Chapter 138: A Matter of Priorities
Simon reached up and rubbed his eyes in frustration. “Fucking politics, man,” he groaned to himself.
He sat up and unconsciously rubbed his throat as he tried to figure out what their deal was, but sadly, he hadn’t even paid enough attention when they’d introduced themselves to remember the names of the people who had killed him this time. He’d walked into the conversation expecting some additional political maneuvering or perhaps an increased tax levy, and instead, he’d been assassinated.
“Why would they bother to kill me?” he wondered aloud, but he had no answers. His mind started to race with secret conspiracies and secret, shadowy forces that were secretly opposed to his efforts, but all that faded away as soon as he stood and felt how much heavier he was than he’d been only a moment ago.
“Damn it,” he cursed softly. On the bright side, he didn’t feel old or tired anymore, but that was hardly a win since now he needed to drop fifty pounds of lard and gain thirty or forty pounds of muscle all over again. He considered that but pushed it aside. More important things needed to be done first.
“Mirror, is the ship level still accessible?” Simon demanded.
The mirror instantly sprang to life and asked, ‘Could you be more specific in your request? Many floors of the Pit contain ships.’
“Oh, for fuck's sake…” Simon sighed, counting the floors off on his fingers. “Level 23, the level I was just at. Is it still accessible?”
‘It is not,’ the mirror typed, ‘That level is currently completed and not required to be repeated.’
“Well, at least there’s that,” Simon smiled as he reached for the wine. “What about levels 24, 26, 27 and... You know what… just show me the list of levels that are currently accessible, please.”