The Riker’s den

  “Lucas, don’t push your luck. You’ve already lost half the money you borrowed!” That was the nagging Lucas had endured all evening.

  “I’ll get it back, dear Pearl. Just wait.”

  Tonight’s event had one clear highlight: the grand game of The Riker’s Luaturally, Lucas had his eyes set on it. To qualify for the big table, he’d pced more bets than he should have, losing half of his borrowed money. It wasn’t the first time he’d taken such a risk—to make money; you had to spend money, he often told himself. Not that Pearl or Charlie ever saw it that way.

  “We already have what we came for,” she said, her voice sharp with frustration. “Let’s just go back.”

  Lucas winced. He could’ve broken even if Reider hadn’t been su idiot. His entire pn to breach security had fallen apart when the AI caught him. Sure, he was the first, but so what? Lucas’s mood soured further. Losing even more of Charlie’s money wasn’t an option.

  At first, his earlier meeting with Jeffrey left him too rattled to realize the full extent of his mistake. But as the night dragged on, he carefully bet what little money he had left, winning some, losing others—until it was time for the mai. He had to recover his losses.

  A waitress in a dress snapped Lucas out of his thoughts. “Mister L? Please, follow me, and kindly remove any devices.” She held out a small box, padded with the fi leather.

  “See you ter, Pearl,” he whispered into his microphone. Pearl, predictably, didn’t respond. She was being melodramatic again. With a shrug, Luodded to the waitress and said, “Naturally.” He handed over his precious eleid followed her to the main stage.

  A massive table with tes stood at the ter of the room, illuminated by intense lights in different colors for each spot. Lucas slid into the chair under a yellow beam, sinking into its plush fort. Riker clearly hadn’t skimped on luxury.

  The table itself was a work of art—or madness. A hundred intricate, iwining lines wove around the table. The tral ptform rotated in slow, deliberate movements, creating endless possible figurations. With quantum tunneling involved, eveions were pointless.

  Then, a man in a dazzling, multicolored coat hopped onto the ptfrabbing a microphone. His attire shimmered with every color of the rainbow. “Brilliaes of humanity! I’m Riker, and this is the moment we’ve all been waiting for. It’s time for The Riker’s Luck!”

  A crowd had gathered in a wide circle around the table, their anticipation palpable but silent. If Riker had hoped for raucous cheers, he’d be disappointed. Still, he pressed on. “Who will cim the early prize? Who will seize the lucky treasure? Let’s roll the circle!”

  With a loud series of clicks, the circur ptform spun. The noise of tless tiny es and meisms filled the air. Riker produced a tall staetallic cards, handing two to each pyer.

  “First round starts—as per tradition—with the blue pyer.” All eyes turo a striking woman in a daring red dress and a bck mask adorned with dandelions.

  “Let’s start big, shall we?” she said in a pyful tone, sliding two golden-pted chips forward. “Two thousand on blue.”

  The pyers tht folded one by one, until a burly man with a deep, booming voice said, “Call. Yellow.” Lucas shook his head when his turn came. His cards were useless—two subroutines. Fantastic.

  When no one else challenged her, Riker’s grin widened. “Py your hand!”

  The woman slipped a card into one of the three slots in front of her. “Firewall.” As the card clicked into pce, aric current surged through the table, and a vivid blue path lit up, stretg toward the ter.

  Her oppo studied the path carefully before iing his card into the middle slot. “Trojan Horse.” His red light burst across the table, sneaking through various paths and targeting multiple slots, including the firewall.

  “Oh my, how bold,” she remarked, her voice calm despite the threat. “Raise. Four thousand.”

  Her oppo matched her chips with a tense, “Call.”

  “Firewall,” she said again, sliding another card into the slot. Even more es fred in blue, illuminating the table.

  The man’s jaw tightened as she revealed her card. Two firewalls. Her luck was amazing—equivalent to pulling four aces in poker. He revealed his ultimate py with visible frustration. “Forced Restart.”

  “Oh? Trying your luck?” Her tone was light, but the tension in the room alpable. The red light from his card surged through the table’s paths, breaking es and splitting the circle into smaller segments. Around twenty ses rotated at random angles.

  Some es realigned, while others fizzled out. Lights flickered in a chaotice, colors shifting across the table. Over Lucas’s seat, beams flickered between indigo, green, and yellow before returning to yellow again. Most pyers’ colors shifted—except for ohe woman remained resolutely blue.

  “The winner of the first round is Miss T!” Riker shouted with enthusiasm. The crowd buzzed with excitement as the meism drew the used cards into its core and the circle rotated again.

  When Lucas’s turn came, he picked up a pair of cards. The first, a green Memory Bank, had real potential. Pyed correctly, even a firewall wouldn’t stop him. The sed, a Switchboard, ractically useless under normal circumstances—but in the right moment…

  Somewhere in the juh an angel

  Just beyond the barrier, the Bl thrashed and sshed with relentless fury, its hidden form boung erratically as it attacked the translut shield. Nothing reached us—not its cws, not its roars, not even the ing stench of charred flesh. Instead, the air inside felt pure aalized, as if the world itself had taken a deep, sing breath.

  “Hey, angel,” I said, my tone casual as I rose to my feet. No fear now. “Got a name? Fine, if I talk normally?”

  I stepped closer, but halted under her pierg gaze. Her bright, otherworldly eyes studied my face with a straensity, making me feel oddly exposed. What? If I remembered correctly, angels were just ordinary people drafted into divine service after taking a crash course in god-w. Nothing special.

  After what felt like ay, she sighed—a soft, shallow sound. “Granted. I’m Sera.”

  “Hi, Sera. So, what do you think about my plea? Is it achievable to get the Juggernaut?”

  Katherine waved her hand impatiently, cutting us off. “Wait. Wha’s ‘tat again?”

  “The Juggernaut embodies everything our patron stands flory, strength, fearlessness,” Sera answered meically, her voice devoid of emotion. “Since you are a didate, I share the details.”

  Katherine’s eyes lit up as she sed the floating s in front of her. With every new line she read, her expression grew brighter until she was grinning like a child on their birthday.

  Normally, seeing her like that would have me cheg my pants for any embarrassiement, but not this time. Stupid Lucas! We would o rob the gover blind, and I’d finally recim my old body. Just wait, Katherine. What’s a few years of glory pared to what I lost?

  “Wha’ now? I want it!” Katherine shouted, her face shining with determination. She grabbed Sera’s hands eagerly, causing the ao flutter clumsily. Despite herself, Sera softened, a faint smile. “I’ve sent a request to our department. It’s under review.”

  As they debated heaven’s bureaucratisense, I turned my attention to the Bl. The odd beast, everyone cimed, was mindless, driven solely by its hunger. It would chase prey until devoured. My mentor oold me, Sacrifiething, let it eat, and then run.

  Yeah, sure.

  My gaze lingered on Katherine, who was husiastically arguing with Sera about swords. No sacrifice.

  We run.

  The Bl’s wound had already healed, its shimmering body fading to invisibility again. Still, I could se battering the barrier, uerred. Relentless. Ihe meadow wasn’t rge enough to keep us pletely out of reach. Teleport scrolls were our only way out, and with the first pat the horizon, wasting one didn’t feel so bad.

  When this nonsense was over, we’d o find the ruins. If the quest said “help the princess,” it meant I had the same quest. I just didn’t know about it because I’d turned notifications off. Stupid Lucas. Ice-blood-god-knows-where. And Lisa? Dead. That left me with the overly excited streamer as my only option.

  I stole a g Katherine while she chatted away, absorbed in examining her skills. Her enthusiasm was almost tagious, but I wasn’t about to let it distract me.

  There’s was a video of someone soloing this city. They did it all alone.

  Why risk it, though?

  Their versatied on for over an hour, so I sat doreteo meditate.

  As if I could.

  Instead, I brewed agility potions with my exploit. Efficy over spirituality.

  Finally, Sera’s melodic voice broke my focus. “Please bear witness, hero!”

  Katherine k in front of Sera, holding a massive two-handed sword. A rec device floated nearby, capturing everything. My heart jumped. “Wait, wait!” I scrambled to up my alchemy tools and dashed toward them.

  “Katherine, do you willingly swear to abide by the ws of Feran, be bound by his rules, and bask in his glory? Do you swear to always meet your enemy with honor?”

  The quick spri me winded, and I had to lean against a tree to catch my breath. Katherine, ever radiant, held her sword out proudly. Her hair tumbled over her shoulders as she locked eyes with Sera.

  “Yup, I swear!” she decred, uo suppress her grin.

  Sera’s expression didn’t waver. She pced her unarmored hand on the bde’s edge. Blood trickled doweel, pooling at the hilt before toug Katherine.

  The moment it did, she shuddered, then screamed in pain.

  Sera turoward me, her presence imposing. “I-” My voice cracked at the sight of Katherine’s agony. Clutg the handle of my whip for support, I forced myself to speak. “I witness.”

  Ign Katherine’s cries, Sera smirked slightly. “Katherihe Juggernaut, you are now the fifth glory seeker.” She turo me again, her smile growing ominous. “Ceremony pleted. Thus, I tear down the barrier.”

  “Wait!” I luoward her, but she vanished before I could reach her. ge of pns.

  “Katherine, pull out a teleport scroll! Now! Marketpce!”

  Without waiting, I tore mine ahe spell surge through me. But Katherine didn’t move. That stubborn woman turned her armored bae, her swlinting in the fading light.

  Her voice was steady. “No. Always meet with glory.”

  “No!” The teleport spell anchored itself, pulling me away. “Katherine, you ’t win! We’ll go on an adventure! Find the ring!”

  She didn’t respond, only strode forward toward the barrier, her hair catg the light like a halo. The cracks in the shield stretched wider.

  Bl’s triumphant screech pierced the meadow, drowning out her st words as I disappeared.