Diel

A diel is a demon who has made a deal with Alcyon Corporation and received a robotic body that allows them to survive in reality in exchange for working at the company.

Overview

Alcyon Corporation began creating diels 18 years ago. The intent behind the diel project was to reduce the rate of possessions by offering an alternative option to demons, as well as expand Alcyon Corporation's workforce.

Diels are housed in shells, which are proprietary android bodies designed and manufactured by Alcyon Corporation. Shells run a human emulation program - a system of both hardware and software, mostly housed in the head and torso, that emulates the function of a human body. When a demon inhabits a shell, its mist spreads throughout the shell and serves a similar function to a human's soul. This allows it to safely explore reality.

If the human emulation program is compromised, most often due to severe physical damage to the hardware, the shell can no longer contain the demon and it is forced out. Diels can also voluntarily leave their shells to the same effect. If either of these occur while the diel is in reality, their demon form burns to death upon contact with outside matter.

Creation

During the first few years of the diel project, diels were created in batches. In the present, this approach has been abandoned in favor of a more decentralized one. Demons who wish to participate in the project may approach an agent or station in oneirosea and inquire about joining.

Interested demons are brought to reality in limbless test shells. They undergo a series of psychological tests to determine their suitability for the program. If they are accepted, they can choose their permanent shell's basic appearance. Once it is manufactured and provided to them, their job at Alcyon Corporation begins on the same day.

Appearance

Diels are generally human-like in appearance. However, every diel has a unique bar code printed on their face, to aid in identification and ensure they cannot be mistaken for humans. Diels are not permitted to cover this bar code while in public, but this rule is rarely enforced in practice.

Diels have the option to purchase shell modifications from the company, if they wish to have a more non-human appearance. A new catalog of mod options is released every year, and some offerings are more popular than others. Markings, changes in coloration, and glowing parts are common additions. More expensive mods involve changes to the shape of hands, feet, ears, or teeth. The general shape of the face and torso cannot be changed, as this interfere with the function of the human emulation program.

Some diels have visible seams on their skin at their vent slots. It seems that this is a feature of cheaper shells, and can be removed by purchasing a corresponding modification.

Behavior

Demons do not undergo any behavioral changes when they become diels. However, any demon that voluntarily participates in the diel program is inherently interested in living in reality / coexisting with humans. Therefore, their personalities are generally less volatile and more human-like than demons in oneirosea.

Many diels emulate human behaviors, such as sleeping and eating, even though they do not need to in order to survive. Some do it for entertainment, while others do so in an attempt to feel more "real". This is generally quite difficult due to the nature of their shells. E.g. diels physically cannot experience unconsciousness, and while they can eat and taste food, the physical matter coming into contact with their mist will burn and hurt them, especially if it is solid.

Personhood

Legally speaking, diels are considered persons in some respects but property of Alcyon Corporation in others. The company carefully manages their rights to produce acceptable levels of both satisfaction and control.

Diel shells are proprietary Alcyon Corporation technology. According to their contracts, diels are merely granted the privilege to use them in exchange for their work. If they violate their agreements with Alcyon Corporation, such as by allowing a non-affiliated third party to repair them, this privilege can be revoked; the command division can remotely deactivate the human emulation programs.

Diels are not allowed to enter public spaces until they have completed a short course on human culture and etiquette. However, once they have passed, they are able to take part-time jobs or purchase marriage licenses like humans. Some diels never take this course because they are uninterested in participating in human society, and simply live in the company's provided dormitories.

Diels cannot vote. It has been suggested that this is because none except the first batch have existed in reality long enough to reach voting age, but it is unclear whether this is literally true or merely a joke.

Powers & Abilities

Diels retain all powers they had as demons. Basic powers are instinctive for diels, and they use them without thinking about it; this means that diels are stronger and faster than the average human by default, but struggle to learn enough theory to improve beyond that point.

Their nature as oneiric / mechanical beings also gives them several advantages over humans:

• No Biological Needs: Diels do not need to sleep or eat. They are assigned 12-hour shifts by default, which does not seem to negatively affect them psychologically or physically. Diels who are saving up for upgrades have been known to work up to 23 hours a day without showing signs of fatigue.
• Enhanced Endurance: Although shells are no more durable than human bodies, any injury that does not disrupt the human emulation program can be easily shrugged off by the inhabiting diel. Diels have survived multiple slash and stab wounds or even dismemberment and continued fighting. Conversely, however, wounds to the torso or head heavily disrupt the human emulation program, and can be debilitating or even instantly fatal for a diel, even if an equivalent wound would be survivable for a human.
• Modular Physiology: Most shell parts can be swapped or modified with relative ease. Damaged parts can be removed, repaired, and reattached with little fuss. "Functional" modifications can also be installed in order to enhance a diel's senses or give them new abilities, though this can be expensive.

Vent

While the shell protects a diel from reality, it also suppresses any demon-specific powers in the process, including wakes. Vent is the process of temporarily exposing parts of their demon bodies in order to regain access to them.

Vent slots are special sections of a diel's shell. The location and number of slots is custom to each shell. At the diel's command, these slots slide open to reveal parts of their true demon form. In some cases, these parts are added on to their form (e.g. sprouting horns or wings) while in others they grow over existing parts (e.g. replacing an arm with a larger demon arm).

In an emergency situation, damaged sections of the shell can also be used as vent slots. This allows lost limbs to be temporarily replaced with vented ones, allowing the user to continue fighting. However, this can also widen and worsen the injuries they are used on.

Using vent for long periods of time in reality eats away at a diel's mist supply. Activating more vent slots at once can increase the power of their techniques, but also decreases the time limit. Most diels can only manage about 10 minutes at maximum power, so they must conserve energy and only activate it when necessary.

Eject

Eject is an advanced form of the vent technique, where the diel's entire demon form is projected out through the vent slots as a separate being. Both the demon form and the shell can be controlled at once and fight in unison.

This technique is similar to human dreaming or astral projection, in that a tether is generated which connects the demon form and the shell. This affords the demon form some of the shell's protection, allowing this technique to be used in reality without causing the death of the diel. Since demons do not have the ability to dream, it is difficult for diels to grasp the concept behind this technique, and very few achieve it.

Wake

Main article: Wake

A wake is a demon's unique power. It is heavily associated with diels, as it requires a solid sense of identity to manifest, something that is difficult to achieve in the shifting oneirosea.

Trivia

• The word "diel" means "day". It comes from the term diel vertical migration, referring to ocean animals which migrate between different oceanic zones on a 24-hour cycle.
• Diels do not have lungs. They "speak" by allowing their demon form's voice to drift out of the shell's mouth. However, some diels choose to lip sync along with their words in order to appear more natural.