Electric lights glowed on the wall, guiding the way through the many passages looping over each other through the many floors of the complex. The Hive.
By the neon-yellow light, a doorway was outlined. Past it, the ceiling opened up a bit. The room took up two floors of the complex in its area, with the doorway of the second floor opening up to a balcony that extended a bit into the room as a loft-walk-around before stairs brought it down to the floor at some points.
Many large machines of metal and glass blinked with lights as teenagers and children played the games, the arcade lit up joyfully with yellow and white light.
On the other side of the large room that was easily 60 meters in length, and further in width, tables were set up with the food service stations against the wall lit up brighter than the recreational areas of the Hive.
"I bet..." a man with a brown mustache frowned as he looked at the nuts and bolts piled up on the table, a few plastic cards with the word "Uno" on the back slightly visible, albeit very faded.
"40 credits!" He suddenly exclaimed, pushing forward 4 tightly wrapped spools of wire.
The man across laughed, slight fat around his face creating wrinkles that dirt could be seen trapped within, while the open surfaces of skin were streaked with grime and sweat. "You're going to regret that big man!"
A younger man, perhaps in his late teens or early twenties, shrugged awkwardly. "I...fold?"
The first man grimaced. "Come on boy! You gotta try to win, else you'll never get anything!"
The young man laughed. "Well maybe never trying to win is also how you make sure you never lose?"
"That's no way to live life! The Extinction took enough, you gotta keep your pride Simon!"
Simon smirked as he placed his hand on the table. "Well, the Extinction hasn't taken a thing from me, or you for that matter, that we ever got to have. So I think giving it my pride wouldn't be so bad."
Despite his words he still pushed out 4 spools of wire and 3 bolt-screws, indicating his bet had been placed, and raised by an additional 15 credits.
The mustached man narrowed his eyes at Simon's bet and laid down cards, thinking. 'He never bet till now... confident is he?"
The other man sucked in his lip in concentration, and Simon smiled at him. "You gotta try to win, right?"
The man laughed. "Indeed, the young should hold such pride! But old folk like me ought to step out once in awhile." He put on a regretful look as he folded, but everyone else at the table felt their expressions stiffen slightly.
'What a shameless excuse! Old? You're not even 37! You're still a worker and are decades away from being retired!'
Another young adult, a young woman of thin Latino features, merely said "Call." with a quiet temperament, while an older woman with gray streaks raised an eyebrow at Simon. "I raise. 30 credits."
Simon pushed forward another 3 wire spools, then added a bolt. "5 credits."
She narrowed her eyes, the lady glanced at her cards, her glasses on a string around her neck.
The metal frames could be seen to be wire melted to the glass edge of each of the lenses, crude but functional, much like most things in the hive.
"Fine. Any challenges?" She asked the table, and a second eyelid blinked, translucent and perpendicular to the regular human eyelid.
A few glanced away from her stare at the sight, cowed by the unintentional showing of her nature.
Silence played out.
"I fold." The mustached man sighed as he leaned back.
"Fold." The young woman said, quiet and solemn.
The old lady stared down Simon before smiling. "Let's call it beginners luck, huh?" She laid her cards in the messy discard pile, the final call.
One, five, skip, one again, and three.
Simon laid out his hand.
+4, yellow 2, green 2, red skip, yellow 7.
The mustached man complained. "Damnit! I could've won!"
"It's called a bluff sweetie." The old lady lampooned him, and he rolled his eyes.
"Why'd you let Simon win, Granny Elyse?" The other man asked curiously.
"Shouldn't anyone win their first bet?" She smiled slightly, and the others shook their head except for the mustached man. "Huh? How'd she let him win?"
Nobody answered him, just shaking their heads. The dealer laughed slightly as he collected the cards.
Simon stood up and gave a slight bow. "Sorry, would love to keep playing, but I should get to the live screen."
The Latino woman raised her chin slightly. "Oh. Your brother's selection is today?"
Simon nodded as he smiled. "Yeah... he just hopes he doesn't end up with someone more than a decade his age."
Granny Elyse rolled her eyes. "Matt is just scared of being in 'experienced hands', hehe."
The rest of the table: "..."
'Granny... can you be a little less blunt?!'
Simon coughed awkwardly, turning around as he waved a hand. "I'm uh... gonna... go."
"Good luck to Matt! Hope he gets a good match like my Annika!" The mustached man shouted, before turning back to the table as the dealer began to deal out cards again.
A second dealer suddenly materialized, holding out a small terminal to Simon, and Simon pressed his wrist against it, the metal bracer lighting up briefly.
"Congratulations on your victory!" The dealer winked. "Don't go spending it all at once!"
The hologram of the A.I. vanished, the main program still handing out cards as Simon left that part of the rec center.
He went to a large screen taking up a wide wall, the balcony not extending to that side of the room, and peered over the heads of the crowd of young adults.
'Let's see...'
His eyes caught the hint of someone over the crowd.
He slipped through the crowd, turning his shoulders and hips to slip between people smoothly as he came up behind a young man on the taller side.
Simon tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey Matt! You excited to finally get hitched?"
Matt turned, startled, before smiling nervously as Simon spoke. "Hey, shut up bro. I've got no clue who she might be..."
Simon rolled his eyes. "Should've tried getting hooked back in standard ed then."