Doom Story Update

2k words

***

Nothing except the Baroness, of course. His business with her had yet to be resolved. The fact she’d been captured didn’t change anything, except that now he had the opportunity to approach her on his terms, not the other way around, as it had always been since he’d crashed here.

Just under a day passed before he returned to the labs, Selena greeting him in the lobby. Her studies of the Baroness had been contained to simple examination for the moment, and it seemed all the Baroness had done since her capture was take off her armour and pace from the east wall to the west.

Her containment cell had no windows, no way for Sharrya to peer into the outside save for the small slice of glass on the door, but even then all she’d see is the captured spirit on the other side of the corridor. Yet despite this, as Andreas moved up to her cell, he found her demonic visage filling said window, Sharrya peering at him expectantly, like she’d sensed his approach.

He suppressed the involuntary chill at the thought, but Sharrya must have caught it, the corner of her lips twitching into a malicious grin. He let go of the thing he’d been pushing and reached up to the panel, hitting the button that activated the communicator.

“It’s visiting hours, Sharrya, you up for a little chat?”

The communicator was one-way, and Sharrya seemed to know this, for she nodded silently.

“Protocol says you have to stand up against the back wall first, then they’ll unlock the door.”

She did as he asked, hugging the wall like a mountaineer navigating a thin slope. There was a buzz, and then the door latch opened, Andreas sliding it out of his way.

The cell was layered with the fragrance of a freshly-bought car, but there was an underlying summer heat to it, and he knew at once why that was. Sharrya must give off a tremendous amount of body heat. It was a wonder that padded walls hadn’t caught fire yet.

“I knew you couldn’t stay away forever,” Sharrya said, her green eyes flashing. “Very bold of you to walk into a demon’s den unannounced, Seargent, especially with no easy way out.”

The door clanked shut behind him, as though to prove her point. The moment it settled, she peeled off the wall, taking a step closer. Gone was her cybernetic armour, piled into the far corner, the Baroness back to wearing her loincloth and leather swing.

“And you didn’t even bring a weapon either! One would think you were begging me to break all the bones in your body.”

Andreas chuckled, and Sharrya joined in as well, though perhaps not for the same reasons as he. It was a tittering sound that was stilting but not unpleasant, and Andreas didn’t think it fit at all with the face that was producing it.

“If you did try anything,” he said. “I think I could take you, given how you’re cuffed and the suppression field’s on full blast.”

“I did feel a certain sluggishness when I moved through that gate,” Sharrya admitted. “like a lead weight has settled in my hooves. But do you think these chains make me any less dangerous? I could crush you with my legs if I could get you at just the right angle…”

“I’m sure you could, but that’s not what you want,” Andreas replied.

“Oh?” She bent down to his level, like a parent about to school a petulant child. “And what is it I want, Seargent?”

“You want this hostility between us to be over,” he said. “We’ve hurt each other, physically and otherwise, but it’s time we buried the hatchet. Your war ended the moment I put those cuffs on you, and I’m willing to stop seeing you as my enemy if you are.”

“You are half-correct,” Sharrya replied. “While it is true I would find a development in our relationship so very exciting, the fact you just keep on going, keep on testing me when all others would have long since given up, it stokes the fire in my heart like you wouldn’t believe.”

She had the dreamy expression on her face as she said that, Andreas shaking his head in exasperation. “You like having an enemy then?”

“Andreas, I am not your enemy, nor do I see you as my own. I like to think of us as… rivals, with conflicting goals that help break the monotony that comes with staying in one place for too long. You staying alive is of great value to me, in a way.”

“I’d believe that, if you didn’t just threaten to break my bones just a second ago.”

This time she instigated the laughter, her shackles bumping her head as she brushed her cheek with a knuckle. “A simple misunderstanding. I’ve never been held prisoner before, and I’m of the strong opinion I do not enjoy it. The combination of the isolation, and all the recent events having finally dawned on me, has made me feel futile and not a bit furious. I needed to vent out on someone.”

“Maybe I should get you a stress ball or something,” Andreas said. “But I’m not sure Selena would let me.”

“Ah yes, the closet torturer,” Sharyya snarled. “I’m starting to wish you had not spared me. That vile creature has treated the rest of these demons rather poorly. Well, at least those with flesh.”

Her eyes flicked over his shoulder, to the window in the door, and Andreas noted that for the second time she had this odd look about her as she looked upon the spirit just outside her cell. It was a look of anxiety, or perhaps fear, but he knew for a fact Sharrya had seen worse horrors than any human could imagine, surely she wasn’t anxious of another demon, was she?

“You keep looking at that spirit over there,” he noted. “Is it talking to you?”

“I wish it wouldn’t,” Sharrya grumbled. “Pestilent poltergeist keeps rambling on in his sad little voice and staring into my cell. If only your mad scientist would terminate it posthaste.”

“When you first got here, you said you didn’t want the cell straight across from it,” Andreas noted.

“What of it?” Sharrya scoffed, folding her arms. “There are five good cells further away from that thing, and she puts me in the one directly in it’s eye sight. Why are you smirking, Seargent?”

“Cause I think,” he said, struggling to hold back laughter. “that Baroness Sharrya, conqueror of the universe and top dog of the Shattered Peaks, is scared of ghosts.”

Andreas threw back his head, Sharrya scowling at him as the cell filled with his hysterics. The spirit tilted its head at them in its ever-silent watch.

“Did you come here just to mock me?” Sharrya demanded, her gaze piercing straight through him. “I may not want to kill you, but my temper is oft to change if you test my patience, believe you me.”

The tops of her eyes seemed to grow tendrils of green flame, flashing like hot coals before a pair of bellows. Her ability to shift expressions so quickly was uncanny to put it lightly, and he urged himself to tread more lightly, regardless if she was a prisoner or not.

“I did come here for a reason,” he said. “I brought you something.”

“A gift, for me?” she asked, tilting her head curiously. “I was flattered enough just by the visit, but now you come with an offering?”

“I wouldn’t call it an offering, but after what you said before, I couldn’t help myself.”

“What I said?” she echoed. “What are you talking about?”

“Wait here and I’ll show you.” He moved back to the door, but when he hit the unlocking latch, it didn’t budge. “Scratch that, you have to stand by the wall again.”

Exaggerating her reluctance, Sharrya sulked over to ther far side of the cell, and the door unlocked. He grabbed the handles of the trolley he’d carted into the lab, sparing the spirit a glance, then wheeled it into the cell.

Sharrya leaned on a hip, watching him roll by with a mix of fascination and confusion. Andreas presented the cart to her, the Baroness gesturing with her palms turned up.

“What… is it?” she asked.

“This is a TV,” he said, patting the top of the monitor.  “And that’s a DVD player,” he added, pointing to the box on the first shelf of the cart. “Couldn’t stream on account of all the broadcasting networks going dark, but I’ve always been partial to using good old CD’s anyway.”

“I understood maybe half of that,” Sharrya said. “What exactly is this contraption you’ve brought me?”

“We’re going to watch a movie,” he elaborated. “You said you’ve never even heard of one, and I just had to fix that for you. A couple of the civvies let me borrow a whole bunch of them, let’s see here…”

On the lower shelf was three stacked rows of movie cases, and Andreas pulled one of them out, beginning to sift through the titles. Sharrya peered over his shoulder, seeming a little out of her element by his sudden proposal.

“What is the point of this activity?” she asked. “Do all demons consume human media before going under the knife? A form of brainwashing, perhaps?”

“No, no, movies are entertainment, they help you forget all the worries of life for a few hours, maybe help you learn something if it’s a really good one. It’s also a good social experience if you and your friends have a few hours to kill, and you’ve got a lot of spare time on your plate, Sharrya.”

“I see, so it is brainwashing, but on a more selective level. A distraction, one I sorely need right about now.”

“Exactly what I was thinking. There’re a few gems here, but you can pick out what you want to watch.”

He held out the movie cases, but Sharrya didn’ take them, clicking her tongue in irritation instead.

“I have no basis on what these things are, remember? How do you expect me to pick one?”

“Ah. Right,” he said, feeling a little silly. “Well in that case, what’s your preference? You like action, adventure, thrillers, romances…?”

“How about a plot based on warfare? I would like to see how conquest is portrayed in your culture. If you have anything about the greater Cosmos, I would see that as well.”

“Somehow I knew you’d be into war movies,” Andreas said. “I think I have just the one…. here! This one was made around the time that multiverse movies were the big craze. It’s about this guy that hops between world trying to save this woman. Plenty of action.”

“Are you referring to the woman, or in terms of fighting?”

“You’ll have to wait and see,” he said, giving her a wink, one she chuckled at. “There’s plenty more here if you want me to go through a few others.”

“Let us watch that one first,” she said, holding him by the shoulder. “As you said, I have plenty of time to ‘kill’. Now play the movie.”

“Yes ma’am,” he replied, popping the case and sliding the disk into the player. There was no way to turn the lights off from inside, but that a small price to pay to get to watch this classic again.

He sat down on the hard tiles before the screen, and after hesitating, Sharrya did the same, crossing her long legs as she sat beside him, using the wall to recline. As the title screen bloomed across the monitor, Andreas jerked forward, reaching for the space behind the many cases, and producing a plastic bag.

“What’s that you have?” Sharrya asked, watching him produce another smaller, colourful packet from within.

“Can’t go watching a movie without a snack,” Andreas replied, tipping the bag of candy over his mouth and munching away. “Want shum?” he asked.

“It smells very sweet,” she muttered in disapproval, pinching a piece of candy between her claws. “I imagine it is high in calories also. Don’t tell me you eat this drivel?”

“Shut up, it’s starting!”