That is what I was thinking. I could imagine the dialogue between Edward and Nefarious, and we cannot see or hear it, all we see is the blubbering, terrified Edward, but this is what is going on in his head:
NEFARIOUS: Go ahead, Edward. Just ask him. You know The Carpenter is listening. Ask him for help.
EDWARD: I...I can't! You'll hurt me! I can't!
NEFARIOUS: Of course you can, Edward. He will tell you to place your trust in him completely, and in the end, you will have everlasting life. Just ask him.
EDWARD: If I do, you'll hurt me like you did before! You'll hurt me! I can't!
NEFARIOUS: Of course I will. You know how this works. I will cause you pain. And because I can change time to suit my needs, your pain would not be quick-it would seem like it lasts a lifetime. Didn't Einstein say “Put your hand on a hot stove for a minute, and it seems like an hour. Sit with a pretty girl for an hour, and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.”? How fitting, since many people look at evil as a relative thing! So ask, Edward. Ask The Carpenter to save you. He says he will. Go ahead. I am giving you permission to ask him.
EDWARD: If I do, you'll hurt me like you did before! You'll hurt me! I can't! You'll hurt me!
NEFARIOUS: You are damn right I will hurt you, Edward. That Carpenter will save you in the end, but only after I am done with you. Do you know how many pain nerve cells the Enemy put into that pathetic sack of meat you call "Edward"? There are about 7 trillion of them, or so AI tells me. Before he takes you away from me and saves you, you will feel every one of those seven trillion pain cells turned up to eleven. You know what that means, right? Did you ever see the movie "Spinal Tap", Edward? We all know that everything operates on a scale where zero is 'nothing' and ten is 'everything', or "the maximum? We all laugh at that, because we all know that there is an infinite number beyond "10" we can turn the pain up to, and I assure you, it doesn't stop at "eleven". We can make it go to infinity, for as long as we want. Sure, in human time, it will fit right into your time scale. But in here, with only you and me, I can make that short human time last for longer than any lifetime you can imagine! That's why we laugh, Edward, when you hear US talk about "turning it up to eleven"! It is hilarious to us, but it won't be to you. Ask him! Ask that filthy Carpenter to save you! ASK HIM EDWARD!
EDWARD: AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! I can't go through that! I can't!
NEFARIOUS: You pathetic sack of rotting meat, Edward! Your precious Carpenter likes to brag about the time HE spent on that cursed cross, how HE was able to withstand it and make it into paradise, and oh, how we tempted him to recant, because WE could make it stop. Come on! Buck up! Be like your Carpenter, who says he loves you! Be like him! Kneel before him. ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS REPENT YOUR SINS AND CLAIM HIM AS YOUR SAVIOR! ACCEPT THE PAIN, AND YOU CAN LIVE WITH HIM FOREVER! DON'T BE A PUSSY, EDWARD! DO IT! ASK HIM! AAAAAAASSSSSSSKKK HIIIIIIIIIM!
EDWARD: (Sobs in despair) I...I can't. I can't with you here.
NEFARIOUS: That's right. I'll be here the whole time, right until they throw that switch on the chair after they shave your head and strap you in. So if you ask for his help, I will hear it, and you will have a ride in ol' Sparky that will seem like a thousand years, not a few seconds. You make your choice. Go ahead, then. Ask the Carpenter for help. I'll just wait right here. I have nowhere else to go until you live with MY father.
“”NEFARIOUS: That’s right. I’ll be here the whole time, right until they throw that switch on the chair after they shave your head and strap you in.””
***
Seems to me the obvious “only” solution for Edward would be to wait until the second before the switch is thrown... to ask Jesus for salvation and forgiveness. It’s never too late, and that would, in effect, greatly shorten the time the demon would have to torture Edward. If I was Edward, that is what I would do. I mean... at this point... what would he have to lose?
“Pathetic Sack of Rotting Meat”
Nefarious
.
“This Thing conceived in a Bed”
C.S. Lewis
.
The Powers of darkness are here to
Steal, Kill and Destroy.
All they Have is To Raise an
Angry Fist in The Face of
Their Creator Who Is ‘
‘Holy,Holy,HOLY’
LIFTED UP and
Set Above His Creation.
.
Can the Pot declare to
The Creator Why Has Thou
Created me So?