Too Broke For Afterlife

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"Thank you." The receptionist takes the sheet from Clemens.

"So, can we see the list now?" I ask impatiently.

"Hm? Oh no, you can't."

"What?" Clemens and I ask in unison.

The woman raises her hands. "Yet. You can't see it yet. You'll have to fill in another form."

"But why? What was this one for then?"

She seems surprised by the question. "You needed to fill that one in so you could view the list."

"So why do we need another one?" Clemens starts to sound impatient as well, his voice is getting sharper.

"You are visitors, not employees. Therefore you need to fill in a visitor form as well. Here."

She hands Clemens another paper. He takes one look at it.

"But these are exactly the same questions."

"Yes."

"So it's the same form."

The receptionist sighs. "No. This one is for visitors."

"But why do we have to fill this in if it's exactly the same information? Can't you just copy the other form?" Clemens' voice is getting louder. Damn, I've never seen him like this before. He's usually cool like a cucumber, completely unshakable.

The receptionist gets out of her chair.

"Sir, I can't just copy the other form as it is not the same one."

"But where is the difference?" He holds the paper in front of her face but she steps to the side.

"I took this one out of the folder labeled visitors. The first form was from the folder labeled general. Sir, you have to follow the protocol or leave."

Clemens stares at her for a second, then he grunts and takes the pen.

"So the forms are the same, they just stem from different folders?"

The woman doesn't answer and just stares back.

"This is peak bureaucracy. Ridiculous."

He fills out the second form and then slams it onto the reception desk.

"There. May we please view the list now?"

"Very well."

The woman puts the form away and then grabs a clipboard lying next to her computer.

"When was your friend here?"

"Yesterday," I reply. 

"Okay. Here you go."

I take the clipboard and wave at Clemens to follow me to a quiet table standing a few feet away.

We sit down on the chairs and I put the clipboard in front of us.

"Let's see."

The list is just one sheet of paper with around 40 or 50 names. 

But...there is no Isabella.

Clemens sighs. "Please don't tell me I filled out these devilish forms for nothing."

"No, I don't think so."

I take a second to think.

"Isabella wouldn't giver her real name, would she?"

Clemens nods. "You are right. I wrote down fake names as well."

"Let's see if there is any name that could be hers."

I look at the list again and mentally cross out all male sounding names. But there are still too many left.

"What about Belinda Carrigan?"

"Why?"

I check Clemens' suggestion. There are only three columns. Number, Name and Reason for Visit.

"She's a fan of that one 80s song by Belinda Caliste. Right?

"Yeah?"

"What if that's her disguise?"

"Hmm." I look at the column for Reason. 

Needs new chip

"No. I'm pretty sure Isa knows that those chips are used to localize us. She wouldn't get a new one."

"Fair point. Back at zero."

I go through the names again and this time I stumble.

"No. I don't think so. Look here, Madeleine Blue."

I lift up the clipboard nervously.

"Who?"

Right, Clemens wasn't there.

"It's an alter ego she used to sneak into a conference. Where she met Walter. I chose the name for her, this can't be a coincidence."

I read the reason for visiting.

Quarterly Conference

"Look!" I yell almost too loudly. The receptionist throws a glance at us and I lower my voice. 

"This is Isabella. I'm sure."

"You mean she came here to attend a conference?"

"No, that was her pretext. Let's go."

I jump out of my chair and shoo Clemens back to the reception.

The woman takes the clipboard from me.

"Did you find her?"

"Yes, thank you. Tell me…"

I put on a neutral expression. "Where are the conferences being held?"

"In the designated halls. Why?"

I look at Clemens. He seems to understand. "We would like to visit them. My friend and I are big fans of architecture and we've heard that this building offers some great views."

Good. Very good.

But the receptionist shakes her head.

"I'm sorry but our conference halls are not available for the public."

Dammit.

I look around and spot a sign pointing to the left. Conference Halls 1-3

Beneath it reads To the Toilets.

Bingo!

I look back at the woman and smile.

"Could we please use the toilet real quick? Then we'll be gone."

"Sure. They are down the hallway to the left."

I thank her but she has already stuck her nose back into the computer.

Clemens and I quickly walk away, down the corridor and I pull him into the woman's bathroom. 

"Okay."

I take a deep breath.

"We-"

"...can't just walk around like this. I know."

Damn, did he just read my mind? 

The man takes off his backpack and opens it.

"Judy, how confident are you in your ability to knock someone out?"

"Uhm...excuse me?"

Clemens pulls out a crowbar.

"I found this next to the backpack. We'll have to catch two employees, knock them unconscious and then steal their uniforms."

I stare at him. 

Clemens notices. "Is there something you didn't understand?"

"Dude, we can't just…"

Last time I knocked someone out, Walter killed them. I have no desire to repeat the same crime.

But then I remember.

"How do we knock an Afterlife body unconscious?"

Clemens stops, his mouth drops open. Then he closes it again. "Hm. I see that my plan is flawed."

"It is. It's very flawed. But that crowbar might still help us, follow me."

We leave the bathroom and quietly keep walking down the hallway.

Turning around a corner we almost bump into an employee but he is too busy on his phone to take note of us.

Phones work up here? I didn't expect that.

We stop next to a glass door, the sign next to it reads Employee Lounge.

I quickly peek inside but the room is empty. Wow, we are lucky today!

Clemens opens the door and we sneak inside.

"Now?"

"The lockers."

We walk over to them. 

"You break some open and take whatever you can get your hands on, I check the door. Got it?"

Clemens nods. "I'm on it."

Back at the door I look outside to check both ends of the hallway. If anyone finds us, we are screwed. Let's hope there aren't any security cameras. 

Clemens is grunting as he tries his best to break open the lockers and the noise of the crowbar fighting with the metal is so loud that it makes me anxious. He better hurry.

"Got something?" I hiss without letting my eyes leave the hallway.

"A key card and some glasses."

"Good. Get some more stuff and then we are out of here."

As soon as I'm done saying that, I see the man from earlier come back around the corner, heading straight for the lounge.

"Shit!"

I jog to Clemens and take the keycard he has put onto the table next to him. I also exchange my Patrick sunglasses for a fancy looking black pair.

"You gotta stop," I hiss and Clemens quickly slides the crowbar behind one of the floor length curtains. He seems to have found another pair of glasses and with that, team Spongey Bob is no more.

Hardly a second later, the door opens and the man struts in.

When he sees us, he stops.

"Uhm...hello?" He scans me up and down, then he turns to Clemens.

"You two work here? I've never seen you before."

"We are interns, today is our first day," I quickly respond and smile brightly. "So exciting!"

The man raises his eyebrows. "I didn't know we offered internships." Then he shrugs. "But someone has to cook the coffee. So, welcome to the team."

His eyes wander over to the lockers. Shit.

"What happened here? Did someone break in?"

I look at Clemens. He nods slightly and mouths an 'I got this'.

"There's been a suspicion that somebody brought drugs to work. Security broke open some of the lockers but couldn't find anything. We were just noting down how many doors need to be replaced."

I nod eagerly. "So thrilling!"

The man shrugs again. "I should be shocked but I don't care, honestly. My vacation starts tomorrow, mentally I've already checked out. Well, have a good one."

He grabs a jacket and then leaves again.

I take a deep breath and fall onto the next best chair.

"Jesus f*cking Christ. That was close."

"Very close indeed but we survived. Shall we continue?"

He offers me a hand and reluctantly I get up again.

"Fine.. Let's find Isabella."