esoteric_rose | Record: 51 /Radio Memory

[begin transmission.]

The ticking of a clock, the soft rustle of paper, and a sigh.

A man's voice, not anyone in Edensphere. "Sutcliffe...yet again you disregarded every rule there is to the book. This is the forty-fifth time that you have been cited for breaking regulations, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Juliet's voice. "Not every rule, William, only the ones which shouldn't be rules."

"Do not be ridiculous, every rule in the rulebook has a reason to it. Contacting humans for personal reasons is forbidden, you are wasting time and we're already short on staff." There was a slight click, as if someone tapped metal to metal.

Another sigh, from Juliet. "You told me at least a dozen times." Her voice became a mockery of the other's. "'We can't afford to fall behind. Remember your place, Grell!'"

Those with sharp ears would hear a rush of wind, more metal clicking. "Yet none of my warnings leave a lasting impression on you. It is not part of reaper code to encourage interactions with others outside of our race. It is our job to only gather souls silently and judge whether the souls are destined for heaven or hell. That is all."

"Where's the joy in that idea? Becoming racist, are we?"

More clicking. "This has nothing to do about being racist, Sutcliffe, it is about being a proper reaper. Your irreverence is why I am always going into overtime. Do not waste my time and effort in reciting every rule you've treaded on."

Juliet chuckled. "Irreverence, that's new. You always mention being a proper reaper, but you never say what makes you one."

William sighed. "I will only humor you this one time, Grell. As a reaper, you must claim every soul and pass judgement with a complete and utter lack of emotions. Human emotions only cloud our judgement; the repercussions of making an error as large as sending a soul to the wrong section are too severe to think about."

"So you say." Her voice got serious. "But if you truly have no emotions, wouldn't that make it impossible to decide where to send the souls?"

"No. Lack of emotional attachment makes it perfectly clear. If you so happened to make a friend on Earth and you had to collect their soul, you would be biased and try to send them to heaven, or if you became jealous of someone you would reap their soul and send them to hell."

Her voice rose, a touch of agitation evident. "If you lack emotions, you can't care about their actions! Are they right or wrong-feeling tells you that! Are good and evil now defined by textbooks?"

"Right or wrong feeling?" William's voice betrayed his stress. "This is exactly what I mean, Grell, you cannot judge it all based on feeling! All actions are strictly based on what upper management deems morally correct. You cannot judge their souls on a whismy or gut feeling instead of what is strictly written down."

"Hah! So am I to chain my heart to words spoken by those recorded ones? If you had to kill to live, a life for a life, the regular code doesn't apply!"

"Thoughts like that are what keep you from moving higher in the work force. You must follow ever rule that is written down."

"Maybe I don't mind not moving!" A loud sound, like someone had just slammed their hands on a desk. "Are they so old they're blind? It doesn't make sense! Living however long to mindlessly follow...I can't accept that!"

"You must accept it! It has has been written down and you must follow it!" A sliding sound, like a chair sliding out. "Perhaps a punishment would help enforce the rules inside your thick skull."

"Tch. What do you have in mind? I'm not afraid of you."

[end transmission.]

[[ooc: This is revised audio from this memory.]]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Or be the one who has to take all the memories away.

This place captures everyone and puts them together in the same circumstance. Reapers, ninjas, death gods. Of course you feel the same way we do.

A shell.

Do you remember if you can put a soul back in? Can someone not a reaper remove a soul?

I bet if I could remember, I'd remember that...

[She thinks hard on the question.]

Yes, soul removal is not limited to reapers. And if I'm envisioning this right, yes, a soul can be put back. If you can take it, you can place it-seems balanced.

Makes sense.

So if someone ever removed someone's soul here...whatever it looks like...if it stuck around you could fix it?

That's reassuring I guess. Although I don't know how any of this works in a place where even death is temporary. It's...are we trapped here? I mean are our souls trapped here--God.

What am I doing? I didn't even believe in any of this days ago. Now, here I am talking about the impossible with someone who looks like Death's librarian, not an actual Reaper! Over coffee!

...No offense.

I'm...ninety-five percent sure I could. Since I've never taken nor placed back a soul in Edensphere, I'm not sure how it would go.

[Juliet blinks, then gives a genuine chuckle.]

None taken. It's actually relieving to know I give off more the "librarian" perception than that of a reaper. I could bring out my scythe as evidence, but this doesn't seem like the right environment for weapons. And as for this being impossible...we hatched out of pods with a memory loss. Edensphere bends space, time, form. There are so many things here I considered and still consider so. How can I find a book that was written over fifty years after my time next to one logic tells me I saw the first publication of?

What happens if you remove a soul and quickly put it back?

Yeah the last time someone brought out a weapon in the bazaar it didn't end well.

...Is there something wrong with me if I think the time wrap aspect of this place more believable than gods, reapers and souls?

I think it would just give the person a pretty big shock if done right. I mean, first you're there, then you're not, then you're there again. [Could she even take a soul in Edensphere? It was unclear.]

I remember that vividly.

No, time is a more concrete concept to grasp than the soul. It's something testable, more constantly there in a life and in thoughts.

What if someone was critically wounded? Could you hold onto them until medical help could be reached?

I mean I don't know, how would you even--I'm just thinking...it just seems like there's so many super powered people here that there should be something we could do to...ya know.

Heh. You have a really cool way of thinking. Very ...refined. Or something.

I...never thought about applying it that way.

[She looks at the tree as well, so innocent if you knew nothing about it.] I don't know if I'd be allowed.

Refined? ...Thank you. [She smiles again.] Maybe it comes from reading half the time.

It would be useful.

Probably not. Doesn't stop a lot of people these days.

It's the best word for it! Thank you for answering my questions. This has been...very helpful.

It really would.

They're brave ones. [Yes, Grift's is the most recent in a string of things.]

Thank you for coming and meeting me. It was my pleasure. If you ever want to again, just say the word.

Record: 51 /Radio Memory

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