“Hey,” came a sharp voice as I walked back to the casino floor.

I looked over and saw Kamila walking towards me with her apparently “friendly” scowl.

“I heard a lot of commotion outside and saw the police and an ambulance drive into the back. Beatrice told me Todd was the traitor, but didn’t get much more,” said my co-worker. While she didn’t ask a question, I could see the sparkle in her eye demanding more information.

“How does she already know?!,” I said with a sputter. “It happened literally a minute ago and Goldshanks was the only other person there!”

Kamila shrugged. “Beatrice has her ways.”

“She sure does,” I said while slowly shaking my head. “Because she’s spot-on.”

My co-worker looked at me expectantly to continue, and I obliged her.

“I got hard evidence that he was the traitor and tried to confront him, but… I didn’t get the chance to lay out my accusation before he, uh, reacted violently-”

“Pulled out a gun!” exclaimed Beatrice as she ran up to the two of us.

Kamila’s eyes went wide as she looked between the two of us, but soon let out a groan as she put a hand to her forehead.

I looked over to the newcomer and had to ask, “how’d you-”

“I have my ways,” replied Beatrice with a smirk and wink. “I also asked one of the police officers who’s taking a statement from Goldshanks.”

The conversation quieted down for a moment as we collected ourselves.

“You put yourself in a lot of harm’s way for the casino,” said Kamila finally. “You’re not trying to overdo proving yourself to me, are you? Because those benefits are going to depreciate very quickly.”

“I mean, I’m not doing it for you insofar as I’m doing it for the casino.”

The other two each raised an eyebrow as I continued.

“The entire world is crazy, more fucked up than I ever thought the world actually be in my wildest dreams! And even with all of these nonsensical cheaters I’ve caught this past week, Todd included, this place is still the sanest refuge around. It’s… home. And I just want to protect that.”

My co-workers stayed silent for a moment, but then Kamila nodded and flashed me the widest, most heartfelt smile I’d seen from her. “I couldn’t agree more. You know, maybe it’ll take three weeks instead of a month before I like you.”

I nodded back with a smile of my own. “Looking forward to it.”

The three of us gave each other one final look before parting and getting back to our positions, as the next round of the tournament was about to begin, police activity in the back or not.

As I got into place and looked over the casino floor, I saw a familiar sight. A well dressed man in a white suit holding a briefcase in one hand and a cell-phone in the other. His knuckles were bone white on both hands, and I could see drops of spittle exit his mouth as he spoke frantically.

“What happened to the plan?” asked Ian Wachowski.

I blinked.

“What do you mean ‘complications‘?!” he said in a hiss as his eyes widened.

I didn’t hear what he was saying, but I perfectly understood the words coming out of his lips. How was I-

[Skill Level Up! Situational Awareness lv 9 -> 10]

[Situational Awareness Perk Obtained! Lip Reading]

Honestly, it felt like a stretch, being aware enough of my surroundings to somehow read lips. But at the same time, it felt like something in line with what the System would provide.

“If it’s going to help me keep this place safe, then I’m all for it,” I whispered to myself with a shrug before refocusing back on Ian.

“Oh… oh god…” said the traitor as the color visibly drained out of his face to match the complexion of his knuckles. He quickly shook it off with a deep breath however and replied with a snarl, “It’s too late, we can’t change things now. Just tell me who I should be watching out for here. …ok, got it.”

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I expected the man who was top military brass to keep his cool and calmly walk over to his table, but he surprised me and gave a quick scan around the room then and there. Ever the professional however, he never let his sight stay on any one person for too long. Eventually, he composed himself and took his seat.

While the television announcers began to speak up shortly after, I started to consider Ian’s words on the phone.

He was definitely scared. His facial expressions and mannerisms gave that away, no need to consider his words. But of his words, he implied it was too late to change anything about his plan.

I narrowed my eyes and felt my heartbeat begin to accelerate. Him being in a rush, asking about who to watch out for and immediately scanning the room…

“It’s happening here and now!”

My face was wrung in a fit of frustration.

“[Detect Cheating],” I said, finally calling forth the Skill I should have when I first saw the man today.

Detect Cheating (lv 20)

Target

Ian Wachowski

Method

Sharing Details of Secret Project: Special Individual Survey TEchnological Mechanism

Victim

United States Government

All that grinding from the night before paid off, these were details I could pass on to give my tip to the authorities some legitimacy!

A thin smile began to form on my lips, but a terrible weight was still causing the rest of my face to sag.

Sure, the authorities might be able to act on the tip. Eventually.

Whatever the traitor was planning would happen today. Here. In Goldshanks’ casino.

My home.

If it eventually came out that this was the site of him selling off government secrets, what would happen to this place? What would happen to Goldshanks, and the others?

I gulped.

Perhaps the only way to keep this place safe was to also interfere with the deal? At least do something to keep it from happening here or during the tournament? And besides, this was the best way to make that son of a bitch pay for dragging my boss and the rest of us into this!

My eyes darted over to Ian’s briefcase, which my Skill had pointed out to me from the very beginning. The secrets he wanted to sell were in there, I just knew it, and that was the key to stopping this whole mess.

Of course, I couldn’t act on that information yet. The tournament was still going on, everyone was watching, and I didn’t consider myself sneaky enough to make away with the briefcase without being noticed. The traitor might be however, but I doubted half the table and TV cameras would miss him handing over the briefcase to someone.

So I at least had time, and even better: I had a plan.

I made my way to the back of the casino, and nodded at the employees there. They didn’t say anything as I went out the back, and the only looks I caught were a mix of understanding and pity. It looked like word of what happened spread fast.

“I just need some fresh air, I’ll be back, don’t worry,” I said while flashing them an unsteady smile.

They figured it was a brave front after Todd tried to pull a gun on me. I was just anxious about what I was planning to do.

A quick drive to the office supply store and a few purchases later, and I had a briefcase that looked just like Ian’s. Same brand, same color, same everything! Except for the weight, I supposed, but [Situational Awareness] gave me a decent estimate of what could be inside, namely a few manilla folders and several thick stacks of papers. So that’s what was inside of my briefcase as well, albeit all of them blank.

By the time I got back, I was relieved to see that everything was the same. The round was still ongoing, and [Detect Cheating] was still making the traitor’s briefcase ping with the same intensity. He hadn’t handed over its contents yet, then.

As the rest of the round continued, I idly continued with my actual job here and began scanning the room for less dramatic cheaters. Surprisingly, or not so much actually, there were barely any at all! Only two of them in total, and their methods were nowhere near as dramatic as everyone else had been this week.

It looked like my interruptions on the delivery chain, along with whatever Sam did as well, was enough to keep the gear out of the cheaters’ hands today.

And to my detriment, it made the rest of the round incredibly boring. I somehow kept myself focused long enough for it to become lunch. The tables had finished their games and everyone was shaking hands while the TV crews were powering down their cameras.

If there was going to be a drop-off, it would be now when nobody would notice a simple briefcase going missing. But that was also a boon for me.

I looked behind me and noticed that Ian’s own security entourage was making their way towards him now. Thankfully, I was closer, and just a little quicker on my feet.

I made my way in the same direction, walking past the first of the players, and eventually in front of the man of the hour.

“Oof, sorry about that!” I said with an apologetic frown as I body-checked Ian Wachoski. Military experience or not, he flinched as my chest made contact with his frame and flew back a foot, losing his grip on his briefcase.

It fell onto the carpeted floor barely a sound.

At that moment, I dropped my own briefcase and picked up his, while hiding the fact I had a lookalike at all by using the crowds.

I heard more footsteps behind me, and felt a heavy hand on my shoulder violently yank me to the side.

I flew even further than Ian, and when I looked up, his men were giving him a look-over, the entire group ignoring me and the briefcase in my hands.

I turned around and quickly made my way to the back of the casino, hiding the attaché in a cloistered corner of the now-unused security room.

[Skill Level Up! Stealth 1 -> 3]