cancry | sir, are you aware you are a dead

[ Like many of the Spectres haunting this level of Purgatory, the man currently heading elsewhere with purpose doesn't particularly stand out. He looks to be around his mid-50s (or perhaps a fresh-faced 60), with brown hair showing the slightest hint of gray at the temples, and he dresses much like the average tenured college professor, though he seems to favour rather more purple in his choice of wardrobe than most college professors.

What does stand out is that he's drifting from place to place, actively questioning other Spectres - the same questions, over and over, as if looking for an out-of-place response. Questions about mortality and self-awareness, with death coming up as a constant topic.

He has a notebook in one hand. Every so often, he stops to make a mark on the open page, and then snaps it shut again with an air of slightly acerbic professionalism. ]

The consistency of these answers is intriguing in its implications, but hardly fruitful. And this place makes little sense, either. I'm almost certain the dead ought to be less talkative, on the whole...

[ He certainly doesn't know why he thinks that, but from the way he says it, he seems very firm on it.

He's paused for now, still glancing down at what notes he seems to have. The approach of any Executor will snap him out of his thoughts, however; despite his verging-on-sour expression, he seems genuinely surprised to see someone who doesn't just drift past or immediately launch into a dream-like dialogue. ]

Something for you?

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What an intriguing existence. And here I thought the afterlife would give me less to do, and not more. [ He sounds pleased, rather than at all irritated. The idea of being idle doesn't sit well with him. ]

And what exactly is an Executor supposed to do in the realms of the dead? It seems a rather lonely post, if this Rei was the only one for quite a while.

It's been very interesting so far! I just wish I had a way to publish my findings... [Death needs an accredited university, or at least a couple of journals. ...actually, maybe she should try using some of that new fame to start one.]

That's where things get a little complicated. From what Rei said, Executors are supposed to help Specters travel down to the bottom of Purgatory so they can eventually be reincarnated, usually by using their powers to kill Revenants and keep people safe? But, well...

[She makes a vague gesture.]

When you woke up, did you get the feeling that something was really wrong somehow, in a way you couldn't explain?

We think the Cogs of Renewal, the stuff down in the depths that lets people get reborn- it's broken. Everyone's still coming into the afterlife... but no one's going back out.

So I think right now, our real job is getting down to the last layer and fixing that! [But you know, no pressure or anything.]

[ This seems exceptionally funny to him! He doesn't know why. But the idea of fixing something to do with the proper workings of the afterlife seems unreasonably amusing.

He tries to not let that automatic, contextless response show on his face. He does a credible job of it. ]

So some kind of afterlife guardian, then. Well. It sounds rather tedious, I admit, but certainly more productive than wandering about, doing nothing.

And I suppose the further down an Executor goes, the more odd the Revenants become, hm? Which is, if nothing else, good for research.

[ If he can't start a lovingly detailed archive of the myriad twisted forms of the soul what is the POINT ]

Exactly! The differences between this layer and the previous one alone have fascinating implications for the entire postmortem spiritual predator-prey ecology.

[This guy gets it, she's so happy.]

Not to mention the potential of eventually studying the Cogs themselves! I'm a biologist, not an engineer, but something that can affect people on such a profound spiritual level but is tangible enough to be broken... how could I not want to know more about it? I'll learn about clockwork if I have to!

[It's not that she has a God complex, really- she'd just like to explore the possibility of playing God a little, so she can document it for future generations. Assuming there are any, after these disasters get access to the machinery of creation.]

So... do you want a job? Because it sounds like you're interested and I can absolutely call Rei for you, if you want to talk to her, but I don't want to assume. Making major decisions about someone's spiritual state for them would be very rude of me, probably! [...She's trying.]

I suppose getting in the habit of making decisions about anyone's spiritual state would be a poor thing. And yet, in the case of Revenants, that appears to be one area where Executors have authority to make those decisions... [ He stops himself before he gets on a tangent. Of course he agrees, but there's a complicated contextless tangle of feelings that slow his answer for just a moment. ]

But yes, I'd certainly enjoy something to do. [ Put me to work, he almost says, and then there's that strange hesitation that seizes his tongue. ] It's not a terribly difficult decision to make for me, I would think.

[ He's oddly forgiving about the idea. ]

Hmmm, that is an interesting point... well, morals were never really my specialty! [Just admitting that so cheerfully.] But that's what ethical review boards are for, right? ...I mean, that's what they always told me they were for, when I was alive. They were very emphatic about that one!

[She types out a text for Rei, telling her the location and situation, and hits send.]

[ It's not long before Rei arrives, looking very much like someone who has been doing their best to compose themselves and not quite managed it. She's a little winded (she ran all the way here, as usual...) but she manages a smile. ]

Medic...! And, ah... [ turning her attention to the Eidolon with her... ] So, this is our new friend, then.

'Apprentice' might be a better word, given the unique circumstances. [ He inclines his head in a nod. Even if his superiors in experience do happen to be teenagers, he's completely out of his depth. He can be arrogant, but not when he has nothing to build on.

'Friends' seems like an odd word to use for someone you just met but he's not going to quibble with that either. ] But regardless of terminology, I'm in your care.

By the sounds of things, Medic's already explained most of what you need to know, right? Where we are, why we're here... and what we're trying to do.

Do you want to come with us? Or would you rather stay here?

She has. She is exceptionally thorough. [ Some people might have paused before the 'thorough'. He is not one of those people; it seems to be pleasing to him. ]

[ He shakes his head, a quick jerk, and his response is immediate. ] Stay and be stuck among the barely-conscious dead, or come and see how everything in this place works? Hardly a choice.

I'll come with you, of course.

[ Rei just nods. ]

I can't promise you it'll be safe... but we all do what we can do look out for each other.

[ Then she hesitates for a moment. ]

Do you... want to come with us as you are? Or do you want to fight?

Well...I'd rather not remain powerless, if given the choice. [ He doesn't know why that makes him feel uncomfortable, the sense that he's diminished, less than he was. But it is what it is. Having little else to fall back on, he can only trust the echo of his instincts, those little fragments that feel only partially like himself. ] And while I've been assured you've gathered other like-minded souls to your cause, there is strength in numbers.

[ She gives a little nod, already tugging down her sleeve to expose the black tattoo on her wrist. ]

Alright. Then... just take a deep breath and I'll establish the contract.

[ The black tattoo on her wrist turns gold and then white, washing everything around them out in a wave of light. The world feels weightless for a moment before everything snaps back to normal, with only Frost left feeling... different.

Contract established. ]

sir, are you aware you are a dead

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enters with a sliding whistle noise

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