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<span class="mu-r">don't shoot your hand don't shoot your hand don't shoot your hand-</span>
You're suddenly hit with a seething headache. A sharp and incessant pain, like a hammer being smashed into your forehead, makes any attempt at generating a coherent thought impossible. You grit your teeth as you try to endure through the pain.
>Your MENTAL HEALTH is now <span class="mu-b">DOING FINE!</span>
A sweet, floral smell hits your nose. Seems like your flower decided to snap you out of your headache. Handy little thing, eh?
>Your MENTAL HEALTH resets back to <span class="mu-g">DOING GOOD!</span>
"Are-You-Okay? :?" An emoticon flashes across Monifa's screen. You suppose that's how she makes facial expressions?
You didn't notice it until now, but its voice is really, really weird. It's highly compressed, like it's from an old FMV video game, but it sounds convincingly human, unlike SACA's voice.
The only thing truly odd about it is how slowly she speaks. She really takes her time with every word she says.
"Uh, I'm fine, yeah. Didn't get much sleep, that's all." Your face contorts back to its default mask: an impassive, neutral expression. You can't be too emotional around these people; you don't really know them. "You have poker, right?"
"Oh!" Edward points a pair of finger guns at you. "I knew you were the type, man. Yeah, we got poker. How much do you have to play with?"
"I got, like, $500?"
"That is an adequate amount of funds for that particular game of chance." Moxxie gestures towards something hidden inside the fog. "It is a rule of this den of sin that we require four players to play such a game. With your inclusion, it is now possible for another game to start."
"huh." "She-Wants-You-To-Play-With-Me-And-Edward!" "Oh, right. Yeah, I'm in."
You're escorted over to an empty wooden table. It was clearly something the agents repossessed from one of their many anomaly containment missions, given all of the dried blood on it. The four of you sit around the table as Edward begins to shuffle the deck.
"So, we like to keep our games here fast." Edward taps his fist against the old wood. "One round, $50 up front. You know how to play poker, right?"
"The basics. I used to play it with some of my coworkers." The truth is more that you were forced to play during mandatory 'fun days' back at your office.
You shift your gaze over to Moxxie. "Say, wouldn't a mask be cheating? It's difficult to read your face with it on."
"We both wear masks to hide our visages, Vincent." She calmly adjusts her mask. "For within all humans lies a mask that hides within the shadows of their subconscious. A mask hidden even from the one who wears the mask."
"Good-Thing-I-Am-Not-Human-Right?" Monifa chirps out. "Hehe. Humans-Are-Funny-You-Know. :p"
"What are you, even?" You ask as you throw your $50 into the 'pot.'
"A-Robot-Duh!" Monifa taps her cracked screen. "Is-It-Not-Obvious? :?"
"I got that much, but what kind of robot are you? You don't act like a SACA unit."
