I'm not worried. (Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh) I'm happy.

'...Someone please kill me!'

It felt like hours had gone bye with this god-forsaken song blaring in my ears all the while. All throughout the ride, I figured that Alyx had something to do with it, or at the very least she had Molly mess with the playlist. So, all-in-all, just another item to add to the list of things I have to get her back for... And believe me when I say that the list goes on for a while...

Finally, with one last jostle, the elevator came to a halt, along with the music.

The doors on the opposite end of the ones I used to trap myself in this thing opened, finally freeing me from what may have been the worst 3 minutes and 52 seconds of my life!

Needless to say, I was quick to make my escape.

[We have arrived at your destination - Floor -13: Common Room. We hope you were comfortable during to descent, and that we will have the pleasure of meeting you again soon.]

'...If it wasn't so polite, I'd've scrapped it a long time ago...'

But, politely-programmed artificial life aside, I'd made it to where I was trying to go, so I guess I don't have that much to complain about... I will be taking the stairs next time, though...

I made my way through the hallway until I eventually arrived at a large wooden door. It was easy to hear everything through the door, but, god did opening the door remind me why I hate coming down to this floor.

What I had just arrived at was one of the most popular floors in the Sanguine Saber—Common Room #3, the Casino. An unnecessarily expansive room filled with bright machines and mechanisms that served perfectly to quell the need for gambling held by many a person. And, unfortunately, our branch's supervisor was one of the people that frequented the floor. Because of that frequency, it was easy to tell where she would be, and that was sat at a table with several people, all of which seemed to be holding in more frustration and distress than anyone really should, with Alyx, on the other hand, seeming way more relaxed than most people really should be. A perfect balance of emotions, if you ask me.

"You better thank your lucky stars for taking you this far, Ingrad."

"Oh, that's not the only thing I should be thanking. After all, you're all gonna be paying for my breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 3 months~! Aren't you just so generous?"

From what I could tell, it seemed like it was just wrapping up, and with way more coins than I'd care to count at stake, tensions were high. But, obviously, there's really only one way this story could go.

At one side of the table, a pair of 6s, at another side was nothing more than J as a high card, another had four 8s and an Ace. And, on Alyx's end,

"It's been fun, but I guess there's nothing more for y'all to do but read em and weep, bitches!"

A royal flush. I mean, why wouldn't she? They're side characters and she's not. It only makes sense.

With her predictable and practically inevitable victory secured, the Golem in charge of managing the game announced it and made it official. With all said and done she scooped up her winnings into a sac she had under her chair, the sound of metal coins clinking against each other serving to aggravate her competitors even more than they already were.

But, considering that she's the one that manages the whole branch, and signs everyone's paychecks, they all opted to just get up and walk away.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Phew~ Always great to watch people walk away in shame!"

Thing is, no one can really do anything about her. She never cheats - technically - and everyone knows that. So most of the time when someone accuses her of cheating in the game they get laughed out of the casino...

"Hey, Mira. You see me wipe the floor with those guys? Hilarious wasn't it?"

"It's less impressive the 11th time, but, hey, at least all of them were dressed this time..."

She tied up her sac of coins and set it down on the table with a heavy thud.

"Hey, what's a bit of strip poker between friends? Sure, there's no money in it, but people's dignity is worth way more than money in my opinion! But, anyway, did ya need something, or were you just hoping to come around and see me for old times sake~?"

"...No, I came to give you my report... I figured you wouldn't be in your office at this time for any reason, so, here I am."

I mean, considering that she's almost never in her office, what other conclusion could I come to...?

Regardless, the very mention of official business was more than enough to get a sigh out of her. Fair enough—If I had to choose between "going through reports and documents for hours on end" or "hanging around doing nothing for the rest of the day"... Actually, nevermind, it's pretty debatable for me, for all the wrong reasons.

"...Alright. Let's hear it..."

Putting her feet up and leaning back in the chair, she (reluctantly) decided to give me her full attention. Seeing no reason to stall, and genuinely wanting to get to the dorms and go to sleep for the rest of the day, I got to it. Not much that would interest anyone, really, but for the sake of worldbuilding, I pulled a small note from my pocket.

"Well, I got rid of that horde of Amalgamations crowding around near Paradise, and also made sure that the route the shipment of food from there to here was clear. Barring any unexpected or random Amalgamation attacks, Boa should be having the Golems packing it all into storage now."

"Okay..."

"After that, I checked out the area around the bunker. Not a single Amalgamation for miles, but there were a couple stragglers in the vicinity, that may or may not have come around because of Molly, so I just went ahead and took care of 'em."

"Uh-huh..."

"Other than that, nothing of note to report, so I guess we can cut the boring business talk..."

Now done with the scrap of paper I'd written some bullet-points on, I let it fall, leaving it for Malware to come out of the ground and gobble up.

"Thank god! By-the-by, Mira, you really gotta work on your speeches. You at least gotta make 'em entertaining, otherwise you'll bore your audience to death."

"You say that like you were even paying attention..."

Sometimes I wonder who looked at her file and decided she was the right fit to run what's basically the Order of Rejuvenation's vanguard... Considering the alcoholism, the chronic gambling issue and the slight drug problem in the past, how the hell did she get this job?!

"Ah, come on now, don't be like that. You know you've always got my full attention, boo~"

"Stop calling me that."

Ignoring my protests, she stood up, grabbing her unnecessarily large bag of coins and hefting it over her shoulder.

"A~nyway! I'm gonna head back to my "office" to count up my winnings. You can go ahead and take the rest of the day off, and if you happen to run into Molly let her know her shift's over."

If it were anyone else, I'd've asked why she couldn't just do it herself, but since I pretty much knew what answer I would get—based around a bag of coins that needs counting and admiring—I decided to save my breath, and just let her walk off to the elevator...

...

Wait a second... I had forgotten about it until now, but now that it was in view again, I couldn't help but remember the hellish joyride she had probably set up.

"Hold up, Alyx, did you mess with the elevator playlist—"

"Sorry, can't hear you~ Too many coins jangling in my ears! Bye!"

But, by the time I did remember, she was already past the reinforced iron doors of said elevator, already making her way up to the upper floors.

...I hate her... Truly I do...