Novak went about his day to day life like everyone else. Wake up, go to work, sleep, rinse and repeat. He landed a decent job as a journalist for a pretty good newspaper in Dresden, Germany a couple of years ago, but he did not feel content. He was going to be 44 in a couple of weeks, but he felt little satisfaction at the way his life had been until now. It was 13:47 and he was in the middle of writing an article about some political scandal, when he abruptly stood up from his desk. He grabbed his coat and left the office without a word.
Novak drove around the city for a while, taking in the tall buildings and busy streets that he saw every day. Deep down, he felt wronged. He felt like he was above this predictable and mundane world. He felt he could do better. Making up his mind, he changed direction and headed for a nearby bridge, and soon arrived near it. Novak stopped his car and started walking towards it. This bridge was made from brick, and looked like it had been built over 100 years ago. It was tall, and it held two sets of railway tracks. He inwardly nodded.
This will do.
He started making his way along the train tracks. A train passed by him, but he did not flinch. It was a cloudy autumn day, and the wind was cold.
Whatever awaits on the other side, it better be more interesting than this life. With this final thought, Novak closed his eyes, and walked off the edge. He felt the cold wind whipping against his leathery skin, and then there was nothing.
***
Up in the Divine Bureau for the Distribution of Souls – or the DBDS, Gregory was doing what he did best: going through files. It was the only thing he did, in fact. Upper management never let him and his co-workers form a union, and immortal beings did not need to rest.
Looking at the file in front of him, Gregory called out, “Chief, we have another return customer!”
The chief walked over to Gregory and grabbed the file from his hands.
Novak Wolfgang
Age: 43
Occupation: Journalist
Health: Stable
Relatives: None
Ethnicity: Caucasian (Eastern European)
Cause of Death: Suicide
The chief sighed. He didn’t like those who took their own life, they brought him nothing but headaches. The regulations of the DBDS state that suicide victims, or return customers, exist as a consequence of the office’s failure to distribute souls effectively. Thus, all such souls were to be interviewed by a senior officer for the purpose of improving future service, and then sent on their way to another life. The chief grudgingly walked into his office and sat down. Opening the file on his computer, he clicked Summon.
***
Novak opened his eyes and saw a slightly overweight, middle aged man in a suit sitting at a desk in front of him. A moment ago, he was about to make contact with the ground after his jump. He was confused, but tried not to show it. He stared at the man in front of him, not saying anything. The chief eyed him carefully and began his questioning.
“You have died and you are on your way to your next life. I am not Saint Peter and this isn't heaven, I know that you must be surprised and confused, but time is of the essence.” The balding man was speaking in a rushed tone, as if reading a script. “It says here that you have no family that you know of, had a decent job and led an average life, no health issues… no history of mental illness or chronic pain… no drug abuse… I need to know exactly why you committed suicide.” The chief was irritated. It seemed like this guy had killed himself just to make his job difficult.
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Novak was half listening to the man’s frustrated questioning, and also thinking about his situation. It seemed like the people in this place decided what will happen next. Novak locked eyes with the man in front of him.
“What is your name, officer?”
“What?” The chief started fidgeting with his pen. This seemed like it was going to take a while. “I am the one asking the questions here. You will address me as Chief Officer. Now, why did you commit suicide?”
Novak tried to smile at the man and leaned forward. “Chief, I can see you’re in a rush. Why don’t we make a deal? You let me choose where I go next, and this interview will be over before you know it.”
The chief was starting to get annoyed. He was bound by the protocol, and knew that he must get an answer from this man. Recent increases in suicide rates were blamed on his branch, which led to these measures being taken. But he was also in a rush. As soon as he dealt with this nuisance, he had an important meeting to attend.
“You are in no position to negotiate. You will give me an answer, and then you’ll be on your way.”
Novak stared fixedly at the officer and decided to remain silent. There was no way he would let these people decide what happens next. He wanted to be the master of his own fate.
Suddenly, the ringing of a phone broke the uncomfortable silence. The chief answered, and with a worried look he told whoever called that he’ll make his way to the meeting room now.
“You wait here. I’ll be back shortly, and by then you should have prepared an answer. Otherwise, I'll send your soul to the lowliest of worlds, protocol be damned.”
The chief rushed out of the office without looking back.
As soon as he was gone, Novak stood up without hesitation and started to look around.
What an irritable little man. I need to find a way out of here quickly.
On the chief’s desk, there was a computer. On the screen, Novak quickly accessed the flashing email icon and clicked on the most recent one.
From: Executive Officer Kim
Subject: Urgent
Attention all senior staff, make your way to the 2nd floor meeting room immediately. One of the petty gods under Cronus took over world number #91347 and turned it into his playground. Claiming he wants to see its inhabitants suffer and fight, he introduced a leveling system and turned all the animals and beasts into mutants. The world was originally a rank 7 paradise for souls, but I now estimate it to be rank 2 at best. I have attached a more detailed report about what has transpired.
This has become a common occurrence among gods, and is a nuisance that needs to be addressed. We cannot allow any more worlds to fall like this.
All branches should expect a huge influx of souls from that world and a reduced birth rate in the future. Adjust your systems accordingly.
Kim
It looked like the one who had just called was this officer Kim. Novak printed the attachment and read it quickly. It contained information about this specific world and its status, so there was no information he could use right now. He then switched to the other open window on the computer. There, he could see his “soul file”, containing all his information. Under the file, there was a button that said “Allocate soul to new world manually”. He felt a rush of excitement and selected that option.
I can't believe it's that simple.
The next screen advised that he could either choose to be born as a baby to a new family, or transfer with his old body and memories. The system warned that this could lead to a short existence, as the client’s lifespan would not be extended. Novak did not hesitate and picked that option. He was already middle-aged, but this was a risk he was willing to take.
On the last page of the manual transfer form, Novak had to input the number of the world where his soul would be sent, and he felt that his luck had run out. He had no way of knowing which world he could choose, and he did not want to just input a random number. He didn't have enough time to look for some kind of database. He recalled the email from before, and without hesitation copied the number of the world described there. Time was short, and although far from ideal, the events in the email gave him a sense of excitement he had never felt before.
Just then, the chief opened the door and walked into his office, staring at Novak.
“What are you doing?! Step away from the computer!”
However, he had already finished filling the form.
“To answer your question from before, chief – I killed myself because I wanted to feel alive.”
Novak smiled, and clicked complete.