niceguyferatu

The ectoplasm-based manifestation of post-human consciousness that results after a human's death.

...or any animal's death, really.

And so you're... what, half-dead? [Ectoplasm is not a thing where she's from, it's the sort of thing spiritists claim is real during their seances. She's used to things being very cut and dry, very simple. She's not some kind of research nerd, but it's like....

Vlad will get a flash of memory, not much, just the idea of film reels. Nothing detailed, just blurred images flickering in the curling strips of film. The film itself is more the focus of the memory, and you reach out a gloved hand, catch the strip of film at the end of it, see The End and cut there with your curved training scythe.]

[ Vlad blinks out of the vision, too disoriented to reply immediately or even know what to think.

He does process it a few moments later, though. ]

That was...those film reels, those were people's lives ending, weren't they? Is that how death works where you come from?

[ He sounds equal parts curious and incredulous. ]

That is what humans commonly refer to as "my life flashing before my eyes" as they die.

Grim Reapers, like my~self~ review a human's cinematic record of memories to check for any irregularities, then sever the soul from both the record and the body. That's how humans die, where I'm from.

Really? Hmm, interesting. And what happens to the soul once it's been severed?

That's none of your business.

But really, we've got nothing like your sort of ghosts back home. You're lucky I'm not one of the research department guys.

Considering I am a ghost, I'd say it very much is, but very well.

How does one become a Grim Reaper, then? Is it something you were just tasked with being when you were born? Are you even alive in the conventional sense yourself?

That's certainly none of your business.

Hmph. Private person, are we? [ sure, grell, he spills his whole life story to you, and you offer nothing in return?! SURE. ]

Not that it matters much here anyway, seeing as we've all been stripped of our powers and are dead now anyway.