A plain white room with a simple and utterly plain desk. Behind it sat a balding man in a clean white press-on suit looking through a single manilla folder. The only thing on that desk, really. I sighed after taking it all in. I knew exactly where I was, for the twenty-first time. "Hello George, welcome back to limbo. How was your life?" I sat down before the desk, a chair appearing out of nowhere for me to sit on. 'George' was my name during my last incarnation. The individual before me was also one of a plethora of Gods that chose to work as a Clerk within the cycle of rebirth. They even had a nifty little company name 'Life, Death, and Beyond!' Personally I felt it cut a bit to close to copyright infringement on a certain store chain on Earth, at least the one I first died upon. I rubbed my eyes before looking at the God before me, Franklin.
'The same as last time, Frank. Peaceful and nice. I had kids this round, did you see any of their pictures in that nifty little docket there?" Frank smiled and nodded his head lightly. I'd been through this far too much to let it bother me now, the fact that there were more than one Pantheon, more than one God, or Goddess, or that they ran the entire bloody Universe like some freaky-deaky company conglomerate. "Indeed I did, George. Your little girl was utterly adorable during her early years. You'll be happy to know she will have a lovely life without true hardship or strife beyond the normal hum-drum of Humanity."
That made me smile at least. My little girl, she had been crying on my death bed with her kids gathered around. I'd had her late in life and I cherished it like I did all the other children I'd once had. "Thanks for that Frank. So, which iteration of Earth am I destined for this time? I think that one was Z143 or something, right?"
"It was Z56914. Your third life had you at Z143. An understandable mistake as the two versions are very similar. Others that spent their life experience on retaining memories also felt the same at the time." He paused, looking at me with a sad little smile. It set a warning bell off in my mind. "Frank? What is it?" I asked after the silence proved too much for me to handle.
"Well, George, I'm afraid that those on high have decided you cannot go back Earth, any iteration of it. A new motion passed during your thirties on this one where no soul may return to an iteration of one planet more than fifteen times, and this would be your twentieth full life, going on twenty-first if not for this bill." He paused, allowing me to absorb that. I absorbed it as well. Basically, I was going to be thrown into oblivion over some paperwork! I was flabbergasted and pissed off.
"What the hell Frank?! What does that mean for me then? Am I being thrown to some other world, am I being thrown to the void?" My voice was low and stable but you could hear the angry tenor as I spoke. He gave that same sad little smile and tapped a single finger on his desk, prompting what looked like a holographic image to arise in front of me. It was a message from whoever Frank's boss was in the God's weird company.
Attention George. My name is Absolon and I am head of the Soul Personel Reliance Department, SPRD for short. I've been made aware that you have chosen Earth twenty times prior to your current situation and by all accounts from your caseworker would do so again. I am afraid that is no longer possible. You are among the few to even go above five iterations of the same planet, let alone twenty full rotations. It's a sort of record here at the Office. We understand this may be upsetting for you, being denied what should, by right, be yours in your after-life and Rebirth. Sadly new management has changed how things are done. In response to this, and any emotional pain or grief you may be caused we have chosen to give you the lump sum of your entire twenty lives Experience in this single setting so you may provide yourself some comforts for your next life. This amounts to a grand total of five-million experience, truly an astounding number for a peaceful life such as yours. Of course, as always, upon your death, your bonuses will be cycled out and you may obtain others. Once again, I am sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused and wish you a better life to come.
From the Offices of SPRD, Chief Operative Absolon.
I frowned while I read the personal message. Personal my ass, dick could have at least shown up and told me in person. I took a deep breath, holding back my anger at this entire situation. It wasn't Frank's fault and throwing it at him wouldn't be fair at all. He'd been good to me over the centuries. "Fine, so I'm stuck going to some new place and having no chance at a peaceful life on Earth like I enjoy. What's with this entirety of my twenty lives worth of experience thing though?"
Frank perked up a bit at that, excited to be past what he likely hated doing. "Well, George, those few like you who have gone over fifteen iterations on the same planet have been cast out of our Systems check and balancing norm. So, those on high decided to reward them for their own commitment to their planet and as an apology for denying them their return to a new iteration. You are actually top three in terms of experience. The other two only beat you because they led Heroic or Violent lives and had garnered more. You will, of course, be allowed to choose whatever planet you go too" - "What if I choose oblivion?" I asked, interrupting him. He paused before looking sternly at me.
"George, listen to me. I will not allow that option because I know it comes from a place of anger. What would I tell your daughter when she comes here? I take all your children cases after all and I refuse to give them that news." That actually made me feel pretty shitty. I apologized and he snorted at me before continuing his previous lecture.
"As I was saying. You will be allowed your choice of planets and you will be allowed multiple additional rewards by spending your experience, as is the norm. What is different is you may now select a Helper System. These are new additions ran by a personalized A.I companion created by Jimmy, our resident God of Technology. Each System has a different cost, of course. This is primarily because each System will cater to a selective individual and will each provide different assistance in your chosen world. For you personally, I have been granted the right to allow you your memories at no additional cost. Would you like to see this list now?" I stared at him in mock disbelieve. This was straight out of a fantasy fiction about fucking games.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
"What, did the God of Manga and Games take over or something Frank?" I asked, incredulously. He just grinned before shrugging his narrow shoulders. "Closer than you might think, George. Would you like to see your options?" I nodded at his repeated question and a list of System popped up before me. The list was...well it was really fucking long. Good lord, was that a damn 'Pokemon' System? Seriously? There was even one called 'Suikoden' System, whatever the hell that was meant to be. They were also both as expensive as three million apiece. I continued looking through it, apparently, some had the option to add additional content to them. This seemed to be related mostly toward those with a lot of potential, mostly the cheapest ones.
"So, I can choose any one of these, huh? Any recommendations?" I finally asked Frank for a little help. It wouldn't be the first time and he smiled at me in a warm manner before tapping twice on his desk and the little image I was looking at sped upward and singled out a single System. The 'Tactics System' was what it was called. I frowned, tilting my head a bit. The damn thing cost four-million experience with additional add-ons to it that I could purchase if I wished. "I understand the confusion, but I promise that this System will be the best we currently have available for you, George. It is even based off of one of your more favorite games during your second iteration on Earth. Final Fantasy Tactics. The additions are mostly jobs and a few things that you normally could not do with something like it."
I eyed it, a vague memory coming to the front of my mind with the game he mentioned. I had enjoyed it a lot as a child during that life. I selected it, confirming it as my choice and I saw a little counter at the top appear and tick down to only a million experience left. "Thank you, Frank." I said before looking at the additions to this System. It really was pretty much all jobs. Each one was only about fifty experience to add into the System. I asked about that and he answered me in a gentle manner. "These jobs can all be added into the System for next to nothing, there are roughly fifty of them that were not normally in the games itself. The reason they are cheap though is due to how they are acquired." he tapped on one, Dark Knight or something that was already in the System. "See here, it requires you to fully master the Knight and Blackmage Jobs as well as max out their levels at ten, among other jobs needed to reach a certain level to obtain. So while cheap, it isn't realistic that you will get them all." I chuckled at that, he was playing on my OCD for completing things and he knew it. I chose each of the fifty jobs for fifty experience each taking me down a paltry two thousand five hundred experience. A drop in the bucket, as it were.
Follow that was a Mercenary Addition. Now this one was not cheap. It cost four hundred thousand. Apparently, it allowed me to recruit soldiers at the most basic job that was in the game, the Squire, and use them as companions. Upon entering the world they would even become alive, though I could use the System to control their job growth, for another one hundred thousand. I took both for a grand total of five hundred thousand. That left me with four hundred ninety-seven thousand five hundred points. I chose a map function to the System. It only worked with my current area if I explore it, but it seemed neat. It also only cost ten experience. That was when I saw what I wanted. If I remembered the game correctly, highly unlikely to be honest, it took JP or job points to level a job up and purchase their skills.
I was allowed to purchase the skill for that now, for one-hundred experience. The odd thing was it went all the way to JP Increase +10. It increased the JP earned per action with a skill for your current job by tenfold, apparently. To purchase all of that would cost me two-hundred thousand four-hundred ninety experience, so I purchased them all. Did I figure anything to make it easier, right? Frank even agreed. Apparently, he was going to suggest it if I missed the option. The other options were all just purchasing skills for jobs to use. I went ahead and purchased the Cure spell, just so I could heal myself if I needed for one thousand experience. Apparently, they judged that to be worth the price. I couldn't truly fault the logic either.
I left the System, nothing else seemed to interest me and then I went toward the 'life' section where most of the things to make life simpler were in their System. 'Memories' was already greyed out, having been given to me for free. The fact it normally cost two hundred and fifty thousand made that a boon. I was still pissed off about not being able to return to Earth, of course, but I couldn't do anything about it so I decided to ensure this new life actually lasted a long time. I chose to increase my natural lifespan to one thousand for one hundred thousand. That left me with just barely enough to select my final option. The option to start off in an adult body. I had no desire to go through puberty again after all. That took me down to only six thousand experience remaining.
"Now, George, you cannot afford anything else there beyond Language Understanding, I will tack that onto your bill for you at one-hundred experience. Now you need to select a planet. Sadly, with the amount you have left, they will not be...peaceful planets. I am sorry for that." I shrugged. I'd led twenty peaceful lives prior to this. Perhaps it was time to change things a little. Three planets were displayed for me. Each of them was massive, easily five times larger than Earth had been, if not more. I saw Frank frown at a message he received before he started angrily typing the air and looking at me sadly, removing two options, one of them being the planet I was going to select.
"I...I am sorry George, the two planets I removed have reached capacity for rebirth individuals with memories. It is capped at five, as you know. That removed all iterations, for a reason I cannot explain. That leaves you with Atria, a marvelous planet in terms of visual aspects and wild-life. It has magic, technology is stuck around the sword and bow era for most planets. The sentient creatures number in the thousands for each race. You will be born Human, as you do not have the Experience after this to select another race. As a bonus, I will allow you to choose your appearance and name on this planet free of charge." He said the last almost in a vindictive tone while glaring at another letter, likely a response to his previous message. I could have sworn him mutter something about nosy bosses and interfering with a Souls choices, but I couldn't be certain.
I smiled at Frank, fighting back the anger and the feeling I was being manipulated. Frank had helped me, as always, and was even angry at his bosses for this idiocy. I chose my appearance, same as always with blond hair and green eyes. I may have made a few...creative adjustments to my body in the process. I would be eighteen and attractive, I had to ensure whomever I got with was satisfied after all. I chose a simple name following that, Crispin. My Fathers name somewhere around my teen lives. I had liked him best. "Don't be to upset Frank. I'll see you again before you know it." He smiled at me then, both warm and sad as I was engulfed in light and sent to the planet, Atria. "Good luck, Crispin. I wish you the longest and happiest life you can have."