Название: Selfish Beings
Автор: J Morris L
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Эзотерика
isbn: 9781472054814
isbn:
‘Why would Vetis help you?’
This was more confusing to Mastema than the engineer’s contribution. Vetis was one of the most desirable young demonettes in Hell. She was beautiful, self-centred and uncompromising: all fine traits in a young woman. Many of Kaarl’s brothers had tried to bed her or her twin sister Verin with no success. The girls were strange in their own way but they had a certain charm and mystique beyond the obvious physical. The fact that Kaarl was even on speaking terms with either of them was unfathomable.
‘She is a friend,’ replied Kaarl. ‘She also has a keen interest in the Mortals, particularly their menfolk, so she jumped at the chance to be able to access the Internet from Perdition.’
It was unbelievable that Mastema’s other sons, even Davaal, who was by all measures one of the most eligible bachelors in Perdition, could barely get two words from Vetis or her sister and yet Kaarl was her friend. Mastema decided not to attempt to understand the strange motivations of the younger generation and instead focus on the task at hand.
With no more questions forthcoming, Kaarl began showing Mastema the wonders of the Internet. His father asked to see its most vile and corruptive elements first and Mastema was not disappointed. After only half an hour, Mastema stopped him and stared at the screen. Of all the things one could do with a hedgehog, a garden hose, a bottle of milk and a willing woman, he would never in a million years have come up with a situation like the one he was watching.
‘How much more of this is there?’
‘I would say it’s infinite; more is being added all the time and we haven’t even scratched the surface yet.’
‘And you say Mortals let their children use this?’
‘Yes, they do have ways to stop them looking at such material, though not all of them know how to do so, or care. Some children are so far advanced in its use that even those safeguards amount to nothing.’
Mastema shook his head in wonder.
‘This Internet has almost been doing our job for us; if it hadn’t been invented we’d have had that meeting two decades ago. Show me more.’
Kaarl moved from vulgar pornography to social media. Mastema read in wonder as people bared their souls for the world to see, or made tributes to lost loved ones, only to have others who did not even know them or the departed leave spiteful, hurtful comments. Mastema was truly in awe of some of the despicable things written for the world to see.
‘All of this random hate and malice; some of these people are so close to becoming ours, they don’t even realise it. What does that mean?’ he asked, pointing to a line on the screen of a memorial page.
‘This “lolurmu -’
‘It means “laugh out loud, your mother is dead” ‘
‘Delightful’
‘It is a commonly held belief that what humans say in the relative anonymity of the Internet is mostly at odds with how they act in real life Father.’
Mastema was so pleased with what he had learnt he did not reprimand Kaarl for his familiarity. ‘That is not important, Kaarl; this lack of compassion is under the surface. It seems a good proportion of them are thinking it. All that is needed is to bring this to the surface, make them act like they speak and Perdition is back in business, well and truly.’
Deumos came in with their dinner hours later as Mastema had forgotten all about eating. As Kaarl had continued his crash course in human development using the Internet, he had been absorbed in the possibilities the new world of man presented for gathering souls. His wife gave him an all-knowing smile and left father and son to their work.
As the night progressed, talk turned to other facets of modern-day life and Mastema found a measure of respect for his son. The child was weak and feeble, but he was cunning and knowledgeable and that made up for it a little. Kaarl’s insight into the workings of the contemporary Mortal was remarkable and his understanding of their ways was extensive. Mastema decided that Kaarl and his information would be integral to “his” plan and proceeded to fill the child in on the rest of Abaddon’s announcement. Sans Lucifer’s judgement in person and the familicide that would follow if everyone failed. He was sure the boy wouldn’t respond well to pressure.
‘You mean you’d get to go to the Mortal realm?’ Kaarl asked, unable to mask his excitement and envy at such a prospect.
‘Not necessarily. Abaddon said the best demon for the job, and I doubt if myself or any other Demon Lord could match your knowledge of the Earth as it is today.’
Kaarl’s jaw dropped as the reality of what his father was saying dawned on him. ‘You think they would let me go?’ he asked.
‘If the plan is sound I’m sure I can convince the Board that you are the only logical choice.’
Mastema had seen enough over the evening to be sure his studious son was up to the task of assembling the basis of the proposal. He told him how to set out his ideas and the format that would be required. A little more time spent with Kaarl now meant less editing when he came to put his own name on the work. Mastema knew the boy wanted to visit Earth desperately, and would break his own back to do so. He was more than willing to be the patsy who went up to enact the plan, and that provided a safety net for Mastema. If anything went wrong the boy could take most of the blame.
Mastema found it slightly odd that the cerebral challenge of the task and the chance to go to Earth was more of a motivation to Kaarl than helping to deprive the Hated One of souls. He would have assumed that with the boy’s lack of social status he would be champing at the bit for some acceptance. Any normal Demon would be focusing on reaping the Damned and denying them entry to Heaven rather than seeing it as merely the by-product of solving a problem and the chance to play tourist. Whilst strange, it was not really important, and his son was far from normal. The end result would be the same and that was all that mattered. Confident that his son’s fervour and intelligence would be more than enough to get the task done, Mastema headed back to his own bedroom, contemplating a week of golf whilst the other Lords worked themselves into a stupor.
Chapter Three: Meeting the Master
The visit had left Kaarl with a lot of work to do and the faint tang of irony in his mouth. After the initial enthusiasm of discussing his favourite topic had faded he realised how ridiculous the situation was. The very interests that had relegated him to a status just below something his father had scraped off his hand-made shoes were suddenly in hot demand. It had been the opportunity to fulfil a lifelong dream that had swayed him to take up the challenge instead of telling his father to shove it.
That fact in itself was troubling; it was exactly the sort of ploy his father, a master manipulator, would use to secure his help. It was possible that Mastema would take the position on Earth, along with all the credit, and laugh in his face. A slim chance was still better than none, though, and Kaarl knew how to increase his odds.
It was obvious the Lords knew squat about the modern world: the colossal jerk that was his father had already said as much. It was a shortcoming СКАЧАТЬ