Masters of Death

Volos starts the game with a memory of Brandt and Fox sitting by a river. Brandt stares at Fox lovingly. The scene shifts to Fox staring at a reflection of himself and repeating the words, “I would not have gambled you” (531). Fox finally understands that if he loses the game, he will lose Brandt. He remembers Brandt telling him that people play the game because they want more out of life. Volos tells him that he sacrificed Brandt to win the game despite saying that he would never do that, which makes him a liar. Fox remembers what Brandt told him about Volos inhabiting a mortal’s body, and he asks Volos how the person whose skin he inhabits feels about things. Volos tells him that this question means nothing, but Fox asks the skin of Tom Parker I how he feels about the game again.

In 1865, Tom Parker I talks to another soldier about his plans to marry Betsy, the girl next door. He tells the soldier that he would like to speak to Death about the purpose of war. The soldier says that he heard there was a medium in Chicago who could contact Death.