Human Rations tasted like crap. That’s what they’re called. That’s what I was eating. It had all the necessary nutrients and none of the necessary taste. It was also dry as Hell. As much as I regretted the taste, it was literally all I had to eat, unless I wanted to tempt fate with whatever was growing on the trees.

It was night. We’d finally taken a rest. I wasn’t tired but I insisted on it anyway given that I couldn’t see much, even with the moon hanging brightly overhead. We’d found refuge in a ruined town, one which hadn’t yet been swallowed up by trees. The building we’d hunkered down in offered a stable rooftop with only a few tiles missing, which happened to offer a clear line of sight up to Toll who’d perched themselves upon its ridge.

Meanwhile, I sat there thinking. I really needed the time to think. The demons had been non-stop today with their arguing, and every time they’d got into a dispute they’d inevitably drag me in. Sometimes I’d have to get involved just to make sure they didn’t choose a course of action without my consent, one which would ruin my plans.

I grimaced before taking another bite of my ration. To make matters worse, Markus strolled over to me looking equally as unimpressed.

“What?” I said.

The haures’ nose scrunched up. “Do you have to do that here?”

Confused, I glanced behind me to see if he was speaking to Volce. However, the deuce was busy floating by a broken window, upside down, while staring out at the abandoned town. He sighed from boredom.

“You know,” Markus said. “That thing you do with your mouth to crush up the things you stick in it.” He mimed chewing, his face all contorted in disgust.

I stared him dead in the eye, took another bite of my ration, and chewed slowly, loudly, and with my mouth open.

“Urgh. You humans are disgusting.” He spun and shuffled off to a window where he appeared to be staring out. However, I could make out his eyes darting around rapidly, like he was reading. Or organising his inventory.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t relax just yet. Enzi was a little distant, both figuratively and literally. She sat atop a rickety old chair that she’d commandeered for herself the moment we’d walked into the house. She too looked like she was scanning through her inventory, though unlike Markus and myself, she used her hands to shuffle items around.

She caught me staring at her and offered a faint smile. I turned away quickly, not wanting to grab her attention again. She was going to be all over me tonight and I really did not want to deal with it.

However, I was curious about something and turned back to the enepsi. “You don’t have to organise your inventory.”

Enzi tilted her head. “But if I don’t organise my inventory, it’ll take longer to withdraw important items.”

I knew I shouldn’t be revealing information to her, but I was starting to get suspicious about something. “Just think of the item you want and take it. Watch.”

I thought, Inventory, and two windows popped into my vision: one for withdrawals and another for deposits.

The deposit window as a blank box, and one that was completely unnecessary. It was more a guide for the idiotic demons that had yet to work out that you can just shove your hand into the air with the thought of depositing and it would all work out.

The withdrawal window listed what little I’d collected: ash, ash, and more ash. Oh, plus my ninety-five bottles of Human Water, as it was called, and ninety-six Human Rations.

The rations and water had all been provided in large quantities. Since humans needed to eat and demons didn’t, it was only fair the administrators levelled the killing field by providing humans with the necessary means for survival. In this case, it was ninety-nine rations and ninety-nine bottles of water, all deposited in my inventory before I’d ever been granted access to the thing.

You’d think it was thoughtful of them, until you realised they’d forgotten to add flavour to that pile of sustenance the called rations.

My eyes settled on the last row of ash which said, Demon ash, 4N eq., 17 grams. It was from the balaam I’d just recently erased. “4N eq.” meant that, in its last moments, the demon had the equivalent of a four name’s strength. Therefore, it wasn’t very high quality ash.

Though everything was listed in slim rows, I didn’t need to manually select what I wanted.

I pictured one of my bottles of Human Water and stuck my hand into the air at random. The world rippled as my hand disappeared into nothing. I didn’t feel anything in there, but I knew that if I pinched I’d have a bottle of water in my hand. I closed my hand and, sure enough, I felt a bottle nestled in my palm. Slowly, I drew it out.

While I gripped the bottle, it was like my hand was moving through molasses. If I pulled at a snail’s pace, I’d feel a thick sensation but would otherwise be unobstructed. However, if I sped up, it was like the air around my hand would grow more viscous, slowing my movement. No matter how much strength I put into it, I could only withdraw and deposit items at a particular speed.

There’s a good reason for that, though it’s actually the dumbest thing imaginable. In the sixty-seventh Culling, there were no limitations on the deposit and withdrawal speed for inventories. One of the Participants figured out that they could siphon an entire lake into their inventory. So in the last Ring they flooded the arena. Given that they were a forcalor, they were mobile in the water and used that advantage to eliminate the remaining participants. The administrators’ natural response was to limit all inventory usage so you couldn’t just dump a mountain in your inventory.

Once I’d withdrawn my hand, a chilled, half-empty bottle of water rested firmly in my grip. I cracked it open and downed it in one go to help get the remaining bits of ration down. Then I stuffed the empty bottle back in by thrusting my hand blindly into the air. A lifetime of drilling the necessity of recycling into my head meant there was no way I was going to dump it, even if the land around us was already so desolate. Besides, bottles had their uses.

“Like that,” I said, turning to the enepsi.

Enzi blinked at me twice, then like a switch had been flicked she beamed at me. “That’s rather impressive, Algier.”

“Yeah, sure.” Well, that confirmed my suspicions. Demons couldn’t mentally withdraw their items. That gave me an enormous advantage, actually, because it meant I never had to spend time searching for the items I needed, just take them out at will. Now I only needed some rabdoses to put in my inventory.

Considering me, Enzi flicked a finger in the air then stuck her hand into a void. She took out Bitterthorn and placed the circlet atop her head.

Great. This game. The enepsi was going to poke at me and use Bitterthorn to gauge my reactions. I wanted no part in it. Grumbling to myself, I laid down and rolled over, putting my back to her. I used my jacket as a makeshift pillow and kept my hand tucked firmly beneath it. Thankfully it was warm tonight so no blankets were needed.

Enzi shuffled over. I waited for her to press herself against me, but instead I only heard rustling, followed by a whispered, “Algier, I have something of yours.”

I rolled over, and in her hand was my red tie.

The enepsi stuck her hands out. “I found it while I was searching for you today.”

I frowned at her then rolled back over. “Keep it.”

“No favours.”

My head snapped round again and I arched an eyebrow at her.

“Don’t you trust a demon’s word?” she whispered, low enough that Toll couldn’t overhear.

The answer was no, but I wasn’t going to say that. Enepsis always wanted their favours returned. If she wasn’t going to have me owe her a favour, then it was likely she wanted to increase my affection towards her. I had to avoid that.

I sat up and shrugged. “Only because you’re offering.”

“Of course,” Enzi said, dipping her head in agreement.

Cautiously, I reached out. The entire time I watched her eyes, testing for any hint of betrayal. That was pointless: she was a demon, and she could hide her emotions as much as she pleased, assuming they weren’t all a façade to begin with. At last I took the tie from her hand and stuffed it into my inventory. Still Enzi made no move. She just sat there on her shins, beaming at me.

Over her shoulder, I could see Volce. Still upside down, his head was jerked back far enough that he was staring up at me, like he wanted to murder me. I pretended not to notice.

Having been raised by demons, I was never taught to say thanks. However, I was sorely tempted to offer my sincere gratitude to Enzi. I liked that tie. It was a reminder of what I was. However, I resisted the urge, lay back down, and turned my back to Enzi. A few seconds passed and I heard no movement from the demon. Finally, a chance to think.

Or it would have been if something hadn’t pressed against my back. I took a deep breath, swallowing a few choice words, then turned around. However, Enzi was still sitting on her shins, staring at me, with a perplexed expression fixed to her face. I looked down, and there was Volce curled into a ball with his stubby hands wrapped as far around me as he could manage.

I glared at the deuce in complete bafflement. Volce glanced up at me and said, “Shut the fuck up. Don’t make it weird.”

“Oh, I’m the one making it weird.”

“Well, you turned around, asshole.”

“You shouldn’t even be here!” I hissed. “I never said you could touch me.”

Volce shoved a finger in my face. “Hey, I know all your secrets already. We’re more intimate than a married couple.”

My hand gripped the handle of my knife that I’d hidden under my jacket. “Oh, you want to be a married couple? Sure. Let’s skip to the part where I murder you in a fit of rage.”

Volce went to shoot back at me, but then his eyes bulged and he stood up. At that moment, I felt something soft press against my back. Two soft things, this time.

While we’d been arguing, Enzi had slipped behind me and placed herself at my back. She wrapped her arms around me and snuggled up close so I could feel all of her pressed against me.

“Hey, hey hey hey hey!” Volce cried. “What have I already told you, Boobs McBulges? Hands off my human.”

“Oh, I didn’t realise he was taken,” Enzi chided. “But if you ask me, you two would make a terrible couple, what with you being so unsuitable for a man of his talent.”

I let out a groan. “Shut up, both of you.” They ignored me.

Volce dug his fat fingers into my flanks. “I got the contract first, alright! If you wanted him, you should have made a contract. So just give him up, already.”

Enzi pulled herself closer to me and pressed her chin into my shoulder. “My apologies,” she said with mock sincerity. “I wasn’t aware you had less names than me. But if I’m mistaken about that, then by all means, go ahead and lay claim to what is mine.”

“Listen! I know this game you’re playing. You’re trying to make him horny so that he’ll chase after you. But I’m not dealing with any of that. Do you know how annoying horny humans are to deal with?”

“In my experience, they only stay difficult for a few short minutes. Sometimes less if I feel so inclined.”

Volce slapped his face with his hand. “Seriously, if you could feel what I’m feeling down here—”

“Oh, I’d love to!” Enzi’s hand crept down my chest.

I was about two seconds away from stabbing both of them when a flame burst out over us, illuminating the whole room in harsh oranges and nearly setting my hair on fire. All three of us turned around to see Markus shaking his gloved hand to put out a persistent flame.

The haures looked up at us. His eyes were bright embers, cutting brilliantly through the night. “Oh, I’m sorry. It was not an accident.”

Secretly, I was grateful to Markus, though the thought of that pissed me right off.

Sighing, Markus strolled over to the three of us with his left hand trickling flames into the dusty air. He stared down at us with his face set in a grimace. “Listen, I try not to judge—try, being the operant word. However, the last thing I want is for the human to be engaging in his,” he waved the flaming had around vaguely, “biological functions with the two of you.”

“Thank you, Markus,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’re very helpful.”

“That’s not true,” Markus replied. Well, always trust a demon to be honest.

Toll peaked in from a gap in the roof. “Excuse me, but if I might have a word?”

We all looked up at them, startled by their interruption.

“Algier,” Toll said thickly. “Are you aware of what Enzi and Volce are doing?”

“Yes, trying to steal my sleep.”

The balaam fixed me with an acute gaze. “That is partially correct, but not the full of it.” The jutted their beak at Enzi. “The enepsi is attempting to distract you so that you will have a hard time making plans.”

Upon hearing that, Enzi sat up straight and pouted at Toll. “Oh, curious balaam, now you’ve gone and ruined all my fun.” She glanced down at me with doe eyes. “Well, I’m sorry for bothering you, Algier. I just didn’t want the deuce taking you all for himself. After all, he’s just using you for your body.”

“Agreed,” Toll stated.

Volce leapt up and thrust a finger at Enzi. A vein popped out on his temple. “I—you—of course I want his body. I’m a deuce. I literally need another body to get anything done! Besides, I was only getting close to him so you’d keep your filthy hands off him.”

“Well, it didn’t work,” Enzi said. She stood, brushed her hair back, then lazily strolled back over to her chair, swinging her hips in such an obviously exaggerated manner. She sat straight-backed and smiled at me. “Go ahead and sleep, Algier. I’ll watch over you while you do. And if you’re having a nightmare, I’ll make sure to comfort you through the night.” She offered a wink before turning away.

“You don’t need to bother with that, Tits,” Volce spat. “I gave him a Rise and Shine a few hours ago. He won’t be sleeping tonight.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. My knuckles were bone white around the handle of my knife. Teeth gnashed so hard I feared they would crack, I said, “If all of you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to erase the whole lot of you.”

Markus scoffed. “Good luck, human.”

He had a point. One human against four demons, even if they were at each others’ throats, was not a good prospect. I’d be dead before I even took a step.

Not only Markus, but Volce was right also. The Rise and Shine had completely sapped my need to sleep, so I was trying to use the night to go over plans. My usual sleep routine would return tomorrow, upon the next dawn, but for now I was completely alert. Despite that, it was pointless marching on as I couldn’t do much in a fight, and my body desperately needed rest. The whole point of this was to maximise my time, to work within my limits.

Demons don’t really understand limitations. If one believes itself to be capable of fighting through the night, then they would consider attempts to rest and sleep to be in vain. They’re no good at understanding how their actions can work in a group dynamic, hence the only way to convince a demon to act for the good of all is to provide some direct consequence for not doing so. That usually meant violence, or at least the threat of it.

Hence, demonkind is hierarchical, because only those most capable of delivering violence, whether by their own claws or those of their subordinates, can provide the necessary threat to a demon who defies their order. The naming system is nothing but a product of that.

Humans, on the other hand, tend to act for the betterment of all, and their reasons are ridiculous: love, appreciation, pride, a sense of owing, and other ridiculously emotional things. Many psychologists, sociologists, and philosophers of old tried to argue that we are inherently selfish and only act altruistically to better ourselves. The cold selfishness of demons really put those ideas into perspective. Regardless of our evolutionary reasons, we do care about others, human or not. Hence, violence is the last resort of humans, but the first of demons without an incentive to act otherwise.

I was finding it really hard to be altruistic, though, when surrounded by so many demons, and spending every waking moment thinking only of how to survive the next second.

I closed my eyes, squeezed and released the knife’s handle, and tried to slow my breathing. But every time a thought formed that night, I couldn’t help but second guess myself. After all, there were too many holes in my plans that could only be filled with strong servings of luck.