Umi

About her death and being a zombie

Umi doesn't remember anything before her death, not even her name. She was found dead at the shore on a cold winter night. Soaked by the sea, she froze to death. Apparently she was found lying on her back with a peaceful expression. As she learned about the cause of her death she chose the name Umi for herself.

The circumstances of her death and cold weather left her body in a pristine condition. This made her suitable for an experimental zombie program. Sadly no documents were found on her. Her body was put on ice. After weeks of not being able to identify her, the zombification process was performed. She is very indifferent about being a zombie. Being undead is better than being dead, probably.

Her body needs constant maintenance. Damage done can never be undone. Nevertheless, she doesn't want others to worry and downplays any incident that causes wounds to her. No pain, no harm done. That’s her reasoning. She takes care of smaller things herself, but has to visit a professional from time to time or for bigger accidents. Asking somebody for help in this matter is very embarrassing for her. If she ever asks you to help her with sewing her up, congratulations! You made it to the innermost circle.

Being dead also means that hair doesn’t grow. Every hair that falls out is lost forever. She dyed her hair purple for two reasons. Firstly she likes the color and secondly it’s easier to add replacement hair if everything is dyed to the same color beforehand. In the beginning she used synthetic hair, as she was convinced that real hair is wasted on her. In the meantime her best friend has grown out her hair, just to be able to donate a strand whenever Umi needs some.

Over the years many parts of her body had to be replaced. She emphasizes that this does not involve 'salvaging fresh graves in the cemetery' or anything like that. She is very sensitive about this topic and isn't very fond of talking about the details.

She is not a smelly zombie. Although she doesn't sweat she is very eager to keep her body clean. In addition she has to use special products to take care of her body. Sunlight is no issue in theory, but she isn’t a fan of the brightness.

To this day her old identity could not be figured out. It is also unclear if she has any living relatives. She isn't sad about it. Quite the contrary, she is actually quite happy about this. Having a family she doesn't even remember would break her heart.

Hobbies and work

She is fascinated by the night sky. Watching stars and planets is her biggest joy. Even she doesn't know why. Just because they are pretty? Or is it because it was the last thing she saw? Sometimes she has the feeling that a part of her is somewhere out there.

Umi found work at an observatory. She is no researcher and can only do grunt work, but she doesn't care. Being a step closer to her beloved stars is all she needs to be happy. She established herself as 'the good fairy' of the observatory. Don't call her a mascot. This will make her sad.

You should be careful if she offers you a cup of coffee. She makes coffee that literally wakes up the dead. The situation is dire when someone asks voluntarily for a cup of her special brew. 

One of her few joys besides stars are earrings. She has quite the collection. Her favorites look like planets, but she has others like lightnings or skulls. She insists on the fact that her earrings influence her capabilities. For example, lightning makes her more energetic. Her coworkers can't confirm that. No matter the earrings, she is always sleepy.

Quirks and personality

She always matches her panites with her earrings. Apart from that she doesn't like to wear bottoms. She can’t put it into words, but wearing pants or skirts make her feel uncomfortable. To avoid unnecessary trouble she usually wears oversized shirts and sweaters that cover the ‘problematic areas’. Although she doesn't understand why some of her coworkers are getting flustered by that. Who would get hot over the undies of a zombie? She doesn't care about anyone seeing them. Besides, where is the point in having cute matching underwear if nobody sees them?

She is the definition of a sleepy head. She can nap any place, any time. You should be aware of her misleading use of the word 'nap'. Others sleep less at night than she does during a single nap. If this is a side effect of her being a zombie or if she just enjoys it, nobody knows. Sometimes she even manages to fall back into sleep directly after standing up in a very literal sense. She can sleep standing.

During her sleep she has surprisingly good ideas for her work. Nevertheless she prefers to dream about stars and planets. Wherever she dreams about Pluto she is feeling chipper all day.

Speaking of Pluto, it's her favorite planet. Did you hear that? PLANET. Never call it anything else while she is in earshot. She absolutely adores this little fella. Disrespecting her friend might lead to physical punishment in the form of a hard smack on the head. In addition, your standing in her books will drop drastically.

Once the head researcher of the observatory tried to argue with her about this topic and wanted her to face scientific reality. After a heated argument she ignored him for a full week, until he sincerely apologized and gifted her an adorable Pluto plushy (by the way, he had to apologize to Pluto, not her. And yes, even he got smacked).

Social life

Umi doesn't think that she will ever have a romantic relationship. Who would love a zombie? This doubt makes her dense regarding any advances. She is totally unaware of the fact that more than one person is sincerely interested in her. 

She is friendly with many, but considers only a few as really close friends. She likes to be cuddly with her best friend. Fortunately her best friend is on board with that. During the summer heat she practically lives in Umi’s flat. There is no better way to sleep on a hot night than hugging a refrigerator. Sadly the opposite applies for winter months. To be able to stay over during cold nights, she has a secret weapon: Thick alpaca wool pajamas as well as socks and gloves. Sleeping like that might be weird, but it’s a small price to make Umi happy.