Ariel Terzic turned his head at breakneck speed once he heard the metallic door of the interrogation room opening. He was prepared to receive the person who would interrogate him with his brightest smile and a respectful greeting. He was still thinking about how he could better that situation, but for the time being, he would resort to persuasion.
'I know that Lancelot is doing his best to make us leave this mess, but I need to do my part. He will soon take care of that detective, too. Anyway, for now, I need to work on how I will act.'
'The first impression is the most important, after a-' he couldn't finish his thoughts as he looked at the face of the man entering the room. His facade of good guy got washed away immediately.
"Y-You...", he said while squinting his eyes. Since Ariel was someone quite calm and quiet, he was not angry at that moment. If he was, he didn't show the slightest hint of angriness. However, he surely was wary of Tobey.
"So, we meet each other again, huh?" Tobey said with a smile on his face. "It's nice to see you again, Ariel Terzic."
"I am afraid that I am not willing to say the same to you, Tobey Foster. Also, call me by my real name," he said, frowning hard.
'What's up with this guy. Why is he using my name as a paladin to refer to me? I bet that this room is being monitored. Does he want to blow up our covers?' Ariel thought as he looked at the black rectangular window covering the left wall of the room.
"Don't worry, Ariel. We can talk freely here. My condition for having you arrested by my own hands is to have some time to talk with you in private, no cameras, no witnesses," Tobey said as he sat on the other side of the metallic table between them. The chair was slightly uncomfortable, but it didn't matter to him at all.
"Huh? Are you an airhead? Do you think that they would comply with this absurd request? That's unreasonable! You are putting me and everything else in danger!" Ariel said, trying to get up from the chair, but being prevented to do so when Tobey raised his hand, interrupting him.
"For now, they think that I am doing this to get privileged information, so I can finish this case perfectly. Nothing but a dirty move to increase my prestige and rewards for this case. You don't need to worry about it at all, as I said.
"Also, I must warn you that, even though this room isn't being monitored, you better not try to do anything strange. We both know that you can break free easily from these handcuffs and beat the shit out of me, but just think a little bit about the consequences of me not leaving this room in one hour."
Ariel shut his mouth and sat on the chair again. He couldn't help but gulp.
'This man is manipulating everyone. He has something that others don't have. This perception and sagacity... He plays with others like they are pieces of chess or empty characters without will or wits. I feel a claustrophobic sensation when in his presence, and it is killing me. I could crush him like an insect in a battle, I am sure of it. But, when acting like I have the same limitations as a normal human, his presence is the one crushing me.
'This bastard even put a one-hour limit to our interrogation so he would assure his safety...'
Ariel hated to admit it, but he was feeling oppressed.
"Anyway, we have a limited time here, and I would like to ask some questions to you. Of course, I need your cooperation during the... hmm.. fifty-so minutes we have remaining until people enter here with guns pointing at your head."
Tobey crossed his legs and arms, in a relaxed but serious position.
'Well... isn't that simple? The same way I can't kill him, he can't do it as well. Also, torture is off the table completely. It is a crime, after all. Concluding: this guy can't make me spit anything, not even saliva if I don't want to.'
Ariel kept quiet. Just the sound of his breathing could be heard by Tobey. The latter sighed, shaking his head.
Tobey took his cellphone, calling someone. The room was silent enough for Ariel to hear what he was saying.
"Hey, man. Could you take him?"
"Yes. He is with us right now," an unknown voice sounded. "I will make him say something."
Ariel got nervous.
'Just what is this guy planning?'
"Repeat his name, you punk!" a loud thud sounded. Likely a punch.
"Hmm... Ariel...? Ariel?" someone said with a teary voice.
Ariel nearly jumped out of the table again. Fury finally appeared in his expression, boiling his blood.
"Phill..." he muttered.
Tobey silenced the phone, placing it on top of the table, then clasping his hands beside it.
"I know that you and Phill are friends. He wouldn't be in the position he is nowadays without having a certain intimacy with you, particularly taking into consideration the fact that he is a normal human working for paladins. I can see through your eyes that my assumption was right, which gets me very glad.
"Now, I will ask you for cooperation again."
Ariel gritted his teeth strongly. He knew how to control his emotions. He was a calm and reasonable person. He was different from that barbarian called Caleb Alek, that needed to be dominated not to take Tobey's life.
"I-It's a bluff! You wouldn't do it at all! It's a crime! It's torture!" the paladin pointed an accusatory finger towards Tobey, who giggled with a menacing smile on his face.
"I already committed a crime when I threatened you two with a weapon for no apparent reason, and without you offering any previous resistance. It is true particularly in Melissa's case since I shot her in the ear.
"In short, Ariel, I did a lot of wrong things that will have great consequences at the end of this case, and I am not sure whether I will leave it unscathed, judicially speaking. That's why it doesn't matter committing a crime or two more. Especially if it's to make you spill the beans," Tobey cast a sharp look at him.
[Hahaha! That's awesome! Why did it take you so long to let your balls grow a little bit?] Mask said.
'Weren't you seeing it when I schemed it, you fool? I am not doing anything to Phill. I am not willing to harm more people than I already did! I am just using the righteous side of this paladin against him.'
[Damn it! For a moment I thought that you were finally going to give me a bit of joy and fun... You are going to be the unfortunate bastard forever like this, you shrimp.]
'Shut up. I don't need to kill every person that shows up in front of me.'
Leaving Mask aside and focusing on his intimidation, the detective returned to fully pay attention to Ariel, who had a frustrated expression.
He took yet some moments to say something, which got Tobey quite angry since he didn't have time to lose there. Nevertheless, the latter waited patiently as he couldn't exaggerate too much and make his intimidation have the opposite effect.
"... Ok," Ariel hesitantly said. "You can ask it."
Tobey sighed in relief internally. Mask kept mocking him for his nervousness, though he didn't care about it.
"Okay, first of all, I want to know more about this thing of kidnapping demon kids. What are you up to? What're your intentions when doing so?"
'Hmm, I was sure that he would come up with this thing first. Since I am sure he will find a way to know whether I am lying or not, I will need to say it. Omit certain important parts seem useless as well, this guy will consider every single sentence and try to get all the details. I will just do it to hold him for a while more, without causing more harm to Phill, of course.'
"Ah, alas, you better be as much concise as possible here. I don't want to waste time," Tobey said, narrowing his eyes. "I can easily tell whether you are trying to delay me or not, don't underestimate me."
Ariel nodded.
"First of all, I should start by saying that it is not kidnapping, at least not at first. We just made it look like that not to get involved in judicial matters with the humans. Afterward, families of demons began to refuse to give their children so... we needed to get it by force and erase them for committing a war crime."
"War crime?"
"Yes. Trying to hinder this process is a war crime since giving away promising children was a condition of a temporary peace treaty imposed by our Bishop Aslam more than a decade ago. It was both a move to stop the war and prevent more people to die... and to weaken the demons gradually, in an indirect way to exterminate them.
"Also... a hidden objective of Bishop Aslam was to... 'humanize' demons. His goal was to make people like... just like you, Tobey. You probably are the first subject of his tests to have succeeded."