Red chips spilled out of thin air into his hands. Scarlett and Xana quickly gathered them up as they fell, giggling with each other.
When they had divided the chips out equally between them, Byron asked, "What did you wanna play?"
Scarlett jerked her thumb at a row of slot machines. "I'm gonna hit the slots. You guys can do whatever."
Chetaara waved her hands. "I do not gamble, Master. The goddess condemns it. I shall go to see if they serve margaritas."
"Okay. I'll let Xana show me the ropes." Byron kissed Scarlett and Chetaara before he walked off with Xana, hand in hand.
Xana looked up at him. "Hey, um, I just wanna thank you again. For letting me stay on the ship."
"No, I should thank you. You're doing an amazing job with the ship."
She leaned her head against his arm. "And I want you to know, I think you're really special too. Like Chetaara said."
He paused to stand in the casino for a moment, next to a cheering group of aliens playing a card game. "You heard that? I thought you were asleep."
She grinned. "I'm a light sleeper."
He bent down to give her a kiss, and they began walking again. He felt a special bond with Xana. It seemed like she had had a rough life, just like him. Also, her vulnerability and shyness reminded him of himself in the real world.
Byron approached one busy table with a frown. "So what game is this?"
"Oh, that one's called Quantum." Xana pointed at some shimmering silver cubes on the table. "Those are interdimensional dice. In their default state, they're gray, but they can be either red, green, or blue. On the table, there's a dark matter disruption field so the cubes exist in multiple realities. In one dimension, a cube might be blue. In another, a cube might be green. When the field is turned off, the dice lock onto a random reality. The dealer puts down three dice, and the player bets on what color will be dominant out of the three. If none of the dice have a dominant color, that's called a zero hand."
"Okay." He sat down at the table. "Let's do it."
He threw a glance around the table and nodded at the three other players. One of them was a feathered alien NPC, but the other two had glowing red lights over their heads, showing they were real players like him. Byron gave the two real players an extra nod of recognition.
The slender woman returned the nod with a smile. The male player, who looked like an NFL linebacker in armor, just curled his upper lip in a snarl.
Okay, Byron thought, he's one of those.
It seemed like there were some players in Venus Online who were friendly, and he'd met a few others who weren't. The last unfriendly ones had tried to kill him, so Byron decided not to push it.
The dealer robot used stick-like arms to pick up the flickering dice on the table and toss the three of them into the center. "Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen."
The woman threw five chips onto the table and said, "Zero."
The big male player tossed ten chips onto the table. "Blue."
The bird-like alien placed ten chips in front of him. "Green."
Byron picked up three chips and tossed them onto the table. "Red."
The big player snorted and rolled his eyes. "Fucking lightweight."
"No more bets." The dealer robot tapped a button.
The dice stopped shimmering and turned solid colors. Two of the dice were blue, and the other was red.
The dealer pushed the chips over to the big player. "Prizebelt is the winner."
The big player slammed his fists down on the table, making the dice jump. "Yes! In your fucking faces, ya'll. Ha!"
The woman took a drag on a cigarette while rolling her eyes. "Charming as usual, Prize."
The man known as Prizebelt scooped the chips onto the table in front of him. "Who needs charm when you got fucking skills, Minty?"
Byron forced himself to smile. "Congratulations. Another round."
The robot nodded while gathering up the dice again. It tapped the button and the dice began to phase out of reality again. "Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen."
Byron leaned over to Xana and whispered. "Is there a strategy to this game?"
"Not really," Xana whispered back. "Statistically, it's supposed to be completely random, more random than regular dice or cards. But I have noticed that the dice tend to come up red more often here in the Golden Dream."
He looked at the table as the robot cast the dice into the shimmering field again. He reminded himself he was in a game, not reality. Even though Xana was his crew member, she was still a part of the game. He wondered if Venus Online would really give him a hint like that. Or maybe the game would make her lie to get him to lose.
He shook his head. He didn't want to start distrusting Xana or any of his other girls. That would just drive him crazy. Besides, he was supposed to be the Outsider, the one who broke all the rules.
He picked up twenty chips and tossed them onto the table. "Red."
The woman called Minty nodded her head. "Oo, I like your confidence. I'll take red, too." She put down ten chips.
Prize sneered as he slapped down twenty chips. "Blue."
The alien player sighed as he got up and gathered his chips into his hands. "I must withdraw. It is, perhaps, not my night."
"No more bets." The robot dealer pressed the button to turn the dice solid.
All three were red.
Minty and Byron laughed and high-fived each other while the robot dealer divided the winning chips up between them.
Prize clenched his fists while he glared at them. "Lucky shot. Again."
The robot gathered up the dice again. "Place your bets, please."
Prize shoved half his chips into the center of the table. "Blue."
Byron wanted to spite Prize, so he kept his eyes on him as he pushed all his chips into the center. "Red."
Minty giggled and threw ten chips onto the pile. "You guys are crazy."
"No more bets." The robot threw the dice into the field and pushed the button.
The dice phased into solid red on all three.
Even Byron was surprised.
Prize clenched his fists and growled at Byron.
Byron gathered up the chips as the robot pushed them to him. "Looks like I'm on a winning streak." He flashed what he hoped would be an annoying grin at Prize.
Prizebelt held up one finger on one hand while shoving all his chips into the center of the table with the other. "All in on blue. How about you, bitch?"
Byron wanted to walk away from the table, but Prize pissed him off. He wanted to wipe the smugness off the other player's face, so he shoved all his chips into the center while he said, "Red."
Xana grabbed his arm, but Byron shook his head at her. To him, it was worth losing money to shut this asshole up.
"That's the spirit." Prize widened his smile.
Minty threw half her chips in. "Red, too."
"No more bets." The robot tossed the dice again into the field and pushed the button to phase them.
The dice came up solid red on all three.
Prize slammed his fist on the table, causing the chips and dice to bounce into the air. "Motherfucking shit!"
Byron gave him his biggest smile as he scooped up the chips. "I agree."
"Where you going?" Prize stood up. "Double or nothing."
"I think I've taken enough of your money. And I have to get going." Byron tossed a handful of chips at the robot. "Pleasure doing business with you."
He walked off as Xana whispered, "I knew you had big balls, but I didn't know they were made of brass, too."
As they headed through the casino, they ran into Scarlett who had a smile on her face.
Byron raised an eyebrow. "How'd you do?"
"I lost my fucking shirt. It was awesome." She pointed at the chips in his arms. "Hey, you won all that shit?"
Byron shrugged. "Had a lucky streak."
Scarlett's eyes glowed for a moment before her jaw fell. "Holy fuck, you doubled your money. I wish I'd played you
r game."
Xana smiled up at him. "He's very lucky."
Chetaara came up to them while sipping the last of a margarita. "Are we ready?"
Byron nodded, cashed in his chips, and followed Xana out into the streets of the city. They didn't go far before they came to a row of shops. Much like a strip mall, he could see stores for weapons, armor, and equipment. Humans and aliens walked down the length of it, browsing and shopping.
He pointed at a shop with a sign for starship upgrades. "First things first. I want to upgrade the Icarus."
They went to a shop with holographic models of spaceships everywhere.
A short, fat alien with an elephant-like trunk waddled up to them. "What would you like?"
He pointed at Xana. "I want to upgrade our ship. Restock the missiles, upgrade the armor, and upgrade the engines to make it faster."
Xana gave the alien a tablet with the Icarus' specifications on it. The alien reviewed it and nodded. "We can do that. How much you willing to spend?"
The game text popped up in Byron's view. A slider appeared under it that set the amount of credits. Byron slid it all the way to the highest level before hitting the purchase option.
ICARUS STARSHIP UPGRADES
ENGINES +500
SHIELDS +500
ARMOR +500
MISSILES +500
PURCHASE Y | N
The elephant-like alien straightened as he saw the price then bowed. "We'll get working on it right away, sir."
They went next door to an NRG upgrade store. It looked a lot like the first one Byron had been in with shelves of glowing boxes that represented different programs he could upgrade to. It even had the same ghostly curator, a woman with a wispy outline who floated up to them.
He had been in the game long enough to know that new abilities were added as "codes." He only had the one shield code for now, and definitely wanted more. "What codes do you have?"
The floating woman pointed to a shelf. "As a level three, I'd recommend the fireball code or the strongman code. Fireball lets you throw flames for defense. Strongman will boost your strength for five seconds up to twenty points."
When he selected the boxes on the shelf that represented the programs he wanted, text appeared.
STRONGMAN
STRENGTH +20
+10 NRG
COOLDOWN: 24 HOURS
COST: 5000 CREDITS
PURCHASE Y | N
FIREBALL
DMG: 20
COOLDOWN: 1 HOUR
COST: 5000 CREDITS
PURCHASE Y | N
"I'll take both." He tapped the purchase option for both boxes, and they dissolved into a blue light that flowed into him.
Scarlett shook her hand in the air. "Woo, big spender. We're gonna be loaded for bear."
They moved on to other shops to buy new equipment, including more medkits, ammo packs, and food packs. Once they had their gear, he nodded and looked at the time on his bracelet. "Okay, Ecod should be done by now, right?"
They headed back to the hotel, and found Ecod at the same table in the casino. The centipede had a big smile on his rounded face.
Xana sat down across from him. "I take it that means you have good news?"
"Better believe it. Just wanna say, that was the best hack I've done in years. I had so much fun, I should almost be paying you. Almost. The signal was routed through twenty different servers on fifty-two planets, but I found it. Right here."
Ecod held up the tablet in his six hands. It showed a rotating blue-green planet.
Chetaara gasped. "Th-That is where the signal came from?"
"Yeah. You know it?"
She swallowed. "Yes. It is Nikor. My home planet. That means Accolade is on my world."
Chapter 8
SCARLETT LOOKED at the others with a big smile and threw up her hands. "Well, this is awesome, right? Chetaara gets to see her home town, and we get to meet Otis, all at the same time."
Chetaara's ears flattened on the top of her head. "I am afraid it is not that simple. Nikor fell to the Necralia Empire, and is under occupation. The whole planet is under a blockade. Even getting to the surface would be a great challenge. Once there, travel is very harsh. I fear our capture by the Empire would be almost certain."
Byron put his hand on her shoulder. "Well, maybe we should be trying to do more than find Accolade. Maybe we should be trying to get the Empire off your planet."
She smiled. "I believe so. My people have told the story of the Outsider who would free us since before the Empire came to be. This cannot be coincidence. You will free our people."
The confident smile she gave him made a cold icicle of fear stab him in the gut. He hoped she was right. He didn't want to disappoint her or an entire planet.
Ecod looked from one person to another. "Hey, mind telling me who this Otis Accolade is?"
Scarlett smirked at him. "He's the one who designed the video game we're in, Venus Online, and he's gonna help Byron get out of this game."
Ecod didn't even blink, just smiled. "Well, I hope you succeed. If anybody could get rid of Lady Necralia and her empire, we'd all be better off."
She gave Byron a look, acknowledging what he had noticed, which was that the NPCs wouldn't or couldn't accept that they were in a video game. They seemed to see or hear something different. It reminded him of the robotic hosts in the TV show Westworld.
Byron turned away. "Thanks, Ecod. We appreciate it."
"No, thank you." Ecod turned back to his table and tapped it with two of his legs. "Hey, everybody, next round, drinks are on me!"
Everyone cheered as Byron and his crew headed away from the bar area into the casino floor.
Before he took more than a few steps, a thick hand grabbed him by the shoulder. Byron turned to see a fist flying at him.
His body moved almost on its own, ducking the fist, and twisting out of the grasp of the hand.
Prizebelt was the one who had thrown the punch, and three other people stood behind him. One was Minty, the woman from the dice table. A thin bearded man in a long cloak and a muscular woman stood next to her. All four had the glowing red lights over their heads, real players.
He wasn't as surprised as he thought he would be. He remembered how angry Prizebelt had been when he lost, so it seemed like the big man wouldn't be the kind who would just let it go.
As Prizebelt staggered from the force of his swing, Byron took a step back. "What was that for?"
Prizebelt jabbed an index finger at him. "You owe me money."
"Who the fuck is this guy?" Scarlett snarled with clenched fists.
Prizebelt brought his huge bulk up to its full height, towering over her. "Your motherfucking shithead buddy here cheated me at a game o' Quantum. I want my credits back."
Byron clenched his own fists. "I didn't cheat."
"Yeah, right. You got all reds twice in a row? Nobody's that fucking lucky."
Byron swept his hands in the air. "Look, I don't know how it happened, but I won. Fair and square. You don't like it, take it up with the casino."
Minty took a step forward. "No, you're going to give him his money back. Prizebelt is our clan member. That means an attack on him is an attack on all of us."
Byron rolled his eyes. "Not that again. What is it with you people?"
The tall man in a cloak said, "You'd know that if you were with a real clan instead of hanging around with a group of NPCs."
Minty held up her hand towards him. "Hey, don't play-shame him. That's not what this is about. Byron, just give Prizebelt his credits and we'll be on our way."
Byron folded his arms over his chest. "No way."
"Fuck you." Scarlett leaned towards her. "We're not givin' him shit. Byron won that money, fair and square."
Minty tapped her bracelet and looked up at something he couldn't see, probably his stats. "Hey, come on, don't make us do this. Look at our stats and look at yours. We'll kill you."
Byron did tap his bracelet to get their stats. The
tall one in the cloak was a technomage, Prizebelt was a Marine, Minty was a rogue, and the muscular woman was another Marine. They were all level tens and elevens. "Stats aren't everything."
Prizebelt spat on Byron's boots. "Fuck all this talking. Gimme my credits right now or this shit goes down."
Byron didn't bother to answer. He just punched Prizebelt in the face.
As Prizebelt reeled, the other members of his clan charged.
Chetaara used her NRG code to throw lightning bolts from her hands at the clan members. One of them flew back, going into spasms from the electric shock. Yet the tall man in the cloak swung his hands, making a glowing shield that blocked the lightning from hitting him and Minty.
Minty didn't waste time, leaping into the air to kick Chetaara back. She immediately leaned back to avoid Scarlett swinging a punch at her head.
Byron jumped at Prizebelt and tackled him, but the big guy butted his head into Byron's nose.
In the explosion of pain, Byron grabbed at his face. Before he knew it, Prizebelt had flipped him over onto his back.
Lying there, he watched Prizebelt stomp his foot at Byron's head, but Byron took his chance to bring up his NRG menu. He didn't have weapons, but this seemed like a good time to try his fireball code. He activated it and pointed with his hands.
His fists exploded. The flames hit Prizebelt, throwing him back against the ceiling. The Marine fell back down and landed on the floor, where he began screaming and rolling around while fire licked his armor. His health bar dropped by a third.
Before Byron could move in for another attack, something grabbed him and threw him into the air. He caught a glimpse of the clan's technomage with his hands pointing at Byron, probably using a telekinesis power to lift Byron. He didn't have much time to think about it. He landed on the fist of the muscular woman.
The female Marine punched Byron across the casino, sending him crashing into a slot machine.
For a moment, Byron couldn't move, barely able to take a breath. His health had dropped almost in half. He could only watch as Minty flipped Scarlett into the waiting arms of Prizebelt, who kicked her into a card table. Meanwhile, the technomage threw some sort of blue energy at Chetaara, who could only scream and fall to her knees. Both of their health bars plummeted.
Mine Shaft: A LitRPG Sci-Fi Harem Adventure (Venus Online Book 4) Page 5
