A Grim Experiment

Humans are despicable creatures.

Their smiles belie their true, hideous natures. If they were to choose between saving an entire trolley of humans or themselves, they wouldn't hesitate to let others crash and burn at their expense. Selfishness is at their very core—their very being relies on “survival of the fittest” and “every man for himself”.

Not all of the grim reapers feel this way, however, but most do. Some of the younger ones are especially dramatic and regretful when it comes to taking away the souls of humans, even the ones they claim are “inherently good” or “no, no, they're not as bad as they seem, I swear!”. They're exaggerating, of course. They always exaggerate. They learn soon enough what humans are truly like. It's almost amusing to see the difference between when they start and where they are now-their demeanor changing from upbeat and positive to sluggish and drained.

Although, as mentioned before, not all of them feel this way.

“And that's the last soul for the day!” Xeran slung his scythe over his shoulder as he noted down the last soul to be collected before his shift ended. Despite humans being abominable and wretched, it always brought some form of, well, joy to collect their rather pathetic souls. The way the wispy darkness of the soul would dissolve as he slashed his scythe through it…there was something so satisfying seeing it happen every time. He could never get tired of it.

Xeran stepped into the quarters all the grim reapers were given upon being created. They all differed slightly layout-wise, but they were all relatively the same—a tiny room with a kitchen, a table with a rotary phone, and a bed. The bed was always a weird addition considering that grim reapers don't require sleep, but the Council deemed it a necessity since it would “help all of you to become closer to the humans whose souls you reap”…or some bullshit like that.
Speaking of the Council…

“Xeran, your presence is required at once,” the rotary phone blared after Xeran picked it up on the 7th ring.

The Council of Ethereal Watchers, or the “Council” as most call it despite the Council themselves hating it, never phone anyone ever (the likelihood of even hearing from them is unheard of), so directly calling a reaper out…was definitely an unusual phenomenon.

Xeran stumbled out of his quarters and into the nearest elevator. The Council was located on a floor no one had access to. Well, no one had access to it anymore that is-one reaper accidentally pressed it and ended up being smitten before they could even speak, or so they say.

After waiting what felt like an eternity for the elevator to get to the Council's floor and wishing to get smitten on the spot when a couple of younger reapers thought it would be hilarious to press all of the buttons in the elevator, the doors finally hissed open.

What he was presented with was not quite what he expected a room that housed the Council that oversaw every grim reaper in existence in the Afterlife. It looked like a generic, human, conference room in an office that one would find in any random city. The walls were painted with an ugly beige color that was starting to peel and reveal the white color underneath; the ceramic flooring was stained with dark red spots that looked suspiciously like blood (did grim reapers bleed? Xeran couldn't remember if that was ever something he heard happening to his coworkers or even himself); and the furniture consisted of a large round table and five occupied chairs. The eyes of the beings that occupied the chairs all flicked over to him the second he stepped out of the elevator.

“You are Xeran, I presume?” the councilor in the middle seat with the placard, “Selene”, in front of them questioned, despite knowing the answer already.

“Ah, yes, that's uh, that's me,” Xeran stammered. He usually wasn't the type to get so flustered, but being in a room with his superiors that could vanquish him without a second thought could definitely change that.

“We have received word that your performance as a reaper is quite exceptional,” the councilor, “Elara”, noted. “We thank you for your continued efforts.”

“Ah, it's really no problem, I enjoy doing—”

“Wonderful,” the councilor, “Kael”, cut off. “Then, you wouldn't mind a slight change in your current job position?”

Xeran shook his head in confusion. “Er, what? Didn't you say I was, what was the word, 'exceptional'?”

“Yes! You are a very good reaper!” the councilor, “Lyra”, clapped excitedly. “I've heard many good things about you, there's no doubt that you're one of the best ones we've ever had!”

Xeran paused at the compliment, confusion marring his features even more than before. “So…?”

The councilor, “Theron”, cleared their throat. “So, we have decided to enact an…experiment of sorts that you, Xeran, will be the first to test out, effective immediately.”

“Experiment?”

“Yes, you will become the first guinea-ahem, participant,” Xeran didn't miss the slip up from Selene, “in what we have dubbed…”

“The Grim Salvation Project!” they all monotonously cheered, Lyra's voice carrying slightly more excitement than the others.

Xeran has never heard of this project at all, not even from his higher-ups when he would occasionally eavesdrop on their conversations during lunch or during work dinners. They were looking at him expectantly, so he schooled his features into something more nonchalant. "Oh yeah, yeah, I know what that is.”

Elara frowned. “There's no way you could have kno—”

“But, just so I know which project you're talking about exactly, remind me what it is again?”

Theron rolled his eyes (at least, it seemed that way-it was difficult to read any sort of facial expression from a faceless being to begin with). “The Grim Salvation Project will consist of a reaper being given a second chance at life.”

“…But I was never alive before? Grim reapers are created?” Xeran mumbled in confusion.

“With that second chance,” Theron ignored, “they will be able to experience what it is like to be human as a human being themselves. In other words, grim reapers will get the chance to live as a human. Permanently.”

Xeran's body tensed, his hands balling into fists as his face hardened subconsciously. “Are you implying that you're going to turn me into a bona-fide human?”

“Well, 'turn' isn't the right word for it. It's more like 'you will be transported into the body of another human',” Kael corrected.

“So I'm still basically going to be a human?” Xeran asked through gritted teeth.

“Precisely.”

He shook his head. “No, I refuse. You can't just decide to throw me into something like this without consulting me first!”

“Of course we can,” was the immediate response.

“It isn't fair, alright?! Humans are awful, why would I even want to be one?! Plus, I'm not the only reaper around these parts, so why does it have to be me, your supposed 'best' reaper?!”

“You were chosen for that reason, simple as that,” Selene sighed. “Now, if you're done with your pointless complaining, sit down in the chair behind you.”

Xeran turned around to see a black ergonomic chair pop into existence, along with a small table that had a folder with several papers inside of it. He reluctantly plopped down in it after being glared at by the councilors for trying to stall for time and snatched the folder off the table.

“Good. That is your file that will debrief you on the human you will be taking the place of. Be sure to read to it thoroughly as it will soon become your new life.”

Xeran grumbled an affirmation to what Elara said. After a few minutes of reading through the files, Xeran threw the folder back onto the table. “What is this piece of shit human? Such a rotten thing this Adrian Hawthorne guy is. A prince who claims he couldn't even hurt a bug—there's no way he isn't capable of much worse.”

Xeran jumped as one of the Council members slammed their hands down on the conference table in front of them. “Ahem, now that you are aware of what this human is like, you will now be transferred into his body.”

Xeran's head shot up as he started waving his hands. “Wait wait, I'm not ready, I barely know anything about this! What's going to happen to me now? What about the souls I have to collect later? What’s going to happen to my scythe? Can't I have more time to think this over?”

“Nope!” Selene snapped their fingers and everything went dark.