D.A.S.

“Scared boy?” I herd followed by a eary chuckle coming from the man with jagged teeth.

“Knock it off One. He completed all the tasks in record time”, I herd what sounded like a sweet feminine voice.

“Yeah I hate sitting in the dark this long One, no need to scare the boy anymore then he already is”, I herd coming from a what sounded like a flirty collage aged man.

“Let’s get this over with already, dealing with the dead wears me out”, came from what sounded like a punky teenaged girl. I gasped a little when I herd what she said.

I finally managed to stutter out, “a am I I real l l y dead?” As I felt a tear drop roll down my face staring into the direction of the four of them arguing.

“See know you’ve done it Four you know we aren’t supposed to tell them they died dumbass”, said the eary voice from number One. I thought back to the bang sound I remembered.

“Was I shot?” I asked as I herd a snapping sound.

“Yes”, the feminine voice said, as the whole area turned white. Blinded by the light I slowly stood up. I saw the four people from before with the red numbers. Number Three, the one who turned on the lights, was a very pretty women around mid to late 20s with jet black hair and a pale complexion. Number 4 the one that sounded like a punky teenaged girl, was indeed a punky teenaged girl or at least looked like one. Number Two looked like a middle aged man, although his voice sure didn’t sound that old. Number One the one with jagged teeth looked like a punky teenaged boy who was ready to start a turf war.

I felt the hair stand up on my arms when I noticed there uniforms all read “D.A.S”. I gulped and asked, “what does “D,A,S” stand for?”

Number Two smiled politely and said, “it stands for Death Assignment Squad, we assign people who died and were able to complete all the problems we laid out for you to do. You would be amazed at how long it takes just for people to check there pockets”.

“Yeah you are 1 of 300 people to complete this in under a hour, and 1 of 3 to complete it in under 15 minutes. Usaly I fall asleep from boredom”, the snotty number Four complimented.

“And you were the one who managed to break the original record of 14 minutes and 32 secounds with, 13 minutes and 22 seconds. So boy, what would you like as a prize”, number One said while showing his jagged teeth off in a full smile with, his really creepy laugh. “ Prizes are as listed boy, pick your own rebirth in a planet similar to yours, choose a ability you can have on par with the knowledge you already know, or a random draw could be both or could be none and you end up where ever we decide”, One’s sinister smile still on full display as he spoke.

“Can I ask a question before I decide anything? Who are you guys? Are you all gods?” I asked.

“Ho ho, boy I applaud you for thinking such a thing exists as great as that. No we are not gods but, you can think of us as both your hopes and dreams, and your biggest nightmares.” One said with a even greater laugh then before sending chills down my spine. Three reached over to number One smacking him in the back of the head.

“You dimwit stop scaring the poor man”, she said calmly while bashing One’s head with a metal clipboard. “We are what you would call grim reapers per say. We are the first four people to die on planet earth and in doing so we were branded with the power to control this space you see before you”, Three smiled politely as she spoke.

“We do not know who or what gave us control over this space all we know is that we had to do the same tasks you did when we got here”, Two spoke with a intelligent tone.

“Also only dead people come in and out of this place so, nothing coll ever happens”, number Four complained.

“So what will it be boy now that you know who we are. Just press what button you want to choose 1, 2, or 3”, One said with a serious face this time. I walked over to the table looking at the tablet think of what to pick.

“I think I will just pick number 1 to be safe since I already know my world”, I thought in my head as I made my way over. I started to reach out my hand to pick number 1. I extended my finger and put a smile on my face as, I made my way closer I felt a sharp pain coming from my left foot then it started to slide forward throwing me off balance.

“Great choice boy”, One smiled. “I always love a good random draw”.

“No wait that isn’t what I ment to pick”, I cried out. “I slipped on this little box here”, I said as a cold sweat broke out all over me.

“Hmm to bad, no take backs”, number Four said while sticking out her tongue.

A big television like screen popped up behind us with three rows similar to a slot machine. The three rows spun so fast I couldn’t see what the choices there were. ‘Bing’ the first row started to slow down. I started breaking out into a full blown sweat now. ‘Click, click, click, click’, the row finally came to a full stop.

On the first row was a picture of what looked like a animated robot flying around it was a sphere. “Ah you should fit into that world just fine judging by how you liked working on machines”, number Two said.

“Planet Mashin, very nice place you should like it there”, Three said with a warm smile. ‘Click, click, click, click’, the second row started to stop.

“Is this going to be a ability?” I asked.

“Yes, boy”, number One said as, the row stoped all the way. On the row was a picture of a book. On the book there was a gear and a man meditating on the gear. “Advanced machine affinity?” One seemed to question what it was.

“Talk about some good luck”, number Four said as she smacked the center of my back laughing. “I can’t say i’ve seen that one before never knew it was there. What about you old fart?” She said turning to One.

“Once, his name was Tesla I believe, it was a long time ago”, One replied. ‘Click, click, click, click the third row started to stop.

“What is the third row for?” I asked.

“Think of it as your starting point. Will you be rich, or will you be poor. Will your family be well known, or will they be beggars. That is what the third row is for. Usually we just start people out in the middle”, Two replied as the third column stoped. Everyone’s jaw went slack at what they saw on the row.

My eyes started twitching, “what in the f…..”