Marcus glared at his partner from across the room. “Do you have to do that inside?” he asked.

Saris pulled a blood-vaporizer from his lips and turned to look at Marcus. “It’s not hurting you, so don’t look if it bothers you so much,” he said. “Besides, there’s a fire across the street. I don’t want to breathe in all that smoke if I don’t have to. I’ll be coughing all day.”

Saris stood by the window and placed the bloodcig back to his lips. He inhaled, causing the tip of the device to glow a soft red. To Marcus, the thought of vereans walking around and vaping blood was almost as unsettling as when they drank it. Sure, most of it was supposed to be synthetic or animal blood, but who really knew?

The muted display on the wall depicted an ongoing news report. A small crowd stood outside a gold-pillared apartment complex within the city. The complex was billowing smoke. That very crowd—along with the burning building, were across the street from their office.

Saris and Marcus ran the two-man venture called ‘S&M Detectives.’ They co-owned the office and living space upstairs. They didn’t get a lot of business, but kept busy with what they could manage. S&M took on jobs such as finding out if someone’s spouse was cheating on them, or finding out where someone was. Most of their paid work came from the Enforcer Bureau on Malstyx—which is where their office was located. Saris had wormed his way into the hearts—and pants, of some of the officers there. So when the bureau needed to outsource investigative work, S&M tended to get the job. It was usually things the bureau investigators didn’t want to dirty their hands or be associated with, which often entailed demons. Why send valuable assets in the department, when they could outsource to a couple of nobodies? No one would complain about a few civilians going missing if a potentially demonic situation took a turn for the worst.

Saris’s black hair was swept back. Marcus’s was the same length but brown and swept to the side. They both had a light amount of facial hair which they kept trimmed. Marcus was used to dressing nicely, due to his time in the Anti-Demon Agency—otherwise known as the ADA. Saris on the other hand, was more laid-back in his demeanor and appearance—but still dressed similarly to Marcus. Saris had the usual red verean eyes and pointy ears, though his eyes were a bit dull in hue. Marcus’s were brown. They had similar physiques, but Saris benefited from being verean. He had a lighter body and stronger musculature. Marcus thought of himself as the smarter of the two. His time in Malstyx’s ADA, had provided him with a plethora of skills.

“Did we make any money at all the past two weeks?” asked Marcus. His head tilted to get a better view of Saris without the image obscuring his vision.

“Oh!” said Saris. “The Enforcer Bureau signed off on the contract we did for them. So that was fifteen hundred credits I think?”

Marcus blinked and asked, “We did work for the E.B.?”

“Err, well...It was a bit of a solo job, on my part. On behalf of team S&M.”

Marcus sighed and leaned back in his chair with his fingers to his temple.

“You screwed one of the E.B. officers again, didn’t you?”

“The incident involved something along those lines,” said Saris. “It’s...a bit of a blur.”

Marcus rolled his eyes. “Well at least you made something,” he murmured.

“More than you,” Saris countered.

“I keep S&M afloat while you screw around,” Marcus yelled.

“Oh, so I was the one who got drunk three days ago and stumbled around the streets hitting on every dryte in sight?” said Saris ”—and had a hangover the whole next day? You humans indulge far too much in every vice.”

Marcus grumbled at Saris’s superb recollection.

“I have a thing for plant people. I can’t help it,” said Marcus.

The dryte were an exotic race. They resembled plants—with their mossy hair and their petal-clothing, but their individual appearance could differ wildly. It was one of the reasons Marcus found them so fascinating.

Marcus tapped his data-band to dissipate the display. He grew weary of staring at reports and numbers. He looked up to see Saris walking towards his desk. “So are we taking that job?” Marcus asked. “It’s a bit peculiar, don’t you think?”

“There’s not much else right now, It’s the only real work we’ve had in days,” said Saris.

“I’m not sure I’d call it real work until we actually get paid for it,” said Marcus. “Which, given the nature of the situation, Isn’t likely.”

“Are you backing out of it already? You were the one who got the call and setup the meeting,” said Saris. “You do this a lot, you know. You get excited over something new and mysterious, but then you back down after you’ve thought about it for too long.”

Marcus rasped his fingers on his desk as he stared off towards the window. “I’m just getting a bad feeling about it.”

“That’s what you always say,” said Saris. He sighed and headed for the door. “How about we head over there, get a few drinks in you and we’ll see how you feel about it afterwards?”

Marcus glanced over to the display with the news. He noticed the time. The meeting was in an hour. He looked to Saris. “I guess you’re right,” he said. Marcus stood and brushed his hands down his black pants and straightened out his button-up short-sleeved collared shirt. He joined Saris by the door.

“They advertise that they have the largest selection of blood-liqueurs,” said Saris as he opened the door.

Marcus gritted his teeth. Why did his partner have to be a verean? Blood-this, blood-that.

*** Marcus sat across from his partner at a dimly lit table in the pub. He held his glass to his lips and took a sip. The upbeat but soft music was a comforting undertone to the rather drab appearance of the place. The windows were tinted to keep the harsher lights from the city at bay. Inside, the decor gave a more relaxed look, with rustic furniture and gentle yellow lighting.

Marcus looked to him from behind his glass. He sipped at the contents and let out a huff before setting the glass down with a clink. Saris was still puffing away on his bloodcig. Marcus looked around the bar and observed the other patrons. A few older gentlemen sat at the counter against the wall where the bartender was whipping up drinks. There were two women at a table across the room and a few miscellaneous patrons at their own respective tables. It was relatively quiet, which was strange for a new bar. Maybe no one knew about it yet. Marcus relaxed into his padded seat and nudged the glass with a finger.

“She won’t show up,” said Saris.

“She sounded scared, she’ll show up,” Marcus replied. “Not like we have anything else going on, might as well see it through.”

Marcus glanced to the bartender and lifted his glass while holding up two fingers. The bartender nodded in his direction. Saris was still nursing some sort of blood alcohol concoction. Marcus never kept up with the names for drinks that included blood. He leaned back and looked up to the ceiling.

“So we have a girl with a dead boyfriend, who recommended that she hand off this item—whatever it is, to us,” said Saris.

“Where’s the pay in this?”

Marcus bit his lower lip. Saris had a point. Maybe they should file some sort of ‘non-profit’ paperwork for their business. It seemed like half of what they did was charity for somebody.

“I don’t understand why her boyfriend recommended us,” said Saris. “We aren’t a bank or a storage facility.”

Marcus gave it a bit of thought.

“We investigate things. I’m hoping that if we talk to her, she’ll reveal a little more to us,” said Marcus. “Unless she thinks we can figure out who killed her boyfriend, based on the item.”

“She said she couldn’t go to the police, right?” said Saris. “So, maybe It’s evidence of corruption?”

Marcus chuckled. “Everyone’s corrupt on this planet,” he said. “Even if we could incriminate someone...why would we bother? We don’t need that sort of exposure. That’s a perfect way to get both of us killed.”

“Humans, always thinking about your mortality,” said Saris.

“Well some species don’t have the luxury of being immortal. Besides, you’re more suited to deal with this line of work. I may have spent years analyzing data and executing missions, but people like you were the ones who had to get messy.”

Saris lowered his bloodcig and gave him a fanged grin. “If I recall correctly, back at the agency you were the only agent who actually went out with operatives. All the others prefered to sit at their cushy desks, while you enjoyed getting close to the messy parts.”

Marcus grimaced and narrowed his eyes as he stared at the far wall. “It wasn’t enjoyment, trust me. But it’s probably the only reason I’m still here and the rest of the department isn’t.”

“A shame you weren’t assigned more operatives,” said Saris. “Perhaps more than the two of us would’ve survived.”

“Tch,” Marcus sneered. “So what? Two of us...three of us...four? There were over five hundred of us. Now look where we’re at. Bottom feeding off whatever dreck jobs we can get around the city. We’re barely even equipped to deal with demons nowadays.”

Saris took a slow drag of his bloodcig, then let out the breath before speaking. “Most of our equipment was at the precinct when it blew. The specialty ammo we took for granted is all but gone.” Saris let his grin return as he subtly tapped something hidden beneath his jacket. “But at least we had these beauties on us. They’re better than anything we’d be able to afford on the market.”

Marcus rolled his eyes. “Yea, but—” he cut himself short as the bartender came into view and set his drink on the table. “Thanks.” Marcus brought the new drink to his lips and took a gulp of the amber liquid. He set the glass down and rolled his tongue within his mouth. His attention returned to Saris. “I’m useless compared to you. I wasn’t special forces. I only shot at the range to pass assessments.”

Saris waved his hand dismissively. “Most of the other agents cheated their numbers, or had the evaluator pass them to meet quota. Even our own agency was lax when it should’ve been vigilant and don’t forget, you managed to hit that demon square between the eyes...that one time.”

Marcus chuckled. “Yea...if only that single shot would’ve actually stopped him.”

Saris couldn’t help but laugh as well. “I’m not sure why it’s so funny, you almost died, because you loaded the wrong ammo.”

Marcus grinned at the memory and shook his head. “I thought I was dead for sure. Broken ribs, arm…” He trailed off as he stared at the window. “Hey, do you think the lunatic is caught up with demons?” Marcus asked.

Saris shook his head. “Couple young dreg like them? I doubt it. You saw her profile and the supposed boyfriend’s. They’re dreck...bottom of the food chain on Malstyx. They barely make enough to live on. I don’t know what the item is, but it’s probably another corruption scheme that ended up getting the boyfriend shot by some gang or mercs.”

Marcus took a slow sip of his drink. The liquid burned as it ran down his throat. The more he thought about the situation, the more his gut told him that Saris was wrong and that there was going to be trouble. There was always trouble.

The next hour crept along. Marcus had two empty glasses on the table, compared to Saris’s one, but Saris had also been through four bloodcig ampules.

Marcus checked his data-band for the time. “She was supposed to be here an hour ago,” he said.

Saris had been watching the window and glancing around the bar. His eyes never seemed to remain on any one thing for too long. He was the type to size others up with the briefest glance. He pushed his chair back and stood. “Well, guess that’s all we can do.”

Marcus took one last look at the door to make sure the girl wasn’t coming. He then followed Saris’s lead and stood as well. “I lost the bet, so the tab’s mine,” he said and made his way to the counter. The bartender brought up their tab and Marcus swiped his data-band over the scanner and accepted the transaction with a press of his finger. The bartender gave his thanks and Marcus went to the door, making his way out with Saris.

They straightened their jackets and Saris took in the surroundings while patting his pocket. “Damn, I’m outta amps,” Saris grumbled. Marcus looked over to him and smirked.

“Gonna see if the bartender has any,” said Saris, who turned and headed back into the bar.

Marcus shook his head and started down the street. Various other outlets were on either side of him but they were closed for the night. The bar was located at the far end of a side street. It wasn’t a terrible neighborhood, Marcus had seen far worse around the city. His arms crossed as he came to a stop and looked down the street towards the rooftops. He watched the lights from transports flying by. Blues, yellows, greens. It was almost mesmerizing to just sit back and gaze.

Something hard and cold pressed firm to the back of his head.

“Give me your data-band and you get to keep your life, don’t turn around!” the man grunted.

Marcus tensed, keeping still and staring forward. “My data-band?” he asked.

“Take it off or I’ll take your arm!” the man demanded in a low voice. His strict and concise voice portrayed experience. He’d done this before. Had he cut off people’s arms in the past for their data-band? It wasn’t unheard of on Malstyx. Band-hackers could pull a lot of credits out of a person’s account—if the data-band wasn’t decently encrypted.

“Calm down, I’m taking it off,” said Marcus as his arms came up in a form of surrender. He reached over at a snail’s pace. The apparent muzzle of the weapon against his head pressed harder against his skull.

“Hurry up!” the man grunted.

Data-band’s couldn’t be ripped off, the band had to be disengaged by a function on the device itself; otherwise the dreg would’ve taken it by now.

Marcus sighed. What was taking so long?

He tapped the data-band on his wrist to pull up a small display. He hit the correct icons, but took extra time to reach the correct menu. He occasionally hit the wrong selections and had to back-up in the menu.

“Sorry, I’m nervous!” said Marcus in a trembling voice, but with steady hands.

“Get it off or I’ll take your whole arm” said the man.

Marcus frowned a bit now. Oh, maybe he needed to move his head?

“Sorry! I can’t see too well!” said Marcus as he leaned his head down to get a better look at the data-band’s screen.

DZZZT, came a sharp electric sound.

The pressure against the back of Marcus’s head diminished and a thud came from behind him. Marcus turned to see his would-be mugger on the ground. A red pool spilled out onto the street beneath his head. He lifted a brow and looked to the bar a couple dozen feet away. Saris was walking towards him, already lowering his gun down into his jacket.

“He didn’t have any,” called Saris.

Marcus furrowed his brow at him. “What?” asked Marcus as Saris stopped a foot away from him.

“Bartender didn’t have any blood amps,” he clarified.

Marcus looked down to the dreg who Saris had just shot. “Well, let’s get home then, wouldn’t want you going without your—”

A scream cut through the air.

Marcus looked around, it sounded as though it came from a nearby street, “Damn, what is it now?”

“I got it!” Saris dashed into the nearby alley, his pistol already in hand once again. Marcus barely had a chance to blink and Saris was already on top of things. He pulled out his own sidearm and ran after his partner, but Saris had some distance on him.

Saris reached the far end of the alley. He turned and faced into another backstreet, he raised his firearm. With a flick of his thumb, he altered the firing mode of his weapon. An audible drone emanated from the pistol. A second later, Saris fired into the alley. Energized rounds burst from the muzzle of his weapon in bright streaks of blue.

“Saris!” Marcus called as he closed in on his partner. Saris kept firing and stepped out of sight into the alley. Marcus flipped the same switch on his pistol and it duplicated the soft drone. The discharge from Saris’s gun could still be heard as Marcus made it around the corner.

Usually Marcus would choose safety over brashness, but he knew Saris might need his help if his partner was still firing at whatever he’d seen. Whatever it was, he hadn’t even hesitated to shoot it. Marcus knew full well what that meant.

Now that Marcus had turned the corner, he lifted his firearm. He could smell the tingling scent of burnt atmosphere as it tickled his nose. Saris was a half dozen feet away, discharging shots towards the dead-end street. Had Saris gone crazy? Why was he shooting at nothing? The energized bullets impacted the glossy black wall at the far end.

The burning smell of something reminiscent of sulfur and oil filled the air. The darkness shifted as bits of black sludge fell from the wall. Marcus’s eyes widened in realization. He trained his weapon on the side of the building, but now that his eyes were adjusted to what he was seeing, he noticed something moving near the ground.

There was someone in the wall.

He aimed higher than the figure and fired into the oily blackness; his energized shots joined Saris’s. More globs of sludge fell from the facade and sizzled on the ground. The black goop sucked its captive deeper into its dark depths. Rope-like tentacles wrapped around the person’s mouth and legs. Every passing second meant that more of the trapped figure was lost.

Saris and Marcus closed in on the creature and simultaneously fired into it, hoping to destabilize it so that it would release the girl it held. The sludge was up to her chest. Her arm came up and thrust forward, an object flew from her fingertips towards Marcus. A tentacle surged out from the blackness towards the fallen object, but Saris seared the tentacle off with a single shot. The long appendage fell to the ground and quickly decomposed into a black dusty ash. Marcus could barely hear the girl’s muffled screams over the sound of their weapons, but moments later, when her head sunk into the sludge, all her sounds stopped.

The girl was gone.

The black sludge poured down onto the ground and moved towards the fallen object. Marcus raced towards it. He swiped the black cube from the ground and dashed back towards Saris. The sludge threw out tentacles to grab at Marcus, but each one was shot off by Saris’s gun, which never stopped firing as he covered his partner’s retreat.

Marcus stood by his partner and raised his weapon. The mass of sludge crawled ever closer towards them. His salvos joined Saris’s own as the two detectives released an unrelenting barrage of blue light, until the dark ooze was nothing more than decomposing ash on the ground.

Saris’s gun fell silent as he scanned their surroundings. Heat radiated off the weapon from overuse but Saris endured it. Marcus kept an eye on the ash, making sure it was really dead. The fact that it wasn’t moving was a good sign.

“I never thought we’d see one of those again,” said Marcus.

“Do you think that was her? your contact?” asked Saris. He looked down at the black shiny cube which Marcus was holding. “What’s in the secure-cube?”

Marcus was still catching his breath, while Saris didn’t even seem winded.

Marcus lifted the object and inspected it. “I don’t know, we’ll have to take it back to the office to crack it open. Whatever it is...it was worth sending a sludge-glutton after.”

Saris flipped the switch on his gun, letting the drone die down. Marcus did the same.

“I can’t believe someone would send a demon of that rarity after our lunatic girl,” said Saris.

Marcus looked to him and shrugged. “Sooner we get back to the office, the sooner we get some answers,” he said as he turned and headed back the way they’d come. He couldn’t help but feel as though eyes were on them. “Not to mention we’re not equipped to deal with more demons, especially not of that calibre,” he spoke in a slightly quieter tone.

Saris followed after Marcus. “Yeah, my magazine’s almost dry.”

“I want to know where she ended up,” said Marcus. “The other half of that sludge-glutton has to be somewhere.”

Saris hissed. “I’m just pissed that I’ve killed two halfs of those things in my life and with the other half still laying around somewhere, it just grows a new one. I’m not used to my foes still being alive after I’ve killed them.”

Marcus stared at the black security cube. He knew it couldn’t be opened without a nearby data-band transmitting the passcode. Without knowing what was inside, it wasn’t worth the risk of cutting into it. If it was a decent model, it would self-destruct when physically tampered with. Cyber tampering might make it explode as well.

“I’m not sure what model this is,” said Marcus. “I might be able to open it. The crypto program from the agency was able to crack most cubes.”

“So we crack it open and find out what was so important about that girl. Maybe it’ll help us find her. I’d love to kill the other half of that demon,” Saris grumbled.

Marcus was almost certain that Saris was more concerned with killing a demon than he was saving the girl. Although, Saris might’ve just been more realistic about the situation. Once the girl was interrogated by who, or whatever took her, she’d probably end up dead—if she wasn’t already. *** As Saris and Marcus approached the door to their office, an emergency vehicle lifted away from the apartment complex across the street.

“Looks like they finally put out that fire,” said Saris.

“Took long enough,” said Marcus as he made his way into the office and went straight to his desk. He placed the security cube down and sat in his chair. He flicked his thumb, gesturing for his data-band to pull up a display and keypad. He tapped away at the keys to start the decryption program.

Saris locked the door behind him. Not that locks did much good against demons. He went to his desk and began fishing through the drawers for blood ampules.

Marcus looked between the data-band’s display and the security cube. He initiated various scanning features of the crypto program and waited for each scan to complete. He focused on the display as information regarding the model of the cube appeared. The program was testing the waters, as it were. It was using the scanners on his data-band to make the least invasive measures before delving further into the cube’s mysteries. It could take another sixty seconds, or he could be here for an hour.

A little red light illuminated across the room and drew his attention. Saris stood there in the shadows, illuminated only by the meager light from the window, but the prominent red flicker from his blood vaporizer was hard to mistake. He didn’t say anything this time. He was too tired from the ordeal in the alley. Perhaps he shouldn’t pester Saris about it all the time. He often took his partner for granted.

So instead of complaining about Saris’s habits, Marcus reclined in his chair and propped his feet on the desk and relaxed. “Go get some sleep, I’m gonna doze for a bit while the program runs the scans,” he said.

Saris walked about the room, heading over to a cabinet in the back. A mechanism inside loosened and the front panel opened. Saris retrieved ammunition for the sidearms the two of them used. He ejected the nearly spent magazine from his weapon and slid a new one into place.

“I’ll sleep when we find out what’s in that cube, and how deep of a mess it’s put us in,” said Saris. He placed some spare mags discreetly tucked away in his jacket. He grabbed a few extras and walked over to Marcus and dropped them on his partner’s desk.

Marcus groaned at the effort of moving to get them. He slid his firearm out. He followed the same routine as Saris and loaded a clean mag and pocketed the spares. “I doubt anything saw us and tracked us back here, but I guess we can’t be sure,” said Marcus.

Saris sucked at the bloodcig between his lips as he sat down in his chair. He set the weapon on the desk and started to run maintenance scans on the firearm, making sure that the overuse of it earlier hadn’t damaged any of the components.

Marcus tapped his data-band several times and turned on a display in the office. A screen lit up against the wall. The sound was muted as a local news channel appeared on the display. He decided that if Saris wasn’t going to get any rest, he wasn’t going to either. He might as well catch some of the news.

“Wish we had something with more power to it,” Marcus grumbled.

“We’ve been fighting too many different kinds of demons,” Saris replied.

“If only there was a kind of bullet that worked perfectly on everything,” said Marcus as he turned in his seat to better watch the news while his data-band ran system checks on the gun. “Energized shots were a lucky break for that gluttony demon. Would’ve been a waste of ammo using anything more powerful. We need to get our hands on explosive ammo...that was good stuff.”

“Sadly, our budget doesn’t allow for that kind of luxury. Not to mention the required firearms are either old and expensive, or they’re riddled with malfunctions,” said Marcus.

“Yeah, I remember the piece of dreck that weapons supplier sold to the ADA,” said Saris. “I think only one of them functioned properly after the first couple weeks. Damn things got Royce and Toria killed.”

Marcus lifted a hand to his temple as he stared at the news screen. “I remember the video we pulled from their data-bands,” said Marcus. “A bad way to go. We also never heard from that damned salesman again. Just up and disappeared.”

Saris slotted the last component back into his weapon as he reassembled it. “If I see him again, I’m placing a round between his eyes. I’m not asking permission,” said Saris. “Royce and Toria were verean. I grew up with them, trained with them. They weren’t the best people, but they didn’t deserve to have their bodies—” Saris cut himself off as he shook his head. He looked to Marcus and then the screen on the wall. “What’s on the news?”

Marcus blinked the vision of what had been left of Royce and Toria from his thoughts. “I don’t know, more riots I think,” he replied as he read the subtitles at the bottom of the screen. “The sphinx...or sphinxes, whatever you’re supposed to say—are starting to get more violent. Which is just what First City needs. As if demons and corruption weren’t bad enough.”

Saris smirked. “What? You’re not gonna sign up to get yourself some pointy ears, or a forked tongue?” he asked. “Saw one of them with antennae—or something, coming out of their head. Think they’d be functional?”

Marcus shook his head. “No idea and no, I have no desire to screw around with my genetics like that. I don’t see the big fascination with it either.”

Saris shrugged. “Lucky for me, I don’t have a choice in the matter since they’re only able to modify human genes,” he said.

“It’s only a matter of time before they’re able to move on to other specie,” said Marcus. “It’s probably an alpha-stage sort of thing. I’m sure it works into their business model to target the largest portion of the population first, to increase sales. They’ll move on to verean and ursari next.”

“I hear the ursari mafia isn’t too happy about the whole thing,” said Saris. “Especially when humans choose ears similar to theirs. Apparently they’ve been adamant about teaching those people a lesson. In their usual friendly methods.”

“Guess the Enforcers are going to be busy for a while with all the sphinx activity,” Marcus mused. “Maybe we’ll get some work if they find themselves pulling detectives from their usual duties.”

“I’m sure we’ll find out,” Saris replied.

Marcus leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. The news was starting to loop content it’d already shown, so he figured he’d try and get a few minutes of—

Click Click

Marcus’s eyes bolted open as he looked towards the door.

Saris looked over to him. “Came from your desk,” he said.

Marcus looked to the screen which illuminated the top of his desk. In bright letters read the message ‘Defense mechanism deactivated. Locking mechanism deactivated. Security cube safe for opening.’ Marcus looked at the cube. There was a dull mark on the top which signified which way to open it. He picked the cube up and eased the top open. It slid smoothly and revealed the contents inside.

“What is it?” Saris asked as he headed over to Marcus’s desk.

Marcus stared at it for a long moment, bewildered. He then carefully clasped it between his fingers and lifted it out of the confinements of the cube. He held it up to the light coming from the screen. “Some sort of...vial?...blue liquid?” he said. The vial had a glass body and a metal stopper at the top. The blue liquid was semi transparent but otherwise unremarkable.

Saris looked down at it and furrowed his brow. “You have no idea what it is, do you?” he asked.

Marcus stared at it for a long moment. “I know exactly what it is,” he said. “It’s something we’re going to have to take to Noree, because I haven’t a clue.”