3934/Interview with the Demon

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Interview with the Demon
Date of Scene: 25 October 2020
Location: Interview Room: Triskelion
Synopsis: Levian gets his first SHIELD interview conducted by Agent May. It goes surprisingly without bloodshed.
Cast of Characters: Levian, Melinda May




Levian has posed:
Job interviews on Earth, if one researches them through YouTube, all kind of seem a bit similar, with some differences here and there. When Levian shows up, he's in another cheap black suit, like when the drone attack happened. He sits in the interview room with pretty bad posture, hunched over as he reads some notes he made on a stack of papers.

This would be Melinda May's third encounter with the demon, actually the second most other than Daisy Johnson. She's already seen him in the field.

If he's been observed for a few minutes before the interview, he mostly reads notes, occasionally bends his foot all the way up to scratch behind his ear like a dog with his shoe. He definitely acts a bit differently when no one's around, a little less human, but more abnormal than dangerous.

It's later in the morning, and he rubs his stomach a few times, apparently hungry.

Melinda May has posed:
The very idea that she's been tapped to do this interview sits poorly with Agent May. She still doesn't trust the demon, though she'll grudgingly admit the review of the footage from the drone attack proves he's both a capable combatant and not overtly working against them. But she remembers Nessa's reaction to him: It wasn't a resounding endorsement.

Nevertheless, as she enters the room, in business attire of her own, she presents a figure of cool professionalism and courtesy. "Mr. Levian. Welcome back to the Triskelion. I've been asked to apologize to you for the circumstances during your last visit. Unfortunately, that sort of thing occasionally gets beyond our control."

Levian has posed:
"I learned a lot from it. I still think about it." Levian admits as he looks up from his papers. "Ah, you're the demon woman... I mean, May, correct?" he asks, trying to be polite. "But, that day, with the attack, I didn't realize how fragile humans could be. Living humans, seeing them die, it felt like a waste. I don't think I really understood mortality before that day."

He sits his papers on the table, which, rather than scribbles, are written in bizarrely neat calligraphy style cursive. "Death, violence, those things don't usually bother me. But seeing people, people who aren't serial killers or evil wizards or something die, it gives me feelings I didn't know I had."

Melinda May has posed:
"What sort of feelings?" the agent asks, pulling out a chair to sit opposite Levian at the table. It seems a good place to start. She lays the folder she's been given on him in front of her. "Morality is somewhat important here, I will say."

She leans back and watches him with dark eyes, reading his body language and puzzling over the fact he doesn't present nearly the confidence more other evil entities she's met have. Perhaps there's a clue in that for her.

Levian has posed:
"No, no, mortality." Levian clarifies, speaking up a bit more, as he has a tendency to be very low and raspy about his speech. "I didn't realize how easy it was for humans to just... be killed by something. Those creatures that attacked, they were more powerful than I expected from an Earth creature."

He reaches for his blazer, peeling it down a little to show her the scar from the laser fire, then pulls it back up. "My feelings... It made me think of the humans I like. Daisy, Nessa, Nico, Karolina. Oh wait, Karolina isn't human... well, my point is that I realized that Earth is more dangerous than I thought, I realize why this all exists."

Motioning around, it's clear he means SHIELD itself. "Those things could have killed anyone, and there would be nothing I could do to save them, or bring them back, other than killing those things before they could hurt them. But, realizing that I couldn't save that guy, the agent, or the wizard woman, they were just... gone..."

Placing a single hand on his stomach, he tries to search for the right word. "It made me feel like I was powerless, felt like a void got sucked open in me, weightless. It was a new feeling, the sight of a living, uncorrupted human's death. It was a viscerally bad feeling, something I didn't enjoy. I didn't revel in the violence."

Melinda May has posed:
May suppresses a laugh. "Clearly, you have not spent much time on the Earthly plane in recent years, then," she says dryly. "Creatures here seem to get more powerful every day." So says the woman with *no* superpowers whatsoever. She's nothing more than a highly skilled spy. But all human, in the end. As frightening as that may be.

Thus, as he explains his feelings to her, the agent finds herself surprised. She doesn't know how honest he's being or not. He *looks* like he's being honest. He sounds like it, too. But he's not human and the one thing she's learned over the years is that it can be fatal to ascribe human thoughts and emotions to non-humans. Not even animals reason the same way.

Her expression turns grave, regardless. "We lost a lot of good people that day, Mr. Levian. Mortality is part of our existence in this world. Not always a happy part."

Her head cants. She pins him with a peircing look. "Why do you want to work for SHIELD?"

Levian has posed:
"I've only been to Earth for about two months. I never visited before then, I'm a very low level demon, very young for my species. I'm not even a particular breed, I'm all mixed up. Like what humans call a 'bastard', or a 'mutt', depending on what's more appropriate for my species. So, my name isn't exactly in summoning books, and I don't have any special ability to leave Hell. My magic education is very narrow, I got it all from a book I stole." Levian explains, being as honest as possible. He is still a demon, after all, so there was likely some stealing at some point.

"Something I find interesting about humans is their motivations. I've been interested since even back home. There are things that they do because they feel a driving need, things that don't fully align with most demons' instincts." He motions to his stomach. "They risk their lives for others, they do nice things for each other, they kill out of duty or justice, or in defense of people. You do many of these things not for an ulterior motive or because you enjoy it, you do it because..."

He waves a hand around. "These are things I'm still learning about. But the longer I've been here, the more I've learned, the more I've found myself doing these things. I didn't understand my motivations. Why did I want to save Nessa? Why did I try to save those agents? Why do I allow myself to suffer from a wound instead of burning something down and healing myself? It would serve me to do or not do many of these things, and leave other people hurt. But, why do I care?" he asks, attempting to set up the answer to her question by explaining his perspective.

"When I met Lara, she said I should try joining SHIELD. I said no, because I barely understood humans beyond my base curiosities and as something people in my species tend to prey on. But after a while I thought, I'll learn about it, and I did. And during that time I made friends, and I thought... I like Earth, I want to protect Earth." But as he gives //that// answer, he holds up a hand.

"At first I thought that was my reason, that's what I told Daisy. I want to protect Earth because I like Earth, I like humans. But when I told Daisy that, I don't think I really knew what it meant, to 'like humans'. But, those creatures that attacked this place..." He stares down at the table in a moment of thought. "It made me realize that I don't want to join just to protect Earth, or because I like humans. I want to join to keep more innocent people from dying. That's my new reason, I don't know if it's better or worse. I'm not good at understanding certain nuances like that yet."

Melinda May has posed:
May stays silent, letting him speak. She watches him work through his thoughts, like an adolescent learning to think critically. Her expression is thoughtful in return. Even when he finishes speaking, she is quiet for a moment or two.

"It sounds like a very good reason to me," she says. Because, objectively, it is. She's still not 100% sure he's telling the truth. Demons aren't known for it and she has very little concrete experience with magic and magical beings... though she seems to be getting more and more every day. Much to her chagrin. If this keeps up, Palamas is going to insist she transfer divisions.

She glances down at his folder briefly. "Tell me what you do, Mr. Levian. About your powers. And maybe about this book you read."

Levian has posed:
"Demon species vary greatly, depending on the part of hell, the culture, the magic I suppose. I probably know as much about the innerworkings of Hell as you do about Earth, probably less. But I describe myself as half demon lord, half demon elemental. My mother was the elemental, father was the lord, don't know who he is, and elementals aren't known for talking." Levian shrugs as he explains that last part.

"From the lord part, I get an innate understanding of basic contract magic. I can create soul contracts. But I don't know how to grant wishes, so it's mostly useless unless I can come up with a good plan. Like when I was trying to trick the necromancer into an agreement that would have allowed me to eat him." He explains that example since she was there to witness it.

"I also have a very good mind for laws, rules, regulations, and how to twist them around. I've learned a lot of the American laws. I know the tax code now. These things are weapons in Hell, usually for someone like whoever my father was, these things are useful. But for me, down there, I wasn't in a position to use them. I was just one of the masses." He grabs a pen and starts scribbling some things about the tax code, sliding them over to her. It's some esoteric madness about corporate tax breaks that is very much real.

Then, holding his finger up, he creates a small lighter sized flame. "The other portion of my genetics gives me inherent fire power. I have an alternate form, though it doesn't offer much of a benefit other than being very hot. It's about the same size as this body. I call this my innate magic, though I didn't entirely know how to harness it until I stole the book. And when I came to Earth I created a form of purifying and healing magic using your Earth fire."

Reaching into his blazer, he pulls it two books. One looks incredibly old and has esoteric Necronomicon-esque writing on its black cover, the other looks like a newer leatherbound book, which also has a similar writing, but it seems like his handwriting that she's already witnessed, unlike the older book.

The older book is what's slide forward. "This is a book on fire magic, what I study to understand the innate functions of fire and magic. It's a basic book for fire wizards." He turns the pages for her, and there are all kinds of diagrams that seem to heavily blur the lines between science and magic, though the writing is all incredibly ancient. She even spots what looks like math in there. "I stole this from a demon lord, because I'm very physically weak for a demon. I wanted to learn how to defend myself better."

Melinda May has posed:
A brow arches mildly as Levian explains himself. "I assume you're considered young for a demon?" she asks now. "Do you know enough about Earth to estimate a comparable age in human terms?" Because she's increasingly beginning to wonder if he isn't the demonic equivalent to a college kid. Within the realm of recruitable, but horribly wet behind the ears.

There's a reason she doesn't often deal with the probies. And that they're terrified of her when she does.

She doesn't touch the books, though she does look at them keenly. WAND will doubtlessly want to look at them. Which means another conversation with Palamas. *le-sigh*

"You realize, if you do succeed in being recruited with us, you will need to sign contracts, non-disclosure agreements, and the like. Legal won't take kindly to you twisting their words inside out." Though some of the agents -- possibly she, herself -- might just find it fair justice.

Levian has posed:
"Probably twenty-something, in human years. I express myself better when I'm talking to other demons, mostly because I'm not trying to think of the correct words and how to convey my emotions in English. I don't speak Earth languages through a magical method, I speak them because I heard them all the time in Hell. But it's difficult to give age equivalents, I do think twenty-something is accurate, but demons can live for millennia, thousands of years." Levian explains, adding, "I'm only a bit over three-hundred. My horns aren't in yet. Pretty sure I'm supposed to get horns, I can feel them under the skin if I press hard enough." He presses his fingers against two spots on his forehead.

"I think demons are usually much older before they come to Earth, but I don't know that for sure. The young ones usually just die quickly in Hell, because we're like disposable fodder. It's why I stole the book, I didn't want to just be fodder. I wanted to know things, and be free." Though, to the talk of contracts, he nods. "I understand. Actually, I find human lawyers to be as adept as many demons at negotiation, so I doubt they would be at a disadvantage. I've been watching court trials on YouTube."

Melinda May has posed:
So, May's guess wasn't that off. She pins him with a direct look. "You do know that demons are generally considered to be untrustworthy by humans, yes? We tend not to get on well with things that try to eat our souls. Call it specieism, if you want, but it's a fact of life on Earth. How are you going to deal with that?" Not to mention the fact it could derail his efforts to even get hired, in the first place. Footage of the drone fight notwithstanding.

She can't help but think that Fury himself would have been a *far* better choice for this interview. Not her.

Levian has posed:
"I'm aware. Human souls are literally the currency of Hell. If humans used demon eyes or tongues or something to print dollars, I'd probably be concerned too." Levian states with some level of reason, nodding. "I met Agent Carter the other day, when a man tried to kill me. I think that the man may be the Hellblazer, but, I'm not sure... A demon urban legend, a human that demons are afraid of, whose name I don't even want to say."

"I gave her a summoning scroll, and I think he's going to teach her how to banish me. That way, even if you don't trust me, you have a way to get rid of me." He holds up a hand, as if to interject if she's about to speak. "If you're wondering why I would do that, it's because I want to stay on Earth. I don't want to go back to Hell. I want to show that I'm serious, that I'm willing to give you the ability to summon and banish me so that you can feel secure in working with me."

Melinda May has posed:
May blinks at that. She *trusts* Carter. Carter was the director when May was a probie. Her shoulders seem to relax, just marginally. "Very well, then, Mr. Levian. I will follow up with Agent Carter regarding that. And pass that information on to my superiors."

She looks down at his file again. Her head shakes faintly. "This isn't exactly a customary interview," she tells him finally. "I can't promise there won't be a follow-up interview. Even without the complications you present, there often is. But I'll give them my assessment and I'm sure someone will get back to you."

But, no. She won't give him her assessment. Not right now, anyway.

Levian has posed:
"When we first met, when you were behind the ward, I couldn't sense what you were. Couldn't smell you or anything. I thought you were a demon." Levian explains, something she's likely heard him say before. "It's because you're like an experienced warrior, one of those demons that others follow, who can raise their hand and make the chaos of Hell stop because everyone knows to listen to them. Your movements, the way you speak, the way that you act when facing the unknown..."

He collects his papers, the ones he brought with him, and also slides his books back into his blazer. "I didn't know that there were humans like you."

Melinda May has posed:
Again, May's brows rise, betraying surprise. "Perhaps we'll learn from each other, then," she says thoughtfully. Her lips twitch. "But, I'll tell you right now: I'm nothing compared to Director Fury."

She rises as he collects his things, tucking the folder under her arm. There's a moment's consideration, and she extends her hand to him. "It's nice to meet you under less volitile circumstances, Mr. Levian."

Levian has posed:
Levian stands, taking her hand, his at least a little warm to the touch, but not uncomfortably so. "Yes, it's nice to meet you without the gun. If lasers hurt, I imagine guns feel much worse. Thank you for being patient."

Then, looking over himself. "This suit is very uncomfortable. But I hope I can see you soon."

Melinda May has posed:
May chuffs a brief puff of air that's almost a laugh. "I'm pretty sure demons designed suits," she says archly. "But the brass considers them a necessary evil." He may not understand the humour in that.

But, hey. That will be telling to her, too.

She leads him to the door and lets him out. "Time will tell, Mr. Levian. Good luck out there, in the meantime."

Once she's sure he can find his way easily from the building, she takes her leave. There's an HR minion who's going to get an earful from her over this. No matter how well it seems to have gone.