"What a dilemma! A moment of difficult choices, my friend."

Brown's cheerful voice echoed in my ears.

"So, Soleum, you’ve got only ten passes in hand, but there are forty-five unfortunate candidates who will suffer unspeakable agony on that altar of rotten flesh."

"What criteria will you use to pick the forty-five sacrifices? And among them, how will you choose the ten dramatic exceptions?"

"A trial? A vote? A selection process? A lottery? Ah, no matter the choice, it all seems terribly tragic…"

Brown’s voice rose with excitement.

"But isn’t the heart-pounding tension, the pressure, the immersion, the sigh of …