Chapter 3: 2. Incentive

A megastructure, an architectural concept that became popular during the 1960s, became even more apparent in 2082 within Scorpion City. With the sole purpose of saving space and inducing efficiency in living conditions, megaflats were built at a rapid pace. Apartments, grocery stores, clubs, swimming pools, restaurants, indoor parks, and everything in between combined together into one large megaflat, allowing an individual to be able to live a full life within the containment of one single building- assuming that they could find a job within the megaflat. A population size of 100,000 citizens in one megaflat is common- although Utopia, the name of the megaflat that Alastair lives in, is one of the smaller ones, hosting a humble number of roughly 40,000 residents.

After getting through the redundant security check that every resident was required to go through to enter and exit the building, Alastair finally arrived on the fortieth floor by taking one of the many elevators that his megaflat had. With Xogrunath trailing behind him, the boy began walking toward his apartment room at a steady pace. 

The purple LEDs illuminated all throughout the hallway, giving an intentionally-designed calming atmosphere in order to reduce crimes that happen within the megaflat. On top of the lights, there were also quiet sounds of EDM playing in the background, which Xogrunath had decided to bop her head along to.

“Yo, who made this song? I love it!”

The two eventually arrived in front of Alastair’s room. Room 39641, the door standing in front of them read. 

“Please keep still,” an automated voice instructed. “The facial scan will begin in three… two… one…”

The doorknob began creating sounds of clicks and turns, transforming into a scanner that spewed its light toward Alastair’s face. After a few seconds of analyzing the boy, the scanner stopped and morphed back into its original doorknob form, followed by yet another clicking sound that signaled that the door had been unlocked.

“Oooh! Fancy!” X admired, immediately running inside the apartment room as soon as Alastair opened the door for her. The boy followed behind, gently shutting the door behind him as he entered.

“Welcome to Apartment 39641. Would you like to activate the room?” the same automated voice from before asked.

“Yes.”

Then, a mix of white and violet lights appeared from all across the room- the ceilings, the walls, and even from the shelves. After that, a table and a few chairs rose up from the ground, lighting up with strips of LEDs underneath them as well. The TV then proceeded to turn on through automation, blasting out a weatherman’s report on next week’s predictions.

Immediately after, X grinned a large smile and jumped on Alastair’s bed, waving her feet into the air. “Ahhhh! This is sooo comfortable! Say, Alastair… Why don’t you come lay down with me? Let’s cuddle!”

But the boy entirely ignored the devil, instead walking over to the fridge with the intent of finding something to eat. He pulled out two leftover slices of pizza that he had eaten the previous night for dinner. Whether for good or not, that was the last dinner he’d ever had before contracting with Xogrunath.

“Wanna eat with me?” the boy offered as he placed the two slices into the mini oven beside the fridge. 

“You have placed two slices of pizza. Is this correct?” a voice from the oven asked.

“Yes.”

Hearing that, X jumped out of the bed in excitement, her scarlet eyes glimmering with excitement. “Pizza? Really? I can eat some?!”

Alastair let out a faint smile as he walked over to take a seat on the couch. “It’s Scorpion City’s main dish from the best Pizza place here. Get ready for a treat.”

Her excitement became even more apparent as drool began to leak from her mouth. But as Alastair was about to point out the fact that her saliva was about to fall onto the floor that he had spent hours cleaning the previous day, she then proceeded to shuffle over toward the couch, taking a seat beside him and leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Pizza… pizza… pizza…” she mumbled to herself, although her words seemed awfully vocal to be called a simple mumble.

“Um… X?” Alastair began, staring down at the top of her head. The boy felt slightly uncomfortable that a girl he had just met was now leaning on him.

“Yes?”

“You smell.”

…

She launched herself far away from the boy, landing on the opposite side of the couch. With her eyes wide and her mouth dropped open with shock, she mouthed, “Really…?”

Alastair let out a single nod.

…

The devil, who had previously acted high and mighty toward Alastair when they had first established their contract, was now bashful and teary-eyed from the boy’s criticism.

“You… you jerk! How could you say that to a cutie like me?!”

“I don’t think any cutie would make somebody bash their head into a brick wall multiple times…”

Thinking back on it, X recalled that she indeed did use her powers to make Alastair bash his head against a brick wall. A not-so-cute action, that was.

She let out a faint snicker before switching the topic of their conversation. “Well anyways! This room’s sure spacious! Does your family live here too?”

Before replying, the boy paused for a second. “...no, my family isn’t here with me.”

“Aw… It must be lonely living all alone, isn’t it?” She scooched back next to the boy, completely ignoring the fact that he had called her smelly not so long ago. 

The boy stayed silent.

“Y’know, I feel that there’s a reason why we were drawn together. This contract that we’ve made was no mistake. It’s almost as if this power that I’ve given to you was something that was meant to be. It’s like… it’s like I was meant to be your big sister to cure your loneliness!” 

…

“You’re totally right. I’ve been expecting you ever since the day that I was born,” Alastair said.

“What?”

“Nah, never mind…” the boy immediately replied. “Anyways, how’re you even leaning your head on me? Isn’t my body supposed to just phase through you?”

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“Ah ha, curious about my powers, are you?” X smiled arrogantly. “You see, I get to choose what phases through me. So if you ever decide to punch me again like last time, you’ll just completely embarrass yourself since your fist will just fly right through my face! Plus, I get to choose who I’m invisible toward!”

“Wow, that’s impressive,” the boy acknowledged. With X sitting beside him, he suddenly raised his arm and gently placed his hand on top of her head, staring at her as he did so. Surprised at the sudden kind gesture, she glanced at him with a confused look on her face.

“Huh? Didn’t you say that I was smelly?”

“Yeah, you’re really damn smelly.”

“You…” Angrily, she tilted her head away from his hand and pouted.

…

There’s no doubt about it, Alastair thought. She looks exactly like-

Suddenly, a loud beeping noise rang through the entirety of Alastair’s apartment room, coming from the small oven where he had placed the pizzas. He stood up, walked over to take out the slices, and began to place them on the remaining two paper plates that he had left.

“Here, your pizza.”

Instantly, X jumped off of the couch and walked over to the counter with a wide smile on her face. “Thanks!” 

She picked up the slice and took her first bite without hesitation. 

“So? Do you like it?” Alastair asked.

Although her mouth was full of food, it didn’t stop her from replying with pure excitement. “Ish… deliscioush!”

Alastair let out a smile before proceeding to take a bite of the pizza himself. 

The dark night outside combined with the purple LEDs within the room created a rather calming atmosphere. On top of that, Alastair was able to enjoy his favorite dish along with a new friend that he had made, so long as he considered the devil to be a friend. It had been quite a long time since the boy had last felt this way before.

…

“You know…” Alastair began, setting down his pizza back onto the plate. “You saved my life, X. Indirectly, that is.”

“Hm? How so?”

“I was planning on killing myself in that alleyway that we met in. I had a knife zipped up in my pocket, but when I met you there, I’d completely forgotten about it. I guess you have my thanks.”

He reached into the pocket inside the back of his pants and pulled out a small pocket razor, though it was one that was just large enough to be considered deadly and illegal.

X appeared slightly confused, but she felt the sense of sincerity that Alastair was showing her. Without questioning anything, she simply smiled at the boy and walked over to pat him on the head.

“I’ve lost too many great things in my life,” the boy continued, his expression turning into one that must not be described. “But now, you’ve given me power. You’ve given me a hope that nobody had ever been given before.”

…

X then gently reached her hand forward, softly touching the boy’s cheeks with a devilish smile. “You’re absolutely right.”

It was almost as if a switch had flipped within Xogrunath’s body. Without warning, the tone of her voice had changed entirely.

“This world is corrupted, Alastair. Out of every other citizen in Scorpion City, you understand that the most. The murders that happen every day, the harassment of the people, the exploitation of everything… you despise it. I believe that is the reason why we were drawn together.”

“...”

The boy gently grabbed onto X’s hand, which was still pressed warmly against his cheek.

“This fucking world… I hate it. I hate it so, so fucking much. All that the world had ever done was take from me. It took my parents… my sister… my friends… the girl I loved… EVERYTHING!” Alastair suddenly screamed. “I’ve killed so, so many people… all for the sake of avenging the ones that were closest to me… but what did that ever bring? What did that change? They’re never coming back to me anyways!”

…

“I get it now,” X began. “When you said earlier that your parents weren’t here with you, you meant that they were dead, correct?”

“...”

Seeing that Alastair remained silent, she simply leaned forward, pointing her gentle lips near his mouth. She gave him a quiet kiss on the lips, though it was not one of intimacy. 

“You’ve experienced so, so much at such a young age…”

The boy stared his broken eyes at X. “This power that you’ve given me… Is it the key to changing the world?”

“If you wish.”

“But where do I start?”

The devil let out a faint smile as if she had been waiting for Alastair to ask that question all along. “We eradicate. We will rid this city of those who are evil.”

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