Chapter 20 - That Ace of Spades.

You reach out and, even through the slight buzz, feel solid in your choice. Holden's Hold 'Em, was like most 'Hold 'em' Games. Each player got two cards to themselves, then had five in a shared set to make up to a five card hand. It wasn't much a game of skill as luck, because unlike other hold 'em games, where there were rounds of betting and playing the players, Holden's was an all or nothing sort of game. 

That meant it got through rounds right quick.

It also meant you ended up naked real quick. Holden's was a STRIP game.

Wait, why didn't you think of that before? Was it the booze?

Oh boy. Well at least they're just digital women... probably?

You step up and feel the images of their eyes narrow in on you as you select Holden's Hold Em. The text fades and you feel the table come into a better depth.

"Well? The leather clad Vozi smirks, "You gonna say something, PeeJay?"

"What?" You blink, "Peejay?" Well it was an interactive sort of game.

"You are dressed rather... comfortably." The Hollanta woman observes. She winds a finger through her curly hair, even as her eyes travel up and down. Its rather obvious when they're all pushed together onto the same screen.  You shrug.

"I've had a rough day, figured I'd relax and unwind." That gets a nod from the Urak gal. "But where's my manners," Well if this was a game. "Name's Sol. Nice to play with you." You watch as a cards get dealt from a machine in the center of the table. The priestess has already shuffled her own decks out of sight.

You keep an eye on her. You aren't sure if it's possible for her to cheat, given the limits of the game itself, but it's an aspect you'd do well to watch out- oh hey you got and ACE! Ha, the Ace of Spades, right off the bad, LUCKY! You also got dealt a King, the King of Clubs! Huh. Neat.

You look down and see that the central cards haven't been dealt yet, as if its waiting for something. You look and see each of the woman thinking things over. 

"Boots!" The Vozi woman taps her boots, and an icon floats over them. That's the article of clothing she's wagering for the round. "Call me Pinky!" She bats at the streaks in her hair. "Nice to have ya, Sol." She winks.

"Sash." The Quathari priestess pulls at the sash around her neck and another icon floats over her shoulder, indicating her wager. "I think, if we're going with monikers, Sister? No," she shakes her head with a blush, "Tricks?" She filcks out a card of an entirely different cut as the ones on the table. She rolls it over her fingers and it changes into another kind of card. "Yeah." She smiles wide and all four of her eyes gleam.

"I consent to be addressed as Madame. I wager my Third Ring..." The Hollanta woman holds up a hand to indicate the ring, but then all of them glow with indicators. "Wait what?"

"Hahaha!" Pinky laughs. "Rings are a set, Freckles! Like Boots!" She taps her boots again.

"Don't call me Freckles!" Madame pulls her fur coat closer and blushes bright as her skin shifts into a rosey hue almost instantly, as she makes eye contact with you. Odd, you bob your head, and it looks like a confused gesture. Is that a trick of the screen?

"Shirt." You gesture at your own and an icon floats over it, projected in the air by the box. There's a whistle from the Priestess and you narrow your gaze, was she up to something or just cat calling? 

"Um.... Pants." The Urak manages to get out. "I'm R-....Rumble." She mutters, blushing.

"Haha, eager!" The Vozi is pretty vocal with her commentary, it seems.

"Nice to meet you all," You nod at the ladies.

The five shared cards play out and you watch as they appear, you find yourself holding a pair of Kings as a winning hand. A winning hand. The Vozi also has a King, but between you she has a three to your ace. So you both win but the odd item, the Urak gal's pants, go to you, along with the Sash. The rings find themselves on The Vozi's fingers. 

"Fucking SHINIES!" She squeals, you chuckle, expecting digital pants to appear like the icon.

Then you're hit the face with a roll of denim. You reel, glad your drunk enough not to feel the impact, but the pants unfurl and hang off your shoulder, and something soft falls onto your head. The sash? Yeah, its the same color. Wait. Did, did the clothing get fabricated instantaneously or were they stored in there? 

You breath in as you catch your bearings, and there's a soft lingering scent in the air. First you smell the hints of engine grease and fresh earth, and then of incense and, metal? You blink as the next hand is being dealt.

Again, you bet your shirt, as you're dealt a pair of EIGHTS in the same hand. Okay, that was a good hand, unless someone topped that, you were-

"Pair of Aces." The Madame smiles as she laid down her cards. An Ace of Hearts and a seven of Spades. With the Ace in the shared pot, that put you squarely without a shirt. You unbutton it quickly, in case some robotic arm came out to snatch it from you.

Instead, there was a bin that popped open beside the orange machine and you drop the shirt inside. After a moment a digital duplicate appears, in the Hollanta's lap, and she makes a show of draping it over her shoulders, like a trophy pelt. "Still warm." She coos. You roll your eyes as you stand there, The sash around your neck, and the denim pants under your arm.

On the screen, The Madame gestures for Pinky return her rings, but she hadn't been paying attention, and neither had you, because the bet was 'Top' in her case. She yanks the bikini top off, and her apple green breasts bounce, and you can see gleaming barbell piercings on her nipples. She waggles her eyebrows at you and drops her top into the Hollanta's palm, as Tricks passes over her high heels, along with Rumble's heavy boots. The Hollanta shifts most of it into a pile beside her, and sighs, as she breathes in your scent from your digital shirt.

This game is really about luck, and what you're willing to bet, and how much clothing you brought to the table. The Hollanta thought she was smart with those rings, probably gaming on their actual value to count as multiple articles. 

Not in this game, it seems.

There was another hand coming up, and this time you have another Ace, this time of Clubs, with a Nine of Clubs.... depending on the shared cards, you might get a flush.... but....

"Pants." You hold the pants up under your arm, and see Rumble pout a little that you're betting her pants. But why not, I mean you're not betting your own.

It turns out to be the right call, as, once again, The Madame seems to have luck on her side and puts down a straight with both her cards and three of the five on the table. Damn. You put the pants back in the container and watch as they fall into the Hollanta's lap. She plucks at them curiously and then looks at the Urak across the table from her, who just crosses her arms as she pulls off her plaid shirt, exposing her black bra and corded muscles. She's got thick arms and a rack of abs you could grate cheese on. 

She blushes dark as she notices you starting at her, and you smile to try and diffuse the tension. Wait, what tension, this is a game! They aren't real, are they?

The possibility of these four being some kind of avatars of crew you knew, or AI programs, pops into your head. They didn't seem to be making conversation though. Still you were just playing the game as it was... maybe if there's other matches?

The next pair of cards you get are, The ten of clubs and, the Ace of Spades AGAIN?! You giggle and the women look up from their cards. You put your hand over the holographic cards, and put on your best bluffing face. Judging by how The Madame bets one pair of boots she's won, she's probably not too fooled. But Rumble bets her bra, and Tricks bets her cloak, so they might believe you. Pinky woman though. She's grinning when she bets her panties. She might have a dud hand, and be happy about it.

You see the cards play out, and there's two queens in the share, but nobody has anything to play off them, so your Ace, and Rumble's make the top cards, and her Jack means she gets her boots back, and the Quathrai's cloak, while The Vozi lifts her legs up to pull her panties off, flashing her slit as she does, and then unties the ends to toss them at the screen, and they're chucked in your face from a small pipe at the top of the machine. 

They're hot from air pressure that propelled them from the interior of the Orange Assessment Machine, but the scent is, strong. Your cock throbs in your pants and the Vozi licks her lips as she slips her finger against the lips of her cunt, as her shorts hang off just one knee now.

That being said, Tricks has unwound her robes, and is bare save for her sheer white panties.  She wasn't wearing a bra in the first place? Wow. Her breasts hang with a soft curve that comes with age. But, they still look full and soft as they jiggle and shake against her arms, when she hands her cloak to Rumble, who looks pleased with her win as she eyes up the older woman beside her.


From the looks of things, the Quathrai priestess is going to be the first one out. All she's got left is her panties. Still she doesn't seem too bothered by it, as she crosses one pair of arms under her breasts, and another takes up her next pair of cards. Oh damn, did they already get dealt?

You frown at what your looking at, A two and a seven, it's a long shot that anything going to come up on the group pot. You're probably losing a piece of clothing this round... still. You feel like the sash feels nice on your shoulders, so you bet your pants, to the hooting of the Vozi.

Her hollering redoubled once she saw the cards lay out. Rumble and The Madame both have pairs of Sixes, between their cards and what was on the table. You have a pair of sevens, and Tricks had been dealt a pair of Eights, but couldn't make anything from it with the cards on the table. Pinky, though? She paired a Jack in her hand with one on the table, and took your pants, her bikini back, the Urak's bra, and the Qauthrai's panties. 

The Vozi leapt onto the table and pounced at the four armed alien, grabbing the strap of her panties and yanking them off with a sudden powerful jerk. That put the woman in the air. The Urak moved quickly and caught her, bringing the four armed woman into her lap. The Hollanta rolled her eyes at the display while the Vonti shook her bare ass in clear view. The green Shorty's shorts hang on her heel, as she jumps back to her own seat.

She didn't put her top back on, either, instead stuffing it into one of her jacket pockets.

"So what's the next game gonna be? More of the same?" She winks as she gestures at her stack of trophies, "Same stakes, of course" At this point you've got your boxers and the Sash, you could go in on for more.... but with the way the cards were being dealt... you needed an edge. You couldn't just ride the deal of the cards, you needed to play the players.

Straight to the point was a round by round game, whomever could make the best straight from the cards they had one the round, it was sort of like this game in that it mattered what you were dealt more than anything else.

Courtly Gathering, it was about getting a Face card in your hand, and then discarding and drawing until you had the right cards to suit your needs. You remember that too. The trick was once a card was discarded, it was gone forever, the only way to win was to trade cards, leaving two winners and the rest: losers.

And Last Laughs, it was like a reverse of Old Maid, games. You wanted to be the one at the end with the Joker. The trick was keeping him in your hand, once you had him.

Still, those last two games were longer, all or nothing sorts not the sort you could bet pieces off. "How're we supposed to bet in some of those." You point at the menu in the corner.  The group exchanged looks, and you noticed that Tricks was sticking to her perch in Rumble's lap. She whispers into the dark green woman's ears, while running her hands across her body. The Urak blushes and give you a sideways look, as she worried her lip. 

"Whoever loses, strips. All in one go." The Urak declares, her voice sweet, but full of mischief. The Vozi leaned back in her seat and hummed loudly in thought. The Madame shifted in her chair as she fidgeted with her coat. You stand there, and it's clear that, as the 'Player' you're the deciding voice in the matter...

Stick to 'this game' with only your boxers, slippers, and the sweet smelling sash?