Costello - Risen (Working title)

On a version of Earth in either a recent past or distant future, a renowned Biologist, Professor Laures Costello has died, her body is being placed in a morgue to await embalming and preparation. Her greatest work is decommissioned as her body bag is slowly zipped up, concealing her cold, pale face.

Later she sits in a stall in a darkened space, with a judge called to the stand. The character resembles an elderly man, wearing all dark clothing and carrying a cane shaped like a scythe. He takes a seat.

"Professor Laures Costello, you are on trial for repeatedly, and in full knowledge of doing so, defeat Death and therefore undermine my authority and the natural cycle. In the wake of your death, your void has caused human kind to further cause damage to the natural order of life and death."

Death scratches his aging scalp and leans closer towards her.

"But I also need your help, urgently."

Costello, confused by this continues to listen.

"How exactly can I help you?"

Death raises his cane before tapping it into the ground to project forth the image of the mortal world.

"In the absense of you and your life's work, human kind has begun to find other means to trying to escape death. However, humanity hasn't yet understood how to do this like you have, and instead of reclaiming the lost, it has tried to overcome losing in the first instance."

Costello tries to understand this.

"And so have come up with means of stopping death, but at a price?"

"Precisely. Human kind is holding itself to the mortal world with anything it can. Suspending themselves within time, using other life forms to support themselves and trying to replace what normally is lost on death, but the unfortunate victims cannot continue living like this.

Without my work in place, this world is certain to suffer a fate worse than Death."


"Pun not intended right? So why am I needed?"

Death removes his cane and explains further.

"Your work has set this course of events, so you should work to stop them. I shall grant you 72 hours to do this, but after that, there is nothing more I can do."

The main protagonist of the story is Prof. Laures Costello, a biologist of impressive credentials. During her life, she designed a machine capable of bringing back the dearly departed unlike ever before. Whilst previous procedures had simply involved merely reanimating a corpse with the elements, this process is one in which a donor will share their own bioenergy to bring a body back to life, memories and physiology in tact.

But her project came with vast repercussions. Whilst her work was sucessful and was granted valid license, a great amount of dependancy was attached to it. Upon her death, the machine was shut down, and sealed away so that none could misuse it. The world's dependancy grew on defying death such that alternatives were being made all over the world.

The continuing use of the machine to reclaim the lost began to disturb Death. Not only was the machine undermining his work and authority, but he was losing strength and quickly. The alternative projects kept people alive at such terrible consequences, such that they couldn't die even if they wished it, their suffering to be near eternal.

Death grants Costello but only 72 hours to restore the balance, but for one important reason. Not because it is how long she has to live as a corpse, but how long before Death has before actually dying itself. Death needs to acquire bioenergy from the deceased in order to sustain itself, to keep nature in balance. Since it has been so long since humans have properly died, Death is slowly dying. If Costello is not successful, Death will cease to be and no one will ever die again, forever held alive, slowly decaying and breaking in agony.

Costello is reanimated by Death to help it restore natural order. Death has granted her power beyond that of any living being. Her muscles don't fatigue, her cells cannot be poisoned, nor deprived of food and water and she doesn't radiate body heat. In other words, she is not bound by limits that exist in life, meaning she can move with impressive agility, can be infected or poisoned without feeling any effects and doesn't need food or water to survive. But at the same time as not dying, Costello is not living either, so cannot heal or regenerate.

The story is a plan for either an RPG or a storyline.