Entry #21 [Call]
Universe Visited: CYS-77777778-FR
Universe Codename: Token
Cyno Scale: 6
Current Universe: CYN-113333-FR
Notes:
Entry #21. I can cross off my first hypothesis. This universe’s Cyno can not, in fact, teleport light-year long distances. To start from the beginning, the world in which I located this Cyno, who I will name Casyno for reasons that will become increasingly obvious, is very similar to yours. In fact, it is so similar that there is near negligible difference. One particular similarity is the existence of gambling dens, and it is in one of these depraved places that I found Casyno.
With two white pigtails propped up along with a gold diamond eyepatch on her face, one would assume she would stick out like a sore thumb. However, because of the flashiness and bright colours of the Casino, she fit right in.
I found her wandering up and down the aisles, sliding a finger down each arm of the machines, tapping on the glass of some, blinking intently. There was a sort of childish charm to her look, weirdly innocent in the face of corruption. All around her were old and greying men, drunk out of their minds on ecstasy or sorrow. I suppose I would describe her expression as content. That is hard to find in a place like a casino.
She would sit down once every couple of machines, slipping a card into the slot, betting maximum amounts and lazily swinging the handle. I watched as she won every single machine without fail. Golden coins made out of pixels and whatever theme the machine had would fall down the screen, with the words “CONGRATULATIONS” in bright red letters. She rarely spun more than once, and when she did, she almost always lost some amount of money on the second spin. She seemed aware of this, however, as she would shrug it off and walk onto the next one.
I had suspicion that she was utilizing some sort of power, but there was nothing visual that could confirm anything. Was her Starcore allowing her to cheat? To hack into the machines?
Recently, I have realized that I can modify my system that scans for Cyenergy and make it more particular with its scanning. Inputting that program into my M4SK makes it so that I can see traces of Cyenergy in finer detail, and that can lead to me seeing the effects of some powers, even when others don’t. A good example would be if a Cyno had invisible esper arms. Since it is made up of the Starcore, it emits Cyenergy just the same, and wearing my M4SK would allow me to see this.
Using this newfound discovery, I turned on my M4SK to check for Casyno’s powers. The first thing I saw were two bunny ears, shaped like blue neon signs, flickering above her head. Then, I began to see numbers appear. Percentages, to be exact, beside each machine. I watched as she sat down on one labeled “89%” and won immediately. Furthermore, I saw her try some that had percentages as low as 24%, only to smile when she lost.
It seems as though her power is related to seeing the percentages of things, the probabilities of things. I’m not sure what the probabilities are, although I think that she herself has to be asking the question. For example, she is probably thinking about whether or not she would win if she spun the machine. Or else the percentages could mean literally anything, and that would not be helpful whatsoever.
This is an interesting power, and it makes me ask a lot of questions. For example, can she change the percentage? If she cannot, it is much less useful, as knowing with 100% certainty you will die will not stop you from dying. However, knowing that a plan has a 30% chance of survival and measuring it with another plan with a 60% chance of survival can be helpful. Since the numbers on the slot machines did not change, or Casyno did not attempt to change them, I believe it is safe to say that the percentages are rooted in fact, sort of like fate (although I loathe to admit there is such a thing). I turned off my M4SK’s scanning function and decided I needed to learn more.
I followed her as she finished with the slot machines, then Blackjack, then roulette, then baccarat, then, finally, when she settled at a Poker table, buying a hand next to a rather sad looking decrepit man.
She asked him about her day, her cheery voice contrasting with the man’s low somber tone. After entertaining a few of her prodding questions and losing a couple of rounds, he began to be frustrated at Casyno, lashing out at her and telling her to scram.
Beside him, somebody whispered in his ear, saying something along the lines of, “You don’t know her? I wouldn’t mess with her. She’s insane.” If she heard it, she gave no notice. They continued to play, with Casyno winning every hand, and the man getting more and more angry.
Finally, before winning the rest of his chips, she turned over and spoke, the saccharine sweetness melted from her voice.
“You’re Jack, right? Fishhooks?” He studied her as if he was looking at her for the first time. It seemed that he had made a big mistake. (N0V4: I made a quick background check on Fishhook, god rest his soul, and turns out he’s named that because he was notorious for winning games with the poker hand “Fishhooks”, which is two Jacks! The more you know!)
“How d’you know ma name?” He barked back at her.
“It doesn’t matter. Are you aware of any loans you could’ve taken out lately?” With that, Fishhook’s face blanched, but it was too late. Casyno’s bodyguards had already surrounded the perimeter, and he quickly realized that the rest of the players had left the table. He gulped.
“I’ll take that as a yes, Fishy. Here’s what’s going to happen. Either you pay the loan back right now, which,” Casyno glanced at the chips on her side of the table, “you clearly don’t have. Or, you play one game with me. Just one! If you win, you can go off, scot free. Yay! If you lose, you won’t just owe us your money…” She looked him in the eye, but there wasn’t really malice or anything of the sort. Not even happiness or twisted darkness. It was unthreatening, just a blank sort of stare.
“You’ll owe us your life.”
Faced with this decision, Fishhook knew enough to know that he didn’t really have a decision. He had no secret stash of cash he could whip out to pay them back. He probably was not even sure if winning the lottery would cover his debt to the loan sharks. He reluctantly agreed to the game with Casyno.
I believe that Casyno had to have been taught human psychology in some capacity, as her whole persona would easily throw somebody off or psych them out. I found myself being unable to pin her personality down while I watched her actions as well.
Casyno reset the chips, splitting them evenly between her and Fishhook, and began the game of heads-up Poker. The game was strangely remarkable even in the beginning. There were several hands that Casyno lost to Fishhook, several more that Fishhooks lost to Casyno, but the movements of the chips kept swinging back and forth, back and forth. Casyno was having fun, squinting her eyes at cards and giggling when she won. Fishhooks, on the other hand, was poised. Serious. He was a dishevelled husk of a man, that was true, but it did not mean he was a bad Poker player. He was just unlucky.
I suppose eventually, Casyno became bored with playing with her food. The hand was dealt out, and I floated behind Fishhook to see what he could have gotten. Two Jacks. His hands were hidden under the table, but it must have been a good hand, as I could see his fists ball up in anticipation. Casyno didn’t look at her cards. The first three cards came out on the table. A three of hearts. A six of diamonds. A jack of diamonds. Before Fishhook could decide what to do, Casyno spoke.
“Do you want to know something cool?” She mused. Fishhook, holding a Poker face, nodded slightly, sweat beading up on his brow. Casyno leaned in closely to him. “When you get a good hand, your eyebrows raise slightly.”
Fishhook stared at her intently. If Casyno was trying to make Fishhook touch his eyebrows, she had failed. Casyno laughed, then pushed all her chips in, her cards still folded on the table.
Fishhook stared at the chips sitting on the table. Casyno kicked her legs on the chair, smiling brightly. I did some quick research. Three-of-a-kind was the seventh best hand on the poker hand rankings list. It was not the best hand possible, but it was one of the best hands available. She stared at him, and grinned.
“What are you waiting for? You have two Jacks, don’t you?” Fishhook’s expression didn’t change. I was mildly surprised. I turned on my M4SK again, searching for the trace of Cyenergy that I had seen before. There was nothing. Even the bunny ears had disappeared from her head. Was she bluffing? Was she cheating?
Fishhook stared at her one second more, then pushed his chips in. He must have thought what any sane person was thinking: she was bluffing.
The rest of the cards came out. Ace of hearts. Ace of clubs. Fishhook swallowed. Casyno flipped her cards. Ace of spades. Ace of diamonds. Four of a kind. The cards fell out of Fishhook’s hands, the two Jacks looking more like Jokers, mocking his play.
Casyno erupted in laughter, kicking her legs up into the air, pointing at him.
“I told you it was two Jacks, I knew it!” She brought a finger up to her eye, swiping the tear away. “I swear, it was all luck. I didn’t even look at my cards!” He stared blankly back at her, the reality of the situation not quite settled in. “Oh my gosh, it’s been a while since I’ve done that! The thrill! The high is like no other, I tell ya- Oh wait, you probably already know! Thank you for the entertainment!” Casyno jumped up and down from the seat like an excited child, her pigtails bouncing up and down.
Fishhook, a cornered animal, saw nowhere left to run, and produced a small knife from the inside of his boot, grabbing onto Casyno. Her eyepatch fell off in the short scuffle, skidding onto the ground. Her guards rushed to help her, but she lifted a hand up. When she lifted her head, I saw that her right eye mirrored mine: they were both golden. The difference, however, was that hers was glowing, almost pulsating with power. It felt like it was about to overflow. She turned around slowly, staring at Fishhook.
“Now, now. We can’t be sore losers, can we?” Turning on my M4SK, I could see that the Cyenergy had begun leaking out of her eye. Before it could culminate in anything, however, a guard saw the momentary confusion from Fishhooks and tackled him onto the ground, holding him in place. Another guard handed Casyno the diamond eyepatch, and she placed it firmly on her face again, sighing.
Before she left Fishhook, she patted his head like a dog and said, “You gave me a fun time. I’ll put in a good word with daddy!” And skipped away.
To sum it all up, the current state of this universe is that this Cyno turned into a debt collector working for her “father”, which I can only assume is adoptive, and that her power allows her to, at the very least, see probabilities. Depending on how much of a debt collector she is, I may not be able to enlist her help. Her power is quite interesting, however, so I will return again tomorrow to research her situation.
There is also one more fact that may be important in the future: during this entire exchange, all but one person averted their gaze to the situation at hand. It was a young man, dressed in a suit and a fox-print tie. I wonder why he was looking.
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