What an annoying fellow. Nothing like the helpful being in the other office. 

(Do you have a preference? I'm leaning towards either the Fountain of Youth for the usefulness--resurrection is something my native magic system doesn't do--or something more provocative, in case this leads it to being shared mostly by the kinds of people more likely to get themselves killed.)

(I see your point about the Fountain of Youth, but I propose a different idea: that we choose the Bodyguard Doll, so that no one else will win her. I am not sure yet which I prefer, and I would not object to you deciding that the chance at resurrection magic was more important.)

(I don't like his taciturnity at its limits, and the Bodyguard Doll falls as well into the second category as anything else, I think. The spellbook also, but I've met plenty who would take it for love of knowledge alone.)

(We should be prepared for the eventuality where the Bodyguard Doll is bound to our, or perhaps your, eternal service, if we do choose her. But I think I prefer that eventuality to the one where she is bound to the eternal service of someone else. And if we avoid slaughtering everything in our path, perhaps we can avoid both. Though that will of course ultimately lead to her being won in some later contest.)

(No doubt...it seems useful, in terms of avoiding annoying psychological snags, to put ourselves in a situation where 'nobody gets the prize we selected' is the best outcome.)

(I agree. And I expect that we should move swiftly where we can, here, for the sake of preserving this one's patience and out of concern for whatever is causing the ambient discomfort in this place. I favour choosing the Doll.)

"The Bodyguard Doll," he says aloud. 

"Done." He re-rolls and drops the scroll, which crumbles to ash in the air; Baruti's variously-enhanced eyes might catch a flicker of some intangible essence darting toward him from the grey speckles.

"Next up: choosing your Graft. Just a second while I check your compatibilities..."

A wave of his hand causes the corrosive feeling to briefly intensify, knocking out Baruti's barrier and inflicting a wave of nausea on his body before it returns to previous levels. Meanwhile, the devil is now opening another desk drawer and muttering to himself, pulling out sheets of paper and stacking them on his desk. Each sheet seems to have a similar format, divided into four main sections with a brief foreword and afterword, but he's adding to the stack too fast for them to feasibly read much more than the titles upside-down even with enhanced vision. Zombie, Vampire...

Some kinds of revenant? Concerning. He puts the barrier back up, maintaining it with a steady push of Effort. 

"Now," says the devil, still sorting papers, "given the whole two-souls thing you've got going on, this is going to work a bit differently than usual. By the rules, you each get to pick your Graft. But you take the Graft by drinking a specially prepared vial, and when there's two souls in one body, the Graft will flow to whichever one has higher compatibility first, tiebreaking by favouring the one that's more attached to the body or that's been there longer, and then the second vial hits the other soul, unless its compatibility is too low in which case you explode. Which means," he sighs long-sufferingly, "I'm actually going to have to tell you your compatibility scores, because it's relevant to deciding which vials to pick and which one to drink first. Like, there's a Zombie in this list, but only one of you is compatible with it, so if you who's been talking to me this whole time wanted to take it, I have to tell you you're out of luck." He has a stack of papers assembled now; he picks it up and taps it on the desk to neaten it, then hands it over.

He flips first to the Zombie option. 

"I don't want to take it," he assures the man after a cursory inspection. 

(Nor do I, I think. What do you suppose will be the result if you ask him what other effects compatibility scores have, besides causing one to explode if they are too low?)

(Only one way to find out.)

"What effects do compatibility scores have besides causing one to explode?"

The devil grimaces and rolls his eyes. "If you must know, a higher compatibility score makes your Grafted powers easier to learn and use."

He does not grin externally. He does share the idea of a grin with Cold River. Other things besides the prizes to ask valuable questions about indeed!

(I propose that we first quickly read through all the options and form initial impressions of them, then examine in more depth the ones we like the look of at first glance, then go over the rest of the list to be sure we haven't missed anything competitive with our favourites. We can also inquire about compatibility scores as we compare our options. Do you agree with this approach, or is there another you prefer?)

That approach seems sensible.

He skims the documents, careful to linger on each long enough for Cold River to get a good look too. 

I find myself extremely tempted by Construct; it seems like it would go very well with my own world's magic...I'm a little concerned about just how indestructible the core would be, though. 

(I am likewise tempted by Gargoyle. It would be convenient and pleasing to gain so many advantages from remaining still. What troubles you about the Construct's core? Does it seem more fragile to you than most of these immortality methods? It seems plausible to me, from what I have seen of the list so far, that the descriptions are written to deliberately conceal the true level of fragility in each method.)

My concern is that I am less worried about attack from other people in the Battle Royale and more worried about eventual attack from other Great Mages, and in my magic system, physical objects are easier to destroy than magic.

(If you are successfully killed again in your own world, will you not simply return to the Reincarnation Office?)

Yes...and despite all the physical differences, this is a soul graft...I suppose it doesn't risk that much. My favorite is Construct, then, although Phoenix looks very competitive. Do you have a second choice after Gargoyle?

(Nothing that appeals to me nearly so much. If Gargoyle were unavailable I would be likely to choose Phantom, I think.)