THE MOMENT
"I'm sorry," the demon asked. The red-skinned, spindly man in a navy blue suit tilted his head at Albert. The two men stood alone in Albert's garage. There was too much clutter to fit a car in, much less the two it was meant for. But, Albert managed to clear enough space in the center to draw his pentagram. "What do you mean, 'why not?'"
"I did everything right! You said so yourself!" Albert gestured at black candles surrounding the symbol. WHY WON'T YOU BUY MY SOUL!?" The demon chuckled lightly at Albert and shook his head.
"Look at the entitlement on you," he said. "Do I really need a reason? Do I not have the right to refuse service just because I'm not human?"
"YOU'RE A DEMON! THIS IS HOW HELL WORKS!" Albert leaned uncomfortably close to the demon's face to give him full volume.
"Of course," the demon's smirk disappeared and he nodded at Albert. "You're the expert after all. I'm just a demon that works there. I'll bet you've never even visited Hell," he couldn't hold a serious face for long and a chuckle escaped.
"What?" Albert tilted his head. "I'm.. alive. Of course I haven't..."
"Well, Mr. Expert, you're already starting off with flawed assumptions. Hell is a plane of existence. That means anyone, alive or dead, can visit. Due to the efforts of new management, Hell is becoming quite the tourist trap." Albert tilted his head at the demon.
"You're kidding... what is there even to see in Hell? It's all fire and brimstone and suffering...," The demon chuckled.
"Again, new management. That idea of Hell was outdated long before Ms. Sharp took over anyway. 'Hell' is nothing more than a named location. Ms. Sharp has devoted considerable effort to redesigning Hell's image.
"You're lying...," Albert said. He doubted his own conviction; for some reason, he found himself believing what he heard. But, he knew better than to trust the demon standing in front of him. The demon shrugged.
"Doesn't really matter to you anyway," he said. "Take care, Albert. By the way...," he gestured at Albert. "This is a company-wide decision. You're welcome to try summoning other demons, of course. However, I can tell you right now they'll all give you the same answer." A puff of red, cinnamon-scented smoke appeared again, and Albert panicked. He could not afford to miss this chance.
"WAIT!!" he said. The smoke cleared, but luckily the demon was still standing in the center of the pentagram.
"What is it, Albert?" the demon asked.
"Can...MAY I ..please see Hell?" He wasn't interested in the tourism that the demon mentioned. But, Albert learned that the living could visit Hell. When the demon suggested that he try summoning others, Albert came up with a different plan. He'd go sell on their doorstep. The demon shrugged.
"Funnily enough, you may. But, you can't," he said. "Well, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself," the demon quickly corrected himself when Albert seemed ready to launch a barrage of questions. The demon reached into the pocket of his blazer and pulled out a transparent card.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked.
"Glass?" Albert asked. The way the rectangle caught the candle light made the material obvious at least.
"It's called a node. If you knew how to use it, you'd be able to Traverse to Hell."
"I'll sell you my soul for one!" Albert said. It wasn't true, and he had a higher, more financial goal in mind. But, he hoped he could catch the demon in a lie. Unfortunately, the demon shook his head.
"Already told you, I'm not interested in buying your soul," the demon replied. Though, his eyes softened. "But, I'm starting to like you, Albert. You're eager, that's a good trait. Tell you what. I am allowed to lend these out for a day, and only a day. The higher-ups like us to try and sell Hell's good points to prospective clients. You're not one, but I'm willing to pretend if you are," he winked at Albert.
A day was more than enough time to find a demon willing to buy his soul for the right amount of cash.
"Yes, please!" Albert said. The demon produced a red clipboard with a white sheet on it, and a pen.
"Great. Since you're wanting to go to Hell, I'll need your name on this first," he said. Albert immediately burst into obnoxious laughter.
"How stupid do you think I am??" he chortled. "I'm not signing anything from Hell." The demon stared at him, unamused. He gave Albert a curt nod when his laughter began to die down.
"That's correct, you're not signing anything," he said. "Read it, stupid," he handed clipboard to Albert. The white sheet consisted of two columns of rectangular stickers, with some of them missing already. He looked at the first one that was available and it said:
[Visitor's Pass] followed by [Hello, my name is: ] below it.
"It keeps you safe from other demons. None of them will try to trap you in a deal," the demon said. Albert didn't hesitate with the new information; he could just take the sticker off. After he signed his name, he noticed the demon doing something with the node.
When the demon said Albert could use it to get to Hell, he didn't understand why. But, the demon tapped and swiped on it like a modern smartphone. And, Albert could see the front of it lit up with a wall of text. Finally, seconds after Albert signed and put his sticker on his t-shirt, the demon traded the node for the clipboard.
"If you choose to use it, once you get through the tutorial you'll know how to Traverse."
"If I choose to??" Albert asked. The demon shrugged.
"Some people don't like the terms of service agreement and don't agree. Can't use the node without agreeing. If you do happen to accept it, that node will disintegrate 24 hours from the moment you agree. So, really, take your time and read through the terms, there's absolutely no rush," the demon said. He offered the clipboard back to Albert. "I'll even leave you the rest of these in case you need to wash that shirt," he chuckled.
"Nah, I got it," Albert shook his head. He was focused on the node. He'd already clicked 'Yes' through everything and was about to start the tutorial.
"You didn't read the terms?" the demon asked.
"Nah, no one ever does," he said idly while navigated the node.
"I knew I liked you, Albert," the Demon grinned. "You know, those nodes can get you to a lot more places than Hell. Maybe I should tell you why I didn't want to buy your soul so you don't waste any time in Hell." This did attract Albert's attention. He looked up.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"It's simple when you think about it," the demon said. "Why buy something I can get for free?" Red cinnamon smoke plumed around him, and his grin broadened into a smile before he disappeared. "Enjoy your last 24 hours."