Capítulo 5: [Deck Ejected.]
The man returned to wherever he had come from and Aaron was left standing in front of the desk.
Sitting behind it was a stern-looking woman in a black uniform with the Spade insignia on her chest, tapping away at her keyboard.
Her eyes flicked up to him occasionally, as if she was taking time out of her busy schedule to assess whether he was worth her time and he should be grateful.
"Sit." She said in a clipped tone.
Aaron took his seat, waiting as she tapped away. Just when he was about to go against his instinct and attract her attention in case she'd forgotten he existed, she spoke again.
"Name?"
"Aaron. Aaron Tapp." He replied, shifting uncomfortably in the stiff chair.
The woman typed on her keyboard, her fingers moving like a mechanical spider. "Deck rank?"
Aaron hesitated. He didn't want to tell anybody that. At least, not yet. Nobody knows if SSS Rank Cardholders are immediately conscripted to serve in a war.
"Uh... not sure." He lied with a straight face.
The woman's brow twitched, but she didn't press him. Instead, shook her head. "Place your deck on the table."
Aaron frowned. "How in the heavens do I-?"
As if listening in, the screen appeared and his deck disappeared from his soul space to coalesce in front of him.
[Deck Ejected.]
His brows rose but he said nothing, snatching his deck out of the air. The whole thing responded to his desires. Got it.
But can they really find out the rank of his deck? He hesitated but the woman cleared her throat in a way that definitely wasn't polite and placed the deck on the table.
The deck glowed softly in a rainbow of colors and the woman reached into her desk and pulled out a tablet, swiping it over the deck. The tablet chimed and as the screen in front of her lit up, her eyes widened slightly.
It was the first crack in her stone-like expression. She recovered quickly, her expression smoothing back into professionalism. "Interesting." She murmured.
"What's interesting?" Aaron asked nervously.
The woman ignored him, instead pushing the tablet toward a small scanner embedded in the table.
A beam of light swept over the deck, and a faint holographic screen appeared above it, displaying various stats and information Aaron didn't understand.
"Congratulations, Mr. Tapp." The woman said dryly. "You are now a registered Cardholder." She tapped a few more buttons on her tablet, and a glowing card materialized on the desk. "This is your ID. Don't lose it."
Aaron picked up the card, its surface smooth and warm. His name was etched on it, along with a faint outline of the slime insignia representing his deck. They really had a way to get all the information they needed about his deck.
"Anything else I need to know?" He asked.
The woman arched an eyebrow. "Plenty, but that's not my job. You'll figure it out soon enough." She gestured toward the door. "You're free to go. Someone will be waiting for you outside."
Aaron definitely knew when he wasn't wanted and it didn't take him long to find the door into the hallway outside with his new ID card.
"There he is!" He looked up at the familiar voice to see Sydney leaning casually against the wall, her arms crossed and a knowing smirk on her face. "Our new Cardholder."
"Welcome to the club." She said, pushing off the wall as he approached. She handed him a folded bill. "Here. Your share for the Outcast. Twenty bucks."
Aaron unfolded the bill and stared at it. "Wait... this is it? Twenty dollars? That's the reward for risking our lives fighting that thing?"
Sydney shrugged, the motion nonchalant. "Welcome to the life of a Cardholder. Most of the big rewards go to Spades, Clubs, or anyone else higher up the chain. Ordinary Cardholders get scraps. The system is built to keep the average Cardholder incentivized, not rich."
"That's ridiculous." He said, tucking the money into his pocket. "Why even bother?"
"Because the alternative is worse." She said, her tone turning serious. "Outcasts don't stop. If we don't deal with them, nobody does. Most Cardholders just take what they can get and hope for something better. Or become Jokers, which I won't recommend."
Aaron frowned but didn't argue. After facing that nightmare of a creature, he understood what it would mean if unleashed on unsuspecting humans.
"You were pretty impressive back there." Sydney said, her smirk returning. "For a newbie, I mean. Most people would've frozen up or gotten themselves killed."
He narrowed his eyes in suspicion, unsure how to respond. "Uh, thanks, I guess. It was mostly instinct."
"Instinct's good. It means you've got potential." She said with a smirk. "So, what's the rank of your deck?"
Aaron laughed, the question catching him off guard. Why does everyone want to know the rank of his deck? "Does it matter?" He asked, raising his brows in question.
Sydney tilted her head, studying him. "You're not going to tell me, are you?"
"I don't even know if you're sane yet." He muttered under his breath. He was tired, overwhelmed, and more than a little suspicious of how easygoing she was being. She was probably trying to scam the fuck out of him.
"Look, I appreciate the help and all, but I just want to go home. This whole thing with the cards, Outcasts, the In Between, it's too much."
Sydney sighed, crossing her arms again. "Do you think you're safe?"
"What?" The question hit him like a bucket of ice cold water. He hesitated, unsure how to answer.
"You didn't even know how you got to the In Between, did you?" She continued, her tone blunt. "And judging by how you've been acting, I'm guessing you don't know much about Cards or Cardholders. Am I right?"
Aaron stared at her. He did know when he entered the In Between. That had been the first message he'd gotten when he touched the deck.
But she wasn't wrong. He didn't know if or when he'd end up in the In Between again or why he'd received the package with his mother's name on it.
Sydney softened, her voice losing some of its edge. "Look, I get it. This is a lot to take in. But ignorance isn't going to protect you. If anything, it's going to get you killed."
"Outcasts, Jokers, even other Cardholders, they won't care that you're new. You're in this world now, and you need to understand it."
"And I can teach you." Sydney said, stepping closer. "Everything you need to know. How to fight, how to survive, how to control your deck. All I ask is that you join me. You've got potential, rookie. Don't waste it."
Aaron stared at her, wondering what her deal was but no matter how hard he stared into her eyes, he couldn't find any hints of ill intent or deception.
She wasn't lying, he realized. She genuinely believed what she was saying.
"Why do you care?" He asked her, tilting his head in curiosity. "You barely know me."
Sydney smirked. "Maybe I just like a good underdog story."
Aaron rolled his eyes at her words. She might be crazy but she was the best thing he had to a manual on all this madness.
After a long pause, he sighed. "Fine. I'll stick with you for now. But if you start swinging that sword at me again, I'm out."
Sydney laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. "Deal. Now, let's get out of here."
Status de energia semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Pedra de
Poder