THE MOMENT
"You're younger than I expected...," Albert was doing his best to keep calm, given the fact that he was dead now. He was startled awake by the feeling that someone was watching him; except, now he knew it was actually a heart attack. A short, lean teenager with sandy brown hair was waiting by his bedside and promptly introduced himself as a Reaper named Rerun. He had the black scythe and the matching black robes; but, he he wasn't a skeleton. The robe had a white scissor-shaped logo on the front that added the right touch to make it look like a uniform. He easily proved that Albert was headed to the Afterlife and was kind enough to let him ask some questions.
"I can change my age if you'd be more comfortable with an older me," Rerun said. Even as he answered he grew several inches taller and his face took on more definition. He was more austere now with brown stubble giving him a rugged look. "But, this is my natural state," he added as he reverted back to his teenage form.
"Either way is fine, it was just unexpected," Albert nodded. "But, if that's your natural self... you look young. Have you been a Reaper long?" Despite his 49 years, Albert ignored his lifetime of questions; he still needed to understand what was happening at the moment.
"No, but I'm not even a full-time Reaper," Rerun answered. "I'm doing it freelance. Otherwise, we wouldn't have this time to chat."
"Freelance?" Albert chuckled. "So is there money in Reaping? It's gotta be better than being a DJ, right?" Not that he had any complaints about his life. He never reached millionaire status; but, he lived comfortably and enjoyed playing with music. That was how he looked at it. He didn't 'make' music; he toyed with it. He would have enjoyed doing it some more, but all songs had to end at some point.
"Oh, sure, I guess," Rerun nodded. "I get paid for each soul I Reap; but, that's not why I'm doing it," he said.
"Boy, I'm glad to hear that," Albert grinned. The fact that Rerun was a freelancer that got paid meant there likely other freelancers. And, he already mentioned full-time Reapers. "A guy could get greedy with a setup like that...," He imagined unscrupulous Reapers making the most of getting paid by the soul. Though, it did give him a little faith in the universe that the Reaper he met wasn't chasing money.
"Oh, no, it's not like a bounty or anything," Rerun shook his head to clarify. "Deaths are mostly scheduled. Reapers are just the delivery guys; we get your soul to the Afterlife. We don't do any actual killing," he said. He reached into his robe, then pulled out a glass rectangle the size of a playing card. He tapped it and the screen lit up; it was the most advanced smartphone Albert had seen. "And freelance Reapers can kind of pick up an extra soul here and there. There's an app that makes it quite simple," he added as he showed the screen to Albert. It was a white screen with red text that said 'ReapR'.
Albert chuckled again. It was all he could do. He knew he didn't know everything. Now, however, he was realizing there was an entire world of things he didn't know. The Afterlife seemed to be a complete society in and of itself; and, it was completely hidden from his reality. He felt like that was only the beginning. Now that he knew how much more there was, he realized how infinite the unknown could be. What had he been doing for 49 years? Did any of that matter to anyone? He needed to get his thoughts off of himself and his, now, infinitely minuscule life.
"So, you're not doing it for money, why are you Reaping?" he asked. "Is it a hobby or something?" It was easy to imagine the teenage Reaper enjoying the gaming aspect of collecting souls. Not that he was sure he wanted to game for his soul. He almost felt like he did not want to put the genie back in the bottle. As much as he enjoyed music, he knew too much now. If he won and had a chance to continue his life, he'd probably forget everything he just learned. He knew he would in his next life anyway; but, that was how things were supposed to work at least.
"No, not exactly," Rerun answered. "The app has a full profile for all the souls available for pickup. I scroll through them every now and then and I noticed yours. You're a gamer and, -"
"And you want a good game?" Albert asked even as he was wondering how to decline.
"No," Rerun shook his head. "..and a DJ," he said.
"Huh?"
"I picked you because you're a gamer and a DJ. You're exactly the kind of person I need advice from. But, did you want to game for your life? Sorry, I forgot to ask. That's a whole thing, and I need to grab some forms if you want to do that."
"No, no," Albert shook his head. "You need my advice?" he asked. "For what?"
"A game," Rerun smirked. "I have an important game coming up," he explained as he tapped the glass card some more. "It's a team game with MMO classes on a roller derby track," he said.
"Really?" Albert leaned forward on his bed. "That sounds interesting, what can I help you with?"
"Well, I'm a Bard," he said as he offered the glass card to Albert. "Can I get your opinion on my loadout?"