The darkness started to brighten, as a smiling man stepped from the shadows, The girl had already read enough stories to not like where this was going, he looked handsome, in an immaculately tailored suit in silver white. He looked at her once and tutted.

“Oh tsk tsk, how unfortunate, I do so like the cut of your jib, but the rules are quite clear on this m’dear, so sad.” He didn’t look sad, instead, he looked positively predatory, as in front of him an arcade-style machine appeared, on the screen was a game over notification, in blood spatter pattern (always a classic), and a notice saying insert coins to continue, alongside a countdown rapidly approaching zero. She was having a hard time believing how calm she was in the circumstances, but it was a lot harder to get into a good panic without a body full of adrenaline. also, what was her name? She was pretty sure she was not called “the girl” but any attempt to recall was met with nothing. Even without a body, she felt a hint of panic as the timer flashed down.

3.........

2........

1........

Then the machine vanished with a midi-style funeral dirge. The stranger just smirked at that, “oh dear it seems that your time is up.”

“You mean that was real?” She groaned, “I always thought that was a myth.”

“Myths and stories are power little one,” the smiling stranger replied, that wide smirk on his face both eerie and probably impossible for any human being. Like the creature just pulled this form out of a wardrobe for this occasion, if the situation was not so desperate she would likely have been pondering what other forms it had, or, more likely running and screaming in terror. But while she was definitely clever, nobody ever accused her of being smart once her curiosity was roused, and without that handy little adrenal gland telling her to run like hell her chances of doing the smart thing went from infinitesimally small to absolutely nil.

“OK, so what happens now?” She asked. Pretty sure she was going to regret it, but definitely lacking a preponderance of alternative options here and now.

“Well, there are a few options for discerning individuals who find themselves financially inconvenienced in their final moments, sorry I can’t just spot you, if we go round doing that then everybody would expect it, and the ferryman isn’t running a charity here you know?” He muttered flipping through a pamphlet with the title “help I’ve died and can’t get up.” He seemed to suddenly remember, “Oh that’s right, I forgot to introduce myself, I apologise for the breach in etiquette, not that miss manners usual rules cover post-mortem behaviour, and it is up to me to set a good example. You can call me Rob, I will be your Random Omnipotent Being this evening, I’d ask your name but, well you don’t have one right?” He smirked, “don’t worry you’ll get it back as soon as you’ve paid off your tab, now let’s talk options shall we?”

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She didn’t like the sounds of this, last time anybody had talked to her in this tone she’d been washing dishes for a month, and how she could remember that and not her own damn name was beyond her, she had to get it back, so she did the stupidest thing she could in this situation, and asked. “so what are my options?”

“OHHH Right down to business, I must say I like that, usually at this point people are all, but what about my family, can I send a message to my friends, can I just leave a note to name my heir so that we don’t end up with my death causing a civil war? who will feed my fish? Please spare me, wahh wahh wahhhh, like all that’s my department, If they wanted to live longer then they shouldn’t have done stuff that killed them. but, I digress, the options, first off you could work the debt off with the soul collection department, I don’t suggest it though, they’re a miserable bunch, and that’s quite understandable, considering our clientèle seldom volunteer to leave this mortal coil, and often shoot the messenger, or at least try to. Job perks include invulnerability, intangibility, and invisibility to all but your target, it’s very In. Downsides include being a mopey git constantly whining about your victims, and, I’m pretty sure this will be the deal-breaker for you, the first thing we have to do there is erase your memories, including your precious stories, and we don’t want that do we?”

The thought of that filled her with more dread than her death, or for that matter finding out that it wasn’t the end but she’d failed a door check vs. some kind of cosmic bouncer. Come to think of it, maybe that says a few worrying things about her as a person.

“Not an option,” She replied, “what else you got?”

“well you could try simply refusing to pay, I hear Limbo is lovely at this time of year, but that way lies the risk of losing yourself, and what passes for your mind, yet again I don’t think that option would really suit your needs, so we’ll just put a pin in that one shall we?”

“yeah, eternal wandering? Think I’ll pass,” she snarked, she had no idea why she was being sarcastic with an omnipotent being capable of deciding her fate with a snap of its fingers, let alone one twisted enough to have chosen to model their voice on Q or Discord. Given those characters' backgrounds, it was hardly a reassuring thought, but when your ultimate fate is being decided it is hardly the time to hold your opinions in reserve. “So do you have any options that aren’t quite so centuries of damnation sounding?”

“Oh funny you should ask,” Rob said, the mask of humanity slipping for a moment, revealing a hint of something terrifying beneath, “as you’ve no doubt realised by now I’m here to make you an offer.