W2 🛸 PLAYER CYOA: HIGH ROLLERS (LOWE) 🚀 CHARLES, LOVELACE, SHOMA

[dropoffs]

Comments

[inequals]

[ Just to keep this rolling since it's pretty minor development;

The security guard will look Charles (and presumably, Shoma) up and down with a little bit of disdain, but will gesture them inside. ]

Name

Tingtang Gang. Access allowed up to the third floor; guest only allowed past the first floor with a gang member present.

[ And so, you can enter the casino. The music, of course, goes hard, and so does the interior. Whaddya wanna do, play some slots? Just walk around? You can practically hear Saude's voice echoing in your head, telling you to not be suspicious, etc. but honestly? The world is your oyster. ]

[thematics]

[ once they're inside, lovelace will wander over to saude's table and sit down! ]

You're working tonight, too? [ spoken like a person who comes here a lot and knows the regular workers... in theory... ]

[riverbeans]

[charles did say isabel was with him, so for now he will follow her over to saude, though he'll remain standing by her chair.]

Hey.

[solesuccess]

[ also following! he will just trot along behind the other two as normally as possible and stand on the other side of isabel's chair. he doesn't say anything though because he's busy looking around the casino itself. didn't the documents say there was a lot of security? how are things looking right now? ]

[inequals]

[ She's smiling. Saude is most definitely smiling, but you feel a rather thick tension in the air coming specifically off of her. She tilts her head ever-so subtly towards Isabel. ]

Saude

Of course~, if it pays the bills!
Interested in a round of poker today, ma'am, dear guest, dear regular guest???

[ Security is teeming! They look immensely suspicious for some reason because the game said they're all dudes in suits and hats that make them look more like they came out of a film noir than anything. They're just roaming about, especially near the stairs leading up to the higher floors. They seem especially alert today -- might have to do with the whole Bough bet going on later. ]

[thematics]

[ hey? she's being a regular guest right now??? ]

I'll play one round. Just to get warmed up. [ mostly because it would be suspicious to come over here and then immediately walk away. ]

[riverbeans]

[keeps hanging around, but also, he bends down to whisper to shoma,]

So, how do you think we can get the Captain an outfit?

[solesuccess]

[ these dudes sure be suspicious. but it's okay, shoma is still observing and they're basically letting isabel work with saude. ]

Once we find a target we can steal from, best idea I've got is lead them somewhere isolated, knock 'em out like we did at the shop and then lead the Captain to like a bathroom or something to change. Security's tighter than I thought, so we can't cause too much of a scene.

[ actually, in looking, are there any people on this floor they can even try to steal an outfit from? or at they going to have to keep moving after this brief debriefing? ]

[inequals]

[ Saude... she smiles, but there's nothing there. ]

Saude

Mmhf. Mhm. Yes, of course.
A free round on me then, as a treat for my special regular.
I hope you aren't wasting any luck on this!

[ Saude will deal a hand for you! Watch her do these sick-ass Ben Wade shuffles, the training they've gone through to infiltrate as professional casino dealers. She'll give you your five cards. I'm not forcing you to learn how to play poker. Does Isabel even know how to play poker??? Well either way her hand sucks, she's got a winning chance of 27.8%. How many cards would you like to trade in?

There are probably miscellaneous people on this floor, but nobody stands out particularly Alpha Hawaiian to you (the Spirit of Ichiban Kasuga). If he looks around he can find Effie standing at another table dealing cards though ahd he also looks at the gang like wtf are you guys doing over there. ]

[thematics]

[ lovelace knows how to play poker but i don't. don't make me learn how to play poker. i don't know. 2 cards? sure. ]

Who would come to a casino with that little luck to spare?

[riverbeans]

[looks between isabel playing poker and effie. looks at shoma.









starts strolling over to effie?? casually? he is totally meant to be here and doing this.]

[solesuccess]

[ CHARLES WHERE ARE YOU.

WHAT.

WE SHOULD.

OKAY.

you know what fuck it, the guy at the door said guests just can't go past the first floor without a gang member so he figures isabel is fine by herself. she can play with saude, charles can go talk to effie, and shoma's going to fuck off to blend in and see if he can eavesdrop on any of the loitering members of the tingtang gang (or otherwise) for where they might find the boss. ]

[inequals]

[ Isabel flips her new cards!

.

..

... ]

Saude

Ah~, I'm sorry. No luck it seems!
Here, I'll give you a drink voucher as compensation.

[ Well, at least that's one consolation in this cruel gambling world. There is writing on the voucher though. It reads, 'Did you get the wishpower from the Tingtang Gang? Where's your outfit?' ]

CHARLES

ISABEL

SHOMA

[ Hi, Charles. Effie is dealing cards... and dealing drinks. He's got a wry smile on his face as he sleight-of-hands a customer and robs him of his coin. He fits right in. ]

Effie

Oya~, want to play some blackjack or are you just looking for a drink, mister?

[ Read: 'how goes the progress?'.

Shoma can go wander off on his own, little 12-year-old looking dude in a way too big luau shirt off in a big world. The place is absolutely loud, so eavesdropping will be a bit rough, but I'll just give it to you anyway. You can learn thaaat the Tingtang Gang boss is currently playing roulettes to crush time before he goes up for some big event. ]

[thematics]

The night is young. It would also be stupid to go to a casino if you're not prepared to lose once or twice.

But I'll take that voucher.

[ she shakes her head "no" to that question as she pockets the voucher... but acting like it's because she is amused at this loss! ah, so funny...! ]

[riverbeans]

Just looking for a drink. Got anything?

[............. progress is not going well, mayhaps, but he will not say that.]

[solesuccess]

[ oblivious to all of this, he is going to leave obtaining the wishpower to isabel and charles while he continues making his rounds. roulettes, huh? he will at least wander through the first floor checking for roulette wheels to see if this floor's clear or if they should be moving higher officially once they've gotten what they need.

he's also subtly checking his watch again to keep mind for the time. they really cannot be late for the actual bough bet.

it's occurred to me i have no idea if he has his headphones or if the sudden loudness is actually going to kill him. oh well. suffer and whatever.



also i guess he may just slip away and try to wander up to the next floor to scope out the area as best as he can if there are none results down here. ]

[inequals]

Saude

True, true. You shouldn't let a minor loss get you down.
After all, there must always be a light at the end of the tunnel, and things will look up soon.

[ Is she saying this for Isabel's benefit or her own? It's unclear. She wishes you the best. ]

Effie

...Sure. Been working on my cocktail game, so ask me for whatever you want.

[ Give him some money or a drink voucher. He's your ally but he's not your friend, he won't do this for free because he's mean. And also because Charles's non-answer concerns him.

As for Shoma's clothes, uhh. I guess you guys can have arrived with your default clothes on, whatever you would've been ICly wearing on Thursday before you showed up in the CYOA. There's people here and there playing at the various roulette wheels, both the weirdly ginormous upright ones but also the regular table ones. You can see a Tingtanger here and there, but you can see two dudes in a Hawaiian shirt around one of the roulette tables having a great time. One of them is standing, and the other is seated. The seated one, his shirt is green, the best colour.

If you still wanted to take a sneak peek on the second floor, you can. You hear mariachi music from up there. ]

[thematics]

[ lovelace will wander over to join charles and hand him the drink voucher to use! ]

Here, just won this for us.

[ well. she lost. but effie is the only safe person they can actually use the voucher on since it has this suspicious as hell writing on it that they can't let rando npcs see. may as well save the money? ]

[riverbeans]

Oh, thanks.

[because he definitely did not have money i assume. hands effie the drink voucher.]

Surprise me with whatever.

[solesuccess]

[ no he's allergic to maracas bye.

having found the two tingtangers at this wheel, he's going to actually loop back to isabel and charles and effie. ]

Boss is over at the roulette wheel. [ and in a lower tone: ] And he's with another guy. It'd be easiest to subdue him now before he gets too far and somebody notices something's up. So. Suggestions? [ ... ] And what are we going to do about money for the bet?

[inequals]

[ Effie takes the drink voucher and turns it over, reading the writing on the back of it. And then just looks at Isabel and Charles like. Guys.

Well. He'll get Charles this. ]

Effie

Night's still young, but it'll be over before you know it.
Make the most of it, play some games, eh?
Why else come to the casino if not for that.

[ If nothing else, the drink really is pretty good. It tastes refreshing. ]

CHARLES

ISABEL

SHOMA

Effie

Ah, shortie. You talking about the big one?
Syndicates already got that sorted out. The only thing you'll -- your boss'll be losing is the chance to get the Bough.
Granted, that'll be a pretty hefty loss.

[thematics]

Maybe we could challenge him to a game. Do the classic—make him lose all his money and even the shirt off his back.

[ like in movies! ]

[riverbeans]

[sips the drink. to effie:]

Think we could improve our... luck any, if we played some games around here?

[solesuccess]

Good to know. [ but hm.. ] I think I like that plan better than challenging a guy who'll probably eventually notice we aren't part of his gang. At least not yet.

[ but he glances back to the exit leading to the second floor. ]

Think it's worth our while to try different ones? There's only so many down here. [ i.e. move ahead. he figures if they're up there they can at least keep an eye on the boss before he gets too far. ]

[inequals]

Effie

Ay? Well... if you don't have another way... you can always try the roulette near the entrance, the big one.
People who visit the casino try their daily luck usin' that roulette, and take or yield wishpower depending on the outcome.
It's pretty risky though.

[ Said roulette is one of the big upright ones, near the entrance. It's kind of halfway roulette, half-way spin the wheel, half-way a machine with a canister attached to it. Who knew wishpower/luck could be condensed into something material. That's City tech for ya. ]