4 million, he thought maybe. But 8 million spirits at their gates, was a big number. And he wouldn't even be able to guess what kind of creatures would belong to this 4 million either.
It wasn't mandatory for a 16 year old girl to be attached to another 16 year old boy through this invisible string. They could be attached to anyone, a boy, a girl, an animal, insect, plant, anything that had life.
Every earth being had an invisible string that connected them to another earth being. If one of these earth beings died before they met the being on the other end of the string, the Domain governing the other being would get an order to kill them too immediately.
When two beings on either end of the same string meet, it's known that they receive the achievement of completing the Circle of Life. This will guarantee them perks in their life as a spirit.
There were lots of achievements an Earth being can collect this way. Another great one would be the Dying Wish. They can make a Dying Wish at any point in their life. And if they fulfilled it before their death, their chances of going to Gehenna would decrease significantly. Even if they didn't make it to Eden, their life in Nede would be bliss.
"So, what?" He scratched the insides of his pockets with sharp, freshly cut, fingernails, "Need me to tempt a few kids into hurting some people?" He snickered.
"The quota is a combined one. For the 4 million girls combined, we require 700 million sins per month. But for the past four months, we only got sins in the range of 200 million - 300 million per month. This is barely cutting half."
"Why…" He was now as confused as she was. He knew that it was his duty to make sure every person committed at least 7 sins per day. And that was child's play. An evil being found pride in making them commit at least 70 to 100 sins per day. But just 300 million sins for 4 million girls… in a whole month, was a pathetic number. There was something off.
"Why do you think that is?" He asked her.
The angel tutted, realising that the God of Sins hadn't taken responsibility. Indeed, it wasn't his fault, she knew it, but she had hoped…
"They are being kidnapped and trapped in facilities, making them unable to live out their normal lives. Some Gang operating in Nede are probably backing these kidnappers on earth. In addition to fulfilling the quota, I want you to stop them and let these girls free."
"You're sure about that?" His eyes flitted to a screen that suddenly changed and showed an Indian girl walking down a dark street carrying a plastic bag. From the shadows, 4-5 men took hold of each of her limbs and dragged her inside a van.
The steward next to him let out a scream. "Another one!" She tried to change the controls and type in several commands and orders but the events on the screen continued. The van reached the back-of-house of a tall brightly lit building in the middle of a busy city. They pulled the now blindfolded girl out and took her inside the building.
As the camera or the eyes of the steward, to be more accurate, zoomed in, a light flashed in the cave and the screen went to static.
"I can't see!"
The angel could only sigh as she witnessed this. "I know this is the doing of some Gang. Otherwise my stewards wouldn't lose their sight. Mere Earth Beings are not capable of this on their own."
"So you're telling me they kidnap these… girls and… what do they do with them?"
"None of us know. The only information we can confirm is that they are not dead, because our domain member numbers have been staying more or less the same."
"I'll…talk to the God of-" He turned around, thinking of which of his six hundred and sixty six beautiful, plump lipped, full chested and wonderful nomads he should eat out today.
"Not required, he already has a letter for you."
"What the-"
The angel presented a dirty, half-wet, soiled paper on a tray that all the stewards refused to touch. Even the angel presented the tray on a bigger tray, that she would have to throw out now.
The God of Sins casually picked it up and read the writing that only he could understand.
"Son, my second fragment–
I have 70% stakes in the Gang that kidnaps those girls. We are targeting the domain of Girls with No Families because they are the most versatile and vulnerable.
Help them meet the quota somehow, but don't play with too many of the girls, we need them. Just use one or two.
Just one, if possible. I don't want my other fragments and stakeholders turning on me because I used too many girls. Don't take any of the pretty girls. We need those. Take the ugly, no-hope-even-with-plastic-surgery ones.
Do your best.
–All Evil"
"What the fuck," he muttered as he tore the paper to pieces and torched it. The heat and the profanity made some stewards visibly flinch in pain.
"So?" The angel raised an eyebrow. A couple feathers of her left wing ruffled as the muscle underneath twitched.
The God of All Sins forced a smile. "I guess I'll need to borrow one girl from the Domain."
The angel nodded, "I understand." She handed him a pure white card that instantly turned dark gray when his fingertips came in contact with it. A crimson, satin border formed around it and he eyed it curiously.
"This card contains a small amount of power of the Omniscient System. This is the system that we angels and stewards also access from here to administrate everything in the universe, known and unknown. You can descend as a human to Earth using it and choose the girl by giving her this card. I have coded it so that the card will glow once it recognizes anyone registered in our Domain. But remember," the angel sighed as she eyed the card.
"Once the girl you've chosen makes contact with the card, all of her data in our Domain will be transferred over to you and you get the ability to perform any override on her. This can only be done once, and is irreversible, so choose wisely.
However, at the end of the day, humans have a dangerous gift that none of us have, or will ever have."
"Free will," the God spoke sharply. He knew this. Even though it seemed like it were the angels and stewards and devils playing their cards and tipping the scales of the lives of humans to their whims and wishes, they were also a part of the Omniscient System.
They were employees of the system. Anything they did or will do would be to benefit the Greater Good or Greater Evil. Even the desires that the God of Sins had within him, weren't truly his desires, but a duty that he needed to perform to remain in position.
To avoid Gehenna.
But humans? They were probably the only beings in the universe who got to choose.
None of the celestial beings like the angel and him understood how humans could still be capable of trapping themselves and complaining of not being free.
He slipped the card in his pocket and nodded, and to his surprise, the angel slowly took her sleek and soft hand out of the wings that covered her and raised it. She removed the glove on her hand and presented it to him. He stared down at it. The skin was clean, silky, and spotless. It even had a unique glow emanating from it.
"We'll be seeing more of each other. I hope we can work together amicably. I'm angel Kasiel."
The God of Sins raised his hand in response and wrapped his hands around hers. The part where their skins almost met repelled, so that it looked like they were touching, but they weren't. Just a tiny miniscule atom-wide gap separated them. Even the power of the universe refused them to mix. It was what kept the balance.
"We'll see how that goes," he smirked, looking straight into her eyes. "I'm Asmodeus." A strange thunder rumbled on the ground under their feet as he spoke his true name. "Second Fragment of the God of All Evil, God of All Sins, and the God of the Third Sin."
Kasiel knew all the sins in order, so she immediately figured out what the third sin was. She noted his half open thin black shirt that clung to his sculpted physique, tight but well tailored pants that hugged the toned muscles underneath them. And his hair, that wasn't short, but wasn't too long to be androgynous. It hung around his face like a crown that a viewer would want to reach out and caress. And last of all, his dark, golden skin that didn't blind, but instead reflected the light off in a way it made the skin feel like honey, almost as if you can lick it with your tongue.
The God of Lust.
She wondered whether it was a good idea for him, out of all the other Gods, to be the one saving a Domain of Girls with No Families. She retreated her hand and tucked it inside her large wings.