Lee Kühren woke with a start to a single raindrop falling on his brow. A crested silvery sky was opening up above him. It was the 5th to last day in May of the year 2043, and he had fallen asleep underneath a tree; in a park renovated from one of the many former urban highways of Cincinnati, Ohio. He had always lived in this city, and had seen it change so much in the span of just thirty years that you'd have never believed it was a metropolitan hellscape at one point in time. It was his last day as an intern for P&G's applied data analysis departments' lead operator, and he had received accolades to work in quality engineering, but was guaranteed a letter of recommendation no matter where his career path led him from this point onward. A gentle breeze of light humidity caressed his face as two more droplets broke upon his bangs.

"Hey now, you don't want to catch a cold before you step into the shoes of your new life," A voice cut through the sound of the foot traffic which had replaced the incessant car horns and squealing tires that once overpowered the natural ambiance of the river city through the years. It was one of his coworkers, a good friend and a teacher by the name of Gen, from the Japanese branch. This would be his last week in Cincinnati, as he was scheduled to move back to Izumo by the end of May. Lee reminisced with a melancholic mood, but smiled cheerfully as he turned to Gen upon hearing his voice.

"I wouldn't dream of it. My alarm was about to go off anyway, a shame there's never enough time in the world for men like us."

Gen laughed heartily.

"That's only the case if you're paying attention."

The two burst out laughing. Lee's childhood hadn't always been the greatest, but he received much love from his parents and siblings, and earned respect from his acquaintances instead of demanding it. He picked up his pocket watch, which was always at his side; an heirloom from uncounted generations and opened it. Roughly 4:27. It was about time to head back in from his lunch break.

"Did you come out here just to get me, Gen? Shouldn't you be helping the receptionist for our supervisor? Katherine's been getting run ragged, but you and I both know she's too proud to admit she needs help."

"Actually, she was just-," a scream cut them off.

In that moment, Lee's consciousness streamed in two paths. On one hand, his instincts screamed at him that if he investigated, he would most certainly meet an early grave. On the other hand, there was a non-zero chance to prevent meaningless casualties, and his higher faculties knew this for a fact. Gen put his hand on Lee's shoulder, urging him.

"We should get moving. We can call for help at the office!"

"Gen, go on ahead."

Gen's grip on Lee's shoulder firmed up.

"Don't you fucking start with me," Gen lashed out at him , half-hushed. "I'd rather you be late back five minute late than forcing me to deliver your eulogy when you're six feet under! We don't even know what he's armed with!" Lee's colleague scoffed while he attempted to drag his cohort to safety. Lee did not budge.

"Gen, I said go." Lee urged against his own silently screaming reason. "The cops aren't gonna make it here in time. You know how they are, they take an hour to fill out the paperwork and an extra fifteen minutes to go the wrong way on a one way street on taxpayer's dollars," Lee scoffed with a reviling tone of vinegar, admonishing the notion of the competency of unreliable law enforcement.

"Man, I ain't heard you speak that coldly since old man Tim tried to short us on our checks two years ago in July..."

Lee turned to him smiling. "For me, this is a hill worth dying on, they've remained as bad in quality of performance for twenty years. If you don't take care of Yume for me, I will personally haunt you, sensei~."

Gen shook his head fervently and made a mad dash up Broadway Street towards P&G Plaza "Oh fuck me sideways! You better not pull a fucking jackass, you hear me Kühren?! I expect you to see me off at CVG on Friday!"

'He has capacity to worry about me at a time like this? What a mad mentor I have!' Lee smirked to himself as he prepared to do one last good deed in his lifetime. As the rain began to beat down from the heavens with a crack of thunder, a voice from nowhere and everywhere at once interrupted his bravado. A deep, ethereal tone, echoing with aeons of wisdom injected itself directly into his mind:

"Do you hope to be spoken of in high praises for your actions?"

Lee was taken aback, but something replaced his shock, a combination of lesser arrogance, and greater admonition for its cynical perspective of him.

'High praises? Are you asking me if this is my ticket to heaven? Or are you using didactic linguistics to try and gauge my ethos? Why don't you watch me instead and see for yourself instead of jumping to conclusions.'

The voice stilled for a moment, then returned as the world around him visibly began to slow to a crawl, even the rain.

"I seem to have spoken out of turn, Child of Farroneia."

Time halted around him as a clock chimed from somewhere unseen, and a Visage cloaked in a darkness reminiscent of the Bootes Void phased into being before him, wielding a scythe in one hand, with a pocket watch in the other. The visage sported 12 black wings, each covered in eyes and a crown of bejeweled thorns, petrified in the guise of volcanic ash where the glint of rarity did not protrude. The visage raised the hand holding the pocket watch up to Lee, and spoke once more, but not directly into his mind like before as it brushed individual raindrops out of the way...

No. It spoke, verbally.

"Succeed or not, even beyond my decree today is to be your last day in this world. That being said..."

Lee felt a single primal fear in a bead of sweat roll down his back, as the same hand he was previously transfixed upon, found its way to hang over his shoulder... dangling the pocket watch that suddenly seemed terrifyingly familiar to him.

"As to ensure it is not the end of your days, would you like to make a deal with Death?"