Chapter Text
Chapter 1 - We Glitter In The Gutter
Sigma was the perfect boss, he was a dream come true.
He was polite, paid fair wages to all his employees, and gave felons a second chance at employment.
Honestly he was an overall amazing person.
But Sigma wasn’t a person, he was a performer.
He sacrificed his own wellbeing for the casino, it was all he had. Like a child desperately clinging on to a distant memory. His brain was constantly overloaded by information, he made sure that everyone was accounted for at all times.
The decay spreads slowly, a small chip at the surface can let the disease in and Sigma was covered in cracks delicately sealed with gold and plastered with cheques.
Maybe Sigma was just the idea of a person, the ideal being, free of avarice and selfishness.
He often found himself hunched over a toilet bowl, stress migraines causing terrible nausea, thinking about these things.
He wondered why he existed, was it only to serve others a pawn for an unseen hand.
To sigma the world below the casino didn’t exist. It was a distant land of which he had no interest in. Besides why would he care about something so mediocre as the earth when he had his own fragile world to uphold here in the sky.
“Sir we have an issue in high roller lounges four through five”
A man rushed in, hair pushed back a look of distress upon his face. It was apparent to Sigma that this man had tried to resolve the issue himself but by the looks of it had little luck.
Sigma really wished they would just take these things straight to him rather than escalating the issue further by angering the guests. It really was a pain but Sigma couldn’t blame them they’re just doing their jobs, badly but still.
“I’m on my way right now, Thank you for your efforts up to this point”
With that the man quickly left the room, leaving Sigma to prepare in frustration. Opening one of his many drawers he pulled out a white bottle, rattling loudly as he let a capsule fall into his hand.
“Damn American small print”
Sigma pulled out a pair of glasses, they were acetate, rounded with clear frames, which he let sit loosely on the middle of his nose.
“Venlafaxine recommended dose 75mg”
He took a swig of water off his desk, downing the pill.
Sigma had become fluent in many languages during his time as manager : English, Mandarin, Korean, Russian mainly languages for countries with high gambling rates but he did speak a little :French, Italian and Spanish only conversational though.
“And breathe”
With that he opened the towering double doors to his office, swiftly taking the best route to lounges four and five. He imagined the issue would be with customers 435 and 569 they had already been threatened with refusal of service due to their argumentative nature.
The bar is open twenty four hours however a spike sale dropping booze prices by over twenty five percent takes place at a different time each day, today’s interval was 11:46 it was now ten past twelve so that means the pair would have had ample time to be fully drunk by now.
What a pain.
“Gentlemen may I help you in any way”
Sigma's estimate was practically on the dot accurate.
“FINALLYUH THIS BASTAURD SCAUEMED ME AND I WAN’ MY MONEYEE BAUCK”
A burly man yelled, speech slurring as he pointed a large finger at the other man, who swatted it away promptly.
“BULSHIT I WON FAIR AND SQUAREU”
The stout man stamped his foot.
What children.
“I was under the impression you two were in two separate lounges today”
Sigma smiled warmly, he had moved them so that they wouldn’t be together to stop this kind of thing happening. That was easier said then done as it took moving exactly 86 different guests around to make it all run smoothly again.
“WE MADE A BET”
The tall man declared angrily.
A bet ?
Sigma was practically ready to smack them both over the head and call it a day.
“Mhm I see if you’d like to follow me so we can sort this quietly without disturbing our friends here”
Sigma gestured to the other guest whispering amongst themselves, it would be an even bigger pain if gossip got around people were making petty wagers with each other.
Security guided the men out of the hallway and away to somewhere more private.
“My apologies, overexcitement is common here, please enjoy a round on the house”
With that both lounges were back to their usual dynamics.
What a pain.
“Now if I may beg-“
Sigma started, he planned to simply give them another stern warning then offer them some kind of incentive to finally stop bickering.
“I AINT TAKIN SHIT FROM SOME SPRING BEAN, GIMME MY MONEY BACK NOW”
Sigma sighed, regulating himself so he didn’t have them both shot and tossed. He would never act on these thoughts but they were tempting in moments like these.
“I said if I may begin - sir”
His words were stern and his eyes cold, the man finally shut up.
“May I ask what this wager was ?”
Sigma returned back to his neutral demeanor, sitting politely in his chair, his hands resting on top of each other on the desk.
“Fatass over here sa-“
The mad prodded the other
“OI THE FUCK YA CALLIN ME”
Sigma cleared his throat bringing the two back to the room like a teacher scolding school children.
“Well he said he could win more than me, so I said nah and then we made a bet that if one of us won more we’d give the other our winnings”
Sigma thought for a moment, it was actually a good idea.
Maybe I could introduce that as a high stakes exclusive event.
He thought before returning to the room.
“So, this wager is their any evidence of it or certificate of approval”
Sigma asked seemingly innocently but it made the men squirm.
In the sky casino he made the rules, so god forbid you piss off the manager.
There were many rumours of severe corporal punishment for cheating or abuse to the staff.
None of them were true though, it was simply a tactic made up by Sigma to keep order.
Fear is the strongest oppressor.
“I’m sure you know we don’t allow unapproved bets between patrons”
The men looked at each other nervously, they had agreed to keep it between themselves but alcohol made them stupid and now they were sitting in front of the manager himself.
“The punishment being having all your winnings during your stay confiscated”
Sigma's eyes narrowed coldly, he had had enough of dealing with grown adults acting like children.
Money really meant nothing to Sigma, whether it was a sheet of paper, metal, gold, coins or even digital currency it didn’t matter.
“HEYUUUH IMUUr”
The fat man stumbled through his words.
“What he’s saying is I’m sure we can work something out”
The other man slid a business card across the desk.
Sigma still remained unphased, he was already well accustomed with the man’s company he made a habit of memorising potential inconveniences.
“Are you trying to bribe … the casino manager”
Sigma had to bite back his tongue to stop the sarcasm in his throat.
They truly were meatheads, Sigma had more stocks and owned more than they could ever fathom. He’d be one of the richest men in the world if the sky casino counted as a place. Luckily it didn’t, Sigma would sooner put a loaded gun in his mouth then deal with world leaders outside of a casino setting.
“Well that depends”
The man really thought he was being slick, Sigma just thought he looked stupid.
“There’s really no need for that, I have no intention of confiscating your hard earned winnings… but as you said that depends”
Sigma slid a pile of documents across the mahogany table.
“Sign these and everything will be forgiven”
The man quickly pulled the sheets towards himself, flicking through them.
“This says we’re banned from the high roller lounges”
He stuttered it was clear he was trying to sound tough but in reality he was terrified of the manager.
“Well of course, only for the remainder of your stay that is, if you choose to return to us here at the sky casino in the future your welcome to a fresh start”
Sigma smiled kindly putting the men at ease slightly.
“Make these same mistakes again however and we will no longer offer you the same hospitality”
A shiver ran down their spines, he truly was terrifying.
“Well if that’s understood, your welcome to go about your day at your own leisure, once you sign that is”
The men both hurriedly signed the documents and practically ran out the door.
What a pain.
Sigma returned to his office almost as soon as they left.
“Something to take the edge off”
Sigma reasoned to himself as he rustled through his drawers again.
“Mhmm”
He put his glasses back on to inspect what seemed like hundreds of different pill bottles.
“Odansetron, take to treat severe nausea, that’ll do”
He popped a tablet out of the tray and swallowed it in the same fashion as usual.
It’s not that he didn’t see that it was for post chemotherapy or surgery, he just ignored it. The usual stuff had stopped having any effect which did not ease Sigma's constant overwhelming distress.
“And now we wait”
Sigma slid his back against the towering oak shelves that stretched from the floor to the ceiling.
“What a life”
He observed morbidly before taking his laptop to continue his work, still slouched into the plush carpet.