[b]Canada![/b]

Gasps. Stunned, horrified silence. The banner in front of your face drops and you catch a glimpse of the sun glinting on Shamash’s armor. You have mouthed off to a god, and that makes you mighty. And maybe mighty dead.

Then Shamash just keeps laughing, and the Huntsman of Caphtor joins in nervously, and so does everyone else. [b]”Ah,”[/b] Shamash says. [b]”I will keep you. Imagine killing such a funny creature!”[/b]

——

The meal is ridiculously extravagant. You sit at the right hand of a god, who isn’t eating at all. Instead, food is being cooked in front of him, filling the air with the tantalizing aromas of cooking meat and spices.

You have some sort of crab drop soup. It is very unclear whether you are meant to eat the crustacean or it’s an inedible flavor additive. Ditto on the beaks filled with stuffing on the side.

Below the dais, worshippers shuffle in and out. Few Annunaki grovel here; instead, their slaves bring gifts and offer prayers of praise in their stead. No one dares look up at you, and the feast hall feels more like a cathedral in the middle of some very particularly sacred festival to a portentous saint.

It is begging for you to make a scene.

***

[b]Anathet![/b]

Escape? Actually pretty easy. Duck behind the statue of the Dying Lynx-warrior. Wait until the sweep has passed you by. Duck out, stun the light guard on the door, leg it. Lose your pursuit in the upper gallery. Effortless.

No, the real danger is that without any explanation offered, the Annunaki will be on high alert moving forward. This little incident will make them take further measures to stop you and any other psychics who might be in the city. If there were some way you could convince them it was natural or otherwise a simple accident, maybe relating to some trophy they had on display here...

***

[b]Daisy![/b]

Your heart hammers wildly in your chest out of a wild, terrified thrill. The words are stumbling out of you as you stumble forward on your hands and knees, your head level with the dangling slaver.

“I want you to do this to Abdi ab-Shamash, she’s from the House of Morning Falcons. And to Geba, her vicious sister. And to Lazaari, their Thornback. I want you to make them terrified and beg for mercy like they make us. I want you to leave them in the dark bound and gagged and wondering what you’re going to do to them next. Please. What do I need to do? Whatever you want.”

Even as you say it, you flinch. Did you offer the devil your soul? It’s quite possible. But right now, seeing the squirming Annunaki... you reach out and smack her cheek, once, thrilling as she squeaks indignantly. You want more. You want a cane and room to [i]swing.[/i] No worse than what they’ve done to [i]you[/i] and far more justified.