Secret Twins for the Alien Dad

Chapter 1

Myra

     “Another beautiful morning in Glimner City. Today’s morning report is brought to you by Nova Casino! Your one stop shop for all your gambling needs. The weather forecast today calls for–”

I roll over in bed and slap the alarm off.

     Even my wake-up call isn’t safe. I suppose it’s too much to ask for a moment to myself. Just a single waking moment where I don’t have to think about that damn casino.

     But that moment won’t be coming any time soon. I roll out of bed and stumble to my closet. It’s time to get ready.

     I have my pre-work routine down to a science. Optimized to give myself as much sleep as possible, not that I don’t still feel groggy as all hell. This life can be grueling.

     The closet automatically swings open as I approach. A freshly steamed uniform slides out on a hanger, still warm.

     A black vest with red decals and the Nova Casino logo on the breast, a black dress shirt for underneath, and black slacks. It’s the uniform I’ve been wearing for years and, at this rate, will probably be wearing for years to come.

     I put the clothes on and double check that everything looks good in the mirror. I then pull my hair up in a tight bun, one of the few hair styles acceptable for human employees at the casino. I still remember the dressing-down I received when I accidentally showed up with my hair down on my third day.

     With a deep breath, I check the time. I’m actually ahead of schedule. I simply close my eyes and stand in the middle of my apartment, enjoying the fact that I’m not currently going to work.

     I’ve worked at the Nova Casino for over three years now. These quiet moments where I can forget that fact are the few bright spots in my life. If only I had any other options.

     After my parents died back on Armstrong, I quickly learned how to fend for myself. I became a survivor.

     But at a certain point, you can only do so much on your own. All the determination in the universe can only take a girl so far in this world. Sometimes help is needed. Sometimes that help comes from the worst places, and people.

     When I was left without anyone or anything on Armstrong, I became desperate. I just wanted to get out of there and go somewhere, anywhere, I could have a future. Maybe get a real job. It was hard starting with nothing. 

     So, when Brev showed up, offering humans an escape, of course I took it. He was basically paying people to come with him to Glimner City and work his casino. But we all quickly learned the importance of reading the fine print on any agreement.

     Brev essentially owns all of us. He owns me. There aren’t many worse situations to be in on Glimner, and Glimner is known for bad situations. Brev is widely known for his uncaring and cruel attitude towards humans. Having that reputation around here, among seedy capitalists and literal mobsters, means you’re truly the worst of the worst.

     Sometimes I wonder if this life is actually better than dying on a street somewhere on Armstrong. This doesn’t exactly feel like living most of the time. Just moving from day to day.

     After a moment of that, I open my eyes and get on my way. But not before grabbing a power bar from the cupboard and scarfing it down. Cheap and tasteless, but with all the nutrients I need. Good enough for now, as I save up to be able to get out of here.

     I will be able to leave this place one day. I know I will. It is not an ‘if.’ I did not escape Armstrong, survive this long against all the odds, only to spend the rest of my life here. I want more than that. I need more than that.

     When I first came here, my face was glued to the port hole of the transport ship. I can still see it all seared into my mind. The looks of Armstrong and Glimner from space. The inky blackness populated with small dots of light. It was all so beautiful.

     It was from then that I realized what I truly wanted in this life. A path that never seemed like a possibility as an orphan on Armstrong. A path that seems to get further and further away the longer I stay here. 

I want to explore the galaxy.

     I’ll get my chance to experience it all. To see all the beauty that the deepest reaches of space have to offer. I’ll course along the Pi Nebula, see the lights above the Barth Mountains on Tak 5, and so much more. But more importantly, I’ll just get to do what I want and not be tied to this place.

One day, I’ll have enough money to get away from Brev and the casino. Buy my way onto a shuttle to somewhere far away. Then my life can truly begin.

“If you’d like to be at work on time, please leave in 3… 2…” I walk out the door of my apartment, right on time, leaving the voice of my alarm muffled behind me.

Unfortunately, that life I dream for myself is still nothing more than a dream. It’s just a bright spot in the back of my mind. A place to go to when everything else in my life gets too dark and depressing. In a place like this, that’s all too often.

I make my way to the casino, ignoring all the cat-calling and gross comments from men on the street. Glimner City, keeping it classy as always. How could I ever want to leave?

Luckily, I’m only paid to fake smiles at the creeps in the casino. And that’s surprisingly a large part of my job. The past few months they’ve had me working as a dealer at a Kalei Hold’em table.

Something about Kalei Hold’em seems to attract the drunkest and creepiest guests. I miss when they had me at the BenBall board. That was always populated by sweet old ladies who also tip a lot more.

Though, I know what happens if I complain to Brev. I just have to suck it up, plaster a fake smile on my face, and deal the cards. Sooner or later, they’re too depressed from losing all their money to pay any more attention to me.

I just have to remember that this is all in service of my dream. Every card I deal, every tourist I pretend to flirt back with, it all gets me closer to leaving this place forever.

No matter how much this life weighs me down, I have to remember that. Repeat it in my head. I will get out of here. I will escape.

I’m greeted by Dena, a sweet older human woman at the casino’s front desk. “Good morning, Myra, on time as always.”

“Can’t afford to be late. Couldn’t bear to be early.”

We both laugh as I pull out my keycard and scan myself in.

“Have a good one,” Dena says as I move deeper into the building.

“I’ll try.”

Once I step onto the game floor, I’m struck by the unfortunately familiar smell of the thick wave of smoke that populates the room at all times. I heard that, years before I arrived, they tried a ‘no smoking’ rule. It lasted an afternoon before the regulars started to riot.

So now everyone else just has to deal with it. I’m afraid to think about what sitting in all this smoke everyday for three years has done to me.

I make my way across the floor. A lot of the regulars catch my eye. A handful of tourists are also scattered around. A standard turnout this time of day, but it will only get busier.

I don’t know what it is about this room, but when it gets loud, it gets loud. The noise is almost as annoying as all the smoke wafting into my nose and making my eyes water.

I’ll never understand why people decide to come to a place like this to lose money. I’m only here because I get paid to be. And even then I’m just waiting for my chance to leave.

As much as I complain about the Nova Casino, and I complain a lot about it, there are worse places to work in the city. Worse casinos, too. I get paid enough to pay the bills, and slowly but surely hide away a little money.

This place is also relatively the safest casino in the city. I assume Brev doesn’t want to keep searching the galaxy for a way to steal more employees, so he has to keep the ones he has safe. Security seems light across the game floor. They’ll let the guests drunkenly fight each other all day long, but then swoop in the moment an employee is in harm's way.

I step behind my empty Kalei Hold’em station and take a deep breath. I have another sixty seconds before I have to be on shift. I look at the time and wait.

It’s going to be another long day. Brev scheduled me for a triple shift, again. I swear, if I don’t get good tips tonight, I will lose it.

I watch the clock turn to the start of my shift. Quickly, I flick on the light over my table, showing that it’s open for business. I hardly have a moment to blink before my table is full of a mix of regulars and already drunk tourists.

“Hey, toots, deal me in,” says a regular whose name I’ve made it a point to never learn.

“Me- Me… I, too!” says some drunk guy between burps.

I tune out the rest of the comments as I let out a deep sigh. Here we go. A huge fake smile grows on my face as I turn to face them all.

“Alright, boys, the game is Kalei Hold’em…”