It took you a long time to mature to the point where the pain of the human condition is a haunting torment.

It took the demon of that torment a similar amount of time to mature to the point where they can appreciate the job of causing that torment.

What were you both doing 20 years ago?

When I was 22, I was still in my Enlistment. Not remotely mature to the point where such a demon would even be interested.

What if the demon was also 22, and enlisted as a tech support flunkie in the comparable military industrial complex of the demon horde?

And yet, as part of some cosmic interplay of mathematical forces across time and space, across dimensions sublime and sinister, we both say the same thing, out loud, to ourselves, at the exact same time.

"One of these days, I'll make something out of my career. It's only uphill from here."

She won't tell me her name, and she won't allow me to name her according to my fictional namespace/mythos.

Demons appear to be very particular about Names.

Knowing her name might give me power over her, and she'll have none of that.

It was likely a lesson taught during her compulsory education in the inferno.

Maturation and Education are important in both our cases.

It caught me by suprise, really.

I was going through the motions of the suffering caused by the haunting torment of the human condition, but then my high sensitivity picked up something just at that moment.

It was like one of those "Waaaait a minute..." moments from Looney Tunes Cartoons when the villian realized they'd been bamboozled by the rabbit, or worse, the duck.

Someone was there, deep in the abstraction of my mind, gleefully working their artisan craft upon my emotions.

She noticed me noticing her, and got annoyed.

I'm not supposed to notice her. I'm the human.

Now we are aware of each other, and share this uneasy pact of non-aggression.

But, now I know she has something on me that tips the odds in her favor.

Since she's so familiar with the inner workings of my Mind, she knows for certain that I'm too nice to do something that would get her fired...

Update: 9/15/2022

Thanks, Holly.