Reaper

Why did it have to be a submarine?

You've got to be fucking kidding me.

"Good morning to you too."

Sorry. Hi, Alice. That wasn't about you. You've got your book, right?

"Yeah. Are these coordinates?"

That's where the job is. They're not totally exact, sometimes you have to poke around, but it's a ballpark estimate for where the soul or souls are that you need to pick up. Probably just one, it's your first job.

"Okay?"

Do you recognize them?

"No. I've never seen that system."

Right, we have our own system. You'll learn it soon enough. Well, this is in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Oh..."

Yeah.

"Does that mean..."

I don't know. We go in blind, but... I don't like ocean jobs. It's either a disaster in progress, or...

"Or?"

Or one that's already happened.

"Fun."

That's the job in a nutshell. Anyway, we should go. Nothing worse than a late reaper.

"Why?"

Remember how I told you ghosts are misdirected souls? That's because a reaper didn't do their job. This way.

"Woah, that's trippy..."

You get used to it.

Stop screaming! This happens sometimes. The Z-axis is hard, I guess; there's no coordinates for up or down in the books. Look at me, Alice--look at me. I'm right here. Nothing can hurt you. Nothing but a ghost, and you have a scythe. You can protect yourself and I can protect you. You're going to be fine, Alice--stop screaming and look at me. We have a job to do.

"I--I--"

You're fine. Okay?

"Y-yeah. Yeah. I'm... I'm okay."

Okay. Good. It looks like we're needed down there.

"Oh my go--"

Don't say that word. He doesn't like it. Anyway, what's--Oh.

"That's a submarine."

Yeah.

"Are... Are there ghosts down here?"

There are ghosts everywhere, Alice. Especially down here. You're not the only reaper to be afraid of the ocean.

"How did you--"

We might be dead, but we still have plenty of characteristics of living people. Such as getting pale and shaky when we're scared.

"Oh..."

It's nothing to be ashamed of. Ah... time to earn our paychecks.

"What do we even get paid in?"

Tom didn't explain? Of course he didn't. Do me a favor and don't freak out.

"Okay...?"

This is gonna take a bit to explain properly, so here we go. I'm not an expert, but since Tom didn't say anything... That guy who just fled the sub is a person. Made of a soul, body, and some life. I'm not an expert on this, but... When a person is born, it starts with the body, life is grows as it gestates, and the soul develops throughout the first few years of lie. Everybody argues about exactly when all these pieces come into play, of course, but that's as far as I can tell. All three of them are needed to make a person. When they don't combine right...