{"id":12801,"date":"2017-12-04T11:15:59","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T11:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fictitiousbooks.com\/?p=12801"},"modified":"2026-10-07T13:18:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-07T13:18:42","slug":"time-to-suffer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fictitiousbooks.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/04\/time-to-suffer\/","title":{"rendered":"Time To Suffer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Solitanu's<\/p>\n

Time to Suffer, Time to Die – Killer Ball<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s a logic and cunning to the actions of the Anticlock leaders. Take the latest crackpot scheme that they\u2019ve devised to entertain their citizens: Killer Ball. These Killer Ball `games\u2019 are now part of our daily life. The Globopolis authorities seem to have become obsessed recently by the gladiatorial killings of the Roman Empire. I\u2019m beginning to think that they see themselves as the heirs to the emperors Caligula and Nero. They like the idea of appealing to our base instincts and keeping us entertained by bloody circuses. That’s why they’ve invented the populist slogan `Time to Suffer, Time to Die’.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As part of our civic duties we\u2019re expected to show willing. Even though we\u2019re only obliged to attend these barbarous events in person once per year, we\u2019re actively encouraged to watch them on TV. They\u2019re broadcast live every Saturday and are replayed endlessly on all the state TV channels throughout the following week. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Twenty purpose-built colosseums have sprung up inside the city, each holding about 100,000 spectators. Killer Ball matches take place at night and are preceded by spectacular firework and laser-music displays. \"TimeAll the action is projected on to gigantic screens both inside and outside the stadium. So even casual passers-by cannot fail to see exactly what\u2019s going on in the arena. The matches are even shown on the TV screens in the reception area of Infinity. So there\u2019s no way of avoiding them. I have to admit that I was shocked the first time I saw them. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Like most games the rules are banal. The only objective is to finish up with winners and losers. The ritual never varies. There\u2019s a chilling predictability about the whole affair. Two teams, each consisting of ten players, strain every muscle to win the game. Their lives depend on it. Since the Anticlocks believe in equality of opportunity, both men and women are eligible to play. To differentiate them, the teams wear red and blue shirts clearly marked with numbers 1-10. And there is one luminous green ball – the killer ball.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The blue team comprises ten convicted prisoners all sentenced to life imprisonment for anti-state activities. The charges against them are almost certainly trumped up but that is of little consequence for the purpose of the game. The red team in contrast is composed of professional athletes, all fervent supporters of the Anticlock regime.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Killer Ball games last 60 minutes – 30 minutes each way with a 15 minute intermission at half-time. The aim is to drive the killer ball as many times as possible into the net of the opposing team. The team with the most killer goals at the end of the match is declared the winner. Simple, wouldn\u2019t you think?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But that\u2019s not the end of the affair. As soon as the game is concluded with an inevitable win for the red team of fervent Anticlocks, the crowd starts chanting in frenetic unison: `Time to Suffer! Time to Suffer! Time to Suffer!\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

In front of the spectators\u2019 seats there are electronic voting machines: each spectator must select three of the losing \"Timeplayers to be punished\u00a0as a retribution for losing the game. The results are quickly flashed up on the screens to roars of approval. Last night players 5, 6 and 10 of the blue team were publicly punished for their shortcomings.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The punishments are of course highly symbolic. One player had his tongue cut out to stop him speaking ill of the Empire. Another had her eyes gouged out to stop her casting suspicious looks at the Snoops. The third had both his hands lopped off to stop him writing seditious leaflets about Anticlockwise. The crowd went wild at the sight of blood.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

But all this was still only a prelude to the main event. Barely had the broken bodies of the blue team players been dragged from the arena than the crowd began baying again, only this time more insistently and with much more purpose: `Die! Die! Die!\u2019<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

High up above the crowd a dozen booming loudspeakers announced to terrifying effect that this was the moment they\u2019d all been waiting for: `Time To Die! Time To Die!’<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A huge flashing wire-mesh ball descended from the roof of the stadium to the sound of reverberating drum rolls. Inside the ball were 100 red cubes with white numbers inscribed on them: 10 for each player of the winning team. The wire-mesh ball gyrated for several minutes and eventually spewed out one red cube. Last night\u2019s lucky number was 7.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Player number 7 had been selected for star status. The reward for being selected was to be sacrificed to the Spirit of Anticlockwise. She showed no fear or trepidation when her number was announced. She\u2019d volunteered for this task. She saw no greater honour than to be sacrificed for her unswerving belief in the Anticlockwise Empire. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Within a matter of seconds, she was beheaded. Her heart was cut out and displayed to the Spirit as the ultimate sacrifice. The spectators were sent into a paroxysm of sadistic joy at the sight of this courageous warrior making the ultimate sacrifice for what she believed in.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

What kind of a mad-house have I ended up in where ordinary citizens are unjustly imprisoned, where they\u2019re forced to perform mindless games before being tortured in front of a howling mob? What perverted society am I imprisoned in where the brainwashed zealots of a fanatical regime can see no greater honour than to surrender their lives in a brutal and public display of allegiance and self-annihilation?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u00a0must escape from this lunatic asylum before it destroys my soul.<\/span><\/span>
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Zeb Solitanu<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Time\u00a9 Zeb Solitanu<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Zeb Solitanu sketch by Jill<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anticlockwise Journal<\/a> – a compilation of Solitanu’s Blog posts – is on sale at Amazon<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Learn more about Blog Fiction<\/a> – follow Zeb Solitanu at Anticlockwise<\/a> and SpirianA <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Explore the full range of Fictitious Books at fibs<\/a>, ZSol<\/a> and Essays<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Anticlockwise<\/p>\n

\"Solitanu's<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time to Suffer, Time to Die – Killer Ball There\u2019s a logic and cunning to the actions of the Anticlock leaders. Take the latest crackpot scheme that they\u2019ve devised to entertain their citizens: Killer Ball. These Killer Ball `games\u2019 are now part of our daily life. The Globopolis authorities seem to have become obsessed recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"two_page_speed":[],"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["bg-stuff"],"yoast_head":"\nTime to Suffer, Time to Die<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Time to Suffer, Time to Die - Killer Ball The Ultimate Sacrifice. 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I accept science\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anticlockwise"","block_context":{"text":"Anticlockwise","link":"https:\/\/fictitiousbooks.com\/index.php\/category\/anticlockwise\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solitanu's Blog - Fictitious Books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12798,"url":"https:\/\/fictitiousbooks.com\/index.php\/2018\/03\/10\/the-berriana-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":12801,"position":1},"title":"The Berriana Story","author":"Zeb Solitanu","date":"10 March 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The Berriana Story: An Illegal Immigrant on Outer Neblus Th Berriana Story is a classic example of how important this blog has become to me. 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I knew that things had taken a turn for the worse when the Anticlock authorities began talking about the Great Wall. They made the announcement on a specially arranged TV broadcast to the nation. 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The more often you hear the same thing, the more plausible it becomes.' I came to realise how true that was the other night when I caught myself staring distractedly at a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anticlockwise"","block_context":{"text":"Anticlockwise","link":"https:\/\/fictitiousbooks.com\/index.php\/category\/anticlockwise\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Solitanu's Blog - Fictitious Books","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fictitiousbooks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Solitanus-Blog.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12791,"url":"https:\/\/fictitiousbooks.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/21\/you-only-die-twice\/","url_meta":{"origin":12801,"position":4},"title":"You Only Die Twice","author":"Zeb Solitanu","date":"21 September 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"You Only Die Twice: Epitaph to a Friend `You only die twice' is an expression that has come to haunt me. When the Anticlocks seized power, they cut me off from my life in Safronika. 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We sleepwalked into disaster. How could we have been so stupid? They were smart operators of course. But that\u2019s no excuse and there\u2019s no point in whining about it now. 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