Another murder? Okay, I can work with that. “It was a leg injury, right?”

“That is correct,” Buddie said.

“Can you heal his injury. I want him back to his prime.”

There was a short pause before Buddie spoke again. “That can be done. But, he will return to his injured state should he manage to survive.”

“I’m fine with that.”

Okay, I've got something I can use there, but what should I do for the trap? “Would you say that he believed that he was better than his brother? And that he deserved all of the attention that his brother got?”

“Yes, he was incredibly jealous of his brother’s success and believed that all of the attention would have been on him if he wasn’t injured.”

I should play on his jealousy then. I need to give him the chance to go either way, to either double down or make it up to his brother in some way.

“Is it possible to get his brother in on this instead of an actor?”

Once again, Buddie went silent, but this time for even longer. “You are making me do a lot of work here, but that can be done. You will have to wait longer for everything to go through the process.”

“I’m fine with that.” Ed leant back in his chair stretching.

Zara had already gone back to make dinner, so he was alone at their table. Looking around, he found that most of the office was empty, with only a few other people still working at this hour.

That meeting really took forever. I hope I don’t have to go through that again anytime soon. In fact, I just don’t want to do this whole thing ever again. It’s been too exhausting. I hope Buddie just let’s me do my regular job from now on.

He sat there for a while, thinking about what he would do, before deciding on being a little nice to the man. I wonder if anyone here knows how to play basketball? Or maybe they’ll pick up the game quickly enough. I’m sure with their abilities that they’ll be able to play at his level.

“I want to give him a chance to play basketball again. Put him on the same team as his brother.”

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“That can be done, what’s the condition for his survival?” Buddie asked.

“Make it that he has to assist his brother into getting the most points in the game. He has to play the supporting role and can’t outperform his brother if he wants to survive. If he scores more points for his team, even if they lose, he will die.”

Ed quickly built a basketball court and added enough people in for a game, including a large crowd of people to watch and cheer. After making sure everything was in order, he got out of his seat.

“That’s everything. You can get to work on everything. Let me know when it’s done. Also let me know when the actors are ready and when his brother gets here, I want to talk with all of them.”

“That will be done. Also, you will receive your reward after you show everyone around tomorrow. You are free to go for now.”

My reward? So I do actually get something from all of this. Hopefully he’ll unfreeze my account. I don’t even care if he gives me anything else. I’ll just take that.

Ed quickly left the office and went back home just in time for Zara to put the food on the table. They were having chicken tenders with french fries and salad.

“Thanks. I’ll cook tomorrow to make it up to you.”

“That’s fine, you don’t need to do that. I know that you’ve been busier than me. Just let me handle it,” she said as she sat down at the table across from him.

“I insist. I’ll be done with all of this after tomorrow, so just let me do it.”

“Okay.”

The two continued to talk about their days as they ate.

“I’ll be showing all of them around tomorrow morning, do you want to join me?”

“Sure, that could be fun.”

The two finished eating and then snuggled on the couch for a while before Buddie interrupted them.

“The actors are ready and waiting for you in a meeting room, feel free to go to them when you are ready. You will however have to wait a while longer for his brother, as we are still discussing things with heaven at the moment,” Buddie said.

“That’s fair. Let me know when he does get through.” Ed got out of his seat and readied himself to leave. He turned around to Zara, a tired smile on his face. “I’ve got a bit more work to do. I’ll be back soon.”

“Have fun.”

Ed left, entering the office before turning right back around and using the door to enter the preset meeting room.

The meeting room this time was massive, more akin to the hall he was in earlier than a traditional meeting room. There were enough people for both teams, including substitutes, as well as a massive group of people that would act as the audience.

The players were easy enough to see, as they were wearing their gear and were grouped together in their teams, a distance away from the audience. The players were sitting there in a circle, each reading from a booklet.

That’s probably a rule book they’re reading. I hope they can get used to the game before they have to play, otherwise things may get a little difficult for them.

“Everyone stop what you’re doing for a moment.” Ed called out to the players, getting their attention.

The room went silent as everyone, including the audience members, turned to face him. Ed felt very weird having that many people look at him, but he handled it just fine.

“I just need to talk to the players, the rest of you can go back to what you were doing.”