Claire followed the instructions to her room, pleasantly surprised by its comfort. The bed looked inviting, there was an old TV, a desk with more papers—likely forms to fill out—awaited her, and a wardrobe stood ready for her clothes. Despite the peculiar circumstances, the room was clean and more than adequate, better than many places she’d stayed before.

Sitting on the bed, Claire sighed, reflecting on her life choices. Her gaze drifted to the papers pinned to the walls. She began to skim through them: rules and procedures, starting with restrictions on outside access and internet connections, and progressing to emergency protocols.

One document was a questionnaire with pages of checkboxes, asking about her beliefs in various phenomena—more than ten pages long. “What have I gotten myself into?” she mused.

Another folder contained waivers and forms, including NDAs and ones for injuries or death by mundane and non-mundane means. She read aloud, “In the event of death by non-mundane means, you allow the Agency to provide false documentation on the manner of your death to include corpse replacement for your family if necessary.” A frown formed on her lips as she continued, “In the event of accident and major injury, you allow the Agency to attempt prevention of death through either mundane-only or supernatural means. If you consent to supernatural means, you acknowledge that the Agency is not at fault for any side effects caused by the method used.”

“Well, that’s great bedtime reading,” Claire said sarcastically, dropping the papers back onto the desk. She lay down, trying to get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.