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"So here's the rub down. I have a lot of fingers in a lot of pies and there's this one pie down in District 16. You know how P-Company is, don't you?" Your body shivers at the mere mention of that District. It's not nearly as inhospitable as some other Districts but from the rumors you heard about the facilities there, it's not good. "Luckily for you, you're not being sent to a facility!"

"Oh thank fuck." You let out a sigh of relief. "Wait, why am I being sent there again?"

"I'm getting there. So, due to the sheer stress that P-Company workers experience on a daily basis, I signed a deal with a certain group to build a casino there." The crackle of a lit cigarette being inhaled is heard over the line. "Win win. I get a cut of their revenue, they get the seed money to start their business, all is well!"

"Lemme guess." You start shifting through your closet for a new outfit to wear. "You're not getting the money you're owed, so I'm being sent to deal with it."

"Smart girl." The Handler chortles. "Yeah, 'bout sums it up. I noticed it around the time I first hired ya. Something shady was going on with the paperwork being sent back. The original royalty payment was 15% of their total earnings per month. You know how much a casino earns in a month?"

"No?"

"Millions. So, you know, if they were to be skimming a percent or two off the top, they would be keeping tens of thousands to themselves every month."

Your face scrunches up. "Wait, why not just pressure them to give your money back. If you have solid enough proof that they're fucking you over, you can use that as leverage."

"If it was that easy, you think I would call you?" The Handle makes an obnoxious snort. "To put it bluntly, I tried to. We got into an argument and uh, you know-" There's a sudden awkwardness in the tone of his voice. "I might be barred from going anywhere near there again."

[UNSTABLE] Your brain short circuits for a moment. What? What is this faggot on about? You can only respond with a grunt.

"I'm still lucky to be getting my payments but if I try pushing my weight around anymore here, the whole occupation goes under and I completely lose this revenue stream. That's where you come in." The Handler clears his throat. "I need you to find solid evidence that they are stealing money from me. Paperwork, testimonies, whatever. Then, I need you to break into their vault and steal a suitcase there that has about..."

"$85500 from them. Adjust the amount you steal depending if they fuck me over but even if they're not, take it anyways. Once you complete both of those, get outta dodge. I'll collect the briefcase and, here's a word of advice-"

"If you even dare steal a single bill out of that suitcase for yourself, I WILL GUT YOU LIKE A FUCKING PIG." Your eardrum nearly gets fucking blown out. "However, feel free to keep any money you win through gambling or the smaller caches inside the safe." Click. You get hung up on.

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[SEEKER OF THE CITY] From what you recall of District 16, it has remarkably similar weather to the district you've living in now (i.e snowbound). After a quick shower, you adjust your new outfit accordingly. A thick winter jacket, snow pants, cotton gloves and boots.

Once that's done, you quickly ring up the numbers of the allies you're bringing. The first one to response is Adam. As the call connect, you immediately hear how exhausted he is. "Hello. This is the Bazaar of Delight. We're still closed due to an incident a few days ago. Please-"

"It's me." Your voice instantly gets his attention.

"Oh thank the Father." Adam mutters under his breath. The sounds of rattling pots and pans can be heard in the background. "Hey. You need me for a mission? Thank you. The last few days have been, well, stressful." You internally question how a mission is going to be any less stressful than whatever he's doing.

"Yeah. Is, uh, Benedict okay?"

"As okay as he can be. Small question, is your mission going to require any VIOLENCE?" You mull this over before you give your response.

"Hopefully not? It's a casino...heist investigation thing."

"Noted. Won't bring him along. I want to discuss something with you once this is all said and done. Where to meet?" You'd assume it's Benedict being dragged along on a mission. Well, it's not relevant right now.

"Train station. District 7. Mono Station, Alpha 1." "Noted. Will be there soon." You move onto the next phone call, which so happens to be Ashley. At first you thought it was your ringtone playing but you don't recall setting a punk rock ringtone. Then you realize, oh, the call connected.

"Hm?" Ashley's voice is barely heard over the roar of a guitar. "Hold on. Small break, got a call!" She yells out. Almost immediately, the song stops. You hear some shuffling before hearing her voice much clearer now. "Yo yo. Nicole, yeah? What's the issue here?"

"Got another mission. Ideally it won't be as violent as the last one. Casino thing, I'll tell you more when you arrive."

"Ah, damnit. I'm busy doing something. But $110 is $110..." She clicks her tongue. "Alright, alright. I'll be there. Give me an hour to finish this." And you're hung up before you can say anything. Something suddenly clicks. Wait, she plays in a band, and Kori said something about a guitar lady-

[UNSTABLE] Ashley. Ashton. Holy fucking shit WHO THE FUCK USES 'ASH' AS A NAMING SCHEME FOR THEIR CHILDREN???

You quickly dial up Max's phone number while trying your best not to cringe at the incredibly obvious naming scheme being used here. Knowing the last few phone calls made to her and Benjamin, it's probably a two-in-one deal. Hopefully it's not like last time where-

You're not going to think about it. You don't need to since you get picked up almost immediately. "Well well! Didn't expect to hear from you again so soon! What's the deal? You miss me or something?" Smugness oozes out of her voice. Best to get this over with.

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"Bring Benjamin along. District 6, Mono Station, Alpha 1." You rattle out in a monotone voice. Max overdramatically sighs but quickly hums in approval. You get hung up right after. Now that you got all of that sorted, you sneakily slide past the traps around your front door before heading outside.

It doesn't take you long to end up back at the train station. You find the most comfortable chair on the platform to sit down on before crossing your arms and zoning out. Crowds of people pass by your peripheral vision. Normal humans, androids, drones, men and women with way too many teeth. It all blurs together into a crowd of Cityslickers.

Soon, you see four recognizable figures break through the haze of Cityslickers.

Ashley looks about the same as she did last time you met her. Leather jacket, boots, jeans, really long red hair, baseball bat, it's all there. The only main thing you note is some gauze still wrapped around her shoulder. She points a finger gun at you.
Benjamin is dressed like a dork, as expected. He adjusts the collar of his buttoned up plaid shirt while desperately trying to comb his bird nest hair. He still has those silly leather gloves on. He flashes a small smile at you.
Max adjusts the small red bowtie around her neck with her leather gloved hands. You only now how tall she is compared to Benjamin, she's about a solid half foot taller. Her grey tuxedo and dress pants makes her stand out a bit too much. She gives you a shit-eating grin.
Adam...looks exhausted. His black collared dress shirt and dress pants are covered in wrinkles and his black dress shoes are scuffed to hell and back. His short red hair is slick with what appears to be engine oil? He simply nods when he sees you.

>Adam, Max, Ashley, and Benjamin have joined the party! Adam and Max's sheets will be shown now.

MAX KRAKATOA [SPECIAL]
RAPPORT: 1/8
FLESH: 2
RESTRAINT: 3
VIOLENCE: 2
TALENT: 3
WILLPOWER: 3
CHARM: 5
COGNIZANCE: 3
CONNECTIONS: 5

BOONS
[WELL ENDOWED] Her family name is more than enough to pull some favors in the equipment department. Whenever Max joins the party, her inventory will be filled with various pieces of equipment that will help herself and the party out.

[CORPORATE V.I.P] The mere mention of her family name is enough to make people drop to their knees. Thrice per mission, Max may fully reroll all dice she rolls during a CHARM or CONNECTIONS check. She may also spend a usage to give you an additional +3d6 in a CHARM or CONNECTIONS check you make.

BANES
[HATED: CLEANERS] A rich brat slumming it as a Cleaner is liable to draw ire from other Cleaners. Your allies will tolerate her presence but if you ever encounter other Cleaners or Agents in the field, expect her presence to start shit you need to deescalate.

[SHELTERED] She's hiding it well but she's not really used to anything outside of her rich lifestyle. She'll be easily thrown off in situations your other allies are used to, such as brawls or anomaly encounters.

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INVENTORY: DERRINGER (Easily hidden. Has enough ammo for two shots. Rolls TALENT+3 when attacking and uses PISTOL AMMO), STIMPAK x3 (Very expensive healing chem. Can be used to instantly heal a CRIPPLING INJURY or to heal 2 FLESH), CAMERA BUG x3 (Hard to spot when applied to something. Allows for remote observation and data gathering), FAKE ID (Spend to add +2d6 to a CHARM or CONNECTIONS roll.)

ADAM BORRELLI [SPECIAL]
RAPPORT: 2/8 (You DID save Benedict.)
FLESH: 4
RESTRAINT: 3
VIOLENCE: 4
TALENT: 3
WILLPOWER: 2
CHARM: 4
CONNECTIONS: 4
COGNIZANCE: 3

BOONS:
[STEADY HANDS] After years in the kitchen, the movement of his hands have been practiced to near perfection. He adds his RESTRAINT dice to any TALENT or ATTACK roll he makes.

[HARD WORKER] A job well done is enough to bring comfort to his soul. Whenever he succeeds in a skill check, he heals 1 FLESH or RESTRAINT. If both are injured, he choses whichever is lower

BANES:
[OVERCORRECTION] After what happened with Benedict, he's a bit jumpy when it comes to stressful situations. He's liable to make an ass out of himself whenever a situation gets emotional/stressful and will more likely than not make things worse when trying to help. Successful CHARM checks can help curb this unhealthy mindset.

INVENTORY: CHEF'S KNIFE (Sharpened to a razor point. Partially ignores armor with attacking. With his BOON, rolls VIOLENCE+RESTRAINT+1.)

<"Is it just me or does she have a weird look on her face?"> Ashley tilts her head at you, as if trying to read your own mind. She lets out a small sigh. "Alright. So, what's this about a casino?" You give your allies a quick rundown of what the Handler told you.

Max nods her head after processing what you told her. "Ahhh. They're fudging the numbers somehow if it took him months to notice anything. Given how the only person they have to pay is one dude, it's possible they didn't bother to destroy the original paperwork."

Adam squints his eyes at Max. "Paperwork or not, we still have to steal a briefcase. I don't know much about casino security but isn't breaking into their vaults hard?"

Benjamin tilts his head. "Depends what you mean by hard. Enough thermite could burn right through the vault door pretty damn fast. Course, that would raise a fuckton of alarm bells." Max jabs him in the side after he said that. "What-" He notices the weird looks Adam and Ashley are giving him. And the one you feel like giving him as well.

"What! It was just an idea! It's the money he cares about anyways, we can break in and out! No harm done!"

"I'm sorry, uh, what's your face?" Ashley clicks her tongue. "Seriously, who are you."
"Ohhh, this sweetheart?" Max coos. "You can call him Benjamin. Ben if you want. You have to earn calling him Benny."
"Ew." "Ew." Adam and Ashley remark in unisons. Benjamin looks embarrassed.

"Yeah, whatever, Benjamin. You do realize that will get EVERY SECURITY MEMBER ON OUR ASSES, RIGHT?"

"So?" Benjamin tilts his head. "We just have to outrun them. I don't think it would be that hard, would it?" None of your allies, including Max, feel like responding to that at first. You pipe up.

"Benny. Guns exists." You say with the cadence of a mother telling her kid that sticking a fork in a socket is a bad idea.

It takes him a solid moment to piece this together. "Oh. Yeah. Forgot about those." You try your best not to break out into a giggle fit upon hearing that. Max and Adam fail to hold back their laughter while Ashley deadpan stares at everyone else. Benjamin squawks out with a mixture of shame and annoyance.

"HEY! STOP LAUGHING!" This only makes the laughing worse.

You do notice something different about the way he carries himself, however. What do you notice different about him? Choose one character upgrade for him.
>There's a familiar glint in his eye. A glint of madness and power. His mind is getting closer to tapping into your domain. [ANOMALOUS POTENTIAL. +1 WILLPOWER and Benjamin will slowly awaken an anomalous power over the course of the mission. You'll get a future vote to decide what it is.]
>Acid burns and weird discolorations cover his arms and neck. The faint stench of chemicals surrounding him has gotten stronger. Seems like he's been experimenting. [LICENSED PHARAMICST UPGRADE. +1 COGNIZANCE, The drugs and chemicals he can produce are more potent, improving the stat boosts of drugs you ask him to copy and unlocking more drugs/chems he can make.]
>On second look, his dorky clothing seemingly belongs to high class brands and his body seems a bit more toned than before [BENJAMIN will gain +1 CHARM, +1 CONNECTIONS, +1 TALENT and +1 FLESH.]

What do you want to do with your free time before the next train arrives? Pick up to three.
>Try to pry more information about Benedict out of Adam. How exactly is he handling the 'friend being a half anomaly' thing?
>Time for him to break into his supplies you bought for him. Ask Benjamin to make some drugs or chemicals for you. (Write in a consumable of yours to copy or the kind of chemical you want him to make whole scratch. He'll produce 1d3 doses.)
>"Say, Max, I bet you got some great advice." Appeal to her ego a bit. Ask her for some useful advice on how you might deal with whoever runs the casino.
>Take Benjamin to the side and show him the PARADIGM you got. He has a finger on the pulse of anomalous stuff, maybe he can offer some advice on how to handle it?
>Try to pry a bit into Ashley's life. While you doubt directly asking about Ashton will go over well, you might learn something if you read between the lines.
>You want to check up on an ally, see how they've been doing. (For every action you spent on this choice, you choose one ally to talk to. Write in up to two questions to ask them.)
>Write in.

Apologies for the delayed thread post, got distracted by dog stuff. We're back on this hellish road. The ride won't end until Cleaner Quest #5921, baby.

>>5893947
>>Acid burns and weird discolorations cover his arms and neck. The faint stench of chemicals surrounding him has gotten stronger. Seems like he's been experimenting. [LICENSED PHARAMICST UPGRADE. +1 COGNIZANCE, The drugs and chemicals he can produce are more potent, improving the stat boosts of drugs you ask him to copy and unlocking more drugs/chems he can make.]
>"Say, Max, I bet you got some great advice." Appeal to her ego a bit. Ask her for some useful advice on how you might deal with whoever runs the casino.
>Time for him to break into his supplies you bought for him. Ask Benjamin to make some drugs or chemicals for you. (Write in a consumable of yours to copy or the kind of chemical you want him to make whole scratch. He'll produce 1d3 doses.)
I've got nothing to vote on specifically for this one, but I know people are gonna wanna do this.
>Try to pry more information about Benedict out of Adam. How exactly is he handling the 'friend being a half anomaly' thing?

>>5893947
>Acid burns and weird discolorations cover his arms and neck. The faint stench of chemicals surrounding him has gotten stronger. Seems like he's been experimenting. [LICENSED PHARAMICST UPGRADE. +1 COGNIZANCE, The drugs and chemicals he can produce are more potent, improving the stat boosts of drugs you ask him to copy and unlocking more drugs/chems he can make.]

>Try to pry more information about Benedict out of Adam. How exactly is he handling the 'friend being a half anomaly' thing?
>"Say, Max, I bet you got some great advice." Appeal to her ego a bit. Ask her for some useful advice on how you might deal with whoever runs the casino.
>Time for him to break into his supplies you bought for him. Ask Benjamin to make some drugs or chemicals for you. (Write in a consumable of yours to copy or the kind of chemical you want him to make whole scratch. He'll produce 1d3 doses.)
Anti psychotics. We'll need it very soon.

>>5893947
>Acid burns and weird discolorations cover his arms and neck. The faint stench of chemicals surrounding him has gotten stronger. Seems like he's been experimenting. [LICENSED PHARAMICST UPGRADE. +1 COGNIZANCE, The drugs and chemicals he can produce are more potent, improving the stat boosts of drugs you ask him to copy and unlocking more drugs/chems he can make.]
>"Say, Max, I bet you got some great advice." Appeal to her ego a bit. Ask her for some useful advice on how you might deal with whoever runs the casino.
>Take Benjamin to the side and show him the PARADIGM you got. He has a finger on the pulse of anomalous stuff, maybe he can offer some advice on how to handle it?
>Try to pry a bit into Ashley's life. While you doubt directly asking about Ashton will go over well, you might learn something if you read between the lines.

>>5893947
>Acid burns and weird discolorations cover his arms and neck. The faint stench of chemicals surrounding him has gotten stronger. Seems like he's been experimenting. [LICENSED PHARAMICST UPGRADE. +1 COGNIZANCE, The drugs and chemicals he can produce are more potent, improving the stat boosts of drugs you ask him to copy and unlocking more drugs/chems he can make.]

>Try to pry more information about Benedict out of Adam. How exactly is he handling the 'friend being a half anomaly' thing?
>"Say, Max, I bet you got some great advice." Appeal to her ego a bit. Ask her for some useful advice on how you might deal with whoever runs the casino.

>Take Benjamin to the side and show him the PARADIGM you got. He has a finger on the pulse of anomalous stuff, maybe he can offer some advice on how to handle it?


>>5894001
We don’t need anti psychotic pill because we get like anti psychotic 3 in inventory.

>Time for him to break into his supplies you bought for him. Ask Benjamin to make some drugs or chemicals for you. (Write in a consumable of yours to copy or the kind of chemical you want him to make whole scratch. He'll produce 1d3 doses.)

>SOMTOIN ALPHA. A potent psychoactive substance that improves creativity and opens your mind's eye. Boosts WILLPOWER and CHARM by 2 temporarily on consumption. May induce violent hallucinations.

Just in case If this choice win.

>>5894049
+1
Gimme some of that Benji style LSD.

>>5893947
>Acid burns and weird discolorations cover his arms and neck. The faint stench of chemicals surrounding him has gotten stronger. Seems like he's been experimenting. [LICENSED PHARAMICST UPGRADE. +1 COGNIZANCE, The drugs and chemicals he can produce are more potent, improving the stat boosts of drugs you ask him to copy and unlocking more drugs/chems he can make.]
The chems, we need our daily dose!
And for the actions
>Time for him to break into his supplies you bought for him. Ask Benjamin to make some drugs or chemicals for you. (Write in a consumable of yours to copy or the kind of chemical you want him to make whole scratch. He'll produce 1d3 doses.)
SOMTOIN ALPHA. A potent psychoactive substance that improves creativity and opens your mind's eye. Boosts WILLPOWER and CHARM by 2 temporarily on consumption. May induce violent hallucinations.
...sucks we can't get Arcady Dust with him, but we need to buy some somewhere. The RESTRAINT heal is too good with Nicole's power needs, though healthier RESTRAINT healing would be nicer
>"Say, Max, I bet you got some great advice." Appeal to her ego a bit. Ask her for some useful advice on how you might deal with whoever runs the casino.
Mission prep info, simple as. Doesn't need to be more than this, though if all goes well here I want to drop the Gregory mission story to her after the casino job ends. I feel she needs to know this. Benjamin too, since they're basically a married couple, but that's more up to Max
>Try to pry a bit into Ashley's life. While you doubt directly asking about Ashton will go over well, you might learn something if you read between the lines.
We do not wanna die to her brother.

>>5893947
>Acid burns and weird discolorations cover his arms and neck. The faint stench of chemicals surrounding him has gotten stronger. Seems like he's been experimenting. [LICENSED PHARAMICST UPGRADE. +1 COGNIZANCE, The drugs and chemicals he can produce are more potent, improving the stat boosts of drugs you ask him to copy and unlocking more drugs/chems he can make.]

>Try to pry a bit into Ashley's life. While you doubt directly asking about Ashton will go over well, you might learn something if you read between the lines.
>Try to pry more information about Benedict out of Adam. How exactly is he handling the 'friend being a half anomaly' thing?
>Time for him to break into his supplies you bought for him. Ask Benjamin to make some drugs or chemicals for you. (Write in a consumable of yours to copy or the kind of chemical you want him to make whole scratch. He'll produce 1d3 doses.)
BROWN VIAL. Formerly supplied to J and X-Company soldiers. Now sold as a street drug. $185 per VIAL. (When consumed, you roll d8s instead of d6s on the next skill check or attack you make.)

>>5894140
+1

Rolled 2 (1d3)

Update will be out soon, sorry for the slight delay. Rolling real quick.

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Huh. Seems like Benjamin has been messing around. You grab his shoulder and pull him to the side, stuffing the new drug kit you got into his hands. "Listen. You know what Somtoin Alpha is?" He nods. "Good. I need you to make some of that for me."

"Alright, I'll do my best." He sits down on the ice slick floor of the platform and, without any hesitation, starts to work away at the drug you asked him to make. It's impressive how he doesn't seem to care about how cold it is.
>-1 CHARGE, 3 CHARGES LEFT THIS MISSION

Max watches on as he does his work. You decide to talk to Adam first. You interrupt the small conversation he's having with Ashley, making out only the last few bits of it. "...and I was thinking, would Art of Flesh be a cool name? Just in case things go wrong?" "It sounds fine enough but you should be worrying about NOT letting him become that."

"Hey! Adam? Mind if we chit chat for a bit?" You place a hand on his shoulder. Ashley narrows her eyes at you.<"I'm keeping an eye on you, Nicole."> Meanwhile, Adam simply flinches at your touch. He slowly nods his head, "Sure." The two of you walk to a slightly more quiet part of the platform to have your discussion in.

"So, you can probably guess what I'm going to ask." He nods his head. You take this as approval to continue talking. "So? How are you handling all of that?"

<"I'm not even sure if I'm doing a good job."> "It's been rough." Adam forces out a laugh. "It's been really rough. He's no longer a physical threat but he's, uh, how best to say it?"

[UNSTABLE] "A mentally broken husk of a creature who no longer seems like your friend?" You can't stop yourself from saying this. Adam can only really nod his head, unable to really offer a rebuttal.

"I've been busy tossing him around from friend to associate to friend again to, I dunno, lighten the burden a bit?" He shrugs. "I dunno. I'm out of my depth when it comes to this prolonged mental meltdown or whatever it is. Not to mention his weird biology."

You clear your throat once you're done reeling from your too blunt statement, "I can't imagine it's any more fucked up than someone with a lot of cybernetics." This only gets a choked laugh out of the poor chef, "You would think! It's like the flesh is somehow metal and the metal is somehow meat and- Father Above, it's hard to repair him."

"Wait, is he falling apart or something-" <"I wish."> "Ah. Why exactly is he tearing at himself?"

"Fuck if I know." Adam lets out an exhausted sigh. "Something about feeling bad about trying to kill me, so he's trying to rip off one of his arms to stop himself. I- Look." He places a hand on your shoulder. "I need to make you an offer."

"Go on?" You tilt your head.

"He needs SOMETHING to do and frankly, I don't trust him in the kitchen. If you can do me a favor and bring him along on one of your mission, I'll pay you handsomely. $300. Sounds good?" The allure of cash calls out to you...

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"I'll consider it?" You pry his hand off your shoulder. "I think you might need to pay for a shrink to handle him, though." Adam just gives you a weird look before shaking his head.
>You may now hire Benedict and get a decent payment for bringing him on a mission! You'd imagine his instability might cause some problems, though.

"Asked him about that. He refused. Something about a voice advising him not to? I dunno." Adam mumbles something you can't quite make out. "I really don't know what I'm doing here. That's all I can really say." You nod your head. You pat him on the shoulder, "Just keep doing your best, okay? Just be a good friend to him."

"Pft. If I was, we wouldn't be in this situation to begin with. Thanks for hearing me out, I guess." "No problem."

You turn your attention over to Max. She's sitting down on one of the platform's seats, watching Benjamin doing his work with an odd look in her eyes and a goofy smile. <"Fucking dork. Stupid idiot. Adorable~">
You sit down next to her, "Say, Max? I bet you have some GREAT advice on how to handle today's mission." You swear you nearly hear her neck snap from how quickly she turns to look at you.

<"Buttering me up, huh? I suppose I can humor her."> "Why indeed I do. What kind of advice, though? You gotta be a bit more specific."

"You're a people person, right? You know. Rich family, many connections, shit like that. You gotta know how to handle whoever's working there from a social standpoint." The smug smile Max is giving you disappears for a moment. She clicks her tongue while tapping her feet on the floor.

"Yeah. From what you told me, it sounds like he fucked up with whoever he partnered with. I imagine he messed up the wording in his contract somewhere if they can do this without him really having any power to stop it. You DON'T fuck with contracts, Nicole." She wags her finger at you like a stern mother. "Lest you want the Head to intervene."

[PERSON OF INTEREST] Let's not get the closest thing to a City government on our asses. Thanks. "Yeah, no, of course not."

"And I imagine they know he can't do anything about it. The only way they would even humor letting him back in to deal with negotiations if we bested them in some way. Probably in a game of some kind. The risker, the better."

[UNSTABLE] An incredibly fucked up thought crosses your head. You do have a shotgun and a revolver. A weird smile crosses your face. "Like Russian Roulette?" You're not sure what that weird slang term, "Russian", means.

Max gives you a weird look but nods her head, "Yeaaaahhh but let's maybe not immediately go to life or death games. Point is, we'd have to convince them that it's worth gambling away, say, a better deal with the Handler. Or we can just break in and fight our way out." Besting them at a game? Could be fun.

Before you have time to dwell on it, the train to District 16 pulls into the station. About time to get out of here.

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The four of you quickly pile into the train before the rest of the Cityslickers can crowd you out. Before he separates from you to sit with Max, he tosses you two pills. You quickly look over at the bright pink pills before stuffing them into your pocket.
>SOMTOIN ALPHA+ x2 ADDED TO INVENTORY (+2 CHARM, +3 WILLPOWER, heals 1 RESTRAINT. Hallucinations are slightly weaker than before.)

You plop down in a seat with Ashley and Adam. The two don't really feel like talking and frankly? You're in the same boat. In the corner of your eye, you can see Max and Benjamin blabbering to each other with stupid smiles on their faces. Eugh. You turn your attention to the train window in front of you.

The one good thing about your district is how fast and reliable the trains are. You're already outside of District 6 within a few minutes. You take a moment to process the new scenery as you now enter District 16. A mass of grey, nearly identical buildings stretch on for miles and miles, melting away into the biting cold winter weather that is way too familiar to your own district.

The first thing that you actually notice is the sheer SIZE of a lot of the buildings here. Towers that stretch on for dozens on dozens of stories, taller than most of the buildings in your District aside from corporate headquarters, pepper the landscape like monoliths. An icon of a broken lightbulb is stamped on the sides of all of the Towers.

[SEEKER OF THE CITY] Those are P-Company facilities. Most are built to be incredibly tall as a safety mechanism. If an anomaly happens to get too rowdy...
[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Well, even anomalies will take a massive beating from taking 500 foot or higher drops.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] Though it's not practical to do that from a business perspective all the time.

"So that's what a facility looks like?" Adam hums. "Impressive. I wonder how it is to work in one of those. I heard you get great benefits working there."
"Eh. Do you want to be ordered around by some middle aged man who drinks too much coffee and stays inside his mancave all day?" Ashley shakes her head with a disgusted look. "Those fucks probably have sex androids or something. Disgusting."
"C'mon. There has to be a middle aged woman at least." <"Boy, imagine that. Heh.">

Something is telling you that you should be insulted on this imaginary man's behalf. Before you have time to question why, your train arrives at the station. It's an almost exact doppelganger of the one you just left, with the only sign of it being any different being that corporate symbol of a broken lightbulb plastered everywhere.

It takes a while to push through the crowd but eventually, you and your allies stumble out into the streets of District 16. Now that you're on the ground floor, you can make out how everything is plastered with an array of colorful lights. Green, red, yellow and blue christmas lights are hung up all over the fronts of buildings.

It's time to find that casino.

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It doesn't take long, given that it's somehow the only building without those lights all over the place.

https://youtu.be/GXvHmYwcmF0 - CASINO THEME

The casino in question is a small and unassuming building with not a lot of detail to it aside from a bright neon sign above the front door reading "CLOVER SUITE". Another neon sign that displays a cowboy is placed right next to it.

Despite how unassuming it is, there is a MASSIVE line of people outside of the front entrance that stretches down the street. Two bouncers, one with weird wires running out of his neck and into his arms, stand by the doorway with shotguns. One look into their mind tells you they're fully loaded.

"Wow!" Benjamin coos out. "An actual casino! Father Above, it's been ages since I've actually been to one."
"Yeah. We were going to go to one. She told us that an hour ago, idiot." Ashley shakes her head. "Okay, how exactly do we get in?"
"Waiting?" Adam shrugs. "We're not in any time rush to get in. Besides, I don't think we need to draw any extra attention."
"Pft! Waiting!" Max can barely hold back her smug laugh. "I think all it would take is some talking with MY help and we're in there in five seconds."

"I really don't think we should draw any more attention to us than we need to." Ashley taps her foot on the floor. "Maybe we can sneak in somehow?"

How do you actually want to get inside of the casino?
>Just wait in the line. (The safe option, no roll needed. Most of your party's weapons will likely be taken for safety reasons.)
>[MAX ALLY] "Let's have a talk with the guards." Start heading over the bouncers. A bit of smooth talking should get you in. (CONNECTIONS DC: 15, rolling 7d6 with Adam and Max's help. Pass and the bouncers will so happen to 'remember' your 'VIP status', letting you in without question and with your weapons. Failure and you'll have to wait to go inside but now, security will keep an eye on you.)
>[BENJAMIN ALLY] You see a few people twitching in the line. Druggies. "Hey, Ben? Make some hard stuff." (-1 CHARGE on LICENSED PHARAMICST, the commotion will distract the bouncers enough for you to get in without anyone noticing. Security will be slightly on edge after the incident.)
>[SEEKER OF THE CITY] You notice an alleyway next to the building. Maybe sneaking in through the back is the best. (You may send yourself or an ally of your choice down here without rolling any dice while the rest take another path of your choice. They'll keep all of their equipment and will be able to scout out the employee only section. Sneaking in more people will call for increasingly higher TALENT checks depending on how many you try sneaking in.)
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Take some time to read the minds of the guards and the people in line. (FREE ACTION, -1 RESTRAINT, WILLPOWER DC 14. You'll learn something regardless of your roll but if you pass, you'll filter out the meaningless thoughts and get even more information.)
>Write in.

>>5895026
>[MAX ALLY] "Let's have a talk with the guards." Start heading over the bouncers. A bit of smooth talking should get you in. (CONNECTIONS DC: 15, rolling 7d6 with Adam and Max's help. Pass and the bouncers will so happen to 'remember' your 'VIP status', letting you in without question and with your weapons. Failure and you'll have to wait to go inside but now, security will keep an eye on you.)

>>5895047
+1, start out simple
I want to get Benjamin to a table and BECOME the dealer at some point, just to enable his dream for a brief time. He and Max would love us for that. Nicole could go "Hey, remember what you told me before? THIS is why I hired you on this mission." and get him dealing. The moment his eyes light up in understanding and vindication... a magical moment of human spirit.

As a reminder for other players or warnings for new players to not recklessly waste or recklessly use RESTRAINT. If our RESTRAINT reach 2/6 or 3/6.

This is what will happen.

https://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/2024/5850165/

No.5858576

Those GOD DAMN shots are annoying the shit out of you. First, though, you need to help your 'allies'. If you could take it slow and steady, you could do this without hurting your mind, but there IS no time. You fling the pills to your friends with your telekinetic might.
>-1 RESTRAINT

They pop the pills in their mouth before immediately going to town on the monsters. You turn your focus onto the main threat, though, instead of seeing how they're doing. The Boss. You wait for a moment where he can pop out of the monsters he's hiding behind.

THERE! He pokes his head out just enough to aim his gun at you. You instantly begin focusing on the gun in his hands, desperately trying to yank it out of his grasp. Your brain is screeching inside of your skull from the back-to-back usage of your powers but you have to keep going. You can tolerate a headache over dying.

He seems to notice the weird pull on his gun and quickly adjusts his aim. You yank on it as hard as you can with your throats. You only manage to fuck up his aim instead of disarming him. The shot grazes your side instead of obliterating your stomach or shoulder. Still hurts like a bitch.
>-1 FLESH. -1 RESTRAINT
>2/7 RESTRAINT LEFT. YOUR HEAD HURTS!

https://youtu.be/AMIvMdCL2H4 - ???

Your world begins to twist in on itself even more. The monsters and allies before you twist into indistinct blurs of noises and color. The City disappears into a grey haze. The only thing you can make out about your surroundings is yourself. At least you think it's you. There's only a blur of static where your hands and legs should be.

Something is wrong. Your head is hurting even after you finished using your ability. You can't make out anything around you. The only sounds you can make out is the BANG of firearms and meat being tenderized. Everything else disappears into a haze of static and something banging at your head.

[UNSTABLE PSYCHE] You are seeing the world how it is. Reach your hand out and pop one of those colored blurs. It'll be FUN.
[UNSTABLE PSYCHE] You are a GOD, Nicole. Remember that. These faggots, these worms. They can't DO ANYTHING to you.

You follow your thought without hesitation. You snap your fingers at an indistinct blur with some sort of long tube with holes in it. It pops like a balloon of gore and blood. Bright red coats the blurry floors and walls of wherever you're at. A smile crosses your face. It's A LOVELY DAY TODAY.

>>5895054
That's when you hear the screaming. Your vision suddenly returns. Lex and Ashley are covered in bruises and scratches from the brawl they had. Lex has a nasty looking black eye and you swear Ashley has a broken nose. The fighting has seemingly stopped for a moment though. Why? You turn to look. Where there was once a shotgun monster is simply a pair of legs. Everything above the thighs has been blown clean off. It's like everything about was erased from existence, never there. The legs soon fall down.

No.5858579 Both of your allies are fucking horrified at what they saw. Ashley vomits up whatever was left in her stomach, spilling down her outfit and onto the ground. Lex just stands there, motionless. He's not even sure what's going on. >-1 RESTRAINT TO ASHLEY, -2 TO LEX. >LEX REGAINS 1 FROM THE CIGARETTES, LEAVING HIM AT 1/3. ASHLEY IS AT 2/3 The unarmed monsters are covered in bruises and scratches from the assault but they still stand tall, if only physically. They are scared SHITLESS of what you just did to the guard. You look down at your fingers. Did you..do that? How? You...don't have that as an ability. Your head throbs again. >UNSTABLE PSYCHE will start manifesting physically in the world now that your RESTRAINT is low. Be wary. Thankfully (at much as you say that), the distraction gives Quentin enough time to get back up without horrifying your allies even more. This time he picked a body of a big, burly thug with glowing tattoos coating all over his body and face. In his hand in a metal pipe. He cracks his neck before moving over to the others. >THUG BODY: +2 FLESH, +2 VIOLENCE. HE NOW HAS 4 VIOLENCE and 5 FLESH due to it being a fresh body still. >-LILITH BODY The horrified monsters are quickly snapped back into reality when the Boss yells at them to keep fighting. You can tell that they're on the verge of running for their lives. Your allies (sans Quentin) are beaten and bruised, clearly expecting this fight to have already ended by now. The throbbing pain in your side keeps calling for your attention. [UNSTABLE] A GOD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE PAIN. KEEP PUSHING FORWARD, NICOLE. NOW. You grit your teeth. You force yourself to ignore the pain for now. The Boss screeches out at his minions. "D-D-D-DoN'T D-DiE! K-k-KILL TH-THEM!!!" There's obvious fear in his voice but it keeps his missions pushing forward. They take in deep breaths and surround the boss even more, trying to protect him with their own bodies. >MONSTERS are DESPERATELY MOTIVATED, increasing their VIOLENCE further!

>>5895056
Edit


That's when you hear the screaming. Your vision suddenly returns. Lex and Ashley are covered in bruises and scratches from the brawl they had. Lex has a nasty looking black eye and you swear Ashley has a broken nose. The fighting has seemingly stopped for a moment though. Why?

You turn to look. Where there was once a shotgun monster is simply a pair of legs. Everything above the thighs has been blown clean off. It's like everything about was erased from existence, never there. The legs soon fall down.

No.5858579

Both of your allies are fucking horrified at what they saw. Ashley vomits up whatever was left in her stomach, spilling down her outfit and onto the ground. Lex just stands there, motionless. He's not even sure what's going on.
>-1 RESTRAINT TO ASHLEY, -2 TO LEX.
>LEX REGAINS 1 FROM THE CIGARETTES, LEAVING HIM AT 1/3. ASHLEY IS AT 2/3

The unarmed monsters are covered in bruises and scratches from the assault but they still stand tall, if only physically. They are scared SHITLESS of what you just did to the guard. You look down at your fingers. Did you..do that? How? You...don't have that as an ability.

Your head throbs again.
>UNSTABLE PSYCHE will start manifesting physically in the world now that your RESTRAINT is low. Be wary.

Thankfully (at much as you say that), the distraction gives Quentin enough time to get back up without horrifying your allies even more. This time he picked a body of a big, burly thug with glowing tattoos coating all over his body and face. In his hand in a metal pipe. He cracks his neck before moving over to the others.
>THUG BODY: +2 FLESH, +2 VIOLENCE. HE NOW HAS 4 VIOLENCE and 5 FLESH due to it being a fresh body still.
>-LILITH BODY

The horrified monsters are quickly snapped back into reality when the Boss yells at them to keep fighting. You can tell that they're on the verge of running for their lives. Your allies (sans Quentin) are beaten and bruised, clearly expecting this fight to have already ended by now. The throbbing pain in your side keeps calling for your attention.

[UNSTABLE] A GOD DOES NOT CARE ABOUT THE PAIN. KEEP PUSHING FORWARD, NICOLE. NOW.

You grit your teeth. You force yourself to ignore the pain for now.

>>5895026
>[MAX ALLY] "Let's have a talk with the guards." Start heading over the bouncers. A bit of smooth talking should get you in.

>>5895026
>[MAX ALLY] "Let's have a talk with the guards."

>>5895026
>>[MAX ALLY] "Let's have a talk with the guards." Start heading over the bouncers. A bit of smooth talking should get you in. (CONNECTIONS DC: 15, rolling 7d6 with Adam and Max's help. Pass and the bouncers will so happen to 'remember' your 'VIP status', letting you in without question and with your weapons. Failure and you'll have to wait to go inside but now, security will keep an eye on you.)

>>5895026
>[MAX ALLY] "Let's have a talk with the guards." Start heading over the bouncers. A bit of smooth talking should get you in. (CONNECTIONS DC: 15, rolling 7d6 with Adam and Max's help. Pass and the bouncers will so happen to 'remember' your 'VIP status', letting you in without question and with your weapons. Failure and you'll have to wait to go inside but now, security will keep an eye on you.)

Since it's beyond a shadow of a doubt what the majority is, I'm closing it now. I need one anon to roll a 4d6 and another to roll a 3d6. If the combined total is 15 or more, you pass.

Rolled 2, 4, 4, 5 = 15 (4d6)

>>5895530
COME ON

Rolled 6, 2, 3 = 11 (3d6)

>>5895530
LESSGOO

>>5895538
Another one for the bag, boys.

File: BOUNCER.jpg (134 KB, 608x900)

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"You know, you got a good idea. Ashley, Ben, stay behind. Adam, Max, c'mere." You gesture at the two to follow you- Wait, you should probably give them their upfront payment first.
>-$265. $231 left.

With the little payment hiccup rectified, you head over to the guards with your two more suave allies. Not to insult your other two allies but Ashley isn't much of a talker and Benjamin is Benjamin. The crowd of people in line are staring the three of you down with a shocking amount of malice and loathing. A single unanimous thought runs through their minds.

<"DO THEY THINK THEY CAN SKIP IN LINE? DO THEY THINK THEY CAN SKIP IN LINE?">

You try your best to hide your fear as the three of you end up at the front entrance. Obviously, the guards point their shotguns RIGHT at you. Adam stares down the barrel with an exhausted look while you and Max, rightfully, are about to piss your panties.

"ONLY VIPS MAY SKIP THE LINE." The man with wires pouring out of his neck screeches out. "HEAD TO THE BACK OR FACE THE BUCKSHOT, NOT YOUR FUTURE.""
"I would listen to my partner." The man with no obvious mechanical parts spilling out responds. "I'll give you three ten seconds to head back."

"We're catering." Adam fiddles with the collar of his shirt. Max narrows her eyes but rolls with this. "Yeah! We're actually here to discuss an arrangement with your bosses."

The neck-wire man lowers his shotgun a little, "CONTINUE?" You take this moment to interject with something of your own. "So here's the thing. We're doing this whole big thing where some guests can win a price if they find a golden ball hidden in their meal."

Max nods in approval. <"Damn, not a bad pitch."> "Course, we need to discuss the specifics with them and how much we both have to spend, all of that business junk. We're in a bit of a time crunch to talk to them about this." She leans in to whisper something to the guards as well. You can't make out what.

"And those two goobers behind us," Adam jabs a finger at Ashley and Benjamin. Ashley simply scoffs at being called a goober while Benjamin tilts his head in confusion. "Are with us."

Max leans back. "I believe you would be fine letting us through without any worry, correct?" <"A little namedropping never hurts.">

>26!
"I BELIEVVE IT WOULD BE OKAY. NOT LOOK GOOD ON US IF WE LET YOU WAIT." "Agreed. Hurry inside, our lovely caterers. We'll overlook anything extra you bring in." The two guards step aside. You and your four allies promptly rush inside before the crowded line does something reckless at this blatant line skipping. The guards quickly block the way once the five of you are inside.

Your eyes are assaulted with blinding light while your ears are nearly obliterated by the obnoxiously loud techno music blaring throughout the place. It takes a combined effort of Ashley and Benjamin shaking your shoulders to get any sense of focus back into you.

File: SUFFOCATINGSMOKE.jpg (92 KB, 770x972)

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To say this place is grungy is an understatement, at least the gang hideout you visited two days ago didn't have a thick blanket of cigarette smoke. The place's size mostly comes from how many floors there are. As you look up, you can make out as least five rungs with industrial catwalks stretching above you. Crowds of smokers line up at the edge of the catwalks to flood the air with more noxious fumes.

As for the floor you're on? It's remarkably cramped even without accounting for the people roaming around. The floor is littered with a maze of slot machines, blackjack and roulette tables as far as the eye can see. Each one is nearly filled to the brim with barely alive husks that were once humans. Not in a fucked up anomaly way but moreso 'gambling and drug addict' kind of way.

Benjamin's previous excitement immediately fades upon seeing this sad display around him. "Oh. This is, uh, not what I expected." Before he can fully process what's going on, Max instantly grabs his hand and interlocks her fingers with his. The weird bird-lime noise and stupid smile shows this is good enough to keep him from thinking too hard about it.

"I'm noticing a pattern with the buildings here." Ashley glances around, trying to find something "Do you know where the stairs are?" Adam points at a remarkably thick haze of smog about ten or so feet to your left. "Seems like that's where most of it is coming from."

Max interjects by pointing to another set of non-smog filled stairs leading up to another section of the casino. Two guards stand by it, one of which has the same weird wires that you think are some kind of cybernetic the outside guard had. Same shotguns as well. "I imagine they would keep anything valuable up there." It doesn't take a genius to realize that's probably a VIP SECTION.

You COULD go up there due to your bullshitting of the front guards but you're not sure how much the story you made up on the fly can carry you to the top. That and that might not even be where the vault or the office of whoever runs this place might be. There's one last path that catches your eye.

[SEEKER OF THE CITY] There's a grimy, rusty metal service door that's positioned right next to one of the various slot machines. 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' is plastered all across it in big red font.
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] It doesn't take a genius to realize what purpose this door has. The employees probably use it to get all around this building without anyone noticing them. Prime for you to sneak around in.

Though, there's no harm in also enjoying yourself a bit. The glowing, shiny lights of the slot machines around you are oddly hypnotic and it takes Adam nearly shoving you to the ground to get your attention. "Hey! Focus. We need a plan here and you're the boss, right?"

"BWUH. Yeah, yeah, yeah!" You mutter out. Your plan from here is...

>>5895849
>>[UNSTABLE] MONEY. GIMME. GIMME. WE GOTTA GAMBLE, NICOLE, WE GOTTA FUCKING GAMBLE! (Choose ROULETTE, BLACKJACK, or SLOTS to partake in. You'll be at the whim of the dice for ROULETTE and SLOTS but the potential cash prize is higher, however your MIND READING or Ashley's DEEP INTUTION will give an edge in BLACKJACK.)
Could we do Roulette and use our mind powers to fudge the ball onto a spot we want? And lets send Ashley on this one as well.
>[ADAM ALLY ONLY] Send Adam over to the V.I.P guards to ask for directions to the bosses. You are the 'catering', after all. (CHARM DC: 10, rolling only Adam's dice. Pass and you'll get a good idea on where the bosses are to, letting you deal with them at a future time. Failure wastes time that could be better spent elsewhere.)
>[BENJAMIN ALLY ONLY] "Benjamin. Try making some party favors." (-1 CHARGE on his LICENSED PHARAMICST boon, prevents him from helping in exploring other places. He'll produce some drugs that can probably buy a lot of people around the casino.)
>Have someone explore around the ground floor and ask the people around here. There's a lot of foot traffic around here, right? Surely they've seen something. (CHARM DC: 14. You'll get some decent ideas on where certain important people tend to go and hang out at once they arrive. Failure just wastes the time of whoever is assigned to this.)
Send Max on this one

>You may split your party to choose up to five options to explore at once, at the cost of only one person exploring each location.
>You may also group allies together for both safety reasons and for more thorough searches, at the cost of exploring fewer places.
>If you wish to split the party, please state which ally (or allies) you are assigning to a location and which will follow you (if any)

How do you want to proceed from here?
>[SEEKER OF THE CITY] O, employee only section, I hear your calls! I shall explore your forbidden passages! (Likely to call for TALENT checks down later down the line the further you explore here.)
>[UNSTABLE] MONEY. GIMME. GIMME. WE GOTTA GAMBLE, NICOLE, WE GOTTA FUCKING GAMBLE! (Choose ROULETTE, BLACKJACK, or SLOTS to partake in. You'll be at the whim of the dice for ROULETTE and SLOTS but the potential cash prize is higher, however your MIND READING or Ashley's DEEP INTUITION will give an edge in BLACKJACK.)
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] There has to be cameras scattered throughout this place, right? There's no way this place lacks them. Search this place from top to bottom. Find them. (COGNIZANCE DC: 15. Pass and you'll get a pretty useful clue on where the camera room is, which will be vital to disable later. You can imagine how suspicious you'll look on a failure.)
>The 'VIP SECTION' obviously has the most important shit, right? Why else would there be GUARDS there? Best to cut right to the nub and investigate here.
>Best stick with exploring the 'COMMON SECTION', even if it's unlikely to have anything super valuable. You might get some useful information about the layout of the casino and places of interest if you ask around here.
>Have someone explore around the ground floor and ask the people around here. There's a lot of foot traffic around here, right? Surely they've seen something. (CHARM DC: 14. You'll get some decent ideas on where certain important people tend to go and hang out at once they arrive. Failure just wastes the time of whoever is assigned to this.)
>[ADAM ALLY ONLY] Send Adam over to the V.I.P guards to ask for directions to the bosses. You are the 'catering', after all. (CHARM DC: 10, rolling only Adam's dice. Pass and you'll get a good idea on where the bosses are to, letting you deal with them at a future time. Failure wastes time that could be better spent elsewhere.)
>[BENJAMIN ALLY ONLY] "Benjamin. Try making some party favors." (-1 CHARGE on his LICENSED PHARAMICST boon, prevents him from helping in exploring other places. He'll produce some drugs that can probably buy a lot of people around the casino.)
>Write in. (Use a drug on yourself or an ally? Use an item? Tell your allies to do something else completely? Do something else?)

Had to fix a really annoying spelling error here with the UNSTABLE one. Apologies for the confusion.

>>5895853
I'd say you can try using TELEKINESIS to nudge the RNG of the roulette table. While you don't know the exact odds given it's likely rigged casino nonsense, it would improve your chances of winning by a decent margin.
I'll tell you this. You can spend 1 RESTRAINT to do that while Ashley tries her luck on Blackjack. Same goes for anyone else picking that option but wishing to bring another ally along.

>>5895858
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] There has to be cameras scattered throughout this place, right? There's no way this place lacks them. Search this place from top to bottom. Find them. (COGNIZANCE DC: 15. Pass and you'll get a pretty useful clue on where the camera room is, which will be vital to disable later. You can imagine how suspicious you'll look on a failure.)

>>5895853
+1

>>5896047
Change
>>5895858
>[UNSTABLE] MONEY. GIMME. GIMME. WE GOTTA GAMBLE, NICOLE, WE GOTTA FUCKING GAMBLE! (Choose ROULETTE, BLACKJACK, or SLOTS to partake in. You'll be at the whim of the dice for ROULETTE and SLOTS but the potential cash prize is higher, however your MIND READING or Ashley's DEEP INTUITION will give an edge in BLACKJACK.)
Nicole and Ashley BLACKJACK
>Have someone explore around the ground floor and ask the people around here. There's a lot of foot traffic around here, right? Surely they've seen something. (CHARM DC: 14. You'll get some decent ideas on where certain important people tend to go and hang out at once they arrive. Failure just wastes the time of whoever is assigned to this.)
MAX
>[ADAM ALLY ONLY] Send Adam over to the V.I.P guards to ask for directions to the bosses. You are the 'catering', after all. (CHARM DC: 10, rolling only Adam's dice. Pass and you'll get a good idea on where the bosses are to, letting you deal with them at a future time. Failure wastes time that could be better spent elsewhere.)
>[BENJAMIN ALLY ONLY] "Benjamin. Try making some party favors." (-1 CHARGE on his LICENSED PHARAMICST boon, prevents him from helping in exploring other places. He'll produce some drugs that can probably buy a lot of people around the casino.)

>>5896051
Supporting

>>5896051
+1, nice plan
When will we get Benjamin to play as a dealer here? Maybe he can take over somebody else's place for a bit, if part of our plan involves getting a dealer to fuck off with a slipped drug in their drink? Or maybe a dealer will be nice enough to let him deal a few rounds

>>5896051
+1

>>5896051
+2

Seems pretty set in stone what the plan here is. I need one anon to roll 5d6 for Max and 4d6 for Adam.

Rolled 6, 5, 4, 5, 2 = 22 (5d6)

>>5896500

Rolled 6, 3, 3, 6 = 18 (4d6)

>>5896500

>>5896539
>>5896598
Wow, okay, turns out your allies are shockingly good talkers. Writing.

File: blackjack.jpg (10 KB, 195x259)

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[UNSTABLE] FUCK EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING ELSE. WE'RE HERE TO GAMBLE, NICOLE. TO ENGAGE IN THE SENSUAL, DEGRADING ACT OF RISKING ASISINE LEVELS OF CASH!

"Nicky?" Benjamin's voice snaps you out of your trance. "You're, uh, kinda drooling all over the place. Do you got a plan for us?" Your allies are staring at you with increasingly concerned looks. You snap your fingers before gesturing wildly around the place.

"Adam, go talk to the guards. Max, talk to the people on this floor. Benjamin, make some party favors-" You grab Ashley's arm. "Hey hold on here-" "Me and Ashley will be busy with something. We'll reconnect later. Sound good?" This, of course, gets some skeptical looks from your party. Max is the one to break the silence with a shrug and a weird chuckle.

<"Looking at the blackjack tables, huh? Bet she has an edge to win somehow."> "Oh. No need to say any more. You have fun. C'mon, pals." She's the first to split off. Adam mutters something but quickly heads to the guards to chat with them. Benjamin wanders off to find somewhere private enough to make his party favors.
>2 CHARGES LEFT for LICENSED PHARMACIST.

Ashley reluctantly lets you drag her throughout the cramped maze of tables and slot machines. She scrunches her face up at the ghoulish husks of people around her. "So. Mind explaining where the FUCK you're dragging me to?" Your eyes scan around for any table that isn't filled to the brim. <"Oh god, don't tell me she wants to GAMBLE?">

"Gamble." You confirm her worries when you manage to find a table with two empty spots. "To put it bluntly, I think it's basically impossible for us to lose here. You got a good head on your shoulders and, uh-" Probably not best to say 'I CAN READ MINDS'. "I have a good read on people."

<"Weird pause there. Is she trying to hide something...? Eh. Money is money."> "Alright. Fuck it. How bad can it be?" After a bit of struggle, she breaks out of your grip and sits down at the table. You follow right behind her. The middle aged man acting as a dealer leans forward to get a better look at you two.

"Well, well! Haven't seen folks as lively as you two in a while!" <"Fresh suckers, hehe. Let's see how much we can milk out of them!"> "Welcome! Let's start having some fun!"

Ashley tenses up upon hearing the Dealer's voice. <"Ah. I get what she means now. Okay, let's do this."> "Sure. How much to play? I got, uh, $180 on my person." "$231 here."

"Well, let's start with a minimum bet of $5, 6 to 5 payout if you get a natural." <"Can't hurt to let them win the first game. Lure them in."> "Sound good enough?" The Dealer flashes a cheery, warming smile that's completely discordant with the thoughts you're hearing. You and Ashley decide to play along and start with a $5 bet each while the husks throw in way larger amounts in the high 300s.

"Aw! It's okay to be scared on your first game! Let's start, shall we?"

File: DEALER.jpg (60 KB, 459x612)

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The cards quickly get handed out. Your hand is pretty solid, a King and 6, and a quick glance at Ashley's mind tells you she has a Queen and a 9. One of the two cards the Dealer has is hidden, only showing you a seven. A quick mindread tells you he has a pair of 7s. You don't need any more cards to win.

Ashley seems to pick up on this too as the both of you yell out "Stand!" while the others risk too much with hits, resulting in you two being the only ones to win. An extra $5 isn't much, though, so the two of you obviously continue.

Neither you or Ashley say a single word to each other but your movements and actions quickly synchronize. Every round, you two double the amount of money you risk whenever it feels safe. $10. Then $20. For the first few rounds, the Dealer seems to always have the worst cards possible. Even a few of the gambling addict husks around you manage to win some pocket change.

So far, you won about an extra $75 each. This immediately starts to change once you start beating $80. A quick check in the Dealer's mind shows he has a 19, an Ace and an 8, though only the 8 is visible to an outside observer. Meanwhile, you have a 4 and a 6 while Ashley has a 5 and a 7.

"Hit me." "Hit me!" The next cards sent your way is a 7 for you and a 6 to Ashley. How funny, only one or two points off. While the others seem content in their hands, the two of you ask for another hit. To an outside observer this would be suicidal.

But the results don't lie. As you two call and the cards are revealed, Ashley now has a 20 (5 + 7 + 6 + 2) and so do you (5 + 6 + 7 + 3). The Dealer narrows his eyes but allows you to collect your bets. <"Blind luck. They won't do it again, would they? Normally people stop hitting when they get a 17 or 18!">

The next round, where you bet $160, ends very much the same. He tried pulling the same trick of having a stupidly high total to beat and trying to lure you two into staying with a card total just barely below it. Neither of you fall for the bait and in no time flat, you win this round as well.

All in all, both of you win a total of $315 without even really trying!
>+$315! You now have $546.

The Dealer has the same warm, inviting smile as always but the sheer seething mess of static running through his head is evident. "Well, well! You two have been on a hot streak, aren't you?"

Ashley flashes a stained, toothy smile. "Beginner's luck. We haven't really played this before." You nod your head along. "Yep. New to all of this. Trust us." The static haze blaring through his head is only getting worse.

"How cute. How about we raise the steaks a bit?" The Dealer flashes an ear to ear smile that's obviously forced.
"Don't you mean stakes?" Ashley questions.
"I SAID WHAT I SAID-"

>22! 18! SUCCESS

You look behind to your three allies heading over to the table, clearly having finished whatever business you assigned them to do. You do take note of the weird black stains on Benjamin's shirt.

<"No, no! I can't let them leave yet! They haven't lost anything!"> The Dealer keeps up his smile but his hand is gripping the edge of the blackjack table. "Oh? Are those your friends? Well, it's fine if they join too!"

Your three allies now stand behind you. Adam is the first to speak up, "We actually need to talk to her about something. I bet this is fun and all but we got more important things to do." Adam flashes you a thumbs up. "I got some interesting details about the 'catering', Nick."

"Yeah, and I heard some fun rumors I wanna, uh, gossip with you about!" <"Is that how...girls of her status describe it? Rumors? Gossiping?"> "Let's talk somewhere more private."

Benjamin is too busy staring at the blackjack table to really say much but he does slip you the party favors he's made. A pile of jet black pills?
>PARTY FAVORS x3 (Probably not safe for you to consume. Unlocks certain voting options.)

The Dealer slowly grinds his teeth, "You can gossip once they're done with the next round. I believe the two of you were going to bet $320? You kept doubling, after all, why STOP NOW?" You think he's about to chip a tooth with how hard he's grinding them.

"Wait, really? Do you even have that money," Adam clears his throat. "And should she even be betting it?"
Benjamin and Max shrug in unison, "Of course she does." "If she's already winning, why not?"

"EXACTLY. SO PUT THE BET DOWN AND LET'S KEEP PLAYING!" Well, it seems like the Dealer might not take no for an answer. You're not sure what kind of cheap tricks he might pull if you were to accept. You look over at Ashley. She's fiddling with her long red hair, clearly stressing at what might happen.

How do you handle the Dealer?
>[UNSTABLE] Place ALL of the money you two won onto the table. "Double or nothing, faggot." (COGNIZANCE DC: 20 (-6 from your mind reading and Ashley's intuition), rolling 5d6 with Ashley's help. Pass and you'll play smart enough to double the money you already won. Failure and whoopsie, goodbye all your money!)
>[PARTY FAVOR] "Look, I think this will smooth everything over." Some money and drugs should smooth it over. (-1 PARTY FAVOR, -$75, the Dealer will let you go without question. Simple as.)
>"I think we're good, thanks." Leave as soon as possible before he does anything. He can't force you to play and you need to hear what your allies found. (You doubt he'll take this well but it won't cost any resources or call for any dice rolls)
>[BENJAMIN + MAX ALLY] "Actually, we got a new dealer to take over your shift." Max chimes in. Play along to this. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Benjamin's help. Pass and while you won't win anything, you'll be able to leave peacefully and you imagine Benjamin + Max and Max will get a small temporary stat boost for fulfilling a dream of Benjamin's. Failure will likely draw a LOT of suspicion as you awkwardly try to leave.)
>Write in.

>>5896884
>[UNSTABLE] Place ALL of the money you two won onto the table. "Double or nothing, faggot."
[MS. BIG TIME GAMBLER]

>>5896945
fuck it, +1

>>5896884
>[UNSTABLE] Place ALL of the money you two won onto the table. "Double or nothing, faggot." (COGNIZANCE DC: 20 (-6 from your mind reading and Ashley's intuition), rolling 5d6 with Ashley's help. Pass and you'll play smart enough to double the money you already won. Failure and whoopsie, goodbye all your money!)

>>5896884
>[UNSTABLE] Place ALL of the money you two won onto the table. "Double or nothing, faggot." (COGNIZANCE DC: 20 (-6 from your mind reading and Ashley's intuition), rolling 5d6 with Ashley's help. Pass and you'll play smart enough to double the money you already won. Failure and whoopsie, goodbye all your money!)

>>5896884
>>[UNSTABLE] Place ALL of the money you two won onto the table. "Double or nothing, faggot." (COGNIZANCE DC: 20 (-6 from your mind reading and Ashley's intuition), rolling 5d6 with Ashley's help. Pass and you'll play smart enough to double the money you already won. Failure and whoopsie, goodbye all your money!)
Fate is speaking, can you hear him? His voice sounds like crystal bells being struck so hard they should shatter...

>>5896884
The chances of beating 20 on 5d6 are 30.52%
>[BENJAMIN + MAX ALLY] "Actually, we got a new dealer to take over your shift." Max chimes in. Play along to this. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Benjamin's help. Pass and while you won't win anything, you'll be able to leave peacefully and you imagine Benjamin + Max and Max will get a small temporary stat boost for fulfilling a dream of Benjamin's. Failure will likely draw a LOT of suspicion as you awkwardly try to leave.)

>>5896884
>[BENJAMIN + MAX ALLY] "Actually, we got a new dealer to take over your shift." Max chimes in. Play along to this. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Benjamin's help. Pass and while you won't win anything, you'll be able to leave peacefully and you imagine Benjamin + Max and Max will get a small temporary stat boost for fulfilling a dream of Benjamin's. Failure will likely draw a LOT of suspicion as you awkwardly try to leave.)

>>5897082
>[BENJAMIN + MAX ALLY] "Actually, we got a new dealer to take over your shift." Max chimes in. Play along to this. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Benjamin's help. Pass and while you won't win anything, you'll be able to leave peacefully and you imagine Benjamin + Max and Max will get a small temporary stat boost for fulfilling a dream of Benjamin's. Failure will likely draw a LOT of suspicion as you awkwardly try to leave.)

>>5897082
Change
>>5897237

>>5897199
Just use drugs lol lmao

>>5896884
>[BENJAMIN + MAX ALLY] "Actually, we got a new dealer to take over your shift." Max chimes in. Play along to this. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Benjamin's help. Pass and while you won't win anything, you'll be able to leave peacefully and you imagine Benjamin + Max and Max will get a small temporary stat boost for fulfilling a dream of Benjamin's. Failure will likely draw a LOT of suspicion as you awkwardly try to leave.)

UNSTABLE: WqV, Cux, Udv, dq9 (I think?), 0UM, WeO
BENJAMIN AND MAX: AxO, w8L, QnB

THE WILL OF THE GAMBLE RUNS THROUGH YOU.
DOUBLE OR NOTHING.
Two anons, roll 2d6. Another anon, roll the last d6. Let's see how good you are at the gamble.

Rolled 5, 1 = 6 (2d6)

>>5898080
RIP wallet

Rolled 6, 1 = 7 (2d6)

>>5898080

>>5898162
>>5898271
>2 1s
>5 and 6
NOW WE ARE DANCING ON THE EDGE OF LIFE AND DEATH
Or maybe we just lost because of the shitty 5

Rolled 1 (1d6)

To speed things up, rolling.

14. Total and abject failure. Though you DO have some drugs to rectify this. You have three PEP PILLS, which each add 5 to your total tally per one spent. This means you would have to use two to pass this check.

They have the potential to do some FLESH damage per pill taken. You do have another drug that can reduce FLESH damage taken, but that will take a resource if used. How do you want to handle this situation?

>Take two PEP PILLS, no RASPBERRY SINSU (You pass the check but you have a chance of taking up to 2 FLESH damage, depending on your odds.)
>Take two PEP PILLS and a RASPBERRY SINSU (You pass the check and negate any FLESH damage taken by the pep pills.)
>Accept your loss.
>[UNSTABLE] What if we doubled down...? Let's make this riskier. (The QM will roll a 1d100. You will have no idea what will happen but higher will be better.)

>>5898422
>>5898422
>Take two PEP PILLS and a RASPBERRY SINSU (You pass the check and negate any FLESH damage taken by the pep pills.)

>>5898439
+1
we got 1 more pep pill and 3 more raspberry sinsu after this, no worries
those pep pills are ONLY for 1 COGNIZANCE check anyway, so they're meant to be used like this

>>5898422
>Take two PEP PILLS and a RASPBERRY SINSU (You pass the check and negate any FLESH damage taken by the pep pills.)

Alright, seems pretty agreed upon. Locking in, writing. Where you lack in analyzing odds, you more than make up for that with rampant drug use!
...Eh. It's a casino. No one's going to question if you pop a few pills anyways.

File: WINNINGHAND.jpg (184 KB, 707x900)

184 KB JPG

[UNSTABLE] "$320? Do I look like a scared little girly girl to you? Huh? Huh?" Your mouth contorts into a smile that shows way too many teeth. You slam all of your money onto the table. "Double or nothing. Faggot."

Ashley tenses her shoulders up but with a LOT of reluctance, she places her money down as well. Your other allies surround the two of you as the next game starts. The Dealer damn near drools as he deals his cards out. One look into his mind can tell you he's already rigged the deck somehow.

You got a 4 and a 5. Ashley got a 3 and a 7, and the Dealer has a 8 and an Ace. as his hidden card. Damn, not good. "WELL! C'MON! HIT OR STAY? HIT OR STAY? HIT OR FUCKING STAY?"

"H-hit." Ashley calls out. You nod your head, "HIT!" You get a 5 and Ashley gets a 9. Damnit, that means that she needs an Ace somehow to not instantly brick herself. You can tell she pieced this together as well because she's sweating bullets. <"Why did I agree to this? Bad odds, bad odds!">

"HIT. OR STAY?" The Dealer calls out again. You're the first to respond thanks to Ashley's hesitation, "HIT!" You get your card first and when you look at it, it's an Ace. "H-Hit." Ashley gets a 6. The Dealer's just about ready to realize Ashley's hand is bricked.

>14...
You were at a loss on how to turn this situation around, before you even realize where your hands are going, you quickly scarf down three random pills.
>24!

You need a distraction to swap the cards and you need one fast. You have no time to take anything else out of your inventory to throw and you doubt another ally could do something in time.

Distraction. Loud noise. You glance over at Ashley. Her baseball bat is right next to her seat.

You quickly nod your head at Ashley's baseball bat, which she was able to keep thanks to your smooth talking earlier. She notices the card in your hand and instantly understands what to do. She smacks the end of her baseball bat on the floor. The loud noise startles the Dealer just long enough for the two of you to swap your cards. 4+5+5+6 for you, 3+7+9+1 for Ashley.

<"Father Above, I told Clover he should fix this damn place. I can't be dealing with MORE metal railings falling from the ceiling."> "STAY!" "S-stay!" You and Ashley call out at the same time as he looks back.

<"Feh. I already rigged the deck to make sure no one could beat me this round. Sorry, should've been less cocky."> "Alright!" The Dealer quickly flips his cards to show to everyone at the table. You and Ashley reveal your cards as well. Everyone else at the table aside from you two has 19 or lower.

The Dealer stares at your two hands in utter bewilderment. "Huh?"
"What?" Ashley quickly regains her composure. "As long as we don't go over 21, and we beat your number, we win. Right?"
"I. Yes. You did win. But, uh, how did-?" The Dealer is having a hard time processing this.
"Luck?" You grin. "Now, give us our damn money. We're done here."

File: TABLEDISCUSSION.jpg (99 KB, 600x700)

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The Dealer is staring at the table with a blank expression. He wordlessly tosses over your winnings. All you get from reading his mind is a sea on unending white noise. He's mentally bricked. Without anything else stopping you, you lead your four allies away from the blackjack table.
>You now have $1096.
>RASPBERRY SINSU ACTIVE. -1 FLESH DAMAGE TAKEN FROM SOURCES FOR A SHORT TIME FRAME.

Your party eventually finds an empty table to take a seat at. Adam is the first one to break the silence with a slow hand clap, "Well, well, well. I gotta give you props on that. Even if gambling while on a mission is rather..."
"Retarded?" Ashley smirks. "Yeah. It was. I had fun though."

"C'mon! You're telling me all of that brain power, all of THAT TEAMWORK, was for nothing? Did we not synchronize our SOULS, our ESSENCE???" You give her your best puppydog eyes. "All of that struggle was for-"
"Okay shut up." Max quickly covers your mouth with her hand. "Let's talk about the information I found, thanks."
"Hey, it wasn't just you." Adam narrows his eyes. "But yeah, less bullshit, more talking."

Ashley tries her best to hold in her laughter from your rather pathetic display, "Wasn't quite sure where it was going but hey, again, it was fun. Just rein in your, uh-"
"Schizophrenia symptoms?" Benjamin says with a cold, clinical tone. The sad face you involuntarily made would warrant a stupidly cartoonish sound effect if this was on TV.

"AHEM." Adam claps his hands. "So, apparently the word of us being catering staff spread QUICK and boy, these guards were DROOLING at the idea of any new food. Something about only eating MREs for the last few weeks?"
[SEEKER OF THE CITY] P-Company Facilities usually use MREs, not some random casino. Weird.

"So all I had to do was tell them I was a caterer and they instantly ratted out where their bosses were. It's actually up that smog filled staircase, up to the fourth floor-" Adam clears his throat. "Fuck. Too much smoke here. Uh, yeah, supposed their office is the one with the door labeled "KNOCK FIRST"."

"That's good. We can politely ask them about this misunderstanding they're having with Nicole's handler!" Benjamin's beaming smile is almost disgusting in how optimistic it is.
Max's usual shit eating grin deflates a bit. "Benjamin, I don't think it's that simple."
"Why wouldn't it be?" "That's just not how business works-" Max stops herself.

"I'm getting side-tracked. On my end, I learned a handful of names of some important people here." Max slides over a notepad to the center of the table. A neat, cursive script is scribbled top to bottom on the page. "Take a gander. I think it's easier than just saying it outloud." Only then does she remove her hand from your mouth.

"Bleh." You smack your lips. "Don't do that again."
"Only if you take your meds. Now, read." She points at the notepad. You grab the notepad first to skim the contents of it. Let's see what she wrote down...

"CLOVER: Main Owner. Middle aged man in a poncho, doesn't stay in public areas often. Disappears somewhere on the fourth floor of the 'Common' section. Cares about fair and evenly balanced games.
CASEY: Main HR employee. Oddly cheerful girl with blond hair, very much likes staying in public. Stays around the second floor in the "VIP" section. Subservient to a fault.
CLYDE: Treasury Guard. Built like a brick shithouse, has more scars than regular skin. People only see him go into the 'Employee Only' section. Apparently has an IQ of 65.
KANA: Head Accountant. Has a weird head augment no one wanted to go into detail about, only that it looks weird. Regularly hangs out in the second floor of the "COMMON" section. 'Oddly smug', however relevant that is.
MARLA: Head of Security. No one has a solid description besides 'blue hair' and 'woman'. Apparently disappears somewhere on the floor we're currently on. Makes a lot of bird noises?"

Hm. It's not super enlightening information but it's certainly a better lead than nothing. Which person of interest do you want to track down first to talk to...or to deal with so they're not an inconvenience?

>[SEEKER OF THE CITY] If the Treasury Guard goes into the employee only section, that means there's something valuable to hide there. Move your group to scout out that place. Maybe you'll find the VAULT.
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Your hunch on a hidden room with the security cameras somewhere has only gotten stronger. Get everyone to listen for the damn bird noises, track down the HoS to 'deal' with.
>Best to cut to the chase and talk to the boss. Head up to the fourth floor of the 'COMMON' section to try getting into contact with Clover and the other higher ups.
>An accountant, huh? You might get some damning evidence about how they're skimping the Handler out of his cash if you talk to her. Let's discuss finances with her.
>Casey sounds like the kind of dumbass to spill the beans without too much effort. Find her and try to have a 'chat' with her.
>Split the party into two. You feel like it might be two risky to split the party in five but two groups is probably safe enough. (You may choose two of the above, assigning three party members to one and two to another. Write in who you send where.)
>...Take your meds. (FREE ACTION, -1 ANTI-PSYCHOTIC. Your allies will be more than thankful for doing it, locks any UNSTABLE options. For better or worse.)
>Write in.

>>5898587
>>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Your hunch on a hidden room with the security cameras somewhere has only gotten stronger. Get everyone to listen for the damn bird noises, track down the HoS to 'deal' with.
>...Take your meds. (FREE ACTION, -1 ANTI-PSYCHOTIC. Your allies will be more than thankful for doing it, locks any UNSTABLE options. For better or worse.)
Yeah, we need to handle the cameras. Casinos have tighter security then banks, that little card swap stunt we just did should be flagging us to every security person in this building. Lets nip that in the bud first and also take our meds since we are currently higher than Hunter S Thompson.

>>5898587
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Your hunch on a hidden room with the security cameras somewhere has only gotten stronger. Get everyone to listen for the damn bird noises, track down the HoS to 'deal' with.
>...Take your meds. (FREE ACTION, -1 ANTI-PSYCHOTIC. Your allies will be more than thankful for doing it, locks any UNSTABLE options. For better or worse.)

CASEY: Main HR employee. Oddly cheerful girl with blond hair, very much likes staying in public. Stays around the second floor in the "VIP" section. Subservient to a fault.

Potential new allies for hired?

>>5898587
>Casey sounds like the kind of dumbass to spill the beans without too much effort. Find her and try to have a 'chat' with her.
>...Take your meds. (FREE ACTION, -1 ANTI-PSYCHOTIC. Your allies will be more than thankful for doing it, locks any UNSTABLE options. For better or worse.)

>>5898587
Huh, looks like the joint is run by former Rangers or ETFs. Straight combat might be inadvisible
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Your hunch on a hidden room with the security cameras somewhere has only gotten stronger. Get everyone to listen for the damn bird noises, track down the HoS to 'deal' with.

>>5898587
>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Your hunch on a hidden room with the security cameras somewhere has only gotten stronger. Get everyone to listen for the damn bird noises, track down the HoS to 'deal' with.
>...Take your meds. (FREE ACTION, -1 ANTI-PSYCHOTIC. Your allies will be more than thankful for doing it, locks any UNSTABLE options. For better or worse.)
I want to show Ashley the meds before we take them, just so she's absolutely sure and can relax about this. Damn, Nicole going full Dr. Manhattan and blowing up a ganger last mission with her must have really disturbed Ashley even with her NUMB trait

>>5898587
>>[PERSON OF INTEREST] Your hunch on a hidden room with the security cameras somewhere has only gotten stronger. Get everyone to listen for the damn bird noises, track down the HoS to 'deal' with.
>>...Take your meds. (FREE ACTION, -1 ANTI-PSYCHOTIC. Your allies will be more than thankful for doing it, locks any UNSTABLE options. For better or worse.)

File: BIRBUP.jpg (67 KB, 518x720)

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"Wait." Ashley's breath hitches for a moment. "Fuck, fuck! Nicole, look, we gotta do something fast." <"Fuck, fuck, that nervous voice is back."> You have no idea what she could be worried about but then it clicks. Oh. OH. Oh fuck, you just cheated at a casino game.

Benjamin clear his throat, "I'd say we got about twenty minutes tops before that Dealer calls for security. Even I wouldn't want to fight my way through this place." <"Only two safe places in the City. Casinos and banks. And I know who works at the banks, so fuck that!">

Before you do anything, you pull out your bottle of anti-psychotics.
[UNSTABLE] NICOLE IF YOU TAKE THOSE YOU'LL LOSE YOUR SOUL. TO THEM! TO THOSE IN THE WALLS!
[UNSTABLE] I NEED YOU. TO LISTEN. YOU NEED TO LISTEN TO ME-

You show the pill to Ashley before taking it. "There. Took them. Medicated now." Almost immediately, you can hear your internal voices fade away. There's only you now.
>MEDICATED STATUS gained. UNSTABLE PSYCHE is now disabled and your other internal voices are less likely to pipe up.

Ashley lets out a sigh of relief, "Thanks. Rather not have THAT incident again." <"...Last time I saw something like that, it was when bro shoved a grenade into that man's gut."> Fucking hell, you regret reading her mind in this instance.

"Cool, I don't need another psychopath to tard wrangle." Adam taps his foot on the ground impatiently.

"No time to waste. Get a move on." Max snaps her fingers. Your group instantly leaves the table behind to go searching throughout the floor you're on for that damn HoS. The only issue is that Max's information on where they could be is REMARKABLY vague. However, it turns out five people makes the searching process a LOT quicker.

[PERS?? ?? ????????] The bird noises mean something. Seek out the bird.

You rub the side of your head. Guh, seems like your meds are making your other voices fuzzy. That is a solid enough clue, however. Seems like you weren't the only one who thought of that. A voice that ISN'T in your head crackles from that old earpiece you got ages ago.

You pull it out of your pocket, "Hey! Nicole! Go to the very back of the first floor. We found something." You push through the cluttered maze of tables and slots until you manage to meet your allies in a tucked away corner with only a few antique slot machines from, fuck, maybe the 2010s?

Max points at one of the antiques in question. While the other ones are not in the best condition, this slot machine has no symbols on the reels except for some blue jays. Your eyes narrow at this. How subtle.

"Honestly, I was going to brush this off when I first saw it." Adam grabs onto the lever. "But I know an obvious pattern when I see one." He pulls on it once. Nothing happens...at first. A chunk of wall nearby suddenly sinks into the ground to reveal a hidden door.

You quickly open the door with your telekinesis (just in case) before rushing inside with your allies.

File: CAMERAROOM.jpg (102 KB, 1024x576)

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Turns out there's not actually that much behind the door. The room you're in is a small, cramped office that's lined from wall to wall with monitors. There's at least dozens on dozens of hidden cameras on each floor if the sheer volume of monitors has anything to say. Besides that, a desk with another monitor, and some old filing cabinets?

There's a woman in her early 20s currently pointing a loaded hunting rifle at the five of you. Her messy mop top hair has a striking blue color to it. Her uniform is shockingly casual, mostly consisting of a blue-grey sleeveless shirt, dark blue pants, and some brown boots.

"Caw." She aims the rifle point blank at your head. "Cheater! Thou has shown thyself. Yer not the first one who tried to delete da evidence of yer wrongdoings! However! I, Marla of da Clover Suite, will not let ye get away with yer treason!" What the fuck is that accent she's putting on? It's some bastardized mix of a knight and a hick.

Adam and Ashley retch in unison upon hearing her voice, "What the actual fuck?" "Please never speak again."
Max is having a hard time deciding whether to laugh or join the others in disgust, "Wow. Please keep talking."
Benjamin blinks a few times before responding in the only way he can. "Hoot."

"Caw!" Marla yells back.
"Hoot." Benjamin quietly responds.
"CAW!" "Hoot." "CAW- Wait, hold on. Trickery!" Upside, the rifle is no longer being pointed at you. Downside, it's being pointed at Benjamin now.

"Hey! If you're going to aim at anyone, aim at me! Not him!" Max hisses out.
"why are we talking why are we talking." Ashley grips her baseball bat tighter.
"...Would you believe us if we said we were just here to give you food?" Adam tries his best to defuse this situation. Marla is too busy aiming between Benjamin and Max to listen to him.

"Thou has sixty seconds to explain thy case before yer asses are sent straight to hell!" <"Am I even saying it right? Dangit, I really should've reviewed the handbook more! Damnit, Clover, I'm still new to this!> "N-Corp thinks they're the ones to show ye god? I, MARLA OF DA CLOVER SUITE, WILL!"

"Seriously, why are you talking like that?" Max is not remotely taking this situation seriously despite what's going on. "You sound like a retard. Pick one accent."

Marla clenches her teeth in anger but one look into your mind can tell it's all bark. <"...Is it really that lame? I thought I sound cool. Caw.">

<"C'mon, I really don't want to do this!" "WELL? FIFTY SECONDS LEFT!" You really don't want to waste any more time than you have to here. Best to make a decision and to make it fast. Pick how you want to handle this situation.

How do you want to handle this situation?
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Old classic. Puppeteer her body to drop her gun and get your allies to beat her unconscious. (-2 RESTRAINT, instantly gets rid of her as a threat without alerting anyone or any allies being injured. Quick and easy.)
>[PARTY FAVORS] "Actually, we're here to turn over some contraband. Your dealer was on some rough shit." Show her one of the black pills. (-1 PARTY FAVOR. Marla will lower her guard a bit, allowing you to try getting valuable information out of her and to hopefully get her to look the other way when it comes to your group.)
>[READ DEALER'S MIND] "Cheaters? We're not the damn cheaters! Your damn Dealer rigged the deck!" Recount your story with the help of Ashley. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Ashley's help. Pass and she'll leave the room in a huff to deal with the Dealer, giving you some time to mess with the security system. Failure and you'll probably just confuse her long enough to get out safely without having achieved much.)
>[MAX ALLY] "Actually, this was a test from the boss himself to see if you were doing a good job. We're actually here to discuss your reward." Max flashes a smile. Play along. (CHARM DC: 24, rolling 6d6 with Max's help. Pass and Marla is more than willing to believe you, lowering her guard enough to be able to ask her for assistance. Failure is liable to start a COMBAT ENCOUNTER.)
>Five against one. Someone might take a bullet but you can overpower her. Bumrush her. (You doubt the gunshot will go unnoticed but you should be able to overpower her with only some minor injuries.)
>Write in (Try to convince her another way? Use another ability? Have another ally help you out somehow?)

>>5899690
>[READ DEALER'S MIND] "Cheaters? We're not the damn cheaters! Your damn Dealer rigged the deck!" Recount your story with the help of Ashley. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Ashley's help. Pass and she'll leave the room in a huff to deal with the Dealer, giving you some time to mess with the security system. Failure and you'll probably just confuse her long enough to get out safely without having achieved much.)

>>5899690
>>[READ DEALER'S MIND] "Cheaters? We're not the damn cheaters! Your damn Dealer rigged the deck!" Recount your story with the help of Ashley. (CHARM DC: 16, rolling 5d6 with Ashley's help. Pass and she'll leave the room in a huff to deal with the Dealer, giving you some time to mess with the security system. Failure and you'll probably just confuse her long enough to get out safely without having achieved much.)
Can we combine options? Because I feel like we can work both this and
>[PARTY FAVORS] "Actually, we're here to turn over some contraband. Your dealer was on some rough shit." Show her one of the black pills. (-1 PARTY FAVOR. Marla will lower her guard a bit, allowing you to try getting valuable information out of her and to hopefully get her to look the other way when it comes to your group.)
together to make a decent deception. If not then just the Read Dealers Mind option.

>>5899702
I'd say you can do so as a write in. In this case, you would probably lower the DC to a 14 and you'll get a bit more information if you pass the charm DC. At the cost of losing one of your three Party Favors.

>>5899694
Clover Potential doesn’t know his dealer is cheating. He will probably be happy if we give information to him and Maria. He potential doesn’t know someone in the casino stealing money from our handler.

>>5899702
Alright
>Write in (Try to convince her another way? Use another ability? Have another ally help you out somehow?)
>This is a security audit, while you've passed, your dealer has not. He was rigging the deck, and bought one of these pills from a confidential agent of ours earlier. There's going to have to be some significant changes around here, we'll need your help to get rid of things like this.

>>5899722
+1

>>5899722
Can this possibly backfire on us?

>>5899727
We are lying through our teeth hoping we can get by on manipulation and props, so yes.

>>5899690
>[ANOMALOUS ABILITIES] Old classic. Puppeteer her body to drop her gun and get your allies to beat her unconscious. (-2 RESTRAINT, instantly gets rid of her as a threat without alerting anyone or any allies being injured. Quick and easy.)

>>5899760
Our RESTRAINT is 4/7 if it go down to 2/7
We Will get a unstable psychic in a Crowd casino. It is REALLY bad idea to use RESTRAINT.
BAD thing will happen if we get unstable Psychic

>>5899702
+1, I'm willing to lose a party favor for -2 DC to put it below half

>>5899713
Wait a second. Can we use Benjamin's dealer knowledge here too? He'd know how to rig a deck too

>>5899690
>[PARTY FAVORS] "Actually, we're here to turn over some contraband. Your dealer was on some rough shit." Show her one of the black pills. (-1 PARTY FAVOR. Marla will lower her guard a bit, allowing you to try getting valuable information out of her and to hopefully get her to look the other way when it comes to your group.)
>[MAX ALLY] "Actually, this was a test from the boss himself to see if you were doing a good job. We're actually here to discuss your reward." Max flashes a smile. Play along. (CHARM DC: 24, rolling 6d6 with Max's help. Pass and Marla is more than willing to believe you, lowering her guard enough to be able to ask her for assistance. Failure is liable to start a COMBAT ENCOUNTER.)

>>5899778
I'd say that he COULD make something up to buy more creditability but at most, that'll buy you the ability to reroll one dice.
>>5899770
Not when you're medicated. Sure, having low RESTRAINT is a bad idea in general but you won't explode something while on your meds.

Regardless, combining READ DEALER'S MIND + PARTY FAVORS seems like the general idea and I'll take WeO's write in in how that manifests. So, 5d6, DC 14. I need one anon to roll 3d6 and another to roll 2d6.

Rolled 6, 1, 3 = 10 (3d6)

>>5900430

Rolled 4, 6 = 10 (2d6)

>>5900430
Rollan

>>5900431
>>5900432
Success. Writing.

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"I would put that down if I was you." You try your best to keep a cool, composed tone to your voice. "This is a security audit from K-Corp. For now, you have passed your job. You have noticed us arriving and you noticed us cheating. Good job so far."

Marla lowers her rifle by only an inch, she clearly doesn't trust what you're saying. "Dost thou take me for a fool? Y'all taking the piss?" If you weren't on your meds, you would absolutely feel the urge to implode her head with your telekinesis.

"She's not bullshitting you," Ashley speaks up. "You passed but we found an employee of yours who fucked up hard. You know how we were playing that blackjack game?" Ashley nods her head at you. <"I know you can hear this. Hand me one of those pills."> You flinch at what you heard. <"Heh. Wasn't sure until now. Gotcha, bitch.">

You definitely have to ask her about this later but for now, you sneakily hand her a pill. She promptly shows the jet black pill to Marla. "He bought this from one of our confidential agents. Benjamin?"

Benjamin clear his throat before he begins rambling to Marla, "This is a very potent psychoactive discounted by Z-Corp. It's illegal in about 12 out of the 26 active districts here. Needless to say, having someone willing to purchase this in your casino is a bad sign."
"That's not all," You speak up right after he's done talking. "He rigged the deck in an attempt to scam us out of our money."

Marla fully lowers her rifle now. All of the blood has drained from her face. "Okay, hold on," You notice that stupid accent she was putting on is gone now. "He rigged it? You do realize how bold of an accusation that is, right? Do you have any proof?"

"Yeah. We played against him to check how fair your games were." You take a moment to think of a good way to recount your story. "We noticed there was a weird pattern to his cards. At the start, they were all insanely low. 10s and 11s."
"Then," Ashley continues right after you. "All of them became stupidly high. 18s, 19s, 20s. This wouldn't be weird but they only ramped it right as we started betting more."

"That would be possible if he had a second hidden deck." Benjamin adds. "While everyone uses the normal deck, he would use a special one with nothing but high cards."
"Considering the track record he has?" Your smile stretches from ear to ear. "I don't think your friend is all that trustworthy."

>20! SUCCESS!

"That SON OF A BITCH!" Marla quickly raises her rifle back up but it's obvious she doesn't plan on using it on you. "After everything Clover did to make this place fair? Everything's supposed to be done ABOVE BOARD! LEGAL! Yet we have people UNDERMINDING THAT?!" Weird, if it's all meant to be above board, then why is the Handler's money being stolen?

Max seems to clue in on this, "This includes more than the dealers, right? Your bosses wouldn't happen to be stealing from anyone, right?"

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"OF COURSE NOT-" Marla pauses. "Well, golly, I would hope so. Our policy is to send everything immediately to our vault and to keep a rigorous count of every single bill before any money goes anywhere. If anyone tries skipping this, I would spot them IMMEDIATELY!"

"Well, who has access to the vault then?" Adam pipes up.
"Me, Clyde, Clover, and Kana. That's that!" Before any of you have time to ask further questions, she pushes past your group with fury in her eyes. She's probably going to be busy for a while. You now have access to the camera room and all that entails.

"Welp. Ben, I hope you know how to fiddle with this. I might need your help." Adam makes a beeline right towards the desk. Benjamin follows right behind him and soon, they're messing around with the security system. You have no idea what they're doing.

"Uh?" All you can make out is them flipping through a LOT of screens and typing some weird lines into one of the various consoles. While Ashley moves to watch the door, you and Max decide to focus your attention on the various monitors recording the various floors of the casino.

You get visuals on everyone on Max's list, though the quality of the footage is remarkably shitty so you can only make out a general impression of what they're doing
-A man in a poncho is having a heated argument about something with six other people inside of an office on "COMMON SECTION F4". Whatever's going on, the poncho man is the one yelling the most.
-A young woman with a vacant smile and stare is wandering around on "VIP SECTION F2", clearly stressed out.
-For a moment you thought your meds wore off. A woman with a fox's head is currently sitting inside an office with piles of paperwork all over her desk on "COMMON SECTION F2".
-A brick shithouse of a man in full ETF agent attire, armed with a shotgun, is outside of a giant vault door. The camera labels where he's at as "EMPLOYEES ONLY F3". You got confirmation on where the vault is now.

"You know," Max chimes in. "If anyone could be cheating your boss out of his money, wouldn't someone who's smart with money be able to do that? Maybe we can convince them Kana's fucking them over."

"I mean, sure, that would be a reasonable guess but-" You pause. Something about that sounds off for some reason. "Even if that is true, we would need some pretty damning evidence to convince them. Me and Ash at least knew the Dealer was cheating."

"Right, right." Max's usual smug smile is completely gone now. "It's just not the first time I've heard of a story like this, you know? Something good being done and all of it is ruined because of one bad actor. Someone has to be stealing money, so...seems like the obvious candidate."

"Does it matter, though? My job here is to get his money back and get out in one piece. Getting into the vault is the priority here."

"I guess it doesn't. Is it wrong in me wanting a better outcome, though?" You're unsure as to how to handle her sudden tone shift.

"Done!" Benjamin calls out. "Annnd that should be useful down the line." The mere sound of Benjamin's voice instantly snaps Max back to her smug persona.

"Oh ho? What did ya do?" You notice Max slapping something onto the side of a filing cabinet.
>-1 CAMERA BUG!

"Long story short," Adam wipes the sweat from his brow. "We added a small delay to the cameras that'll trigger in about ten minutes from now."
"It'll delay all of the footage by ten minutes once it's online. Best we could do on short notice." Benjamin adjusts his glasses. "So, if we play our cards right when breaking in? Marla won't be able to call for backup in time."

Nice! That'll make things way easier in the future. Though Max seems a bit confused at what she's been told, "Wouldn't it just be easier to turn off the cameras?"

"And alert her that we fucked around with her cameras?" Ashley scoffs. "Yeah. That'll raise every alarm bell in here if even one of those is off. A delay's probably the best we can do. Though, my gut tells me we should leave now."

Checking back at the cameras, you see two guards dragging the Dealer you told Marla about by his legs. Marla is already heading back to her office. Probably not wise to stay here for any longer than you need to.

Where's your next target now, Nicole?
>Clover's having an argument about something? How interesting. Maybe you could rile them up if you tell them someone might be stealing from them.
>It seems TOO obvious but part of you is tempted. Check up on Kana to talk to her. If there's any proof she's fudging numbers, that would be excellent leverage.
>You don't need to waste any more time here. You know where the vault is. Sneak into the EMPLOYEE'S ONLY SECTION and make a beeline to the vault. (Due to knowing where exactly it is, you skip the TALENT checks you would've had to make otherwise.)
>Why the hell is Casey so stressed? Talk to her, maybe you can get her to spill the beans if you comfort her.
>[SECURITY COVER STORY] Marla clearly fell for the bait, why not spread this to the guards? (FREE ACTION. CHARM DC: 22 (-4 from convincing Marla), rolling 6d6 with Max's assistance. Pass and the guards will be hesitant to act even if you start acting suspicious, buying you time. Failure will likely just draw too much attention to yourself.)
>[BENJAMIN + ADAM ALLY] "We'll buy you some time." Exit the office with Max and Ashley. Try your best to delay her while the others get as much footage from the security system as possible. (FREE ACTION. COGNIZANCE DC: 20, rolling 5d6 with Adam and Benjamin's dice. Pass and you'll get some useful footage to clue you into how to handle/talk with the Person of Interest (Clover, Kana, etc etc) you choose to visit. Failure will result in footage that'll likely give you the wrong idea, if any at all.)
>Write in.

>>5900640
>>Why the hell is Casey so stressed? Talk to her, maybe you can get her to spill the beans if you comfort her.
>[BENJAMIN + ADAM ALLY] "We'll buy you some time." Exit the office with Max and Ashley. Try your best to delay her while the others get as much footage from the security system as possible. (FREE ACTION. COGNIZANCE DC: 20, rolling 5d6 with Adam and Benjamin's dice. Pass and you'll get some useful footage to clue you into how to handle/talk with the Person of Interest (Clover, Kana, etc etc) you choose to visit. Failure will result in footage that'll likely give you the wrong idea, if any at all.)

>>5900640
>Why the hell is Casey so stressed? Talk to her, maybe you can get her to spill the beans if you comfort her.
>[BENJAMIN + ADAM ALLY] "We'll buy you some time." Exit the office with Max and Ashley. Try your best to delay her while the others get as much footage from the security system as possible. (FREE ACTION. COGNIZANCE DC: 20, rolling 5d6 with Adam and Benjamin's dice. Pass and you'll get some useful footage to clue you into how to handle/talk with the Person of Interest (Clover, Kana, etc etc) you choose to visit. Failure will result in footage that'll likely give you the wrong idea, if any at all.)

>>5900640
>You don't need to waste any more time here. You know where the vault is. Sneak into the EMPLOYEE'S ONLY SECTION and make a beeline to the vault. (Due to knowing where exactly it is, you skip the TALENT checks you would've had to make otherwise.)

>>5900640
>Why the hell is Casey so stressed? Talk to her, maybe you can get her to spill the beans if you comfort her.
>[BENJAMIN + ADAM ALLY] "We'll buy you some time." Exit the office with Max and Ashley. Try your best to delay her while the others get as much footage from the security system as possible. (FREE ACTION. COGNIZANCE DC: 20, rolling 5d6 with Adam and Benjamin's dice. Pass and you'll get some useful footage to clue you into how to handle/talk with the Person of Interest (Clover, Kana, etc etc) you choose to visit. Failure will result in footage that'll likely give you the wrong idea, if any at all.)

>>5900640
>Why the hell is Casey so stressed? Talk to her, maybe you can get her to spill the beans if you comfort her.

If this Clover fellow is so bent on justice and fairness while running a casino of all things, maybe this is all being done without him knowing. Did any of Handler's contact attempts even reach Clover? Or did somebody acting as a go-between try to stir some shit for their own benefit? We sabotaged the security, but what's stopping us from going straight to Clover and calling the Handler on the phone to make sure they talk it out without interference? The only 4 with vault access according to Marla's word, are
>Clyde
>Clover
>Marla
>Kana
Marla herself doesn't feel guilty to me. Dumb bird-bitch has way too extreme loyalty and retardation to ever think of betraying. I'm biased towards Clover being too based to do such a thing, but I could be wrong. This is The City, not The Underground. He could be different in enough ways where he might see stealing money from the Handler as a sort of "justice" being done.

My bet is it's either Clyde or Kana, or somebody wholly unexpected. Could there be an external third party using Clyde or Kana as their proxy? How likely is that?

>>5893939
>"An old casino I'm partnered with has been showing me some REAL shady paperwork. Rumors say that they're not properly paying my commission fee. Whether that's true or not, get us our money back from those fucking parasites."
>"To put it bluntly, I tried to. We got into an argument and uh, you know-" There's a sudden awkwardness in the tone of his voice. "I might be barred from going anywhere near there again."
He didn't say with who. We're in the dark here unless we call the Handler and straight up ask him who he spoke to during his money argument. He might not like us calling him mid-mission without us about to die or everything falling apart first, but he might be ok with it since it involves us chasing an important lead here.
>"I need you to find solid evidence that they are stealing money from me. Paperwork, testimonies, whatever. Then, I need you to break into their vault and steal a suitcase there that has about..."
NEVERMIND, guess we need to steal what we need this mission. That alone will make Clover want us dead, so cooperating with him is out unless we go the full clean "get Clover to do the right thing and give us the briefcase plus paperwork" route Max is alluding to with her "better outcome" talk. We might not have time to get Benjamin to be a dealer unless we have to play a climactic poker game to decide who lives and who dies right at the mission's end.

And here
>>5900638
>A woman with a fox's head is currently sitting inside an office with piles of paperwork all over her desk on "COMMON SECTION F2".
The paper trail leads to Kana. Max is right about pointing all that out and bringing her up, but red herrings exist. The only person we can feasibly rule out as the culprit is Marla.

>>5900640
>Casey
The next safest weak link in the chain
>Ben+Adam
Now our problem is how to cockblock Marla from reaching the camera room in time

>>5900932
>"An old casino I'm partnered with has been showing me some REAL shady paperwork. Rumors say that they're not properly paying my commission fee
Wait. This means the Handler isn't even sure the money is being stolen. What if nobody is stealing it, what if the casino just isn't as profitable as the Handler expects, because Clover plays fairly?

CASEY + BENJAMIN/ALLY: WeO, Qz+, Qnb, 9h3
VAULT TIME: Udv
JUST CASEY: AxO

Seems simple enough what the majority is. One anon, roll 3d6. Another, roll 2d6.

Rolled 4, 3, 6 = 13 (3d6)

>>5901708

Rolled 4, 4 = 8 (2d6)

>>5901708

>>5901716
>>5901748
>21
Pushing it there, huh? Good thing you didn't fuck up. Writing.

>>5901748
>>5901716
THAT MAKES 21, BITCH
WE BLACKJACK NOW

>>5901203
Just a coincidence that the Handler invested in the one house that doesn't always win
I'd piss blood too.
"God forbid they should make a mistake and forget to steal."

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"Okay. We're going to buy those two goobers some time. Hope you guys are good at saying a whole lotta nothing."
"I guess I can try?" Ashley shrugs.
"Oh? So like a press conference? Trust me, not my first time in THAT rodeo." Max nods her head. "Let's do this."

The three of you stumble out of the office, spilling right back out onto the ground floor of the casino. Marla's already making a beeline back to her office. Fuck. You turn to look at Max and Ashley, "Well? The fuck are we going to talk to her about?"

"Let me handle it. You guys just follow along with whatever I say, okay?" Max snaps her fingers. "Got it?" You and Ashley share looks between each other but you don't exactly have a better idea. Not like you have time to discuss because Marla is already about to walk past the three of you. Max quickly steps in front of her to get her attention.

"Hm?" Marla screeches to a halt to avoid knocking right into Max. "Golly, I appreciate what you told me but I really do have to go back to work. Could you, uh, move? Please?"

Max takes a moment to clear her voice with some rather forceful coughs before giving Marla some disturbingly intense eye contact. "Of course you have to go back to work. However, may I interest you in...cowboy insurance? It's the hottest thing being sold by K-Corp right now!"

"What." "What?" "Huh?" You, Marla, and Ashley respond with the exact same tone of mild confusion. It's honestly quite impressive.

"You see, cowboys are quite the dangerous thing here in this fine City! R-Company is one of the most well known paramilitary organizations, so you surely need some protection if you happen to slight one! So, K-Corp has decided to sell high quality Cowboy Insurance JUST FOR YOU!" Max jabs a finger right into Marla's chest. "How does it sound? Safety from all manner of Cowboy and Cowboy related things!"

Ashley looks at you with an expression that increasingly gets more and more confused. <"I know we're supposed to help her but how the hell do we respond to that?">
You simply shrug at what you heard in Ashley's mind. "Dunno."

Once the cogs in Marla's head start to turn, she seems offended than anything else. "What's wrong with cowboys? I mean, sure, I prefer snow over sand any day of the week but cowboys are cool! I don't need protection from them!"

"Ah! But you see, what if I told you we also have Cowboy Cowboy Insurance? Insurance with Cowboys, for Cowboys?" Max pulls out a business card and quickly scribbles something onto it before stuffing it into Marla's hand. "Take a look!" Marla does so, seemingly still in a state of shock from whatever schizophrenic pitch Max made up.

>21! PASS!

Whatever she's writing on there is a LOT to read. You spot Adam and Benjamin sneaking out of the office with something in hand but before you can figure out what, Marla speaks up. "Okay, that's enough. Again. Thank you for helping but I really need to go back to my station." She pushes right past your group.

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As you watch her walk away, Adam and Benjamin rejoin your group. Adam holds up his phone, "We managed to download some footage off of the system. Take a look." Your group huddles around him in order to watch it. It's still pretty shoddy quality wise but you manage to make out a few things of note.

On one of the VIP floors (you assume given the better furnishings such as leather chairs and chandeliers), Casey is talking with that fox-headed girl. There's no audio but from what you can make out, it seems to be involving some sort of paperwork that Kana is shoving at her face. The two continue to yell at each other but it doesn't seem to be an argument. Both are INCREDIBLY worried about whatever that paperwork is showing.

Kana then disappears off camera. Casey proceeds to collapse onto a chair with her hands on her head, sweating bullets. The footage then cuts off from there. Interesting. "What the hell could they be worried about?" Ashley is the first one to prop the question.

"Probably something about their money situation somehow?" Adam gives a half shrug. "That's all I could think of. You don't look THAT worried when showing someone paperwork unless you're fucked."
"I concur." Max nods along. "Doesn't make any sense, though. She could've faked the numbers if she wanted to, right?"

"Maybe we're misreading the situation. It could be about something completely different. Maybe some memo from the higher ups of this place?" Benjamin offers his own idea. No one can really come to a conclusion on which is the right answer...which should hopefully be solved by actually talking to Casey.

"Let's go talk to her. We could talk ourselves in circles all day but it's not going to get us anywhere." You point out to the others. Your allies nod along, not really having a better idea on how to handle this situation. Your group proceeds to make a beeline to the VIP section's stairs. The guards notice Max and quickly move to the side, letting you pass. Odd but you won't dwell on it too long.

The first floor of the VIP section is an overly haughty mess of golden chandlers, tacky decorations, and the same gambling tables as the regular floor but with some sprucing up applied. Crowds of people in tacky suits and dresses crowd around the tables with the same fervor as the soulless gambling addicts only a floor below. The only thing that really appeals to you is the oddly calming music being played on the speakers.

Given the weird looks being given to you by the rich clientele here, it's clear your group stand out like a sore thumb (with the exception of Max). Your group carries on to the second floor. Same thing as the first VIP floor but with a different crowd. You do spot someone else who stands out in the crowd of suits and high class dresses.

A young and modestly dressed woman paces around in a large lounge area, seemingly having too much energy to sit down. You found your target. Your group moves in to confront her.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0t2qsIrfIo - CASEY'S THEME

She's a rather bland looking girl, appearance wise. She's dressed in a simple yellow dress shirt (with a loosely tied black and yellow tie) and brown slacks. Her hair has an off-yellow color, almost reminding you of the color of beewax than a natural hair color. It's tied in a simple ponytail that's almost cute looking.

She stops pacing around the mostly empty lounge area. She perks up a bit upon seeing you and flashes a cheerful smile that would be comforting if it wasn't for her eyes. There's no light behind them. Completely vacant, you don't even really detect any thoughts in her head. Your mind reading is just returning a complete blank here.

[ANOMALOUS ???] You don't feel anything anomalous about her?
Glancing at Benjamin and Ashley, neither of them seem to notice anything out of the ordinary about her besides the obvious.

She grips a notepad in her hand. "Hello, dear customers! What happens to be the issue? Are the refreshments not to your standards? Are you having a hard time finding the restroom? Perhaps you wish to make a complaint about how the staff are treating you?" Her voice is sickly sweet, saccharine even. She's buzzing with nervous energy. "We here at Clover Suite wish for the customer to have the BEST experience possible!"

What do you want to question her about? Pick up to three.
>"Would you have happened to recall anything about an incident involving a sponsor of this suite?" Something about how vague the Handler was about what happened here is rubbing you the wrong way.
>"Could you tell us anything about the staff that works here?" While you got a general idea on their roles, more information is always better. (She'll tell you about all of them but WRITE IN the one you want to learn the most about.)
>[PARTY FAVORS] "We may or may not heard some rumors about some skeezy business going on here. Know anything?" Hand over one of the pills to her. Putting some pressure on her might make her spill something juicy. (-1 PARTY FAVOR, very likely to get more information than the normal options.)
>"Who does your casino associate with? I want to make sure I'm spending my money in a place I can trust!" Try to see if there's any potential shady third parties who could meddling with things.
>"What's up with the, uh, weird look?" Something about her is rubbing you off something FIERCE. It might be impolite but god, you have to know.
>"I saw a Dealer get dragged out because he cheated. Not to be rude but...isn't that how casinos normally work?" Try to understand why the casino bosses are doing the exact opposite of how casinos should operate.
>[SECURITY FOOTAGE FOUND] "We're actually quite worried about the financial health of this casino, actually." Pry into that incident you saw on the cameras. Get her to spill about what's actually going on with the money here. (Due to finding the footage, you skip the skill check assigned to this.)
>Write in.

>>5901987
>"Would you have happened to recall anything about an incident involving a sponsor of this suite?" Something about how vague the Handler was about what happened here is rubbing you the wrong way.
>"What's up with the, uh, weird look?" Something about her is rubbing you off something FIERCE. It might be impolite but god, you have to know.
>[SECURITY FOOTAGE FOUND] "We're actually quite worried about the financial health of this casino, actually." Pry into that incident you saw on the cameras. Get her to spill about what's actually going on with the money here. (Due to finding the footage, you skip the skill check assigned to this.)

Yup, we definitely NEED to hire her after we are done with this mission. It is absolutely essential to hire her, our entire existence depends on it. Our lives will be meaningless without her.

>>5901987

>She stops pacing around the mostly empty lounge area. She perks up a bit upon seeing you and flashes a cheerful smile that would be comforting if it wasn't for her eyes. There's no light behind them. Completely vacant, you don't even really detect any thoughts in her head. Your mind reading is just returning a complete blank here.

is she not a human?

Come to think of it, maybe Casey is a potential secret mastermind who uses his cuteness to manipulate people into not thinking she is the culprit?

>>5901987
>>[SECURITY FOOTAGE FOUND] "We're actually quite worried about the financial health of this casino, actually." Pry into that incident you saw on the cameras. Get her to spill about what's actually going on with the money here. (Due to finding the footage, you skip the skill check assigned to this.)

>>5902027
Actually, change to +1, didn't read it all

>>5901987
>"Would you have happened to recall anything about an incident involving a sponsor of this suite?" Something about how vague the Handler was about what happened here is rubbing you the wrong way.
>"Who does your casino associate with? I want to make sure I'm spending my money in a place I can trust!" Try to see if there's any potential shady third parties who could meddling with things.
>"I saw a Dealer get dragged out because he cheated. Not to be rude but...isn't that how casinos normally work?" Try to understand why the casino bosses are doing the exact opposite of how casinos should operate.

>>5902027
+1

>>5901987
Dang, this encounter takes me all the way back.
>"Who does your casino associate with? I want to make sure I'm spending my money in a place I can trust!" Try to see if there's any potential shady third parties who could meddling with things.
This is the option that best speaks THE CORPORATE TONGUE, like she is doing here.
>[SECURITY FOOTAGE FOUND] "We're actually quite worried about the financial health of this casino, actually." Pry into that incident you saw on the cameras. Get her to spill about what's actually going on with the money here. (Due to finding the footage, you skip the skill check assigned to this.)
>"Would you have happened to recall anything about an incident involving a sponsor of this suite?" Something about how vague the Handler was about what happened here is rubbing you the wrong way.

>>5901987
>"Would you have happened to recall anything about an incident involving a sponsor of this suite?" Something about how vague the Handler was about what happened here is rubbing you the wrong way.
>[SECURITY FOOTAGE FOUND] "We're actually quite worried about the financial health of this casino, actually." Pry into that incident you saw on the cameras. Get her to spill about what's actually going on with the money here. (Due to finding the footage, you skip the skill check assigned to this.)
>"Who does your casino associate with? I want to make sure I'm spending my money in a place I can trust!" Try to see if there's any potential shady third parties who could meddling with things.

>>5901987
>"Would you have happened to recall anything about an incident involving a sponsor of this suite?" Something about how vague the Handler was about what happened here is rubbing you the wrong way.
>"Who does your casino associate with? I want to make sure I'm spending my money in a place I can trust!" Try to see if there's any potential shady third parties who could meddling with things.
>"I saw a Dealer get dragged out because he cheated. Not to be rude but...isn't that how casinos normally work?" Try to understand why the casino bosses are doing the exact opposite of how casinos should operate.

No thoughts head empty

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Part of you really wants to know why she's so weird but you have to focus on the actual practical questions here. The one that you're itching to ask is simple: did the Handler even talk to anyone here properly? "Would you happen to recall an incident involving a sponsor of this suite? One in a burgundy suit?"

Casey manages to keep up the vacant customer service intact for now, "If there was any recent incident involving any of our sponsorships, I am sadly unaware of it! Our sponsors are quite happy for the most part-" She scrunches up her face with a look of intense concentration. "Nngh-"

Adam snaps his fingers at her, "Miss. Are you okay?"

"Fuh!" Casey snaps back to reality. "Sorry, sorry! I just remembered! Burgundy? We did see a man with that description a few days ago!" She shakes her head in an attempt to regain her focus. "Our head accountant was the one who talked to him. He left in a huff after that."

Max raises an eyebrow. "Wait, huh? Did Clover know anything about this? Isn't he, like, the head honcho or something of this joint?"

"Uh huh! But, no, most of our sponsors go through her! She's the one who handles all of those fancy contracts! Clover usually leaves all of that fancy stuff to her!" Casey replies in a sing-song tone. "I sadly don't know a lot of details of what they talked about!"

It's all trailing back to this damn "Kana" figure somehow, huh? "Well, speaking about your sponsors, who DOES your casino associate with? I wanna know I'm spending my money in a trustworthy place!"

Casey's smile instantly swaps into a frown. Tears begin to well in the corner of her eyes, "O-of course we're tr-trustworthy! W-we only associate with the most t-t-t-trustworthy of people!" She almost loses her grip on her notepad. The hell is her deal?

[GULLIBLE] Benjamin immediately goes in to calm her down. He pats her on the back, "There there. We're sorry, okay? We don't have to talk about this if you don't want to." Benjamin turns to look at the group. "Let's choose another topic, okay-"

Ashley butts in, "Uh, no. Not until she tells us."
Benjamin scoffs, "Are we REALLY going to talk to a girl who's on the verge of tears?"

The glares the two are giving each other starts to suffocate the atmosphere of this conversation. While Max hesitates to say anything, Adam grits his teeth and steps in to break the conflict.

"Look. We're an associate of a sponsor who may or may not be interested in working for this place. We need to know this so we can assess the risk-benefit ratio of a potential arrangement. That's all."

Ashley and Benjamin scoff but decide it's not worth it to argue over this point, given how Casey instantly lightens back up. "Oh! In that case, we have four associates! A Mr. Foxtort, a Mr. Sukane, a Ms. Wiltshire, and a Ms. Anjaro!" You recognize none of those names but you see Max's expression sour almost immediately.

<"Fuck, an Anjaro? Hopefully I don't have to see one of those cunts any time soon.">

File: WORRIEDCASEY.png (479 KB, 879x900)

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"Mind telling us anything about them or...just gonna name drop it like we know who they are?" Adam taps his foot impatiently. "We're not psychics. We can't exactly read your mind here." Your face scrunches up at the comment. IT'S NOT LIKE YOU CAN EITHER!

<"Calm down, Nicole."> Ashley's thought catches your attention. Fine. Calm down you will.

"Mmh. Oh! Mr. Foxtort visited a few days ago! I think he's the one in the jacket you were talking about? He's a very mean man." Casey's smile instantly droops again. "I don't like him. I don't even mind l-" She stops herself. "Nevermind."

"Mr. Sukane mostly talks to Kana! I don't really know him that well but they had a pretty heated discussion. Something about money problems? I-I-I wouldn't know, of course!" It's blatantly obvious she's lying through her teeth here. The others (sans Benjamin) can barely hide their contempt at her obvious lie.

"Ms. Anjaro hasn't...been visiting lately. Last time I saw her was about three months ago? T-though I'm sure she's still sending us money!" Uh huh. "An-and...same goes for, uh, Ms. Wiltshire. Heh. V-very trustworthy people, yes!"

"Oh! Okay!" Benjamin chirps out. "Very trustworthy indeed."

"Y-yeah! See! Very trustworthy! Anything else you would like to know, dear customers?" She's sweating bullets despite how softball your questions have been. It's clear that there's been issues with the sponsors if they haven't been seen in a while.

"Uh huh. Look, let's cut to the chase here." You take a step closer to Casey. "We're actually quite worried about the financial health of this casino, actually."

"W-what? We're doing quite well, thank you very much!" Casey is trying her damn best to keep up her smile. "Sure, we haven't seen two of our biggest sponsors in a while but maybe they're just busy!"

"Guys, we really shouldn't be talking about-" Max quickly covers Benjamin's mouth with her hand. He huffs indignantly but doesn't struggle against her.
"Is that so?" A low chuckle comes out of Ashley. "Then explain why you were having that whole conversation with Kana earlier? Marla might've shown us something interesting."

>AUTOMATIC SUCCESS!

The mere mention of this instantly shatters any attempt at a cheerful façade that Casey was trying to put up. "I-I, uh, y-you see, well, actually, uh, well-" She's trembling like a baby bird that fell out of the nest. Nervous sweat coats her forehead as she tries to think of something to say.

She completely crumples after a few minutes. She sits down on one of the empty longue chairs to try to collect any sense of composure, "I'm sorry. I really am. S-she told me I shouldn't say anything about this to anyone." Finally, you're getting somewhere.

Adam sighs, "I assume this is about Kana. This place isn't as profitable as it seems, huh?" A small laugh trickles out the back of his throat. "I was in your shoes. I get it."

"T-then you get why I didn't want to say anything."

"I do. It's hard to admit, isn't it?" Adam kneels down next to the barely holding together Casey. "I'm a businessman. I get the struggle of running one. You can vent to me."

"Something doesn't add up. This place is bustling." Max gestures with her free hand at the crowds of people flooding the VIP floor. "There was a massive line to get in here and there's people everywhere. How could it NOT be profitable?"

"Well, uh, I-I don't know the specifics. It's out of my paygrade, heh." Casey takes a deep breath. "B-but from what I know, Kana's been fiddling with a l-lot of paperwork to make us, uh, more profitable to sponsors. Than we normally seem. That's what she was arguing with me about. We barely made a 4-5% profit margin this month."

"Wait. So if you gathered four million for example," Adam takes a moment to calculate what she means by that.
"Only a profit of two hundred thousand? How are your margins that bad???" Max can't hide how dumbfounded she is.

"W-we here at Clover Suite promise a co-completely fair and honest gambling experience! No tricks, only y-your honest luck!" Casey tries her best to sing out what sounds like a catchy slogan. "And, uh, well. That's, you know, not good for profit!" The genuine sweetness in her tone nearly made you burst out laughing with how mismatched it is.

"Your sponsors don't know about this, do they? Does Clover?" Ashley glances around as she tries to process this information. "It sounds like people think this place is a lot more profitable than it is."

"I, uh, a lot of sponsors have been asking for their payments but money's been a bit tight and, well, when you can't pay them there's issues and-" Casey begins to blabber faster and faster until all that's coming out of her mouth is a mush of nothing. Well, shit, no wonder why the Handler was getting shady paperwork if it's been intentionally messed with. "-And if we seem more profitable than more people would invest so we could try recovering from the sponsors we lost and-"

This puts you in quite the pickle. Your Handler wants the money he thinks is being stolen from him but if Casey is being fully honest, then they simply don't have a lot of money to offer. The vault might still have some but who knows if the casino could handle losing the money you'd steal?

You take a moment to think on how to proceed from here...

>You're not being paid to keep the casino afloat. You're here to complete a job. It's their fault for being deceitful. Head over to the VAULT and stalk that out. (You'd likely earn a far better profit and it's probably the easiest out of the options here.)
>Kana seems to be the one causing all of the problems here. Confront her on her bullshit and try to get the paperwork to prove her tomfuckery to the Handler so he can cut his losses. (Getting the paperwork will probably get the Handler to view you more positively for getting him out of a bad deal.)
>Considering all of this talk about Clover, you sorta don't want his business collapsing by no fault of his own. Head over to confront him and tell him about the situation going on behind his back. (You imagine the casino staff will view you a lot more favorably for helping them out.)
>Perhaps there can be a better option for everyone involved? Try to confront Kana and Clover, try to find a solution that doesn't end up in the place shutting down OR the Handler leaving. (This will be pretty hard but you'd imagine you'll earn the favor of both the Handler and the casino staff.)
>"Hey, hey, it's okay. Maybe you can try helping us solve this?" Try to get Casey to help you. It's clear she's worrying herself sick over this. (FREE ACTION, CHARM DC 18, rolling 6d6 with Max's assistance. You'll get her contact information either way but on success, she'll help you during this mission for free.)
>Write in.

>>5903175
>Perhaps there can be a better option for everyone involved? Try to confront Kana and Clover, try to find a solution that doesn't end up in the place shutting down OR the Handler leaving. (This will be pretty hard but you'd imagine you'll earn the favor of both the Handler and the casino staff.)
>"Hey, hey, it's okay. Maybe you can try helping us solve this?" Try to get Casey to help you. It's clear she's worrying herself sick over this. (FREE ACTION, CHARM DC 18, rolling 6d6 with Max's assistance. You'll get her contact information either way but on success, she'll help you during this mission for free.)

>>5903171
Haha, I knew it.
>Perhaps there can be a better option for everyone involved? Try to confront Kana and Clover, try to find a solution that doesn't end up in the place shutting down OR the Handler leaving. (This will be pretty hard but you'd imagine you'll earn the favor of both the Handler and the casino staff.)
Ideas include having more games of skill with skilled house players, non-monetary prizes (anime girl gacha, why not), or just abandoning fairness.
>"Hey, hey, it's okay. Maybe you can try helping us solve this?" Try to get Casey to help you. It's clear she's worrying herself sick over this. (FREE ACTION, CHARM DC 18, rolling 6d6 with Max's assistance. You'll get her contact information either way but on success, she'll help you during this mission for free.)

>>5903255
+1

>>5903175
>Considering all of this talk about Clover, you sorta don't want his business collapsing by no fault of his own. Head over to confront him and tell him about the situation going on behind his back. (You imagine the casino staff will view you a lot more favorably for helping them out.)
>"Hey, hey, it's okay. Maybe you can try helping us solve this?" Try to get Casey to help you. It's clear she's worrying herself sick over this. (FREE ACTION, CHARM DC 18, rolling 6d6 with Max's assistance. You'll get her contact information either way but on success, she'll help you during this mission for free.)

>>5903255

>Ideas include having more games of skill with skilled house players, non-monetary prizes (anime girl gacha, why not),

Support

>>5903175
>Kana seems to be the one causing all of the problems here. Confront her on her bullshit and try to get the paperwork to prove her tomfuckery to the Handler so he can cut his losses. (Getting the paperwork will probably get the Handler to view you more positively for getting him out of a bad deal.)
>"Hey, hey, it's okay. Maybe you can try helping us solve this?" Try to get Casey to help you. It's clear she's worrying herself sick over this. (FREE ACTION, CHARM DC 18, rolling 6d6 with Max's assistance. You'll get her contact information either way but on success, she'll help you during this mission for free.)

>>5903570
+1

CONFRONT KANA + CLOVER: 3Ji, AxO, m8f
CONFRONT CLOVER: QnB
CONFRONT KANA: ky+, WeO
CASEY COME JOIN US: ALL

Nearly miscounted WeO's vote but overall ,it seems like trying to confront Kana and Clover just barely edges out over just dealing with Kana.
Alright. Two anons, roll 3d6 to see if CASEY is willing to come along with you or not.

Rolled 1, 2, 5 = 8 (3d6)

>>5903952
Rollan

Rolled 3, 5, 6 = 14 (3d6)

Roland

>>5903954
>>5903956
Jesus, you're doing remarkably well so far. It seems like the only thing you REALLY needed to be bailed out of was...gambling.
Funny how a rigged game is the only one you needed to use resources on. Writing.

File: HAPPYCASEY.jpg (493 KB, 739x403)

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Fuck it, you have a knack for making things way harder for yourself than they need to be. You're not really sure why but a part of you feels a near endless amount of pity for this situation. A casino, in the City, trying to be fair and ultimately getting into hot water over low profits. It doesn't really help matters when there's a girl having a mild panic attack right across from you over the whole situation.

You sigh. Fuck, you really wish the voices in your head could offer a convincing argument to not do this. Alas, you're too sober for them to offer any assistance. You resolve yourself to try unfucking this situation by dealing with Kana AND Clover. At least you have the security cameras fiddled with if you desperately need to complete the mission. Realistically, you'd imagine it'll be harder to do that since the staff is getting more aware of your presence but it is your backup plan.

You kneel down to get to eye level with Casey. She was already pretty short so you have to kneel real low now that she's sitting down. "Hey, hey, it's going to be okay," Your voice takes on a softer quality than you expected. "Everything's going to work out, okay?" This gets Casey to look up at you but you get no other response. Well, outside of a few hiccups out of her.

Max lets go of Benjamin and kneels down next to you while the others (except for Ashley, who turns her gaze away) watch on, "We're here to help. If you can help us, we can try fixing everything going on here. Who knows, maybe it's an easy problem to solve with your assistance?"
You nod along. "Yeah. It's not all doom and gloom. I've done a lot of shit over the last week. Everyone except for Max can attest to that first hand."

You get a chorus of nods, hums, and platitudes. Max squints a bit but nods along, "Exactly. All it might take is a bit of initiative to see the change you want to see. Don't you want to be a part of improving this place? To be a productive worker?"

>22! PASS!

Casey instantly snaps out of her depressive slump the moment she hears those words. She quickly gathers her things with the same energy of a toddler being told they're going to an amusement park, "Shucks! You're right! Why was I wasting all of this time being a silly little goober worrying about nothing?"
"Haha that's totally not creepy, ha." Adam shivers upon seeing the sudden mood shift. Must hit a bit too close to home. "Glad you're happy?"

"Indeed! There's no point being sad when you can still do something about it! The crushing realization hits that your inaction has done nothing but harm the business you're working for? Now that's something to cry about for five point seven minutes!" Every word she says is laced with saccharine sweetness. "Does anyone have the time?"

"Well, from how it felt to me, it's been 26 hours." Benjamin rattles off. "But it's been ten minutes at most?"
"Golly! Well, no time to waste!" Casey quickly stands up. "Casey Smith at your service!"

File: OUTSIDEHEROFFICE.jpg (158 KB, 1600x1600)

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>Casey has joined the party! You will be able to call her on future missions as well.

CASEY SMITH
FLESH: 2
RESTRAINT: 2
VIOLENCE: 2
TALENT: 4
WILLPOWER: 4
CHARM: 4
CONNECTIONS: 4
COGNIZANCE: 2

BOONS
[OPTIMISTIC SPIRIT] Something about this upbeat ball of energy is oddly motivating despite how weird she acts. While Casey is in the party, you and your party members will occasionally heal RESTRAINT.

[CORPORATE DOUBLESPEAK] No matter who she talks to, she's able to make sure they leave a positive review. Any speech check (regardless of stat rolled) will have its DC lowered and will offer better rewards than average.

BANES
[MERCURICAL] Her mood shifts from upbeat to nervous to sad to upbeat again in a blink of an eye, which is unnerving to interact with. Her mood swings are liable to bring unwarranted attention and cause unnecessary conflict with other allies.

"Well then. That's cool and all but shouldn't we go bother the others now?" Ashley gestures at you. "You're the boss. Tell us where we're going next. Kana? Clover? The other option?" You flinch at the thinly veiled mention of the heist plan but then you realize Casey's probably too airheaded to process that.

"To be honest? I really do want to try fixing all of this. Starting with the paperwork angle, of course." You absolutely plan on talking to Clover first but without Kana being willing to admit her fuckup, you might not have the best leverage to try fixing things. "Casey?"

"YES MISS! FOLLOW ME!" She salutes you before making a beeline out of the VIP section with an impressive burst of speed
"Fucking hell, how-" "I wish my employees tried that hard..." "Casey! Wait for us, we're not that fast!" "Hehe. Gotta admire her spunk." Your group mutters among each other before trying their best to catch up with her.

You can feel hundreds of gazes focusing on your group as you chase after this hyperactive mess of a girl. As you enter the COMMON SECTION, you completely lose her in the fog of cigarette smoke and slot machine lights. You're only able to keep track of her through scanning the minds of nearby people to get a general idea where she's going.

Eventually your group stops right outside of Kana's office. You assume it is hers given all of the tacky decorations around it. Two small tables with incense sticks holders sit right outside of her office door, some golden bells are hung right above the door, and a "BEWARE FOX" sign slapped onto the door itself.

You turn to look at your allies. Benjamin and Max are huffing and puffing from the run while Adam and Ashley look more annoyed than anything. Casey seems equally tired but she has the same cheery smile as always, "Here we are! She should be inside! C'mon, team, let's move! Move!" She claps her hands.

The door suddenly opens up on its own. It creaks back ever so slightly, leaving just enough room to let one person slide in at a- Benjamin just pushes the door open and steps inside. Your group follows after him.

File: KANA.jpg (8 KB, 225x225)

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https://youtu.be/S_oxu_16ECM - KANA'S THEME

The room you find yourself in is quite odd for an office. It reminds you more of a religious temple, not quite N-Company's religion but something more eastern, for a lack of a proper term. Golden bells, incense, talismans, antique bows, wooden staffs, oddly fancy wooden boxes, etc etc. It clashes with the otherwise bland office desk and chairs scattered throughout.

"Ah. I was trying to build some atmosphere. It's quite a shame I failed to do that." A low, calm and alluring voice catches your attention. Sitting behind the office desk is a woman with a very unusual head augment: that being the fact she has a fox's head instead of a normal human head. Reddish brown fur, beady orange eyes, ears on the top of the head, all the works.

Her outfit is remarkably tame in comparison. A dark red suit and tie with large gold trimmings along the sleeves tightly hugs her thin body. A light red scarf with a golden bell attached to it is wrapped loosely around her neck. She leans forward, placing her elbows on the table and resting her head on her hands, which are covered with dark red gloves.

"...Casey. Why did you bring these five over here? Did you forget where your office was? It's back in the VIP section, remember?" Despite the fact her voice hasn't changed an octave, you can sense a bubbling mixture of anger and FEAR drenching every inch of her psyche. "I'm sorry, dear guests. You know how she can be."

"Trust me. We know." Ashley grumbles to herself.
"Hey, that's not nice! She's a coworker! Be nice to her!" Benjamin lets out an annoyed sigh. "Besides. We have something to talk about."
"Let's not try to be coy here," Adam clenches his fists. "We're here to talk to YOU. You can guess why, can't you?"
Max is trying her best to keep her composure, "Degenerate. I don't get why my kind does this to themselves. Do you not care about the fact you look like a FREAK?"
Casey looks away from Kana, not even able to gather the strength to directly confront her. "S-sorry."

You can't quite read her facial expression given the head augment but her snout scrunches up, "I don't believe I understand what you're talking about." <"I've been doing everything to keep this place afloat yet this whole plan is going to crumble...because of her?"> "Casey might've told you some wild tales but everything is as well as it could be. She doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut."

"And to you, Ms. Krakatoa? I wouldn't be so hasty in calling other people degenerates. Stay in your lane." Kana flashes rows of jagged, razor sharp teeth.
"At least I don't look like a fucking abomination." Max clenches her fists. "All of that money wasted and for what? You know people like you get laughed by everyone else, right?"
[OVERCORRECTION] "Okay, okay, okay! Both of you are degenerates, okay?" Adam steps in between the two. "It doesn't matter! Put aside your weird rich people fantasies-"

This only gets Kana and Max to stare daggers at him. The atmosphere quickly gets caked in a thick layer of hostility. Shit, you're going to need to defuse this before it gets any worse. How do you want to handle this conversation?

>[MAX ALLY] "Listen. We're on the behalf of another sponsor. A very rich one. I'd say calm down and let's talk this out." Try to convince her you're here to get her out of her financial troubles. (CONNECTIONS DC: 17 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 5d6 with Max's assistance. Pass and she'll warm up to your presence, willing to work with you during your talks with Clover. Failure will make probably sour her real quick and get you kicked right out of her office.)
>[CASEY ALLY] "We're actually here to make a simple business proposal. Due to the nature of this business' continuing loss of profit, we-" Overwhelm her with corporate buzzwords and telling her what she wants to hear. (CONNECTIONS DC: 14 (-2 from CASEY) rolling 5d6 with Casey's assistance. Pass and while Kana probably won't directly help you, she'll offer to do some work behind the scenes to slightly improve your odds down the line. No clue what happens on failure!)
>[PARTY FAVOR] You don't know if Clover would take any of these but Kana might. Hand them over to Kana. (FREE ACTION, -ALL PARTY FAVORS. The next skill check you make will have its DC lowered by 3.)
>[ASHLEY ALLY] "Enough talk. A Mr. Foxtrot sent me over here because apparently, a certain fox told me he couldn't return here. Now, how would Clover feel if he heard that?" Grab her by the metaphorical throat. You need her to understand the shit she got herself into. (Automatic success. The fear of getting her shit kicked in will get her to fall in line and help you but it might make the talks with Clover more complicated.)
>[ADAM ALLY] "This isn't the first business I recovered, you know? We're just here to help everyone here" Try to convince her you genuinely are here to help this business. (CHARM DC: 20 (-2 thanks to CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Adam's help. Pass and Kana's guard is likely to lower a lot, offering valuable information on how Clover works and tips on how to break the news gently to Clover. Failure and she'll stonewall you, only offering mild bits of info before kicking you out.)
>You have something else to say. (What do you want to say to her? Depending on what you say, you'll get differing rewards and DCs. Write in.)
>Write in.

Sorry for the delayed update and for the repeated delete + repost of this, had to fix some errors and things I forgot. Updates should be a bit faster down the line, goodnight.

>>5904097
>[MAX ALLY] "Listen. We're on the behalf of another sponsor. A very rich one. I'd say calm down and let's talk this out." Try to convince her you're here to get her out of her financial troubles. (CONNECTIONS DC: 17 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 5d6 with Max's assistance. Pass and she'll warm up to your presence, willing to work with you during your talks with Clover. Failure will make probably sour her real quick and get you kicked right out of her office.)

>>5904097
>[ADAM ALLY] "This isn't the first business I recovered, you know? We're just here to help everyone here" Try to convince her you genuinely are here to help this business. (CHARM DC: 20 (-2 thanks to CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Adam's help. Pass and Kana's guard is likely to lower a lot, offering valuable information on how Clover works and tips on how to break the news gently to Clover. Failure and she'll stonewall you, only offering mild bits of info before kicking you out.)
It's actually a bit easier to beat 20 on 6d6 than 17 on 5d6. Odds of success are 63.69%

>>5904137
But just because the success rates are easier doesn't mean that's the solution we want in-quest

>>5904129
Change
>>5904097
>[ADAM ALLY] "This isn't the first business I recovered, you know? We're just here to help everyone here" Try to convince her you genuinely are here to help this business. (CHARM DC: 20 (-2 thanks to CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Adam's help. Pass and Kana's guard is likely to lower a lot, offering valuable information on how Clover works and tips on how to break the news gently to Clover. Failure and she'll stonewall you, only offering mild bits of info before kicking you out.)

>>5904168
Change again
>>5904097
>[MAX ALLY] "Listen. We're on the behalf of another sponsor. A very rich one. I'd say calm down and let's talk this out." Try to convince her you're here to get her out of her financial troubles. (CONNECTIONS DC: 17 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 5d6 with Max's assistance. Pass and she'll warm up to your presence, willing to work with you during your talks with Clover. Failure will make probably sour her real quick and get you kicked right out of her office.)

>>5904097
>[ASHLEY ALLY] "Enough talk. A Mr. Foxtrot sent me over here because apparently, a certain fox told me he couldn't return here. Now, how would Clover feel if he heard that?" Grab her by the metaphorical throat. You need her to understand the shit she got herself into. (Automatic success. The fear of getting her shit kicked in will get her to fall in line and help you but it might make the talks with Clover more complicated.)

>>5904097
>[ADAM ALLY] "This isn't the first business I recovered, you know? We're just here to help everyone here" Try to convince her you genuinely are here to help this business. (CHARM DC: 20 (-2 thanks to CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Adam's help. Pass and Kana's guard is likely to lower a lot, offering valuable information on how Clover works and tips on how to break the news gently to Clover. Failure and she'll stonewall you, only offering mild bits of info before kicking you out.)

>>5904097
>>[MAX ALLY] "Listen. We're on the behalf of another sponsor. A very rich one. I'd say calm down and let's talk this out." Try to convince her you're here to get her out of her financial troubles. (CONNECTIONS DC: 17 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 5d6 with Max's assistance. Pass and she'll warm up to your presence, willing to work with you during your talks with Clover. Failure will make probably sour her real quick and get you kicked right out of her office.)

>>5904097
>[PARTY FAVOR]
>[ADAM ALLY]
Genuinely how the fuck is the house losing? The casino is a pure cash generating machine, every rule and game favors the house by fucking design. Everything is lined up, the people, the drugs, the cute girls, etc. WTF is Clover doing???
I can forgive embezzlement, but not incompetence.

>>5904097
>[ADAM ALLY] "This isn't the first business I recovered, you know? We're just here to help everyone here" Try to convince her you genuinely are here to help this business. (CHARM DC: 20 (-2 thanks to CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Adam's help. Pass and Kana's guard is likely to lower a lot, offering valuable information on how Clover works and tips on how to break the news gently to Clover. Failure and she'll stonewall you, only offering mild bits of info before kicking you out.)
>[PARTY FAVOR] You don't know if Clover would take any of these but Kana might. Hand them over to Kana. (FREE ACTION, -ALL PARTY FAVORS. The next skill check you make will have its DC lowered by 3.)

>>5904169
Change again 2
>>5904097

>>5904669
Edit
>>5904097
>[ADAM ALLY] "This isn't the first business I recovered, you know? We're just here to help everyone here" Try to convince her you genuinely are here to help this business. (CHARM DC: 20 (-2 thanks to CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Adam's help. Pass and Kana's guard is likely to lower a lot, offering valuable information on how Clover works and tips on how to break the news gently to Clover. Failure and she'll stonewall you, only offering mild bits of info before kicking you out.)

ASHLEY: INr
ADAM: 3Ji, zuL, WqV, AxO, w8L
MAX: WeO
Hope I didn't miss anyone. Also some advice, 3Ji, you can delete and repost your vote instead of having to post seven times to edit your vote.

A majority didn't want to use the party favors so, we'll keep those for the next encounter. I need two anons to roll 3d6.

Rolled 6, 1, 5 = 12 (3d6)

>>5904805

Rolled 4, 1, 3 = 8 (3d6)

>>5904805

>>5904814
>>5904822
>EXACTLY 20
woaw. Casey really helped you close this deal, huh? Writing.

>>5904823
Lucky girl of the casino

>>5904823
>>5904842
Just barely get Casey
Just barely convince Kana
We're on a roll, baby! We're hot!!!

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"ENOUGH." You stomp your foot HARD onto the floor. For a split second, crackles of faint reddish-pink sparks of psychic energy linger on the spot your foot impacted. The cat (well, fox) fighting immediately stops. All eyes are on you now. "Look. I don't care what rich people spat your families are in. Act your age and focus on the bigger task here. We are here to HELP this business out, Kana."

"Help?" Kana's expression contorts into a sneer. "I'm doing quite a good enough job keeping this operation running. All offense meant but I don't believe you are the type to offer business advice anyways.

Adam simply shakes his head in disagreement, "She might look like a junkie schizophrenia but this isn't her first rodeo with helping a business." Wow, fuck you too.
"Casey already told us everything about what's going on too. We know you're bleeding money. You can be honest with us, we really do want to help!" Benjamin pleads to the fox headed woman. "I know it must be stressful-"

Kana instantly cuts off Benjamin with a sharp 'tsk'. "Do you think you could actually do anything to help? I've tried everything to keep this bleeding husk of a business running-" She grumbles under her breath. "Fine, fine! I admit it! This place is hemorrhaging money! Happy?"

"Again, how?" Max tries her best to suppress her smug tone of voice. "Casinos are pure cash generating machines. Isn't the house always meant to win?"
"I would get having low margins if you were in the food industry. You would lure in people with cheap prices so more would visit but..." Adam grumbles to himself. "Seems like a shoddy way to run this place."

"Not when the 'House' is a fully grown man who still pretends he's a cowboy! He hasn't lived in R-Corp's district for half a decade, let alone worked there!" Kana snarls with barely restrained spite in her voice. <"Yet why am I still struggling to make this work? Sunk cost? A decade with someone does that..."> "It's like he doesn't understand how any of this is supposed to operate!"

"Wait. Adam, low margins, right? Is that actually how he operates things? I keep hearing stuff about 'fairness' and hell, I saw a Dealer get dragged out because he was cheating." You omit the part where you were the reason he got kicked out, of course.

"You would be correct, miss...?" "Nicole." "Nicole, yes." Kana lifts her head up, resting her now empty hands on her desk. "You see how this place was packed wall to walk with gamblers? Even moreso than other casinos? That's because he does everything in his power to make this place 'alluring' without considering the cost."

"Hiring airheaded employees because customers find them cute?" She jabs a finger at Casey, who quickly slumps over with a frown at the remark. "Rigging the slot machines to give more than they can take because 'random chance isn't fair'? Refusing to let the Dealers cheat in order to get an edge? I could list dozens of things he's done to ruin our margins!"

File: FOXUP.jpg (143 KB, 900x629)

143 KB JPG

"All because apparently, he doesn't want to run a casino properly. It's justice this, fairness and skill there, it's all just-" Kana groans and promptly slams her head into her desk out of frustration; her ears flatten against her head. A squeaky whine is the only sound coming out of her now.

"I'm not good at this. I'll wait outside." Ashley promptly takes her leave. Your other allies mumble to each other, discussing how to continue from here. You step over to Kana's desk and lean against it. You take a deep breath to help focus.

"Look. I get your struggle, I do. But all of this paper fudging and sponsor lying is going to sink this place even faster. Have you even thought of talking to Clover about this?" You promptly get hissed at for asking this.

"No! I-fuck." Any anger that she felt dissipates immediately. "I don't know how to tell him about this. If I was able to talk to him, we wouldn't be in this situation.

Adam grabs an empty chair and places it in front of Kana's desk, promptly sitting down to face her. "I get that. You know, I was in your shoes once too. Do you know what happened when I let a problem festered?" Adam forces out a chuckle. "I was probably going to get stabbed by my own friend. Do you want THAT to happen?"

"NO!" Kana slams her fists into the table, instantly silencing the discussion your three idle allies were having. "I-I want this to work but-"

"Then let us help. You've done all you could do to make things work in your own way. We can do the rest."
"Y-yeah." Casey joins in the conversation. "I don't like lying to people. Clover wouldn't want us to lie on his behalf."

>20!

Something about what Casey said snaps something into place in Kana's mind. "Yeah." Kana solemnly nods. "You're right." Kana forces herself to sit upright and to make eye contact with you and Adam. "If you're going to help me, you need to know how he ticks."

Your allies crowd around Kana's desk with eager expressions. Kana tenses up at the sudden crowd but after a moment, words spill out of her with ease. "First and foremost, he's still a kid at heart. He's still in that mindscape where everything is about having 'fun with his fwiends'. Hell, most of our top staff were hired because we were his friends."

"Seems like a poor way of getting competent staff but continue." Max says with a bit too much snark in her voice.
Kana tries to object but she quickly deflates, "I can't refute that. You're right."
"Sorry." Max quickly loses the snark after seeing the lack of bite in Kana's words. "Pretend I didn't say that, please."

"Granted." Kana nods. "Now, you're probably not going to convince him to drop the 'fairness' thing. I would've done so if I could. That's the only thing he really refuses to budge on. As long the outcome is fair, he's willing to abide by it if you can convince him."

"Shot in the dark but..." Something clicks for Benjamin. "Could we get him to do whatever we want if we beat him?"

File: CLOVER.png (353 KB, 493x800)

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"Good luck doing that. What he lacks in actual business sense, he makes up with insane talent. If you could manage to find something you could beat him at? He would be more than willing to listen."

"The last thing I can say? Go big or go home." Kana leans back into her chair. "Good luck. If you fail then, well, who knows?"

"You can trust us, okay?" You try your best to offer a comforting smile.
"I refuse to let another fuck up happen on my watch." Adam nods. "We'll make it work."

Kana doesn't bother to respond. <"I'm trusting a homeless looking girl and her five pals. I truly am hopeless, huh?> Your group takes the silent treatment as a hint to get the hell out of here. With nothing else to do but to confront the man himself, your group makes a (less hectic) beeline over to his office.

There's no more discussion needed between you and your allies so without any further ado, you kick the door open. Go big or go home, right? Adam and Ashley are quickly regretting where this is going by the looks on their face but it's too late to turn back now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvd5Mrjq3jc - TENSION

You immediately regret doing so when you feel the piercing glare of seven people straight right at your soul. The office you stumbled into is remarkably empty aside from a fuckoff huge table in the center and the seven people staring at you. Though your attention is firmly planted on the big man himself at the back of the room.

His sharp yellow eyes focus into pinpricks when he sees you. He firmly adjusts the checkered black and yellow scarf around his neck. You can't make out much of his frame thanks to the bulky brown poncho covering his whole body but a simple glance into his mind tells you the obvious: Six bullets. One for each of you. You have a feeling he won't miss.

"Casey?" His grizzled voice chokes out the name with equal parts confusion and worry. "Are they bothering ya? I told ya that ya don't need me to handle every nasty customer for ya, darling."

"N-No, actually, I wanted to help them talk to you!" Casey chirps out. "They really, really, really wanted to talk to you and frankly I think that listening to them would be a good idea and I'm sorry to bother you and Riley and Melody and-"

"Enough, enough. You're gonna rattle my head with all that dang racket." He raises a hand up, promptly causing Casey to shut up. "Now. Make your case. If she's so fired up on your behalf, y'all must have something good to say."

"Nicole." Ashley nods her head towards the door. "We should leave. We shouldn't be here."
Benjamin hums a small tune while he thinks, "Beating him, huh? What if..."
Max and Adam are busy discussing potential business pitches to acknowledge you.
Casey does her best to keep a winning smile, "You should tell him the truth."

What angle do you want to try with your conversation with Clover? If you can manage to get him onto your side, you imagine the mission could end here and now.

>[BENJAMIN ALLY] "Partner. How about we play a game of cards?" Nod your head at Benjamin. Let's give him a chance to fulfill his fantasy. (You'll enter a high stakes gamble with him. Win and upon on winning some decent money, you'll be able to ask him to do whatever you want without resistance. You don't want to lose if you pick this.)
>[TALKED TO HIS STAFF] "Kana's been worried sick, you know?" It's best to go right for his heart. You doubt a business angle would work with him. (You'll have to be very careful about your following words if you go down this path but you'll likely earn a LOT of respect from the others if you manage to talk him down this way.)
>[ADAM + MAX ALLY] "See, partner, we got a proposal. Something to make things more interesting." Try to convince him on a way to improve his business while still following his rules. (Write in your pitch. Depending on what you pitch, the following skill checks to convince him to implement will be harder or easier.)
>"Look. I was sent here by a sponsor of yours..." Tell him the flat and honest truth about why you were sent here and how fucked everything else.
>[MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR WEAPONS] Go big or go home, huh? Quickly draw your revolver and blow that stupid cowboy hat off his head. That'll get everyone's attention. (FREE ACTION, TALENT DC: 22, rolling only your 5d6. Pass and your brazen display will instantly get his respect, unlocking options down in the other paths. Failure and, well, you don't want to imagine what happens if you accidently hit him.)
>Write in

>>5905024
>.357 REVOLVER (The Boss' favorite gun. Feels insanely satisfying to use and has a small chance of healing RESTRAINT when fired. Attacks made with it roll TALENT+3. Uses REVOLVER BULLETS)

We have implants and white powder to increase talents.

>ADRENALINE IMPLANT (A small chip that produces an emergency supply of adrenaline. (Comes with two charges. Regains one per mission. You may spend a charge to add +2d8 to a VIOLENCE or TALENT check, or to heal 2 FLESH)

>WHITE POWDER x3 (Of course a rich guy has this. Boost VIOLENCE and TALENT by 2 and heals 1 RESTRAINT, damages your FLESH on use.)


OUR STATUS EFFECTS:
RASPBERRY SINSU (-1 FLESH DAMAGE TAKEN)
MEDICATED (Unstable Psyche is disabled and your other internal voices will be quieter.)

https://pastebin.com/3y638TfK

>>5905024
>[MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR WEAPONS]
DRAW!
>[BENJAMIN ALLY]
GO BIG OR GO TO HELL!

>>5905024
>[BENJAMIN ALLY] "Partner. How about we play a game of cards?" Nod your head at Benjamin. Let's give him a chance to fulfill his fantasy. (You'll enter a high stakes gamble with him. Win and upon on winning some decent money, you'll be able to ask him to do whatever you want without resistance. You don't want to lose if you pick this.)
>[MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR WEAPONS] Go big or go home, huh? Quickly draw your revolver and blow that stupid cowboy hat off his head. That'll get everyone's attention. (FREE ACTION, TALENT DC: 22, rolling only your 5d6. Pass and your brazen display will instantly get his respect, unlocking options down in the other paths. Failure and, well, you don't want to imagine what happens if you accidently hit him.)

>.357 REVOLVER (The Boss' favorite gun. Feels insanely satisfying to use and has a small chance of healing RESTRAINT when fired. Attacks made with it roll TALENT+3. Uses REVOLVER BULLETS)
Use

>ADRENALINE IMPLANT (A small chip that produces an emergency supply of adrenaline. (Comes with two charges. Regains one per mission. You may spend a charge to add +2d8 to a VIOLENCE or TALENT check, or to heal 2 FLESH)
Use one charge. TALENT

>WHITE POWDER x3 (Of course a rich guy has this. Boost VIOLENCE and TALENT by 2 and heals 1 RESTRAINT, damages your FLESH on use.)
Use one

>>5905024
>[TALKED TO HIS STAFF] "Kana's been worried sick, you know?" It's best to go right for his heart. You doubt a business angle would work with him. (You'll have to be very careful about your following words if you go down this path but you'll likely earn a LOT of respect from the others if you manage to talk him down this way.)
>[MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR WEAPONS] Go big or go home, huh? Quickly draw your revolver and blow that stupid cowboy hat off his head. That'll get everyone's attention. (FREE ACTION, TALENT DC: 22, rolling only your 5d6. Pass and your brazen display will instantly get his respect, unlocking options down in the other paths. Failure and, well, you don't want to imagine what happens if you accidently hit him.)
Use all our stat boosters

>>5905093
Wait are your say we should use all our stat boosters?
It will be completely wasted of resources use all.

>>5905024
>"Look. I was sent here by a sponsor of yours..." Tell him the flat and honest truth about why you were sent here and how fucked everything else.
>[MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR WEAPONS] Go big or go home, huh? Quickly draw your revolver and blow that stupid cowboy hat off his head. That'll get everyone's attention. (FREE ACTION, TALENT DC: 22, rolling only your 5d6. Pass and your brazen display will instantly get his respect, unlocking options down in the other paths. Failure and, well, you don't want to imagine what happens if you accidently hit him.)

>>5905024
>>[MANAGED TO KEEP YOUR WEAPONS] Go big or go home, huh? Quickly draw your revolver and blow that stupid cowboy hat off his head.
>[ADAM + MAX ALLY] "See, partner, we got a proposal. Something to make things more interesting." Try to convince him on a way to improve his business while still following his rules.
More games of skill where customers can lose fairly against a superior player. More expensive food and drinks. Non-monetary rewards worth more than their nominal cost to certain kinds of customers. A VIP hall for the elite who made their riches unfairly - robbing them of their money would only be fair.

>>5905099
Obviously I meant just the talent boosters

>>5905145
>More games of skill where customers can lose fairly against a superior player. More expensive food and drinks. Non-monetary rewards worth more than their nominal cost to certain kinds of customers. A VIP hall for the elite who made their riches unfairly - robbing them of their money would only be fair.
This is all good to present to him after we survive, but what will we do about getting Handler the money he's owed? I do also want to bring up how Kana is complicit but only because she was covering for him, but how will we handle the rest? Maybe we can go
>honest truth + handler
>kana paperwork
>business improve suggestions
>get handler's money
>leave
Though we could also get Kana and Casey to spill the beans themselves. Better that Clover hears it from them than us. The only "bad" things we did this mission were
>cheated at the blackjack table (ONLY because the dealer cheated us first)
>got camera footage and bugged the camera room (ONLY because we needed leads on the paperwork and Kana/Casey)
We made up for the first one by telling Marla, and we can make up the second one by deleting our footage and removing the bug from the room. We can make up the remainder by helping Clover out here. Win/win?

>>5905083
+1

>>5905024
>>[ADAM + MAX ALLY] "See, partner, we got a proposal. Something to make things more interesting." Try to convince him on a way to improve his business while still following his rules. (Write in your pitch. Depending on what you pitch, the following skill checks to convince him to implement will be harder or easier.)
How in hell are you managing to lose money on games with house odds? Even if you are obsessed with being fair, running a roulette or blackjack table should statistically be making you money, even with zero rigging. This place is bleeding money in places it shouldn't even be able too. Rigging your slots to pay out more than they rake in is just business suicide. You aren't making things more fair for other people, you are just making them more unfair for you and your employees. This isn't just about your own ego, your employees depend on you, if this place folds because you want to feel good about being an honest gambler, then they are all gonna be shit out of luck.

>>5905320
I want to say this to his face if we win

>>5905320
"Granted." Kana nods. "Now, you're probably not going to convince him to drop the 'fairness' thing. I would've done so if I could. That's the only thing he really refuses to budge on. As long the outcome is fair, he's willing to abide by it if you can convince him."

>That's the only thing he really refuses to budge on.

>BENJAMIN ALLY
WqV, 3Ji, Cux
>ADAM + MAX ALLY
WeO, AxO
>HONEST TRUTH
QnB
>TALKED TO HIS STAFF
Av6

>SHOOT THE BASTARD'S HAT
WqV, Qnb, AxO, Cux, 3Ji, aV6
>NOT INTERESTED
WeO

So, while it's neck and neck, it seems like Benjamin Ally just barely wins out over Adam + Max, alongside a healthy bit of gunslinging. Since to not slow things down with the consumables since half of the gunslingers wanted to use them and half didn't vote to, here's how we'll handle those

I need three anons to roll the following:
>5d6 (natural roll)
>2d6 (the boost given via snorting the cocaine)
>2d8 (burning a ADRENALINE IMPLANT charge)
If you manage to get a 22 or higher with just the 5d6, you get a special bonus and you won't need to consume anything. However, if you fail to, roll the 2d6 and 2d8 to consume your consumables

Rolled 1, 3, 3, 1, 2 = 10 (5d6)

>>5906131

Rolled 4, 1 = 5 (2d6)

>>5906131
COME ON COME ON COME ON

>>5906168
>>5906182
we rolled 15/22 needed
we need 7 total from the 2d8
if we don't, we're screwed without using more resources

Rolled 8, 3 = 11 (2d8)

>>5906131
Adrenaline

>>5906168
>>5906182
>>5906221
Turns out, trying to shoot off a gunslinger's hat is hard to do in the heat of the moment...without copious drugs. Even then, your margin of success wasn't that great.

Writing.

File: PERFECTSHOT.jpg (90 KB, 1000x722)

90 KB JPG

[UN??AB??] SHOOT HIM NOW!

Seems like your anti-psychotic is staring to wear off. No time for any hesitation. You quickly reach into your pocket and snort the white power, much to the complete confusion of everyone inside the room with you.

"NICOLE WHAT THE FUCK-" Ashley barely managed to finish what she's saying as you reach into your pocket to pull out a revolver. You already see Clover drawing his gun. No time to hesitate. With a simple thought, a horrible rush of adrenaline courses through your veins.

>26! SUCCESS!
>-1 WHITE POWEDER, -1 ADRENALINE CHARGE, -1 REVOLVER BULLET
>+2 TALENT AND VIOLENCE!

You barely manage to blow the hat right off of his head in time. His revolver was aimed perfectly at your heart. Even if the bodysuit under your clothes probably wouldn't have made it a lethal shot, you're glad to avoid getting shot at.

"WOAW!" Casey claps with the ferocity of a seal begging for a treat. She circles around you with a star-struck look glimmering in her eyes. "HOWDIDYOUDOTHATTHATWASSOCOOLDIDRCORPTEACHYOUTHATTEACHMETEACHMETEACHME!"

The hyper energetic girl bouncing around you, the clean shot you landed with your revolver, AND the drugs running through your system? You feel DANDY.
>7/7 RESTRAINT!

The six Bosses quickly draw their own weapons. A random mishmash of knives, frying pans, boxing gloves, a remarkably thick N-Company Holy Book...but Clover puts two fingers to his mouth and blows an ear piercing whistle. The Bosses quickly disarm themselves.

"Now. I won't give her too much credit. She needed an EDGE to get one over on me." Clover puts the hat you shot off his head back on. It has a fist sized hole at the back. "Credit where credit is due though? I didn't know a lady type could have balls like that. What's yer request, lass?" A glimmer of respect sparkles in his yellow eyes.

"Well, partner, I want to make a bet with you. Between two honest, fair, and righteous people. The stakes are simple. I win, I get a MASSIVE favor out of you and whatever money I win from this gamble. My only request is that he's our Dealer," You jab a finger at Benjamin. The look of sheer awe plastered on his face when he processed what you said is oddly adorable.

Clover nods his head, "Approved, on the condition that we use my deck. I doubt you prepared a rigged deck but you understand, don't you?" You nod your head. "Good. Now, if I win?" He quickly scans his gaze across your five allies. "Hm. Either one bullet spread across all of you or six bullets right into you, missy. Sorry, Casey."

"No offense taken! I accept! It's not a fair gamble otherwise!" Casey quickly gives a salute.
"Excuse me, what?" Ashley's grip on her baseball bat tightens. "You're willing to kill people over a gamble?"
"I need to return home. To make sure he's okay." Adam's face tightens into a grimace. "I can't die here."
Max tries her best to keep up a smug expression. "We just have to win. I know we can do this. We've won so far, right?"

File: AGAMEOFCARDS.jpg (137 KB, 900x721)

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"Don't worry." Your mouth twists into a toothy smile. "I won't lose this. I accept." Realistically, you could probably get him to blow his brains out with his own revolver but you rather keep him alive. For now. Ashley nods along, seemingly getting the general idea of what you're thinking.

Clover snaps his fingers, "You six. Get out. This is between me and her." The Bosses grumble in a variety of languages you can't understand but they file out without much fuss. It is now just you, him, and your allies. Clover slides the deck of cards over to Benjamin. Benjamin quickly inspects the deck before shuffling it at speeds your eyes can hardly process.

"Now." Clover pulls a cigarette and lighter from somewhere on his person. "Best of three. R-Corp Holdem. We somehow tie? Tiebreaker match. We tie that? Flip of the coin. Know how to play?"

You take a moment to remember the rules...
>Each player gets two cards, known as Hole Cards, that act as their hand.
>Five cards are placed facedown onto the table. These are known as Community Cards. They will be revealed over the course of the game.
>Once all five Community Cards are revealed or both players decline to bet more, they reveal their Hole Cards.
>Your goal is to get a better hand than the opponent with any combination of Hole and Community cards.

You nod your head. "I believe so. Is there any special conditions you wish to make before we do anything else? I rather not have any last section rule changes."

Clover hums, "Considering that ballsy move you did before? Nope. I got no other rules besides the obvious. Don't let me catch you cheating. You can guess what the punishment is." <"...I won't let someone cheat me out of anything ever again. I can't let my guard down. Never again."> You tilt your head at what you gleamed from his mind. Interesting.

Before you have time to dwell more on what that internal thought of his meant, Benjamin quickly deals out the cards. Your allies sit down on your side of the tables, clearly not sure what to do now that you're gambling with a potentially insane cowboy larper. Well, except for Max and Casey. Both are giving thumbs up and beaming smiles. It's just that Max is focusing on Benjamin and Casey is focusing on you.

"Blind bet, people!" Benjamin slaps the table. His voice is oddly low. Obviously forced to try to seem cooler. "$100 each."
Max can't help but to hide back a giggle while your other allies share a mixed expression of confusion, disappointment, and apathy.

Clover slides over a hundred dollar bill. You slide over some loose bills that adds up to $100. Without any further ado, Benjamin flips three of the Community Cards. A queen of hearts, a jack of hearts, and a six of spades. You check your hand. A queen of spades and a king of diamonds.

Good, a pair of Queens. Not a bad start.

<"A pair's not bad."> Weird, that's all you can gleam from his mind. "Call." He raps his knuckle on the table. How do you respond?

MONEY LEFT: $992
POT: $200 (blind bet between you and Clover)
WIN COUNT: 0
CLOVER WIN COUNT: 0
CURRENT BEST HAND: Pair of Queens.
CLOVER'S BEST HAND: Pair of ???. You don't think he has anything better than a pair right now...?
CARD RANKINGS (from Highest to Lowest): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, etc etc all the way to 2.

How do you want to respond to his call?
>CALL. You're here to win. The money's ultimately secondary to your task here. (Skips to revealing the rest of the cards. Whoever wins gains a point in the WIN COUNT)
>RAISE. Go big or go home! (Write in how much you want to raise. Considering you're dealing with a CASINO BOSS, even for an anomalously unprofitable one, he's more than willing to match whatever bet you have.)
>FOLD. You should have a winning hand here but who knows?

You have some downtime to doing something while you two ponder on your hands. Enough to do pick TWO actions below. What do you want to do?
>"Okay, look, you're sounding like a broken record. What's with this Fairness thing? Do you really think it makes you better than us?" Question why he's so obsessed with that concept.
>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "I'm here on behalf of a sponsor of yours. For whatever reason, he hasn't gotten $88500." Tell him about this 'INJUSITCE' and spin a massive sob story on your Handler's behalf. (CHARM DC: 15 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Max's help. Succeed and he'll add that to your winning pot on top of the favor you ask of him, making absolutely sure your Handler is a happy man. Failure and he'll ignore you completely.)
>[TALKED TO KANA] "...When's the last time you checked on her, man?" Bring up Kana. You won't immediately go for the throat but she stuck her neck out for him. Does he even care?
>[GLIMPSED HIS MIND] "I don't get you. I really don't. Why ARE you like this?" Pry into this bumfuck bizarre mindset he has. Why the fuck is he start a casino if he's the worst person possible to run one?
>Who says you can't make this entertaining for the others? Start doing some cool card tricks! (TALENT DC: 18, rolling 7d6. Pass and you'll soothe the nerves of your allies, potentially building better RAPPORT once the mission is done. Failure and you fuck up, revealing your cards to Clover.)
>"You guys have anything to ask?" Pick an ally to ask something to him on your behalf. They might have something on their mind to say. (Write in which ally you picked.)
>Write in. (What do you want to say or do? Try to use an ability to cheat? Ask him something else? Do something else?)

>>5906340
>Seems like your anti-psychotic is staring to wear off. No time for any hesitation. You quickly reach into your pocket and snort the white power, much to the complete confusion of everyone inside the room with you.
Kek

>>5906347
>CALL. You're here to win. The money's ultimately secondary to your task here. (Skips to revealing the rest of the cards. Whoever wins gains a point in the WIN COUNT)

>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "I'm here on behalf of a sponsor of yours. For whatever reason, he hasn't gotten $88500." Tell him about this 'INJUSITCE' and spin a massive sob story on your Handler's behalf. (CHARM DC: 15 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Max's help. Succeed and he'll add that to your winning pot on top of the favor you ask of him, making absolutely sure your Handler is a happy man. Failure and he'll ignore you completely.)
>[GLIMPSED HIS MIND] "I don't get you. I really don't. Why ARE you like this?" Pry into this bumfuck bizarre mindset he has. Why the fuck is he start a casino if he's the worst person possible to run one?

>>5906347
>CALL. You're here to win. The money's ultimately secondary to your task here. (Skips to revealing the rest of the cards. Whoever wins gains a point in the WIN COUNT)

>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "I'm here on behalf of a sponsor of yours. For whatever reason, he hasn't gotten $88500." Tell him about this 'INJUSITCE' and spin a massive sob story on your Handler's behalf. (CHARM DC: 15 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Max's help. Succeed and he'll add that to your winning pot on top of the favor you ask of him, making absolutely sure your Handler is a happy man. Failure and he'll ignore you completely.)
>[TALKED TO KANA] "...When's the last time you checked on her, man?" Bring up Kana. You won't immediately go for the throat but she stuck her neck out for him. Does he even care?

>>5906417
Supporting

>>5906417
+1

>>5906347
>CALL. You're here to win. The money's ultimately secondary to your task here. (Skips to revealing the rest of the cards. Whoever wins gains a point in the WIN COUNT)

>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "I'm here on behalf of a sponsor of yours. For whatever reason, he hasn't gotten $88500." Tell him about this 'INJUSITCE' and spin a massive sob story on your Handler's behalf. (CHARM DC: 15 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Max's help. Succeed and he'll add that to your winning pot on top of the favor you ask of him, making absolutely sure your Handler is a happy man. Failure and he'll ignore you completely.)
>Who says you can't make this entertaining for the others? Start doing some cool card tricks! (TALENT DC: 18, rolling 7d6. Pass and you'll soothe the nerves of your allies, potentially building better RAPPORT once the mission is done. Failure and you fuck up, revealing your cards to Clover.)

>>5906347
>RAISE. Go big or go home!
ALL IN

>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "I'm here on behalf of a sponsor of yours. For whatever reason, he hasn't gotten $88500." Tell him about this 'INJUSITCE' and spin a massive sob story on your Handler's behalf. (CHARM DC: 15 (-2 from CASEY), rolling 6d6 with Max's help. Succeed and he'll add that to your winning pot on top of the favor you ask of him, making absolutely sure your Handler is a happy man. Failure and he'll ignore you completely.)
>[GLIMPSED HIS MIND] "I don't get you. I really don't. Why ARE you like this?" Pry into this bumfuck bizarre mindset he has. Why the fuck is he start a casino if he's the worst person possible to run one?

>>5906417
+1

EARNT HIS RESPECT: ALL
KANA: mMj, AxO, Cux, Qnb
GLIMPSED MIND: zul, INr
ENTERTAIN: w8l

CALL: ALL but INr

Simple enough this time around. Two anons, roll 3d6.

Rolled 4, 4, 6 = 14 (3d6)

>>5907192

Rolled 3, 3, 4 = 10 (3d6)

>>5907192
Thank god we have Max with us helping. The DC of 15 is a good breather

>>5907270
>>5907276
Pass. The power of a rich bitch courses through you. Writing.

File: THEGAMECONTINUES.jpg (64 KB, 600x401)

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Surely, he can't have anything better than a pair of queens as well. All you would need is a single king to completely blow him out. You don't immediately go to call, however. You gaze away from your cards and look at Clover right in the eye.

"Sooo. There's an actual reason I came here. You deal with sponsors all the time in order to keep this place running, no?" You fiddle with the cards in your hands as you wait for a response.

Clover puts his cards facedown before he responds, "Sure do. I don't like it. Unfortunately, it's mighty difficult to run a place free from their grubby hands. Why do ya ask?"

You quickly glance at Max before you return your attention back to him. "Well, we're actually on behalf of one of your sponsors. Does Mr. Foxtort ring any bells?" It's still weird to refer to him as anything but "The Handler." Clover's face immediately scrunches into a sour frown upon hearing that name.

"It's Foxtrot. Did Casey somehow mispronounce it again? Maybe that powder messed you up; you said LAST SECTION a few seconds ago."

In unison, you and Casey blush a bright red. Oh god, it was Foxtrot. Eughhh.

"Yeah. I heard of him before. Shame what happened to his brother; I heard about that on the news." Despite his sour expression, there's a twinge of pity in his voice. "Haven't seen in a while. What's his deal with ya?"

"W-well." You take a deep breath in an attempt to collect yourself. "He may or may not be missing $88500 from the arrangement he made with your casino." It was already remarkably quiet in the room before, but now? You could hear a centipede crawling on a wall if you focused.

"What?"

Max quickly butts into the conversation, "Yep! In fact, you know that brother you were talking about? He was actually murdered by a crazed gunman, and Mr. Foxtrot BARELY survived the encounter himself."You glance over at Ashley. Ashley nods along. Guess she must've told her a bit about your last mission.

"Yeah! And you know, that would pay for the funeral costs. He wants to do an old-fashioned funeral—none of that ashes in a jar stuff. With the price of getting a coffin and a memorial service these days",
"Hell! I could barely afford it! And my family is richer than rich!" Max nods along. "Now, he wants to honor his vermin of a brother despite their differences. You know how important family can be."

"Exactly! Imagine your brother being shot down and left to bleed out while you couldn't do anything about it-"

>24! SUCCESS!

"Enough." Clover chokes out. He wipes away the mist building up in his eyes. "Look. If ya win? I'm more than willing to pay for it. How's that?"

You nod in approval. "Alright. Call." You rapt your knuckle on the desk. Benjamin moves in to reveal the rest of the community cards. Seven of Spades and a King of Clubs. He gestures at you two to flip your own cards.

You have a Two Pair, with a pair of queens and kings. For Clover, he has a pair of Jacks. Nice. You got lucky this round.
>+1 WIN COUNT!

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Clover groans at the loss. "Good one. Shuffle them again, Dealer." Benjamin immediately moves to reshuffle the deck to prepare dealing out some new cards. With this downtime, you decide to push your luck a bit with your next topic.

"...Fuck, man, when's the last time you checked on her?"

"Hm? You're going to have a bit more specific, lass. Casey? Marla? I've talked to them not even two days ago. Mora? It's been a while but I'm sure that lass is-"

[UNSTABLE] FUCK IT! I'VE BEEN SILENT LONG ENOUGH! LET'S TELL THIS FUCKER OFF!
>-MEDICATED!

Ashley taps you on the shoulder. "Nicole, you're getting that weird look in your eye again."

"Kana." You say with a tiny bit too much force, ignoring Ashley. "When is the last time you talked to her? Do you know how much a fucking mess she's been lately. I'll tell you, a MASSIVE one!"

Clover flinches a bit at the sudden tone change but when he finally digests what you're saying, it takes him a moment to respond. "I didn't want to bother her, you know?" Huh, his accent's gone. "I know she's busy and, well, she hasn't approached me in a while. So I thought she wanted some space."

Benjamin begins to deal out the cards while Clover continues to talk. You and Clover place your hands facedown, not bothering to look at them for now.

"Well, do you know why she's a mess? Your business isn't exactly doing so hot." A bitter chuckle escapes you. "She's been doing everything in her power to keep this place running yet you haven't even CHECKED on her?"

"Of course I wanted to check on her! That's half the reason I even started this place! So my friends can have a job! Do you know how hard it is to get a decent job these days?"
Adam and Ashley immediately respond with a bitter, cynical understanding oozing in their words. "Absolutely."

"See? And ya know, lemme correct you there," His accent suddenly returns. "It's actually been doing real well! All of them fancy papers keep saying we're rising through the roofs in sales! Sure, she seems mighty anxious for some reason, but it's just work stress, right?" <"...Right? She would tell me otherwise, right?">

You decide to not push any further for now despite those four damnable voices beginning to whisper in the back of your head again. "Whatever lets you sleep at night."

"Blind bet of $150!" You toss over most of the pot you won from the last match. Clover tosses down a $50 and a $100. He flips over three of the community cards to reveal an Ace of Spades, a Queen of Spades, and a Two of Hearts. You check your hand. A Three of Spades and a Three of Clubs. Fuck.

You look at Clover. The only thing you can make out of his expression is worry but a glimpse into your mind tells you it's not because of his hands. <"I doubt she has a pair that can beat this!"> Shit, that's not good. Before you have time to say or do anything, he flashes a smile.

"Raise. I'm betting $400." He slaps down yet another $50 and two $100 bills.

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MONEY LEFT: $1042
POT: $300 (blind bet between you and Clover, ready to move to $800 if you accept his raise.)
WIN COUNT: 1
CLOVER WIN COUNT: 0
CURRENT BEST HAND: Pair of 3s
CLOVER'S BEST HAND: Pair of 2s, Aces, or Queens. You highly doubt it's a pair of 2s, though.
CARD RANKINGS (from Highest to Lowest): Ace, King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, etc etc all the way to 2.

How do you respond to his raise?
>CHECK. There might still be a chance you can win and you rather not leave ANY signs of you mindreading him. (You'll bet $400 and skip to revealing the cards.)
>FOLD. Nope! You'll wait for a better hand! (You'll only lose $150 but you'll need to make a RESTRAINT DC: 22 check to keep up your poker face.)
>[UNSTABLE] There's one way for you to win this game. If you could make him FOLD, to SCARE him, you could win here and now. (VIOLENCE DC: ???. Write in what you want to say or do to try making him fold. The DC and success/failure state will depend on what you pick and the conversation choices you pick below.)

How do you want to continue the conversation? Pick two below, just like last time.
>[ADAM ALLY] "Oh, so you're not even going to bother checking up on Kana? Is that it? Even as she's working her ass off, you rather gamble with some random girl than talk to your friend?" Start putting pressure on him. Adam is more than willing to say his own piece here.
>[UNSTABLE] "Okay. I had enough with your fucking 'fair' and 'no cheating' thing. Do you honestly think you're fooling anyone here?" Rip into this stupid persona he's trying to pull off. It's pissing you off. (VIOLENCE DC: 16 (-2 from CASEY's presence), rolling 5d6 by yourself. Pass and you'll see the persona start to crack, cluing you more into his true self. Failure will make him lock up more, potentially depriving you of your mind read info.)
>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.
>[INVESTIGATED THE CASINO] "Okay, I get not wanting to cheat people but you're going overboard. You're somehow losing money even with fucking ROULETTE TABLES! How is that possible?" You have to point out how incompetent this operation is. How is he THIS unaware of how bad of a job he's doing?
>"You guys have anything to ask?" Pick an ally to ask something to him on your behalf. They might have something on their mind to say. (Write in which ally you picked.)
>Write in. (What do you want to say or do? Try to use an ability to cheat? Ask him something else? Do something else?)

>>5907482
>>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.
>>[INVESTIGATED THE CASINO] "Okay, I get not wanting to cheat people but you're going overboard. You're somehow losing money even with fucking ROULETTE TABLES! How is that possible?" You have to point out how incompetent this operation is. How is he THIS unaware of how bad of a job he's doing?

>>5907482
>FOLD. Nope! You'll wait for a better hand! (You'll only lose $150 but you'll need to make a RESTRAINT DC: 22 check to keep up your poker face.)
forgot my poker vote, this hand is crap. We have a single pair and unless the other two are both somehow threes or spades then we are kinda shit out of luck.

>>5907482
>CHECK. There might still be a chance you can win and you rather not leave ANY signs of you mindreading him. (You'll bet $400 and skip to revealing the cards.)
Dob't want him to even suspect we're chesting somehow. We'll win it back (or die)
>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.
>[INVESTIGATED THE CASINO] "Okay, I get not wanting to cheat people but you're going overboard. You're somehow losing money even with fucking ROULETTE TABLES! How is that possible?" You have to point out how incompetent this operation is. How is he THIS unaware of how bad of a job he's doing?

>>5907482
>CHECK. There might still be a chance you can win and you rather not leave ANY signs of you mindreading him. (You'll bet $400 and skip to revealing the cards.)

>[ADAM ALLY] "Oh, so you're not even going to bother checking up on Kana? Is that it? Even as she's working her ass off, you rather gamble with some random girl than talk to your friend?" Start putting pressure on him. Adam is more than willing to say his own piece here.
>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.

>>5905017
"Granted." Kana nods. "Now, you're probably not going to convince him to drop the 'fairness' thing. I would've done so if I could. That's the only thing he really refuses to budge on. As long the outcome is fair, he's willing to abide by it if you can convince him."

>That's the only thing he really refuses to budge on.

He definitely will not drop his fairness and justice ideal.

>>5907482
>FOLD. Nope! You'll wait for a better hand! (You'll only lose $150 but you'll need to make a RESTRAINT DC: 22 check to keep up your poker face.)

>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.
>[UNSTABLE] "Okay. I had enough with your fucking 'fair' and 'no cheating' thing. Do you honestly think you're fooling anyone here?" Rip into this stupid persona he's trying to pull off. It's pissing you off. (VIOLENCE DC: 16 (-2 from CASEY's presence), rolling 5d6 by yourself. Pass and you'll see the persona start to crack, cluing you more into his true self. Failure will make him lock up more, potentially depriving you of your mind read info.)

>>5907482
>FOLD. Nope! You'll wait for a better hand! (You'll only lose $150 but you'll need to make a RESTRAINT DC: 22 check to keep up your poker face.)
>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.
>[INVESTIGATED THE CASINO] "Okay, I get not wanting to cheat people but you're going overboard. You're somehow losing money even with fucking ROULETTE TABLES! How is that possible?" You have to point out how incompetent this operation is. How is he THIS unaware of how bad of a job he's doing?
I want to save the UNSTABLE and ripping his fake persona up to later in the game, near the climax

>>5907482
>FOLD. Nope! You'll wait for a better hand! (You'll only lose $150 but you'll need to make a RESTRAINT DC: 22 check to keep up your poker face.)

>[ADAM ALLY] "Oh, so you're not even going to bother checking up on Kana? Is that it? Even as she's working her ass off, you rather gamble with some random girl than talk to your friend?" Start putting pressure on him. Adam is more than willing to say his own piece here.
>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.

>>5907482
>CHECK. There might still be a chance you can win and you rather not leave ANY signs of you mindreading him. (You'll bet $400 and skip to revealing the cards.)
>[EARNT HIS RESPECT] "Look. It's admirable what you're trying to do here but it's clear there's some improvement that needs to be made here." Try your best to slowly soften him up into making changes to his casino. Just lay the groundwork for now.
>[INVESTIGATED THE CASINO] "Okay, I get not wanting to cheat people but you're going overboard. You're somehow losing money even with fucking ROULETTE TABLES! How is that possible?" You have to point out how incompetent this operation is. How is he THIS unaware of how bad of a job he's doing?

FOLD: WeO, zuL, Cux, w8L
CHECK: AxO, 3Ji, QnB

EARNT HIS RESPECT: ALL
ADAM ALLY: w8l, 3Ji
INVESTIGATED THE CASINO: WeO, AxO, Cux, QnB
UNSTABLE: zuL

All in all, FOLDING + EARNT HIS RESPECT + INVESTIGATED THE CASINO wins out. I need two anons to roll the following
>4d6 (half of the RESTRAINT check)
>3d6 (the other half)
And as a reminder, the talisman you have equipped can reroll two RESTRAINT dice if need be.

Rolled 1, 3, 1, 1 = 6 (4d6)

>>5908280
Know when to hold em, and know when to fold em

Rolled 1, 6, 5 = 12 (3d6)

>>5908280
OH NO NO NO NO

>>5908280
>as a reminder, the talisman you have equipped can reroll two RESTRAINT dice if need be.
Please reroll those 1s >>5908285

Rolled 5, 5 = 10 (2d6)

>>5908285
>>5908280
Lets just uhhhh, re-roll two of those ones

>>5908296
>>5908292
>5, 3, 5, 1 = 14
>1, 6, 5 = 12
>total = 26
We made the 22 DC just in time

>>5908285
>>5908292
>>5908296
Good fucking thing you bought that talisman a thread ago! Success (barely), writing.

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Okay, Nicole, you can place your hand down and fold. Don't change how your face looks, even if Ashley says you're getting a weird look again. Slowly place your cards down-

For a split second, you swear you see his yellow eyes light up, sparkling with an odd ethereal light. You damn near sent your cards flying into the air. He's staring RIGHT at you with a smug smile. "Well? Call? Raise? Fold?" He's trying to make you squirm.

>26! SUCCESS!

Your talisman pulses ever-so-slightly. You bite your tongue to regain your focus. "Fold. I know when my hand is shit." You place your cards on the table. "You win, partner."

Clover's eyes keep glaring right at you, as if they're trying to find some sort of weakness. After a minute or two, he gives up and shrugs. "Fair enough." He shows you his cards, and holy shit that's a Ten of Diamonds and a Queen of Diamonds. Benjamin flips over the community cards to reveal a Nine and Four of Diamonds. He was damn close to a Flush of all things.

>+1 WIN COUNT TO CLOVER

Benjamin glances between you and Clover with an increasingly nervous expression on his face. "W-wow, pretty neck and neck, huh? L-let's hope that it doesn't end with anyone getting shot, ha!" He collects the cards and begins shuffling the deck again. The nervous energy slowly shifts as a wild, ecstatic smile crosses his face.

https://youtu.be/-VNhQ2-aQwE - FINAL MATCH(?)

"Heh. Hehe. All it takes is one bad hand to decide who wins. Isn't that just thrilling, Nicole?" Benjamin is moving his hands to shuffle the deck way faster than you think a human is normally able to do. "Like we're-"
"On the edge of life and death." Clover has already drawn his revolver. It's aimed right at your group. "Let's keep going."

Max tries to keep up a smug expression, but it's clear she's way over her head here. "Hey! It's not the first time a gun has been drawn on us! Well, maybe for me, but..."
Any hesitation Ashley has been expressing has disappeared. Cold, emotionless focus is all you see in her eyes. "So be it. It's one versus six. We're not scared of you."
Casey simply stares at the gun with awe in her eyes and a dopey, silly smile. "Waow! A SINGLE ACTION ARMY 7.5" (45LC), SKU R1820???"
Adam squirms in his seat but otherwise seems more annoyed at the threat than anything. "Something tells me I'm on borrowed time anyway. This wouldn't be a bad way to go, really."

"Do what you will." You narrow your eyes. "I'm not going to fall for your tricks. Benny? Send out the cards."

Benjamin nods his head and begins dealing out the cards. "Blind bet of $400 now! Let's see who wins and who loses! Will it be the Cowboy of Clover Suite or Nicole of the Cleaner Clan???" He tries his best to put on a performative, radio broadcaster kind of voice. It gets a small smile out of everyone, despite how the situation is developing.

You put $400 down. So does Clover. Checking your hand...an Ace and an Eight of Hearts. Okay, you can work with this.

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You check the Community Cards. A Queen of Diamonds, Eight of Diamonds, and a Five of Hearts. Okay, less motivating but surely this has to work out, right? You glimpse into Clover's mind but you get nothing. Checking on him, he hasn't even lifted up to look at his cards. He doesn't even know what his hand is?

"I'm trusting you that your friend didn't rig the deck so you'd beat me. Got anything else to say before we see who wins or who loses?"

You let out a shaky breath as you try to keep your focus. You're riding on a pair of eights. That's better than last turn. "Yeah. Speaking about cheating. That's a very admirable goal you set out for yourself but you're going overboard here. You're somehow fucking losing money with ROULETTE TABLES. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?!"

Clover's yellow eyes sparkle with that same bizarre light to them. An augment, maybe, or something more anomalous? "Do ya think I actually want to run this casino like the other dime pinching, low-life scum of this City? Do you-" You quickly interrupt him.

"Oh! So that means rigging slot machines to spit out more than they take is righteous! That's how you're losing money, huh? With this incompetent idea of everything having to be fair!"

"It's not. A casino. Without slot machines." Clover grits his teeth. "Simple as. I don't like them but we're here to sell an experience to our customers. Besides, Kana would've told me if we were failing."

Casey immediately sinks into her seat, dreading the direction this conversation is going. "I-I, uh, about that. She didn't want me to tell you this but, uh, that's because she's scared."

"What?" An odd nervous chuckle escapes Clover's mouth. "No, that can't be right. What's there to be scared about? I'm doing everything right, her papers said so!"

"A-about that, sir. Those papers may or may not be 100% accurate?" Casey keeps sinking into her chair in a desperate attempt to escape the situation. Clover merely scoffs at the notion being presented to him. "That's bullshit. I'm doing the right thing here-"

You quickly interrupt him. "She showed me the paperwork! You're losing money in places that people should not be losing money in! Blackjack and roulette tables should statistically be making you money!" Your mouth contorts into a snarl. Your face feels warm, flush with rage and blood

"Yet you do STUPID bullshit like rigging slot machines, not offering anything else for making money, and not even hiring good security! I could've walked into your fucking vault and stole every dime without anyone asking any questions!"

"It's like this place is being ran by an incompetent BAFFOON!"

Clover's smile immediately disappears, replaced with a twisted snarl of a frown. "Do ya fuckin' THINK I want to be running one of these? HUH? DO YOU THINK I WANT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DISGUSTING THING?" You immediately slid right back into your seat upon hearing his voice shift. "I'm doing the best with what little choice I have here!"