn said with an easy going smile. Hopping down from the table he gestured to the still open door. "I'm hoping that this is the point where we leave and I find out what all this cloak and daggers is about?"

"Hmm? Oh yes follow me Styn Goblin," The demoness muttered with a slow shake of her head. Styn's smile slipped from his face at the mention of his full name. With a grumble he followed. It was moments like these where he could truly hate his father for adopting that embarrassing surname. What kind of respect was going to be paid to someone called 'goblin' anyhow.

It was pretty much a straight shot fortunately. A few bends, a few twists, a few doors. Eventually they came before a door with a tad bit more security. A quick flash of a token of some kind allowed for this final door to hiss open. Styn of course had to make the whole trip naked, and while sparse, the corridors had been by no means empty. Most passed by without seeming to notice, although their procession was subjected to more then a few odd looks.

So this isn't as normal as she's trying to make it out to be.

Inside the mystery room was wall to wall medical technology. Some of it looked very similar to something you'd find in the human world, but there were also mixes of raw demon innovation. Over there for instance was some kind of claw hand attached to a stand with wheels that was head to toe covered in demonic runes. On that table was a pulsing black orb that looked slightly familiar to the demon.

People swarmed over the center piece of the room. It was hard to describe the device that the medical technicians were even now making adjustments and modifications too. Imagine a space age table maybe to start with. Something that looked bigger and more bulky then it needed to on the sides and bottom. Maybe with a mix of one of those virtual reality roller coasters, but with the lid of the device open. Styn could only imagine what the thing was designed to do, but he had the feeling he would soon be finding out.

Another more official looking woman was already walking toward him with an outstretched hand. Simple black hair pulled back in a pony tail with small glasses perched low on the nose, framed a face of classic Latino beauty. In this case the woman was also sporting violet eyes and pointy ears though. "I'm Dr. Andras, welcome to the dying game."

The what game? That doesn't sound like my kind of game at all.