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mirevolver · 04-17-2005, 09:49 PM

Ok, been busy. But finally got a chapter written.
__________________________________________

Disclaimer: The following is a complete work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons real or imaginary is purely coincidental and overly exaggerated.

II. Close Encounters of the XX Chromosome

It was Friday. Or more to the point it was a Friday night. And despite the fact that the intense Phoenix sun had already plummeted below the horizon, it was still hot enough to cook your dinner on an outdoor grill without having to start a fire.

Jared would have most likely been complaining to himself about the heat in Phoenix, except he was in Las Vegas. And although Las Vegas can still get nearly as hot, the heat in Vegas was unable to get any closer to Jared than thirty meters.

Thirty meters away from the doors to the air conditioned casino of the Venetian, Jared was standing at a craps table. He didn’t know why he was at a craps table as blackjack was his game of preference, but for the moment he didn’t care why he was there. All he knew or cared about for the moment was that he was winning. He just walked up to the table and put a $100 bill on the pass line for the come out roll and a seven was rolled. He let it ride and then an eleven was rolled. Since then there was no looking back.

After playing for about an hour, something else was beginning to take Jared’s attention. To him it felt like there were two pinpricks on the side of his head. They felt like they were slowly drilling deeper and deeper into his skull. He knew this feeling; years of card counting had taught him what this feeling meant. A pit boss was watching him.

The truth of the matter is a pit boss was watching the craps table where Jared was at and it was moderately suspicious that Jared had started out with $100 and was now at $5,245. But that was not the reason why the pit boss was watching the table. Standing next to Jared was someone who the pit boss suspected of switching dice. But Jared didn’t know that nor did he bother to look at the pit boss, instead he just collected his chips and went to cash them.

Jared was right about one thing, he was being watched. After he cashed his chips and went to his room to put the money in the safe, he had a sudden urge to go back to the casino floor. On the casino floor he headed to the La Scena lounge and took a seat. After listening to the band play for about thirty seconds, a woman approached him. He ordered a Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred.

When he got his drink, he gave the cocktail waitress the card to put it in his room tab and took a sip. A woman approached him, she wasn’t the cocktail waitress.

Now would be a good time to step away from the story to give a brief lecture about time. Time is an interesting concept. Some see time as being linear and others see time as being circular. Now, as we have no concrete proof of time completing its circle and resuming with the big bang, let’s assume for the time being that time is linear, that there is a period ahead of us known as the future and a period behind us known as the past. There are many people who believe that time travel isn’t possible, and they’re wrong. Time travel is indeed possible. We are traveling through time even as you are reading this. To be more specific, we are traveling through time at a speed of one second per second. We have always been traveling through time at a speed of one second per second. So the problem with time travel is not that it’s not possible. The problem is that we are stuck in cruise control and can’t reach the gas or break pedals, nor can we find the transmission.

But in a literary sense, moving back and forth through time is indeed possible. So it’s time to hit stop, then rewind. And now back to the story, but at a faster pace and from a different angle.

She was sitting at a slot machine when Jared walked into the casino. She had seen him before. Throughout the night, she watched him at the craps table. She was just about to go talk to him when he spontaneously picked up his chips, cashed them and went to the elevators. She found a slot machine near the elevators and sat there. When he came back down, she watched him go to the lounge and order his drink. She approached him.

“Hello.” She said.

Jared looked up to see a suspicious woman standing there, though to anybody else she wouldn’t be suspicious. She was a tall brunette with a stunning figure. She wore a black dress that fit her perfectly and revealed enough to interest a guy, but also left a good amount to the imagination. Covering her shapely legs was a pair of black stockings. The reason Jared found her to be suspicious was because she was the kind of woman that didn’t talk to Jared.

Jared searched his mind for something to say only to find out that his brain had suddenly shut down. He waited for it to reboot.

“Mind if I sit here?” she said as she sat down in the chair next to his.

Jared’s brain was still rebooting.

“My name’s Svetlana.” She said.

“J-Jared.” Was all Jared’s brain managed to get his mouth to say before it shut down again.

Svetlana let out a laugh.

Jared’s brain rebooted again, except this time it went into safe mode so as to prevent itself from crashing.

“What do you want?” Asked Jared.

There are two very simple reasons why this question was the first to cross Jared’s mind and that reason was because he was in Las Vegas. Las Vegas shares one quality with the city of Los Angeles. This one quality is that everyone in these two cities is completely fake. The difference is that in Los Angeles, the fake people try to pass themselves of as being real and in doing so, tend to think that everyone else is also real. In Las Vegas, everyone except the dumbstruck tourists already know that no one there is exactly as he/she/it appears and so attempting to pass oneself off as being genuine is a futile activity. In other words, Las Vegas is really just a big costume party.

The other reason that question slipped out of Jared’s mouth is that he had recently come into a fairly large sum of money.

Svetlana laughed again and if Jared’s brain were not operating in safe mode, it would have had to reboot again. “What makes you say that?” she asked. Svetlana who was indeed wearing a costume, was not familiar to Las Vegas and so did not realize that she was at a costume party.

Jared’s brain was slowly beginning to regain control of itself. “Everybody here wants something.”

“I’m not from here.” Svetlana said. “I’m from New Mexico.” She actually wasn’t from there; it was just more convenient for her to say she was.

Jared hated New Mexico. To him it was a barren wasteland with nothing but points of collective boredom known as Albuquerque and Santa Fe. There is however an interesting fact about New Mexico. In the 1940’s the US Government launched a project in New Mexico in the hopes of actually improving the state. It was termed the Manhattan Project and it consisted of building and detonating a nuclear bomb in the state of New Mexico. And to everyone’s surprise, the project actually did result in an improvement for New Mexico. The Manhattan project has created a historical point of interest that actually makes people want to travel to New Mexico.

“I never liked New Mexico.” Jared replied. “And I also never liked socializing. So if you will excuse me, I need to get some rest so I can catch my plane tomorrow.”

By now it was apparent that Jared’s brain had regained full control of his body as he stood up, went to the elevators and returned to his room.

As Svetlana watched him leave, she coyly said under her breath, “See you tomorrow, Jared.”

04-17-2005, 09:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
mirevolver Inspired by the mind's eye. Location: Between the darkness and the light.	Ok, been busy. But finally got a chapter written. __________________________________________ Disclaimer: The following is a complete work of fiction. Any resemblance to persons real or imaginary is purely coincidental and overly exaggerated. II. Close Encounters of the XX Chromosome It was Friday. Or more to the point it was a Friday night. And despite the fact that the intense Phoenix sun had already plummeted below the horizon, it was still hot enough to cook your dinner on an outdoor grill without having to start a fire. Jared would have most likely been complaining to himself about the heat in Phoenix, except he was in Las Vegas. And although Las Vegas can still get nearly as hot, the heat in Vegas was unable to get any closer to Jared than thirty meters. Thirty meters away from the doors to the air conditioned casino of the Venetian, Jared was standing at a craps table. He didn’t know why he was at a craps table as blackjack was his game of preference, but for the moment he didn’t care why he was there. All he knew or cared about for the moment was that he was winning. He just walked up to the table and put a $100 bill on the pass line for the come out roll and a seven was rolled. He let it ride and then an eleven was rolled. Since then there was no looking back. After playing for about an hour, something else was beginning to take Jared’s attention. To him it felt like there were two pinpricks on the side of his head. They felt like they were slowly drilling deeper and deeper into his skull. He knew this feeling; years of card counting had taught him what this feeling meant. A pit boss was watching him. The truth of the matter is a pit boss was watching the craps table where Jared was at and it was moderately suspicious that Jared had started out with $100 and was now at $5,245. But that was not the reason why the pit boss was watching the table. Standing next to Jared was someone who the pit boss suspected of switching dice. But Jared didn’t know that nor did he bother to look at the pit boss, instead he just collected his chips and went to cash them. Jared was right about one thing, he was being watched. After he cashed his chips and went to his room to put the money in the safe, he had a sudden urge to go back to the casino floor. On the casino floor he headed to the La Scena lounge and took a seat. After listening to the band play for about thirty seconds, a woman approached him. He ordered a Vodka Martini, shaken not stirred. When he got his drink, he gave the cocktail waitress the card to put it in his room tab and took a sip. A woman approached him, she wasn’t the cocktail waitress. Now would be a good time to step away from the story to give a brief lecture about time. Time is an interesting concept. Some see time as being linear and others see time as being circular. Now, as we have no concrete proof of time completing its circle and resuming with the big bang, let’s assume for the time being that time is linear, that there is a period ahead of us known as the future and a period behind us known as the past. There are many people who believe that time travel isn’t possible, and they’re wrong. Time travel is indeed possible. We are traveling through time even as you are reading this. To be more specific, we are traveling through time at a speed of one second per second. We have always been traveling through time at a speed of one second per second. So the problem with time travel is not that it’s not possible. The problem is that we are stuck in cruise control and can’t reach the gas or break pedals, nor can we find the transmission. But in a literary sense, moving back and forth through time is indeed possible. So it’s time to hit stop, then rewind. And now back to the story, but at a faster pace and from a different angle. She was sitting at a slot machine when Jared walked into the casino. She had seen him before. Throughout the night, she watched him at the craps table. She was just about to go talk to him when he spontaneously picked up his chips, cashed them and went to the elevators. She found a slot machine near the elevators and sat there. When he came back down, she watched him go to the lounge and order his drink. She approached him. “Hello.” She said. Jared looked up to see a suspicious woman standing there, though to anybody else she wouldn’t be suspicious. She was a tall brunette with a stunning figure. She wore a black dress that fit her perfectly and revealed enough to interest a guy, but also left a good amount to the imagination. Covering her shapely legs was a pair of black stockings. The reason Jared found her to be suspicious was because she was the kind of woman that didn’t talk to Jared. Jared searched his mind for something to say only to find out that his brain had suddenly shut down. He waited for it to reboot. “Mind if I sit here?” she said as she sat down in the chair next to his. Jared’s brain was still rebooting. “My name’s Svetlana.” She said. “J-Jared.” Was all Jared’s brain managed to get his mouth to say before it shut down again. Svetlana let out a laugh. Jared’s brain rebooted again, except this time it went into safe mode so as to prevent itself from crashing. “What do you want?” Asked Jared. There are two very simple reasons why this question was the first to cross Jared’s mind and that reason was because he was in Las Vegas. Las Vegas shares one quality with the city of Los Angeles. This one quality is that everyone in these two cities is completely fake. The difference is that in Los Angeles, the fake people try to pass themselves of as being real and in doing so, tend to think that everyone else is also real. In Las Vegas, everyone except the dumbstruck tourists already know that no one there is exactly as he/she/it appears and so attempting to pass oneself off as being genuine is a futile activity. In other words, Las Vegas is really just a big costume party. The other reason that question slipped out of Jared’s mouth is that he had recently come into a fairly large sum of money. Svetlana laughed again and if Jared’s brain were not operating in safe mode, it would have had to reboot again. “What makes you say that?” she asked. Svetlana who was indeed wearing a costume, was not familiar to Las Vegas and so did not realize that she was at a costume party. Jared’s brain was slowly beginning to regain control of itself. “Everybody here wants something.” “I’m not from here.” Svetlana said. “I’m from New Mexico.” She actually wasn’t from there; it was just more convenient for her to say she was. Jared hated New Mexico. To him it was a barren wasteland with nothing but points of collective boredom known as Albuquerque and Santa Fe. There is however an interesting fact about New Mexico. In the 1940’s the US Government launched a project in New Mexico in the hopes of actually improving the state. It was termed the Manhattan Project and it consisted of building and detonating a nuclear bomb in the state of New Mexico. And to everyone’s surprise, the project actually did result in an improvement for New Mexico. The Manhattan project has created a historical point of interest that actually makes people want to travel to New Mexico. “I never liked New Mexico.” Jared replied. “And I also never liked socializing. So if you will excuse me, I need to get some rest so I can catch my plane tomorrow.” By now it was apparent that Jared’s brain had regained full control of his body as he stood up, went to the elevators and returned to his room. As Svetlana watched him leave, she coyly said under her breath, “See you tomorrow, Jared.” __________________ Aside from my great plans to become the future dictator of the moon, I have little interest in political discussions.