If there was one thing Thane hated more than anything else, it was paperwork. The hatred seemed to be an occupational hazard, since majority of his colleagues seemed to share it as well. There was something about those stacks of paper that just rubbed him the wrong way. Perhaps it was the fact that most of these were rather pointless; or perhaps it was the fact that they were so darn dull. However, if he was to put his finger on the matter, it was because there was so damn a lot of it.

However, in his line of work, paperwork was a necessary evil. Thane gritted his teeth and diligently plowed his way through the three feet pile that occupied the space on his desk. By the Emperor, I wish I was on the field. He had been doing paperwork for five weeks, three days, fourteen hours, thirty minutes and sixteen seconds now. There had to be a mission for him soon, right?

At that moment, the phone on his table began to ring as if it had read his mind. In his joy, Thane dashed to the phone; office phone calls usually meant a mission commissioner had some on-field task for the worker.

"Messenger Thane on line. How may I be of service?" He tried to keep the glee from his voice as much as he can, although it was not that successful.

"Hello, Thane." Shit. The voice was that of Director Maria, the supreme boss of his line of work.

"Good day, Director Maria. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Cut the formalities, wisecrack. I want you in my office five minutes ago," and then the line went dead. She was also his cousin, meaning that she could abuse him as much as she wanted without him being able to sue her. Well, this is going to suck.

Knowing his cousin's impatient temper, Thane got up to make his way to her office. Before he left the room, his gaze returned to the pile of paperwork. For a split second, he actually wished he could just be doing the paperwork. Shaking the wistful thought away, he exited his office.

As always, the office was comfortable and relaxing. However, he knew the danger of letting the environment lull him into false sense of security. Sitting up to distance himself from the temptingly soft sofa, he cut straight into chase.

"What's the issue, Maria?"

A file flew and landed in front of him. "That's Director Maria to you, Thane."

"Only if you address me as Messenger Thane," he shot back. His cousin scowled, but dropped the issue; for some odd reason, she hated calling him that. Smirking slightly at his tiny victory, Thane began to skim through the document.

Mission Details

Messenger Assigned: Thane Labyrinth

Name: Taylor Breayn Riley

Current Situation Report: Taylor Breayn Riley – from hereafter referred to as 'unaccounted' – is a young woman native to Earth-005 who had somehow managed to traverse to Earth-027 and died within it. The decease of the unaccounted had been verified by multiple intelligence agents in Earth-027. However, according to the Department for Crossing of Souls, her soul is yet to be accounted for. Senior Messenger Thane Labyrinth is to go on the field, assess the situation and bring the unaccounted over if possible. His assessment of the situation should focus primarily on suitability of deployment of Grim Reapers for acquisition of the unaccounted but should also cover… yada yada yada. He had done similar missions before; there were always some souls lost and unable to find their own ways into the Netherworld. He skipped to the addendum.

Facts of Interest:

Earth-005

Dominant Magic: Science

Earth-005 is currently regarded as a typical type of science based world that rarely poses problems to the operations of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld. However, before dissemination of science as its dominant magic, the world had multiple magics competing each other for dominance. Therefore, messengers dispatched should not limit themselves to expecting only science-based crises if Earth-005 is involved.

Earth-027

Dominant Magic: Alchemy

Earth-027 is one of the worlds blacklisted for causing many complications to the operations of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld. There had been multiple cases of existential knowledge breach and Grim Reapers had to be deployed majority of such times to ensure elimination of those who learned of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld's existence. As of today, a select few are allowed to live with this knowledge and are only under close watch, since elimination of these entities would have had significant effect onto the world itself.

Thane groaned and shut the file. He hated alchemy-based worlds. They created so much unnecessary problems.

"Skipping details, are we?" Director's voice displayed her disapproval.

"I'll read the boring bits later. Wouldn't want to take your precious time, Director."

"Tsk. This will not be an easy mission, Thane."

Thane brushed aside her concern. "Relax, Maria. You know me; one of the AMN's finest Messengers. If a situation has no need for a Reaper, I can definitely solve it." His tone was not one of arrogance; he was merely stating a fact.

"Hmm. Tell me, Thane. What do you know of the entity known as Truth in Earth-027?"

The name sounded familiar but he couldn't quite place the name to a face. "I might have heard of him but it's escaping me at the moment."

Maria sighed and waved him away, "Just go. You better not screw this up."

"Yes, ma'am." He got up promptly, eager to get to the field. However, before he left, he thought to take a peek at what the Ministry's database had to say of this 'Truth' guy. He was not very fond of getting unpleasant surprises.

That is one big gate. Thane had to tilt his head a lot just to see the top of the door. Feeling quite impressed, he pushed one of the doors open. The room inside was an endless stretch of white, just as the database had informed him. However, he did not know what else to expect, since the database did not have anything about the entity except the white room and his somewhat 'unique' appearance. There were many speculations about his capability, but Thane took those with a pinch of salt. There is a saying among the messengers; 'A fact from an intelligence agent is as concrete as the foundation of the world. A speculation from an intelligence agent is a mythology unto itself.'

"Hello there, Messenger." The white figure of a man greeted him.

"Good day, Mr?"

"You know my name already." Thane wondered how his smile could be visible despite the being's apparent lack of form.

"Very well, Mr. Truth. I am Messenger Thane. May I assume you are aware of my purpose for this visit?"

"No, not at all." They both knew he was lying.

Alright, two can play this game. "Have you, by any chance, detained a soul from entering the Netherworld after her body has died?"

The grin stayed on the face. "I can't say I recall anyone dying around here, Messenger Thane. Most of the time when a soul comes through here, it is simply separated from its body."

Inwardly, Thane grimaced. When he had learned from the Mission Details that Earth-027's dominant magic was alchemy, he did suspect a case of soul-body separation. When a person's soul is torn from the body, the person is essentially dead. However, with alchemy involved, a soul-body separation is not considered death since they can be reattached. There had been many similar cases from other alchemy-based worlds and these situations had almost always produced tons of paperwork. At least with necromancy, Grim Reapers could just go in, kill everything and resolve the situation. Ugh. Why did it have to be alchemy?

Still, he had one last card in his diplomatic hand. "However, if the soul in question was not native of an alchemy-based world, a separation of the body and the soul is in fact a death." Since Earth-005 was a science-based world, reattachment of a body and a soul was beyond their capability. Therefore, if Taylor Riley's body and soul had indeed been separated, she was essentially dead to the records.

Thane saw the grin of Truth's face falter a little. It seemed that the entity had forgotten that particular detail. Truth quickly recomposed his expression. "Of course, Messenger. What you say is correct. However, I fail to see its relevance to the discussion." He frowned slightly as Truth decided to take the denial-of-charges-accused attitude. That usually meant he had to confront him with evidence before obtaining any further cooperation.

Thane thought of his options carefully. "So you are saying there are no souls from other worlds?"

"Absolutely not." His answer was natural, although Thane knew it to be a lie.

"If that is the case, you won't mind if I looked around a little, would you?" His gaze turned to the gate at the backdrop.

"Go right ahead." Truth's grin seemed to have gotten wider.

He approached the gate and swung it open. Immediately, many hand-shaped tendrils seemingly made of shadow shot out, trying to drag him in. However, upon contact, each of the arms disintegrated. The gate's magic was strong but not enough to overcome his magical resistance. After a few attempts, the arms ceased their attempts, although they still surrounded him. Gathering his courage, he stepped in.

"Happy sightseeing." Truth's voice was heard. Thane could just imagine the entity's grinning face.

If the room he had entered from was an endless stretch of light, this was the exact opposite.

Darkness was everywhere. It extended, multiplied and stretched itself around him and yet did not blind him. He could see in the darkness, perhaps a bit disoriented but still able to get his bearings. He saw images, not with his eyes, but with his mind. He did not just see those with his eyes. He heard them, felt them and experienced them. They taught him things he knew, did not know and have never even considered. He felt elucidated and muddled at the same time.

Whatever this is, it is not safe for many. The weak will lose their mind.

With a grunt, he intensified his magical resistance. Instantly, the flow of information decreased, at the rate he dictated it. While the magic was chaotic in its abundance, it was not overwhelming to someone of his magical caliber.

He also focused his senses. All messengers were sensitive to presence of wandering souls; it was the first criteria they were checked for when considered for employment under the AMN. What in the? He dulled his senses immediately. There were too many lost souls here. He would have collapsed to his knees had he been under the influence of gravity. The sensory overload was shocking in its magnitude. With a frustrated sigh, Thane conceded to the fact that to find one girl's soul in this mess was nigh impossible.

"Had a good trip?" The tone was almost mocking.

"You have a beautiful sense of interior design, Mr. Truth."

"Glad to hear it appreciated."

Slowly, Thane picked himself off the floor. He still felt a bit weak but no plans to let it show to the entity before him.

"Did you get your hands on what you were looking for?" Yup. He was definitely mocking.

Thane's irritation bubbled to show on the surface and he quickly quelled the emotion. "No. It appears that I could not."

"I see."

"It looks as if I have wasted your time, Mr. Truth. I apologise." He was running options in his head. Obtainment of Taylor Riley would have to be through force. Looks like I will have to recommend Reapers for this one. Damn. Director is not going to be happy. Reapers cost a lot to be deployed. They required a lot magic to be reach the other dimensions, which meant very high utility bills for the Ministry. That is why Messengers were always sent first to resolve any issue.

"It's alright, Messenger. You are just devoted to your duty. It just turned out to be fiasco." Truth knew how to select his parting words.

"Yes. I guess it had. Farewell." Thane left.

He stared at his phone, just as he had done for the last twenty minutes. While he knew he had to report, that did not mean he was keen. He knew Maria would be extremely displeased about his performance and when she was displeased, people tended to die, figuratively. Literally, they were just buried under paperwork to the extent they could just use it as a grave. Thane was not at all fond of paperwork.

As he opened his phone for the twenty-seventh time, it suddenly began to ring. His first immediate reaction was to believe that somehow Maria gained omniscience, became aware of his failure and had taken the initiative to announce his demise. He almost tossed his phone in terror but at the last moment, rationality took over his panicked mind. He took a glimpse at the caller ID and saw it was from Atlas. He received the call as soon as his hand stopped shaking.

"Hey, Atlas. What's up?"

"Thane. Got some shit brewing up here at work. Can come over?" Atlas worked in DDD, which stood for Department for Dimensional Detachment; a department that kept the worlds from interacting with each other. It was not possible to completely stop cross-dimension interaction; there were just too many to stop them all. However, the DDD made sure that all major interactions are prevented.

Wariness coursing through him, Thane's first thought was to refuse. However, angry Atlas was not a happy Atlas, and all other forms of Atlas other than happy tended to be dangerous. "Ugh, Atlas. I'm beat. I hope it's something easy. If it's serious, get someone else."

"No man, I just need an advice. I have a situation here in Earth-005. Just come over, take a peek and tell me what I should do, yeah?" At mention of Earth-005, it caught his interest.

"Right. Nothing more than that."

"Thanks man, you are a real pal."

"Sure, sure. If I'm a real pal, pay me back the money you owe…" Click. The line went dead immediately. "…me."

Shaking his head, Thane made his way to Atlas's work station.

"So this girl is trying to make a link to another world?" The file said the girl's name: Circe LeFay Strent.

"Yeah, man. She's complete shit at it but not absolutely useless. There had been a few successful attempts. It's costing us more magic now than the amount we had to spend for the last few years combined from this world." Whenever a magic from a world attempted to connect to another, DDD would use a counter-dose of magic to foil the attempt. Any successful cross-world connection was done by those skilled enough to hide their attempts. This girl clearly was grasping at straws and all she was doing was causing the Ministry higher bills.

"So what's the issue? Just keep blocking her."

"You see. There's an issue. The girl is using alchemy. However, the magic of her world is…"

"Science." Thane muttered in disbelief.

"Hey, yeah! How did you know?"

"Which world is she linking to?" Thane's thought raced at this new development. It's too opportune a timing to be a coincidence.

Atlas looked at his friend and knew his own questions will have to wait. He quickly grabbed his report and searched for the information. "Let's see now. Ah, here it is. The world she is linking to is… another version of Earth. It's Earth-027."

With his suspicion confirmed, Thane took the file and looked at information regarding the girl. Under the list of acquaintances, he found the name he was searching for: Taylor Breayn Riley (Close friend). Very interesting turn of events. An idea began popping into his head.

"Say, Atlas. You said she is still trying to get to Earth-027?" There was a tone of excitement in his voice now.

"Yeah. This time, she may use somebody else's blood to create the bridge. From the reports, the owner of the blood will trigger an even stronger link. It's going to cost us a lot of magic and you know how much Director hates increase in the bills." Thane nodded sympathetically, although he was barely listening to the ramble.

"Well then, my friend. The answer is simple; let her get to Earth-027."

Atlas had not been expecting this. "You nuts? DAMN is so going to kill me if I let that happen."

"The Director of Administrative Ministry of Netherworld will not kill you, my friend. In fact, the DAMN will commend you for your good decision and even give you remuneration."

"What's you talking about?" Atlas saw that Thane had the 'grin'. Thane with the 'grin' meant someone else was about to be really miserable.

"You see, Ms. Strent is trying to get to Earth-027 to look for a friend of hers. However, the soul of her friend is in the hands of this entirely unpleasant character that goes by the name of 'Truth'. I've recently requested nicely to the entity to hand over the soul but he had declined, meaning only course of action the Ministry can take to obtain the soul is through deployment of the Grim Reapers."

"Oh." No matter how much a prevention of connection between worlds cost, deployment of Reapers required much, much more magic.

"If it only takes sending over a single person for us to save ourselves using the Reapers, it is a price I'm willing to take." Thane was rubbing his hands; another telltale sign that somebody was about to be extremely unhappy. Atlas felt sorry for this 'Truth' fellow.

"Well, if you say so. But I'm only letting the girl go through, alright? And I am not taking responsibility if this somehow blows up in our face."

"Please, Atlas. It's just a single girl. What could she possibly do that the Ministry can't handle?"

"So you say. Remember Atlantis?"

"Ugh. Why are you even bringing that up?"

"It happened in Earth-005, man. The people of that world have a knack for causing headaches."

"It was from here?" Thane remembered the Sink of Atlantis all too well. It had caused more paperwork than the next few crises combined. Suddenly, he felt uneasy. Relax, Thane. It's just one girl. "Atlas, Atlantis was millenniums ago. Don't be so hung up on the past."

"Whatever, man. It's your responsibility."

And so the die was cast.

The message from Atlas came that evening.

It's done, man. The girl is now on her way to Earth-027. On your head be it.

Thane rubbed his hands in anticipation.

Ah, how I love my job.

He focused his magic and opened a portal to Earth-027.

Let's see how things go from here, shall we?

He stepped through.