They call me... Logical, but that's not my name. It's short for LOGICAL2U... Which isn't my name either, I'm not a freaking robot you know. Ardo Melnikov is the name stitched into the tag on my underwear and it suits me just fine, but most people just called me Logical. This is fairly ironic since people also tell me I'm usually anything but. And this was one of those times. To celebrate my new 'consultancy' job with the Military I decided to get some action... And play some cards too. The scene was quiet all night until She showed up.
She was a smooth operator, her skin smoother still. A FOnewearl by the name of Torikkusuta, but everyone called her Torik... Because that was all they could pronounce. She walked in like she owned the joint, which she didn't, slinking purposefully towards me through the smoky air, a HUcast having expired on the next table a few Beats ago.
"I hear you've got some Meseta burning a hole in your pocket." She said huskily before coughing the smoke out of her lungs.
"Well, I don't normally pay for such things, but I am curious. How much do you charge?"
She frowned. "No, I meant gambling. You know, with cards?"
"Er... That's what I referring to..." Now I had her disorientated, I moved in for the kill. "How about... Go Fish?"
She sighed quite loudly. It must have been in response to my manly manliness.
"How about we play a grown-up game?"
"Strip-poker?" I ventured.
"Uh... No."
"Some sort of variant of strip-poker?"
-----
The two figures jogged down the darkened city streets. One of them was panting hard like he was out of shape, the other was in shape and what a shape!
"At least try and keep up." Marla called back to the huffing and puffing Bernie.
"Wh... Why do... We have to run... Everywhere? Wasn't the... HCIU... Issued with... A hovercar of some kind?" Wheezed Bernie like a chimney with a 40-a-day habit.
"We were, but we don't have one at the moment."
"Care to tell... Me why?"
"It's kind of BOC's fault..."
"How so?" Gasped the RAmar.
"Someone was shooting at him as usual..."
"And the car?"
"Well, he was in it at the time."
"Oh, so it was BOC's fault then?"
"Yeah and BOC's pay has been docked so much that he'll have to appear in the sequel just to remain in the red."
-----
I eyed my cards cautiously before glancing back to my opponent. She stuck out her tongue and smiled, head tilted to one side. I knew now that she was obviously a master of the poker face. She had reason to be confident, she had constructed herself a little fort out of the Meseta cubes she had won so far, all the other opponents folding some time ago. But this was a false confidence, one that I had built up in her through a clever series of systematic losses. Now it was time for a reversal of fortune...
"I raise you... Five hundred Meseta." Torrik said as she tossed a cube onto the pile in the middle of the table and giggled.
It was the kind of giggle that a man would marry a woman over, but I knew she was trouble from day one. A dame like her would break your heart in the blink of a beautifully curved eyelash and then sell the contents of your apartment the moment your back was turned. I knew this from personal experience.
She had raised the stakes to price me out of the game, this told me that her hand was weak, weak just like my knees were every time she looked deeply into my eyes and smiled. It was just the weakness that I was looking for, but the cupboard was bare, all my Meseta had become her Meseta. I would have wagered the shirt off my back but I already owed that to another guy, a guy with no neck who would be very angry if I didn't give it to him later. Long story.
I patted down my pockets. I was about half a Beat from an eye-twitch, but all I needed was one thing of value...
"Have you seen one of these?" I said triumphantly, whipping the object from my pants.
"Oh my, Logical! It's so huge! Can I touch it?" Asked Torrik.
I lay it on the table for her and she caressed its length, marvelling at its hardness.
"What is it?" She said breathlessly.
"It's some kind of control crystal." I then lowered my voice to a whisper. "It's from the Ruins."
She gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"In that case, I accept it as collateral."
-----
"Wait... Wait! WAIT!" Shouted Bernie grinding to a halt.
Marla came to a standstill and looked at the man bent over double in agony.
"Where... Are we... going?"
"Did I forget to tell you earlier? We're going to meet a guy about some information." She replied.
"Okay... That I can accept... But tell me this... Why don't we take... a BLOODY taxi then?"
"You know, that idea is so crazy, it just might work."
-----
Logical kept his eyes on Torrik the whole time as he laid the final card on the table.
"Sinow Beat." He said quietly, a trace of a smile on his lips.
When she did not move he rose slightly from his chair and reached for the money in order to pull his winnings over.
"Not so fast."
She methodically placed the three cards onto the table. FOnewm. Megid. Caduceus. Logical got a sinking feeling in his stomach, the kind you get just before being run over by the Rappy army of a guitar-wielding seven year old newman. As he watched her scoop up his hard-earned money several soldiers entered the bar and scanned the room before they spotted Logical and approached his table.
"Sir, we're here to relieve you of the Control Crystal. Major Leo believes that he made a big mistake in trusting you to hold it at this time." Said the first soldier.
"Major Leo?" Queried Logical.
"Uh.. I mean Major Crysalis."
"And that's my cue to get outta here. Goodnight boys!" Said Torrik winking as she blew them a kiss.
The soldiers and Logical watched intently as Torrik's delectable rear disappeared into the throng of alcoholics.
"Now..." Said the soldier holding out his hand. "The crystal please."
"Don't worry, it's in er... Safe hands... Hers." Said Logical pointing at the far end of the bar.
The soldiers all looked in the direction he had pointed to but when they had turned back Logical had mysteriously vanished.