《A Day in the Life of a Babylonian》 Morning A Day in the Life of a Babylonian Year 6 of the reign of empress Lim-Kiririsha, 9th day of the month of Tishritum Neriglissar Shamashegertu woke up at the third hour of the day, the 9th day of the month, as his alarm clock activated and started playing a Hurrian hymn right next to him on the bed. This clock was quite a new invention, first created a year ago in Uruk, and spread all over Babylonia, including the Shamashegertu household in Babylon, as well as other countries of the Eastern Coalition. It was a sand clock with many compartments of sand, of which the desired number could be released in the evening so that the sequence would be finished on the appropriate time in the morning. At that moment, the clock would trigger a pressure plate beneath itself, attached by strings to a lyre, so that the instrument would play the desired song, configured beforehand by the placement of the strings. Neriglissar was used to this process and so got out of bed and turned off the alarm by moving the sand clock from the pressure plate. He went to the bathroom, where he relieved himself, brushed his teeth, and quickly washed himself by way of the Babylonian water supply system, before returning back to the bedroom and dressing himself in his work clothes ¨C a loincloth, sandals, and a belted white knee-length cotton tunic with some blue ornaments, with the Made in Assyria tag still attached to the garment. Many of his coworkers instead wore a waist long shirt and pants, but Neriglissar considered that to be a barbarian style and so continued dressing according to this older Babylonian fashion style. After getting dressed, Neriglissar went to the kitchen on the opposite side of the apartment, where his wife Beletsunu was preparing breakfast. The table had plenty of food on it, including fruits like grapes, figs, and melons, some bread, cheese, ham, and various pastries. There was also a jug of Babylonian beer, as well as one of wine. ¡°Good morning,¡± Beletsunu greeted him. ¡°Slept well?¡± ¡°Morning,¡± Neriglissar said as he sat down at the table. ¡°Indeed, it was a good sleep. Didn¡¯t even have any dreams about Assyrian terrorists this time, imagine that!¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad to hear that.¡± ¡°Oh, I see you got my favorite donuts,¡± he said as he poured himself a glass of beer and took one donut. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Yes, I managed to get some today at Dumuzid¡¯s before they got bought out.¡± ¡°Mmm, these are delicious. Wish they would bake more of them, because everyone wants this stuff. But I guess they know that ¨C restrict the supply and you can increase the prices and make sure people are lining up at the bakeries from the earliest hours.¡± ¡°Guess so. What do you want for dinner today?¡± she sat down to eat with him. ¡°I don¡¯t know yet. I guess a steak, can never go wrong with that.¡± ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll pick one up at the market on my way back then.¡± ¡°You going to the office today as well?¡± ¡°Only for half a shift. My friend had some business and asked me to cover for her for a few hours. I agreed so I will be going to work for a bit, but she will cover for me for a day when I need it.¡± ¡°Sounds fair. What about the kids?¡± ¡°Kuaya, Zirat, and Rimsin are at schools already, and they know the way back. And I¡¯ll take Agum to the childcare on my way to work, and pick him up on the way back.¡± The girls Kuaya and Zirat, and the boys Rimsin, and Agum were the four children of Neriglissar and Beletsunu. The children were aged fifteen, thirteen, eleven, and five respectively, with Kuaya and Rimsin attending scribe schools, Zirat attending a priestess school, and Agum being too young for any of that and so still being taken to childcare when both parents were working. Neriglissar and Beletsunu themselves were forty and thirty-six respectively, with Neriglissar working at a bank full time and Beletsunu working part time as a scribe for a branch of the agricultural consortium. ¡°We should send him to school sometime as well, you know,¡± Neriglissar took a bite of a sandwich. ¡°He¡¯s too young still. The teachers wouldn¡¯t take him yet, they don¡¯t want to deal with such kids, which is understandable,¡± Beletsunu replied as she took a melon slice. ¡°Some are saying that the age of entry at the scribe schools should be lowered from ten to eight or even seven. So, he wouldn¡¯t be too far off in that case, only a bit more than a year away. Maybe not such a bad idea.¡± ¡°No, I don¡¯t think so. Kids need to enjoy their childhood, they shouldn¡¯t be forced into school so early.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°The sooner one finishes the school, the sooner they can start earning those sitans.¡± ¡°There is no need to rush. They¡¯ll have many decades ahead anyways.¡± ¡°Maybe. We¡¯ll see. But still, I think introducing him to some of the symbols and concepts now wouldn¡¯t be the worst idea. Can¡¯t have him just fucking around all day without doing anything, can we?¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯ll think about it.¡± A few minutes later, Neriglissar finished his meal and stood up to leave. ¡°Alright, I have to go. Have a good day, honey.¡± ¡°You too,¡± she said as they kissed. Neriglissar took his suitcase of tablets and instruments and left the apartment, locking the door behind him. He walked through the small garden outside their apartment complex and reached the street. It was an upper-middle class neighborhood, consisting mostly of Babylonians as well as some Dilmunian immigrants, and included similar four floor apartment complexes, as well as some single-family houses and some shops and restaurants. Neriglissar turned right and walked along the street, seeing his neighbors also preparing for work or opening their shops. On his left, he spotted his neighbor Risvul, an elderly man in his sixties, originally from Dilbat, who was observing his pet falcon flying around and searching for food. ¡°Morning, Ris!¡± Neriglissar waved to him. ¡°Oh, greetings, Neriglissar,¡± Risvul replied. ¡°Heading to work?¡± ¡°Sure am.¡± ¡°Bad omens today. Darkness is enveloping this part of the city. Be careful out there.¡± ¡°Uh, I will be. Thanks for the warning.¡± ¡°Nergal is angry today, better to stay out of his way.¡± ¡°Right. I think I¡¯ll be fine. Take care, neighbor.¡± Neriglissar reached the end of his street soon and arrived at a wider street, where he stopped to wait for a carriage to take him to work. In a few minutes, one arrived as scheduled. It was a two-horse carriage, with a capacity of about ten passengers, travelling along this street towards the city center at regular intervals. It was part of the new public infrastructure in the city, created in the last few years as Babylon was being rebuilt after the siege almost ten years ago. As the carriage was approaching, Neriglissar waved at it, and it stopped next to him. Neriglissar knew the ticket prices and tossed the appropriate amount in coins to the driver. ¡°Thank you, sir. Inshushinak¡¯s Square?¡± the driver asked. ¡°Of course,¡± Neriglissar replied. ¡°Climb right up.¡± Neriglissar climbed up to the passenger section of the carriage and sat down. Three other men were already there, all in their thirties. ¡°Morning, gentlemen,¡± Neriglissar said as he joined them. They nodded in acknowledgement. A moment later, the carriage continued moving on, picking up a couple other similar passengers on the way. After about 20 minutes of travelling, Neriglissar arrived at his stop and got off the carriage, stepping onto the Inshushinak Square. This was a newly constructed public area, named after the former Elamite emperor and founder of Eastern Coalition Shilhak-Inshushinak, and it connected many commercial, residential, and industrial blocks in the city. Neriglissar¡¯s workplace was located here as well, as he worked in the regional office of the Grand Euphrates Banking Corporation as a financial analyst. This was one of the megacorporations arising after the Kingdom of Babylonia was established and Nebuchadnezzar Nisirtu became its first king. Nebuchadnezzar was a relatively small player before becoming the king, as he only had power in his city and now capital Isin, and so had many competitors in other areas of the country who also wanted the throne. Thus, in the first years of his rule, he cut some deals with them. In exchange for Nebuchadnezzar receiving the support of the rest of the country and its influential nobles and other elites, he granted his most influential rivals monopolies over certain industries, which led to the rise of the first megacorporations in Babylonia, and they soon began having substantial influence in the government as well. The largest and most prominent of these corporations included the Zuuthusu Copper Company based in Lagash, Boktnassar Construction Conglomerate in Babylon, Kir-Shamash and Balasu Riverworks in Kish, Enki Shipyards in Larsa, Grand Euphrates Banking Corporation in Sippar, Belzarbi Sumerian Textiles in Uruk, Ana Sire Esedu Agricultural Company in Isin, Nippur Karbu Chemicals in Nippur, among other smaller companies. The Dilmun Mining and Shipping Company and the Merchant Corporation of Magan, which were completely in charge of the countries of Dilmun and Magan respectively, also had some influence in Babylonia, as they had started to operate there as well a few years prior. With such developments, many in the Eastern Coalition and even the OFK started claiming that Babylonia was now becoming or had already become a corporatist state like Dilmun and Magan, though Nebuchadnezzar himself never made any comments regarding this claim. Neriglissar walked into his company¡¯s building, going past the receptionist¡¯s desk at the front. That position was held by an Assyrian woman in her twenties, who greeted Neriglissar as always. He continued on, going up to the second floor where his office was located, greeting his colleagues working on the same or similar tasks along the way. He sat down on his exquisite Elamite made chair in front of his desk of Hittite wood, and took out his clay tablets to start his work. He put on his glasses, a Phoenician invention, so that he could see the tiny written symbols better. Momentarily he was joined by Haneef Ashar, a dark Arab man in his thirties, one of the company slaves who was assigned to assist the workers on this floor. While slavery had been abolished in the Commonwealth of Kemet, Kush, and Retjenu, and on the decline in most other countries, in Babylonia it still remained stable and most companies had some slaves working for them, though international pressure had an effect in Nebuchadnezzar enacting some laws which gave more rights to slaves. ¡°Good morning, master Shamashegertu. Do you need anything?¡± Haneef asked him. ¡°Hey, Haneef,¡± Neriglissar replied. ¡°Get me a coffee, will you? Black, Puntite style. And bring me the newest reports on this month¡¯s agricultural yields in the Umma district.¡± Coffee was a recently introduced drink, first invented in the Kingdom of Punt and from there travelling to the Commonwealth. The other OFK countries did not accept it as much, but it soon spread over the faction border and caught on in the EC countries, including Babylonia, becoming a favorite drink of many Mesopotamian elites and middle-class people alike. ¡°Certainly, master. I¡¯ll get it right away.¡± In a few moments, Haneef returned with the coffee and the requested data tablets, and Neriglissar began his work. Midday Neriglissar worked for a few hours, continuing to analyze various companies, Babylonian and foreign, and write reports on what the Grand Euphrates Banking Corporation should invest in. Later on, an hour after midday, he went out with his colleagues of the same floor to eat at a restaurant located nearby, also on Inshushinak Square, for their lunch break. It was quite an expensive place, mostly frequented by upper-middle and upper class workers and businessmen of the area, including the employees of the Banking Corporation. Neriglissar and his two friends and coworkers, Merodach Tadani and Ahikilim Naggaru, also financial analysts, though a few years younger than Neriglissar, sat down at a table and ordered some beer and meat dishes, as they always had. ¡°So, when do you think Shilhak-Humban is gonna take the throne? The coronation ceremony should be close now, I¡¯d say,¡± Ahikilim said as they were eating. ¡°Why? He¡¯s still a kid, he won¡¯t be crowned for a while,¡± Neriglissar replied. ¡°He turned sixteen recently, didn¡¯t he? So, not a kid anymore.¡± ¡°Ah, that¡¯s still a kid. Many haven¡¯t even finished scribe school by that age.¡± ¡°Well, he¡¯s different. He¡¯s a royal, so he probably already finished the equivalent of it years ago. And in any case, sixteen is usually the age when the regents finally step back and let the true monarch take over.¡± ¡°Regent, yeah, right¡­¡± Merodach chuckled. ¡°We all know Lim is no mere regent, she is a fully fledged empress.¡± ¡°That¡¯s nice of you to say, she still won¡¯t fuck you though,¡± Ahikilim laughed. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Ah, fuck you, man. Don¡¯t pretend you don¡¯t dream of hitting that body.¡± ¡°Well, you are right. Who wouldn¡¯t want a piece of that ass. Wish she would make public appearances more often.¡± ¡°Anyways, I agree with Mer that she is no regent. She will probably try to hold on to power for as long as possible,¡± Neriglissar diverted the conversation. ¡°Our boy Humban might have to wait quite a bit longer to become the emperor.¡± ¡°Well, I for one can¡¯t wait,¡± Ahikilim said as he took another gulp of his beer. ¡°Listen, I have nothing against our beautiful empress, but we need a real man in charge of the faction.¡± ¡°Oh, here we go again. Ahi and his misogynistic rants, a classic during our lunch time,¡± Merodach interrupted. ¡°Listen, all I¡¯m saying is that our leaders are a bit¡­ unconventional at the moment. We got, what, a couple chicks, two bankers, one king pretending to not be their puppet, and a motherfucking barbarian horsefucker to top it all off.¡± ¡°Well, seems you¡¯re very much in luck then. You¡¯ve got every chance of becoming a monarch, since you are a banker, a barbarian horsefucker, and not even a man at that.¡± The three of them erupted in laughter. ¡°Alright, you got me good,¡± Ahikilim said. ¡°Hey, you set yourself up exactly for that,¡± Neriglissar said. ¡°Yeah, right. Anyways, so I¡¯m just saying, I¡¯m excited to see how Shilhak-Humban fares. Should be an interesting time.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t forget the marriage. You know, between him and our princess.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s right,¡± Merodach said. ¡°We may see our two kingdoms join into one in our lifetime. Maybe even the other EC states as well. The marriage ceremony may very well happen before the coronation, mommy Kiririsha must want to set that up well in advance.¡± ¡°And our homeboy Nebuchadnezzar gets cucked once again¡­¡± Ahikilim replied. ¡°Stop whining. If not for the Elamites, we would still be living under the subhuman Kassites.¡± ¡°Fair enough. I wonder if our work benefits cover front row tickets for these royal events?¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we would still have thousands of persons of interest in line before us,¡± Neriglissar said. ¡°But I¡¯ll be sure to ask the boss when the opportunity presents itself.¡± Afternoon After finishing their lunch, the three of them returned back to the office, and, once the break ended, returned to their work. They continued their tasks from the morning for a couple more hours before they all stopped as they heard a commotion downstairs. ¡°Fuck is going on down there?¡± Ahikilim asked. ¡°No idea,¡± Neriglissar replied. ¡°Haneef, go check it out.¡± ¡°Of course, master,¡± Haneef replied and opened the door to leave. A moment later, a few shots could be heard, coming from the first floor. ¡°Get on the ground, motherfuckers!¡± one of the five masked men who had entered the bank shouted. ¡°Bring all your gold to us right here, or you will all get smoked!¡± The robbers were all carrying guns and daggers and were moving in to secure the entire floor. ¡°Sir, we cannot simply-¡± one of the workers on the first floor attempted to speak before getting hit in the face. ¡°All your fucking sitans, get them right here, motherfucker!¡± the first robber repeated. The worker complied and began moving to the safe. ¡°Get back in here, Haneef!¡± Neriglissar ordered and the slave complied, quietly closing the door behind him. ¡°Well, what the fuck do we do now?¡± Adrahasis, one of the office workers on the floor, asked. ¡°Get out through the window, maybe?¡± Ahikilim suggested. ¡°Jump out, if you want. It¡¯s a long ass way down,¡± Merodach said as he was looking out. ¡°How many weapons do we have here with us?¡± Gulkishar, another worker, asked. ¡°How many do you think? It¡¯s a damn bank office, not an armory,¡± Ahikilim said. ¡°We have one gun on this floor,¡± Neriglissar said as he retrieved the weapon. ¡°But not much more, I¡¯m afraid.¡± ¡°I have a dagger with me. Won¡¯t help much in a gun fight, though,¡± Merodach said. ¡°Wait, wait, wait,¡± Adrahasis said. ¡°Are you seriously considering fighting them? Why not just comply with what they want? They don¡¯t have any issue with us, they just want the money. So give them the damn money and have them get out of here.¡± ¡°If they leave with that money, the bank has less money. Which means we might not get paid in that case. Or the whole branch might get shut down and we would lose our jobs. You want that?¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°That¡¯s right. I will not see my family starve just because a bunch of punks decided to rob us today,¡± Neriglissar loaded his gun. ¡°This is insane,¡± Adrahasis pleaded. ¡°Come on, man. Your family will be even worse off if you end up dead.¡± ¡°I¡¯m dead anyways if I don¡¯t get paid. You can hide and comply all you want, but I¡¯m not standing by like some wimp.¡± ¡°Quiet! One of them is coming up here!¡± Ahikilim said. ¡°Hide! Gur, with me! Mer, give him your dagger!¡± Merodach tossed his dagger to Gulkishar, the strongest man of the group, who, together with Neriglissar, sneaked up to the door. In a few moments, one of the robbers reached the door and was moving to open it. ¡°Now!¡± Neriglissar said. Gulkishar then suddenly slammed the door into the robber, while Neriglissar stood up and shot the knocked down robber in the chest. Once the robber collapsed, Gulkishar took his gun, and the two men dragged the wounded invader into the office. ¡°March on in the slaves¡¯ united front¡­ for you are a slave too¡­¡± the robber weakly muttered before passing. ¡°Slaves¡¯ united front¡­ That means¡­¡± Neriglissar slowly said. ¡°It¡¯s the work of the damn Mesopotamian Freedom Front. Look at his markings,¡± Ahikilim pointed to the corpse. ¡°The fucking slave revolt is spreading.¡± Everyone in the room slowly shifted their gaze to the terrified Haneef. ¡°Now, everyone, let¡¯s calm down¡­ Let¡¯s not act rashly. We have to focus on the robbers now, so¡­¡± Neriglissar tried to stabilize the situation. ¡°I swear, I had nothing to do with this! I didn¡¯t know about this! If I had known, I would definitely have informed you, masters!¡± Haneef cried. ¡°Alright, Haneef, I would like to believe you, but-¡± ¡°Fuck you, you traitorous maggot!¡± Gulkishar shouted and shot Haneef in the head with his gun. Blood splattered all over the wall and Haneef¡¯s body dropped on the floor. Hearing all this, the robbers on the first floor hurried to take what money they could get and leave the bank. ¡°What the fuck did you do that for?!¡± Neriglissar asked. ¡°He could have been with them,¡± Gulkishar replied. ¡°Or not! You killed our damn office slave!¡± ¡°I saved us!¡± ¡°You fucking retard! You didn¡¯t save shit! He was unarmed. We could have judged him later, checked to see if he was innocent or not.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sorry for acting fucking cautious, alright?¡± ¡°You stupid motherfucker. You goddamn imbecile. You know how much office slaves cost, especially in this economy? This is coming out of your pocket.¡± ¡°Hey, chill out, Ner,¡± Ahikilim said. ¡°Maybe the company will instead decide to do away with slaves and hire a free man to work for us here. Or, more likely, a freewoman. A hot young broad for all of us to share. That seems like quite an improvement to me, you know.¡± ¡°Shut up, Ahi.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying.¡± ¡°Stop your bullshit bickering and take a look at this,¡± Merodach pointed outside the window. Just outside the bank, the four remaining robbers were caught by the Babylonian police and engaged in a firefight with them. A dozen shots were fired, and while two policemen were killed and one was injured, all the robbers were killed on sight after not too long. ¡°So, guess that¡¯s the end of this. The bank gets to keep the money, and we ¨C our salaries. Good job, boys,¡± Merodach said. ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Neriglissar said as he was looking at the corpses in the office. In the following couple hours, the police returned the stolen gold and other valuables to the bank and disposed of the corpses. The workers were let off early, but had to give statements to the officers about what happened and so left the place even later than usual. The police congratulated Neriglissar for taking matters into his own hands and disposing off the robber on the second floor, and also let the matter of Haneef¡¯s death slide easily, marking him as one of the accomplices of the robbers and the Mesopotamian Freedom Front as a whole. After this was done and the police left, everyone was allowed to return home, and so Neriglissar packed up his belongings and went home on the same carriage line as he arrived. Evening Neriglissar returned home a bit past the first hour of the night, finding his wife and children home already and waiting for him. He quickly changed into his casual clothes and joined them for dinner, eating a beef steak with some vegetables and drinking his favorite brand of Mesopotamian beer, just as he had asked. ¡°So, what actually happened at your work today? An attempted robbery?¡± Beletsunu asked. ¡°Yeah, I guess so. Fucking slaves running wild,¡± Neriglissar said as he took a gulp of beer. ¡°We are treating them pretty nicely, and they repay us by robbing us of our hard-earned money.¡± ¡°What happened to them? Were they killed?¡± Rimsin, his oldest son, asked. ¡°Of course. Cops shot them before they had left the square. Well, not all of them. I popped one as well, as he was trying to get into my office.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s awesome!¡± ¡°Hey, Rim! Don¡¯t say that,¡± Beletsunu scolded him. ¡°You¡¯re not setting a good example,¡± she said to Neriglissar. ¡°What was I supposed to do? Allow him to hold us hostage?¡± Neriglissar asked. ¡°Besides, I even tried to save our office slave Haneef, but that idiot Gulkishar killed him too. And he was an expensive one as well.¡± ¡°They are humans too, you know,¡± Kuaya, his oldest daughter, said. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t be treated like animals, they deserve a decent living as well.¡± ¡°They are slaves, nothing more, nothing less. And we treat them as slaves.¡± ¡°Why? Why can¡¯t they be treated same as free people?¡± ¡°Because they forfeited their freedom. They deserve their fate. Freeing them would disrupt the order we have established and would signal to everyone that there are no consequences for their actions.¡± ¡°There are other ways to punish people for their crimes.¡± ¡°Yeah? What, like the Egyptians do, building massive prison complexes to house those miscreants and feed them using the taxpayers¡¯ money? What good would that do? We Babylonians are more efficient with our resources.¡± ¡°Even then, most of them aren¡¯t even guilty of anything, they were just born into such a situation. There is no reason to punish them in such a way.¡± ¡°Well, such is life. Some get born into a family of farmers and become farmers, others are born to merchants and become merchants, a few are born to kings and become kings. And some are born to slaves and so become slaves themselves. This has been the case for millennia and will continue being so for the foreseeable future.¡± This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°It doesn¡¯t have to remain like this. It¡¯s not fair.¡± ¡°Life isn¡¯t fair, kid. And it shouldn¡¯t be. Some have to suffer so that others could enjoy life. And those slaves don¡¯t even have to suffer as much, they could still live decently if they just accepted their place and didn¡¯t try to cause all this chaos. I¡¯m telling you, the members of this Mesopotamian Freedom Front will end up the same way as those of the Assyrian Liberation Army ¨C nothing but a pile of corpses in the end.¡± ¡°No, I think they will be more successful. And it will change Mesopotamia for the better.¡± ¡°Hey! Stop that. You know this is a pro-slavery household, and I will not tolerate any MFF propaganda here.¡± ¡°Whatever,¡± Kuaya stood up and left to go back to her room. ¡°So¡­ I suppose we won¡¯t be getting a house slave now after all, right?¡± Zirat, the younger daughter, asked. ¡°No¡­ No, I don¡¯t think we will. Don¡¯t want no damn terrorists in my house,¡± Neriglissar took another sip of beer. After finishing dinner, Neriglissar went to his bedroom where he picked up the fiction tablet book that he had been reading and continued from where he had finished the day before. Beletsunu later joined him, after she had finished doing the dishes and taking care of other matters in the apartment. ¡°What are you reading?¡± she asked him. ¡°It¡¯s the book I picked up a few days ago. From this series called The Iron Nergal.¡± ¡°Oh, I heard about it. Seems really popular now.¡± ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s a big hit so I thought I would see what it¡¯s about as well.¡± ¡°So what is it about?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a pretty weird and terrifying post-apocalyptic tale. Basically, some seafaring barbarians arrive from nowhere and cause chaos and destruction which eventually leads to the fall of most civilizations, except Egypt, which is barely holding on against these invaders. And also Assyria, which has conquered Mesopotamia. And it¡¯s Tiglath¡¯s Assyria¡­¡± ¡°That is terrifying.¡± ¡°It is. Really, it¡¯s quite gruesome, but it makes sense as it¡¯s written by a Mycenaean author. So it¡¯s nothing like our soft Mesopotamian literature, and I like that.¡± ¡°The author¡¯s Mycenaean? I didn¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°Yeah. Ioulos, son of Ioannis, of Mycenae. He claims to have fought in the Hittite Civil War, so that¡¯s where he got all this military knowledge from probably, as there are lots of detailed battles here.¡± ¡°Interesting, I might check it out myself.¡± ¡°Feel free to. Just don¡¯t remove my bookmark.¡± After an hour more of reading, Neriglissar put down his book and went to the bathroom to wash himself and brush his teeth, before returning back to the bedroom. ¡°Will you be reading more today?¡± Beletsunu asked. ¡°No, I think I¡¯ve had enough of that action for the day,¡± Neriglissar replied. ¡°Perhaps you are interested in a different kind of action then?¡± ¡°Why, of course! Just give me a moment, I need to set the alarm.¡± Neriglissar set the sand clock so it would complete the sequence in ten hours and put it on the pressure plate to finish the configuration of the mechanism, before joining Beletsunu in bed. Neriglissar Shamashegertu woke up at the third hour of the day, the 10th day of the month, as his alarm clock activated and started playing a Hurrian hymn right next to him on the bed¡­