Chapter 192: A Night Off

Harvey and Celeste spent the next hour at the Blackjack table, doing his best to run up his bankroll so he’d have enough for the tournament. To keep things fair, you couldn’t bring as many chips as you wanted to the tables, but the entry fee was steep, and he needed to make sure he had enough to cover all 3 rebuys in case he suffered a few bad beat losses early. Harvey could tell Celeste had no idea what was going on by the impassive look on her face – with blackjack not having the same easy play and fun visuals as the slot machines – but she quickly picked up on when to cheer and when to swear in between sips of her drink. He wasn’t a professional card counter, but the Cognition Matrix implanted in his brain stem managed the count on its own with a gentle nudge. At first, he tried to play conservatively, worried that a pit boss would catch on and throw him out of the building. If that happened, he'd have no way to tell the others that the lieutenant would be eating in The Slaughterhouse tomorrow night. Eventually, he gave up on trying to hide his changing bets. The demons sitting beside him were animals, changing their bet every hand based on what he could only describe as ‘the vibes.’ He’d seen superstitious gamblers before, but these demons were dancing around the table like shamans praying for rain.

“Big one! Big one! Big one!” the burly man begged as he pounded the table hard enough for the stacks of chips to topple over.

“YEAH!!!” The whole table cheered as the dealer busted. Harvey was excited too, having just bet the maximum allowed per hand, but the swarm of bodies all bouncing out of their stools made him feel very claustrophobic all of a sudden. He expected a security guard or someone to step in and break up the mayhem, but they all seemed content to watch the dealer struggle. The second he got paid, he stuffed his chips inside his spatial ring and wormed his way out of the crush, meeting Celeste who’d noped out after a falling stool landed on her foot.

“Animals,” she swore, leaning down towards his ear. He could smell the alcohol on her breath, but he didn’t mention it. If anything, his angel friend getting a little tipsy might help their cover. He’d been on edge until he saw just how wild this place was. An angel assassination attempt was the last thing on their minds, and they’d be alright as long as he made sure she’d sobered up by the time he sat with the lieutenant in the steakhouse tomorrow.

“It was kind of hard to count with all the commotion, but I should have enough for all three buy-ins. Let’s head back to the room and count to make sure,” he explained.

She jerked away from him, nearly falling over as she looked at him with wide eyes. “What? You want to leave already?”

“Yeah? We got what we needed, so we should get some rest. I’ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow,” Harvey replied.

“But… can we stay a little longer? Please?” she asked sheepishly.

“Why? You want to play more slots? My Dad meant what he said when he told us that you need to learn to leave before these places take everything from you.”

“It’s not that…” she hesitated before her eyes sharpened and she looked straight into his. “Right now, I’m not a Captain, I’m just a person. Nobody’s watching my every move, waiting for me to mess up or lead them to glory.”

Harvey could see just how tired she was, but didn’t know what to say. He’d barely been here a week, and he was already exhausted to his core. He couldn’t imagine how she must feel.

“We can hang out for a bit, but let’s stay away from the tables. I don’t want to give back all the merit we just won. How about we try that steakhouse?” he suggested.

She perked up and smiled at him, “I would love that!”

The two wandered through the maze of drunken demons until they found the door to The Slaughterhouse. Trellises of bloody roses were arranged in an arch around the entrance where a hostess stood behind a black stone podium. She was human and wore a sultry red dress that was similar to Celeste’s, with long black hair framing her pale face. He absently wondered if she’d worked in the restaurant industry back on Earth, too. He’d be pissed if he’d been forced to become some sort of magical project manager for a faction of dwarves instead of learning to fight monsters, but her path did have the advantage of not having to fight things that want to rip your face off.

“Just the two of you?” she asked.

“Yes,” Harvey answered, and they were quickly led inside. It was dark, with the main source of light coming from candles burning atop each table. The carpet was red like the roses outside, and the furniture was all made of heavy black wood. The walls were covered in large paintings that were unlike any he’d ever seen before, all framed in gold and silver. He’d eaten in a lot of nice restaurants in his life, but nothing like this.

“Would you like a booth or a table?” The hostess asked.

“Booth. Preferably one in the corner,” he replied.

“I’m sorry, those tables are reserved for our more… refined guests,” she hesitated.

“How refined are we talking?” he groaned.

A screen appeared before him requesting a transfer of 5,000 merit. The number was low enough that he knew this was a bald-faced lie, but he wasn’t going to fight it. Killing a few high-level monsters was enough to recoup that and more, so this was just the hostess’ attempt at getting some easy money. Without a word, he paid her bribe and followed her to a large booth against the wall.

“Here are your menus. Your server will be with you shortly,” she smiled and scurried away.

Celeste moved to sit across from him, but Harvey pulled her next to him so their backs were against the wall.

“What the? This isn’t a date,” she complained.

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“I know, but we need to scope this place out, and I don’t want anyone overhearing us. Why else do you think I’d pay for this table?”

“Oh,” she faltered, settling in and opening their menus.

They kept the conversation light until the server came to take their food and drink orders. Harvey watched the restaurant as best he could through the dim light, trying to identify all the entrances and exits so he could suss out which led to the lieutenant’s private room. It was hard to distinguish security guards and hotel staff from the other patrons. Most of the demons were dressed to the nines, making everyone blend together. Unable to find anything concrete, he kept his eyes on the restaurant while the two chatted quietly.

“I guess I hadn’t really made the connection, but you must’ve gotten your rank pretty young, right?” Harvey asked.

“16. My family’s got some deep military roots, so when I started my ascension early they figured there wasn’t much point in waiting to give me my command,” she replied.

Harvey couldn’t fathom having a military rank at 16 years old. He was stressing about getting his driver’s license so he could finally drive himself on dates. “That’s pretty young. Were you happy?”

“At the time,” she sighed. “Everyone was so proud of me. Now, I kind of wish I’d slowed down a little.”

“I was always in a rush to grow up too. What that meant was probably a little different. I wanted a job so I could have my own money and buy all the video games I wanted without having to beg my parents to buy them for me.”

“I’ve heard that term brought up a few times, but I still don’t know what it means. What’s a video game?”

“It’s a game you play where you pretend to be someone who has all the magic powers you actually have,” Harvey laughed. “Except if you die, you can just try again. They’re fun! I’ll show you sometime.”

“So you just pretend to fight monsters? Sounds like a waste of time.”

“That’s the kind of thinking that got you on an org chart at 16,” Harvey laughed. “What do you think you would’ve done instead?”

“Instead of what?”

“Joining the army,” he explained.

She looked taken aback, almost as if the idea had never even crossed her mind. “I… I don’t know. I always knew this is where I’d end up, so I never really considered what I would do otherwise.”

“Ok… well what about your Profession? Did you pick something fun so you can take your mind off things when you’re not fighting?”

“My Profession is all about leading soldiers into battle. My skills strengthen the people under my command, but they’re not cheap,” she replied.

“Really? I’ve never felt any buffs coming from you?” Harvey looked at her until confusion turned to realization. “You didn’t think I was worth the essence!”

“Can you blame me? You’re not exactly a good soldier,” she laughed.

“I agree. I’m the Commander all the good soldiers are supposed to listen to,” Harvey retorted.

“Oh yeah. That was definitely what I was thinking,” she mocked.

“I know we didn’t really get along at the start, but you can’t blame me for trying to get my family home safe.”

“A week ago, I would’ve told you to trust the process,” she began.

“Makes sense, I got here about a week ago,” he interrupted.

She glared at him before continuing, “Now I don’t see any clean paths out of here. I wasn’t going to say anything in front of Cash, but the Commander’s a nightmare. I’ve heard he used to be a good soldier back when he and Cash were still at the academy, but it took so long for the Integration trial to arrive that he got lazy. Let Hell put us on the back foot the second we got here, and we’ve been trying to fight our way back ever since.”

“I’ve never met the guy, but I can’t understand why his grand plan was to keep bleeding one angel at a time instead of marching his army right up to this casino and burning the place to the ground. He had to know fighting one losing battle after another wasn’t ever going to work, right?” Harvey whispered, careful to make sure nobody else could hear him.

“That’s exactly what I would’ve done, but he was afraid that would get too many of his friends killed,” she replied.

“So why didn’t you do something?” Harvey asked.

“Look around. You see these demons? How they’re all so obsessed with wealth and luxury? That’s how obsessed the angels are with following orders,” she groaned. “Maybe I could’ve gotten my own squad to follow me, but the Lord knows that wasn’t going to be enough.”

“Well then I guess it’s a good thing I came along to clean up his mess,” Harvey spat.

They both fell quiet as the server returned with two plates of juicy meat and fresh drinks. They ate in silence, stuffing themselves even though it had only been a few hours since their dinner back home. The food was delicious, so much so that he worried it might have been laced with some kind of drug. They both sank back into the booth, slouching down and leaning against each other's shoulders.

“I think it’s time for bed,” Harvey remarked.

“Did you figure out which room you’ll be in tomorrow?” she asked.

“No, but I appreciate the vote of confidence,” he chuckled. “I definitely have a shot, but making the final table in a tournament full of degenerate gamblers won’t be easy.”

“You will. I can’t say exactly how you’re doing it, but I could tell that you’re cheating,” she remarked. “Does it have something to do with that crystal in your neck?”

“What? You noticed?” Harvey asked.

“It’s hidden pretty well between your hair and your collar, but I could see it when I was standing behind you,” she said.

“Shit,” Harvey swore. “I wonder if they sell hoodies or something at the gift shop. I know it wasn’t that uncommon for poker players to wear them back home.”

“What is that thing anyway?” she asked.

He debated whether or not he should tell her, but figured it was probably time for him to let the cat out of the bag anyway. If his family thought he’d gone insane when he told them he had another voice inside his head, it was too late for them to do anything about it.

“It’s called a Cognition Matrix. The System gave it to me as a reward for succeeding in my last trial. It combined an artificial intelligence I built with the legacy of the man who saved my life. It talks to me in his voice, but with all the knowledge I built into the AI,” Harvey explained.

“Really? I’m not 100% sure what you mean by "artificial intelligence," but I think I can get it from context clues. Can it do anything besides talking to you?”

He was relieved to see she wasn’t too shocked by the revelation, suggesting that something like this might not be completely unheard of in the multiverse. “It gives me a percentage boost to my Willpower, and it can help me with will-based tasks like refining ink, inscribing arrays, or even controlling any equipment I infuse with my Awakened Armament skill.”

“That’s sweet. You should definitely try to hide it tomorrow though. Don’t want some demon to kill you for cheating.”

The two paid their bill, waddled their full bellies over to a gift shop where Harvey bought a gaudy black hoodie that read ‘I love gold udders’ with the Golden Calf Casino logo on the back. It was shockingly the least offensive hoodie he could find, and Celeste couldn’t stop laughing at him as he wore it out of the shop. The two eventually found their way back to the elevator, where they finally reached their room. Steve and Tyler were both already asleep on the heart-shaped bed, but Cash was awake watching a show on the wall-mounted TV. Hell had a lot more technology than Harvey expected, and while he didn’t know if it ran on the same science that Earth used or was somehow supplemented with magic, it appeared that watching bad cop dramas on mute in a hotel was a multiversal concept.

The first thing he said when he saw them was, “What are you wearing? You two aren’t going native already, are you?”

“No,” he groaned. “Sadly, this is necessary for our plan to work.”

“So we do have a plan?” Cash asked.

“Yeah,” Celeste responded. “A pretty good one actually.”