New York is a wonderfully diverse urban jungle. Its status as one of the key commercial hubs in the civilized world allows it to cater to all manner of entities and individuals regardless of colour or creed and permits it to host a number of unique experiences which one would be hard pressed to replicate elsewhere. From scenic view of the statue of liberty to the enthusiastic ambience of the Yankee stadium it was arguable that the streets of New York contained more golden opportunities than London ever did.

Some of them were even legal.

“Six card Stud, all bet’s in.”

Others… not so much

Idly tossing in a pair of blue chips, Zephyr leant back in his seat and raised his gaze to the ceiling as the dealer collected the pot and began cutting the deck with no small amount of showmanship.

It was called the Black Lake, and as far as illicit ventures went one could certainly do worse. Built beneath the city’s largest aquarium with some well paid mutant labour, the underground casino was quite the sight. Black marble studded with white quartzes covered the floors while the walls were polished obsidian. Backlit artificial waterfalls had been carved into the volcanic glass every few feet and provided a calming back ground ambience whenever the live music happened to die down.

The real attraction though was the ceiling; being built beneath an aquarium the owners had made certain to give their guests one of the best views possible and so all manner of exotic sea creatures could be seen if one only cared to look.

“Third street, limit is five and fifty.”

Taking a brief moment to survey the cards and run some mental math the elemental sighed before tossing in another pair of blue chips. He should have known it wouldn’t be anything close to an interesting game.

The casino was run by the Tarantino’s; one of the first ‘old’ families who hadn’t the foresight to read the writing on the wall and chosen to partner with Order, rather struggle against them and in doing so had built a reputation for cunning and practicality. And it had only grown when they’d proven that, in a world where mutants could not only stack the deck but also rewrite the odds, a casino was still a viable business model.

As the final cards were dealt Zephyr flipped over his hand and resisted the urge to sigh once again when the dealer didn’t even blink an eye at the straight flush and simply presented him with a sizeable tower of multi coloured chips. Never one to turn down payment, the hessian deftly swift his winnings into the stylized carry case he’d been provided and left the table with a carefully blank expression.

It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the need for this farce; dead government officials tended to attract attention, even when they appeared to have simply choked on their evening meal. If the Tarantinos presented him with a check or a cash filled suitcase it would be found out sooner or later and people might make connections.

Still, the fact that they’d chosen to pay him like this meant that, at best, he’d only keep ¾ of his ‘winnings’. He’d just had a marvelous stroke of luck after all, he could afford to play a few more hands and enjoy himself. In fact it would be downright suspicious if he left after only one game.

‘Tarantino cunning my foot, they’re nothing more than penurious politicians who haven’t made it to the ballot yet. ‘

How Evelyn ended up barefoot in an underground casino was a question lingering in the back of her mind. But with hyper-awareness, such questions didn't linger long before the echoes dutifully answered with the memories.

It started with a museum. Some paintings came to life, an friend helped defeat them, and Evelyn got injured in the process. When Forte brought her back to the mansion, however, her girlfriend confronted him about what happened. The argument ended with a rear-view mirror, and Forte having some time to think in the reflection.

It continued with an argument. Frustrated boyfriend/girlfriend, some hot coco and an eventual blow up. Gawain didn't think she should be friends with Forte. Evelyn didn't think it was necessary to cut ties with him. In the tension, she stormed out of the mansion and caught a ride to her apartment in the city.

That was where the bare feet came in. She left her shoes behind in the process.

Still annoyed, Evelyn needed to vent her frustrations, and decided to let her echoes take her on an adventure. Like the time she tracked down a sewer monster, she studied the late night behaviors and watched for something interesting. Casual conversations, people eating out at fancy restaurants who clearly didn't spend much time there, and individuals shopping for fancier suits for a night out. The trail led across the city, and somehow she ended up at a questionably legal casino. It took some fast footwork and talking to get herself inside, and once there, she blended in.

Somehow, no one seemed to question her lack of shoes. Maybe it was the fact the ceiling was an aquarium, but man of the patrons were focused on looking up. The underwater scene was beautiful, and it was certainly worth appreciating. She would have enjoyed it more if the day hadn't been so stressful, and that eventually drove her to gambling. When she sat herself down at a poker table and started playing, she quickly forgot her lack of foot-ware and decided to make progress against her lack of chips. Two rounds in and she had already made some decent money, using her frustration and powers to read the players tells. So far, the fun was turning the night around.

No shoes. No problem.

At least...not right away.

Sometimes, hyper awareness caught things that weren't immediately important. A figure with a carrying case, a demeanor of confidence moving through the room. Most of the people she was playing against were decent, but nothing impressive. This was promising to be a change in the game though. As she pulled her chips towards her, the dealer prepared to shuffle the cards. The echoes followed the colors, and she forced herself to watch. Curiosity had to be patient, at least when there were bets to be placed.

The elementals first stop after hitting the metaphorical ‘jackpot’ had been the Black Lakes cashier station or cage, so called because of its marked resemblance to an old western jail cell. It was here that all prospective gambler, be they two bit card sharks or high rollers (or more accurately those working for high rollers) came to exchange cash for chips and vice versa.

Upon approaching the cashier Zephyr had adopted an amiable façade before passing his case through the thin slot in the bars and requesting that his winning be coloured up’ or consolidated; a task that would likely take more than a few minutes given the multitude of different chips he’d earned and he was told as much by the cashier who quickly handed the task off to an associate.

After assuring the man he had no problem waiting, the hessian had rested his back against a nearby pillar and cast his gaze about the room, sweeping from table to table as he took in his options.

There was a secret to the Tarantino’s recent success with Black Lake, and a rather poorly kept one at that. Had they tried opening the casino before the registration act their finances would have swept into the red within a month, even a year ago they’d have struggled to find the necessary manpower. Now though, Adapteds were almost as common as mutants themselves and so their numbers had reached the point where the government and other agencies could afford to be selective.

This had resulted in an untapped pool of individuals capable of canceling mutant powers to one degree or another. They hadn’t been the strongest of their kind, but then again, they didn’t need to be. The Black Lake hadn’t wanted enforcers or hitmen who could go toe to toe with the likes of Isabel Duskmoor or the Judge. No, they’d wanted dealers and pitbosses who could protect cards, dice and roulette tables from outside interference and they were willing to pay well.

So well in fact that a little over half of the dealers on the floor tonight were Adapted to one degree or another.

Still, no counter measure was fool proof. The Adapteds were meant to discourage mutant conmen through sheer numbers since those with powers rarely enjoyed being parted from them. What the Tarantino’s hadn’t counted on though was a mutant who could discern the strength and range of each Adapted field and use it to their advantage.

By the time Zephyr had his winnings returned to him he’d taken the measure of each dealer in the room and chosen his target. Not a mundane human, they’d be under closer watch than their nullifying counter parts and the elemental was loath to reveal the full extent of his abilities over something as trivial as this. Instead he chose a table towards the front of the room with an adapted dealer whose field was strong but limited in range.

Claiming a seat opposite a rather fetching young woman whose skin was almost as pale as her hair, the elemental withdrew two stacks of crimson chips from his winnings before sliding a trio of them into the center of the table to start the pot and get the game moving.

Texas Hold em wasn’t his preferred poker variant, but it would do.

Before the next round of cards started, a new player joined the table directly across from Evelyn. Ironically, it was the same player the echoes had noted earlier, and the three red chips placed in the center of the table clearly started things off high. Had she not won enough earlier in the game, throwing down hundreds might have been out of the question. But she was here to blow off steam, and she could afford a risk or two. Picking out three of her own red chips, she made her own buy in. A few more safe bets followed and the first round of cards were dealt.

Evelyn liked games that dealt with odds. She was a quick thinker, and with the right focus, the echoes could keep an organized tally on where the cards were. In a game of Texas Hold 'Em, this could be interesting, considering everyone knew the community cards, the only thing you hand to your advantage was your own two. The early betting could be both a good thing and a bad thing though. Don't have a hand, try to bet for one that might come up was risky. But even with logic there was risk, and there was some appeal in that.

This game had another interesting element though: the adapted. While it didn't effect Evelyn's powers, which were sight based, she had noticed the power blocking ability when they were dealing cards and an arm got too close. She could still think fairly well on her own, and they were sitting far enough away she wasn't in range most the game. But the occasional silence was annoying. Cards went out, silence came and went, and then then game was in motion and she had to direct her concentration.

Luck was on her side this round. High cards, and a pair, definitely better than her last hand. The odds clicked in her head as she glanced across the table, watching the faces of her fellow players as they studied their cards. A few were good at keeping their emotions in check, few revealing more than she would have. But at least two players exposed a flash of disappointment at what they had. Subtle, but not subtle enough. She noted a higher bet from at least one of them, her own bet middle ground. Not low enough to tip anyone off, not high enough to look confident in her cards. Meanwhile, she watched the figure across the table in the corner of her eye. Something about him wasn't quite adding up like everything else.

There were three reasons Zephyr had chosen this table. The first was the Adapted dealers whose ineffectual presence would allay any suspicions of cheating long enough for the elemental to do just that, provided he didn’t try anything too overt.

The hessians second motive was the game itself; although Texas hold em wasn’t the ideal means of gambling (though the casino particular variant did have some benefits), the nature of the game meant that he would largely be cheating the other players who contributed to the pot rather than the casino itself. Therefore, in the unlikely event he was caught, it was doubtful the Tarantino’s would make more than a token effort of escorting him from the premises.

Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, every card currently in play was embossed; each designed a raised indent less than a millimeter in height, yet still tall enough to displace the surrounding air and allow the elemental to effectively read every card more than a foot from the dealer.

Including the face down community cards.

As anyone familiar with Hold ’em rules know, the community cards normally aren’t even dealt until the end of a betting round. The Black Lake however did things somewhat differently as they dealt each of the three beginning community cards from the bottom of the deck at the very beginning of the game before then revealing them after the first round of ‘pre-flop’ betting.

Needless to say, there was a certain benefit in knowing the first set of community cards before the rest of the competition, to say nothing of ‘reading’ the competitions cards themselves. It was an advantage Zephyr had no hesitation in exploiting as he discreetly scanned each card as it left the Adapteds field; condensing the air around one corner to provide enough definition to read both the suit and the value.

It was only cheating if you got caught after all.

Unfortunately luck did not seem to favour him this game; his two cards were mediocre in value, their only redeeming trait being that they shared a suit with one of the unrevealed community cards, though sadly they weren’t sequential. In spite of this though he managed to keep his expression bored as he made a show of gaging his present peers.

Perhaps the best that could be said of his hand was that none of the other players had been granted anything particularly confidence building; three of a kind was the most any of them could achieve with the current cards and only the bare foot game at that.

Still the hessian wasn’t overly concerned. Poker was about more than just the cards in your hand; an untold numbers of books had been dedicated to the games psychological undercurrents. There was an art to it really; one the one hand you wanted to convince people that they had a chance of winning so they’d continue playing and contribute to the pot… right until you needed them to fold so you could claim said pot.

It was a difficult balancing act and in Zephyr’s opinion it was rarely worth the effort, yet he decided to indulge his inner thespian this once and matched his previous contribution to the pot; a move that said he wasn’t overly optimistic and likely hedging his decision on the outcome of the first three community cards. Only to give a tired sigh that was almost inaudible when the trio was revealed and wearily set aside another three crimson chips for the next round as he settled himself into the apathetic yet affluent role of one who could afford to lose much in return for little as they waited for their luck to change.

One could only hope the fish were biting.

Evelyn's game was largely relying on her fellow players. In many ways, the center cards didn't matter this early on. It was looking at the competition to judge their hands, bets, and act accordingly. Some were oddly transparent. The figure closest to couldn't mask the disappointment when his cards flipped over, and the instantaneous switch a blank expression still wasn't fast enough to avoid her echoes picking it up. His bet was clearly a bluff, or just a faint hope one of the middle cards would tilt things in his favor.

Further down the line, the body language was more collected, but she still caught the faint trace of a smile that was pushed aside as the player considered his hand. He didn't bother being careful about his bet at this point.

The last stranger though... He was hard to read. His body language suggested one thing, but Evelyn wasn't confident in the feedback. After consideration, she decided he didn't seem to have anything, considering the money she took note of earlier, he certainly could afford to loose. She put down her own chips, staying in the middle ground for the moment and watching. She was careful not to give anything away, but her expression was thoughtful as she considered her fellow players. The community cards weren't helpful, but she had enough to stand on already. She would stay in.

The next hands came and went rather faster than the first; with the first three cards now revealed the other players were better able to gauge their odds and so the hessian wasn’t surprised in the least when seats began to empty as those who failed the luck of the draw went to seek their fortune elsewhere.

Granted the elemental wasn’t making it easy for them
Oddly enough though there was one who seemed determined to stick with the game; the snow haired gamine he’d caught sight of earlier was doing a stirring impression of a pendulum with her bets each hand, her argus eyes measuring as they swept the table before she added one more chips.

By herself the girl had likely been responsible for more than half of those who’d left, and while it would bring the game to a quicker close it also reduced the potential size of the pot which was… annoying. Even more so because the ingénue actually had one of the better hands so far, though nothing was certain until the final community card was placed.

Still it irked him.

Weighing his own odds the hessian slid a single crimson chip towards the dealer even as he sent a dry glance at the barefoot girl across the table. “You know, while there is something to be said for whittling down the competition, some games are better played with a group.” of fools.

Ever so slowly, there was a break in the stranger's demeanor. Something the echoes caught only by a flicker of chance. Irritation snuck through when the loosers cleared out, and then his comment carried across the table. She gave the faintest sign of a smile, however, as she added in her own bet.

"While some games are best played with a group, there is something about playing against only the best that makes it more interesting." She mused aloud. There was something carefree about her behavior, something somewhat uncaring. She came here because she was irritated, and she intended to enjoy herself. She didn't necessarily need the money. Loosing a little here or there wasn't the big picture. It was a challenge, to learn, to win, to study. That was the real game here.

She was learning something about her opponent, however. The fact he was disappointed that players left meant he was hoping to gain more from them. They went too early, cutting down the pot. True, she could have bluffed a little better to give them hope, but then there was a chance the community card could turn something around. There were odds at work here, odds she had to study and keep track of.

Something else was interesting though. the man accross the table didn't seem curious whether she was bluffing or whether her own hand was good enough to warrant their departure. He spoke almost as if he too was studying, knowing what turns were happening in the game, secretly trying to play his hand to get the best reward. While the dealer was an adapted, he clearly had some advantage, but she couldn't be sure what. Was his mutation intelligence based? Could he see the cards somehow? There were more questions coming up than who would win the pot at this point. Her echoes had found a mystery, and they were curious enough to try and decode it.