The first thing she thinks about those numbers is that they seem way too big and the second, weirdly, is that they seem way too small—surely someone who devoted their whole life to making the world a better place could have had a bigger impact? Well, maybe not at her age—and then she hears 'hit by a car while jaywalking' and the memory of her death blots out everything else.

It hurt, which was bad, but that wasn't the worst part; the worst part was how crushingly stupid it felt. Lying there with her vision slowly darkening and nothing to blame for it but her own carelessness.

After another too-long pause, she opens her mouth hoping that words will come out. They don't. She is completely unable to come up with a single thing to say. She makes some sort of a speech-like noise and closes it again, hoping that everyone is this supremely awkward five minutes after dying.

(—and wait—they're wrong about everything else but right about that? How??? How is that the single thing they know about her?)

"I'm sorry. I know it's a lot to take in."

"...thanks. Is, uh... what... happens now...?"

Suddenly, they're standing in a field of chairs. "Well, we have an introductory presentation in a few minutes. Then, an eternity of happiness!"

"...neat?"

Wow, could she have thought of a more inane response than that?

Johanna pats her shoulder. "You'll love it."

Then she's gone.

Somehow, she gets the feeling that she is not, in fact, going to love it.

Okay, chairs. Where is the nearest chair. There? Great, hers now.

And a gentleman looking uncomfortable in his suit sits next to her, with equally little consideration of his options.

"Hi," he says. "I guess you're, uh, new here too?"

"You could say that."

"Cool. I'm Ari. Really looking forward to the part where we're happy forever."

"Veronica." (They called her by name, right? Yeah.) "Same, I guess." She should probably make some kind of comment about how she wishes she'd had more time to help people or whatever but that sounds exhausting.

"Nice to meet you, Veronica!"

The presentation begins.

Oh good, the presentation means she doesn't have to make conversation anymore. What a good presentation.

...cancel that, this presentation is mystifying and kind of worrying and, wow, really? Someone's been keeping track of this? Except apparently not very well, because they got Veronica mixed up with someone who did actual good in the world.

(Or did they? Now is hardly the time to start taking people at their word.)

Her companion seems less confused. Probably because he's supposed to be here.

Johanna appears after the presentation. "Veronica! Come with me, I'm gonna introduce you to your soulmate."

"Oh... good?" No, less sarcastic. Be less sarcastic. She attempts a normal smile, like a normal person who is going to be introduced to her soulmate and finds this prospect pleasant and not deeply unsettling.

"I really think you're gonna like him," Johanna says.

Then they're standing in front of -

- a man shorter and thinner than Veronica, who twitches slightly at their abrupt appearance.

"Hello!" he says, standing from his chair and extending his hand. "It's lovely to meet you. I'm Tariq - call me Tintin - you are?"

"Veronica." She shakes his hand. She mostly manages to conceal how weird and awkward she feels about it. "Good to meet you too." Dropping his hand as quickly as she can get away with, she says, "Soulmates, huh? That's new."

"Isn't it just! Johanna, is that - baked in somehow, a fundamental fact of reality, or merely one of your probabilistic calculations -"

"The answer to that question is approximately 'both' and also 'neither' but mostly 'ask me again after a few thousand years studying the fundamental nature of reality'."

"Johanna has been saying many cheerful things like that."

"Cheerful," she repeats, trying for sincerity and making it about five percent of the way there. "Yes."

"I've also been informed that - what was it, Johanna? The Good Place is so thoroughly optimized that -"

"- even a blade of grass out of place could cause a cascading system failure. But don't worry, we've got automated systems for that now. After your first few grass disasters - disgrassters, if you will - you learn to be pretty careful."