"Twenty-four, player busts."
"Dammit."
"Sorry sir. Better luck elsewhere," the dealer said, and with an elegant sweep, removed all of Tommy's chips.
Tommy grabbed the last of his drink, downed the last of it in a single gulp and left the glass on the blackjack table.
Earth, 2148
The casino was a blaze of lights, colors, noise and people. Everywhere you looked, it was meant to attract attention. To Tom, it might has well have been invisible. His head swung around like it was on a swivel, looking for something, anything to do. Unfortunately, the one thing he didn't want to see in the casino found him. To be fair, he'd been looking for him.
"Tom! Tom!"
"Norm hey. You having any luck?"
"Uh, yeah- I found you. Listen, it's getting late- we should be back at the university." Norm's voice was more worried than insistent. His partner in the program, Tom had learned to read him long ago. Of the two of them, Tom was more the leader than Norm Spellman.
Tom left his defeat at the blackjack table and waded through the other tables. Norm was hot on his heels the entire time, almost as hot as the money in his pocket. He grabbed his wallet and approached a more promising-looking roulette table with a pretty petite blonde attending it. Did this casino offer escort services? He wondered what the price might be.
"Can I get fifty in chips? Hey- hey-"
"I'm sorry, sir. This table's not accepting new players."
"Fuck."
"Tom," Norm finally grabbed him by the shoulder, "slow down, man. How much have you even spent?"
"Relax, Norm. It's not like we're... not like we're gonna be needing this again, right?"
"How MUCH, Tom?"
He looked around again, hazily trying to remember how much he'd put down at each table. "Maybe a few... err, thousand."
"A few THOUSAND dollars?" The concern in Norm's voice was unmistakable.
Tom turned away from his friend again. "Look, can you just give me this one night?"
Norm's face looked flushed. "You're acting crazy, man. I'm just saying... you might wanna calm it down."
"What's the matter?" Tom shrugged. "We're leaving in two weeks anyway, right? What's the harm in a little fun?"
"One week," Norm's eyes lowered to the floor. "And... I guess so."
"You're not gonna tell Grace about this, are you?" Tom asked.
"No, but I mean... she's not the only one," Norm said. They both knew who he was talking about.
"I know- hey," Tom took him by the shoulders and looked him straight in the eye. "This is all for him. I mean, not this but, if this works- the program, I'll have the money. A few bad hands aren't going to change that."
"One bad hand might," Norm added. It didn't make either of them feel any better.
Tom put his arm around him. The two had gone through both school and Dr. Augustine's Avatar Program together. They were best friends, and they both knew they could count on each other. Soon, they'd finally be there- Pandora, learning and studying with Dr. Grace Augustine herself, learning everything about a brand new ecosystem. The work they would be doing was on the cutting edge of science, research at the edge of civilization, the frontier of a new world. It was exciting.
And it was a bit scary. Despite Tom's knowledge and his genius at mathematics, he was still frightened at the prospect of cryosleep and waking up on a new world. More than that, waking up in a new body, an avatar. His brother Jake was a soldier, he was the fearless one. Although they were twins, Tom often felt like he lived in his brother's shadow. Until his brother was injured in combat and lost the use of his legs.
"Look, just... just give me tonight, alright?"
"Alright..." Norm said, reluctance heavy in his voice. Tom encouragingly spun him around and sent him on his way.
"I'll meet up with you at the lab tomorrow. We can see how much they've grown!"
"Yeah," Norm said. "Just be careful, alright? It's getting late."
"What's to worry about? Think about Pandora!"
"Okay. I'll see you later, Tom."
Tommy smiled as Norm left, his fellow scientist fading into the lights and colors of the casino. He pulled out a few dollars, ordered a drink and some casino chips and went back to gambling.
This was what he needed. A last night out, one last big bender. He'd never admit it but taking care of Jake and being a scientist were heavily taxing on him. He needed a release, especially with Pandora coming up. This was his last chance to have some fun on Earth for probably the next two decades. The way things were going, he might not come back to Earth; the planet was in rough shape.
"Another fifty in chipth, please." Still a few hours left, can't afford to get all slurred now.
Although he was a decent scientist, Tom Sully was not the best gambler. Counting cards should've come naturally to him, with his background in math, but for some reason it escaped him. He was pretty drunk and down to his last two-hundred dollars when he left the casino. He figured he'd still need some money before next paycheck, so he stopped before losing it all and headed home.
Boston was pretty cold at one in the morning. The mega-city covered a full quarter quarter of Massachusetts up and stretched up and down the coast. Other communities, other cities had been absorbed by it- it was all Boston now. Skyscrapers stretched high into the sky, turning the streets into dark alleys even in the daytime. Darker now at night.
Tommy stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed for the subway station. He'd probably get home in another hour, back to the apartment he and Jake shared near the university. The booze was playing with his memory and he couldn't remember if Jake was at home or at the veteran's hospital today.
The subway station looked empty but the trains were automated. He approached the terminal and reached for his wallet to pay for a ticket. His other hand was still in his other pocket to keep warm.
"Hey man." A voice came from the shadows. "Hey."
Tom turned around. He couldn't make out who it was, but the voice didn't sound good. It sounded predatory. He stuffed his wallet back in his pocket.
"Hey man." Whoever it was, they were coming closer.
He tried to ignore it. Just get home. Just gotta get home.
"Hey."
"What?"
A figure appeared from the shadows. Tall, hooded, hands in his own pockets. Dangerous-looking. A bit shifty eyed, almost a foot on Tom. The kind of person that didn't hide they were a thug, a hood, because there wasn't much of a point to it. A dangerous and desperate soul, probably also nearly freezing.
"Hey man."
"I... I don't have anything. I don't have anythi-"
"Lemme see some paper."
"What?" Tom should've expected it, but it was still surprising.
"Your money, man. Hand it over."
Tom knew what was happening. People got mugged, but this was his first time. He imagined what Jake would do. He tried to summon all his courage, all his aggression, everything he could to make him as tough as his brother.
"Hey," he said, "You don't wanna mess-"
*BANG* *BANG-BANG*
Maybe it was a combination of the booze and the cold, or maybe it was something else but for a brief moment, Tom thought he was going to be okay. For exactly half a breath, he felt no pain, no harm, nothing. But then that final breath was followed by a feeling of great and tremendous loss as the planet suddenly rose up to meet his side and Tom found he couldn't feel anything at all. Nothing.
His breathing was suddenly very difficult. And each breath provided no relief, like it was wasted effort. His body seized up, and for a moment, it was like being in one of the link pods again. Would it be like dreaming?
His last thought was of Jake and Norm. The words "I'm sorry" formed silently on his lips, before a boot pushed him over and a pair of hands hastily relieved him of his belongings. Alone in the dark, Tom Sully was no more.
Jake was informed at the veteran's hospital. The next day, Norm and Dr. Augustine came to visit him. The funeral was brief, as were all funerals on Earth, and Jake skipped therapy for the next week, choosing to remain at home instead. The criminal that killed Tom Sully died two days later in a subway fire that resulted from gang-related activity. He was not identified.
The following week, a couple short days before Tom had originally been scheduled to leave, Jake received a phone call. Although he initially declined, he eventually accepted. Within a month, he was on his way to Pandora.