The Postmortal

John arrives at a garage in Virginia to meet with Matt and Bruce, men who have recently been approved to begin an end specialization business. They escort him to a back office, where they look over his resume and note that he has not worked in nearly 30 years. John is interviewing to become an “end specialist consultant” and claims that he wants to help people die “on their own terms” (181). Matt warns John about some of the dangers of being an end specialist, and then describes the job’s necessities: verifying the client’s cure date, getting them established with a final will and testament, and exit interviews sent to the Department of Containment for immediate approval. Once approved, the government takes liability for the death, their coworker Ernie administers the drugs, and the family gets a tax rebate and insurance money.

Matt describes the methods by which they assist clients with suicide, then emphasizes the importance of being impartial while performing exit interviews. John pays him for the Department of Containment’s end specialization course. Matt references the inevitable legalization of “hard end specialization,” in which the government will determine if people should die. He sends John to perform his first end with Ernie in tow.