unfinished-business
Original: unfinished-business on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A ghostly, translucent man (the deceased employee) stands before a woman in a green jacket.
Ghost: I have returned! Returned because of... UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
Panel 2: A mustached man in glasses and a suit sits at a desk with an old computer monitor.
Mustached man: Oh, good. We haven't cleaned out your cube yet.
Panel 3: Close on the woman's face; the green-tinted ghost stands beside her.
Woman: When did you die?
Ghost: Two weeks ago.
Woman: Huh.
Panel 4: The mustached man stands holding a sheet of paper; the ghost faces a desk.
Mustached man: Funny. Everything on your desk is marked urgent, but nobody noticed your absence.
Panel 5: The mustached man stands at left; the ghost sits at the desk in front of a monitor.
Ghost: Yeah, okay, well whatever. I'm moving beyond eternity, so there.
Mustached man: Yeah. Fine then.
Panel 6: Extreme close-up on the mustached man's face, looking weary, against a red background.
Panel 7: The woman and the mustached man stand together against a red background, speaking to someone offscreen.
Woman: And he STILL doesn't realize he's in hell?
Mustached man: I don't know what else we can do to him!
Panel 8: Close-up of the ghost employee's calm green face against a teal background.
Votey:
Close-up of the woman's face. She speaks in a thought/speech bubble.
Woman: He doesn't care about his own happiness. Is he some kind of Zen master?
Ghost: I have returned! Returned because of... UNFINISHED BUSINESS.
Panel 2: A mustached man in glasses and a suit sits at a desk with an old computer monitor.
Mustached man: Oh, good. We haven't cleaned out your cube yet.
Panel 3: Close on the woman's face; the green-tinted ghost stands beside her.
Woman: When did you die?
Ghost: Two weeks ago.
Woman: Huh.
Panel 4: The mustached man stands holding a sheet of paper; the ghost faces a desk.
Mustached man: Funny. Everything on your desk is marked urgent, but nobody noticed your absence.
Panel 5: The mustached man stands at left; the ghost sits at the desk in front of a monitor.
Ghost: Yeah, okay, well whatever. I'm moving beyond eternity, so there.
Mustached man: Yeah. Fine then.
Panel 6: Extreme close-up on the mustached man's face, looking weary, against a red background.
Panel 7: The woman and the mustached man stand together against a red background, speaking to someone offscreen.
Woman: And he STILL doesn't realize he's in hell?
Mustached man: I don't know what else we can do to him!
Panel 8: Close-up of the ghost employee's calm green face against a teal background.
Votey:
Close-up of the woman's face. She speaks in a thought/speech bubble.
Woman: He doesn't care about his own happiness. Is he some kind of Zen master?
Alt text
An eight-panel SMBC comic. A translucent ghost of a dead office worker returns to his workplace declaring he has 'unfinished business.' A mustached coworker in a suit replies, 'Oh, good. We haven't cleaned out your cube yet.' A woman asks when he died; the ghost says two weeks ago, and she responds with a flat 'Huh.' The mustached man notes that everything on the ghost's desk is marked urgent, yet nobody noticed his absence. Annoyed, the ghost declares, 'I'm moving beyond eternity, so there,' and the man says 'Yeah. Fine then.' The final panels, on a red background, reveal the woman and man are demons: she asks, 'And he STILL doesn't realize he's in hell?' and he answers, 'I don't know what else we can do to him!' The last panel shows the oblivious ghost's calm face. The joke: an office is so soul-crushing that being trapped there is literally hell, but the workaholic can't tell the difference. Votey: A close-up of the woman demon musing, 'He doesn't care about his own happiness. Is he some kind of Zen master?'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.