Artificial

09 | Black Jack

Bam. Bam. Bam.

My back hits the hard floor, a gasp escaping my mouth as I awaken with a start. The sheets strangle my limbs, evidence of a fitful night's rest, though I don't remember falling asleep. The world spins when I try to get to my feet, my limbs heavy with yesterday's overload. My shoulder aches something fierce.

"Welcome back, sleeping beauty," Shelly says, slamming the door wide open. Light consumes the room in a flash, making the pain in my head double. I groan, shrinking away. Shelly strides into the room, grabbing me by the arm and dragging me out of my pitiful pile on the ground.

"It's 8 in the evening, you slept through the entire morning and afternoon." A quick mental scan shows that Shelly's telling the truth, and I had passed at 7:18 am. It was currently 8:24 pm. I slept 13 hours, and 6 minutes. New record, I think sardonically. Rubbing my eyes dazedly, I try to not trip over my own feet as Shelly drags me through the halls. Was it really too much to ask for one more hour?

Reyna and Sadie are already in the room when we arrive at the main foyer, sitting around a glass table covered in a frilly table top. Shelly grabs one of the many bottles of champagne sitting on the table, and pops it open. She begins a long-winded speech about sister-hood and their successful heist that goes through my right ear, and out the left.

With the initial haze of sleep gone, the memories from the night before return in full force. I relive the moment the blaster beam struck my shoulder, and I watch Elias tear them apart again. But this time, the sight doesn't scare me, it pisses me the fuck off.

Whatever he had downloaded into my brain is gone now, even the remaining white room file, which had briefly bypassed all my security. Yet something about my mind still feels empty, as if he had stolen something from me. Was it possible Elias tampered with my memories?

Sadie taps my knuckles, which have gone white with tension.

"This is a tradition we do after every successful pillage," she whispers into my ear. "Shelly likes to keep our morale high." Sadie uncurls my tightened fist, then places a peanut butter cookie into it. As a rule, I try to stave off anything other than my protein bars and nutritional cubes to meet my daily macro goals, but Sadie is staring at me intently, waiting for my reaction. Awkwardly, I bring the cookie into my mouth and take a bite.

Warm gushing peanut butter floods my mouth, coating my tongue in creamy sweetness, followed by a layer of shortbread. It's enough to make a grown woman cry. Sadie gives me a knowing look, then slides the cookie plate across the table, closer to where I'm sitting. Go ham, she mouths.

I've finished half the bowl of cookies by the time Shelly is done with her speech. Reyna is still glaring at me from across the table, but she doesn't say anything, so I don't either.

"So," Shelly says, materializing a deck of cards. "How good are you at black jack?" I shrug, unsure. I had never played before, I was familiar with the rules.

"Closest to twenty-one, right?" Can't be too hard. Shelly nods, tossing the rest of the cards into the air and shuffling in a practiced flourish before separating the deck into three more piles.

"I'll deal," Shelly declares. Reyna turns her head away, muttering something that sounds a lot like fucking show-off. Shelly deals everyone at the table a card, then states the betting arrangements, where unsurprisingly, the loser would have to take a shot.

"What homeworld are you from, Mira?" Shelly asks, flipping over her card. I'm about to ask her how she got my name, but then I remember our first encounter, where she had snapped a picture of my receipt.

"Earth," I reply, seeing no reason to lie. "I've lived there my entire life." Sadie nearly chokes on a strawberry, coughing.

"Earth? That decrepit old hole?" Sadie eyes my arm, giving it a once over. "Wow, I thought earth wasn't technologically advanced enough for advanced cybernetic limbs."