Friend to Foe

Chapter thirteen: VoxTek

   
"Your entertainment starts here!" Alastor heard as he walked down the streets of Hell. He instantly registered the voice as Vox's, although his tone was very charismatic. Alastor saw a small crowd around the window of Vox's department. He stepped closer to see what looked to be another fully functional model of Television. The build of this one was very similar to Vox's own screen. It featured the same exact structure with the addition of a few knobs and buttons near the bottom. This one was also beige while Vox's was black. Alastor watched as the commercial started again, it was seemingly on a loop. Alastor was expecting the same commercial he had seen many times, but surprisingly he was greeted with something different.

The first image shown was Valentino on a couch, sitting across from the television.
"Do you miss entertainment?"
Second, Velvette was shown drinking coffee while looking at the television.
"Do you miss instant news updates?"
Third, Vox was shown in a sleek suit. The picture was black and white, so Alastor couldn't judge the color pallet, but he saw it was perfectly tailored. His tie laid perfectly on top of his collared shirt that was all tucked away behind a vest and blazer.
"Do you miss seeing visuals to every story or word said?" Vox said as he stepped forward. Alastor didn't like that line very much.
"Or do you not know what you're missing, since your time ended before television's began?" Alastor watched closely as Vox's mouth twisted into a charming smile. It mirrored Alastor's.
"Well do I have a solution for you!" He said as he folded his hands together. Vox stepped to the side and placed his hand on top of the picture box.
"Television is officially coming to Hell!" Vox beamed a confidence that Alastor immediately recognized as an attempt at his own aura.

       "Lend your support and trust to VoxTek, and the future will be ours!" Vox ended the commercial with his brainwashing eye. Instead of just advertising the television, this commercial seemed to promote the brand itself as well. It was a smart move on Vox's behalf, even if Alastor disapproved of the appearance of Valentino and Velvette. Alastor noted the clearer and more in sync sound, he attributed that success to his own teaching.

     Alastor felt someone's gaze as he turned to the side and saw an imp staring directly at him. He raised an eyebrow at audacity of the lower class. The imp spoke up and said,
"Is this a threat to radio?" Without hesitation Alastor used his shadow to pierce through the imp, killing them instantly. Every other present demon quickly ran for their lives. All of the commotion caused Vox to step outside. His eyes landed on Alastor.
"Oh! What a pleasant coincidence." Vox said as if he wasn't completely stalking Alastor's reaction from inside the building. He was still on edge because of the realization he had due to Alastor's broadcast.

      "Ah yes, my dearest apologies for making a mess outside of your business." Alastor said with a smile while gesturing to the bleeding imp on the ground.
"It's no problem, I'm sure they deserved it." Vox said with a joking manner. It was clear he wanted to know what the imp did, but Alastor didn't see any reason to explain that. There was a moment of silence before Vox spoke up,
"What did you think of the new advertisement?" He asked.
"I found it very... intelligent. It is a smart idea to give the viewers a brand to cling onto before the invention even comes out." Alastor spoke honestly, he withheld his critiques.
"Thank you." Vox responded. He now doubted if Alastor's words were genuine.
"Are you not concerned that you may be setting expectations too high? Building too much suspense?" Alastor shot back while leaning closer to Vox. Vox took a moment to think as the statement was something that hadn't occurred to him.

"Well, I'm confident in my technology, and therefore I'm confident in the reaction it will provoke." Vox spoke confidently. Alastor hummed in response.
"I see you've fixed the sound delay successfully. Did you finish the work we started?" Alastor asked.
"I did, all thanks to you!" Vox said with a smile. His nerves were almost noticeable, although thinking about Alastor's assistance helped distract him from his suspicion.
"How would you like to be paid back?" Vox questioned. Alastor's eyes met his.