To Be Human: Volume One

Three

Location: City of Haven, Cherry Blossum Inn

Date: April 27th, 2037

Time: 21:25

   Four metal cups filled with dice hit the table face down. The four players stared at each other, not a single word was said, not a single breath could be heard. Each of them were expressionless, putting on their best faces for this high stakes, 'friendly' game. The bets were high, and this was not one that Xin was intending to lose. There was no place for such thoughts, she had to win, it was the only option.

   It was her start, a decent spot to be in for the last round, all of the minor prizes had been won but this, this was the biggest, all the bets were in, all of the previous stakes removed. She hadn't won most of the previous games, but it didn't matter, only this one did. 

   Each game was individual, and as the night went on, the four players seemed to place higher and higher bets, the cockiness that came with the combination of drinks, gambling, and previous wins, all giving the illusion that they were capable. All of them slid their cups back toward themselves, not looking at the contents of the five dice beneath each.

  "I wager, three twos." She said. An easy, safe start. They could not yet look at their dice, so she did not want to make any bold claims so early. In previous games, that was not a bad tactic, but there was no room for risks now.

   She could smell the liquor in the cup to her left. She wanted some, she always wanted some, but she was using every fibre of her being to not. She hadn't drank any all night. Not tonight, she needed to control herself, and just focus on the game. She was telling herself to keep it simple, not to play bold as to raise the stakes and force people to lie too quickly. Timing was everything, and she had to make sure not to be backed into a corner.

   The man to her left was David Ray, a wealthy businessman who ran a very large, illegal business. He was big in the weapons business, smuggling, moving and laundering them illegally, and providing for many families and institutions across the nation. He held a lot of power in Haven, with enough money and backing behind him that nothing could really be done about his empire, he was also one of the main suppliers of weapons to the Underworld, and so his business was considered a necessary evil that the higher ups in control of the happenings of Haven elected to ignore. 

  "Five twos." He said, building off Xin's bet. It was safe to stay put and not move up before the end of the round, no one was going to call bluffs at a low number, especially when no one had seen their own dice yet. Staying at low values meant the values could be increased. There was no danger yet, and no one wanted to take the plunge. David was a suited man with what looked to be a five-hundred-dollar hair cut, the standard business type, charismatic, almost charming, cocky, a bastard in all right.

   To the left of David was a man named Anthony Morelli, the head of one of the wealthiest, and powerful families in Haven. His family were long time mobsters, and the amount of money under their name rivaled all the richest people in Haven combined. It was safe to say that Haven relied on the man's money to stay afloat, his business and illegal actions being one of the other many things the Haven higher ups chose to ignore so long as they were getting something out of it, and they did. 

   His efforts alone lead most of the funding Haven received for its many expansions and projects not granted or supported by the local and federal government. To say Haven relied on the Morelli's was an understatement. It was his penthouse that they were sitting in, and he was the host of the evening. He was a thin Italian man, dressed very similarly to David. "Three threes."

   He said, confident in his low bets and leaving it to the fourth to raise things any higher. He had a rather significant bet on the game. One million dollars in cash, the majority of it set up in a rather large brief case behind him, but one of the stacks of bills laid out across the table, spread with the offerings of the others, proof that it was no bluff. David had been betting a hefty sum of weapons, multiple crates full of them, a bunch laid out on the table too, with spare magazines and bullets all scattered about among the bills, cards, and pokers chips that had all been tossed in between games.