The demon inside me

Ano got dressed at lightning speed. He rushed out on his way to the garage to get his Z-910 with the intention of finding out what was going on in his old district.

*Mr. Ano, where are you going so early in the morning?*

Yuki had forcibly set up a video call to her young boss's PDA as she saw him running on his way to the garage with his vehicle keys in his hands.

"I've had a brilliant idea to fix the suit's stability problems!!!! But I need to pick up some old notebooks I left at a friend's house!!!"

*I see. I hope that friend doesn't understand your peculiar handwriting.*

"Don't worry. He doesn't even know he has notebooks of mine at his house, hahahaha. Please excuse me for today; I may not return until late!!"

Before his assistant could give him an approving response to his actions, the young boy cut the call short. He disconnected his PDA, turned on the wave disruptors on his motorcycle, and set a course for district C-24.

On the way to the source of the smoke, the young boy began to rule out the sectors of district C. What he saw was definitely in the range of sectors 20 to 25. He reached his old district in less than an hour. The fire was definitely there. After making sure that his warehouse and his friends' hostel were alright, he went to check his final fear.

Ano turned the corner that led to his master's workshop. Then his suspicions were confirmed. The black smoke he had been seeing earlier came exactly from the master's workshop. Although it was better to say from his master's burnt-out workshop. The young boy got off his motorcycle and tried to cross the agglomeration of people watching the disaster.

"MOVE!!! SOMEONE I KNOW LIVES HERE!!!"

"EY!!! Stop, boy. There's nothing to do anymore." Said someone from the fire department.

What are the firemen doing here... They couldn't possibly have arrived before me at a fire in District C.

Ano was right. Just like with the food delivery and the cops, the fire department didn't hurry if something like this happened in the suburbs. The average waiting time for District A was half an hour. Considering the fire had already been put out and controlled, that meant they got there in less than half an hour.

"You say you knew the person who lived inside. Unfortunately, we found his body charred and unrecognizable. But his Net Share was in perfect condition. It belonged to one person called Akira Kawaki. Do you know him?"

At the sound of his teacher's name, the young boy fell to his knees on the floor. His facial expression changed for the first time since he turned 16. He looked up and looked at the burned and crumbling building. An expression of genuine terror could be seen on his face. Silence took over Ano's head; he could hear nothing. As if hallucinating, death itself appeared in front of him as it smiled and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I'm sorry, my boy. We were alerted by a call and came right away, but the fire was out of control. We were able to contain the fire, but putting it out was complicated. Was he a relative of yours?"

"No. Just a dear friend." He said as he clenched his fists and turned his gaze to the ground.

Ano stood up without looking up. The veins in his neck, forehead, and temple began to swell. His look of terror slowly began to turn into a murderous look. His brows frowned to the limit. From his back, the invisible plasmatic shadow that accompanied him took form into a full demon, made completely of purple plasma. He looked up again and returned his gaze to the same death that was still smiling at him. The hallucination of that reaper began to laugh out loud as it gradually faded away.

I will burn this world until only ashes remain.

****

The young boy immediately began to investigate. The cameras in the entire neighborhood had been tampered with, and he could see absolutely nothing. He asked several neighbors in the area, but none of them gave any relevant information.

After a while, when the firemen left, the young boy returned to the burned building with the intention and hope of finding some clues. Then, he appeared.

"Subcomandeeeeerrrrr!!!" A childish voice shouted.

Hearing that word, the young boy's neck turned sharply. Ano looked at the one who was calling him. It was Shin. However, the expression in the young boy's eyes frightened the poor kid so much that he fell to the ground on the spot.

The young inventor approached his friend, who remained lying on the ground. Unable to move from the fear he felt due to the aura that surrounded his dear inventor friend, Shin thought he was about to die.

"Shin. You hurt yourself." He said impassively.

The boy did not answer. Ano bent down and placed his hand on his young friend's shoulder, and while staring fixedly into his eyes without changing his murderous expression one bit, he asked.

"Did you see what happened here?"

Shin was on the verge of collapse. He was an introverted child, very shy. His friend was pushing all the social boundaries he could stand. Then, as if by some miracle, Shin's brain went into a state of self-preservation. The kid looked, for all intents and purposes, like an automaton. After peeing his pants a little due to the fear instilled by Ano’s presence, he began to answer his questions.

"I've seen it."

"Shin, what did you see?"

"Some masked men came in the morning with a black van. They got out and burned the building."

"What did they look like?"

"They were tall like you and dressed all in black like you. They were even wearing weird black masks."

"What kind of masks were they?"

"They were demon masks."

Thanks, Shin. This information will be very useful to me. The cameras in the area have been tampered with, so I got nothing. But you forgot to get rid of the witnesses!!.

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

"I heard one of the masked men say something."

"What did they say, Shin?"

"One of the masked men said that Master Asu had ordered it."

So they were Asu’s vassals. Is it all because of me? The only way it could have been my fault is because they followed me. But that's not possible, I've come here hundreds of times. No... it must have been because I asked Master Akira for help and opened those files in his Cyber Hut... It was all my fault.

Ano stood up and left the frightened and disoriented Shin on the ground.

Yu Asu. I'm going to kill you!!!

Little Shin came into his senses as his friend slowly walked away while a sinister aura emanated from his body. Armed with courage, the boy stood up and shouted.

"Subcommander Ano!!!" Shin, wary, hesitated for a moment before continuing. "Leader Hana is dead, right?"

The cold and taciturn young boy turned his head, and as he walked away from his friend, he replied.

"That's right, she's never coming back."

The kid fell to the ground again and began to cry inconsolably as that cold and lonely boy who was once his dear friend walked away.

Sorry Shin, I don't have time for this right now.

****

Charged with a new bloodlust, the young boy began to roam clubs and joints all day and all night. Ano used his enhanced textile hologram to avoid being identified. A boy asking about Asu's stuff was suspicious enough to ignore him. Therefore, the textile hologram prevented him from being identified by his clothing. Thus, he could enter any joint without any major problem, since each one had a different description from the previous one.

I have to find a mask to hide my face as well.

The young boy returned to the same situation he was in almost 2 years ago. However, this time it was different. Not a single tear, not a single feeling of sadness left his body. The loss of his beloved master did not affect him in the same way as the loss of Hana.

Master, why am I not crying? Have I always been this way? Or has society made me the way I am now? What is clear to me is that I will never achieve my dreams while Asu Industries is still standing. Not only will I kill that childish Yu Asu, but I will destroy every inch of this rotten world and create my own ideal world!

The young boy was filled with rage and anger. He continued his quest in the middle of the street. The neon lights painted the night with a variety of colors, the AIs filled the atmosphere with their advertising messages, and people went on with their daily lives, while all kinds of thoughts crossed his mind.

"There is no good without evil."

"You're wrong. Mr. Asu would never do that..."

"MARRY ME."

*Try the new 46 flavors of CyCocke*.

"[Frey substance]."

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you I was bad."

"Let's be happy."

"That'll be 23,000 yen please."

"Help me. Ano-kun."

"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The young boy shouted in the middle of the crowded street he was in. After attracting the attention of everyone around him, he fled into a dark alley where he changed his holographic attire and disappeared into the steam coming from the sewers.

Alone, lost, and after finding his hands empty again, he thought about returning to the Cyber Deep to ask for more information. However, his master did not have time to explain how to access that space. Akira’s entire workshop had been consumed by flames, and he could not download the Cyber Deep access program. He had only one more place left to look at. The joint that was in district B, the one that was recreated in the Cyber Deep.

If I go to that place, I will surely find the duchess. It's about time to put an end to everything in this world. Get ready, everyone, because here I go again.