The lively noise of heavy machinery rumbles around as I continue to do my tedious job of installing the same few components onto every moving line of electronics on the conveyor belt. Looking to my sides, see the same old colleagues that I have grown accustomed to over the course of my 5 years of working in this factory. We all sit in contemplative silence as we continue to work our dead-end jobs that should have been replaced by machines long ago.
To my left, I hear Jerold stretch his back once again with a small series of cracks as his hunched over back finally straightens itself. This caused many others, including myself, to do the same.
Just another few hours and I can go home for the weekend. Smiling to myself, I chat to my co-worker on the left, Henry, about random things for a while.
"God, I wish I could get one of those cushy office jobs in the inner city," Henry told me like usual. "I bet those bureaucratic asses upstairs haven't worked a real job in their lives, right James?"
I laugh with him for a few moments before we fall back into that familiar silence. I went back to focusing on my work, which was installing the last few interior components onto the frame of a circuit board.
A dozen or so minutes of working later, in a particularly less noisy moment, I hear a snap coming from the ceiling. Quickly raising my head to search for what caused the noise, I see a falling hang light heading straight for me and my fellow line worker.
"EVERYONE SCATTER!" I yell out, rising to my feet. Many of my co-workers reacted quickly and jumped out of the crash zone, but Henry did not get up as fast as the rest. Before I realized what I was doing, I began sprinting over to Henry as fast as I could.
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Acting purely on instinct, I pull and shove Henry out of the way. Stepping forward to begin running out of the impact zone I- CRASH
———
"Ugggh, my head," I groaned, reaching for my head and rubbing rhythmically to try and soothe the aching pain.
After a few moments, I rip enough control away from the pain and open my eyes to a most peculiar sight. Whitish pink fluffy clouds all around and under me. The clouds were oddly stable and somewhat fluffy now that I felt it.
Getting up from the 'ground,' I glance around, searching for anything to explain my odd surroundings. My eyes finally landed on a desk occupied by 2 beings that looked not quite human. On the left was a red skinned, horned man with a short black combed back hair and beard. On the right was an angelic figure with a set of golden wings and a radiant halo floating above a woman's head.
"Umm, hello, where am I? And what am I doing here? Also, who are you guys, and why are you dressed up like that? Halloween was months ago." I ask, genuinely confused.
The red man speaks up first, "So many questions. First, you are on the gateway between the afterlife and the mortal realm as you know it. Second, you are here because you died, quite prematurely, I might add. Lastly, Lady Angelica and I are angels and devils, respectively, and thus, we must dress accordingly."
I start to chuckle for a moment, "You must be joking. Seriously, where am I?" I ask again, not believing that I died.
This time, Angelica spoke up, "Dominc was not joking. You have died, and now we are here to judge you. Starting off," she looks over to Dominic, "He has committed a few too many sins to be brought up to heaven. Do you want him?"
"Hey. I didn't do anything that bad." I say, but they seem to just ignore me.
"Ehh, he seems a bit too innocent to be viable for a transfer to hell. Maybe we could just stick him on C-784. They seem to be running out of suitable dungeons aside from the pre generated ones." Dominic answers.
"No objections here, go ahead." Angelica replies.
And with that, Domonic snaps his fingers, and a magical looking circle appears underneath me, and I begin to sink into it.
I desperately try to claw my way out of the rapidly sinking hole but to no avail. The last thing I see is the smiling faces and waves Angelica and Demonic give me as I depart.