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Mason says, “Alphabet soup as dear old Dad used to say.”
“I win. You answer my question.”
“Of course.”
“Where’s Candy?”
“I honestly have no idea.”
“Stark,” says Julie, a warning tone in her voice. I don’t get up and I don’t try to hit Mason.
“You had something to do with her getting sick.”
“Me? No. Possibly some of my associates.”
“Why?”
Mason slams down his fists.
“Because fuck you, that’s why. Because you cheated, and putting a bullet in my head really hurt. And because in the Infinite Game there are no rules and there are infinite rules. That’s why it’s so fun.”
“If anything happens to her . . .”
“What? You’ll kill me? Stop it. We both know if you were going to kill me you’d have done it already. No. You’re still here because you want to play the game.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
“Because unlike that gabby mummy no doubt listening to us right now—hello, Mr. Shonin—I know exactly how the Qomrama works and I’ll teach you. But you have to play my games and, of course, you have to win.”
“The Vigil has all kinds of funny technology. I bet they have some kind of brain sucker around here. What’s to keep them from hooking you up and downloading you into a Tamagotchi?”
Mason’s face brightens.
“You have one of those? Neat. I’d love to see it.”
“You didn’t answer the question.”
He drums his fingers on the table a couple of times.
“If the machine exists it wouldn’t work on me for the same reason it wouldn’t work on you. We wouldn’t let it. Do you really think these Keystone Cops have anything that could hurt people like us? You ruled the Underworld. I escaped Tartarus. Their magic can’t touch ours.”
“You didn’t escape Tartarus. Someone broke you out. Merihim and Deumos or some of their people.”
“They cracked open the door but I’m the one who did the heavy lifting, like when you first made it out of Hell.”
“So this is how we figure out the fate of the universe? Poker?”
“Of course not. That was nothing. That wasn’t even the appetizer before dinner. It was just to see if I should invite you for a full meal.”
“Should you?”
“Do you want to know how the Qomrama works?”
“The Shonin will figure it out.”
“Not in time.”
“How do I know you know anything?”
