Four days have passed since my incident, and they have been the best four days I have had in the last millennium. Hold on, has it been another thousand years? I'll need to check my stopwatch. Anyhow things have been so much better. The crew has been getting along with the aliens, I think they finally adjusted. I went all out at dinner to show my appreciation. I made pretty much everything I could on hand. Double baked potatoes with bacon bits, steak marinated in coconut aminos, homemade peanut butter cookies. The cookies turned out ok. I did not have as much sugar I normally would have added in, so I increased the amount of chunky peanut butter. They were softer, the fragments of peanuts provided a nice contrast.
I found their version of youtube that came preinstalled on the omnitool and made some asari dishes. It took a while to figure out the names of the ingredients. I tried to ask Liara for help, but she didn't respond. I ran into her in the hallway while doing some chores with Garrus. I waved my hand and said hi. This caused her to runoff. It is only natural to be afraid. I did not make the greatest impression. Garrus rubbed my shoulder in support. Besides that, everything is fanflipintastic. Tonight, is poker night.
The competition is Joker, Shepard, Kaiden, Ashley, Garrus, and Tali. Wrex didn't want to play, said "I took enough risks in my youth", I left it at that. Kaiden taught me how to use the omnitool to install the poker app. The app store didn't look different from what I had. I entered poker in the search bar and clicked the app Kaiden pointed to. I clicked the install button and waited. Nothing is happening. I look at Kaiden.
"It froze" I state.
"No, it didn't. It downloaded" he explained.
"It did? Where was the download bar?" I ask.
"What are you talking about? It is instantaneous these days. Unless it is a really big file. Something larger than ten terabytes" He said.
"WHAT?!" I nearly spit out my drink, if I had one. Ten terabytes can be downloaded in minutes?! I never would have imagined. What even needs to be larger than that?
"Man, you really need to be more exposed to technology" Ashley utters.
Kaiden connected my account through the app. He saw my remaining 950 credits and said he is going to take it all. I honestly don't care about the money, but I do love winning. Let's see Shepard can be very stoic. I'll need to make strange faces to break him. Ashley can be very expressive; I should prey on her moves. Kaiden has a tell. His temple where is implant is becomes pinkish when annoyed. Garrus and Tali will be impossible to read, fortunately this is their first-time playing poker, I should be fine.
"Ok the game is on. Texas hold'em. Minimum bet is 10 credits for the first 10 rounds. The app deals for us" Joker puts on a green visor.
"Hehehe why are you wearing that?" It looks funny on our pilot. Oh god I am imagining him leaning back in his seat, flying the normandy with a fancy little umbrella drink wearing that stupid hat. I wonder what he does when we aren't flying.
"It is tradition. The game is on. Daddy needs new seat cushions" Joker clicks a button and the space in front of me illuminates with an orange hologram. It shows our position, chip amounts, how many cards we have and who's turn it is. I reach up and touch it. My hand passes through. My mouth opens and a childish smile of wonder forms as I play with the hologram.
"This is so cool!" I hardly contain my amazement. I scout forwards to get a better look.
Shepard gets his cards first. His hand covers his omnitool to hide his cards. From my position I can only see the back of his omnitool screen. His virtual cards are not the typical pattern. The backing is the normandy. The app lets you customize the cards. Pretty neat feature. When it is my turn Kaiden shows me how to view my cards. I have to press this green button with glasses on it. Poker is now popular with aliens and the translators don't convert text. The symbols are used whenever the developers can and no numbers display the amount of diamonds I have. The layout makes it easy to see and determine the number from a quick glance. I have a six of diamonds and a pattern of four-one-four makes a nine of diamond.
Everyone bets except the aliens as they are observing first. We gave them a chart to guide them on what is better and the chances one of us has a better hand. It takes time to learn the game. The flop is a jack of spades, nine of hearts, and eight of diamonds. I forgot to pay attention to everyone else. The eight gives me hope for a straight flush. I'll need seven of diamonds and either five of diamonds or ten. I call. Ashley folds.
The next card dealt is the ten of diamonds. A smile briefly forms before I erase it. Nobody saw it. Kaiden's temple is getting red. He is going to fold. Joker raised to twenty five credits. Shepard and I match. Tali asks why he did that. We explained that Joker is either confident in his hand or may be trying to bluff us and make us fold.
"If he doesn't have a great hand then why would he raise the amount? Isn't the goal to win more money?" Tali asks. Garrus slightly moves his head to the left
"Poker is a game of chance and it can be about what is the word… intimidation I guess. We will try to mess with each other, get inside their heads and get them to surrender the pot. You just kinda need to be in it to understand" Shepard explained.
Garrus's mandibles quickly spread open and shut. His eyes light up. That must be the turian version of something clicking. "Oh, I get it. Like how I would interrogate a suspect and get any information I could to solve a case and If I am lucky make him crack from pressure."
"Yeah that's right" Ashley said. She moves over and sits between Garrus and Tali.
The next card is a five of diamonds. This is good for me. Joker readjusts. That better be a stress response. Shepard doesn't move. We all call and see this through. Come on, seven of diamonds. Come on, universe give me the goodies. Wait, I am not going to cheat. I want to prove my superiority fairly. Never mind universe. The next card is… a ten of clubs. Crap.
Our hands are shown onto the screen and Shepard wins the round with three tens. Joker has zelt. Fine, the commander can have my money this time.
"You were close to a straight flush" Joker points out.
"What does that mean?" Tali asks.
"A straight is when you have five cards that go in order. A flush is when you can make five cards, two from your hand and three in the center to have the same symbol. A straight flush is when you have both. It is very hard to get. It is not the best but it is pretty good if you can get it" Ashley explains.
"Do the numbers count? Would a pair of tens beat three twos?" Garrus asked.
"No. A pair with a higher number can only beat out another pair" Ashely said.
After a few more rounds and down to 870 credits Tali and Garrus are now ready to play. They do alright at first. Kaiden and Shepard are winning. I one one hand with a bluff. No one had anything good that hand. The eleventh round came up and the bet increased to 50 credits. Tali gets a frickin royal flush and wins 500 credits. I wanted that hand. Beginner's luck I tell myself. She jumps up and down in her chair full of exhilaration. So cute.
I manage to stay around 500 credits. There were some ups and down but I never went below 300. Tali pulled out when she won big. Garrus is up a little bit. Ashley is out but stayed to help Tali and Garrus. I made whimsical faces at Shepard but he just ignored me. that failed. I tried to toy with joker but something about him wearing a visor just got to me. I could not keep from laughing. Ashely was so easy to rob from. Despite knowing Kaiden's tell, his luck made it virtually useless. I never seen so many four of a kinds in my life. The final round is 100 credit bet and you must see it through all the way, a special ship rule. I don't take part. It is a game between Shepard, Joker, Kaiden, and Tali. Each move is tense. The four (except Tali) stare down the competition with fierceness. Whoever wins this hand will win at least 1600 credits. The three cards are the queen of spades, a queen of hearts, and a king of spades. The fourth card is a king of diamonds. Oh this is going to be a doozy. A battle of the sexes. Will the hand be decided by the king or queen. The final card is… drum roll….a whopping three of spades. That is disappointing. The results are in. Joker almost had a straight. Kaiden had three queens. Shepard had four kings. Tali won the game with a flush. She didn't even understand why she won until Ashely explained. While the mask hid her face, the quarian jumping out of her chair and shaking her fists subtly demonstrated her zealousness. Garrus clapped his hands.
We congratulate her and ask her what she plans to do with it. She said she is going to send it back to the fleet. Tali really loves her people. I told her she should treat herself a little bit, maybe buy her best human friend a really expensive toy. "Nice try" she tells me. Worth a shot. I honestly do not know how much I lost. I am not sure the purchasing power is equivalent to losing ten dollars or a hundred thousand. I am unfamiliar with the market or what is normal in this universe. Kinda like how the middle class in my original universe was better than medieval royalty. It does not matter. Things come, go, and degrade. The memories and friendships stay with you forever and become a part of you. I smile when I catch the words I thought to myself… Friends.