Duality;Solaris Vol. 1

Chapter 3-3: Game, Set, & Match?

—Game 1—

    She gets up from her chair and walks to the sizable tube tv back in the living room— mere feet away. Obviously searching for something around it, Arturo takes this opportunity to act. "Hey, 'T', see that black chip there?", Arturo gestures to the stack beside Theo, "Throw one in."

Turning his head to the stack of variously colored chips stacked beside his left, outer arm, a nerve of uneasy ticks within his spine. White, yellow, blue, green, and black; each stacked to various heights, indicators to something of value indeed. Squinting his eyes, Theo may not know what exactly Arturo is pushing for, but it wasn't particularly in Theo's favor. Theo points to the stack of white chips saying, "There's some value to these you are not telling me. Not like what you told me at work, not like any 'party games' I've ever played before. It's a bit suspicious, you think? Your whispering doesn't help either.", at an average volume audible to all in the apartment.

"Uh. You're right, Art. He is pretty sharp. Figured you out easily.", John causally quips.

"Shut it, John.", Arturo defeatedly mutters.

    The two begin to get off on a conversation about this and that while Theo tunes them out. He turns around in his chair to look at the lady, unsure as to what she was looking for and intrigued to how it deals with the 'poker game' at hand. Yet, there lies a bigger question fermenting within his young mind— one he feels embarrassed for not asking any time before now. What is this woman's actual name?

    'Aha! There it is.", she exclaims as she pulls out a crumbled piece of paper from behind the wooden entertainment system the tv sits on. Moving swiftly to not waste anymore time than what has already been, she hands Theo the crumbled paper before sitting down. Continuing on, "John made this cheat sheet awhile ago. It has a list of hands and card combos useful to win a game. Art did the visuals. And, don't fret, you won't have to gamble any real money this time."

"WHAT?!", Arturo shouts.

John interrupts, "I agree with Siv. Don't be greedy."

"Bwhaha! That's what you get for toying with the newbie.", Siv taunts before turning her attention back to Theo, "For everything else, I think you're there enough to catch up to pace. Good luck."

    With a hesitant smirk of the cheek and a sinking feeling in his stomach, Theo matches the three white chips in the table's center with his own. An obvious feeling to express when finding oneself in a cruddy apartment, surrounded by—more-or-less—strangers late at night; 'Why did I agree to this'? That, and several other reconsiderations, fill his head as the poker games continue into the night.

—Game 3—

*Fwhh! Pop!*

    A litany of smaller firecrackers flare up and off on the crowded streets below the aging apartment complex. A series of joyous sounds soon followed by sirens a smidge less as so, the festivities reach their golden hour—and are far from over. Dealt a game of Texas Hold'em with each's chips still about equal, the table is quiet in comparison to those prior. Between sets of eyes filtering through fierce to lost, the battle of wages similarly drags onward.

    Irises dart person to person as Arturo and Siv look for any tiny twitch to give themselves a leg up on their competitors— and more money in their respective pockets. John taps the table without saying a word as all eyes turn to Theo. Jarring to him at first, he taps the table, too. The two suspects raise from behind their cards, ranging in expression. Surprisingly, Arturo begs the question, "Hey, 'T', you know what the 'table tap' is about, right?"

And, in-tandem, "He's probably figured that out, Art. But, are you sure that those cards are worth not betting on?", adds Siv.

"Yea, yea. The 'table tap' seems to mean to pass it on to the next person.", Theo confirms, "But, Ms. Siv, do you think I'll say what I have that easily?"