Arthur Thistle and The Society of The Lost and Found

Most buildings have a lost and found department. But imagine a world in which the special things you lost had an expiration date on when you could find them. Lose your laugh? 30 days to claim that. The courage to succeed in life? That one, you only get 15 days. Otherwise, the object must be destroyed.

Arthur Thistle had been trying to get a job with the Society of the Lost and Found for months. Whenever someone made a promise, the Society would silently step in, taking something more valuable than gold, jewelry, or money. They would take something that your soul needed. It was up to the person to figure out why or how to get the soulbound item back. The essence of the item, once the time limit has passed, helped feed the city's Soulstone, which was why this was one of the most important jobs there was.

Arthur was about to clock in for the first time. He was selected over millions of candidates. They all wanted to protect the Soulstone, but Arthur had other reasons. It was surprising he even passed all the security checks. After learning from a source, high within the Society of the Lost and Found, he found out that the Soulstone could survive even better on the wishes and laughter of the children on the planet Earth than it could by taking Soulbound items. A child's laugh was the most precious thing on Earth. Arthur was given very specific instructions. He knew this could be the end of his life, but it was worth it. Once his mission was completed, every missing Soul item would gain its essence back and go back to the person it needed to go to.

The day seemed to drag on as Arthur met with his new teammates. They seemed like pretty nice people, but he knew they all had evil in them. Who would want to steal a mothers laugh, or a father’s wisdom? Especially when the laughter and wishes of children could power so much more. Those wishes would expand if Soulbound items weren’t constantly stolen away.

By lunch time, his contact had met with him privately. It was well known that he and the high-level executive were pretty close. She was his wife after all. She could be executed for her involvement. They had to share one last moment. Arthur kissed Arabel one last time, hoping that they would see each other again. There was a getaway train after all. They had a life planned for themselves on Earth. Everything from a home to secret identities was lined up.

All Arthur had to do was unplug the connection from the Lost and Found Soulbank to the Soulstone. It would take 30 minutes before any sensors would go off, and by then, everyone gaining back their Soulbound items would start causing children's laughter and wishes to overpower the soulstone, allowing it to go back online. Arthur and Arabel knew it would be years before they would be welcomed back. Even though what they were doing was for a good cause, it was still illegal to do. He and Arabel felt it would bring them back the ability to have children, as Arthur was part human.

Arthur was the last one to leave the building. Being bumped up to the lead Inventory Processor allowed him certain security accesses that even his wife didn’t have access to in her high position.

After checking that he was the last one left, he slowly walked over the connection, noting that if security came in, he could easily say there was a malfunction, and he had to “reboot” the system. It was known to happen after all.

Arthur, however, was pleasantly lucky. He simply unplugged the line and turned off the lights. And walked out.