The Demon Summoner

Mankind for a long time had lived in ignorance. In a world filled with dangerous unknowns, people created stories to explain them. In the face of unreliable survival practices, prayer and superstition provided comfort and a semblance of agency.

As generations passed, mankind progressed. The inexplicable phenomena of the world were soon understood through science and survival became easy and reliable thanks to technology.

Soon, the supernatural faded, only remembered as stories and legends.

But perhaps if the safety and certainty of modernity disappeared, mankind could return to such a state.

Maybe they already had.

***

2030, an old apartment in Edogawa City, Tokyo.

Akemi Kashima was in his room on his old laptop. His parents were arguing again. It was a daily occurrence at this point. He could only shut it out as best as he could.

It’s not like he could blame them, there was a lot to argue over. He understood that well. But there wasn’t anything that could be done either.

He was playing an online game, the type that was especially mindless. Putting it into “Auto” mode, he opened a special browser, one that could access the dark web. The basic social media sites were such a bore to him. This was one of the only ways you could see something truly interesting on the Internet anymore.

Typing in the URL for a sketchy forum site he frequented, he scrolled through the posts.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like there was much activity today.

Although, there was one thing…

THE GOVERNMENT IS DOING RESEARCH ON HOW TO SUMMON DEMONS: EVIDENCE PROVIDED

Curious, he clicked.

As expected, it mostly just seemed like schizophrenic delusions. The original poster claimed to work for the government and his “evidence” was just some shady documents describing “demon summoning” software.

Hoaxes like this were all too common online and especially in these circles.

This was especially ridiculous, though. Who could believe something so crazy?

He quickly left a reply saying exactly that.

Within a couple minutes, the original poster responded.

It’s real. I don’t know where the technology came from, but it’s in Japan. The Bureau for Defense Research has it in their possession right now and they’re doing tests! I work there! I’ve seen it with my own eyes! If this technology is deployed on the public unknowingly, the fallout will be insane!

Akemi didn’t believe a word, but his curiosity had been piqued.

What if there really were demons?

He shook his head. It was almost impossible. Although… He couldn’t help but wonder…

Leaning back in his chair, Akemi thought it over. The Bureau for Defense Research was the Japanese government’s primary military research organization. It sounded scary, but he had actually hacked into government agencies before (purely for fun, of course). It really wouldn’t be that difficult for him.

With a smirk, he typed in his last reply.

We’ll see.

***

Akemi was hard at work on his project. The BDR’s security was a league above what he expected, but he’d be able to crack it in time.

He had been in the zone for several days. In fact, he had been so preoccupied that he hadn’t even realized his parents had stopped arguing.

Although, it was time for him to learn why…

There was a knock on his door. “Can you please come to the kitchen, dear?” It was Akemi’s mom.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second…” He knew it wasn’t going to be anything good.

Akemi sat down at the kitchen table. His parents were sitting next to each other on the other side, their faces almost lifeless.

“As you know, we’ve been struggling financially…” His father said, never one to beat around the bush.

“After your father got laid off, we haven’t been able to find anything…” His mother looked down.

“Japan is going through a very rough time right now…” His father looked away. “That’s why we’ll be leaving for a while…”

“What?” Akemi asked.

Looking at his son dead on, he replied, “We’ll be going to Brazil.”

“Brazil!?” Akemi yelled, “That’s on the other side of the world!”

“Yes, but remember how Aunt Yukiko moved there to be with her husband?” Akemi’s mother looked at him wistfully. “They run a ranch together now and offered to hire us.”

“I see…” Akemi looked down. “When will we be leaving then?”

His mother winced at that question. “About that…”

But his father didn’t hesitate. “You won’t be coming.”

“What!?” Akemi yelled even louder this time.

“You’ll be staying here to continue your education.”

“What are you talking about!?”

“There’s nothing for you in Brazil, but here you have a scholarship at Asahi Academy!” His father slammed his hand down on the table. “ We can’t allow you to give that up!”

Akemi clenched his fist and looked away.

“Akemi, please understand…” His mother tried to touch his hand, but he pulled it away. “All we want is what's best for you.”

He stayed silent for a few moments. He slammed his hand on the table as he stood up. “I got it…” was all he said before returning to his room.

He understood it all perfectly well. His mother and father were doing what they had to.

But it still stung to be left behind by his own parents.

***

It had been a couple weeks. His parents had left for Brazil, and Akemi had moved into a dormitory provided by Asahi Academy. It was actually a lot nicer than the old apartment, but it just wasn’t home.

Still, Akemi kept working on his project.

But there was something eating at him…

It wasn’t that difficult to figure out.

He felt emptier than he ever had in his life.

And he knew he wasn’t alone in those feelings.

While not exactly a writer, he had dabbled a bit, so on a whim, he decided to make a poem. He went to that sketchy forum site he frequented and just wrote.

Neither living nor dead

Without great pleasure nor pain

No memories of the past nor dreams of the future

Walking through this world as ghosts

But every tortured soul

Can find revenge as a demon

***

Only a few days later, Akemi had finally broken into the BDR.

He was after this demon summoning technology. Although, there would surely be interesting things regardless.

It didn’t take long to find it, however…

HELEL

Akemi read over the documentation. This was apparently the program that was being used to summon demons.

It seemed ridiculous. A government agency even humoring something like this was insane, but there’s no way it was real, right?

There was really only one way to find out…

Akemi downloaded the files. The documentation, the source code, everything.

He only had a couple minutes max until he was detected.

Thankfully, that’s all he needed…

***

Akemi may have been a programming genius, but this software was far beyond his understanding.

Helel was written in a custom programming language, one that was completely foreign to not only Akemi but any programmer.

It was a mix of random symbols with ostensibly no rhyme or reason. Pure machine code would’ve been more legible.

The only parts he could understand were written in C++, probably by different people, and all that code did was add a user interface as well as restrictions and tracking. Of course, he altered all that.

Akemi didn’t know what he was expecting, but this wasn’t it. With a sigh, he resigned himself. There was only one thing left to do, after all. Test it.

He transferred his version of the application to his phone and opened it.

That same illegible text flowed across the screen. As it did, the phone started heating up, and it kept getting hotter and hotter.

Akemi grunted. It started to burn his hand, but for some reason, he just couldn’t let go.

The screen started flickering, buzzing came from the speakers, and that text flowed faster and faster becoming a blur.

As the phone started growling, what felt like an explosion went off in Akemi’s head. He screamed out in excruciating pain.

He fell to the ground, still gripping that burning phone.

But as the pain continued, his vision started to fade and his body began to numb.

Before he even realized it, he had blacked out.

***

Akemi awoke in the middle of a burning city. The air was thick with smoke and the flames had engulfed almost everything.

Standing up, Akemi began walking through the streets.

He could tell that the city was finished long before the fire had started. There were crashed cars and stores had been looted.

However, there wasn’t a soul present, and the only sound was the crackling of fire.

It was chaotic, but at the same time…almost peaceful…

As Akemi kept walking, he eventually saw…something else…

It looked to be a woman. She had long, messy black hair that was covering parts of her face, her skin was pale, almost like porcelain, and she wore tattered white robes.

She was the spitting image of an onryo, a ghost that had returned from the dead to enact their revenge on the living.

But Akemi wasn’t afraid. Somehow, he understood everything.

He walked closer to her. “Okiku…” he said her name instinctually.

As Akemi stopped in front of her, she offered her hand.

Akemi knew what that meant.

Without a second thought, he took it.