Chapter 2: Administrative Error
Ethan did not wake up in fire.
He did not wake up in clouds.
He woke up in an office.
Fluorescent lighting. Beige walls. A glass window behind a large executive desk that looked out over nothing but white fog. The air smelled faintly of printer toner and something expensive, like perfume that cost more than his monthly electric bill.
Behind the desk sat a woman in a dark charcoal pantsuit tailored so sharply it could probably cut glass. She was typing rapidly on a sleek keyboard, eyes focused on the monitor in front of her. Her red hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, a few strands framing a face that was unfairly perfect. Her blouse was white and professionally buttoned, but not conservatively. The cleavage was impossible not to notice. It was bold. Distracting. Almost aggressively so.
Ethan blinked.
He looked down at himself.
Clean clothes. Same suit. Same torn sleeve. No blood. No broken bones. No crushed ribs. He flexed his fingers. Everything worked.
The woman turned her head slowly.
The look on her face hit harder than the trucks.
Pure disgust. Not mild irritation. Not bureaucratic boredom. Disgust. Like she had just stepped in something foul and realized it was still on her shoe.
Ethan glanced at his jacket again. "Uh. Am I missing something? I got blood on me or something?"
She said nothing. Just stared at him like she could barely tolerate the oxygen he was using.
Then she gestured sharply to the chair across from her desk. "Sit."
He hesitated, then sat.
She looked down at a tablet beside her keyboard. "Ethan Cole. Is that correct?"
"Yeah. Ethan Cole. Uh. Am I dead?"
She leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing. "This is not a dream. Of course you're dead, you dumb son of a bitch. Get your head out of your ass."
Ethan slumped deeper into the chair. "Well shit. Just when my life was getting to be... you know... life."
She scoffed. "With your track record, the higher ups decided it was best to eliminate you before you did any more damage and killed millions of innocents."
Ethan blinked. "Killed innocents? I'm sorry, what the fuck are you talking about?"
"Don't play innocent," she snapped. "You will be heading down to the underworld for a very long time. Did you think you could just act however you wanted and kill that many people without consequences?"
He stared at her. The anger in her expression felt familiar. It was the same look girls in high school used to give him. Like his existence was offensive. Like being in the same room with him lowered property value.
"What the fuck," he said, heat rising in his chest. "I've never killed anybody. I teach math. Well. I was about to teach math. I barely even jaywalk."
She stopped typing.
Really looked at him.
Her expression shifted slightly. Not soft. But different.
"You're younger than I expected," she muttered.
She turned back to the monitor and typed rapidly. The clicking filled the room. Then she froze. Slowly turned back to him.
"You said your name is Ethan Cole. Correct?"
"Yeah. Ethan Donatelo Cole. Full government name."
Her eyes widened.
"Not again," she whispered.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a long exasperated sigh. "That damn fool did it again."
Ethan frowned. "Did what again?"
"I will be with you in a moment," she said, ignoring him.
She moved the mouse, clicked several things, and tapped furiously on the keyboard.
Without warning, two men appeared beside her desk.
No flash. No smoke. Just there.
Both wore black suits so perfectly tailored they looked painted on. White shirts. Red ties. Clean. Sharp. They had that assassin vibe. Like they carried suppressed pistols in alternate dimensions.
The older one on the left had streaks of gray in his hair and eyes that looked permanently tired. The younger one looked like he should be in a boy band, hair styled effortlessly, face annoyingly symmetrical.
"What's with the summons, Kaia?" the older man asked.
Kaia did not look up. "Why don't you ask your partner."
The older man turned to the younger one. "Kyle."
"What?" Kyle said defensively. "What did I do?"
"Kyle," Kaia said flatly, gesturing toward Ethan. "This is Ethan Cole."
Kyle's face lit up. "Oh. So the trucks worked. Dude was giving me a hard time. Had to use three trucks to get him."
Ethan was on his feet before he even realized it.
"You are the fuck who killed me?" he roared, lunging across the desk and swinging at Kyle's face.
Kyle yelped and threw his arms up.
Ethan stopped mid punch.
Literally stopped.
His fist hung inches from Kyle's nose. His body frozen. He could not move. Not even a twitch.
The older man had raised a single finger.
Ethan's eyes widened in panic. 'What the hell is happening.'
"What's going on, Kaia?" the older man asked again.
Kaia picked up a sleek digital device from her desk and tapped it. A holographic screen appeared in the air.
"This," she said coldly, "is the Ethan Cole we were looking for."
The image showed a middle aged man built like he wrestled gorillas for cardio. Scarred. Hardened. Beside him scrolled an endless list of crimes. Terror attacks. Mass casualties. Thousands upon thousands dead.
Warnings blinked in red.
DANGER. EXTREME RISK. PRIORITY TERMINATION.
"Do you see the problem?" Kaia asked.
The older man slowly turned to Kyle.
His face went red.
"You fucking idiot," he roared. "You did it again."
Kyle blinked. "Wait. What?"
"You killed the wrong person again, you dumb son of a bitch," Kaia snapped.
Kyle threw his hands up. "Why are there so many people with the same name? It's an easy mistake to make."
"That is why we provide images with the files," David growled. "Even undergraduates in the academy do not screw this up. I swear, you are the dumbest agent I have ever met."
"I gave you the full file," Kaia said, her voice razor sharp. "How could you let this happen for the fifth time, Kyle? Do you know how angry the higher ups are? This was your final mistake."
"Oh come on," Kyle protested. "They're gods. They can fix this easily."
David just stared at him in disbelief. Then turned to Kaia. "Did you tell him?"
"I have permission for a redo," Kaia said. "But not in his original world. There are only a few options available."
"Good," David said. "I will take Kyle away and request another partner. I cannot work with someone this incompetent anymore."
"You know how rude that is?" Kyle complained.
"I do not care," David replied coldly. "You have killed innocent lives. You deserve worse."
Both of them vanished instantly.
The moment they disappeared, Ethan unfroze.
The momentum of his halted punch sent him stumbling forward straight into a nearby bookcase. He crashed into it, knocking several thick volumes to the floor.
He groaned and pushed himself up.
Kaia watched him calmly.
"Come sit, Ethan," she said.
Her tone had changed.
"We have a few things to discuss."
The fog outside the window shifted slightly.
Ethan stared at her, heart racing.
Then he slowly walked back to the chair.