The Demon and the City

tongue."
    "There's a reason for that." Jhai murmured.
    "And that would be?"
    "The drug you were given via the virus is a neurological enhancer. It taps into aggression and anger. It acts as an override on normal states of consciousness."
    Zhu Irzh didn't have a very scientific mind, but he was beginning to see where this conversation was leading. "You fed the drug to a Celestial?"
    Jhai nodded. "Yes. A while ago, I was contacted by an old friend who had become versed in dark magic. She told me that she had found a way to break the seal between the worlds, an ancient and powerful summoning spell, to bring demonkind and Heavenkind through to Earth. Normally, as I'm sure you know, it's easier to summon demons than the Celestials, but this spell worked admirably."
    "And that friend was Deveth Sardai?"
    Jhai nodded. "That's right." She gave him a sidelong glance and he could see the flicker of gold behind her eyes. "We activated the spell. And we summoned a Celestial, who was already on Earth for some reason—I never found out why—and bound him here."
    "Do you know which Celestial?"
    "He called himself Mhara. I don't know the name, but then, I'm not very well versed in the hierarchies of Heaven."
    "No, I don't expect you are."
    Jhai squinted at him. "And are you?"
    "No, not really," the demon was forced to admit. "I know most of the major players, of course. But there are a lot of Celestial beings and none of them are that interesting, frankly."
    "Anyway, we started experimenting. I told the lab staff that he was a demon, that we were working on ways to protect Earth from another invasion by Hell."
    "But, in fact, your plans were somewhat more grandiose," Zhu Irzh said neutrally. "You're planning to storm Heaven, aren't you?"
    She smiled. "You're quick. Yes. But not with an army. The original plan was to infect the Celestial with the drug in a viral carrier, wipe his memory and send him back."
    "You can do that? Your technology's that advanced?"
    "Paugeng's R&D division is cutting edge, Zhu Irzh."
    "So Heaven would become infected with an aggression drug, turn against itself, be thrown into chaos. And then—what?"
    "Then the people who are paying me to undertake the research would move in."
    "And who are they?"
    Jhai paused. "Let's just say that they have unlimited funding."
    "It's one of the Ministries of Hell, isn't it? Which one? War? Though it's more the style of Epidemics, and they've certainly got reason to try and recapture some of the power they lost earlier in the year." He glanced at her closed face. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"
    "I can't. I'm under oath. It would literally kill me to tell you."
    "What happened with Deveth? Did she become a liability?"
    Jhai grimaced. "She started asking for too much. Power crazy. She knew what I was. I couldn't hide it from her; I started to change during the summoning, and she saw enough to guess the truth. She threatened to expose me unless I handed over control of the project to her. I couldn't risk that, Zhu Irzh. Deveth had no managerial skills; she couldn't have run a bath. So I tried out the Celestial's new-found aggression on her."
    "What's that Western expression? Killing two birds with one stone?"
    "Exactly."
    "So," the demon said, turning in his seat to look at her. He reached out and touched her cheek. "Why are you telling me all this? So that I can take you down to the police precinct and charge you with all manner of iniquities?"
    "You think you could make any charges stick? It's your word against mine, Zhu Irzh. You're a demon from the realm of Hell. And I'm Singapore Three's premier businesswoman. I could buy this city. In fact," Jhai frowned, as if trying to remember where she'd purchased a pair of shoes, "I think I already have. If the police department gets too close, I might have to do something about that, but they haven't so far and I've been all co-operation, of course. The Chinese government might have believed Deveth—her father has close connections to it—but I don't think they'll believe you. Anyway, why would you want to expose something that could be to your immense advantage?"
    "Then what are you offering me?" Zhu Irzh asked. He did not want to seem dense, but he wanted to hear her say it.
    "A partnership. You could be the next Celestial Emperor, Zhu Irzh, if we get this right."
    "And if we don't? I could end up consigned to the lowest pit of the farthest level of Hell as something the size of a toe, and you with me."
    "That won't