I already paid my debt...
Henry had a good night's sleep. There was nothing to disturb him and as usual, his boss didn't come over to disturb him. It would have been a perfect night if he was on his six-foot-long bed on which he could stretch a little bit more. At least there were no mosquitoes swarming around his head as usual.
The sleep was perfect exactly what he needed. And slowly he woke up. Only, he wasn't sleeping in his sleeping bag but was on a perfectly white floor. The room was extremely bright but he couldn't find any light sources. There was no furniture either. An ebony wooden door stood out almost as if inviting him over to open it. Confused, Henry was rooted on the spot trying to figure out what happened.
"Don't keep me waiting anymore. Come out. It's your time." A deep male voice resounded out from the door forcing Henry to slowly get up. He walked towards the door. Although he was walking towards the door, the gravity of the place was slightly off making Henry feel as if he was floating. Henry eagerly grabbed the doorknob, trying to get out of the alien room. He already had an assumption about what happened. Only he had already paid off his loans. There was no reason for the loan sharks to kidnap him. 'This must surely be a misunderstanding.'
Out through the door and the first thing Henry felt was the familiar gravity that he was used to. The burst of colours made Henry even more pleasant. At least the room wasn't filthy. He was confident that these people weren't going to kill him off now. He still had a chance to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Take a seat." Said the deep-voiced elder sitting across the table. Henry hurried towards him. The burly bodyguards who stood right behind the older gentleman had already made Henry gulp a little saliva.
"Sir, sorry. This is all a misunderstanding." Henry tried to explain himself the moment he got a chance. Seeing the old guy staring at him he knew this was his one last chance. Naturally, Henry tried to explain to the best of his abilities. "I had already paid the last settlement last Wednesday. I do have the receipt back home. If you could just let me go back home I wouldn't mind bringing it back to you. Please." Seeing the gentleman raise his right palm motioning him to stop Henry suddenly became quiet.
"Henry Roberson? Age 34?" The old man asked, pulling on his long and narrow beard.
"Yes sir. That's me." Henry said. Suddenly he was at a loss. He had no idea why he was here anymore. 'Is this not the debt collectors?'
"Kid, you happened to pass away as your factory got caught in the fire. You are a deep sleeper so you mostly didn't feel anything when you died. I must say, it was quite a peaceful way to die." The gentleman explained his purpose of bringing Henry to this pristine cleanroom.
Apparently, there was a delay in the rebirth cycle and as such, it became impossible to send Henry back to the earth on his seventh cycle. There was an issue with the delivery cranes malfunctioning.
"So, Henry. Here is the new picture. We have a new world out there that we plan to populate and it requires a little bit more humans. Mind you it's still a work in progress so you should expect a little trouble from time to time. Since you just have one last lap of rebirth to complete the rebirth cycles, I want to offer you an opportunity. Are you willing to take up the offer?" The elderly gentleman asked politely.
"Do you need my permission?" Henry was a little doubtful. To him, this felt a little like a tv troupe. Henry was already expecting a cameraman and a few clowns to jump out from the corner and scream and laugh at him any time soon. 'The paycheck better be heavy.'
"Well yes. I do need your permission to deviate you from the natural cycle of rebirth. After all, it is your life. It won't be for nothing. I can grant you a little help from time to time if you end up in any troubles. Mind you your other option is to sit in that white room till you pass through the last cycle of life." He quickly ran through the notes on the table and continued, "well according to these numbers it's anywhere from 60 to 90 years trapped in a white room. Of course, it's still your decision." His hand started fondling his long beard involuntarily.
"I don't want to be stuck in a room." There was a little smile on Henry's face. He decided to play along this time. "Ok then. That will do. This won't take long. By the way, do you want to start as a child or do you want to just continue from your current age? The natural laws are slightly different from here so I recommend starting from a child to get a feel to the place." "Whatever." Henry was almost at the end of his patience when suddenly he felt sleepy and crumbled to the floor. In his drowsy state, he felt someone grabbing him by the neck and a distant voice.
"Child it is then..."