Benny was tapping away an electronic pen on his tablet. It has been 15 minutes since Saylee has sat in her chair. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her eyes were focused on the flat image of the bookshelf on the wall, reading the titles on each of the books.
Saylee needed a moment to compose herself.
Benny put down the tablet and picked up the manila file. He casually browsed through the sheets of paper in the folder while he spoke, “Do you have any questions before we begin?”
Saylee bit her lip, and without looking at him, she said, “Why bother with the faux decals on the walls? This is a space station, right? This wallpaper…with its pictures to give the faintest illusion that it’s an office is low effort. I don’t feel cozy in here, especially with all these fake office decor stickers on all over the walls. It’s making me uneasy.”
Before Benny could respond, Saylee cut in, “Wait, Is intentional too? Is my growing fear and unease part of the process too?”
Benny closed the manila folder. He adjusted his glasses and began to scratch his neck, “Well, the wallpaper is supposed to resemble the essence of an office. We don’t use real office decor for safety reasons. We wouldn’t want a bunch of loose objects in here on the off chance a big space rock hits the station. Objects such as paper, books, and pens would fly everywhere. It’s a big safety hazard. Even worse, if I had such objects in my office, I would have to clean and keep this place organized all the time. I can confidently share this with you, I haaate cleaning”
He gave her a grin. She just gave him a frown in return.
Benny shrugged before continuing, “In addition to safety concerns, it’s outdated to have papers and pens when we have modern tech. This manila folder here is more for you, than for me. It provides a summary of your life’s highlights. What were your selfless acts, what were your worst sins, what your employment history was. It’s like if your life had a resume. I have this all already on my tablet, but this-“, he slid the folder over to Saylee, “this is for you. This way you can see why I see. You already know what you’ve done in your past life so far, so you won’t see anything in there you don’t know already”.
Saylee reached over and grabbed the folder. As she glanced through the pages, it showed the wiki-like summary of the 35 years of her life, compressed into just a few pages.
Benny attempted to lean back before remembering the chair was bolted down, “I want to assure you, that I’m here to help. You’ve been through a lot, but the goal is to make this process easier as you transition to your new life. This isn’t some sort of experiment-”
Saylee dropped the manila folder, her eyes wide, “Wait…is this the bad place?”
Benny shook his head, looking amused, “It’s been a hot minute since I’ve left the old Earth myself, but even I get that reference. No Saylee, you’re not in Hell.”
“Dr. Randy-”
“Benny, please”
“Um, yes. Benny. I just want to be left alone for a bit. Ever since I….”
She paused. Benny didn’t interrupt, he waited patiently. His eyes gave her his full undivided attention.
After an exaggerated exhale, she spoke, “…woke up. I’ve been surrounded by people I don’t know, being ordered on what to do, and now…I’m on some station far from home. I need some time to myself to take this all in”
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Benny nodded, “You will have that time during rest hours. You will have a room to yourself for the night. Once I am confident that you and your transfer file are ready, I’ll guide you to your room”
“Okay, let’s do whatever it takes to finish this up soon. I want to lay down for a bit”
Benny picked up the tablet, swiping through the screen, “I see here that you were a call center representative in your past life. How would you feel about having a similar job?”
Saylee crossed her arms, “Hold up. What are you talking about? Don’t tell me I still have to work a full-time job in this afterlife?”
Benny gave her a sympathetic expression, “I’m sorry Saylee, but this next phase of your journey, this part of the afterlife isn’t a manila vacation or paradise. To put it bluntly in the nicest way possible, you’re going from one Earth to another. You work a job, you pay the bills, you try to be a good person until you die. From there, you face judgment. You may, based on your over-choices and actions, be either blessed with an afterlife from there of paradise or damnation. The choice is overall yours”
“So…even in this new life, I still can die and I still have to pay taxes?”
“for certain”, he said wryly, not looking away from his tablet.
Benny swiped the screen a few times before speaking again, “On New Earth, you are assigned a job based on your prior life experience and the needs of the city that you are assigned to. Everyone is paid the same with our universal payment program. So I can hook you up with an opening in a call center-”
“Oh God no, please. Please no. I don’t want to spend the remaining of my life in a call center”
Benny gave her a knowing look, “You’re not the first one to request another job. They always ask to do literally anything else to avoid going to a call center. I can see why, I’ve heard the horror stories”
Saylee leaned forward, “Does that mean you understand my reasoning for needing to do something else? Benny, I’m not joking, I’ll do literally any other job. Please, Is there anything else I could do? I have an Associates of Science degree. I’ll worked in retail for a bit. Is there possibly an internship I can sign up for? Is there anything else?”
Benny tapped the pen against his chin, deep in thought. After a few moments, he smiled at her, “Call center representative falls under customer service, and that gives me some wiggle room on your options”, he tapped the screen a few times before turning the tablet around towards her. It displayed a list of job openings.
Saylee grimaced, “Sales, revenue recovery, department lead…each of their descriptions state a call center environment. Isn’t there any possible way to go down a different career path?”
Benny scratched the back of his head, looking uneasy, “Currently, those are the only openings currently within the customer service field. However, to answer your question. Hmm, I mean, it is possible. After you’re assigned to a city, you just need to bring your request to that city’s operations manager. If approved, you’ll then need to get the education required to go down that career path. Make sure you have the funds ready before hand to attend the school required, and keep in mind. After all that, it is difficult to change career paths. Even after getting the education, the people hiring expect previous lifetime experience. They also take your age as well as your sin count into consideration”
“Age? Sins? Why does that matter? I was just…reborn”
“I was going to get to that. You see, everyone is set an allocated years of which they are judged before they can continue to their afterlife. The max is set at 142. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know”
Saylee stood up, playing both hands on the desk, glaring daggers at the man, “You’re telling me, based on my previous life employment experience, that I could be working at a call center for….for 107 years?!
Benny shifted uneasily in his seat, “No, I mean yes. If you chose the call center position. You could go with a different customer service job. Plus, don’t lose hope, there’s hope you may get your request approved for whatever else you wanted to do”
“That’s ridiculous. How do they expect anyone to get any job done correctly when you’re over 80, 90, or over a hundred years old?!”
Benny perked up, “Oh, about that. Let need to show you something. Hopefully after you see this, it will all start to make sense”. He stood up, walking towards the door, “Well, hopefully a little more sense, at least. Please, follow me”
He held open the door for her, with a pleading expression for her to cooperate.
Saylee avoided eye contact, as she walked out into the hall. She had her arms crossed, “I’m really tired, I can’t take any more bad news”
Benny pointed at the double doors down the hall, “What I want to show you is right past those doors”
He started walking towards the doors, not even waiting for her. She rushed to catch up with his quick pace, as the man looked eager to get to whatever was waiting for them beyond those industrial double doors.