Black Jack

Bam. Bam. Bam.My back hits the hard floor, a gasp escaping my mouth as I awaken with a start. The sheets strangle my limbs, evidence of a fitful night's rest, though I don't remember falling asleep. The world spins when I try to get to my feet, my limbs heavy with yesterday's overload. My shoulder aches something fierce."Welcome back, sleeping beauty," Shelly says, slamming the door wide open. Light consumes the room in a flash, making the pain in my head double. I groan, shrinking away. Shelly strides into the room, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me out of my pitiful pile on the ground."It's 8 in the evening, you slept through the entire morning and afternoon." A quick mental scan shows that Shelly's telling the truth, and I had passed at 7:18 am. It was currently 8:24 pm. I slept 13 hours, and 6 minutes. New record, I think sardonically. Rubbing my eyes dazedly, I try to not trip over my own feet as Shelly drags me through the halls. Was it really too much to ask for one more hour?Reyna and Sadie are already in the room when we arrive at the main foyer, sitting around a glass table covered in a frilly table top. Shelly grabs one of the many bottles of champagne sitting on the table, and pops it open. She begins a long-winded speech about sister-hood and their successful heist that goes through my right ear, and out the left.With the initial haze of sleep gone, the memories from the night before return in full force. I relive the moment the blaster beam struck my shoulder, and I watch Elias tear them apart again. But this time, the sight doesn't scare me, it pisses me the fuck off.Whatever he had downloaded into my brain is gone now, even the remaining white room file, which had briefly bypassed all my security. Yet something about my mind still feels empty, as if he had stolen something from me. Was it possible Elias tampered with my memories?Sadie taps my knuckles, which have gone white with tension."This is a tradition we do after every successful pillage," she whispers into my ear. "Shelly likes to keep our morale high." Sadie uncurls my tightened fist, then places a peanut butter cookie into it. As a rule, I try to stave off anything other than my protein bars and nutritional cubes to meet my daily macro goals, but Sadie is staring at me intently, waiting for my reaction. Awkwardly, I bring the cookie into my mouth and take a bite.Warm gushing peanut butter floods my mouth, coating my tongue in creamy sweetness, followed by a layer of shortbread. It's enough to make a grown woman cry. Sadie gives me a knowing look, then slides the cookie plate across the table, closer to where I'm sitting. Go ham, she mouths.I've finished half the bowl of cookies by the time Shelly is done with her speech. Reyna is still glaring at me from across the table, but she doesn't say anything, so I don't either."So," Shelly says, materializing a deck of cards. "How good are you at black jack?" I shrug, unsure. I had never played before, I was familiar with the rules."Closest to twenty-one, right?" Can't be too hard. Shelly nods, tossing the rest of the cards into the air and shuffling in a practiced flourish before separating the deck into three more piles."I'll deal," Shelly declares. Reyna turns her head away, muttering something that sounds a lot like fucking show-off. Shelly deals everyone at the table a card, then states the betting arrangements, where unsurprisingly, the loser would have to take a shot."What homeworld are you from, Mira?" Shelly asks, flipping over her card. I'm about to ask her how she got my name, but then I remember our first encounter, where she had snapped a picture of my receipt."Earth," I reply, seeing no reason to lie. "I've lived there my entire life." Sadie nearly chokes on a strawberry, coughing."Earth? That decrepit old hole?" Sadie eyes my arm, giving it a once over. "Wow, I thought earth wasn't technologically advanced enough for advanced cybernetic limbs.""Earth isn't," I say. "But my father made these modifications, not earth doctors.""Your father?" Shelly asks."He's still on earth," is all I say. "Which planet are you guys from?" The table goes silent, and Sadie throws her pile onto the table, calling a bust. When no one chimes in, Shelly takes the question."I'm from Avalon," Shelly supplies. "It's a vacation planet two gates from here, or roughly 600 light years. Reyna's from a mining sector, an asteroid found not far from Avalon. Sadie grew up on a corsair ship."A vacation planet. The only knowledge I have of vacation planets are the large billboards posted on earth, with the subtext 'this could be your home!' over crystal blue waters, and exorbitant mansions. Only it could never be, not without lifetimes of money that the people of earth would never see."I win," Shelly says, tossing her cards onto the table and pouring us all a cup of champagne. Reyna downs her entire cup in one gulp, but I take my time with mine. Despite the weak alcohol content and strong peach flavor, it burns down my throat, making my head throb once again. Shelly begins another round."Since you're from Avalon, I'm going to assume you were telling me the truth about your father?"Shelly is focused on the table, hand on her chin thoughtfully."And what exactly did I tell you about my father again?""That he's an illegal gambler, that's how you recognized me," I clarify.Sadie snorts, covering her mouth in disbelief."If anyone has a gambling addiction, it's Shelly," Sadie says flippantly. "Her father would rather lose both his testicles than play a single game of poker, let alone bet on a gladiator match." Sadies remark makes Shelly scowl, and she deals another card."I'm not a gambling addict. It's a talent.""A talent, huh." Reyna turns to face Shelly. "Like how you bet against Mira, and lost us-" Shelly quickly slaps a hand over Reyna's mouth, laughing awkwardly."Alright, that's enough about me! Mira, why don't you tell us about your crazy ex? I've had my fair share of those, but I don't think I've ever seen anything like that before.""He's not my ex," I say for what feels like the thousandth time. "And he's chasing me because I was trying to kill him." I don't see the need to lie to them, because what would be the point anyway? They were criminals, and would probably clap me on my back, or give me a high-five if I told them my death count. I toss down two jacks and an ace, winning the round.Shelly resets the game, and takes a swig from the champagne bottle, not even bothering to pour it out."So, you're what? A mercenary?" Reyna points an accusatory finger at me, her voice already slurring despite only having had two drinks."Something like that," I reply.The next round ends quickly, with Sadie taking the game. Then I win the next round, and the next, and the next, and the next. By the 7th game, Reyna stands up to accuse me once again of cheating."You're clearly counting cards! Thats-" she stumbles, using the table to stop herself from falling over. "I can't be the only one who sees it," she demands, turning around the table to look at Sadie and Shelly. "She probably has a calculator in her head!""That's an illegal modification, Rey, and therefore not possible." Sadie says with a yawn. "You can't treat her as subhuman just because she doesn't have all her limbs. Listen to yourself."Reyna's face turns red, and she turns back to me."That's not what I was-" Shelly gives her a look, and Reyna sits back down again, crossing her arms in obvious discontent. I don't admit that Reyna's actually correct, and the modifications done to my body are completely illegal. Instead, I flip another card, leaning back as I eat another cookie.When I win the next round, Shelly at last gives up, declaring that tonight just isn't her night."How about I give you a reading instead?" Shelly presses forward, her face flushed. "Lady luck is on your side tonight." Shelly doesn't give me a chance to respond, because she's already cleared out the table and pulled out another deck of cards. But the cards are brightly colored, each one unique. She brandishes the cards with another spectacular flourish."Pick five cards."I look around the table, to where Sadie has dropped to the floor, dead asleep, and to where Reyna was leaning against the coach, head facing the wall. Reyna's jaw is clenched tightly, with a here we go again, expression on her face. I point at five cards, and Shelly pulls them out, placing them onto the table. One by one, she flips them over.The symbols mean nothing to me, but Shelly gets a contemplative look on her face."The hermit, reversed. Moon, upright. Ten of wands, reversed. Two of swords and the eight of swords, both upright." Shelly takes a second to process in the cards, then says abruptly, "you're a fucking loner."I choke on the cookie I was eating, holding my throat as I cough. Is this a tarot reading, or a W.W.E. beatdown? I'm aware of my lack of friends, but that doesn't make me a loner. Being a loner comes with the assumption that the person is lonely."You're so adept at deceiving yourself," Shelly states, tapping the moon card, "you might as well start a masterclass in self-bluffing and rake in the profits."Reyna snorts, throwing her head back to down another shot."And this is why I don't let Shelly do readings on me anymore."Shelly doesn't acknowledge Reyna though, continuing to point down at the cards."It's not entirely your fault, someone else has been lying to you too," Shelly moves her hand to the ten of wands. "And you need to let them go. You have your priorities all in the wrong place."Now I'm convinced Shellys reading is complete bullshit, but I continue listening, curious as to what she's going to say next. The next card Shelly points at is a picture of a woman kneeling on cold concrete, blindfolded and bound, surrounded by eight swords."You don't need me to tell you all this, you've always known. These are all thoughts you've had before, and ideas you've banished from your mind. You're only ever trapped by the barriers you set for yourself." I'm not sure what right Shelly has to criticize me, and I try not to let my indignance show on my face."And, pray tell, what barriers have I set for myself?"Shelly shrugs, moving the cards to bring the last one into the center of the table."How am I supposed to know? It's your life, not mine." Then she gestures at the two of swords. "There's a choice coming for you. You can only stay in a stalemate for so long. Sooner or later, the house of cards will fall, and with it, your hand. You can either make a choice based on," she points at the left sword, covered in ivy and thorns, "fear, or–" she points at the right sword, which is covered in gore and blood, "rage."I stand from the table, done with Shellys games and tarot reading."I'm going back to bed," I call, turning to open the foyer door. Sadie gets up from where she was sprawled across the floor, and tosses me an ipad before I can leave."I forgot to show you this earlier. Take a look before you head back," she mutters, before slumping back onto the floor.I catch the ipad, and briefly skim the page as I shut the foyer door behind me. A list of articles and news reports from Station Andromida. Nothing jumps out to me as I flip through the pages, with the only article related to yesterday, being a report of a 'systematic malfunction' in one of the hotel doors, that caused an explosion on the fourteenth floor.It then clicks, what Sadie meant by showing me this. There wasn't a single article written on yesterday's escape. Not a single photo, or police body-camera. It was like it had never happened. My head suddenly feels clear, and I set the ipad down. I needed to talk to my father about this. My father. Oh shit.