After seeing the strange substance, Danny suddenly stopped in his tracks, swallowing back the protests he was about to throw at the demon. Danny froze for an instant as his mind changed gears from irritation to surprise abruptly.

Next, he leaned over the desecrated body and grabbed the curious fleshy remains that had drawn his attention, while still kneeling on the dirtied floor.

His mind had not played tricks on him. After retrieving the chunk, Danny could clearly see a tiny translucid piece of crystal hidden in between the gory remains that resulted from Danny’s unhinged search for answers.

He then carefully removed the obstructing flesh with his thumbs in order to take a better look at the out-of-place object, just like as if he was peeling a fruit’s skin to expose its juicy insides.

He did not think too deeply about what he was doing, focusing solely on getting a better view of what was undoubtedly what Tutu had been leading him towards.

At this moment, Danny was already way beyond the point of caring about the fact that he was actually digging in between the bits of a human being, or how it would look like to an unsuspecting outsider.

After his careful picking and a preliminary round of cleaning with a few pieces of clean cloth he had brought upstairs with him, the thing was finally presented for his examination.

Danny was no expert in human anatomy, but he was damn sure that his classes on the subject did not cover anything of the sort.

Danny had just started his first semester in medical school when the following chaos put an end to his short-lived university life – so he could hardly be called more knowledgeable than the average person in any medical field, really – but he doubted that anyone would not find odd this finding if they were in his shoes, regardless of their academic education.

Anyone could tell that this thing was not supposed to be there. Yet, it was.

The crystal was smaller than a pinky nail but larger than a grain of rice. It had an uneven shape with rounded parts in some areas, and edged points in others, making it look like some kind of raw ore or unpolished mineral. It would be extremely easy to miss it if he did not know what to look for, given its small size and inconspicuousness.

Initially, Danny had thought that the translucent object was colorless but as he moved it around in between his fingers, he realized he was mistaken. The crystal would adopt different but very faint colors depending on the angle he looked at it. Like a prism refracting light.

Differently from a prism though, the colors the crystal showed at any specific angle were not constant, adding an element of randomness to its appearance.

Danny suspected that he only caught a glimpse of the thing because of this peculiarity. A slight movement and change of perspective changed the apparent color of the object as it was still lodged in the deceased’s flesh, allowing Danny to perceive it without looking directly at it.

After spending a couple of minutes moving it around and checking it for any other noticeable special features, Danny could not find any other peculiarities about it.

Apart from the fact that it had mysteriously appeared inside a dead person’s head, it appeared to be just an ordinary mineral, even if a pretty one. Danny felt it would look perfectly in place at a souvenir’s shop shelf.

However, he would bet an arm and a leg that this thing was anything but ordinary. Danny was pretty sure that if he went outside and started cracking zombie’s heads open, he would find others just like the one in the palm of his hand. Otherwise, why would Tutu tell him to grab any zombie without specifying which?

Of course, there was also the possibility that he would not find a crystal in every single head he looked into, but he felt that to be less likely and also besides the point. The issue of how common it actually was, was irrelevant. What Danny was concerned about was if he also had one of those inside his head now.

Did this crystal form before or after death? Would there be negative consequences if it was the former? Maybe it had nothing to do with dying and everything to do with the quakes and this alleged ‘colonizing’ that Tutu mentioned.

Danny felt fine for now, but he could not discard the possibility that he had something of the sorts inside him just because he did not feel any discomfort during these last days.

And what about its purpose? Danny knew for sure that this thing was critical to understanding the crux of the world’s situation from what Tutu had said so far and the hints that he dropped, but why it would simply appear from nothing inside of the human body?

This thing did not seem to be of biological origin like other components of the human body like muscle or bone. It actually differed greatly in appearance and placement instead. What role would a hard crystal-like substance possibly serve in the middle of the fragile and jelly-like brain matter? Danny could not make any sense of it.

Without any further answers to be easily found, Danny turned again to his useful but unreliable personal monster. It had stood patiently and quietly during all this time that Danny had been going through the gore, and later examining of the crystal, without moving or transforming.

Danny thought it was all very uncharacteristic of Tutu. However, he did not get hung over it, guessing that the demon was simply watching amusedly his messy and ignorant display. Just as if he was watching a monkey in a zoo.

“Okay then. You clearly pointed me in this thing’s direction. So, what is it? And why did I find it inside someone’s head from all places? Do I also have one inside my head now?” Danny fired up a battery of questions, unable to hide his growing curiosity and impatient desire for answers.

“Kekeke. I can tell you that, but can you pay the price?” The demon laughed with its crab mouth in annoying clacking sounds, before obviously taking advantage of Danny’s need for the truth.

It was as if Tutu knew this moment was coming all along. He sat there calmly like a fisherman after casting his line, fully aware that Danny would inevitably come closer until he was not able to resist the allure of the dangling bait. All Tutu had to do now was tug the line a little bit to hook the silly and ignorant fish.

“Of course, it would not be so simple.” Danny thought grudgingly. The demon had been surprisingly forthcoming so far. Suspiciously so. Danny should have known that this moment was coming.

Why wouldn’t Tutu take the chance to bleed him dry? Quite literally at that.

But what could Danny do? He had to know. All his questions had led him to this point. From what he knew, this was the critical information he had been missing all along. The piece of the puzzle that would finally allow him to start make sense of all this mess.

He would not have all the answers to his problems if he managed to squeeze this information out of the demon, but Danny was confident that he would be able to start acting instead of reacting at the very least.

The first step of fixing any problem was recognizing the problem. If Danny wanted to live instead of survive, that was essential.

Thus, with a heavy heart Danny asked. “What do you want? Didn’t I paid you tonight already?”

The demon took a long and frustratingly audible sip of blood from the black chalice, before responding.

“Oh silly, silly Danny…” The crab faded into the dark shadows at the back of the room before returning as a huge black oriole, so tall that its head was actually reaching the ceiling. Its cup held in front of it by dark tendrils that grew from the obscured end of the room like vines.

“What I revealed to you so far are just small snippets of the truth. Small bread crumbs that traced a path of survival for you, even if irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.” The gigantic bird paused letting his speech sink in, as it preened itself, before continuing,

“Although what I told you was unquestionably valuable, as you definitely know by now, those were things that you would stumble upon eventually and find out for yourself, as long as you survived long enough, that is.”

“Of course, by telling you those things early on, I saved you from a lot of pain and suffering that would surely accompany those discoveries. No need to thank me.” The demon said without shame, as if he wasn’t responsible for the lion share of pain and suffering in Danny’s life.

“However, this thing here is different,” The bird turned its head sideways as it looked closely at the tiny crystal another tendril was holding in front of his eye. “you may spend your whole life without understanding what this is. Especially now that you are under… less than ideal circumstances.” The demon said mildly. Less than ideal was one very euphemistic way to describe the crumbling of human’s society.

At some point during their conversation, and without Danny’s notice, the demon had swept away the object away from Danny’s hand, taking advantage of his distraction.

Danny was startled at the showing and realized instantly that the crystal that he had been holding had disappeared, but he rapidly recomposed himself. The demon’s sneakiness and mischievous nature was nothing new.

It was almost impossible to keep his guard up perfectly a hundred percent of the time, but that was a good reminder to pay special attention to any important items whenever he interacted with Tutu. He had to make sure the demon did not slip away with any of his belongings.

Not that Danny felt that he had anything in particular that would interest the demon anyway.

“Then what are you suggesting?” Danny asked.

“You know the drill by now Danny-boy. Nothing good comes without cost.” The bird eyed him sharply.

“How much?” Danny frowned at the extortion.

“Hmm. An arm shall do.” The bird stated.

Danny’s eyes flew wide-open at the bold request.

“An arm?! What the fuck?! How the hell am I supposed to survive with only one arm during all this shit?! NO WAY. There is NO FUCKING WAY I can accept this, no matter how important this information is.” Danny thought as his expression darkened as he placed his right hand over his left arm protectively.

He was about to decline the offer without mincing his words when he was stopped by Tutu’s outrageous laughter.

“HAHAHAHAHA! You should have seen you face!” The bird opened its beak wide as a raspy voice laughed out loud, sounding definitely not like a bird.

“There is no need to be so tense! I would not go as far as to ask something like an arm! Relax Danny!” The demon reassured him half-heartedly, not giving Danny any sense of reliability.

Danny merely stared at the demon with an emotionless gaze. He was barely able to contain the cold blazing fury in his gut without lashing out. Nothing good would come from falling into the demon’s pace.

“Is everything a joke to you?” Danny asked in the most neutral tone he could manage.

“Not everything, no, but I do need to get my kicks wherever I can, right?” The gigantic bird lazily sat down as it responded.

Danny did not grace his statement with a response, simply staring at the creature in front of him while waiting for it to elaborate on his questions.

“Do not give him the satisfaction. Do not give him the satisfaction.” Danny kept chanting inside his head to keep his anger in check and to keep his cool meanwhile he waited.

Fortunately, it worked. Danny could feel the bristling rage diminishing as the words repeated themselves on his head. Soon, he was fully in control of his temper again.

He could not do anything to the demon, so the only one to suffer would be him if he kept letting those pinpricks get to him. The demon would only get enjoyment from his resentment.

“Very well then. All business-like.” The bird reshaped itself into a normal sized black cat before continuing. “Although I don’t need any of your members, it is true that an according value must be paid”. The cat slowly licked its paws as it spoke, still grinning at its successful attempt of getting under Danny’s skin.

“I cannot tell you all there is to know about it – given that even I do not know all there is to know – but I can tell you enough. Give me five times the usual amount of blood, then, I will tell you all about it. Payment upfront obviously.” The cat added.