Kaiji listened intently as the little card-game social ladder was explained back to him, somehow in more detail than he remembered originally providing. It was sort of like rock-paper-scissors - the traditional kind, anyway, not the kind that he had played. The normal version had less backstabbing and rooms full of naked men. Yeah, definitely closer to that. But there were some fundamental differences. "Just like that," he answered, sounding slightly pleased, "And the Citizens all have equal authority, so they cancel each other out." While there wasn't really any noticeable emotional response either way, at least he wouldn't have to go explaining everything again or in more detail.
To Kaiji, money was the key to everything: his own inability to obtain and keep it made him feel hopeless and miserable on a regular basis, so the situation seemed plausible to him. Well, obviously - the game had been presented to him in the context of the ravings of a madman about his an unfortunate model of society that made all too much sense.
Taking the remaining seven cards, Kaiji labeled each with a 'C,' placing four of the 'C' cards in one stack which he then fanned out to show all of them, then followed suit with an identical stack. At the end of one fan of cards, he placed the 'E,' and at the end of the other, the 'S.'
"We both get five cards," he pointed out both stacks, "Four Citizens, and either the Slave or the Emperor." This was the part of the rules that seemed terribly unfair or tricky: the decks were unevenly matched. "That means the Emperor set has a really high chance of winning. If we were betting on this, winning with the Slave would be worth a lot more." Kaiji shrugged a little. It put a dent in the meaningfulness of the game to take away that actual reward aspect, but the psychological and statistical parts were still somewhat intact. This could really go either way.
"We both pick the card of our choice, set it face-down, and turn it over at the same time. It ends when someone decides to play the Slave or the Emperor." This was a pretty simple game, and even if the explanation wasn't completely clear it didn't take long to learn at all given a try or two. "It's that simple." That was a lie. It could be incredibly complicated, assuming that the two sides were both actually trying.
"So, as long as you get that," he finally dropped the all-important question, "Slave side or Emperor side?" It was pretty much automatically assumed that someone who wasn't familiar with the game, especially someone who had nothing to gain from it, would pick the Emperor. It never hurt to ask, though - maybe Vlad liked challenges.
no subject
To Kaiji, money was the key to everything: his own inability to obtain and keep it made him feel hopeless and miserable on a regular basis, so the situation seemed plausible to him. Well, obviously - the game had been presented to him in the context of the ravings of a madman about his an unfortunate model of society that made all too much sense.
Taking the remaining seven cards, Kaiji labeled each with a 'C,' placing four of the 'C' cards in one stack which he then fanned out to show all of them, then followed suit with an identical stack. At the end of one fan of cards, he placed the 'E,' and at the end of the other, the 'S.'
"We both get five cards," he pointed out both stacks, "Four Citizens, and either the Slave or the Emperor." This was the part of the rules that seemed terribly unfair or tricky: the decks were unevenly matched. "That means the Emperor set has a really high chance of winning. If we were betting on this, winning with the Slave would be worth a lot more." Kaiji shrugged a little. It put a dent in the meaningfulness of the game to take away that actual reward aspect, but the psychological and statistical parts were still somewhat intact. This could really go either way.
"We both pick the card of our choice, set it face-down, and turn it over at the same time. It ends when someone decides to play the Slave or the Emperor." This was a pretty simple game, and even if the explanation wasn't completely clear it didn't take long to learn at all given a try or two. "It's that simple." That was a lie. It could be incredibly complicated, assuming that the two sides were both actually trying.
"So, as long as you get that," he finally dropped the all-important question, "Slave side or Emperor side?" It was pretty much automatically assumed that someone who wasn't familiar with the game, especially someone who had nothing to gain from it, would pick the Emperor. It never hurt to ask, though - maybe Vlad liked challenges.