“And now, for another stop in this brilliant tour of mine”, Charlie said.

“How about we just call it a tour, and leave it at that?” Troy asked rhetorically. From what Charlie had consistently called it for the last ten minutes, he wasn't guessing that Charlie was changing it up now.

“Oh, shush, now. I am thinking that you're gonna like this one”, was retorted by Charlie.

They had stopped in front of one of the more flashy stores. You know, scratch that. It was highly probable that this store was the flashiest that resided here.

Outside of it, the walls were made of golden-coloured glass. With all of the constantly flashing LED lights, it was hard to get a grasp on the actual size of the whole thing. The interior of the place, specifically. The outside measurements were helpfully lit up.

As of yet, Troy had not entered any of the stores around here, so his expectations of their size may have been a little skewed. But, there had been other glasshouses, which did show their full, open interior. Inside those, there couldn't have been more than a hundred and fifty square meters inside.

Yet this one was much grander in that aspect. First off, it was multi-floored, just about tripling the usual measurements of it all. Second, while it wasn't wide, it was helped by furthering the length of the thing. Either that or some very fancy mirrors were in place.

But most importantly was the genre of the building. The selling point, the reason people were going inside. This was a-

“The Casino!”, Charlie said. “You will not believe how hard it was to get this thing up and running. The amount of legal babble required to make gambling okay in one's working hours is absolutely atrocious.”

Yes, it was a casino. From the outside, it looked like the first floor was primarily focused on the various card games one could play at such a place. Troy spotted some poker, blackjack, and a couple of others he couldn't remember the name of. The second floor was for the long lines of slot machines, and the third floor was mostly a wide set of bars, with various nationalities.

“So”, Troy began. “What's so special about this one?”

Everything they had seen yet had some special thing about them. The first had been the credit system. Then the reason is that people used to run a shop for a while. Why the automatons are now humanoid in shape. And, this one was Troy's favourite, why Dr Hale was now banned from this place.

The question now was, what was so interesting about this one? Troy had begun playing a little game with himself, trying to predict what Charlie would be excited about.

Maybe it was the first one with glass walls. Or it set an example with its blinding light structure. Maybe it was the first to serve alcohol? No, Troy was pretty sure the previous one was.

“I thought that obvious”, Charlie said, not explaining it. “Are my presumptions of your perceptual traits misconstrued?”

The gall Charlie even had to utter such a thing! Troy was… perceptual, whatever that meant. He would get to the bottom of this whole mystery.

With more than a little inspiration, Troy decided his way of attack. Burst-fire. Or, as critics might call it, guessing until proven right.

But even guessing required some skill. Just pulling it out of his hat would never work. No, it would have to be something, which stood out.

Troy scanned the building once more, trying to see anything, that might cause an uproar.

…

The windows! Troy had thought them simply coloured, yet they were so much more! If one could look past the golden overlays of light, pictures would be seen. Pictures, which were a little on the adult side of life.

“Is it the windows?” Troy asked.

“A little more specific, please,” Charlie said, with a smirk. He seemed to be enjoying Troy's investigations.

“The paintings on the windows,” Troy restated.

The first guess had been made.

“In a way, you're right, but, also not,” Charlie stated. “Here's A tip for you; Try to look at the big picture.”

The big picture, he says. Was Charlie saying that literally?

Looking inside the casino, right at the end of what Troy could see, he could see a picture. Or maybe it was a painting. Troy wasn't sure. No matter what, though, realism was definitely the main characteristic of it.

On the bottom of it, Troy could just about make out the name of it.

The City of Lights.

He thought that it fit. On the picture- or, painting. Doesn't matter.- there were no distinguishable people. Instead, it was a wide shot, from the top of a large building. One could see down inside the many streets, filled with multicoloured hats and jackets. In the background sat a massive construction of steel. Troy wasn't sure what it was supposed to look like, but it was very detailed.

Bringing back the details of the fine decoration, was this the point of their stop? Inside the casino, it was definitely a centrepiece in the showcase of arts. Not that a lot of art was shown inside, though, as that wasn't the regular point of a place such as this.

“Is it the painting inside?” Troy asked. He was pretty sure of his choice.

“What painting are you talking about? You do realize that there are a lot of those here, right?”

“I'm talking about the one in the centre. You know, the massive one, that's likely impossible to miss,” Troy said, pointing at the portrait of the city.

The second guess had been made.

This finger-pointing of Troy's made Charlie look inside. He seemed to be trying to find what Troy was describing. After a few moments, a 'huh' sound was made.

“I have never noticed it before if I'm being honest with you”, Charlie said, with an earnest shrug. “Nevertheless, you were about as close to the real answer, as you were with your last guess. How about one more guess, and I just tell you the real answer? Now that I think about it, it might be a little hard, with how I describe it.”

An unintentional taunt from Charlie's side, but a taunt no matter how it was said. Troy's pride wasn't gonna be taking this one lying down. No, he was gonna make sure it was right.

Troy needed to think back.

Okay, so all the other distinguishing features about the other building hadn't been obvious at the start. Troy certainly wouldn't have guessed that the two marks on the door of the third stop, had been created by Dr Hale during a drunken rampage. Or the credit system, in the first building.

But the second had been slightly more obvious. The one, which had personnel running it, for a time.

On a sign in the front, there had even been the name of the ones, who had worked on it, with a brief description of what they had done to get it.

But Troy just could find anything here. The glass walls had nothing on them, except for the paintings. Inside, the only texts were buy-in's at the tables, rewards on the slot machines, and the prices of the drinks at the bar.

Nothing had anything to say, about the uniqueness.

What was Troy missing about it all?

He scratched the back of his head and looked up. The ceiling met his eyes. There just had to be something. Some little, inconsequential detail that tied it together.

Charlie hit the ground with one of his boots. He wanted Troy to quicken his pace a bit.

But, what could Troy guess? A random thought, maybe.

No, a wrong answer, would be a probable negative.

“I give up. No clue”, Troy said. Not saying anything, at least made the consequence definitive in his eyes.

“Well, you took this a bit more seriously than intended, man,” Charlie said. “If you'd just untighten that neck of yours, by just a bit, the answer would be right in front of you.”

Yeah. Charlie was right in that regard. There was a chance, that Troy may still be in the wrong mood for the atmosphere.

He brought his shoulders back. They popped, as they felt lighter than they had had for the last two days.

His neck back relaxed, bringing his head glancing downward.

Specifically on the floor. The floor, which had some text on it.

“Here lies the first casino of many.”, Troy read out loud. Has it been so simple? No, it couldn't have.

Charlie clapped at the words.

“Congratulations! I knew you could do it,” Charlie said, with a congratulatory voice.

Troy's emotions were a blend of turmoil. He was happy, with finding the uniqueness, even if it was with assistance. It wasn't all positive, though. Troy was more than a little disappointed with the actualization it turned out to be.

“Now that we both know it, how about you start talking?” Troy asked.

“I have a better idea,” Charlie quickly retorted.

“And what might that be?”

“Trust me, when I say this”, Charlie said. “I am not physically capable of verbalising the experience of being inside that place. Therefore, to make you understand it, we will be going inside.”

Any comment about that idea was immediately squandered, as Troy was taken ahold of, and consequently dragged toward the entrance.

Being dragged through the fine, glass doors, Troy was able to make a better observation of the interior.

If Troy had to describe the atmosphere of the place, it would be called Excitement and Energy-filled. Something that was lacking in other departments of the facility.

But that seemed to have been forgotten here. The place was smaller than the usual casino's that one might see, but that certainly didn't deter the people inside.

The calm and collected card players were a minority here. People boasted, shouted, and were generally loudly proclaiming their emotions. It was great to see.

“I may be getting, what you said, about the describability of this place,” Troy said loudly, so Charlie could hear him.

Charlie laughed at this remark.

“Trust me, Troy. It'll be so much better, when you're a part of the crowd, instead of simply looking at it from afar.”

“And how would one become part of this crowd, if I may ask?”

“By partaking in the activities. Joining a game,” Charlie said.

“Can't do that, I'm afraid,” Troy stated. “Ain't got any betting material on me.”

“Like that's gonna stop us!” And a small handful of coloured tokens were put in Troy's hand.

“Where did you get these from?” Troy asked. Charlie had been with him for the whole time, while they were inside. When had he had the opportunity to buy some?

“I always carry some around, with me.”

“Why?”

“Oh, there are many situations where they could be needed to be used. Right now, is a good example. Fancy some blackjack?”

Blackjack… Troy wasn't too sure he knew the rules of that one.

“I think I've heard of it. It's the one, where you count to twenty-one, right?” Troy asked.

“You're already a skilled player, if you know that much-”, Charlie said, with a clap to Troy's back.

Troy was summarily guided to a blackjack table, with him sitting down, while Charlie stood behind him.

“Are you sure that I should be using your money?” Troy asked.

“Oh, don't worry about it. Just make some low bets, and you'll do great,” Charlie encouraged.

The game on the table ended, with the only other player than losing a rather high bet. He summarily cursed, and stormed off, with his remaining tokens in hand.

Troy took a deep breath. He would do fine. He definitely couldn't play worse than the other guy.

In the middle of the table sat an automaton. Troy wasn't able to see, but he knew it only had an upper body.

The automaton looked over at Troy, with the stiff, business smile, which was present on all automatons. It was meant to look comforting, but Troy couldn't call it anything other than creepy.

“Please place your bets”, A pre-recorded voice said from the automaton. “The game is about to begin.”

Troy could do this.

He put in a small twenty-five dollar bid. It was bigger than what he had wanted to put in, but the table had minimums.

The bet was accepted, and the cards were distributed.

Troy got himself a five of spades and a six of clubs. Together it was an eleven.

He could work with this.

“You can hit a card, without any negatives,” Charlie said under his breath.

“Please, step away from the table”, the automaton said to Charlie. “Interference from third-parties is against regulations.”

“All right, all right,” Charlie loudly said. “Do take it easy with those violations, Vicky.”

Charlie was out of the equation now. Troy was gonna win this, all alone. Luckily, though, the first move had already been set.

“Hit”, Troy stated.

He was given an ace of hearts. Troy was up to twelve. Three cards in, and he needed more than a fiver to be in the safe zone.

“Hit.”

And two of diamonds. Now, up to fourteen, and Troy was damning his luck.

Chance would tell him that the next card would be the last. He was standing, no matter what.

“Hit”, Troy said, with some amount of cold sweat on his back.

An ace, bringing his total up to fifteen. With that amount, taking another card was just asking to be brought over. No, he still needed to stand, just as he planned.

“I'm done”, Troy stated.

“Very well”, the automation said.

He pulled the first card down. A king of hearts. Something Troy would have preferred to get at the start.

The next was a six of diamonds, bringing the total up to sixteen. Troy had already lost.

He was about to put his cards down when Charlie patted him on the shoulder.

“You aren't done yet”, Charlie said.

“What? Yes, I am. He's got more than me!”, Troy said, confused.

“No, he's got sixteen,” Charlie said, matter-of-factly. “He needs to take another card, to fulfil the rules.”

“Affirmative,” the automaton agreed. “Please step away from the table. This is your second warning.”

Charlie obliged, and the game continued.

Another card needed to be pulled. He had sixteen now, so he needed five or under. The chances were low, but Troy's luck was likely lower.

The automation sat down the top card on the table.

…

The jack of clubs.

Troy won.

“Congratulations”, the automation said, giving back the doubled bet. “Would you like to play again?”

“No, he won't”, Charlie said. “Beginner's luck doesn't last that long.”

He grabbed the tokens and got Troy away from the chair.

Troy didn't put much resistance up. He was riding the high, that was his success.

“It's fun, right?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah,” Troy agreed.

“Then this was the last stop on the grand tour.”

“Wait, we're done?” But it was getting fun!

“Yes, we're done. We can do it tomorrow again, though. I have a little casino club running around. Would you like to join?”

So this was what it had been about? Making Troy join some gambling hall?

Oh, he was getting right, and being signed up!

“Sounds fun.”