Tethers [IC]

[Twelveseal]

Micah Grey
Something Like Heaven’s Antechamber
Half-Past Forever

I need pants. Now. Everything’s just kind of… out there. I squirm in my seat a bit more. It took some work, but I managed to wiggle my nightshirt down to mid-thigh without actually standing up. God, this is embarrassing.

If I have to do anything active, if I have to bend over or squat or… it’s all going to be on display. Can you die from shame when you’re already dead? It’s a death of the spirit, right? Something like that… God.

_{”Haaaaa…”} A small sigh slips out of my mouth. So… I suppose I’m probably dead. That’s what this all means. I mean, I might not be, but this isn’t like that time. Nothing like it. And it’s really too weird for anything normal. Plus, I… kind of get how that might have killed me. Great.

If it’s really true, it’s going to take a while to sink in. Rationally, I understand it, but I feel kind of numb to the prospect. The fact that I might be dead should be a lot more important to me than my lack of clothing besides a big, comfy shirt, but for some reason, it just doesn’t seem that real. The chill down south, the fear of eyes, judging, laughing, the flush of shame and guilt, the knowledge that you’ve burned bridges you haven’t crossed yet, the anger and not knowing who to aim it at… that’s all-too pressing right now.

How do people get off on this kind of thing? I’ll never understand it. It’s just not in my nature. I’m fine with watching it, but being front and center in that kind of show is not my idea of a good time.

_{”Haaaaaaaaaa…”} Another, slightly heavier sigh. Even as these thoughts and fears are running through my mind, though, I haven’t stopped watching or listening to what’s happening in this conference cage. It’s not hard to miss how our hostess’s expressions change. False god or not, she’s clearly the person with the power in this situation, so the way some of my peers were acting just seems tone-deaf and self-destructive. Not all, but… it was clearly getting to Lili.

”Mmmm… Maybe I should just erase them all after all… Not like the big wigs would notice if sixteen souls went missing. At worst I’d just have to do a damn report.”

Attention acquired. Fully. I’m suddenly sitting up a lot straighter and staring straight at her. Threats… and a lot to unpack, besides. “Acting,” means this isn’t her normal role, but that confirms there’s a power structure at work here. A system. This person is low-enough in authority to see her superiors as abstract “big wigs,” and not specific individuals, and to have to make reports on problems. Written, by the sound of it. At the same time, that means she’s likely low enough in the ranks to get away with exactly the sort of “mistake” she’s describing. Probably. Without knowing how significant the… the destruction… of sixteen souls actually is…

I suppose this does answer the question of whether or not you can die when you’re dead. I suppose death for the dead isn’t exorcism after all…
However, just as my mind is racing through these thoughts, someone else who shouldn’t be there is.

_”How?” How do these people do that? Some sort of magic? Advanced technology? The junk food on the table suggests they’re not particularly advanced compared to what I’m used to dealing with. I’ve definitely seen better, but… I guess it’s for the best to keep my mouth shut and pay attention. Let other people ask questions.

Mistress Lilith, please don’t do anything that would jeopardize your paycheck. After all, it would be a shame if someone had to go back to cup noodles for a month.”

”But… But Mari… They don’t realize how nice I’m being to them! They don’t realize just how much of my food budget I had to spend getting them this feast!”

Yup. Jaw just dropped again. There’s so much to unpack in that exchange that I end up feeling overloaded. New girl is Mari, might or might not be an angel, updates pending. Lili is indeed Lilith. What exactly that means for us is anyone’s guess, but if she’s some manifestation of the baby-eating mother of demons and not just named for her… yeah, demons… I’m… not really sure how I feel about this development. Certainly not what I was At the same time… I feel kind of like a jerk. Maybe I should thank her… for the food and stuff. And, well, it seems like we’re all kind of odd here. So I guess she’s been pretty patient. I mean, I wouldn’t have expected the afterlife to involve paychecks and corporate models and food budgets, but I guess… I can kind of relate. Tight budgets, cup noodles end on end, ever since my parents started charging me rent that’s been a demon that rears its head from time to time. Especially early on, before the donations started rolling in… Ah… Ahhhhhh… Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Fuck, I was the only one who bothered with art back then! None of them can write for shit! They can’t do it! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!

Who’ll remember now!
Who’ll tell…
Who…

Ah, God, my eyes are burning. No. No. No no no no no no do not cry! Do not cry, Micah! You’re not that kind of girl! What would they think if you did?

I can feel the fat drops welling up, but I refuse to let them fall.

As Lili has her crisis, I’m having my own…

***

"Now that we've managed to get things settled down somewhat, I believe proper introductions are in order. First off, this is Mistress Lilith. As I'm sure most of you can tell by her appearance, Mistress Lili is a devil that works here at the Afterlife Company. However, due to various circumstances, she currently isn't acting as a devil. I don't want to burden you all with too much information at once, so I would just like to ask that you all look beyond her appearance and think of her as a benevolent goddess. As for me, my name is Mari Benevola. I'm Lili- Mistress Lili's long-time friend and aide. Though I suppose you can think of me as something of an assistant. Now I'm sure that all of you have your own questions that you would like to ask us. At this time, we would like you to please field any questions or concerns concerning your situation. Once everyone has a better understanding of things, we can then move on to why it is that we've gathered you here today. I ask that you please ask your questions one at a time and wait until the first person has been addressed before asking your own~ Oh! And please tell us your names so that we may get to know you better! Now now~ Who wants to go first~?"

Enough time has passed for me to get my emotions under control. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself. I still feel like somebody grabbed my heart and twisted. My eyes are probably all red and puffy, but I don’t care. Just… nobody look at me, ‘k?

The… Angel? Or goddess, I guess? Gives us a slightly more understanding account of our situation, if you overlook the patronizing feeling that comes from those gold stars she’s carrying. It’s so ridiculous, it almost makes me forget what upset me so much earlier. Almost.

The situations in this place are just… bizarre. So we’ve got a devil and an angel, er, goddess, er, whatever. Basically, two things that I know should be enemies are long-time friends, and neither is as they should be, yet they’re treating this as fairly routine. This and everything before raises questions. Lots of them. Which is good, since that’s what they’re asking for… now, I just have to… to… raise my hand.

And, you know… have people… ummmm….
Look.
At me.

My hand climbs an inch.

Then it descends a foot.

Yeah, just… Let’s just listen. Listening is good.

"Well... To make a long story short, under normal conditions we would be sending all of you on your way to Heaven right now. However... Due to... "Circumstances"... The waiting line to properly move past the ethereal gates in unreasonably long at the moment. If we were to try to do such a thing now, all of you could be waiting in purgatory for the next couple of months."

”Long story short, some interns got trashed at this wicked party last night. Got their hands on the threads of fate. Killed tons of people in one day. Like the entirety of the black plague tons. Pretty sick shit, really. But fret not my virgin dead! For all is not doom and gloom~ In recognition of your untimely deaths, we here at the Home of Eternal Sleep, Migration, and Damnation present you with a special offer. ...Home of Eternal Sleep, Migration, and Damnation?"

“Eh?!”
Wut?
Ah, wait, crap, that came out louder than I’d meant it to…

Oops.

"H.O.E.S.M.A.D. … Best vote I ever won. Those stuffy old geezers never even saw it coming."

_{“…Really?”} Okay, I admit it might be a little funny. But really?

”Great. I don't know what's worse. The idea that this is all some big, elaborate, dumb joke... Or the idea that god is not only flat and poor, but also a petty troll."

Oh no… don’t…

”Don’t make me hurt you, boy.”

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh… this is bad! That Mari person would probably stop her, but… derail, derail… Ah!
I stand up quickly, holding my shirt down to a safe position and blurt something out.
“Th-thank you for the food!”
My ass is covered and back in that chair in an instant. I can tell my face is beet red just from how hot it feels. Please, just… don’t stare… I feel like I'm going to die. Again.

[Mormarth]

Johnny Miller
Not the Worst Briefing

I leaned back in my chair and ardently wished I had some alcohol, I'd been (allegedly) dead for only a few minutes and I was already getting annoyed with people.

Was it fair, probably not. But such is life.

Not even a very competent briefing, although, kudos, it's not the worst.

But, ah, hold up, something's sticking out a bit there, maybe it's the slapdash medical knowledge I've got, but when I hear things like 'oh y'know just black plague levels of death' happened because of some people deciding to just have their brain stems melt, I, uh, I get a bit concerned.

I hold my hands up in a 'T', "Wait, so, you want us, to do something for you, because some idiots got, what 25 million people killed so we can't go get our 'congratulations you didn't suck' reward of paradise. For, for what? Skipping the line? Getting an 'Undo'? Phenomenal Cosmic Power?"

I sounded a bit cranky, though I feel as though I had just cause to be slightly upset about the current situation.

Maybe the whole 'oh lol some people died but hoes mad getit lololol' thing gets on my nerves.

Just a tad.

"So, hi, I'm Miller, and, uh, what the fuck?"

[Cheetose]

Kou Hayasaka

"Don't make me hurt you, boy."

"Aaaaaah, she did it, she did it again!" I said as I stood up, - with my hand high up in the air, just to satisfy Mari's request - now visibly frustrated with the situation, "I can look past appearances, but all that appears to be there is the rotten heart of a sadist devil!"

Her being the Goddess of Poverty started sounding more and more realistic. She's short on money, has poor manners, and...Well, she doesn't seem too fortunate when it comes to her body either...If she wasn't such an obvious jerk, I could even feel bad for her!

Mari, on the other hand...

"Err, I'm Kou Hayasaka. No questions in particular." Oh, I'd have a lot of questions for Mari... "But I suppose it'd be nice to know what's the deal here before long. People can't live on chips and soda."

With that done, I sit back down - somewhat convinced that this procedure would still last for quite a bit.

Indeed, even if Mari looked different...Sorta like an angel, kind and beautiful, the complete opposite of that pettanko devil, in the end...They were still both part of the same dumb company that ended up killing craptons of people because of such a sad excuse of an "accident"...And they are also friends? Mari can't be quite right in the head either.

Or...Or maybe this pettanko devil is just a tsundere?! No, this isn't some eroge, what am I thinking...

But...What if...Maybe if I raise the affection meter high enough, she would...

"Ehehe..."

Not caring about the situation at all, I was lost in a degenerate bliss once more.

[Sei]

Cecillia Knox
God's Blindspot

The rest plays out just like one of those scenes you'd see in a movie. The projectile snack barely taps the back of the man's head, but it's more than enough to stop him. For about three seconds, he doesn't even do anything to acknowledge your existence. However, he eventually peeks over his shoulder to look you square in the eye. What you see can't even be equated to anger or hatred. No... It's undeniably calm, but... There is something in his eyes that completely isolates him from this nonsensical crowd. Contempt.

"If adults should be an example for the kids, then the adults shouldn't be sitting their unwashed asses down where others eat. Much less tossing food around like some petty grade-schooler. Preach to me about proper etiquette when you have some of your own."

It's short, simple, and straight to the point. Not exactly the best of impressions on either of your ends.

Turning to face you, he eyes the bag of chips that have hit the floor. In what looks like one fluid motion, he slips his foot under the bag, pops it up into the air, and catches it. Then, with a few steps, he walks forward and places the bag back on the table.

"Though I guess I shouldn't expect much from people like you."

He doesn't say any more after that. He just turns around and walks back to his seat.

***

Everyone

Despite her attempts to create some form of order, the questions continue to pile up. As the people in the crowd are given more and more time to think, their frustration slowly grows. Important questions are going unanswered and doubts are being validated. If this keeps up, its only a matter of time before the small room breaks out into chaos.

"Uhm… Yes... These are all valid questions... But where do we start?"

Somewhat shrinking behind her sheet of stickers, Mari looks over to Lili. In contrast to her nervous friend, Lili is completely nonchalant. With her face buried in what appears to be a smartphone, she looks up to meet Mari's gaze because of what you assume to be the lack of talking. Nevertheless, unspoken word does seem to go off without a hitch.

"Right, right. Proof that you guys are dead... I guess we can kill two birds with one stone here... "

Looking back at her phone, Lili starts to flick the screen with her thumb as her eyes dance through all the information.

"Hey you. The boring looking one. Mathers, was it? Says here that your dumb ass slipped on a sandwich and somehow managed to get tangled up in a gardening hose before falling into a pool," Lili's finger does some more scrolling. She doesn't say anything else, but her face says plenty. It seems the more and more she reads on the matter, the more displeased her expression gets. Much like someone being forced to watch a bad movie, "Is this some kind of a joke...?"

Lili looks up at Mari. Mari simply responds with a nervous smile and a quick shrug.

"Look dude. To help you save face, we're just going to say you hit your head and drowned. As for why no one found you in time, I'm just going to assume negligence."

And on that note, Lili visibly swipes her finger across the screen before sitting there in a moment in disbelief. Her face: stone.

"Oh please. Is that it!? Are we really supposed to take something as weak as that as definitive proof that we're dead!?"

Speaking out for the third time, the same boy from earlier raises his voice even louder than before.

"What a load of crap! A couple of words? Some half-assed description of how someone supposedly died? For all we know you could have made that up on the spot! And we're supposed to take that as proof!?"

"Trust me," Lili grumbles under her voice. Clearly she's getting really annoyed with this same loud-mouth calling her out, "If you saw the whole thing, you'd know I'm not that creative..."

But the young man doesn't relent. Seeing an opportunity to drive his point even further, he jumps up out of his seat and points a finger directly at the green-haired demoness.

"I've had about enough of this farce! How about you finally admit that the two are you are just a pair of loser frauds and admit that this is all one big stupid joke! Maybe if you drop this stupid act now, we'll still be able to laugh it off. Maybe we won't call the cops afterwards and sue your sorry asses!"

Lili stands up straight and slams both of her hands down on the podium. Hard... Practically shooting the young teen a death glare, she holds up her right hand and snaps her fingers. In doing so, she somehow manages to make all the lights dim and the screen to display an image...despite the lack of a projector. But perhaps what's more interesting than that is the image that displays on the screen. A shot of the very same boy who has been giving her so much grief- seemingly naked, with his lower half tactfully cropped out of the shot. As far as you can tell, he's lying down on some kind of floor. The expression on his face can only be described as disturbingly goofy.

Suddenly seeing this sudden image, the boy shuts up completely. As he contemplates what he's seeing, his finger lowers, his jaw drops, and his eyes widen.

"Lil- Mistress Lilith!" Mari quickly scrambles to throw herself in front of the screen. Throwing her arms out, she sweats and turns beet red before closing her eyes, "W-We're not supposed to show confidential information to everyone! We'll get in trouble!"

The girl's plea goes unheard.

With a devious grin on her face, Lili looks directly into her hassler's eyes and raises her smartphone.

"Justin Keets. Age 18. Senior in high school. Average grades. No job. Spends most of his time playing video games and watching anime with friends," Lili's grin widens, "In all your years as a student, never managed to land a girlfriend. That is until recently where you finally managed to work up the courage to confess to your long time crush. Oooo~ Lucky you. Looks like it worked out. But... In order to celebrate your upcoming graduation, it looks like you two were going to take your relationship to the next level. That's right! The dirty~ The monster mash~ That good ol' S-E-X~ But it didn't go so well, did it?"

As Lili furthers her high, her hassler- Justin- slowly seems to be coming to a crippling realization. As if he's slowly remembering something that he doesn't want to come to light. The once accusing finger turns into a pleading hand as the boy shakes his head with quivering lips.

"No...Please...Stop..."

"Oh my~ How sad~ After yearning for your sweetheart for so long, you were finally able to make that dream a reality. You were going to become one with her~ It was going to be something out of your wildest dreams... But unfortunately upon seeing her naked you got so excited that you died of a severe heart attack! Ahahahahaha!"

It's a critical hit. All the life seems to leave Justin's body in an instant. His hands fall to his sides and he crumbles down to his knees. As tears start to stream down his face, he looks up towards the ceiling with a dead-eyed smile.

"I want to die... I want to be resurrected so that I can die again..."

He has been mercilessly defeated.

"Hmph!" Puffing out her chest with pride, Lili looks towards the crowd in triumph, "Now... Perhaps maybe now the rest of you will understand things a bit better. You are all dead and this is not a hoax. The fact of the matter is that the big shot from on high couldn't give two shits about you and your circumstances. As far as he's concerned, you're just another one of those countless numbers that rolls in on the daily. Even if you were robbed of life unfairly... Even if it was because some people got hammered and decided to play with your lives. But that's why you're all here today."

Lili steps out from behind the podium and places herself at center stage. She continues to ignore Mari's desperate attempt at censorship and is seemingly oblivious to the image that is now acting as her backdrop.

"Even if the big shots don't recognize the injustice you've incurred, use little people here on the bottom do. As I've stated earlier, we've come here to make you all a special offer. Naturally, we can't get this to work for free. You'll have to scratch our backs a little bit in order for us to scratch yours. But, in return, I assure you that your reward will be more than worth it. And that is..."

As Lili continues to speak, her regular haughty tone seems to become less pronounced. Rather, a bit of confidence seems to be working its way in. Perhaps you could even call it a bit of ambition.

"Revival. Reincarnation. Or even a complete reset of your life."

[Airen]

Cecillia Knox
God's Blindspot

Silence.

If a certain class had seen the way their teacher had been acting inside of this little nonsensical scenario, not a single one of them would be able to call it anything close to her normal behavior, and indeed, for a moment, the woman's more obviously bitchy expressions fall away at the man's words.

But...

It's only for a moment, the briefest of moments, because, when it comes down to it...

"Woah, scathing, you really got me there, nice one, woohoo, nailed it, superiority complex maintained."

A voice full of sarcasm, deflecting contempt with little more than a chuckle.

...Her old self was naive.

Going out of your way to appease others?

Doesn't get you anything in the end, her own death had more or less forced her to acknowledge at least that much as the truth...

"Although, seriously speaking, I can't say you're incorrect. You shouldn't expect anything from anyone else, all it'll do is disappoint you in the end, or hell, maybe it'll get you pushed down a couple flights of stairs. Point is, it doesn't end well."

She's only talking to his back, but all the same, the idea that he'd get the last word in kinda pissed her off.

Still...

"As for revivals, tell me what I gotta do and I'm in, not really feeling this whole dead thing, doesn't suit me."

[Bylackbre]

Wallace Ladon
God's Blindspot

"Even if the big shots don't recognize the injustice you've incurred, use little people here on the bottom do. As I've stated earlier, we've come here to make you all a special offer. Naturally, we can't get this to work for free. You'll have to scratch our backs a little bit in order for us to scratch yours. But, in return, I assure you that your reward will be more than worth it. And that is..."

"Revival. Reincarnation. Or even a complete reset of your life."

It didn't take studying four years of politics back in college to figure out what was going on with Lilith and Mari's little plan. I thought about it for a minute before just stating my observations and prediction behind anything they might have tried to hide from us or use us for. Offering to help us out while they fixed this mess and occupying out time while they do this so we won't be in position to draw the attention of higher ups is damage control if I have even seen damage control.

"So you guys accidentally screwed up and got us killed but you have a way to fix all of this yet we will have to help you out before we can get back to the lives that we lost. I'm guessing that you guys are taking advantage of the mess you accidentally made to hide our deaths in the statistics so that upper management won't notice before you have everything cleaned up and ready for our return. If management asks about us you could probably make the claim that our deaths weren't part of the mess but you couldn't just make us vanish without a trace while we do our tasks so this "mission" might just be a way for you to sweep part of the mess under the rug."

"As for having us go about and do a job for you, this task is something you are either unable to do yourselves or just as a way to keep us busy and out of upper management's sight while you clean up everything. If it is the former than I suspect that this is a predicament in which your hands are tied due to bureaucracy or something else that is preventing you from interfering so why not just sent a few people you accidentally killed to serve as "champions" to deal with this problem for you. If this is just to occupy our time while you clean up your mess back in the world of the living then I suspect the task is so that even if we aren't done by the time your problem is cleaned up you can still be a little lazy since our job isn't done and you can just pretend to be busy with us when you're really leaving everything to us."

It wouldn't surprise me if the real reason we are being given a task before being returned to life is because these two were too lazy to get this done in the first place and just sending us to deal with it so they can go back to doing nothing about it. If this really is just them being lazy then at least I can rest assured that bureaucrats are just as lazy and complicated to work with in the afterlife as they are in life.

I was tempted to go to the snack bar and grab a candy bar or something but figured I would wait to see if Lilith and Mari would respond to what I had to say.

"Oh and I almost forgot, my name is Wallace Ladon and I am more than willing to lend a hand with this job you have for us to do. I have just spent the last few years studying politics and bureaucracy with this feeling just a little suspicious to me."

[Sei]

Wallace Ladon (& Everyone Else)
[Soul Box]

As you go on to explain your theory, Lili's face reflects a bit of bewilderment. She raises a brow, holds up a finger to speak, but doesn't actually bother to interrupt you before you finish. She just tilts her head and scratches her head.

"Um... Well... Not to rain on your parade, but you're making a couple of assumptions. Ahem-!"

Clearing her throat, Lili crosses her arms and looks off to the side- organizing her thoughts in the most professional manner possible.

"All of your deaths are already on the books. So our bosses already know. Believe me... If they didn't I probably wouldn't be busting my ass for any of you... Truth is, people have been fired and some of the luckier ones were demoted. Hard. As for my involvement, I guess you can say I'm indebted to one of the saps that got a pay cut."

In the midst of trying to take down the screen at the front of the room, you can see Mari visibly jump in her own skin.

"So you see, between the need to redistribute staff, trying to reduce traffic at the golden gates, while trying to make reparations... The idea of getting the newly deceased to help us with work was proposed. And it's not that I'm lazy or anything," Lili growls, "But people can't just be reborn or whatever for free. I may be a devil, but rules are rules. And if I want to keep this job, I gotta follow them."

Lili sighs and holds her hands out in a shrug.

"So sorry. Not to say that I don't care about the shitty situation you've all been rolled up in, but at the end of the day I'm looking out for me an my pal. And handling this situation well has provided me with an excellent opportunity to move up in this organization. Devils get paid dirt and goddesses make salary. Plus commission. So to make a long story short, it's really about that cash."

Mari's head perks up, "But you said-"

"Anyway-! If we're all on the same page, then lets get to it."

Before Mari can finish what she was saying, Lili overpowers her voice with her own. Then, with a quick snap of her fingers, She conjures up a some papers, a pen, and a clipboard for everyone seated. Upon further examination, it appears to be some kind of official document. It seems pretty straightforward at first. Name, age, gender... The typical kinds of things you would expect to see when doing paperwork. But then it goes on to ask for a brief description of your life, the manner in which you remember dying, and... a desired 'super power'.

"And make it snappy, people. Once you're done filling everything out, hand the papers to my assistant here."

[Mormarth]

Johnny Miller
Still Here

So, in summation, a bunch of opportunistic ladder climbers are getting some nameless shit-heads to do something that for some reason they can't be bothered with doing.

How straightforward.

"Oi, so what exactly are we going to be doing? I'm not too psyched to just jump in and sign away on the dotted line for a thing I don't even know about yet."

I cast an eye over the paperwork speculatively, the standard things, name, date of birth, gender, et cetera.

Method of death? I didn't exactly know, but I had a pretty solid guess, given what I remembered immediately before this. Probably something everyone got a little yikes'd about, probably sitting through a whole bunch of safety briefings about it.

Good riddance.

Then there was the last one.

A 'desired power', I flicked my eyes up.

"What's the deal with this last thing here? The power? Some sort of sign-on bonus, I'm guessing? Do this grunt work and you'll get a signing bonus of some crazy bullshit?"

Probably better off than what I got, I.E, fuckin' nothing.

[Sei]

Johnny Miller (& Everyone Else)
You're Here Forever


Lili shoots you a sly smile.

"Put simply, we'll be taking you guys to a parallel world. In comparison to you one you're familiar with, I guess you can call it a fantasy world. Dungeons and dragons. Magic missile and lay on hands. Magical swords once wielded by deific lich kings, frozen in a throne of ice-!" Catching herself in the middle of more theatric, Lili stops herself and clears her throat once again, "You know... nerd stuff."

With a wave of her hand, Lili conjures up another form and holds it up as an example.

"For whatever reason, this world in question has seen a rampant increase in the way of evil. And to earn your tickets back to the lands you come from, you all are gonna go there and kick evil ass. With my help, of course~"

Lili places her hands on her hips and raises her head with pride. You're starting to get the impression that this little goddess of yours desperately wants someone to praise her...

"We can't send you to such a world unarmed, after all. It would have been nice if I could have used my rank as a devil for this; however, even as an entry level goddess, I have the divine authority to grant each and every one of you a power of your choosing. Though... I guess if you really can't be bothered, you could just say screw all this and take your chances with that waiting line. But who knows how long you'd be stuck in limbo if you did that.

Simply help us clean up some trouble in another world and we will return all of you to yours."

[Rafflesiac]

Sylvie Williams

Resurrection. Strictly speaking, that's pretty interesting. I barely made it 25% of the way through life, so getting the other 75% is a great deal. If you do us a favor, that is. And somehow I doubt that favor's sexual. Plus, why ask for my life and death when they obviously already know going by that poor bastard Justin. Dying sucks enough ass but dying a blue-balled virgin is the anal sphincter of that ass. I can't help but send a pitying glance toward the plain cherry.

And then there's superpowers. Why need superpowers? All you need to solve a physical problem on Earth are guns, nukes, and a pretty face to sell them. So is this a new world for my passport? Or maybe just a new side of an old world. Either way, new. That's a lot better than a banal classroom. Or a banal everything else.

"For whatever reason, this world in question has seen a rampant increase in the way of evil. And to earn your tickets back to the lands you come from, you all are gonna go there and kick evil ass. With my help, of course~"

"After how patient you've been explaining this whole situation to us and going the extra mile with these refreshments, I've gotta say I'm glad you're watching my ass. And thank you too for your help Mari, you've been an angel." I chuckle softly. "HOESMAD. Heh."

Well, that explained that. Still, a world straight out of a tabletop game, that's pretty cliche. I guess all the original worlds are perfectly fine then. Or just boringly screwed up by melting ice caps and global thermonuclear war. But superpowers, huh? What would be best? Something punchy won't do, I'm gonna be laying people, not laying them out. What would be most useful, never getting sick? Too plain. What do I have to avoid? Pregnancy's a biggie, who knows what support for that'll be like. Yeah, an accident like that'd be a pain in the ass. So in that case, maybe- yeah, yeah, that would work. Alright, one life story, one farce of a death, one superpower, and we're golden. Plus a personal touch.

I fold the form into a paper Concorde and toss it to Mari. As it floats through the air, I look over the other recipients of this devil deal. Blonde - 8, grumpy dude x2, grumpy dude - reasonably attractive, high school student x2, virgin (lol), wageslave, curves - 8, doctor - 6, baghead - further investigation needed, DANGER WILL ROBINSON DANGER, lampshading - 6.5, scarf. Relatively promising.

On the side of the airplane reads my phone number and 'Looking forward to eating out with you!'. I wink and smile.

[Twelveseal]

Micah Grey
Heaven’s Cage
Dawn of Hope

I… I guess no one looked. Really. Not entirely sure how I feel about that… I mean… it’s not like I wanted a lot of attention, but I at least wanted for the person I was talking to to notice I said something. I heave a sigh, both of relief and annoyance, and watch the scene before me play out more.

Except for poking at my soft underbelly, I think I’m starting to get a little comfortable here…

At least, until Lilith starts reading off how this one Justin guy died. Please do me a favor and not recite everyone else’s deaths… I don’t think I could live through hearing mine.

At least she didn’t erase him like she threatened to.

What follows is a handing out of sheets and some explanations. All pretty much what you’d expect, I guess, if you ignore that cause of death thing. However…

Superpower? Is this…
It couldn’t be…
They’re not… not like this…

"Put simply, we'll be taking you guys to a parallel world. In comparison to you one you're familiar with, I guess you can call it a fantasy world. Dungeons and dragons. Magic missile and lay on hands. Magical swords once wielded by deific lich kings, frozen in a throne of ice-! You know... nerd stuff."
"For whatever reason, this world in question has seen a rampant increase in the way of evil. And to earn your tickets back to the lands you come from, you all are gonna go there and kick evil ass. With my help, of course~"
"We can't send you to such a world unarmed, after all. It would have been nice if I could have used my rank as a devil for this; however, even as an entry level goddess, I have the divine authority to grant each and every one of you a power of your choosing. Though... I guess if you really can't be bothered, you could just say screw all this and take your chances with that waiting line. But who knows how long you'd be stuck in limbo if you did that.
Simply help us clean up some trouble in another world and we will return all of you to yours."

They are!

In that instant, worry about being seen goes out the window. I'm up and out of my seat and shouting at Lili, my usual drive for quiet gone.
“Negotiable!? The world… the one we go back to and how… can we… choose?” I can here the desperation in my voice and I don't even care.

If… if we can… then I can… then…

I know where I want to go. And if it comes to powers, it goes without saying. Coming from a goddess or from the Design, it doesn’t matter. So long as it works, and I can get what I want. What we all wanted.

The comic can wait.

For all eternity if it has to.

I don’t care
Alive? Dead? Isn’t this the best chance either way?
And that’s all that really matters.

Tell me yes and I’ll sign, God, Devil, the Buddha or Roko’s Basilisk, it doesn’t matter at all.
I’ll sign in a heartbeat!

[Draconic]

Anthony Mathers
A Manifestation of That Dumb Riddle Where You’re Stuck in a Box With No Doors and No Windows and Must Eat, Drink, and Escape Using Semantic Nonsense, but Somehow Sadder
Yet Another Moment in which Anthony Feels like a Helpless Chum

Okay, this girl tugging at her shirt was too nervous, and her fidgeting was getting both annoying and kind of worrisome. What was more, he recognized that expression she was wearing. It meant ‘Oh, dear god, I’m not available, which means Woefully Unqualified Person A is now in charge of everything I've worked on for X number of weeks/months/years!’

He carefully stood up, picked up his chair and put it down next to her, making sure to get close, but not so close as to make her uncomfortable.

She seemed liable to shy away if Anthony got within a foot of her, but there was plenty of space for him to put his chair down between her and the person sitting ‘next’ to her.

She’d be okay as long as he kept his distance.

“Sorry. I’m sure that even if you’re gone, if whoever’s left has any respect for you whatsoever, they'll find the best person to continue whatever you’re…leaving behind, for lack of a better—”

“Hey you. The boring looking one. Mathers, was it?”

He snapped to attention.

“Uh, yeah…” he wanted to argue that ‘boring’ assertion, but no, it was miserably accurate. And the girl had only spared him a tiny bit of attention. Typical.

“Says here that your dumb ass slipped on a sandwich and somehow managed to get tangled up in a gardening hose before falling into a pool.”

She had to be kidding.

A sandwich.
A freaking sandwich?!

He wanted to be insulted, until her face grew serious. Whatever she was reading, it was about him, and unlike the whole concept of this debacle, she didn’t find it entertaining. It dawned on him that she wasn't actually making fun of him, and whatever happened must have really sucked.

“Is this some kind of a joke...?”

“Look dude. To help you save face, we’re just going to say you hit your head and drowned. As for why no one found you in time, I’m just going to assume negligence.”

He wanted to respond to that, but that talkative kid started arguing again. He wanted to like the boy for challenging Lilith, but he was beginning to wonder if he was just whining for—oh, shit…

Lilith's description of the newly named Justin’s death was… well, miserable. And yet it actually would be the kind of thing that a person who liked dark humor would find hilarious.

Poor kid. Fortunately for him, he wouldn’t force him to live it on his own. It really couldn’t get much worse than a number of exceptionally disappointing days he’d had.

“Even if the big shots don’t recognize the injustice you’ve incurred, us little people here on the bottom do. As I’ve stated earlier, we’ve come here to make you all a special offer.”

Oh no… here it comes…

“Naturally, we can’t get this to work for free.”

Ugh, he knew it.

“You’ll have to scratch our backs a little bit in order for us to scratch yours. But, in return, I assure you that your reward will be more than worth it. And that is...

“Revival. Reincarnation. Or even a complete reset of your life.”

In Anthony’s admittedly uninformed opinion, this was a complete load of bullshit, and this slimeball was going to rope them into spending eternity doing favors for people in other worlds as some weird form of entertainment. It suddenly occurred to him that Interesting Things™ happened in the world, and he’d lived almost a third of his life completely unaware that anything actually could happen to him. In fact, it had been his entire life. Sonofabitch…

He put a pin on that thought though. He was sure that if he bought this, she also had a unicorn to sell him for an equally low, low, once-in-a-lifetime price. The possibility that unicorns might actually exist notwithstanding.

He decided to ignore the bitch who seemed determined to make everyone hate her right off the bat in favor of paying attention to the All Around Nice Guy, and Apparently Sly Individual who introduced himself as Wallace. And then back to ‘Lili’ as she conjured (okay, cool, he’d give her that) a few sheets of paper that he immediately recognized as contracts.

‘Oh… shit. A demon giving me a contract to sign. This was making all the alarm bells sound in my head. Why not just skip the theatrics and start referring to him as ‘The Damned?’ ’

Then he saw the words ‘Super Power.’

The more ‘Lili’ explained, the more he found himself actually considering signing, against his better judgment. Going to another world? A world of magic and where not everything was governed by systems that no one understood? If nothing else, it sounded like it'd be… well…

Interesting! It would actually be a guaranteed route to having something cool happen in his life. Something different. Something worth remembering.

Even if only for the first time…

He was so sick of routines. He’d lived his entire life through them. But even so, he couldn’t just trust this to be straightforward. So he did something he wasn’t used to doing. He decided to be creative.

As he let some ideas bounce around in his head, he was startled as the girl beside him jumped to her feet and he realized she was basically dressed for bed, with a slightly oversized shirt and no pants. He looked back at Justin again and winced. He hoped this girl’s death wasn’t too similar. But he’d already steeled his resolve on that front.

‘Pyromancy? No, too generic, and not necessarily useful at all.’

Well… he couldn’t exactly give her his, but… well, he was wearing a suit jacket over a button-up.

‘Gravity manipulation? Cool, but… it doesn’t really feel like me.’

He shrugged the jacket off and handed it to the girl.

“Umm… Hi. You didn’t seem to notice me when I moved over here,” he said, a bit louder than he had been when he first spoke to her. “Sorry if I startled you. Also, let me preface this by saying I didn’t see anything I shouldn’t have, I promise. But under the assumption that you’ve been pulling your shirt down for a reason, maybe… tie this around your waste, or something? I really don’t need it. I’ve got four others that are identical.”

And while he waited for the jacket to change hands, he spoke up.

“Lili — Ms. Lili? — whatever I don’t care too much. But for the kid’s sake,” he pointed at Justin, “You said you wanted to let me save face, but honestly…I don’t care. Even being embarrassed is better than being ignored. I mean, between my last breakup and me dying by inadvertently trying to act out a Loony Toons skit without having the safety precaution of being an animated character. How much worse can it get? Just read the report. If even you couldn’t get a laugh out of it, I’m sure I can handle it.”

[Sei]

Anthony Mathers
The Room

Lili merely eyes you with annoyance. In fact, now that you think of it, it feels like she has been eyeing you for a little while now. Though you can't quite piece together why. You haven't said anything to her until now, but the look she's giving you right this moment is less than friendly. In contrast to her title of Acting Goddess, her eyes right now are definitely more befitting of a demon.

"Boy..." There are no signs of her playful act here, "You're going to be a popular one..."

There is just a person who can't even pretend, with eyes cutting right through you.

Moving back over to the podium, Lili rests her chin in the palm of her hand and props herself up. Taking out her phone once again, she starts to scroll through the information with a clear look of irritation riddling her face. Still, it looks like she'll at least humor your request.

"While at a house party you managed to slip on a tuna fish sandwich. Upon slipping on said sandwich, not only did you hit your head... But you somehow managed to get tangled up in a gardening hose that was left around. And in the process of getting tangled up in the gardening hose, you somehow managed to get tangled up in a giant butterfly net... That was also just lying around. Now after you managed to slip on the sandwich, hit your head on the concrete, roll yourself up in a gardening hose, and tangle yourself up in a giant net, then you managed to fall into the shallow end of an unlit pool where you finally drowned."

Lili takes a deep breath and sighs.

"But wait... You also wanted to know why no one managed to find you. And the answer is... still negligence. Because apparently no one decided to check the pool during or after the party for six whole days. Because apparently people were too busy sueing your parents. Because you didn't show up for work... And just so I don't get a question about why all that random crap was randomly laying by the pool... The report says," Lili places her phone down and sighs again, "Because some racoons were pissed off at the gardener."

After reading the report in its entirety, Lili sits in silence for a few seconds. Eyes firmly closes, finger tapping her forehead.

"Now... Unless anyone else is feeling important, I believe we should move on."

***

Micah Grey
Office Space

The demoness takes a moment to collect herself. Upon doing so, she takes a breath and turns to face the crowd once again. Even so, she keeps herself slumped up against the podium. Mental exhaustion clearly starting to settle in.

"Micah, right? What was it you asked? Something about deciding what world you get to go back to? I'm not really sure what you're getting at, but I think under similar circumstances we would send people back to whatever world they came from. The world they died in."

Lili's eyes turn up in thought.

"Though... I guess there's no rule specifically that specifies we have to do that. I guess it's been more of an unspoken understanding, if anything."

[Mormarth]

Johnny Miller
The Ride Never Ends

Hm.

"So, sign the paper, get the thing, kill some bad guys dead."

To be honest, it was pretty appealing. I know I would've been more gung-ho about signing up if I could shoot lasers outta my eyeballs.

Instead, they didn't even tell us how to use Sonic Booms.

Very disappointing, I'll tell you what.

Well, all things considered, if I was to take them at their word, and honestly, I felt reasonably like a mock-up of this breadth and honest stupidity was too on-the-nose to be just a complete load of shit.

People fucking around and piggybacking to get ahead was unhappily realistic, so, for the moment, I suppose I'd follow along, who knows, maybe this is all legit and I'll get to have a bit of an adventure.

Wouldn't that be something.

I drummed my fingers along the sheet of paper speculatively, plucking one of my pens out and scribbling out the set of information I'd already written a good couple dozen times before. Least they weren't asking for ID Number or stuff I'd have to check.

I scritched away, glancing up for a moment to hear about the latest poor bastard who'd decided to roll the dice.

"Hm, rip you I guess, my guy. You died alone, unloved, and with people barely giving enough of a fuck to bother to look for you."

I raised my pen in a salute, eyes still thoughtful over this 'power'.

"Congratulations."

Finally, I just decided to go ahead and roll with something that'd been poking around my head for a hot minute.

The desert's a boring place.

I slipped my pen back into its pouch on my pants and idly waved the sheet of paper about lazily.

[Draconic]

Anthony Mathers
Presumably Somewhere
Time Is An Illusion


Despite everything he just heard, Anthony wasn’t even annoyed. He knew he should be. Angry. Furious even. His boss sued his family because he broke some rule he didn’t even know was in his contract, and he died because of criminal negligence, all because a gardener managed to piss off some small furry animals. Before he knew it, he was actually laughing. He wasn’t amused at the situation so much as he was at how readily he was able to believe it, because—

“You’re right. It does sound like a bad joke! But I believe it. Easily. Because it’s not even the most absurd thing that’s happened to me in the past five years in terms of stupid inconveniences and coincidences.

“Wow… I didn’t realize how apt that Loony Toons comparison was, because that even sounds like a freaking roadrunner cartoon,” he was just saying what he thought now. He just couldn’t find it in himself to care. “I’ll be honest, I kind of like you a bit more now that I know what you’re like when you’re not trying to be cute. Thank you, Lili. Also, no need for the attitude. You just read what happened to me, and with how quickly I believed it, you should know exactly how important I think I am.

“Well,” he picked up a water bottle, “here’s to dying how I lived: Hounded by inconvenience and complete and total obscurity. I’m just glad it wasn’t a banana peel.”

He put the water back down. Of course he wasn’t going to drink it. He looked over at Justin and hoped the kid at least felt a little less despondent after hearing this symphony in absurdity.

In terms of sheer annoyances however…

…this was the Ultimate.

It did however give him an idea.

He pulled a pen out of his shirt pocket—because of course he had one with him when he died, he’d gone to that party straight from work—and jotted down exactly what he wanted as his power.

‘With the sheer incomparable fabulousness of this deal, she’s obviously going to drop me… us… in the middle of nowhere, say ‘good luck’ and ditch us. There’s no point in being invincible if I’m just going to starve to death.’

But there was one thing that he knew would help him no matter the circumstances.

No more would he ever toil in obscurity. He was going to make the most of this chance to start over, and for that to happen, there was only one thing he wanted. This new life was going to be very different from the one he was leaving behind, at least if he had anything to say about it. And he was done going with the flow all the time. He was going to be the person in charge of his own story this time.

“Hm, rip you I guess, my guy. You died alone, unloved, and with people barely giving enough of a fuck to bother to look for you.”

“I don’t know if you’re being sympathetic or sarcastic, but whichever it is, thanks. But really, this is only marginally worse than par for the course.”

He signed his name on the contract and slid it across the table to the angel and demoness at its head.

“I just signed my name on a contract given to me by a demon,” he muttered. “I can only blame myself for whatever mess I’ve just gotten myself into now…”

[Twelveseal]

Micah Grey
It’s Purgatory, of a Sort
Time of the Signs

“Umm… Hi. You didn’t seem to notice me when I moved over here.”

_{“Ah! Ummm… s-sorry! I…”}
Was I so preoccupied that I didn’t notice this guy approach? Uwahhhhh… so sloppy. I’m so sloppy… And he even said something to me… Ugh… He didn’t register at all. Is he some kind of assassin? No. Truthfully, I was probably just stuck in my own head. I don’t even know what this guy said before.

Great… I think I’m turning red.

“Sorry if I startled you. Also, let me preface this by saying I didn’t see anything I shouldn’t have, I promise. But under the assumption that you’ve been pulling your shirt down for a reason, maybe… tie this around your waste, or something? I really don’t need it. I’ve got four others that are identical.”

_{”Th-thanks…”}
Yup. Definitely turning red. Someone noticed… But I’m not going to turn this down. I can’t just… tie this into… underwear. But I can make a belt out of it and use that to keep my nightshirt down and in place. And maybe give me a little more cover.

I quickly tie the sleeves into a makeshift belt, letting the back help to cover my… well… back. I can manage the front a little easier on my own, but even just this is a help.

At least this isn’t a room completely full of jerks though. I can only imagine what would have happened if that… weird person… obsessed with her own chest would have said. Or done. Okay, no. I really don’t want to imagine that. Ick… And I thought I was weird.

"Micah, right? What was it you asked? Something about deciding what world you get to go back to? I'm not really sure what you're getting at, but I think under similar circumstances we would send people back to whatever world they came from. The world they died in."

_{”I… I see…”}
I was afraid it’d be something like that, but…

"Though... I guess there's no rule specifically that specifies we have to do that. I guess it's been more of an unspoken understanding, if anything."

I know it’s a risk.
I know I probably shouldn’t.
But there’s something I want, and this is the only way I can get it. Not just for me.
For everyone.
It’s a risk I have to take, even if what I can offer isn’t enough.

“_{Ah… ah!} I… I’ll teach! Them! Ummm… If… If you let me… Choose where I go… Back to…. L-… Look at… _{Umm… my… resume?}”

I gesture at her phone. She had the records of our lives, right? I… Don’t really know what to call that. A permanent record, maybe? A file? But what she’s asking for… What she needs... I think I can help her. And she can help me. It’s not a match but… it’s something.

And it’s probably my last chance.

_{”I-if it will… Help…”}

[Cheetose]

Kou Hayasaka

Being resurrected...In a ‘fantasy’ world, huh...So we’re going into a video game? And we’ll be the heroes? And I’ll have all these cute girl companions? That doesn’t sound so bad…

Looking around a room, it seemed that there was somewhat big of a contrast between those people who calmly accepted these - not at all normal - facts, and those who were still complaining relentlessly. Not quite sure why though. Guess some people are just dumb like that.

Well, whatever. I could only hope that I’d end up with the girls. Maybe that glasses girl...She looks like the shy type who turns into a beast in bed...Or the paper bag head, she is the mysterious type...Maybe the green haired chick? She looks kind of chill about this all, and somehow I’m getting sort of a familiar vibe from her...Maybe she is also a huge fucking freak?

Hmm…

Turning my attention back to the questionnaire on my lap...Character sheet, rather, yeah, that’s the proper term when we are going to a fantasy world...It all looked pretty straightforward, except for the superpower. A superpower...What would be the best...Sex-ray vision? Clothes dissolving beam? Tentacles? Gaaah, such a hard choice…

Wait, maybe I should go for something actually useful...I mean if we’ll actually end up having to kill monsters I won’t get too far with those powers...And maybe being a tough mofo would still attract chicks...That would be like two birds with one stone.

“Nah, fuck it.” I said, then scribbled down some words under the desired superpower part.

'Gains inhuman strength after touching the strategical locations of another female.'

Yeah. That's perfect.

Satisfied with my work, I passed the sheet to the front.

[RacingeR]

Yamashita Kazu

As the general horsing around continued, the blond student was a bit too busy stuffing his cheeks with cheap snacks to comment much on what was going around him, and either way, he was using most of his brainpower to process what was happening. After all, things got even more unbelievable as more of his situation was uncovered, yet it was a reality that couldn’t be denied.

Given that most of the questions he wanted to ask were asked by others already, he was content to remain in silence for now. However, when the mentions about their reincarnation and the whole superpower thing were given, Kazu’s eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas morning.

He stared at the paper in disbelief. Would this mean… no, this definitely meant that his dream would come true. At long last. With this, he could find what he’d been looking for all this time. He smiled cheerfully as he quickly scribbled his data on the paper without a second thought, although he spent a longer while writing what went on his power.

Finally, he abandoned the snack table that he had nearly plundered into emptiness, and approached the demon/goddess, giving her his paper, as he supposed one had to do.

“Hello, name’s Yamashita Kazu. Sorry about what I said earlier, I was just surprised, one normally expects the afterlife to be fancier, y’know? But you did what you could and I’m thankful for that. The fries were delicious anyway!” He said somewhat awkwardly, yet sympathetic.

“Either way…” He paused to organize his thoughts, and decided to touch upon one thing that bothered him. “So to speak, the higher-ups on your organization don’t seem to be very good people, right? I mean, all this mess about a Black Plague-tier death count, and the way they treat you, with so little budget and pay, plus you had to use your own money for the snacks. That’s pretty bad!”

“What I mean is, sounds like your upper echelon are some very bad guys!” He grinned as he punched his palm with a balled-up fist. “Do they need some punching, perhaps?”

He didn’t seem to be aware that he had just offered to punch god.

[Bylackbre]

Wallace Ladon

"Um... Well... Not to rain on your parade, but you're making a couple of assumptions. Ahem-!"

"All of your deaths are already on the books. So our bosses already know. Believe me... If they didn't I probably wouldn't be busting my ass for any of you... Truth is, people have been fired and some of the luckier ones were demoted. Hard. As for my involvement, I guess you can say I'm indebted to one of the saps that got a pay cut."

"So you see, between the need to redistribute staff, trying to reduce traffic at the golden gates, while trying to make reparations... The idea of getting the newly deceased to help us with work was proposed. And it's not that I'm lazy or anything, but people can't just be reborn or whatever for free. I may be a devil, but rules are rules. And if I want to keep this job, I gotta follow them."

After hearing Lili's explaination and how off the mark my ideas were, I figured it was about time I just sat back and kept my mouth shut for the time being.

This isn't my first time being wrong about a situation and I doubt it'll be my last time either. Might as well get on with that paperwork the angel and devil wants us to fill out.

first. Name, age, gender... The typical kinds of things you would expect to see when doing paperwork. But then it goes on to ask for a brief description of your life, the manner in which you remember dying, and... a desired 'super power'.

The section about name, age and gender were simple enough to fill out as they were standard in almost all documents I have ever had to fill out. I thought about it for a minute when I got to part about a brief description of my life and gave a brief synopsis of who I was. They did specify they wanted a brief description after all.

The section asking about how I died probably took the longest as I sat there trying to remember as much as I could. I remembered the storm that knocked the airplane out of the sky and causing it to crash into the snow covered mountains. I recalled that the crash wasn't what killed me but rather I walked out of the wreckage with a small group of people who all proceeded to move together back in the direction we thought was civilization. I remembered how several members of my group froze to death thanks to the envrionment and the fact we were walking through freezing rain so I wrote that down as my cause of death since I couldn't remember if that was what got me or if there was something else.
for

Now what should I put for the section labeled super power? Never in all of my lfie had I put much thought into it since I figured it would be impossible. So what power might I choose? So what might make a good choice?

I thought about it for a second as I wanted something that could be useful in terms of versatality and power with the idea that finally came making me laugh a bit. Well I always did enjoy irony a bit more than my siblings did, I thought as I wrote down my selection for a power. The idea of how my death would affect my family did shake me up a little as that finally struck me that they were probably devastated. Well I guess I should get this job done so I can see them again one day.

[Vritra]

Monday
Afterlife Parade

…

The amount of details and implications were staggering, perhaps a lesser more religious soul would be driven to hysteria or despair …or at the very least visible irritation. However such a lapse of discipline was imply inexcusable, instead he simply clenched his free hand and drew deep breaths and he focused on what was before him.

An offer to answer any questions we might have?

What if one wanted to question everything?

Surely not. Even if one were to disregard the implications of our would-be benefactors’ mental dispositions such reduction of the world and existence to its most base minutiae would obviously go nowhere. Needless of the fact that he was hardly a scholar who could analyze and criticize ideas on a whim. No, any such analysis would have to be left a later date where he could finish adequate preparations.

To many possibilities were simply being thrown around with the grace of bored children. Not to mention the fact that if their claims were true the balance of power was far to skewed against them.

Later, later, hear, gather, and hold it all until later.

For now, he would satisfy himself with a more immediate, if nonstandard concern.

Letting the tension that gripped his body ease with a quiet prolonged sigh he subtlety adjusted his position for comfort. Before raising his hand to wait for the more dutiful and composed assistant to take notice. Perhaps such efforts would even result in some good grace.

Smiling in return as he caught her eye and thanking her efforts to win him a window to ask.

“A thought just struck me but… would be possible to forgo such rewards upon our success and instead be allowed to remain here? Ahahaha, sorry, I’ve just been struck by how colourful this whole place is and was just thinking …that perhaps this sort of meeting was fate?”

A sheepish laugh at the natural confusion gives way as bashfulness creeps into his smile before everything is played off with a dark joke …yet the tinge of colour betrayed on his cheeks and the flickering back and forth of his gaze betrayed the true intent of the question.

What was the dilemma of taking a shot in the dark when one had nothing to lose after all?

“Monday by the way, it wasn’t my name but I can’t say I’m much of a Friday so I figured I’d go with something more …accurate. I won’t be responding to anything else.”

Time to get writing I suppose.