Blurb: After Henry Tilney's death, he is sent to a "good" neighborhood to spend the rest of eternity. A Good Place AU. Jane-uary 2025 event.

THE GOOD NA-BORHOOD

Day 25 Churchyard

Chapter Summary: Catherine explains how she saved Henry.

"Michael's in the churchyard, I need to go."

Henry didn't move after Michael left. He just sat in his hiding place and waited for the noise to die down and the spike of adrenaline in his blood to return to the normal level.

After a minute, he called out a very tentative, "Catherine?"

"Hello, Henry!" she chirped, immediately before him. She was a little singed but her good mood was undiminished.

Whatever else he might have said was forgotten. He sprang to his feet. "You called me Henry," he pointed out, half in shock.

"Yes!" Catherine sounded especially pleased. "Michael was very angry when my programming would not allow me tell him which human I was protecting so he removed all social filters and deactivated all neighborhood safety features. Unfortunately for him, those security settings are not tied to the neighborhood and can only be overridden by the Architectural Review Board. I believe Michael will be called before them to justify his actions."

Henry felt himself smiling. He wasn't sure how Catherine had outsmarted her boss but he was pretty sure she had just done so. "It sounds like Michael's not a good architect."

Catherine giggled. "In his defense, this is not a good neighborhood."

Her face scrunched up as if she'd just said more than she intended.

"What do you mean this isn't a good neighborhood?" Henry said, latching onto her words. Had he been in a bad neighborhood all along?

"Henry, please remember that Michael has disabled the safety measures," she said, changing the subject. "Right now is a very dangerous time to be a human wandering in this neighborhood. I must encourage you to go home as quickly as possible and shelter in place until the safety settings are restored to the recommended standards."

"Yes, of course. We can talk about it after," Henry agreed. "I'll go home and wait for things to calm down. How long do you think that will take?"

"He is going to the church to kill me right now," Catherine said with such cheer that Henry almost didn't register the meaning behind her words. "After that, he'll probably rage a bit more. The Architectural Review Board will then -"

"He's going to kill you!?" Henry shouted.

Catherine seemed to realize her semantic error. "Oh, not like that. I'm not mortal like a human so I cannot die like a human. I have a reset button inside the church in case I get glitchy; apparently Michael thinks my insubordination is glitchy. The reset button destroys my memories which triggers a total shutdown of my physical systems as well."

"That sounds a lot like death!" Henry was still worked up.

"And then I'll reset," Catherine told him with a contented smile. "I'll come back good as new."

"That…" He paused warily. "Wait. What will happen to your memories?"

"They'll be completely gone!" Catherine beamed at him. "It will be impossible for me to tell Michael or anyone else that you know this is not a good neighborhood. You'll be safe, Henry."

Henry didn't know how safe he'd really be. Michael would still know that one of the residents had snuck into his office, and there were only so many people in the neighborhood. And he'd lose Catherine as an ally.

"No," he said. "I don't want you to -"

"Michael's in the churchyard," Catherine interrupted him, sensing something he could not detect. "I need to go and beg for my life now, Henry. Until we meet again, please stay safe."

Henry had no last words. She was already gone.

Notes: this is how we have the death of a major character without the major death of a character