“Are you okay?” Clarissa asked me.

“I should be asking you that,” I replied as I sat in her office. She gave me a grim smile.

“I am hanging in there. This has been a complete and utter disaster. At least you are alive. If you had died, then this would be over,” she said, and I frowned at that.

“Don’t say that,” I said and she gave me a surprised look. “Don’t say that it will be all over if I die. This entire situation doesn’t add up. The sphere is just strong enough to give us hope. I can defeat the golems. I escaped. It made me question if all of this is real or just centered around me in some long term delusion.” Clarissa was silent at this confession. It was bugging me quite a bit and still getting under my skin.

“I feel like I am real, but that isn’t answer. Earth could have been a simulation as well. All we can do is make the post of what is in front of us. There would be no way to prove if I am a figment of your imagination?” Clarissa asked me and I shook my head.

“No. It is probably be being tired and getting beat up. But there are just too many questions about this place. How everything has lined up so well for me. I don’t believe in luck or coincidences, but there are things that make me question this. The fact I felt so confident and just got a meta-point and then bang, sphere to challenge me,” I replied.

“You decided to go after the monster. And while the dates are close they don’t line up perfectly,” Clarissa said.

“But I got a meta-point even with other people assisting me? The Avatar is knocked out the one time she could be useful? The Almighty System isn’t acting right now? These little things could be ignored before, but what is really making me question everything is the strength of the sphere and the golems it was commanding,” I replied. Its behavior could be written off as a weird quirk or something, but its strength was what was bothering me.

“It could be conserving energy or trying to keep a low profile. We have no idea how the System operates. Sure there is speculation, but does it have a physical location? Is there a long range proxy battle going on between the sphere and the System?” Clarissa asked.

“There are alternative explanations, don’t get me wrong. And they might even be confirmed. But there are just a lot of coincidences.” Ever since the Astrologer I had been more on edge of plots or things I didn’t understand happening around me. While there had never been a serious concern before, now there was.

It was all pointless speculation and worry. It didn’t help the situation, but I just felt like I was falling into some kind of trap and I didn’t know what that trap was. As much as I wanted to believe everything was real and there were good explanations for things, I just felt so off kilter at the moment.

Clarissa got up and walked over towards me. She then stuck a finger up my nose. What the hell? I quickly fell backwards off the chair I was sitting on. “What the hell?!” I asked and Clarissa gave me a look.

“Were you expecting that? Did you ever imagine something like that could happen?” she asked me.

“Well played,” I replied with a smile and we both took our seats again. I would have never expected that in a million years and it was a shock for her to just walk up and put her finger in my nose.

“I saw my friend do that once at a party in college. We are all real. I am real. And I am counting on you Michael. There is no one else. I don’t believe for a second that we can escape this place alive across the void. And while there might be something more after death, I do not believe so,” Clarissa said.

“I won’t quit or give up,” I promised and she nodded.

“Good, because if I have to go through all this headache to keep this Empire togeather and then you die, I will literally bring you back so I can yell at you,” Clarissa said.

“Don’t worry, I hate paperwork. And I would just murder my way through the bureaucracy to get anything done,” I replied, and Clarissa nodded at that.

“As for the coincidences, things happen. Perhaps the System only has so many meta-points it can give out. Perhaps the sphere was just biding its time to heal up and gather power. Regardless, we need to stop it and then ask questions when everything isn’t falling apart. Survival first, existential crisis afterwards,” Clarissa said.

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“I should name you Supreme Therapist,” I replied with a smile.

“While we might have our differences, I am your friend, and also co-worker. This entire thing we have going only works if both of us are here. I know I have been struggling lately, but it is just frustrating that I can’t do anything. With all my power, resources, and knowledge, I am helpless, waiting for you to save me,” she said.

“I’m sorry,” I honestly replied and she shook her head.

“It is not your fault. But after the Divine Empress, I vowed never to be at the whims of fate again. I am sure you did that as well long ago. You don’t want someone else deciding if you live or die. And while I trust you, I don’t want to depend on you to get me out of a crisis. If I do, then what is the point of even having a society beyond shoveling you crystals and a support structure?” Clarissa asked.

“I think I understand. I don’t know what I can do to help,” I said.

“It is not your fault, it is the fault of this place. But if this crisis isn’t resolved with the next attempt in 44 days, then the Empire of Purgatory is over,” Clarissa said.

“Over, really?” I asked.

“That is the stretching the limit that the city can hold out with the shields it has. If your attempt fails, the entire City of Purgatory will be lost, if it hasn’t already been lost. I am exhausted trying to keep everything running, while it all burns down,” Clarissa said.

“I will stop it, and give everything I have to do that. We have a good plan,” I replied.

“It sounds good, but this isn’t an opponent you have faced before. It isn’t human. And while I know you won’t give any quarter, don’t make assumptions either,” Clarissa said.

“I won’t,” I replied.

“There is another option I didn’t want to bring up. You can clear the towers and try and get enough votes,” Clarissa suggested. That was a possibility.

“I could. Also poke a that dark doorway in a level 7 zone. I don’t know if I want to do that,” I replied.

“It might be a good idea. I know you don’t want to lose your skill upgrades, but it is important your skills do damage. Maybe your beam attacks?” Clarissa asked me.

“Maybe. But they work, kind of. I thought I was clever increasing my stat points, but I really needed better skills,” I complained.

“And you barely survived. You made a good choice with the meta-point you got. What is important now, is finding a counter,” Clarissa said.

“Too bad there isn’t an energy counter.” I knew Jacob had been looking for one, but he hadn’t made much progress.

“He is trying and your energy samples might give him some more insight, to create just the right combination to give us an advantage. While he might be a horrible person, he is a genius. You don’t make a screaming throne and keep it alive by not being super intelligent,” Clarissa said.

“At least the Divine Empress was human and I could work around that. Well, I suppose I have moped around enough. Thanks for talking with me Clarissa,” I said.

“Any time. And if you feel existential angst ever again, I will disabuse you of that notion completely,” she said with a smile and I chuckled. Her finger up my nose. I would have never thought of that. It was just so stupid and unexpected. If this was all an illusion tailored around me, there was another intelligence out there. A human intelligence. I couldn’t imagine an alien or robot or system coming up with the idea of just suddenly putting a finger up my nose.

I got up and left. I would have a good meal and sleep first before I left. I was worn down, but at least I wasn’t having a crisis any longer. “Um, Emperor Michael,” I turned to see Samantha my personal assistant.

“Yes Samantha?” I asked.

“Is there anything I can get you?” she asked me.

“A good meal and a place to sleep before I head out,” I replied. She ordered a nearby soldier to go to the kitchen while she showed me to my room.

“Anything you can share?” Samantha asked me.

“It will take time unfortunately. There are plans in place, but they will take a lot of points and time. I know we are short on time, but you can pass along word that I am doing everything I can and the people in Purgatory might still be alive,” I said.

“That is good, and thank you,” she said.

“Hmm, how bad is the panic?” I asked. I had seen a bit arriving in the city, but I had pretty quickly traveled to the plaza through the air with my skill.

“Not good. People have hope, but there is a lot of fear, but no unrest,” Samantha explained.

“Good. That is good. Perhaps I will say a few words to the public before I leave. Give people some hope about the situation,” I said.

“That would go a long way to calming down the populace. There are some rumors that you were heavily injured and possibly killed,” Samantha said.

“Injured yes. Killed, I hope not. But I will tell the truth of the situation tomorrow. I have no idea when I will be up, but you can spread word. I will give a speech before my departure. I need an airboat made ready with supplies as well,” I added.

“I will see to it. Any idea how long?” she asked.

“Sixty days to be on the safe side, just me,” I explained.

“It will be ready once you wake up. This is your room. I am sorry, something better wasn’t prepared,” Samantha said.

“It has a shower and a bed, it is fine,” I said as a soldier brought a tray of what appeared to be tacos over. I didn’t know I had a craving for tacos until that moment.

“On the table, please.” Once everyone left, I locked the room and then ate. After that I got a shower and collapsed into bed. I wiggled my left foot. It felt off and itched a bit along with my eye. I hated losing body parts. They just felt weird afterwards. Hopefully tomorrow, things would start making more sense.