Welcome to the IDC

Outside the Gold Craft casino a visibly angry middle aged man storms out, his hands rooted firmly inside of his empty pockets.

His once well kept and ironed tuxedo and suit shirt now crumpled with creases evident all over giving him a trampish look that contrasted with his well kept white hair and beard.

`F*cking hell Noah, you lost it all again` he thought to himself as he started his way down the street once more penniless.

Back in his glory days he was part of a blackjack team that could rake in tens of thousands nearly every time they entered a casino.

He smiled thinking back on those times, sure they had trained for 4-5 hours a day before entering the doors to be sure that their counting was consistent, but it had paid off.

He wasn't walking home yet, he wanted to have a wander around the local area before heading back to help take his mind off the money problems that gambling was starting to bring, at one time he would have merely had to talk to an investor to get more capital.

That was a long time ago though, now he had to raise it himself, no longer able to spend his whole life sat in front of the table.

`You really need to get a job, it doesn't have to pay the world, just enough to pay the bills` he told himself for the thousandth time.

It wasn't that he didn't want to work, he was simply scared of doing it now, who had heard of a 30-odd year old man who hadn't held a single job in his life.

No one, that's what he had reasoned to himself, and it was this mindset combined with the ever lingering thought that maybe his fortunes would turn around, which kept him unemployed.

He shook his head to help clear his head and focused on the pavement, its vast arrays of mismatched stones held together with the dull grey mortar that he had seen for what felt like thousands of times before.

Normally this would be the point where he would check the time to see if the local pub was open but he had no watch nor phone on him since they had been taken by his ex-girlfriend in a bad breakup so she could sell them to get back some of the money she had lent him.

That had also been the time when he moved out of his detached house on the outskirts into the semi-detached in the centre that he now called home.

He decided to just go, worst case the pub was closed and he had to head home without having beer to drown his sorrows, best case he could use the money he had paid in advance when times were good to have himself a good time.

Every day he went to the pub he thanked his past self for the money he had paid because getting up to pay was something that he found to be a mild inconvenience, as bougie as that sounded to him now.

Alas, when he arrived at the short wooden doors they were closed and locked tight.

"Oh Noah, lost it all in the casino again?" the question not coming from a place of familiarity but of mocking.

This almost made him start running down the street away from the safe haven, but he held back this desire and turned to face the man who had just asked him the obvious with a thinly veiled annoyance present on his face.

"Maybe I did, what's it to you" he shouted back, answering the question without giving an answer and putting a smirk on the man's face.

He had already figured out who had asked him from the voices arrogance alone, it was Richard Mengley whom his girlfriend had left him for not too long ago.

Noah was willing to let this go, he had little care for her anyway, but Richard wasn't the well established snob for no reason. He had held it against Noah ever since he had managed to hook up with her.

There was little Noah could rebuke with though, he was the loser who had lost most of his wealth gambling away in the vain hope for a change in fortune, while Richard was a prominent business owner with several food stores open across several different towns and cities.

"Well its good to check up on people like you every once in a while, you never know what might push them too far so you need to be there for them in their time of need" his tone was mocking and he was failing to hide the smile that was plastering across his face.

For what? Only god knew in Noah's eyes, Richard hadn't even said anything remotely funny and yet he looked like he had watched the funniest show in existence.

But that was just what he was like, belittling people down on their luck in ways incoherent to normal minds, it was as if he was from another world with a different view of humour.

It wasn't just his personality that gave him the snob air that exuded from every pore. His appearance helped just as much in his character as the way he acted did.

Noah had only ever seen him wear designer suits from top brands, never seeming to wear the same one twice in public.

His wrist was a mangled mess of mismatched gold watches and bracelets in several styles such as the penannular bracelet he wore just before what could be considered his arm started.

"I see you got yourself a new watch, my condolences to the maker" he felt pretty smug about coming up with that one on the spot.

"No condolences needed, it won't be sold off by a girlfriend nor gambled away for no return" Noah had to admit that those remarks stung.

"Also, with fathers day coming up tomorrow you wont need to bother, he wont be coming over"

"And what do you mean by that" Noah's tone turned audibly aggressive as he stared down the man who he may or may not assault in broad daylight.

"Well its quite obvious, the kid doesn't like his father who's a gambling addict with a taste for alcohol"

Noah had no response other than to turn heel and walk away, clenching his fists in his pockets, a headache started to form so he decided to head home for the night.

walking down the dark road, the nightly chill was a welcome cool down from the anger that had started boiling in his face.

Sure Richard had a point on those not being very fatherly traits. but he had always been a good father to his son never once letting him go without what he wanted.

`He wouldn't do that to me would he?` he was trying to reason why, or maybe more accurately trying to delude himself into believing that there was little reason for his son to abandon him.

He never had to check the door number along the row of identical houses since his was the only one with a door that looked like it had been the target of a mauling by a lion or some other big cat.

the door was usually stiff so he had to use extra force to barge it open, risking taking the door of its hinges every time, today was not the day he would have to buy a new door.

thankfully it was easier to close, doing so with a soft *click* before Noah proceeded to take off his shoes and head into the kitchen.

Inside was a standard small kitchen that was well kept except for the takeout boxes left on the countertop all of which still contained leftovers he was keeping to have tonight.

He decided not to for his headache was progressing rapidly and all he wanted now was to have a lie down.

He didn't even feel like slugging himself up the stairs into his bedroom, instead opting to sleep on the sofa in the connected living room.

Before he fell into his deep sleep he looked at the table in the living room, more specifically gazing at the picture of him and his son smiling happily into the camera, giving out a sigh he closed his eyes.

When he woke up it was day outside, which meant he had slept the rest of the night away without eating anything again.

The grogginess he felt when trying to get up from his makeshift bed forced him back onto his back, waiting for his body to allow him to move once more without making him extremely tired and giving him a reason to stay in bed.

He had to get up and well prepared, he didn't believe a word Richard had said that was the conclusion he had reached in his sleep, Richard was just trying to get under his skin and had succeeded.

This meant that he had to be ready for when his son came to visit, he quickly brushed his teeth and got changed into a new suit and tie ready to answer the door at any second.

Yet the hours dragged on, and no call came.

After waiting well into the night he gave up all hope of seeing his son, so he decided once more to go to sleep this time with tears in his eyes added to the nasty mix.

*ding dong*

Just as he had given up all hope, a ring from the doorbell sounded throughout the house invigorating him with new energy allowing him to barrel down the stairs as if he was a teenager once more.

But when he opened the door, instead of the hug and "I missed you dad" he was greeted by a man dressed in all black standing in the doorway.

The man looked to be straight from a secret agent service, having the see through wires along his ear and all.

"Hi would you happen to be Noah Walker"

He spoke in a very monotone manner, making it hard to make out some of the word he was saying.

"Yes that would be me. why? am I on a government list or something?"

"Not at all, in fact instead of coming here to jail you, I am instead here to recruit you into the interdimensional casinos player base"

"Never heard of it, and I don't have any money, but if you want to scam people I know this guy called Ri-"

"I am not here to scam you, membership is completely free and a once in a lifetime opportunity to get you out of the slump you seem to have found yourself in"

"Well what's so once in a lifetime about it?"

"Its just as I said once in a lifetime, you may only enter and leave once"

"I've also never heard of any casino called that, and believe me I know a lot of high end casinos"

"Maybe this would explain it better than I could"

After he said that he waived his hand to the side of him as if doing half a jumping jack without jumping, what was odd about it was that the space the mans hand had made contact with seemed to ripple and start to pull itself apart.

The pulled apart space revealed a glittering entrance area furnished completely from precious gems and luxury furniture that one would usually find in a very high end hotel for rich businessmen.

The floor was completely carpeted with red velvet giving even the floor, the dirtiest place that anyone could find, a refined and elegant look.

"So this is the casino that you were talking about" Noah couldn't hide his amazement at both the magical event that had taken place before him and the magnificent opulence that he could see before his eyes.

"Well, will you join?"

"I think I'll take you up on the offer yeah"

He didn't even think to ask what he could win or what the conditions were, had he not been blinded by the magnificence of it all, maybe he would have.

"Well then, welcome to the IDC"