Karmmrak

Gideon

His world had shattered.

Everything he had known was gone. Everyone he knew had vanished apart from those beside him. They were no more. Friends. Family. Father.

Gone.

They were all that was left of Primetech. The room was quiet, the news resounding silently in every mind. It was too much. All too much.

He felt the tears stinging his eyes, felt his body shuddering, unable to keep composure. He balled his good hand into a fist and struck the coiled cabled floor, a futile gesture meant only to comfort himself.

They were lost. Not in distance, but time itself. It had passed, just as Ruth had claimed. Twelve thousand years since Armageddon, since his fateful flight. A brief span of seconds stretched to eons.

He was alone.

But I’m not.

The thought came to him and he paused. Shindow was here. Baxter was, too. Deborah and Excertius. Prosine. The corgi scooted in close, licking his good hand. Gideon returned the affection, rubbing the dog’s jowls. Deborah knelt down, taking his pause as a queue to gather Gideon to his feet. He wiped away his tears as he looked up into her shrouded eyes. She spoke, her words quiet and heavy.

"I'm sorry you've experienced this- losing everything you know. We are… Alike in that regard."

She pursed her lips, a painful story of her own rising to her mind.

"Why did it need to be me?"

Prosine's eye opened, becoming softer as he spoke, "it would have been whoever piloted the Decima. Either you, your Father, or siblings."

Shindow floated over to his shoulder.

"Or God forbid unmanned!"

"Indeed," Prosine accepted, "for then I would be doomed."

"But where is everyone? If it's after the Armageddon- Kingdom of Heaven, then where is our family?"

Prosine turned on his axis, staring away from the group.

"Unclear."

"How can you not know?"

He broke away from Deborah's grip, his eyes madly searching the ceiling.

"Where are you, Adonai!? God!? Where!? Did you just piss off after? Jobs done- good luck?"

No one answered. Shindow gave him a sad look. Prosine interrupted the tirade.

"Gideon, we are all troubled by the events of this time. You have been removed from your familiar world, lost in an unknown future and reality. But you are not alone. Twelve millennia has passed, with your arrival heralding in a new beginning."

Twelve thousand years. I can't think of such a number. Ten years seems long. This- it's too much!

He calmed, turning back to the first AI.

"Prosine- what happened?"

Prosine gently nodded before his eye scissored to a point.

"The moment after your flight, everything changed. The Dusk, now known as the Watcher's arrived to Karmmrak and re-asserted their ownership of the planet; The original owners. Your Father- your family was devastated upon hearing you never made it to Lo-nine. That was the heralding of the end: Armageddon."

Gideon's heart dropped.

"Karmmrak was a Dusk planet?"

"Correct. They allowed us to claim the planet as our IIT drive experiment was critical to them. We never realized how large their sway was in reality. But that was then."

Gideon looked to Baxter, comforted by his dumb doggy grin and hanging tongue.

"But what is now?"

"Now? The entire rules of reality have changed. Entropy ruled the old world-"

Old world. That nun Ruth said the same thing.

"-You live, you die; there was no escape. Your life began with flesh, lived for a time, and then returned to dust. Worlds were created and destroyed, galaxies existed and ceased. The universe slowly burnt out. Heat death was the perceived fate of all reality. But no longer. Entropy no longer exists."

"How can that be?"

Gideon couldn't process the information. His imagination stretched only to the boundaries of the natural.

"Entropy, from order to chaos. Ectropy, from chaos to order. In an entropic environment, if one abandoned a room, it would molder and decay with time. In an ectropic environment, the room would age in a pristine fashion, becoming greater than originally conceived."

"But thermodynamics?"

"Changed."

"But what happened to everything? Why is it such a shitshow?"

If Armageddon had come and gone, where was God? Why is it not set right?

"It is a mystery even to me. I was a part of the Galactic Nebula, placed on high as steward of that realm; to manage, observe, and serve. My memory of what occurred is slim since the attack by that Crypt Wurm, wiping out the connection nodes galaxy-wide. The information went dark. And then that demon."

Baxter's ears perked up.

"You mean Saddiffer?"

Oh, God no.

Baxter leaned down, wiggled his rump, and the black gem glowed. Suddenly, standing next to the smaller dog was the demon Saddiffer, his sad scowling face staring up at the AI.

The room went silent, as if emptied into the blackness of space.

"You," Prosine's voice rumbled.

"Me," the demon retorted, his sad face cracking into a smug smile.

They locked gazes, sizing each other up. And then Prosine laughed, something Gideon had never heard before. A low rumbling bassy chuckle he could feel in his chest.

"You, demon, who had plagued this planet, slain the inhabitants, broken and beaten by none, defeated by Baxter."

The demon's smile broadened.

“All a part of the plan, my tin-friend. I get off this rock, sated and well fed thanks to your former friends. I just hop a ride, find a new home, and then figure out a way to nullify this contract.”

The boast halted the room, silencing everyone. The demon scoffed, continuing his diatribe.

“What? You all thought you’ve won? I was bored, there’s no one left to eat. Now I get to leave-”

Baxter rushed to the demon, chomping down on his haunch. The demon bellowed, flexing his hands as he winced. And then the dog shook. The large and intimidating demon was slammed to the floor by the tiny corgi before being flung away into the wall, denting the coils. The dog scampered after, leaping atop the demon to wrestle with him. Gideon stared on in stupid shock at Baxter’s newfound abilities. But in a way, the demon was correct. They were not safe with it around.

"You be a good boy and stop being a bad boy right now!" Baxter barked fiercely, biting the shouting demon.

Gideon looked back to Prosine, seeing the AI gazing at Saddiffer.

"This is fortunate. The demon has been pacified. We can now dispose of it properly."

"Dispose? What about Baxter?"

The AI slowly pivoted to stare at him.

"Good Gideon… I'm sorry to inform, but Baxter would not leave unscathed,"

"No! No- we're not touching Baxter!" he shot back, eyes wide at the idea of hurting his dog.

Shindow rushed to Gideon's side, as did Deborah. The Angel was the first to speak up, "Gideon, we cannot allow such a vile creature aboard. He would doom us all!"

"Good Gideon, we must act. We may never have an opportunity to defeat this demon again," Steak added from the sideline.

"Good Father, we cannot sacrifice a crew member," Patricia interjected.

Shindow placed a hand upon his shoulder, giving him a reaffirming smile, "Gid, I'm with you, we can't throw Baxter under the proverbial bus!"

He looked to the wrestling duo, seeing that Saddiffer had shrunk to a tiny form which Baxter had been shaking profusely.

"Baxter, can you come over here?" Gideon asked before the conversation could descend.

The dog paused, ears perking as he trotted to the group, carrying the demon like a fallen mallard. Baxter halted, sitting just beneath him. Gideon squatted down, scratching at his ears with his good hand.

"Baxter, you did a really good job beating that demon Saddiffer, but we can't take him with us."

His ears drooped with his countenance.

"But Gid, I beat him and made him my pet! Am I really a good boy?"

"Yes! You're an amazing boy- the best dog ever! But we can't have Saddiffer. He's dangerous. He's bad!"

"Yes," Baxter agreed, dropping the demon to the ground. Gideon was relieved, they could ditch the demon here. Except the dog had more to say.

"That is why I making him a good boy," he knelt down, poking his nose into the demon's unmoving form, "Saddiffer, you be a good boy okay?"

A quiet grunt rang back.

"See? Saddiffer is a good boy!"

Gideon's heart dropped. Baxter was attached to his demon.

"Baxter, we need to remove him-"

The dog pulled back, scooping up Saddiffer in his mouth before scampering out of reach.

"No I beat him and he is mine! Gideon I love you! Please, do not take him away!"

Gideon looked to the AI. Prosine gave a subtle shake of his head. They were at an impasse. Baxter refused to give up Saddiffer while Deborah and Prosine desired his destruction. Shindow and Patricia were supportive, but they were still split. His hand brushed against his cast, reminding him why he feared the demon- hated it in fact. But Baxter had rescued them all and he couldn't take that victory away from him.

"What are you thinking?" Shindow asked, interrupting his thoughts.

"Someway to get out of this- I don't know."

He thought through what he knew. They had a demon, one who minced no words of his loathing for them. They had Baxter, the hero of the party who saved everyone, who minced no words in wanting to keep said demon. The demon itself had signed an ambiguous contract, which was conceived by a mixture of one used napkin and a poorly scribbled note by a left-muzzled dog; a high level feat for one lacking hands. The demon was then locked in place by said contract and pacified. Prosine and Deborah intended to destroy it or abandon it on Karmmrak. Shindow had also rescued them, decoding the distress message from Prosine and unlocking the Crypt Wurm. Deborah was an Angel, Excertius was renamed, Prosine was real, and Saddiffer was sad. He couldn't think of anything else. He was stuck.

He felt idly at his cast, the one thing he missed caught his eye. That Seal. His memory flooded back to him, remembering his Father's words, Adonai's words, and tying it all together.

“You first need to understand covenants... That is one of Adonai’s most powerful abilities. It has the power to affect reality itself... Those who accepted it changed… To change someone from old into new… You need not stick to your old ways, the habits you use to cope. The false identities you’ve picked up. You can change.”

Could Saddiffer change? Was that it? He thought back to Adonai's words.

"This gives you the authority to enter any of my domains, make use of any of my servants and their artifacts and gives you the keys to the kingdom. It will also give you power. My power. My covenants."

He gazed at the Seal, unable to understand its mystery.

Was it that easy? Just make a covenant with Saddiffer?

He looked to Baxter, seeing the dog flip the demon atop his back, scampering around like a stumpy horse to the smaller Saddiffer. He felt the phantom pain lance through his arm. If it were him, he'd let Prosine do whatever he needed to do; surgically remove and destroy the gem or ditch the demon to Karmmrak. But Baxter… It would break him, body and spirit. He had to try.

"Adonai, please help me."

He said one of his few brief prayers. And then he acted.

"Baxter," his voice was calm and firm. The dog paused, ears perked and rump wiggling.

"Can I see Saddiffer?"

The demon lept off his back, wings flapping madly as he flew close to Gideon, a sad suspicious scowl on his face. The demon grew to full size, arms crossed. He felt a spike of fear, but halted himself from shying away. He held firm.

"Speak, boy," the demon dripped venom.

His heart lept, his arm cried out in pain, his spirit withered at his enemy. He held firm, breathing calmly to keep his composure. He went for blunt.

"Well Saddiffer, as the captain I'm at an impasse. You're going to die."

The demon snapped his head to Baxter, before slowly looking back to him, his beady pits narrowed, a snarl began to form. The dog let out a sad whine.

"Prosine and Deborah have no intentions of letting you go and I don't have any power to stop them," he glanced to the Angel and AI, nodding to them. Deborah pursed her lips, sensing something else about to take place.

"I can't do anything. I want to- Baxter's my friend- but if Prosine, the machine Father, the one in control of those Rumblers and drones has anything to say about- that's it, the argument's over. And Prosine, what will you do to Saddiffer?"

He glanced to the AI, eyebrows raised as he waited for a response.

"Good Gideon, we would attempt surgery to remove the foreign object. Once extracted, I would use maximum crushing force of a XZ-99 Planet Defender, or a Rumblers as you put it, to destroy the offending gem and rid us of our galactic scourge."

Gideon paused, allowing the words to hang in the air.

"Did you have a point, boy?"

He felt Saddiffer's defensive tone. He knew he had the demon pinned.

"Well, that would have been all- and seeing you squirm would have been worth it."

He glanced to Baxter, seeing the dog's ears perk up.

"But I have a different route. What if you had another alternative?"

"Ah, I see now. There's your ploy. You will never break my will. I need only wait for that brief second you relax."

"What's your purpose?" Gideon asked, forcing him to focus.

The demon balked, "To rule. To fight. To devour. To crush the weak. To rip and tear. To sow dissension and mistrust. To destroy what was built, reducing all to naught but rubble. To feel the agony of a broken man. To squeeze the last vestiges of hope from mankind. To return everything to oblivion. That is my honest purpose. "

“Why?” asked Gideon, without a shred rhetorical guile," who gave you this purpose?” Gideon continued.

“What do you mean? As if I have no free agency? I am to kill until there is nothing left to kill,” Saddiffer said exasperatedly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“But why must it be that way? Why must you choose destruction? Why not creation? Why vice over virtue?”

He needed the demon to see his own board state, to see there was no move.

“Because that is who I am. An Angel must obey virtue, I must obey destruction.”

“Then you have no free agency; you are a slave,” Gideon announced. Everyone was silent, awaiting the reaction. Deborah stepped closer.

Saddiffer blinked several times scanning the room in thought. Seconds became minutes, the sound of thrumming energy all anyone heard. Then Saddiffer spoke.

“I suppose I am, then. And not just a slave to master Baxter. But a slave to instinct.” Saddiffer concurred, “And what of it?” the tone became defensive again.

Gideon leveled his gambit.

“What if that could change, you were no longer a slave to destruction, but a being that could choose? Becoming someone who could choose between life or death? Virtue or vice?”

Saddiffer guffawed a loud bellowing laugh at that those words.

“Ah This. This is truly- Hah! This is truly adorable.” Saddiffer finished with a final bellow of a laugh, waving Gideon away with his clawed hand. He was staring down at Gideon, the tiny blue flames dancing in his eyes. Baxter trotted over in between them, sitting to observe. Saddiffer cocked his head, his deep dark blue pits staring through him. Gideon held his ground. The demon suddenly seemed sad.

“Really?” The demon asked, “choice? Freedom? What would stop me from going back to what I am? What would stop me from devouring every living thing once free?”

Gideon countered, ready for his tirade.

“And what would you do if you didn’t?” he refused to break the stare of a planet-killing monster. He had to hold it.

“What if your nature changed? What if all of this murder was so exhausting? What if it was all so damn boring? What if you had a choice to no longer be a slave to destruction?”

Please Adonai, let this work.

“What if you could finally not be alone?” Gideon drew out his ace.

The demon scanned the group, his scowling temperament judging everyone. He looked trapped, right where Gideon needed him. If he only had one option, he would have to take it.

"I don't actually care for you. You've hurt me and my friends. But now you're Baxter's pet and I'm not going to see him hurt again. However, Prosine will do what he believes must be done."

Gideon snapped to the AI, "Prosine! Could I stop you?"

"Like an asteroid impact, good Gideon."

Prosine’s eye shrunk to a pin, the whisk of the iris ringing like the unsheathing of a blade. He slowly looked back to the demon, brows furrowed and eyes heavy. Saddiffer raised his eyebrows as he glanced for sympathetic looks. He was alone.

"There's only one way out. Join in covenant with me."

The room went quiet as the revelation settled in. That Gideon wanted to make a covenant with a demon. Deborah was the first to break the silence.

"Gideon you can't do that!"

He eyed her, palms up.

"I have no choice. I've never seen Prosine change his mind once he's set. I could no more halt him than fly in space."

Deborah gently gripped his arm.

"Please do not do this. A demon cannot partake on Adonai's covenants. They cannot."

He closed his eyes, giving her a nod before staring up at her.

"It's not for him. It's for Baxter."

The demon relaxed, folding his arms as he shot a cold stare.

“Very well. Let’s get this over with.”

Saddiffer held out his clawed hand, cocking an eyebrow to Gideon.

Deborah’s hand gripped harder against his shoulder, keeping him in place. He looked back, brows furrowed at her intervention.

“Deborah, Adonai gave me the Seal. He trusts me, so you’re going to have to as well.”

Shindow clasped her hands, giving him a reaffirming look.

Her mouth slacked as she released him, conflicted by his words. He got within inches of the demon, keeping his stare. He gripped Saddiffer’s claw, feeling a lance of phantom pain. He held his face impassive, refusing to budge. An ounce of weakness was a pound of destruction. A slight flex of the hand was all it would take to turn Gideon’s forearm into liquid. He trembled, the only thing keeping Saddiffer from pouncing upon the weakness was Prosine’s glare.

Adonai, please help me.

Gideon’s voice boomed as if someone else was speaking with him.

“By the power of Adonai the Father, Emmanuel the living King, and the comforting Holy Spirit, the slaved chains of your doomed destiny are broken and scattered to the infinite corners of the universe.”

He knew the words like a well rehearsed speech.

“You were once Saddiffer, the Elder Demon.”

Saddiffer dropped to his knees, the wind knocked out of him.

“No more.”

“You are Saddiffer, the Eudaemon!”

The Seal flared white hot. Gideon couldn’t let go. Neither could the demon. The storm built, a torrent of wind rushed around them with the Seal as the eye. Saddiffer’s grey flesh began to shred away, blowing away in the outpour. He bellowed, trying to pull away, but was a captive audience to his own transformation. He gripped his wrist and held on, shouting as his flesh flayed from his body. His wings ripped off at the joint, rushing away in the wind. Gideon’s hand burned as if scolded by a hot iron. He cried out, shock and fear running through him at the release of power. Saddiffer’s muscles melted away to black tar, his body seizing as the pitch of his scream rose. His bones rattled together as the final flesh tore free. The power released, sending them both flying.

He felt airborne, soaring high. He struck the coiled floor, felt the crunch and wind escape his lungs. His vision filled with stars.

And then existence faded.