Hilmas and the Vishashi stepped into the lobby of the Leviathan. Great tanks lined the walls with all manners of strange aquatic creatures within, below their feet even was a tank with a large strange type of fish swimming within.

  "Never seen anything like this," The Vishashi said. "So much water,"

  "Know some of these kinds of fish," Hilmas said. "We used to swipe 'em from fishermen,"

  "You have seen these types of creatures?" The Vishashi said. "Elysium truly is a strange place,"

  "Seems pretty normal to me," Hilmas shrugged.

  As they spoke they approached the main desk, the receptionist, a Tyross it seemed, looked up at them.

  "Good morning," She said. "How may I help you today?"

  The Vishashi was about to speak but Hilmas stepped forward and leaned over the desk.

  "Well miss," Hilmas said. "Me and my friend here are new ya see and we was wondering if could point us to where the gambling's the finest,"

  "Well," She said. "The floor is just through that door and you can pick up some chips at that men there,"

  She motioned to a man standing behind a desk with metal bars blocking people from climbing over. Hilmas gave a small smile and bowed his head.

  "Thank ya miss," Hilmas said, he then turned his head back. "Let's go do us some gambling,"

  Hilmas stood up then took a leisurely stroll over towards the cashier's cage. The Vishashi walked next to him.

  "What was that?" The Vishashi whispered. "We are here to scout,"

  "Best to put them at ease," Hilmas said. "We'll play some games and keep an eye out then once we get a chance we'll slip into the back,"

  "You seem to have done this before," The Vishashi said.

  "Once or twice," Hilmas said.

  "How many times has it worked?" The Vishashi asked.

  "Once," Hilmas said. "Other time Arnimos had to help me, stopped me from getting hanged for thieving,"

  "That is... Concerning," The Vishashi said.

  "Don't worry," Hilmas said. "We'll be extra careful,"

  The Vishashi sighed as they finally arrived at the cashier's cage. Hilmas took some of the money he had left and slid it over.

  "All in 10s, if you would," Hilmas said.

  The cashier, a Taniberas man, nodded and took the cash then got out a small container and filled it with chips. He then slid it over and Hilmas took it, he gave a small nod then walked towards the floor.

  As they walked, Hilmas took half of the chips and held them out to the Vishashi.

  "Take these," Hilmas said.

  "A Vishashi is not supposed to gamble," The Vishashi said.

  "Are you supposed to be robbing a casino?" Hilmas said.

  "Good point," The Vishashi said, taking the chips into his hand.

  "Now here's the plan," Hilmas said. "We'll split up once we're on the floor, i'll find a door to the back and play some games there while you watch the staff and the guards to see how they do things here,"

  "Anything I should look out for in specific?" The Vishashi said. "Anything that could help us?"

  "Weapons, schedules, patrols, cameras," Hilmas said. "Knowing that will be good... Oh, and if you see anyone who might be a Dichotomy User try to figure out anything you can about them,"

  "And once I've done that?" The Vishashi said.

  "Once I find an opening," Hilmas said. "We'll slip in the back and see what they got for security,"

  "Understood," The Vishashi said. "Sandfather, forgive me for what i must do,"

  They stepped through the doors and onto the floor, it was packed. Strange machines with flashing lights packed one area while tables surrounded by people playing various games were spaced out most everywhere else.

  "See ya soon," Hilmas said.

  "Likewise," The Vishashi said.

  The two split off, Hilmas trailed his way towards the far end of the floor until he caught sight of what appeared to be a staff door. Exactly what he was looking for. Hilmas took a seat at one of the nearby tables and played a few hands.

  He lost, pretty badly as well. It was not long until he was nearly out of chips and excused himself from the table. During the game he had kept an eye on the staff door, no one seemed to come in or out of it. Perhaps it was exactly what they were looking for. Hilmas made his way towards the front where the Vishashi was. As he arrived he saw the Vishashi playing a game of dice and he had a large pile of chips in front of him.

  Hilmas stood and watched from a distance as the Vishashi won roll after roll. 'One lucky man,' Hilmas said. 'Should take him gambling more.' Hilmas approached the Vishashi, as he did he was noticed and the Vishashi excused himself from the table. They walked away till they were a bit away from anyone before speaking.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "I have a door to the back," Hilmas said. "We should be able to slip in without issue,"

  "I didn't see any Dichotomy users out here," The Vishashi said. "And the guards appear to only have pistols,"

  "Best security is probably near the vault," Hilmas said. "We'll move carefully to make sure we raise as little suspicion as possible. I'll slip in the back and hide, you play some more games and follow me a bit after,"

  "Got it," The Vishashi said. "This gambling stuff's really easy you know,"

  "I could tell that by how much you got," Hilmas said. "Mind giving some to me once we're done?"

  "Perhaps I'll do some charity," The Vishashi said. "Sandfather does love that,"

  "Sounds like we got everything figured out then," Hilmas said. "See ya in 30,"

  The Vishashi nodded and the two split once again. Hilmas crept back towards the door, he took his time walking so as not to arouse suspicion. He kept his eye on the staff and guards, they had sharp eyes and he was waiting for the opportune moment. 'At this distance, I'll need 20 seconds without use of Dichotomy to reach the door,' Hilmas thought. 'Full use of my Dichotomy would draw attention, partial use might also be seen... I'll have to use minimal power to ensure I can slip in.' Hilmas watched and waited, it took around 10 minutes before he finally saw his window, one of the guards had turned to help someone and the rest of the staff were focused on their games.

  Hilmas breathed in and prodded his Dichotomies with his mind, he felt his muscles tense for a moment then a faint fatigue settled over him. 'Everyone always called us Truths weird for using our bodies to fuel our Dichotomies,' Hilmas thought. 'At least I don't get a headache every time I use my powers.' As DE pooled in his body he focused it into his merged Arbeross-Taniberas Dichotomy and he felt lightning in his veins. He assumed a normal walk but he moved faster than a normal man should, even faster then his Dichotomy Enhancement would allow. 16 seconds it took him to reach the door and slip into the back, just barely enough time.

  He entered into a small room with a hallway that hooked left, he pressed himself against the wall and focused his ears. He could hear faint footsteps approaching and talking.

  "This job fucking sucks man," Someone said.

  "Tell me about it," Another said. "At least you get to do something, i just gotta stand around and look tough,"

  "Sounds better than dealing with the people here all day," The first voice said.

  "Not all sunshine and rainbows here either," The other said. "If we gotta deal with people then its most times the worst and you never deal with them when its good,"

  "Fucking true," The first voice said. "Well, I gotta get on my break, not gonna waste a second of it,"

  "Talk to you later then," The other said. "Wait, actually, are you coming to Marie's party this weekend?"

  "Trying to think of an excuse to skip it," The first voice said. "Sounds like it's gonna be a whole hassle, hear Huj-Kilm will be there,"

  "Maybe i'll join you in skipping it then," The other said. "Have a good one,"

  "You too," The first voice said.

  Hilmas heard a door open, a sigh then footsteps getting closer. 'I'll have to knock him out,' Hilmas thought. 'Wait, I should try to avoid him, if one of their guards gets knocked out they'll be suspicious.' Hilmas glanced around the small room, there was nothing, it was truly barren. Hilmas pressed himself against the wall opposite the door and held his breath, the footsteps got closer then the man came into sight. He was dressed like the rest of the casino guards with a simple uniform, pistol, set of keys and a radio. 'Those keys would be helpful,' Hilmas thought. 'Might as well try.'

  The guard stopped in front of the door out to the floor and sighed once again.

  "Just another Gukim," Gukim said. "You'll survive,"

  Gukim took a deep breath. As he did so Hilmas prodded his Dichotomy for energy then focused it into his muscles, he didn't want to activate any of his Skills for this and would just rely on raw physical enhancement. Hilmas crept forward silently then crouched down and quickly, yet precisely and quietly, swiped the ring of keys. He held them tightly so they didn't make a noise then he slowly stepped back. A few seconds later and the guard exited. Hilmas let out a sigh of relief, he was safe. He waited a while longer until he saw something strange, from the vents a bunch of sand began to pour out and formed into the shape of a person. The Vishashi had arrived.

  "You can do that?" Hilmas said.

  "One of the Arbeross definitions I can use," The Vishashi said. "Finer control over the body made of sand, has to replace my ability to control external sand however,"

  "It's all trade-offs with you isn't it?" Hilmas said.

  "The great issue of being a Scribe," The Vishashi said. "I see you've got some keys, shall we begin?"

  "Gladly," Hilmas said.

  The two began down the hallway, there were 2 doors in this section then a T-intersection further away. One door said 'Break Room' and the other said 'Staff Bathroom'. They continued down towards the T-intersection.

  "Where do you think the vault would be?" The Vishashi asked.

  "Likely a sub-level," Hilmas said. "We just need to find a way down,"

  "They'd need ventilation down there," The Vishashi said. "I could turn to sand and try to find a path,"

  "That would be good," Hilmas said. "I need to find a way to access their electronics, if i could i could move through the wires in this place,"

  "Can't you just use one of the wall outlets?" The Vishashi said.

  "I can't slip into the wires from such a small opening," Hilmas said. "You search for a way towards the vault, i'll find a way to electrical,"

  "I'll come and find you once I have a path," The Vishashi said.

  The Vishashi body began to unravel becoming a mass of shifting sand, it flowed like water up a wall and into a ventilation duct. Hilmas looked down both sides of the T-intersection. One side led towards the floor while the other branched off again with 2 signs, 'Security' and 'Utilities'. 'Exactly what I was looking for,' Hilmas thought.

  Hilmas walked down the hall, keeping an ear out in case anyone was also here. He passed by the split off towards security, it was a short hall with 3 doors. Hilmas continued towards utilities and found a large metal door. He pushed it open and peeked inside, multiple loud and strange machines sat in the room performing some task. Hilmas slipped in and closed the door behind him, he looked around at the machines. He couldn't exactly identify what they were or what they did but he could feel a lingering fear in the back of his mind when he stared at one of them. A useful effect of Dichotomy, it did know what it feared looks like even if the user didn't.

  Hilmas walked up to the strange humming machine, he placed a hand on its exterior and focused his mind. He could feel the lightning within it, if Milhas was here he could have controlled it but that was not Hilmas's specialty. Hilmas focused his Dichotomy and pressured it, a bit more muscle fatigue set in as he turned himself into a bolt of lightning and entered the machine. He had entered objects that could conduct him before but this felt different, he felt like this system was trying to pull and force him to go somewhere. It was taking a lot of physical effort to keep himself together here.

  Hilmas focused his mind and began to move through the wires, he moved in strange patterns following the building's design. He kept going until he finally poked himself out into something connected to these wires. He found his vision somewhat blurry and he had a wide view over this tight room packed with monitors and 2 security guards. Each monitor displayed a different part of the casino, he had emerged in the security room and appeared to be inside a camera.

  While he could see the guards talking he couldn't hear anything, likely a result of him being in the camera. As he looked around the room he caught sight of a map of the casino on one of the walls, exactly what he needed. He committed as much of it as he could to memory before pulling himself from the camera.

  He looked at the map in his mind's eye and thought of where to go next. He had seen an elevator and a set of stairs leading to the sublevels. He should be able to get there through the wires then he and the Vishashi could check out the lower levels. Hilmas forced himself through the wires towards the sub-levels.