Fantasy Death Inc.

[Jean Otus]

Welcome to Hell, well not quite hell, more like a subdivision of hell, limbo? Not quite. Purgatory, no that's not quite it either. Let's start this over, welcome to my office, which is, consequently, is in some manner of...afterlife...situation...yes.

You're dead. Let's just get that out of the way. You're dead, you died, and I reaped your soul. It happens every day, what with all you humans keeling over. Now, you were a little young to be dead, don't really have all the necessary qualifications for heaven. That being said we're not going to just send you to Hell either, we can't just do that. Now, normally we'd set you on the track for purgatory or reincarnation with a swift boot to your rear, but, we're a little backed up right now, and need to fill out the ranks to recover.

To make this brief. You've been drafted. You all are trainee Reapers now. If you work hard, you could be as stressed as me one day...

Employee Registry: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/death-inc-employee-registry.323813/
Employee Lounge: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/death-inc-employee-lounge.323814/
Other Employee Profiles: https://www.rpnation.com/threads/death-inc-professional-reaper-profiles.324284/#post-7704804

 

[Jean Otus]

Matthias stared out over the blank faces of the new "recruits". A small group of misfits sitting on stark white folding chairs. In reality they weren't anything more than lost souls with more interest in the present than the future. He set that thought aside. That was always how reapers got recruited anyways. You had to be a special kind of idiot to wind up here. Turning down a second chance at life, or even a shot at paradise. There was a reason why the souls who signed on were always on the idealistic side of things. He shuffled through the stack of papers on his lectern. The self-submitted profiles of each of the new recruits, each one pulled from the long list of his collections he didn't feel like filing proper paperwork for. Everything in the room was stark white, from the floor to the ceiling to the chairs, everything except he and the recruits. He was wearing the Reaper's official uniform, black suit with silver buttons. The recruits had been granted a standard training track suit, a black set of exercise trousers and a windbreaker of a similar material, both embroidered with a cartoonish silver skull. Their own "designer label"; clothes to die for. Human clothes didn't exactly transfer to the afterlife.

Returning to the welcome speech, he cleared his throat. "We need recruits like you because there's been a unique crisis down on earth. This does get a little technical, so let me explain some things first." He gestured to the small gathering of trainees. "All of us here are what we call 'Spirits', we're undying essences acting in a transitionary stage, there are other types of spirits that exist throughout nature. You all are spirits because I collected you almost immediately after your deaths. Spirits that aren't collected become 'Ghosts'." Matthias drew a cartoonish ghost on the back of one of the employees' profiles. "Ghosts are spirits that have become panicked at realizing their own deaths, they vary in strength, but are normally common." He let out a sigh. "This is where it gets complicated, our problem is that ghosts have started to disappear, and they're being replaced with more dangerous undead monstrosities. The higher ups assume demonic influence."

He cleared his throat again. "Any questions?"
GiantSugarCake Keyfiel ReadingTheRunes Noivian ashenseraph
(Don't worry about matching this length, this is mostly for exposition)

 

[ashenseraph]

Freya looked calculatingly at Matthias, tapping her chin with an idle finger. "So, the ghosts are disappearing...but where are they going?" Freya's thoughts were running wild, trying to make sense of it all. Usually if she had an unanswered questions, she would research at the library or online. Google didn't seem like a prevalent resource here. "I wonder if its possible that the ghosts aren't disappearing? Maybe they are changing?"

Freya looked excitedly towards Matthias, eager for an answer. She hadn't been this excited in a while.

 

[Jean Otus]

Matthias leaned over the lectern. The despair case had jumped to the point it had taken three weeks of deliberation to publish. He flipped to her profile.
"Excellent point...Freya...That's the current theory around here. We don't see ghosts disappearing from human deaths unless they've compromised their soul somehow. This, along with the prevalence of stronger, more malicious undead monsters suggests that Hell may have a breach, allowing demons to be able to make contracts with humans. We have an investigation underway." He straightened his tie before continuing "Until that is finished, you all will be trained to fight these new monstrosities as this organization's extremely disposable fodder."

"Anyone else?"
ashenseraph GiantSugarCake Keyfiel ReadingTheRunes Noivian

 

[GiantSugarCake]

Haisley sat with her arms crossed on top of the back of the white fold out chair and her legs on both sides of it as she watched the taller blond male explain what it was that each of them were doing there. She wondered in her head if they had all died on the same day or if the death system was just really slow in setting people up in their places, her head leaned on her rested hands as he explained the situation to all of them, if demons were interfering with spirits that didn't have the best coping skills with death how were we the people who died too early supposed to fix it? She was supposed to ask that when a girl next to her spoke up first, her head tilted to her before turning back to the "teacher" like when she was still in high school.

"Since we're going to be getting rid of those demon things, I need to know, can we die from them? I mean, we're already dead but what happens if a demon bites me? Do I become a demon? Do I end up back here? Am I spirit?"

Her mouth spoke a little bit faster than it was supposed to but it was only because she was curious of the answer and as she spoke new ideas popped in her head making her just say whatever thought appeared. Haisley realized she had her hand up and put it down after adjusting her glasses slightly, he did say they were extremely disposable, she just wanted to know what trash can they'd be thrown in.

 

[Jean Otus]

Matthias kneaded the bridge of his nose, as if a phantom pair of glasses had been sitting there too long. This was always the hardest question to answer. Funnily enough it was their version of asking "what happens after you die". He would have preferred to wait until they actually faced down one of these beasts to answer the question.

"If you're injured by one of the malicious monsters, or heaven forbid, a real demon, one of two things will happen. The wound will slowly consume you, siphoning your spirit into the creature that wounded you, until you're assimilated into the attacker." This was difficult to explain to the newly dead, that now they were in danger of dying again. "Alternatively, the wound will corrupt you, and become a blight. Once you possess a blight you will slowly become a demon yourself, at which point you will be banished to hell." He thumbed the edge of the papers, folding them over each other.

"Of course there's treatment for these wounds, sacred waters or divine blessings can purge you of these wounds. There is a good chance many of you won't survive your first sortie, this is war after all." Matthias tried to force a smile, straightening up to appear like a proper leader. "Now, anything further? It's very important you ask all your questions here while I'm required to answer them."

GiantSugarCake ashenseraph Keyfiel ReadingTheRunes Noivian NeoStigma

 

[NeoStigma]

"Wahoo! Corruption! Whelp low chances of survival? I like the odds sign me up! I am also assuming if we do survive and solve this case we don't get a vacation." Alexander leaned his chair back as his legs rested on top of the desk. He had already read the all the paper work thoroughly and proceeded to fold them into paper cranes and crude paper airplanes for entertainment. He was currently balancing his dagger on the tip of his nose. He jerked his head back wards tossing the dagger up in the air and caught it with his teeth. He took the dagger out of his mouth and grinned.

"Not that I'm wussing out or anything but, do we get any cool powers? Or do we shank the baddies to death with our shiny pointy butter knives? Also whats the grace period? If we are injured how long do we have until we fully get corrupted?" Inquired Alexander as he twiddled with his daggers waiting patiently for his questions to be answered. Excitement vibrated throughout Alexanders body as he eagerly awaited the dangers that lay ahead.

 

[Jean Otus]

Matthias turned his forced smile on the cocky young spirit, already experimenting with his reaper's tool. Matthias should've made them pick those up themselves, rather than grabbing them from Materials with the tracksuits. He wouldn't take this kind of lip from a newbie. "Well aren't you full of piss and vinegar? Well..." He referenced his papers. "Alexander...You don't 'get' anything, you'll earn everything. You earned your tool by signing over your soul to this organization. You'll earn your abilities through whatever training I deem fit for you."

"If you get injured, you'll have exactly 24 hours before you're either consumed, or become a demon yourself. While you're injured it will hurt more than anything you could have felt while alive. After all, this is your soul being consumed." He smiled sickly.

"Unless there are any other questions, we'll proceed to the next stage. You all have an appointment with the tailor."

 

[Midnightchan123]

*Lilly stayed silent, Lilly had always hoped that she wouldnt become a demon if they existed as she watched each speaker, wondering about their deaths in turn. Lilly raises her hand, finally having a few questions as Matthias finished answering*

"so...does hairdye fade? Can we be seen by anyone? What happens if we fail to prevent these attacks?"

 

[Jean Otus]

Matthias let out a sigh, "If you had hair dye in while you were alive it'll stay in until you decide to manually change it here in the office. There is a selective level of perception by humans, though certain animals, all supernatural beings, and various higher-ups in religious orders are able to see you. If we fail to prevent these attacks the entirety of the human world will eventually be consumed by the corrupting forces of darkness. This will result in the Angels of Heaven blowing the horns of heaven, and bringing about armageddon."

 

[ashenseraph]

Freya sat in a perfectly poised fashion, hands lying gracefully in her lap. "Matthias? I am eager to move this orientation forward. Surely you feel like you are wasting your time answering to a bunch of pawns, no?" Freya's tone was nonchalant as she subtly reminded everyone how unimportant they all were, herself included. She didn't mind because she accepted meaninglessness in reality a while ago, before she died. But Freya was ready to cut to the chase, hopefully leaving out the fluff and fillers.

 

[Angelofwishes7]

Alora sat in her chair silently just listening to the people talking around her for some time. She felt nervous and disoriented in the room. She held a small purple tattered up stuffed rabbit close to her as she slowly swayed her feet back and forth. Her legs being too small for her feet to reach the floor. After a bit of silence passed she looked up to the "teacher" before stuttering out some words. "Will-" Before she could continue she closed her mouth and held her eyes tightly closed, almost expecting something, or someone to smack her for just saying one word. After another few seconds, she tried to speak again, still shaky with her words. "W-will I..." She again paused holding her bunny tightly. "Will I be able to ke-keep my bunny?" She shakily held the torn and damaged rabbit in front of her to show it off a bit more. It's left eye was gone and the stitching on the rabbit was weak from the damages it had.

 

[GiantSugarCake]

A smile graced itself on to Haisley's face as she watched another boy begin to balance knives on his nose, she had seen a lot of circus shows and carnival acts but seeing them again was always a delight for her, the guy reminded her of almost every class clown that had appeared in her class rooms in school. Looking back at her instructor Haisley bit back a laugh from his comment, they both didn't seem as if they'd mix will but oh well, who knows how long they'd be stuck together, at least before we began training. The conversations seemed to continue to a more cosmetic turn so she lightly touched her hair before leaning back in her chair in though, they could dye hair here? That's a bit convenient, and the ability to see them was also really cool, perhaps if she asked nicely she'd be able to see her family, even if they couldn't see her back. Shrugging her shoulders Haisley turned to the rather rude comment with a raise of her eyebrows.

"I wouldn't call us all pawns, it's pretty rude no? "

 

[Jean Otus]

Matthias sighed again, he'd be doing that a lot of that from now on, dealing with the newbies. "Well, Freya, pawns or no, you're all entitled to know what you're getting into. This is the first of several informational sessions you'll have from me." He turned his attention to the youngest member of his crew of recruits. The souls of children were complicated, elastic things, capable of taking in the world around them with more gusto than the solidified spirits of adults. He changed his attitude completely when addressing the little girl, giving a genuine smile and sincere words of encouragement. The Reaper has a soft spot for kids, he couldn't quite remember why. "If you've brought it this far, that bunny is an important part of you. Make sure you take good care of it, okay? I even know some nice ladies who can help you patch him up if you'd like?"

He cleared his throat to speak to the larger group, with that we'll all go to our next stage of orientation. You all get to meet the universe's greatest tailors and pick out your uniforms. Follow me." Matthias picked up his papers and walked out of the room, leading his group of recruits down the halls of Death Inc. He looked over his shoulder and spoke to his group like a tour guide. "These are the inner workings of our facility, if you have any questions about anything here in the office, now is the time to ask."

 

[ashenseraph]

Freya casually glanced at Haisley, trying to understand what exactly was rude about her comment. As they walked down the hallway, Freya firmly spoke up. "Haisley, my intent is not to hurt anyone's feelings or come off as 'rude'. I simply was speaking the truth." Freya gazed intently now at the end of the hallway, trying to imagine what the uniforms looked like. Hopefully better than these silly track suits...she thought to herself. Freya looked towards Matthias. "Did you say 'greatest tailors in the universe'? I'm curious as to what other creatures inhabit our universe..."

 

[NeoStigma]

Alexander couldn't help but grin when he sensed a bit of hostility from the Matthias. This was more than enough entertainment for him and decided to take things more seriously. "Great excited to get our new gear. Since we are investigating this mystery.... something came to my mind....what does the organization do to rouge reapers? We're still souls right? And like our previous lives some humans are corruptible. Is there a possibility that someone in the organization is using their reaper "privilege" to locate these ghosts and turn the information over to the baddies? Most importantly..... do we get lunch breaks?" Alexander quickly brushed of his previous question with a much more light hearted one, but still he was serious about the first question.

He tossed his dagger up and down as he followed Matthias paying attention to every word he had to say, taking mental notes of bits of information that seemed valuable. "Awh c'mon we're not pawns, we're more like canon fodder! Kidding. Also... another quick question boss man. Will we be stuck in the same unit or will we be able to work our ways up and work with other reapers? Uhm don't get me wrong folks I'm ecstatic to be part of your team and I'm looking forward to be working with you.....I uh just want to get an idea of how far I can go working as a reaper.....erm that is if I survive."

 

[Angelofwishes7]

Alora felt a genuinely happy smile appear on her face as Matthias said she could keep her bunny. She couldn't remember the last time she felt any form of true happiness. She held her bunny close to her, hugging the stuffed rabbit tightly and nodded joyfully. She couldn't wait to get her bunny all fixed up and looking better. She began to wonder what else they could do here as she carefully got down off her chair, having to almost climb down so that her feet could reach the floor. Though she still felt joyful her smile soon faded away. Alora followed everyone a few steps behind to stay out of the way of all the older people. She kept her gaze toward the ground and kept quite as she listened and looked around.

 

[GiantSugarCake]

Haisley turned back to Matthais after she had spoken her piece to the girl who's name was apparently Freya, and took a surprised notice at the soft voice that he'd given to the rather small banged up little girl in the back of the room after the hostility she had seen him give to Alexander she wasn't sure what to make of him but he seemed to be really good with kids. Taking herself out of the chair Haisley walked slowly after Matthais, her legs were covered by her tracksuit which was something she wasn't really used to, usually she wore shorts or normal pants so she hoped the universes greatest tailors could work with that. Glancing back to Freya she nodded at the other girls words, it was obvious they had lived differently, she seemed pretty pessimistic to say the least though Haisley couldn't say much about that, on her worst days of her manic depression she was pretty pessimistic too.

" It's all good, we're cool"

She smiled at Freya before taking a look around the office herself, it looked as if this place was pretty packed with paperwork which didn't look like the most fun activity to do in the least bit. Not particularly having a question Haisley glanced back at their group, her mind whirled with the possibility of a second family like this even though no one was very enthusiastic except for the mock class clown named Alexander, her eyes glanced down lower to see the bunny loving little one from before. The child looked rather distant which made Haisley pretty curious, how did a girl like her even end up here? The mere thought of something bad happening made her feel a bit depressed so she slowed her walk more so that she was closer to the youth, they were both the youngest members there anyway so she sent a smile to her.

"The office, do you have to apply to work here or are you chosen? I'm not asking to be one, just wondering why the universes greatest tailors would want to spend their time in Death Inc. Not that this place is bad! I think it looks really nice and I'm very excited to be here"

 

[Keyfiel]

Ash was standing in a "at ease" position, spread legs, hands behind her and perfectly straight spine, yet this place sure didn't looked like an army the slightest to her. She felt like an odd fish in the middle of some sort of class of high schoolers. Missfit high schoolers.
Ash then cleared her voice when Matthias finished speaking and everyone made their question.
"Sir, I was wondering what would be the best way to eliminate these 'demons' you speak of, I'm sure that the gear we were provided is well... just not enough to face this kind of treath" The soldier said while giving a dubious look at the machete strapped on her hip.
She also gave a quick glance to her new "squad mates", trying to figure out what kind of people they are. A bunch of kids, thats all she could think with a quick glance, of course she was old enough to be their mom but deep in her heart she knew she wasn't THAT old!

 

[Jean Otus]

Matthias' jacket felt about ten pounds heavier whenever that Alexander piped up. He would find a nice cubicle full of papers to stash him in if he ever slipped up. He answered the newbie's question, albeit with a much beleaguered tone.
"If a reaper goes rogue, the Corrections Department sends a specially trained team of reapers to collect you, strip you of your abilities, and banish you to hell with all the other punished souls. Like I said before, we have an ongoing investigation to the source of the disappearing ghosts, and it would do you well to not cast aspersions around the office unless you want the least glamorous jobs imaginable." He breathed another heavy sigh, for the umpteenth time that morning. "You are allowed to take lunch at noon exactly every day, though since you don't have a body you'll quickly forget about needing to eat or sleep. If you get tired of working where you currently are, and don't want to be reassigned by force, there is a 500 page transfer request you can submit to administration."

He then turned to the soldier woman, one of the older members of their group. She had a valid point, from her perspective. Reaper's tools were remarkably unconventional in appearance. "I understand where you're coming from, Ash, but everything about how we fight will be made clear once we get to the training segment of this tour. If you're ever uncomfortable with your tool, you can trade it in for a new blade at the Materials Office."

Matthias then turned to the serious questions about the Tailor's Office. "The universe's greatest tailors have a lot to do with our organization, I'm sure you all have heard of them during your lifetime, maybe." The group turned a corner into a softly lit room covered in quilts and rustic decor. In the center of the room, on plush sofas, sat three old women, tending to a great number of spinning spools of golden thread. One held the spool in place, another measured the thread out, and the final one cut the thread with a large pair of golden scissors, and placed the thread in a basket. Matthias introduced the group with reverence. "My new recruits, may I introduce you the Fates, the greatest tailors the universe will ever know."

Keyfiel GiantSugarCake Angelofwishes7 NeoStigma ashenseraph Midnightchan123

 

[Keyfiel]

The soldier blinked a bit confused, maybe it was because she never had a desk job before, or any kind of "civilian" job anyway, but maybe it was the very informal way her new boss used her nickname rather than her surname or whatever rank system they used here in the "afterlife". "Sir, with all the due respect, I was just complaining with the conspicuous lack of guns... I suppose this is a civillian enterprise so I guess you are not licenced to the use of firearms" Ash then made a cocky smile "Not that it matter to me, sir, I can easily carve a skull or two even with my bare knuckles!".

The soldier then turned around to face the Fates, the grannies didn't looked much to her but she assumed by their names that they were indeed quite important figures in that operation. "Good day Ma'ames." She said politely to the Fates with a quick salute before going back to her "at ease" posture.

 

[ashenseraph]

Freya entered the room that held the best tailor's in the universe. She was listening to her tour guide, but she knew exactly who she was looking at before he even announced it. As a Wiccan, Freya had spent many moons studying each pantheon, trying to find which Divine Masculine and Divine Feminine called out to her. She wasn't ever truly drawn to the Greek pantheon, but she knew much about the mythology and that includes the Moirai that she saw before her. "A-amazing..." she muttered softly. With Freya's interest piqued, she stared longingly at Matthias. "Please, go on. Tell me more."

 

[Angelofwishes7]

Alora held her bunny close to her as they entered the room, she tilted her head around and tried to stand on her tippy toes so that she could try to see past the others ahead of her. After finding that of no help she brought her gaze back to the ground and listened to the world around her. She tightened her grip around her bunny as she gently started playing with its ears, making the left ear rise, and then fall back down, then going to do the same to the right ear. She held the stuffed rabbit's left ear in her small had for some time, looking at the weak and tearing stitching that barely held it in place.

 

[Jean Otus]

The three old women cut off Matthias before he could speak. The one holding the spool spoke first. She placed her spool on a spindle and turned to the group.
"I am Clotho, the spinner." The one measuring the thread spoke next, setting her line of thread on a small angled tray, it continued to move without her touching it.
"I am Lachesis, the alotter." Finally the one with the scissors spoke, though she could not put down her tools.
"I am Atropos, the cutter. We've been expecting you. Your threads are by the kettle." Her introduction was punctuated with the snip of her great scissors.

Matthias cut in to explain again. He walked over the the small stove in the corner and picked up a small spool of golden thread, labeled "Freya".
"This is a thread of every moment you were alive, Freya. Perfectly measured to transform into whatever style of uniform you'd like, so long as it's black." He tossed the spool to Freya. "Just picture the outfit in your mind and the clothes will form around you. They're an extension of yourself, and the most effective armor against the undead."

Clotho hadn't taken her eyes off the young Alora since she arrived. Like Matthias, the old woman had a soft spot for the young. Leaving the spool with the thread of life on its spindle, the old woman walked over to the girl and ran a bony finger over the stuffed rabbit's head. "What a faithful companion, would you allow me to mend him for you?"

Angelofwishes7 Keyfiel GiantSugarCake ReadingTheRunes NeoStigma Midnightchan123 ashenseraph

 

[Angelofwishes7]

Alora watched as the woman walked up to her, hesitant she took a small step backward being unsure of the new figure. She held her bunny close almost afraid to let the woman touch it ar first, but after a few short seconds and the woman's words of fixing her poor tattered stuffed rabbit, she seemed to calm down and relax. She slowly and shakily held her stuffed bunny up to the woman so that she could see it better. "Can you fix my bunny...?" Alora words were soft and trailed off as she kindly questioned the woman, but before the woman could answer her question Alora mumbled a few more words in an almost sad tone under her breath. "Please fix my bunny..." She became very quiet after saying this as she watched the woman, not taking her almost sad cyan eyes away from the woman for even a split second.