FUNCTION DISORDER :: VOLUME ONE

24

EARLIER THAT NIGHT

"What should we do with this individual?", asked an Extraction Agent, shoving a furiously shaking, handcuffed man onto his knees in front of the Captain. "He was behaving suspiciously around the targeted building."

Grim clouds hung low. The agents stood in front of a flat, forlorn brick building, surrounded by a fence that was taller than the building itself.

"Tell him who I am!", Dan yelled, lifting his head in defiance. "I'm a demon hunter, I stand for righteousness and dignity! I want to help you with the attack!"

Cayde ignored him and addressed his Agent. "Was he alone?"

"Yes.", stated the green-robe.

"I want to see the sinners get what they deserve.", Dan continued with a sick smile, looking at Cayde with eyes like ancient suns.

Cayde shone uncomfortably bright light out of his left hand into Dan's face. "We are not friends. You do not work for us. This is your final warning; do not interfere with Department of Integrity operations. If you want to help, then there are still a lot of unclaimed demon bounties and of course you may apply to the Friends of the Bastion scheme where one can earn citizenship by working for the Eight Orders. Your actions tonight will not help your chances, however."

"I'm not interested in citizenship, I'm interested in bringing God's judgement!", Dan shouted, face heating up, arms shaking. He turned his head away and his face twitched. Then, he awkwardly reached for his shining cross with his bound hands and opened his mouth, but suddenly, he could not speak.

Cayde took the light off of Dan's face and snapped his fingers.

Instead, a pale green wave pattern that made Dan feel slightly unwell overtook his vision and suddenly he was no longer in control of himself. His cross dropped out of his pocket and onto the ugly gravel and he raised both hands above his head. "Leave.", Cayde commanded. Then, he released him, hand still raised in his direction, a different strange magic dancing on each finger in threat. He snapped his fingers again and the handcuffs abruptly fell away.

Dan scrambled to gather his cross, then bolted into the night, dirty white shoes crunching against the ground, not stopping until he was out of sight.

Aalto strode up beside Cayde. "We are certain that Eluvis is in there. I believe we are ready to move in, Captain."

"I'm in agreement.", Cayde responded approvingly. "This will be resolved before the solstice, exactly as planned."

---------

Dan scowled while he meandered around the bleak streets, flicking through the newest Monument Warriors listings on his phone to see which demon deserved to die next. He filtered the list by owner, in order to see which ones belonged to that rude Captain who thought he was so great and holy.

The various big-shot demons of the Lower City were still there, of course, including the soon-to-be eternally damned Eluvis, but there were a few new entries too. A scattering of less important people had been added since – mysterious suspicious demon sightings, demons connected to famous people. Most of these new entries were, for some reason, added shortly after Cayde killed his pink fox prisoner. They were in such a hurry to add them that the Agents must have been working on a Sunday, Dan noted with irritation.

"I just wanted to see fire and explosions, damnit! The final fall of the House of Love, it'll be glorious! I should be there.", he shouted at nobody, stomping his right foot, lightly stroking his magic crucifix to calm himself as if it were a particularly docile kitten.

He felt a chill and looked over his shoulder. A dark shape was approaching

A dark shape approached . Dan frowned. He pulled out his pill bottle, violently ripped off the cap and hastily swallowed three or four of them without any water.