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[Shamino Warhen Ph.D]

The boat would have taken up the majority, if not all, of the small docks that kept small yacht's at shoreside. So Shamino's Halen pulled into port and had the massive steel walkway come down. It was the ship's first official business day, and advertisements in Hircine High and in dorms alike said that Shamino's new business venture welcomed everyone in some way. May it be food, gambling, drink, or rooms.

The sun had just set, and the last visible rays of the massive ball of fire were dying. The sun's reign over the sky was over, and a full, blue moon was rising to take its rightful place in the night sky. Shamino leaned over the edge of the top floor. Behind him, was a small, one story house-like structure on the boat that held two private lounges, a bathroom, and his office. To his left, at the other side of the ship, were the steps that lead upwards onto the floor. It was a rather warm night, considering the month, so he had left his jacket in his office. He watched the small crowds of adults and students alike pull up in taxi's, limo's, or their own vehicles to park at the lot.

"Tell them the ship is casting off in half an hour." Shamino said. A purser behind him nodded and ran towards the steps to alert the crew, and the announcement system. Over twenty security, dressed in standard suits and packing far too much heat, would be looking over the entire ship for any illegal activities. While this would make any other businessman feel safe, Shamino sighed. I'll have to mingle He thought dreadfully. "Time to finish up the paperwork." He mumbled. He waved down at the oblivious crowd, and turned around to open his office door. He shut it quickly, not wanting to waste the heat.




"Everybody's ready sir, looks like we're all good to go. Business is open."
"Thanks. Get to it." Shamino turned off the speaker function on his office phone, and idly tapped away at the desktop computer. He brought up the security camera grid, syphoning through the camera's with a bored look on his face. "Let something interesting happen."


(From my bio: The small steamliner is suitable for up to several thousand people on it at any given time. It is split up into the engineering floor, the lodgings for the crew, the lodgings for guests, the restaurant, the gambling floor, and at the very top of the ship a private quarters for the owner (Shamino) and private employee's, that include a small lounge, restroom, private lounge for the owner, and beside the smaller lounge and office for which to work from._

[king]

"Three Aces,"

Kurtz flipped over his hand, taking the generally slow game now that most of the people had left the table. It had slowly become a high-stakes table, as Kurtz started off with student competition and gradually worked up enough money to gamble with the cities elite. Kurtz had been kicked out of every other establishment so far in the city, his infamous name becoming a practical synonym for bankruptcy.

Kyrtz eyes wandered around, taking in the view of all that could be seen. The place was certainly fancy, and would likely due business for many years to come. The food was good as well, as a waitress attended to him with a platter of fried calamari. she was obviously an experienced waitress, as Kurtz had not found himself wanting all evening. He was experienced enough, however, to know this was entirely because his stack of chips had grown significantly over the evening. She was the most well-mannered vulture Kurtz had ever met in the city, that much was for sure.

"Pair of twos"

Kurtz won the hand from an obvious bluff, taking in a rather large pile of chips. Two more people arrived at the table with their chips. One was new to Kurtz, which screamed easy money out on the town, and the other was the Mayor's aid. He had a penchant for gambling and was impossible to read, due to the fact that he was bluffing about his hand no matter how good it was. He didn't play by the number though, so unless luck was heavily in his favor he was unlikely to end up with the better winnings.

Kurtz took another bite from his food, the tender squid sliding effortlessly of his shrimp fork, before returning to the game again. He was constantly looking around the room, taking note of his surroundings. The one thing you could always bet on was that winning got attention, which could either be good or bad. Until then, Kurtz was determined to enjoy his night as best as possible. The host would best be thankful, as it was known throughout the city that a gambling establishment, all of which eventually stopped allowing him to enter, would inevitably do business based on word of mouth, which in this city meant his.

"Flush, give half to the waitress. Take the plate with you."

Kurtz watched eagerly as the next hand was dealt, knowing that instead of worrying about being kicked out he should just enjoy one of his few moments of unrestrained gambling.

[kaiser]

Taj was effortlessly roaming the streets, looking for a nice place to, "decorate." Unfotunately for him, he had grown quite bored of simply tagging places around the city. He had lost the rush, the thrill of being caught, and in reality that was a huge part of the reason he did it. It was always fun knowing that he might be locked up and fined for vandalism. It was then when Taj noticed that he been roaming around a peer. It was then when he realized that the the ultimate throw up would be on something as noticable as a boat. Apparantly luck was on Taj's side today because a particular steamliner caught his attention. It wasn't too big but at the same time it would definately leave a message to the owner.

[Hmm..It's not like I can tag up on the side of the boat, considering that there seems to be life on the boat, and it would it would take way too long. Let's not forget about the fact that it would really easy to get caught. Hmm...maybe if I snuck ONTO the boat and tagged up inside the boat. That way I would definately leave a message, it just wouldn't be as.."loud" as tagging the entire side.]

And thus, it was decided. After a brief analysis of his options, Taj decided he was going to somehow sneak onto the boat, tag up once on at least every section of the boat. Unfortunately there were definately some major issues with this event, considering that Taj's attire, wasn't very, "incognito" Taj looked at himself up and down. He was wearing his usual Graffiti attire. A black hoodie, with dark blue jeans oh so cleverly tucked in to stained combat boots. Not to mention the huge gask mask dangling form his neck, following the husky backpack full of spray paint.

"Oh well. I guess I won't be so, "sneaky" then." said Taj sarcastically speaking aloud. And so he got into a crouching position and made his way toward the boat, staying alert for any type of guards, or better yet, any sign of human life.

Taj made his move, ever so quietly did he stalk the boat, his boots making a thump on the pier, carefully manuvering himself around careless guards.

By the grace of god, he managed to make his way on the boat and into engineering floor, figuring that the lower he went, the less guards there would be. It would be on this particular floor that Taj would make his headquarters for this covert graffiti operation.

[Shamino Warhen Ph.D]

(Thanks for making THREADS. Guys. Really. You're awesome



Careless guards. Careless, $80 000 a year, pistol packing, fiercly loyal, ex-foreign security guards.


"We have a Code 1 on the engineering floor." Alexander said quietly into his collar. Alex, who had been with Shamino for over a year now, brandished his AK casually by keeping it held against his back, using the entire strap over his shoulder. There was ONE way on the ship, and that was by the massive ramp that everyone else had been entering. The only other way was the private, emergency launch that was more than fifty feet up in the air, and was used for utmost emergencies, and reserved for the bossman himself. So when a punk thought no guards were looking when he snuck up the ramp, he was wrong.

Upon entering the engineering floor, the first several steps would be his last on the boat. Kaufman, who had also worked with Shamino for at least several years, was behind the stairwell, positioned well. With a lead pipe he would bring it down against the head of Taj Murkuro, while he was walking forward. It would be difficult to detect due to Taj making unavoidable noise in such a metalic place, and easy for Kaufman due to his masking of his movements with the noises around him.


***


Shamino kept his eyes on one of the poker tables, his expression of slight interest as he kept tabs on the game at hand. "That guy's been at it for a while..." He said to himself. "Maybe i'll head down and join."

[king]

(I wanted the opening night feel to the thread....)

"Fold"

Kurtz tossed his cards toward the dealer, not actually bothering to see how the cards played out. He could tell the man across from him was going to win. As the hand finished the man did indeed win, and the rest of the tables players left they were left alone. The man grinned at hm in an animalistic manner, seeing the young kid who just gave up as an easy target. Kurtz found humor that the balding geezer who couldn't hide how good his hand was thought he was going to take his money. Kurtz looked down at his watch, ever concious of the fact it was a school night.

~Looks like I have time to cause one more bankruptcy~

The dealer began to pass out cards again, Kurtz slowly taking measure, and found he was suddenly playing the wrong game. If he were playing black jack, he would have just won.

"I'm in"

[Odin Reeves]

Pulling a chair out from the table Odin took a seat to Kurtz’ left, one chairs over. He had never been much for gambling, but this wasn’t about a game of cards for him. He had words he wished to speak with the school pillar, but needed to do so in a more private establishment then those found around town. What better place then to hide in an age-restricted area that was so out in the public that it was easy for someone to remain hidden. Odin found it useful in the utmost, and had thus far been cautiously putting money in each and every pot, but only went in when he knew he had a winning hand. There had been a few times where he was nearly busted, given his already short lease to work with, it took him the majority of the night to even get himself half way up to what some would assume to be high-stakes. Never less, Odin had gained some funding, and was prepared to spend some as well as long as it turned the tides in his favor.

Watching the hand as it begun Odin remained quiet, he wasn’t going to interject, nor was he going to display himself as some arrogant buffoon who was having a good night. He simple remained quiet, calm, and relatively hidden despite his arrival. Taking his time to catch the pillars attention he waited until Kurtz was looking his direction before speaking. Whether that was before or after the hand was over Odin wouldn’t know, but as soon as he did look over a simply sentence would be said.

“We need to talk.”

[king]

"Forward, aren't you?"

Kurtz had been able to tell that the other student had wanted to speak with him for some time. At the card table, Kurtz was about ten times as insightful as he was in a fight. No one was unreadable to him when he had cards in his hand, and this kid was no different.

Kurtz looked at his cards, then to the other player, then to their newest guest, and finally at the played cards. They all had something, that was for sure. Kurtz knew from his hand, however, that he could not be beaten no matter what the other player had. If this kid wanted to talk, he had to prove he was worth the time.

"When playing cards, everything one says is a tool. Everything offered is a gamble, and you never know what could be a loss or a gain until the others hand is shown. Taking unnecessary risks can get you in trouble. Your talk could easily result in your robbing me. The only way to offset risk is with reward. Check"

Kurtz's hand tapped his cards, signifying that though he was due to raise the bet, he was not going to. It sent an obvious message to both the players still at the table. he was waiting to see how they reacted and how it played out.

"If you want to talk, make me interested in risking my hand. Do that, and maybe what you have to say will interest me enough as well."

Kurtz had clearly given Odin a challenge. Kurtz did not plan on raising any bets, and it was up to Odin to get the pot up. He had to get enough money in there to make Kurtz interested in talking to him afterward. The question now was whether he intended to do so by throwing his own chips into the pot with reckless abandon, or whether he tricked the man still at the table to help.

Kurtz would have to see what Odin did, as from his position he had to raise the stakes first.

[kaiser]

As Taj crept into the engineering floor. He was quite amazed at how easily was able to sneak onto the boat.

[Man this was easy...maybe too easy.]

Something just wasn't right. The boat seemed way to fancy for a 6 foot hooded figured to just sneak onto the boat without no one knowing. Several thoughts began to come up within Taj's mind.

[Well there are several events that could of just occured in this situation. Well for one I may have actually gotten in undetected. Two the captian of this fine boat knows I am here and is simply not doing anything about it. Or Three...]

Taj suddenly looked at the ground and noticed a shadow creeping up behind him, with some type of object raised above Taj's head.

Taj rolled his eyes and bit his lip.

[Or...Three..I'm boned.]

At that moment Kaufmen brought the lead pipe down and struck Taj across the head, knocking him out.

[Odin Reeves]

Odin’s eyes looked from player to player, as the challenge was set. He was obviously disgruntled by the challenge, as it was a mental task that required keen thinking in a short amount of time. Odin was much better at relying on his instincts, not planning out something that would benefit him further in the future. Yet, he was sure that if he could get the school pillar to speak with him afterwards than he could get his idea implanted into the mans mind.

Giving a soft sigh he looked down at the cards present in front of him, neither seemed to satisfy him compared to the cards that were dealt, and such his attention was focused back onto Kurtz. It seemed he was more preoccupied with figuring out a way to make Kurtz risk his hand then on winning itself, and thus this tell was being presented like a bulls eye for the other man. Reaching down Odin picked up a few chips, not really concerned with what amount they totaled, and tossed them softly into the pot.

“$200 raise. $200 to call sir.” The dealer announced. The betting moved around to the other man, the one who was swimming in his chips mentally, and showing this attitude physically. With what Odin had seen earlier the man would most likely double or triple Odin’s bet, trying to induce the rest into either folding, or putting larger sums into the pot. Odin seemed distracted with his task, so he’d be a simple target. Whether or not Odin’s planned succeeded depended on the other man risking his chips first, as was the rotation of the table. It would be like this for every hand, and hopefully it wouldn’t take long for the stakes to be raised, or else he’d be dead in the water in just a few hands.

[king]

The man across from the two students looked at his cards before throwing his chips in, only raising the bet slightly. Odin's odd bet scared him, as while it was a bet it was not much by the tables standards. He raised the bet another hundred, which was considered conservative by the tables value. He no doubt thought that Odin had something, though not anything particularly impressive. He wasn't going to risk being beaten.

Kurtz tossed in his chips, matching the so far small bet to stay in the game. His opponents knew he was not going to waste his time, and as chip leader Kurtz could easily just play lazy for many hands.

It was now Odin's turn again, and he was due to raise the bet or at least match it. There would still be two more rounds of betting if he matched, but Kurtz was far from satisfied to actually bother placing his own money in the pot yet. Odin was running out of time, and had already spooked their opponent somewhat. He would have to play more carefully now if he wanted Kurtz's attention.

[Odin Reeves]

‘Well, that didn’t go right.’ Odin eyes lingered off of Kurtz and moved over towards the older individual, taking a brief look at his stake to signify his seemingly weak hand. After watching some of the poker shows on television he had gained a small knowledge of tells, and how to exploit them. He still seemed however to be rather new at this game and was riding on beginners luck.

“Call.” His voice was emotionless, following in kind with his expression as he simply sat there and tossed in another set of chips. Before he hadn’t been sure as to what was considered an average bet at this table, and given his already low amount of chips compared to the other two, he had to figure out a way of getting some recognition as to an average bet. After the last round of betting he believed he had done so, even if it was at a cost of possibly losing the other mans nature of greed.

Now Odin simply began to eye the dealer, waiting for a chance to resume betting. He needed to obtain Kurtz’s interest in him, and as such he’d risk his own chips if need be. Though for an overall night, if he went home broke, it wouldn’t be to much of a loss considering the amount he stepped in with.

[king]

Kurtz watched as the next card was placed, and Kurtz knew the only hand that could possibly beat him could no longer be played. He had won, it was a statistical fact now. The only question left was how much he could win. If he was playing at his best, he would be taking home his opponents money.

"Check"

Kurtz checked again, smiling at Odin as he did so. This put an odd face on the older competitor, both angry at not being noticed but glad such a foolish child was on the board. To him the money just looked a bit easier to get. Kurtz was helping his newest guest a little. but as it was Odins turn to bet again it was up to him to finish the job.

[Odin Reeves]

Odin looked at the community cards that were presented, then the cards in his hand. He had jack shit, and this is normally when he’d toss his cards away. But he wasn’t playing to win; he was trying to get someone’s attention. Therefore, once the betting was passed on to him he pushed in roughly half his stalk of chips. It was just south of three thousand dollars, much more then Odin had started playing with earlier in the night, and ten-time the amount he expected to leave with once the night was over.

“That’s twenty-eight fifty.” He proclaimed without a hinder of expression. Yet, as the moments passed and his chip count was confirmed by the dealer his left hand was raised to his face, running over it as if to brush away the fatigue. Or to hide the fact that he was nervous. Perhaps this was another tell that the older man could possibly pick up on. If not it would become more then clear that Odin had next to nothing as he stared toward the second largest stalk at the table.

“I believe it’s your move.” He said in a semi-cocky tone, leaning back in his chair while resting his arms at his sides. He was trying to appear as though he was more confident then he really was, push a few of the old man’s buttons into at least calling his hand. Or perhaps raising it even further to push Odin out of the hand due to a lack of chips. If either one was the case, Odin’s true plan would be a success, assuming the knowledgeable gambler to his right caught on, or simply had the best hand.

[king]

The old man watched Odin intently, then followed by matching his bet. He still was confident in his hand, but it was obvious that Odin was upped to something....all his acts were far too obvious for a player experienced enough to join this table. On the other hand, if he was trying to hide something he could be hiding a bad hand. He was interested enough to stay in the hand, but not enough to raise.

Kurtz matched the chips himself, ending the round of betting. Now the dealer placed the last card on the table. Kurtz quickly tapped his cards again, not placing a bet. It was Odin's last chance to raise the bet.

[Odin Reeves]

As the last card was flipped over Odin did little to hide ‘his’ emotions. He cringed slightly as the card was shown, not even bothering to check his as he let forth a sigh. Once Kurtz checked and the betting was once again passed on, Odin pretended to consider his options. He could just outright fold, having known that his bluff tactics hadn’t worked, or he could stay around and attempt to win with a weak but usable hand. Finally, he could just let his chips go and burn away any earnings he attempted to have, thus pushing his bluff even further.

Instead of risking his money, as there was already a sizable amount in the pot by his standards, Odin decided to just limp in by checking. Tapping his knuckles on the back of his cards he signified that. He then hunched forward, his eyes going from the older mans stalk to his cards, then finally up to his eyes. In Odin’s attempts to give Kurtz a reasonable excuse to take interest in any proposition that he had, he needed the older man to now see weakness in Odin’s hand. He already proved that he was stubborn, and so it seemed unlikely that Odin would fold, even with a losing hand. Now it was all down to the last player at the table.

[king]

The old man quickly tossed a good deal of chips in. He knew Odin had found the last card wanting, and if he were bluffing he would have actually put chips in. He had something, just nothing particularly good. The old man gambled, and placed a good deal of his chips in.

Kurtz immediately went all in as the bidding returned to him, knowing that Odin had accomplished his aim. If Kurtz was willing to risk all his chips on one hand, then he knew he was going to win. The old man knew this, immediately tossed down his cards, and left the table in an obviously frustrated and impolite fashion. He obviously was going to go complain to some manager about the kids, but that was an eventuality for Kurtz. He had the money he came for. It would go to Odin, though he doubted Odin would bother to challenge him when he still had so many of his chips.

"Good job, care to follow me as I cash in?"

[Odin Reeves]

For once in his life Odin's lips curled up into a smirk of sorts, not incredibly visible to those seeing him with peripherals, but a smirk nonetheless. Almost amazing his plan had gone through, the old man had tried to bid past Odin's chip count, and was quickly countered by Kurtz's, all while Odin sat back and kept a good deal of his winnings - despite putting in half.

Quickly folding and leaving the pot to Kurtz - as though Odin even had a chance at claiming it - he began to place his chips back into a plastic contanier he was given when transfering from one table to the next. Looking to his right he noticed the Hircine High student ready to cash in, and once the offer was given for him to join it was a no brainer.

"Lead the way."

[Either is writers block or I'm tired from a late night at work. Either way, this should at least keep us moving.]

[king]

Kurtz pulled in his pot and began to seperate, quickly counting the value of his chips to make sure he wasn't stiffed. It was a good night, and a good portion of the chips would go into the college fund.

Organizing his chips and stacking multiple plastic containers, he picked them up and started to walk to cash them in, Odin most likely following behind him. Kurtz would easily find the station in time, as he had not moved very far from his original table. Still, it was still a small walk from one side of the ship to the other and they woudl have time to speak.

"So, you've proven that you can bring me some gain, but now you have to prove yourself all over again. What do you want, what do I have to invest, what am I to gain, and how likely am I to see the return? Answer those in the same order."

Kurtz was testing how well Odin knew his plan, whatever it was, now. If he knew the plan well it meant he had put thought into it, but too well meant that he had rehearsed, which meant he was hear to sell the idea, nothing more.

[Odin Reeves]

Following Kurtz, sticking just slightly behind him, yet off to the mans right in order for his voice to be clear as well as show that he was in no way intimidated. Whether this was clear to the other man made no difference, as he would be the first to speak out of the two, and would then wait for a reply. Odin found the questions rather direct, and frankly he enjoyed it that way. He was blunt when he first sat down, and now the same was being returned to him.

“I want in. All you need to do is invest your time, and perhaps some resources…” At this point his mind trailed off, showing that his mindset was deflected slightly. “… You can gain as much as you please. Both financially and politically…in a sense. As for return, I’m not quite sure I follow you, however if you’re talking about money then it all depends on you.”

Odin kept the details of his plan concealed, he wanted to draw interest into his idea before actually letting the younger man know of his ‘scheme’. But remaining blunt he was either going to push the pillars interest in him away, or build it up even further. Either way there was a sort time to answer before they were back in the publics eye, thus having the rest of their conversation potentially ease dropped on by the cashier.

[king]

Kurtz chuckled slightly as his forwardness was returned to him. Kurtz did learn a few things though. The guy wanted something that was his, and had only promised that the return would be on Kurtz's effort. A bad deal, as Kurtz had proved he could get earnings through effort on his own tonight. He could get whatever he wanted thought time and effort, all Odin could offer was an easier or faster way to do it....which he had yet to do. Kurtz was beginning to lose interest, but decided to give his new friend some time to explain. He had not exactly told him all the details....in fact, he hadn't really told him anything.

"Well, you answered none of those well at all. you want in what now, I'm in many things, from the school power structure to a D&D group. I have to invest time and resources....I have many kinds of resources. I can get money and power myself, vague promises give me nothing. Finally, the chance of return are my odds. I want to know how likely it will be that this won't blow up in my face. Answer all those question properly, or I walk away."

Odin was going to have to give up details. A gambler doesn't put money down unless he had enough details to feel comfortable. Odin had given him none. This was not a situation he could bluff himself through, he would have to show his hand.