In devil we trust

A new day, a new life. A well-built girl of 23 was slowly getting ready for an important meeting. Her name was Veronica and she was going to get a job of her dream. A company “NewLife” which Veronica was eager to get into had been fulfilling the dreams of all mankind for decades. Well, for now it’s not about that.
On the coffee table in the middle of the room there was a pile of papers among which there were many awards, diplomas, letters and other evidence of achievements that the girl had collected since elementary school. On top of the pile there was a red diploma. “I’m gonna be the best at the meeting”, she thought, putting on a new tight dress in front of the mirrored wardrobe door. The smell of coffee wafted into the room. Breathing in deeply, the girl closed her eyes with pleasure and sighed. “Yemeni Mocha!” she shouted, not trying to hide her joy. “I’ll always recognize it no matter what!” Her shouts were met with silence.
The apartment where Veronica’s family lived was distinguished by its elegance, charm and rather huge size. You could easily smell money out of every corner. The furniture, the walls, the kitchen utensils – everything you can lay your eye on glowed with style and chic. Both floors were screaming money.
Veronica looked amazing after the time she took to thoroughly get ready and went down to breakfast. In the kitchen there was an elderly woman in her seventies who was waiting for the girl in the company of a housemaid Anna, whom Veronica knew well, however the old woman’s appearance didn’t look familiar to her.
- Good morning, beauty. – said the housemaid, setting the table with a cup of coffee and a plate of freshly cooked pancakes. – Your mother and I thought you might want to forget about your diet for a moment for such an occasion.
The girl sighed heavily, sat down on a chair and looked into the faded eyes of the smiling old woman, so completely unfamiliar on the outside, but perfectly familiar inside. The housekeeper continued to set the table. For a while, the only sound in the kitchen was the ticking of the clock. Only when all three of them sat at the table the girl asked the old woman briefly:
“So how much?” Veronica was not satisfied with the silence in response.  “I'm asking you, don't be silent, answer me. I thought our finances were all right, we should have had enough for another five years.”  Veronica tried not to raise her voice, but she couldn't hide her displeasure. She began to eat her breakfast, occasionally glancing at the older woman across the table.
"Your mother loves you very much, girl," Anna said. "Try to understand her, she only wants what's best for you.” Veronica had never liked being lectured by servants, but she had loved Anna since her childhood and had often listened to her advice, but this time she had totally ignored it.
"I think mom knows what she's doing," Veronica said. "Right, mom?"
The woman literally said nothing but opened your SoulAssistant. (A SoulAssistant is an electronic device that is firmly attached to the wrist of every existing person over three years old, with the exception of countries that have been excluded from using this device. The only manufacturer, supplier, owner and that who have the ability to put on and remove the user's SoulAssistant is the company NewLife).
A pleasant male voice called out:
"Greetings to the most charming woman on the planet, Katherine, your slave is ready to work." "Hi, Henry," Anna said. The old woman's pale lips parted in a smile, and her dry fingers tapped awkwardly on the device's touch screen.
"The read command is received; the voice volume is set according to the noise environment. Do you want to change the voice parameters to parameters close to the current body? Excellent choice. I'm glad we're still together. I'm going to start projecting."
“Good morning, sunshine”, Katerina moved her lips, silently uttering the words. Everything she tried to say, practically in unison was reproduced by SoulAssistant, but now it was a familiar female voice. "I'm sorry about that. I know this is unexpected. I just wanted to surprise you.”
Veronica finished her breakfast in silence, drank up her coffee, and only took her mother's hand when the dishes in front of her were empty. “A surprise? OK, a fucking surprise it is.” Anna wanted to reprimand the girl, but held back on the first syllable. Veronica continued. “ How old is this body?”
“Sixty-eight”, the woman replied in an artificial voice.
“Oh really? It looks like all seventy”, the girl said, letting go of her hand. “And how much does it cost to lose seven years after sixty and still be able to speak? I'm sure it's not that expensive.” Veronica left the table and went to the corridor, leaving the family, who soon heard her shouting: “Maybe you also have a couple of artificial organs, and your legs do not walk at all?”
The crash of the door announced the imminent departure of the daughter. Veronica took the elevator down to the courtyard. Her attention was drawn to a shiny new car, wrapped in a blue ribbon, parked outside the house. The girl was in a hurry to take the subway, but she could not but stopped by the luxury vehicle. She walked around the car, admiring the tinted interior. "Lucky someone!", she thought and was about to leave, but suddenly the car door opened in front of her, and behind her she heard the voice of her mother's SoulAssistant:
“Here's a surprise!”
The girl was taken aback. Her mother was so protective that she had never allowed her to use any transport other than the metro. She considered this transport the safest and was too afraid for her daughter's safety to allow her to travel independently, much less by taxi, bus or tram. Veronica could not even imagine that someone's gift, which she admired a minute ago, was her own.
"Should I call the driver, or will you drive yourself?" – said the mother. The question made it impossible for Veronica to formulate her thoughts for a moment.
“Yes. No. I mean, of course. Of course, I will go by myself”, the girl was so happy she couldn’t stay still. Her eyes filled with tears of joy. She ran to the old woman and hugged her as tight as she could. “So you’ve finally made up your mind! Why? Why though? Excuse me, madam, but what did you do to my mother?!” she asked jokingly.
“I didn't do anything. I just thought it was time for you to be on your own. As much as possible. But don't forget that I want to see my grandchildren!” Katherine's voice grew sterner. “So get this job and save your stupid mother! Don't forget, I'm only forty and I'm not senile, but I hope you can help me regain the years I’ve lost.”
“Of course. Of course!” – Veronica once again happily jumped up and down. “We've been preparing for this moment all my life. I will definitely get this job! Right on! Trust me!”
“I believe in you. Now you go. I'll go back in. And yes, my legs do walk. Don't worry about my voice, it's not so important today.”
The trip took only thirty minutes. In recent years, due to stricter taxes on personal vehicles, roads had become much freer, traffic jams had almost disappeared, and residents had fallen into the underground. Only "the cream of the crop" remained on the surface. On leaving the car in the vast Parking lot of the General office building after she glanced at it a dozen times from the different angles, the girl slowly came up to the office. She knew that she looked stupid, but still couldn't help it and turned around several times to admire the gift once again.
The huge skyscraper built by the company actually "scratched the sky". Its shadow was hiding from the sun some smaller buildings in the distance. And its beauty and design, ahead of the future itself, eclipsed the sculptures and art that grew up in the middle of the streets, and everything that existed against the background of this grandiose structure – the receptacle of the crown of human creation.
The girl went inside. The endless mazes were already familiar to her from her University days, and she walked forward with confidence, holding a clutch bag that contained nothing but napkins and lipstick. The days when people had to carry various attributes of everyday life-wallets, phones, keys, documents had passed. Now almost everything was replaced by one SoulAssistant - a device connected to a single existing intellect. In addition, it constantly checks the health of the body, and will warn you in case of rapid exhaustion and, most importantly, will help you choose a new container to your liking for a nominal fee.
After a short time spent in the waiting room, Veronica was finally called for an interview. Many believed that the meeting was a formality. The girl's mother believed in the success of her daughter the most, and not unreasonably - Veronica proved herself well during her internship, after graduating from the University.
Like all employees of the company, the man who was engaged in the selection of candidates for various positions looked young, charming and moderately friendly. He shook the girl's hand, politely offered her a seat in an armchair, sat down opposite her at the table, and introduced himself:
"Victor," he said, and opened Veronica's profile on his device. – Excellent reviews, reputation, aspirations. A lot of positive qualities, noticing which we should be immensely happy to hire such a candidate.
“Thank you”, said the girl, trying not to smile.
"It's true. There's nothing to thank for”, Victor turned off his SoulAssistant. “I must reluctantly and without any pleasure ask you, Veronica, a single horribly banal question. Why did you decide to devote your life to serving our company?
Many millions of people in the entire history of capitalist society have ever heard such words and tried their best to impress the opponent, though in most cases in vain. Veronica waited for this question as the most important one in her life. And, of course, the answer was carefully considered, and many times redrawn, and in the end, formulated as it seemed to her as the ideal.
“I've always been firmly confident and my confidence has grown stronger over the years. The mission of NewLife company is not only in the pursuit of profit, but also in the desire to help people, make this world a better place, and incredibly change the society beyond recognition. Immortality is my main goal, though not my own, but the immortality of the hope that you give to people. I will be happy to contribute to the development and history of your company.”
The Manager smiled, openly and kindly, and laughed out loud. He liked the answer. The girl exhaled, shared the joy of the interlocutor and even let out a tear.
“Great! Great answer! Worthy of a man of your character, but"- Victor's face changed, became more serious - "I wish there were no misunderstandings between us. We do not believe that you are lying and accept everything you say here, at this table, as the crystal truth. Everything was fine. You hit the mark with every syllable you uttered. That's the problem! You, as a smart, educated person, have been preparing for this day and this question for a long time, most likely for more than one year. That's the problem! You have studied tons of literature, you have studied other people's experience, you have taken advice, and you know the psychology of the company and how to respond to any question. And that is the problem. If a person were in your place, even a little less good than you, we would accept his answer, shake his hand, and add – “welcome!” But not to you. You will not hear these words at the moment.”
Veronica blushed. Her thoughts were confused by the man's onslaught. The ground was slipping from under her feet, and the chair, which a few minutes ago had been as soft as a king's feather bed, was suddenly squeezing her. She wanted to leave everything and run away.
"Sincerity," the employee continued. – “That's all we need right now. All that is required of you is a quick, clean response” – he snapped his fingers three times in front of the girl's face. “One, two, three! Why do you need this job?!”
Silence. For twenty seconds, Victor tried to catch the startled look of an excellent student. Then, with a sigh of disappointment, he glanced at his watch, got up, and headed for the door. "I'm sorry, but your time is up. I'm sorry that we wasted it”. It was not clear whether it was a deliberate trick aimed at shaking a scared girl or just an accident, but at some point the girl was really very scared for herself, for her future. With every step the man took, Veronica's only goal in life was getting far beyond her reach. The girl abruptly stood up, hitting her hip on the table and almost yelling, said: “Mom!”
"Good-bye, Veronica," the man said.
“No!” the girl shouted. "My mother is my goal. My real motivation. Do you need a dedicated employee to whom you can shoulder the backbreaking work? To surround with tasks? Here I am! I can handle it! All I care about now is my mother. She's a mentally ill person. All her life she was idle, I don't remember a day when I saw her at work, but we never went hungry. We have always lived in luxury. And you know it's because of you. NewLife! My mother was able to give me everything, thanks to you, at the cost of her years. The first time was easy, she told it so many times when I was a child, and she praised the company so much. Having exchanged her eighteen-year-old body for the body of the twenty-year-old girl I remember her for, she lost only two years. It would seem that the difference is small, but then she made a fortune. A huge two-story apartment, a car, servants, and capital that, with less spending, would not have ended that soon, but it was gone in ten years. My mother's body was already thirty years old at the time, and she decided to repeat the success, but to her horror she discovered that the two years she sold in her youth were equal in value to the twelve years sold after twenty-nine. The question arose – whether to change your home for a more modest one, cut your expenses, find a job and live in peace for the rest of your life, or... you know, she sold another twelve years. And now, after twenty-eight years, my mother was forty-two. By high school graduation, we ran out of the money again. Of course, I didn't know about it, but I realized it when a strange woman, much older than my mother’s previous body, and much less attractive, came to congratulate me at the graduation party. At the dance, in the last moments of my childhood, which was supposed to be one of the happiest days of my life, I had to hug someone else's stinking, sweaty body. But I got used to it again. I managed to love my mother again. And, probably, then I realized that appearance is not that important when a loved one looks at you from the inside with the loving eyes. And today…”
“And today your mother has changed again.” Victor prematurely stopped Veronica's story. “And moreover she also sold her voice. Yes, we know that. This is natural. Don't say that she is ill. She's healthy, mentally for sure. She managed to raise such a lovely daughter. She started investing in you at the right time, which was smart. It has brought up in you a sense of duty and self-love, which is fine. She's the one who sent you here, to this place. She knew that you would grow up and pay back the debt, because this is your goal, not what you said at first.”
“Yes.”
“I hope you remember that we provide a young body for either an employee or a member of their family, anyone to choose from. This happens once every ten years or in the case of rapid wear and tear of the old body. The body is ten years younger and getting it once every ten years is enough for immortality as long as you are with us.”
“I am well acquainted with all the terms of the contract,” Veronica said confidently, finally regaining her composure.
“We have no doubt in it. We will meet you in a week, if you, of course, give your consent to cooperate with us.”
Display of SoulAssistant lit up a nice green color, which displayed only three words:
"NewLife, Yes, No?»