The Morning After

The door closed gently as the subject of James' torrid wet dreams left.

James sighed. He thought about what could have been. At least now he felt closer to Ms Chung, no Gina, and not just in a purely physical way. With an emotional connection, who knew what the future would bring? Maybe one day he would be able to give himself to Gina, and receive her without regrets.

James leaned back into the bed and looked at his reflection in the mirrors. Just how had he landed himself into this situation?

[ Perk Activated - Hand History - System is scanning through yesterday's play history and will provide a summary shortly. ]

[ System has identified one major inflection point and two areas for improvement. ]

Go on, James thought to his system.

[ The inflection point is obvious - it was the first all-in that you lost. System has reviewed the full history of the hand, and the hand is suspicious. Would you like to review? ]

Yes. It did seem like the bad beat had come at a particularly convenient time.

[ In the hand that you lost, some of your opponent's actions did not make sense with the game play history. Summarizing actions and insights. ]

[ Pre-flop: The pre-flop action was standard, if a little conservative by your opponent. Opening the pot with Aces is expected, and given your tight table image, calling your raise is not out of the question given the large stack sizes behind. It is possible that your opponent could have raised again, making a four-bet, but calling your three-bet is not super suspicious. ]

[ Flop: Opponent's action on the flop was strange. Check-raising you on a dry board with Aces can be considered within the range of normal. However, when you re-raised him, the decision to turn his strong hand into a bluff by shoving is unusual. Most players would elect to call there and re-evaluate on the turn. ]

[ As it turned out, with the Ace on the fourth card, the hand would likely have gone all-in on the turn anyway, so the results of the weird flop play did not matter. ]

That was indeed strange, how the all-in had happened on the flop. Did Phil know that the last two aces were coming? What weaker hand would he expect to call, or what hand was he trying to get to fold? Phil's bet had seemed to make some kind of weak sense when he was in the thick of the action, but upon review, smelt just a little bit fishy.

System, was there anything else strange about the hand?

[ System was similarly distracted by the presence of that goddess at the beginning of the hand... which by the way, you missed a golden opportunity on last night. Two golden opportunities. ]

Wait. How did his system know what had happened last night? It wasn't gambling related was it?

[ System sees what you see, and can access your thoughts, remember? ]

Enough, James told his system sternly. I'm not just looking for a bed warmer.

[ System knows that. But there is nothing wrong with accepting a bed warmer when it comes looking for you. ]

Look back at the hand, was there anything else suspicious going on?

[ Scanning video recording... One anomaly found. ]

James perked up a little. What was it?

[ The position of the dealer's hands was different in that hand versus all the other hands before and after. The dealer had his hands around the top of the deck, with his thumb on one side, the first finger curled up and pressing against the top card, and the other three fingers on the other side. This is a common card manipulation grip, and is used by amateur sleight of hand magicians and card sharks to control the deck and hide bottom dealing. ]

Does that mean that he was cheated?

[ The evidence is highly suggestive, but not conclusive. However, given the outcome of the hand, System will reward you with one Peek charge. ]

[ Active Skill - Peek. 1 charge gained. 1 charge remaining. ]

That's not very helpful, James griped to himself.

[ Would you rather not have the charge? ]

No, not at all. Thank you for your help. James mentally placated his system.

[ You are welcome. ]

What about the areas of improvement? James reminded his system. Maybe he could get more rewards.

[ As a new gambler, you fell prey to two of the most common mistakes. First, you were too afraid about the size of the stakes you were playing for. Second, you cared too much about your losses and tried to use risky means to win it back. Both times, System might add, ignoring the better advice of System. ]

James nodded to himself. It was true.

[ System will issue you with a couple of missions to help you overcome those weaknesses. ]

[ Mission Unlocked: It's Just a Number - Play 10,000 hands of poker or other gambling games. ]

[ Mission Unlocked: A Clean Slate - Win 5,000 hands immediately after losing a hand. ]

Wait. Those are very large numbers. James grumbled to himself.

[ Yes they are. System believes that by the time you complete the mission, you will have gained the right mentality required to be the God of Gamblers. ]

Can we lower those numbers a little? It will take a really long time to complete. James tried wheedling.

[ No. This is fundamental to your development. ]

Fine, James thought. With his huge amount of losses, it was unlikely that he would make much short-term progress in his system anyway.

[ System thanks you for the reminder. ]

[ Current Money: -$60,000. Current Winnings: -$60,000. Lifetime Winnings: -$59,999 ]

[ It looks like System will go hungry for a long time. Good thing System took the little snack earlier. ]

James sighed again and gave up the self-reflection. Looks like he was stuck for awhile. He jumped out of bed and headed into the shower.

---

James walked down into the foyer and looked into the rec room, where he found Phil lounging on the sofa and watching live sports on television.

Phil turned at the sound of James' footsteps, "Hey dude. Sleep well? Did you enjoy your welcome gift? I saw the way you looked at her during the game yesterday. You're part of the squad now. Keep up and more good things will come to you."

James had to remind himself that despite Phil's informality and his seeming welcome, Phil was still the primary suspect in the strange hand last night that had led to his current dire straits.

Furthermore, with Gina's story, James now had even further confirmation that Phil was manipulative to a sociopathic degree. Thanks to Gina, James knew that he could be sociable with Phil, but had to maintain some level of psychological and emotional distance.

After all, you keep your friends close, but your enemies even closer.

"Thanks Phil. Yeah, last night was definitely a surprise. She's even hotter up close. I feel like I know her even better now." James was careful to dance around the edge of the truth. After all, Gina successfully spending the night with him was integral to her being able to escape from Phil's clutches. No matter what, James did not want to jeopardize Gina's chances of finally leading the simple life she wished for.

"Oh I bet you knew her alright. Like in the biblical sense." Phil laughed along. "She's great. She used to be a model you know? Lots of experience."

James grit his teeth and nodded along. While he remained under Phil's control, he had to be careful not to give offense.

"Yeah I think I got a sense of that last night." James agreed.

"Alright. Wait outside the villa. One of the drivers will take you home to pick up your things, and then I'll meet you at the employee building. I look forward to the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership." Phil said, dismissing James.

"Thanks Phil." James said carefully before turning around and leaving through the foyer.

---

James had barely started waiting when an unmarked white van pulled up next to him. In the driver's seat was a young looking man smartly dressed in a suit and with sunglasses on.

James pulled open the passenger door and climbed in.

"Hello." James said tentatively.

"Hey. Hope you don't mind the choice of ride. I wasn't sure how much stuff we were going to be hauling." The driver greeted James back.

"No worries. It won't be much. I can handle the moving. Thanks for the ride." James thanked the driver.

He gave the driver his address and they set off.

--

Thirty minutes of silence later, the van parked under James' apartment.

James was impressed with the professionalism of the driver, he had not had to provide directions at all. He stepped out and climbed the steps to the safe room.

"1116." James keyed in the code and stepped in.

The first thing he noticed was that the computer was missing. The room looked even more bare now that there was only an empty desk, a chair, and the couch. His note and the book he had left behind were also missing.

James closed the door behind him and checked to see if there was another note left by his dad.

The door was bare.

Maybe his parents were back, and his dad had moved everything important upstairs. James ran out the door and headed up to his actual home, where he was greeted by the same broken door.

James slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The mess in the house remained the same as it was. Last week's dinner was now well on it's way to a putrid bio-hazard, with flies and a nasty smell wafting throughout the entire house. He was surprised no one had investigated yet, but with the smell, it wouldn't be long before someone else noticed. Even in a neighborhood as bad as he lived in, this was uncommon.

James gingerly stepped over to his room, before picking up a few articles of clothing and putting them into his trusty backpack. He pondered taking more of his personal belongings, but was afraid that they would be missed if there was an investigation. There was nothing valuable anyway, and if Phil was serious about a living stipend, he would be able to replace it in short order.

James went back down to the van and got into the passenger seat once more.