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Max checked his cards again nervously, the values spinning in his mind. It was the thirteenth hand and his bank of credits was up quite a bit. The stack of chips in front of him had grown. He still had large reserve of chips inside the satchel in his lap. He tried to forget about that extra device he had hidden in the bag.
When the game had started, the table was full. Ethan Chen and Sarah Parker from the ACME team, Donahue Morgan and Shu Xin Liang from the DAIE team, and Nigel from Eurosport were all excited to play the drinking poker game. Nigel had refused the Luna AI Leroy from playing as the mech couldn’t partake in the real game; lacking the biological limitations to prove resilience to alcohol without augmentations.
Ethan was a hilarious jokester and had entertained the whole table in the early rounds. He made the mistake of doubling and tripling down on a bluff against Donahue. The agent was an experienced card player, who had been holding a more powerful hand than Ethan. He had pretended to have little and played him without tipping him off that his bluff wasn't good enough. Ethan had gone “all in” and left the table shortly after with a rueful look, leaving his chips behind.
Win or lose, everyone playing would take a shot with each hand. The high-end tequila had already proven it was exceptionally potent. Sarah got caught in a series of bad hands and quit the table before she lost anymore. As the table progressed past nine hands…and nine shots, everyone left had begun slurring and had slowed down considerably.
In the middle of the tenth hand, Shu had turned green and ran from the table. Donahue had laughed along with Nigel and had promised to keep the kid’s chips safe and return them later.
Only Max, Nigel, and Donahue were left. Max growled audibly as the augmentation restricting cuff attached to his wrist knocked his neat stacks of chips down. Max licked his nose considering his cards.
The flop on the table was a ten and jack of hearts with a nine of clubs. In his hand was a king of diamonds and a king of spades. He had a great starter hand and while the flop hadn’t made it stronger, it was unlikely to help another player beat his current hand.
He would push the line and bet hard. The only question was how hard he could go without scaring off his last two opponents into folding. The ante was now up to four platinum chips or 4,000 credits. A good hand could raise the pot to five times that value.
“Come on, kid. Quit stalling. You can look at the cards all day. They aren’t going to get any better.” Donahue laughed and he stacked and restacked his remaining chips. He was light on chips but was making a comeback with the last two hands. Max ground his teeth and spoke.
“Fine. I’ll check then.”
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! You spend half a minute scratching your fleas and all you do is check!” Nigel glowered. “I raise 5 more plats!”
Max narrowed his eyes at Nigel's outburst. He knew the man was trying to intimidate him, but he wasn't going to back down. Donahue whistled low but pushed five more chips in.
"I call," he said calmly, pushing his chips forward. The three players stared at each other; the tension palpable as they awaited the reveal of the next card. The android dealer, named Tommy Twos burned a card by putting it aside into the used card pile and flipped another onto the table. The aptly named android spoke.
“King of hearts. King of hearts. We got a new high card. Yes, a new high card. Max’s play. Max’s play.”
Max fought to hold his expression neutral. The damn table limited his poison resistance to the alcohol and severely curtailed his mental math ability and senses. But the hardest restriction it imposed was the disabling of his PokerFace skill. This game was literally the best place for practicing it!
“[Max, You likely have the best hand. You can continue to underplay it and draw your opponents in with checks, or you can raise the bet aggressively.] Sherlock sent whispered in his mind.
“[Stay calm, Max. You know your own strength, but you must consider your opponents.]” Musashi urged.
“[Oh, come on, Max. Waiting for a divine sign from the poker gods? Make a move before the alcohol sim program knocks you out.]” House chided.
“Damnnit. Shtop peshtering me! I know how to play al’ight.” Max slurred. He started as both Nigel and Donahue chuckled.
“Fuck. I said that ou’loud. Ah, I check.” Max said sheepishly.
“I raise another 5 plats. For what it’s worth, Max, unless yur running the daemon poker legend Phil Ivey, yur better off shutting ‘em doon. All the random advice gits bloody annoying.” Nigel countered. Donahue grumbled a bit but put 5 platinum chips in as well. Max pushed his own into the center of the table.
Tommy Twos burned and turned the final cards, laying the last one in the row: a nine of diamonds. The table cards were ten of hearts, jack of hearts, nine of clubs, king of hearts, and a final nine of diamonds.
“Pair of nines on the table! Pair of nines with a king high. Max’s bet. Max’s bet.” Tommy repeated.
Max grimaced, annoyed with the android's antics. He looked at his cards and made sure his ears and tail behaved. He had a full house! Three kings and a pair of nines. Captain Cipher piped in.
“[You go, Max! Even if that line of hearts gave one of those players a flush you will still win. Go, Max!]”
Max eyed the pair. They were good, holding their expressions neutral, but everyone was struggling with the mandatory shots. Max’s program was simulating it, and he felt like throwing up. He really should have told House to minimize the realism. He needed to finish strong for this portion of his plan. With a burp, he spoke.
“I raise…three Topash ships…chipsh.”
“Fawk. I dunno if ya got the nuts but I ain’t backing down. I see yur bet and I’m all in. Count it. That’s like…gotta be another 2 Topaz there.” Nigel yawned. Tommy beeped twice.
“Bet is now four topaz and eight Platinum. Four Topaz and Eight Platinum.”
Donahue pushed all his chips in and looked at Max. Max sighed, still not sure about the Captain’s certainty of his winning. As soon as his hands left his chips, Donahue brayed with laughter. Displaying an evil grin and he flipped his cards. “Full house my boys! A pair with queenies with a trio of niners. Show me your stuff so I can quit for the night and count my winnings.”
Nigel got red in the face but flipped his cards. He had made his heart flush, but it could stand against Donahue’s winning hand. Max looked dumbly over the cards until Donahue barked.
“Come on lightweight! Just like my mum’s goddamn Shih Tzu. It circles and circles forever when she’s gotta go. Just do it, pooch!”
Max tossed his cards down, still trying to parse the hands and struggling due to the inebriation program making the room spin. He broke out of it when Donahue started cursing and Tommy Two’s proclaimed.
“Max is the winner with triple kings over a pair of nines. Triple kings over a pair of nines. The fuller house wins!”
Max smiled with only a little drool and tipped Tommy a pair of platinum chips as he stuffed the piles of chips into his straining satchel. Nigel was grinning too as Donahue brusquely stormed off. Nigel saluted Max and sagged back into his chair with his eyes closed. Max stood and looked around. The normally busy casino still had a skeleton crew of android NPCs, but the place was as close to deserted as Max had seen. He staggered away from the table on unsteady legs.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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Max belched mightily as he stumbled down the side streets of the Casino level. Mal had shut down the inebriation program mental shenanigans but left the physical impairments to help Max’s poor acting skills.
Max felt the psychological claustrophobia of his augmentations being shut off fade away as his full range of senses returned. With a clear mind, Max focused on his tails even though he need not have bothered. Both of the android gang members were still tagged with trackers. Even if they had been seriously concealing themselves, Max would have known exactly where they were. Max burped again.
“[Ugh. Why am I refluxing, Tesla? I thought your alcohol neutralizer was supposed to take care of everything.]” Max sent.
“[Yes indeed. Sorry, but the quickest way to eliminate the alcohol was to catalyze its acetate conversion into carbon dioxide and water. I didn’t realize exactly how much gas would result. As long as you keep…. expelling it, you should be ok.]” Tesla replied.
“[Still better than chugging charcoal slurry for alcohol poison, Max. Me, I recommend Vicodin instead of those tequila shots!]” House chortled.
“[Ooop, Head up Max! Looks like your shadows are moving in.]” Mal said.
“[Ah yes. The ruffians must know that the level’s primitive camera surveillance has a gap ahead, as our own mapping revealed. Be ready, Max.] Musashi cautioned.
Despite his daemons' good intentions, Max had no intentions of pretending to fight. The android traffic quickly fell off when Max entered the side alley. As he entered the dead zone in Lachesis’ security, he staggered and fell to his knees. After rolling around a bit, he pretended to snooze. His satchel was free and clear for the taking beside him.
Sure enough, the pair of rogues approached quickly. The heavy bag was swiftly lifted and the smaller android pretended to check on Max’s health while patting him down.
“Hey there, fellar. Yous ok? Maybe we should get ya inside, huh?” Tony Lombardi said loudly, in case anyone was in earshot.
Max panicked slightly and swung his arm about clocking Tony in the head, causing the robot to drop Max back to the ground. Tony cursed and kicked Max in the side.
“Stupid player. You knocked my audio mic loose!”
“Forget him, Tony. We got the money. Let’s go while there still ain't no witnesses.”
The thieves quickly jogged away and turned the corner, the sounds of their swift paces turned into faster running. Max’s enhanced hearing picked up their departing conversation.
“Fuck this bag is heavy. He must have quite the haul. Wanna lift some coin before we get to the hangout?”
“No! You stupid lug. Ya heard what Nigel said. The mutt might’a rigged it. We’ll take it apart at the seams soon enough. Nigel may be a loser, but he’s played it straight wit us so far.”
Max rolled to his feet as the voices faded, but the trackers still pulsed brightly in his mind’s eye. “Phase three, Mal.. You can kill the inebriation program completely. I gotta run and circle around so I can see this!”
Max’s claws dug in and he climbed the alley walls. Traversing the fake subterranean town’s roof line would be quicker, more direct, and less likely to run into other players or gang members. Max’s adrenaline spiked. He loved being on the hunt again!
Max eyed the derelict building with the two gangsters inside. Nigel’s tracker was in motion and he would arrive in another few minutes. Max was careful. He had rappelled down the side of the taller android tenement building behind the abandoned building where the thieves were meeting.
Max triggered his Skinwalker skill to his android courier shape and extended his passive senses looking for cameras and sensors. Finding none, he allowed a trickle of his motes to drift into the area keeping them in silent mode for now. Max considered the setup with his daemons.
“[The miscreants must be confident in their own stealth to forgo setting any sensor defenses.]” Sherlock said.
“[Perhaps this is not a normal hideout for them.]” Musashi mused.
“[It doesn't line up with any of our maps tracking their activity. What I can't fathom is why Lachesis would create a derelict building to begin with. These AI are weird…ah, here comes Nigel now.] Max said and he focused on the approaching figure.
His active chameleon feature would hide him, but it wasn't foolproof. Staying still maximized its concealment ability. As a counterpoint, Nigel’s augmentations were blazing with EM emissions, Lidar bursts, and a tight cordon of active motes swarming around him. He stopped briefly to let his system notification clear.
[Mask +1, Mask reaches level 4, Gestalt +1, Gestalt reaches level 6]
[SkinWalker +1, SkinWalker reaches level 7, Stiction +1, Stiction reaches level 2]
[Chameleon +1, Chameleon reaches level 10, Skill cap award +100 XP]
Nigel strode up to the derelict building, his augmented senses scanning the area for any threats. Max watched as Nigel approached the entrance, his motes swarming defensively around him. Nigel paused at the door, his brow furrowed in concentration, before pushing it open and stepping inside. Max waited, his own motes poised to spring into action if necessary, as the sounds of a heated discussion drifted out from the building.
Max lowered himself on his grapple slowly until he was just above a shattered window. His augmented hearing easily picked up the exchange.
“What the fuck! Why haven't you stripped out the chips and transferred them to a safe bag? Are you two novices? That satchel is made of smart matter. It's likely got tracking motes built into it.” Nigel swore.
“But…but you said not to open it!” Marco’s gravelly bass vocoder rumbled.
“Bloody incompetent androids. I said no such thing. Give it here!” Nigel yelled.
“Hey, wait a second..” Tony’s higher-pitched voice said. There was a scuffling as the sound of fabric tearing and chips raining onto the pavement. A much heavier thunk as a larger object fell to the ground.
Max quickly sent his signal pulse and the first floor of the building lit up with an EMP and concussive blast. Shrapnel ricocheted about the enclosure with projectiles flying out just under Max’s perch. He jumped away from the building letting out line and swung around and through the window into the smoky chaos.
Max landed in the smoke-filled room, fully activating his motes and active sensors scanning for the thieves. He spotted Nigel and the two other androids rolling on the ground amidst the debris.
Max smiled grimly. The burrowing smart shrapnel design he had copied from The MVP leader's attack was merciless, disabling many augmentations…including pain resistance.
Max wasted no time, rushing towards the fallen androids. He quickly popped open his portal space. A stream of utility fog rushed out of it, sweeping up the damaged satchel and the scattered chips before closing again. Max knew he had to move fast before they recovered. He quickly searched Nigel and Marco, finding more chips, a mazer pistol, and a pair of vorpal knives.
He was reaching out to search Tony when the android spun slashing with a vibrating reciprocating blade. Max cursed as the knife sheared into his palm, cutting through his skill-toughened skin and subdermal armor. Max rolled backward with augmented speed, dodging the following backslash.
“Ya think you can steal from me, ya jumped up third-rate NPC? Get ova here, and I’ll carve yous a new access port!” Tony yelled. Max could hear sirens now, faint but growing in volume. Marco shifted one arm and lifted himself upwards as Nigel rolled and screamed.
Max’s lightning thoughts calculated, all scenarios looking poor. Time to go, he thought and bolted out the door, dragging his sensor motes after him. Max ran, staying in the shadows and minimizing his time on cameras.
As he passed into better neighborhoods, he adjusted his android form subtly. Darker synth skin, shortening the mop of fibers that served as hair, and altering the uniform from a courier type to the uniform of a Casino waiter.
Max entered the Player Villas without anyone paying him a single look. He grabbed trays set outside of rooms from earlier room service and brought them to recycling. No one was around to see Max exit the utility room, his natural form back.
The hulking security drones and armored guardian androids had locked down the abandoned building. A specialty Med-Bot had just arrived and was plucking shrapnel out of Nigel Farnsworth.
“Explain to me again, what you two lowlifes were doing here with this player in this condemned building. I'm tempted to add attempted arson to your trespassing charges.” the guard said, its monotone voice lacking any of the customizations most NPCs utilized.
“I'm tellin’ ya straight, coppa. We wus just helping the human get home. He had a malfunction wit some of his gear. Ain't that right human?” Tony asked.
“Y-yeah. It was an accident. No harm no foul, right officer?” Nigel asked.
The guard glowered at the trio. It was unlikely the arson would stick. Even the trespassing charges could be challenged considering the building was condemned. The bot made a decision, motivated by his efficiency module and a desire to avoid paperwork that would ultimately amount to little or nothing, and the android relented.
“Ok, then. I trust you lot will keep yourselves out of trouble. Very well. Now we just need to settle up on your bill. Our security checks, our added value which brings safety to all the Casino’s residents, costs money. Additionally, the Medbot health assistance adds a premium upcharge to your bill. That will be 34,880 credits.”
Tony’s gears ground as he realized both Nigel and Marco were missing their money pouches. Nigel’s face was white as he checked his account status, he was overdrawn from his loan from Vinny. He was on borrowed time and now had no collateral to earn it back.
The guards, thieves, and Nigel all went their separate ways. It wasn't until much later in the thieves' hangout that Tony noticed the red stain on his knife. His optics whirred, examining the fluid closer in suspicion. It was blood! No androids down here in service to Lachesis had any biological systems. It could only mean one thing; he had been played…by a Player! Kane was not going to like this.
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