Goetic Justice

"Can I help you with something, sir?"

"Yes," Ryan replied, straightening his tie more because he was fidgeting than because it was crooked. "I have an interview with Mister Booker scheduled for ten AM, Ryan Cutter."

She checked her computer, twirling a biro in her fingers, and then nodded in approval. She gestured to a stairwell on his right with the pen.

"Very good Mister Cutter, you're right on time. If you'll wait outside the office on the third floor for a few minutes, I'll send word that you've arrived. I'm sure they'll be able to see you shortly."

"Thank you," Ryan replied, turning towards the stairwell. It was a large building, an IT firm that did everything from providing security solutions for companies to handling on-site hardware installations and repairs. He passed a couple of floors that were dedicated to cubicles, there were hundreds of employees milling about as they performed their duties, the sounds of phones and keyboards almost deafening. He arrived at the executive offices and took a seat in the waiting room, it was empty save for him. It was a very average office environment, chairs lined up against the walls and plastic potted ferns serving as sparse decoration. It was almost indistinguishable from the last place that he had worked, as if these offices were all cut from the same cloth.

He picked up a magazine from a nearby coffee table and leafed through it absentmindedly, waiting to be called. Before very long the door to one of the side rooms opened and a portly man wearing a pinstripe suit walked out to greet him. It was a shade of navy blue, contrasting with Ryan's black, accompanied by a red tie and a pair of shiny black shoes.

"Mister Cutter," he said, extending his hand as Ryan rose from his seat. They shook, the man looking him up and down, apparently pleased with his attire. "You're very punctual, that's encouraging! Please come into the conference room and take a seat, we'll begin the interview."

"Nice to meet you Mister Booker," he replied. He followed Booker into the room, the door closing behind them, and he was faced with a panel of interviewers sitting at a large wooden table in an expansive office. There were two women and three men besides Booker, who took up a seat to his left and gestured for him to join them. Ryan sat down stiffly, trying not to feel too self-conscious, the interviewers scrutinizing him as he waited for further instructions. Everyone was smartly dressed, they were all upper management, that much was clear. Each person had a laptop on the table in front of them, along with a glass of water, and he noted that there was a cup laid out for him as well. Behind them was a large projector screen that took up most of the wall, but besides that, the conference room was sparsely furnished, spartan and functional.

"So, Mister Cutter," an older woman in a blue pants suit at the head of the table began. "What makes you want to work for our company?"

Ryan had done this before, and he went through the usual spiel about how excited he was to work with them, trying to appear positive and enthusiastic about the prospect. These interviews were as much a judgment of character and sociability as one's employment history and qualifications, it was paramount that he remained courteous and confident. Before long the subject of his firing from his previous position came up, and he decided to answer truthfully.

"It says here that you were hired by one of our competitors three years ago, Mister Cutter," a sharply dressed man to his right added. This one was younger, perhaps in his early thirties. His black hair was cut short, and he was wearing a fitted suit of the same color. "Straight out of college apparently. You were recently let go, why was that?"

Ryan shifted uncomfortably but tried to remain relaxed, resisting the urge to fiddle with his tie.

"There was...quite a disruption to my personal life, a break-up with a long term partner. Needless to say, it impacted my ability to perform my duties. I have of course recovered, and I'm eager to get back on the horse and start working again."

"Would you say that there's a risk of the same thing happening again?" Booker asked, peering at Ryan over his laptop monitor.

"No," he replied adamantly, "I'm certain that there's no risk of a repeat."

He was starting to feel like he was losing the crowd. There was some muttering amongst the interviewers, disdainful glances in his direction. He felt a bead of sweat trickle down his brow and resisted the urge to wipe it away. If he became visibly anxious at this stage, then he might blow the interview altogether.

A cold came over the room all of a sudden, the temperature dropping noticeably, and one of the women buttoned up her jacket as she scowled in the direction of an air vent that was built into the wall above them.

"Has someone been messing with the thermostat in here?" she wondered aloud, and her colleagues shook their heads. "Maybe someone opened a window on this floor, it's the middle of damned autumn, what are they thinking? I'm sorry Mister Cutter, where were we?"

Ryan was distracted by shadows playing across the walls as if cast by flickering candles, swirling vapors descending over the room and hanging in the air like a mist. His breath caught in his throat and he looked to the interviewers with wide eyes, but they weren't reacting to what was happening around them. It was as if they couldn't see it, couldn't smell the sulfur in the air, was he the only one who could?

A giant, shadowy figure materialized in the corner of the room, towering over the smaller people as it seemed to form from the smoke. Curled horns brushed the ceiling, yellow eyes glowing ominously as it stepped forward, a monster made of acrid fumes. As it became solid, he realized that it was Nahash, her pale body catching the light as she emerged from the mist. She looked at him, putting a finger to her lips as if to say be quiet.

Ryan swallowed hard and turned his attention back to the interviewers who were frowning at him around the table.

"Is something the matter, Mister Cutter? Are you distracted? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"No, please continue, you have my undivided attention."

He tried to maintain eye contact with the woman who was cross-examining him as Nahash walked around the circumference of the room, brushing aside the decorative ferns as she passed by them. Nobody noticed her, did she exist only in Ryan's mind? What were Nahash and Orobas playing at? Nothing could have been more distracting. Why hadn't Nahash warned him that she would be making an appearance at the interview?

Nahash stood directly behind the woman, looming over her, those horizontal pupils fixed on her as she shuffled through papers and adjusted her spectacles. Suddenly her whole demeanor changed. Gone was the frown, her expression turning to one of calm and relaxation as a smile crossed her lips.

"Well, these things happen," she said jovially. "Especially early in one's life. I'm sure that your previous employer overreacted, and as a result, they've lost a highly qualified employee. I have to say your records are most impressive. You have extensive experience in system administration and programming, I can see you becoming an asset to this company."

Her colleagues seemed surprised, perhaps she wasn't usually so upbeat, a few of them glancing between one another in silent confusion. Ryan watched as Nahash waved her clawed hand across the table as if she was casting a spell on them, the cloud of vapors swirling through the air like ink in water.

The same change fell over the rest of them, Nahash must be altering their moods, influencing their emotions to make them happy and positive. The younger of the two women was even starting to gaze at him for longer than he felt was appropriate, batting her eyelashes at him as he looked away uncomfortably.

"He is highly qualified," Booker added. "Networking, web development, extensive experience with security software. I agree that his last employer probably acted rashly in terminating his contract as soon as they did."

There was a chorus of affirmations, Ryan letting his eyes wander to Nahash for a moment. She looked like she was concentrating hard on whatever it was that she was doing to them. It was difficult to pretend that she wasn't there, as enormous and disarming as her demonic form was, and Ryan did his best to stay focused on the interview as the executives moved on to other subjects.

They asked him some more specific technical questions about his certifications and what programming languages he was familiar with, and they seemed pleased by his replies. He was quizzed extensively about his experience and presented with fictional scenarios, then asked to resolve them in the way that he thought best, his rather mundane and predictable answers drawing nods of approval nonetheless. At this point, he could probably have torn off his clothes and danced naked on the table, and they would still have been willing to hire him. Nahash had them practically euphoric.

The interview dragged on, he had been sitting in this uncomfortable chair for nearly an hour now, and Nahash had not so much as glanced in his direction since first appearing. Just how much energy was being expended to keep her here? Usually, she only appeared inside the summoning circle, perhaps it took a larger expenditure of energy to manifest outside of it. Or maybe it only served as a sort of conduit, like a landing pad that directed the spirit to a specific location. He would have to ask her when this was all over and done with.

The next line of questioning concerned teamwork and social skills. He had been through this process before, a kind of personality test to determine that he wasn't some kind of sociopath who wouldn't be able to work alongside their employees. This was the part that he usually dreaded, he did not enjoy being cross-examined by a group of strangers, picking his brains and overanalyzing his every twitch in order to determine his suitability to their work environment. He excelled in the technical aspects, but when he was nervous he made mistakes, and the one thing that was essential in these interviews was confidence.

Fortunately, Nahash was running the show today. The executives were jovial and relaxed as the usually probing questions became friendly conversation, as if the room of interviewers had taken an immediate liking to him. It wasn't just Nahash doing her thing, he realized, remembering one of Orobas' powers that was listed in the Lesser Key. He had the ability to confer the favor of friends and foes, which must mean that he could influence other people's opinions of his ward. Instant good first impressions, quite the tool to have at one's disposal during a job interview.

"Well," Booker said, rising from his seat and clasping his hands together. "I think I've seen enough. I believe that I speak for everyone here when I say that we'd love to have you onboard, and if there are no objections, I'd like you to start work next week."

The rest of the interviewers expressed their approval and then they stood, Ryan following suit as they approached him and shook his hand one by one. As the younger woman who had been staring across the table at him for the duration of the session let go of him, he felt something in his palm, looking down to see a slip of paper. He shot a quizzical look at the woman, and she mimed a phone with her fingers, mouthing call me silently as she exited the room.

Ryan made for the door, then glanced back at Nahash, the horned demon slowly fading as the yellow glow of her eyes became faint and eventually vanished. The room cleared, the shadows on the walls chased away by the harsh fluorescent lighting, and just like that she was gone.

He glanced at the slip of paper again, examining the digits, then discarded it in a potted plant on his way out.

***

Ryan flung off his jacket and unfastened his tie, unbuttoning the collar of his dress shirt and breathing a sigh of relief as he stepped into his apartment and collapsed onto the couch. He had gotten the job, his financial worries were over. He no longer had to fret about losing the apartment or going hungry. It felt as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders, like he could breathe easy for the first time since Becky had left him. Orobas had really delivered, this demon thing had been a shot in the dark, but it had paid off in more ways than he could ever have imagined. What might have happened if he had not gotten drunk that night and made up his mind to do something that had seemed so ridiculous at the time?

He felt a chill come over him, a sudden realization spoiling his good mood. Had the contract been fulfilled? Was it over? Would he not see Nahash again?

He didn't know what he had expected to happen, she had no reason to be here once her task was complete so why would she choose to stay? She couldn't survive without her master's energy after all, and she was little more than an errand girl in Orobas' eyes, the demon might not allow her to come back even if she wanted to.

What about the plan that he had been concocting over the last few days? What about those little glimpses of her true personality that slipped through the cracks of the stoic facade that Orobas imposed on her? He wasn't even sure what he was feeling, he just knew that he didn't want her to leave yet, the idea of never seeing her again was intolerable.

His heart leapt as he felt a chill come over the room, indicating that someone or something was arriving, and once again those swirling vapors appeared in the air like lingering cigarette smoke in a dingy bar. Nahash was birthed from the mist, her massive figure slowly taking shape and coming into focus, seen as much in his mind as through his eyes.

"Nahash!" Ryan exclaimed excitedly, a little more emotive than he had intended. "I wasn't sure that you'd come back."

"Why would I leave you?" she replied, peering at him with her amber eyes. "My task here is not yet complete."

"But I got the job, all thanks to you of course," he said. "That was amazing by the way, I had no idea that you could mess with so many people at once. Is the contract not fulfilled though? I'm safe now, I'm not going to lose my apartment. I have a steady job, and I don't have to worry about money anymore."

"That was but one facet of your contract with Orobas," she replied. "You stipulated that you wanted him to make you happy again, and to turn your life around. These are vague requests Ryan, any other demon might have taken advantage of you. Fortunately, Orobas is loyal to his charges and does not deceive them."

"So...how do you measure if I'm happy or not?" he asked as he slumped over the headrest of the couch, watching the tall Seirim as she gestured to herself with her clawed hands.

"Do you forget? I have the ability to sense your emotions, I am perfectly capable of determining your level of happiness and contentment. I will judge when the contract has been fulfilled based on your overall emotional state."

He beamed at her, and she seemed confused by his response. She cocked her head, the gesture exaggerated by those massive horns that sprouted from her feathery wool like a gnarled crown.

"Well, I'm glad that we get to spend a little more time together," he added.

She hesitated before replying, as if she had wanted to say something else but had stopped herself.

"I have come to enjoy your company too, Ryan."

It was enough, coming from her.

"So what's next? What more is there to do?"

She sauntered around the couch, her gait never ceasing to draw his eye. She had the legs of a goat standing upright, and the way that she walked was so strange and unearthly. Her thighs were very human, shapely and alluring even, her skin pale and smooth. The wool, or maybe it was fur, started near her knees and covered her lower legs in a shaggy forest. Her limbs were digitigrade, her cloven hooves protruding from beneath the white hair, split clean down the middle like those of a deer or a sheep. She wore no clothes, not even a loincloth for modesty. She was in a seemingly perpetual state of nudity that caused her no embarrassment. The few times that he had dared to take a peek between her thighs they had been thick enough to obscure her more intimate anatomy, which in some ways was even more tantalizing than the alternative. Despite her size and her mismatch of human and animal features, she remained graceful, planting herself beside him on the cushions.

"You must begin courting again, Ryan. I sense the loneliness in you. It lingers beneath the surface, like a crocodile lying in wait for its prey, ready to leap out and strike whenever the opportunity presents itself. Until you resolve this problem you will not be happy, it will hang over you like a shadow and torment you whenever your mind is idle."

"You can tell all that just from reading my emotional state?" Ryan asked, his face reddening a little. He still wasn't entirely comfortable with having her read his mood like a book, but it was apparently necessary, and he wondered what he must look like to her. Was it like a heat-map of his body as if seen through an infrared camera, with the colors changing and shifting like a mood ring? Red for angry, blue for sad, green for jealous maybe? Perhaps it was more intuitive than that, empathic, with her being able to feel a little of what he felt as if she was inhaling second-hand smoke? He doubted that she would be able to explain it to him, after all, he lacked the sense entirely. It would be like trying to describe colors to a blind man.

"The woman at the interview today, she propositioned you. Was she not to your liking? She was within an acceptable age range, and she was fertile."

His cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, and he laughed nervously, waving his hand dismissively as Nahash looked on.

"I mean...yeah she looked fine, but I had never even met her before. I'm not that kind of guy, Nahash, I want a meaningful relationship. I want to be with someone that I share a connection with, you know? Someone I've gotten to know as a friend before we jump into something serious."

"I sense your sexual frustration, you are-"

He waved his hands again to cut her off, his face now burning in earnest as she scrutinized him.

"It's not about that, trust me. I have it under control."

"You are embarrassed, I meant no offense. I was merely relaying to you what I sensed."

"Don't worry about it, just...let's keep your future sensing above the belt, okay?"

"Very well, then what scenario do you envision wherein your needs are fulfilled?"

"I...don't know, that's kind of a hard question to answer. Sometimes we don't know what we want until it falls into our lap. I thought that I was happy with Becky, that she was my type, but more and more I'm starting to realize that our relationship wasn't that great to begin with." He chuckled to himself, and Nahash gave him a quizzical look. "Hell, I've talked more with you in the last week than I did with Becky in the last month. We really didn't have very much in common after all."

"I have enjoyed that aspect of our interaction," she replied, "it is rare that I have an opportunity to talk with someone at length. Where I reside, there is no conversation as you know it, just the ever-shifting tides of raw thought and emotion."

"That sounds like it could get overwhelming pretty fast," Ryan added, and she nodded her shaggy head.

"It can indeed. My visits to the mortal realm are so infrequent now, I sometimes find myself pining for it."

She looked off into the distance, her expression forlorn, and it broke Ryan's heart to see her that way. She was a prisoner, a slave by any metric, forced to leech energy from more powerful demons if she wanted to survive. She wasn't being held against her will exactly, but what choice did she have, live in servitude or die? He might have a way to change that, however.