The entry to the Palace was beautiful. The Marble floor stretched out, shining against the light that shone down from above. Patrons from all across the world came and went, the wealthy, the powerful, and those lucky enough to make their dreams come true. Standing in the midst of it all was a lone statue of the Roman Emperor for whom the place was named. Everything glittered, everything was bright, the music triggered a desire to explore and by extension, spend. Everything was tailored to draw the eyes in every direction, subtly encouraging you to lose yourself in it all.
Sonya walked in at the head of her group. She’d changed into a dress for the occasion, a white sparkling backless gown that fit tightly around her frame with a pair of silver plates playing at being a corset around her waist. It was one of Mikayla’s designs. Her hair was up in a ponytail bound with a silver clasp adorned with pink jewels. Her skin glittered under the lights. A spectacle that shimmered just as brightly as the elegant chandelier above. All eyes were on her. It felt amazing. Their trip had been a secret, but now that they’d arrived all pretense of subtlety was thrown out the window.
“Oh it's beautiful in here,” She said with a sigh, casting a brilliant smile at a few of those gawking at her.
Marta stepped up to her side with a slight flush and frown on her face, Sonya had insisted she dress up. She wore a black and white sleeved sundress, the open sleeves and the lower part around her legs were an elegant lace. Her brown hair had been braided neatly, hanging down her shoulder and ending in a jeweled clip. Sonya had never been good at braiding hair but it turned out Bluestar had several sisters, so she’d been happy to help. Her friend glanced her way and raised an eyebrow, “Center of attention again, ma’am?”
Sonya grinned, “Always.”
The Chairman cleared his throat as he walked past in his suit, “I’ll get our keys,” He said with a harrumph. He was clearly excited to be here but Sonya guessed he felt a little strange staying at a place this nice when they were on government business. Sonya had no such compunctions so she had helped foot the bill. She watched the man go as his son and future daughter in law walked up to the statue.
Sonya glanced sidelong at Hyunh, “Everything you imagined?”
Hyunh turned to look at Sonya, “It’s a bit of an eyesore,” She said and glanced back up at the statue, “The Hotel is, I mean.”
Duong grunted noncommittally and Sonya casually jolted him with Imperious. She was feeling petty. In response, Hyunh twitched and frowned. Sonya restrained a smile and turned around to put her hands on her hips. Firestorm and his team were looking around in awe and obvious discomfort. The three men wore black suits that Sonya had made sure were prepared for them, each with decorative stripes color coded for their heroic identities. She hadn’t interfered with Bluestar’s outfit, the blue suit was perfect for her and she approved.
“You four need to get used to this kind of thing,” Sonya chastised them, raising an eyebrow, “You’re with me.”
Firestorm met her gaze and flushed, looking down at his feet. Lifesaver ran his hand over his bald head and took it all in, not even listening. Bandit tried a little harder to look natural but it only made him look kind of constipated. Bluestar simply let out a breath and walked over to her, sighing, “They’ll get over it,” She assured Sonya.
“I was including you,” Sonya said with a wink, “You’re sweating, Jessica. Relax! We’re here for a good time!”
“Says you,” Bandit groused as he walked over, “You’re not dreading meeting the international heroes.”
Sonya leaned back, “Who says I’m not nervous?” She asked, ignoring the butterflies that rose up in her gut. She leaned forward and grinned at him, “I’m just better at faking it than you.”
Hyunh snorted nearby and Sonya pursed her lips. Patience, Sonya, she’ll be dead before you head home. Patience. She reminded herself and let out a breath, glancing towards the Chairman who was walking over. “All good?”
The Chairman handed Sonya a pair of key cards with a room number on them, “All yours,” He said brightly. “Also, you should have mentioned that you registered rooms here for the International Team. They weren’t expecting to stay somewhere like this,” He said with a bit of a frown.
Sonya gave him an aghast look, “The Pandora Committee’s top heroes staying anywhere else while in my care? Preposterous!” She said, raising her hand to her chest in offense, “How could you even consider it?”
He blanched, “W-well when you put it that way-” He trailed off as Sonya laughed.
“I’m teasing you, Chairman,” She said and walked over, locking arms with him, “I made a unilateral decision and had Carla take care of the details. Sorry I didn’t tell you, but I wanted to make a good impression on them. She tells me that the US Branch just assumed I was being eccentric and didn’t see a problem.”
The older man sighed, “You are beyond anyone’s control, aren’t you?” He asked with a chuckle, walking with her.
“It’s something I’m quite proud of,” She agreed.
“Sonya? Where are you going?” Bluestar called.
Sonya glanced over her shoulder, “The valets will take care of your bags, silly, we’re all checked in. Time to see the casino!” She said brightly.
The others looked at one another and smiled before hurrying to follow her as she bantered with the Chairman of the Pandora Committee. He did not seem upset to have her escorting him.
–
In less than an hour they had all largely scattered throughout the Casino. Firestorm and his group stuck together in a little clique while Hyunh and Duong went their own way. The Chairman had opted to go speak with some of the politicians he recognized at one of the card tables while Sonya stood off to the side as Marta sat down at a dice table. The dealer looked up at her as she remained standing, sipping soda from the fanciest glass she could find at the bar. She thought it was funny.
“Is the beautiful miss joining us?” The Dealer asked.
Sonya shook her head, “Sweet of you to invite me, but I have a sensory power, I shouldn’t be doing too much gambling at tables. I’ll probably hit the slots later, less of an advantage there.”
The dealer looked taken aback, “We’re still ironing out the rules about light-touched abilities in the casino, there shouldn’t be a problem ma’am,” The dealer said. She glanced at his name above his head and saw that he was unawakened. He clearly was still one of those who didn’t quite understand what he was dealing with when it came to those with abilities.
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She grinned at him, “Nice sales pitch, but I think your boss appreciates my stance more than you do.”
He frowned and then paused, his head didn’t move but it was clear he was listening to something. He nodded slowly, “He would like to have a drink with you later, if possible,” The dealer said.
Sonya glanced down at Marta, leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Practice your muscle control while you’re playing,” She said and pat her arm, “I’ll be fine.”
Marta glanced her way with a bit of concern before nodding, “Understood,” She said, looking down at the table again thoughtfully and with no small amount of excitement.
Sonya stood back up and smiled at the dealer, “I have time now.”
The dealer nodded and after a moment said, “He’s in the third VIP room,” He said, pointing at a set of doors along the wall. Sonya gave him a gracious nod and slipped away, making sure to take a bit of an irregular route so that she could pass by Hyunh as she sat at a baccarat table with Duong standing over her like an angry hound. She shot Duong a jolt of Imperious as she walked by, causing Hyunh to react instead. The woman twitched and lost focus for a moment as Sonya stepped up to the door to the VIP room and slipped inside.
The room was surprisingly large for a VIP room. One could fit about twenty to thirty people in here comfortably. There was a single large table in the center of the room with elegant decorations on the wall surrounding it. A chandelier hung over the table where several men and women sat playing cards with one another. One of them, a man in a nearly metallic looking suit, stood up immediately upon her entrance and walked over with a perfect smile. He held out his hand, “Sonya Chernovna herself, to think I’d have the opportunity to host the Voice at my hotel.”
She took his hand, “It was my first pick, Mister Earl,” Sonya said pleasantly.
Analyze.
She raised an eyebrow at him and he paused, a fleeting look of surprise in his eyes that was quickly masked by a casual demeanor as he shook her hand. “That means a great dealt to me, even more now that I’ve met you in person.”
“I’m sure,” She said with a grin, “Introduce me to your friends?” She asked and glanced at the others at the table who had stopped their game to stare.
“Of course Miss Chernovna,” He said and walked her over. He gestured to those present and they all got up to shake hands with her, glancing at Prichard momentarily before engaging her. It was clear they wanted confirmation that she was worth their time and given how they behaved after the brief exchange, he’d decided she was very much worth it. She wondered how his power worked, she’d have to take it out of her warehouse and give it a spin.
First, she had some new product to snatch up while she was here. She started shaking hands.
Not a bad haul so far, one more person. She turned to look at the man who stood up next as Prichard introduced him. He was a thin man with slightly sunken eyes and cheeks. His hands seemed frail even though he felt anything but. Her heart froze in her chest as she forced every ounce of concentration into maintaining a calm demeanor. “And this is Craig Hart, he’s in real estate like myself,” Prichard said.
Craig extended a hand, “It’s a pleasure, Miss Chernovna. We should do business sometime, I hear you’ve been working out of your laboratory. You really should get a proper highrise at some point,” The man said as she took his hand.
Craig Hart, one of Otis’ top investors and supporters. You helped fund the war, bastard. She thought as she smiled at him, “It’s been something I’ve been thinking about,” She admitted with an easy laugh, “I need more consumer product going out before I can justify it though.”
He raised an eyebrow, “So you plan on producing consumer product?” He asked.
She shrugged, pulling her hand away and slipping into one of the chairs at the table. A few people had shifted over to allow her to sit next to Prichard. He was trying to make a point. She let it happen. It didn’t bother her that he was using her presence to earn political points, she was intending to do the exact same thing to him. Though her priorities had shifted a bit. She needed to figure out where in the hotel Craig was staying.
He couldn’t be allowed to leave this place alive.
Just another body in Vegas. She thought grimly as a waiter came over and set down a glass before pouring some soda into it. “Oh, thank you!” She said and took up the glass.
A few of the elites around her gave her odd looks, she just smiled at them sweetly, “I have a hard time getting drunk these days, it’s not as fun as it used to be,” She said, tapping her temple. She made it seem like it had something to do with her eyes, which wasn’t entirely false. They looked at one another and shrugged as the dealer present shuffled the cards.
“So, we were talking about ASTA’s consumer goods,” Craig said eagerly, wanting to get back on topic. One of the others, the man who had Beacon, also took interest. He was in the consumer electronics field, a telecom company executive.
“I can’t say much, you understand,” She said with a bit of a smile, “But I am interested in a few areas. We’ve learned a lot of very interesting things from the materials we’ve acquired from monsters and the dungeons we’ve involved ourselves in,” Sonya said, “Textiles of course, but also communications. Lines of mundane contact are cut off between outside parties and those inside of a dungeon. That’s a danger we want to try to overcome.”
“A strong signal that could outplay anything currently on the market,” The executive commented.
Sonya shrugged, “Perhaps. Now! How about some cards? I assume I’m allowed to play with a full deck, Mister Earl?” She asked.
The hotel’s owner inclined his head, “I’m curious to see what those eyes of yours are capable of,” He said and nodded to the dealer and their little game began.
–
Sonya folded her hand and sat back, getting a surprised look from Craig as the man stared at his cards and sighed, throwing them onto the table. He scratched his head, “You are a monster at this,” He chuckled and leaned back in his seat. “I’ve never met someone with intuition like yours.”
You all might have excellent poker faces for the mundane, but your microexpressions, body temperature, breathing, all of it is just data to me. My senses read you like a book even if its something my eyes can’t immediately notice. She thought smugly, “And that’s why I refused to play at the table out there,” She said casually.
“Remarkable,” Prichard said, “I may have lost more than I expected but it was worth every penny. Could I perhaps interest you in dinner later tonight, Miss Chernovna?” He asked.
She tilted her head, “I’m afraid not, I am meeting with some rather important people related to my work tonight, it wouldn’t do for me to not be there,” She said, “Also, and I say this in the nicest way possible, you’re not my type.”
The man burst into laughter, “Your bluntness is refreshing!” He said, “Damn shame, that’s alright though. We really should talk more though.”
“That, I believe, can be arranged,” Sonya agreed as Craig got to his feet across from her.
“As for me, I’m going to retire to my room soon, thank you again for the exciting evening, Prichard,” Craig said and stretched his back. “Miss Chernovna, a pleasure.”
“I’ll reach out soon,” She said with a nod and got to her feet as well, I’m not letting you out of my sight. “I should check on my people. Thank you again, Mister Earl.”
“Prichard, please,” The man said with a wave of his hand, “Enjoy the rest of your stay Miss Chernovna.”
She nodded to him, “I most certainly will,” She said and turned to follow Craig out, bloodlust burning just beneath her skin.