by Neel Krishnaswami <neelk@MIT.EDU>
Corporeal Forces 2 -- Strength 3 Agility 5 Ethereal Forces 3 -- Intelligence 6 Precision 6 Celestial Forces 4 -- Will 6 Perception 10
Vessel/2, Charisma +2 (Slacker charm)
Driving/3, Dodge/3, Fighting/2, Ranged Weapons/3, Computer Operation/3, Running/1, Fast-Talk/4, Detect Lies/4
Corporeal Entropy/4, Corporeal Healing/4, Ethereal Attraction/3, Celestial Tongues/1
Discord: Jaded/3
Appearance: Zina manifests as a twenty-something Caucasian female with short black hair and blue eyes. She is usually dressed quite casually, favoring the grunge look that went out of style a couple of years back. She usually wears baggy jeans, army boots, and a flannel shirt over a cheap cotton T-shirt.
Not much of one, really. Zina was created as Free Lilim who got sent to Earth unusually early, which meant that she got jaded about the nature of the War and Hell much earlier than most of her fellows.
She sees Hell as one gigantic scam, and she is openly contemptuous of other demons, especially those who work hard at damning mankind. She also maintains a cold spot in her heart for other "free" Lilim, mocking them for being unable to see their chains. Her attitude towards Heaven is a little kinder; she regards them as a pack of fools who believe their own propaganda.
Her standard method of maintaining her own comfort -- which is really the only thing she is able to muster any enthusiasm for -- is to head to hospitals and look for rich old sick people. With her songs of Corporeal Healing and Entropy, she is able to offer them health and youth. She doesn't really waste her time on anyone who has qualms about dealing with demons; for every one of those, there's someone who remembers how hard it is for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
My name is Zina, which probably means something in Hebrew or Aramaic or Greek, but I couldn't really say. Lucifer isn't big on education for demons. That's right, demons. You know, one of the Damned, the Fallen, a servant of Hell, the whole nine yards and kit and caboodle. Most of us demons serve bigger and nastier demons, who do the same thing themselves, and you can iterate right up until you get to the Demon Princes and the big red S himself.
In theory, I don't serve anyone but myself, but that's just the theory, really. If I decided to go off and become an airline attendent or something, I'm sure Hell's secret police would go off and invent a crime against the devil that I commited and vaporize me. Yes, Satan has a secret police. You didn't think the rebellion ended once everyone landed in Hell, now did you?
So it's probably better that you think of me as a contract worker for the Pit, rather than some sort of rebel's rebel or something. That way, you won't get too disappointed when I offer you a deal and the price is your immortal soul.
Not, I might add, that I need to ask for souls much. It's pretty much been my experience that most everyone I know is already damned. Even if you just count the humans. Ha, ha, I was just making a little joke. Right, you're not laughing.
So, if you're still interested, I guess we could work out a deal. The price isn't actually all that bad; I do you a favor, and sometime down the road you do me a favor. And if you're worried about dealing with a spawn of the Pit -- and believe me, I can understand that worry -- you can go off and be righteous all the rest of the time.
I don't care, and you can even count on me not to try to tempt you into sin the rest of the time, either. Why? Run it like this: Lucifer and the princes only care about the big picture, you know, how many billions damned. So they don't really give a damn -- ha, ha -- about any particular soul. And those of us on the bottom don't really get any use out of the souls we snare, so it's not like we're going to risk our necks coming after you, not when the Princes don't care and the warrior angels do.
Yeah, angels. They exist, and presumably so does God. But they're all mushy about repentance, so if you run into one, just tell him that I tempted you and you'll never do it again. Then even the warrior badass John Woo-style angels will get all sappy and merciful.
It works best if you mean it, though, so you might consider my offer a one-time special, if you know what I mean. Say no, and you'll never see me again...so what do you say?
Send comments to Neel Krishnaswami <neelk@alum.mit.edu>.