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CHAPTER 13

LIVING THE DREAM

"Wake up, man. Time to head on up." Ozzy groaned angrily at the voice that was intruding on his sleep. This had been his best rest in what felt like years. Who would be enough of a dick to take that away from him? "Come on, dude. You need to get up, now." No, he didn't. If he had work, he would have set his alarm last night before he nodded off. No alarm had gone off yet, so he was still free to waste his day away. What did this guy want from him, anyway? It couldn't be one of the guys from the office. He had just made a payment this week. Plus, this voice, for as annoying as it was being, was much gentler than one of the men at Hope & Rally were when they had to step out to make sure a payment was made on time.

The owner of the voice began shaking his shoulders and nudging him in the ribs. "Just get up and get dressed. You can sleep on the ride." Ozzy opened his eyes just the slightest bit and immediately regretted it. All the lights in the room were on and seemed to be pointing right at him, their light searing his ocular nerves and diving spikes into his head, letting him know that he was hung over. The hyena put a hand over his eyes, peeking through his fingers at the man standing over him. "Frank?" Ozzy asked once he was able to make out a pair of horns. Ozzy rose a bit from the couch he had passed out on, using an elbow to prop himself up. "What the hell, man? I ain't got no work today. Let me be." Ozzy was surprised by the sound of his own voice. It was so dry; it recalled the sound of fallen leaves crunching underfoot.

"No shit," Frank said, offering a hand to help the spotted-furred man stand. "I don't think any of us are going to be back in time for work." Ozzy moved carefully, not wanting to kick the coffee table. Keeping his hand positioned to block the light, he peered out from under it to watch his feet. Instead of seeing the stained old table squatting on an ugly carpet, he saw polished hardwood. Uncomprehending, he removed his hand and tried to orient himself, only to find Frank, wearing a blue suit with golden embroidery, standing in front of a cushy-looking bed resting on a carved wooden frame with a canopy hanging over it supported by four posts. With a roaming gaze, he saw that the room he resided in now was not the common room of The Homestead, but what appeared to be a suite in a high-class hotel. Looking down at himself, he saw a black suit of a similar design to Frank's.

"I feel like Sean Connery," the hyena said. "Actually, it's probably closer to Roger Moore, since I'm on a space station." Ozzy shook his head, his hangover having receded to be replaced by awe. He was still here. "Am I really not dreaming?"

Frank smiled up at Ozzy, giving the taller man a friendly nudge. "I know how it is. I was pretty surprised, myself, when I woke up. But, no, we're really here. Really and truly." Putting a hand on Ozzy's back, Frank guided him to a door off to the side of the room. "No time to think on that right now, though. Iannis says that our elevator leaves for the fifth Dial in less than an hour and we need to be showered and ready to go by then. So, take a shower."

Ozzy was led into a bathroom with large, off-white tiles lining the floor and walls. Unlike every other room on this station, this one was so normal that it wouldn't have been out of place in a hotel back on Earth. That was, until one noticed the wall of frosted glass a few steps in, behind which was the largest shower Ozzy had seen outside of the communal ones at the gym. It was easily big enough for five men Jeb's size to bathe themselves at the same time. Ozzy was enjoying the mental image that brought about when he heard Frank step out. "Throw your clothes in that basket by the sink. They'll be pressed and ready by the time you're done. Don't ask me how." The sheep closed the door once he said what he had to say, leaving Ozzy standing alone in front of the sliding door to the shower. "Sorry for the rush but remember: got to be at the elevator in fifty minutes and it's a twenty minute walk there," Frank shouted through the door.

Ozzy put a hand to his head, feeling it throb. A hot shower would help. His lips curled up in a smile in spite of the pain. Still here. He felt like singing, or at least he would have if it weren't for the headache. The room hadn't completely stopped swaying since his romp with Jeb last night, so he had to take a seat on the toilet as he began to strip, peeling his clothes off with deliberate slowness and folding them carefully before setting them into the basket Frank had indicated. Ozzy had never known much about the world of fashion, so he couldn't guess what the material the suit was made of, but it felt so nice that he suspected even a small tear might be more than he could afford to repair. Unless they actually give me a million dollars, Ozzy thought. Even after all this, could that really happen? Just give nine people more than a million each?

Pants folded, Ozzy walked, totally naked, over to the basket and carefully laid the last piece of clothing over the others. As he did so, he noticed that there was a bulge protruding from the pocket of his jacket. Ozzy removed the remote and stared at it. "You're still the biggest mystery, I think." Were the clothes going to be taken away to be ironed? If they were, would whoever was taking them take the remote as well? Ozzy didn't like the idea of letting the strange device get too far out of his sight, even for the length of a shower. Sliding the glass aside, Ozzy searched the massive space for somewhere he could put the remote down without it getting wet. A teleporter or whatever this thing might have been was probably waterproof, but it was best to play it safe.

After finding a spot in the corner on a shelf behind a lavender-scented bar of soap, Ozzy found a set of handles in the middle of one wall and turned the one that read "hot". Water hit him from all sides, falling like a spring rain, drenching his fur instantly. His headache lessened slightly as relaxed in the midst of the flow. He picked up the lavender soap and went to work lathering himself. Steaming liquid ran down his front, matting his fur to his abdomen, the lack of fluff allowing his toned musculature to show through. Swaying his hips to a tune only he could hear and watching the soap vanish down the drain, Ozzy felt as if he was watching all his troubles depart with it. Another day on his paradise in space was waiting for him. Laughing quietly, the hyena stuck his head under a steam to rise off the last of the suds.

He threw his head back, water flying off him, and rubbed his face to keep the soap from getting into his eyes. He went to replace the bar of soap, catching sight of the remote in the process. Without thinking, he read the golden words embossed on the back of the oblong black object. "Win 5,000 5th star tokens." Ozzy reached up to place the soap in front of the thing, not wanting to let its presence ruin his good mood.

"Thank you again for tolerating this detour," Iannis said as he led the group of travelers over a patch of empty space to where the Stairway to Heaven stood, floating unsupported over the void. "I assure you: you will receive a more proper reception once you arrive at the fifth Dial." Ozzy heard Ana and Sara share a giggle of anticipation behind him. By his side, Jeb walked with May hanging off an arm, white teeth shining through black fur in a brilliant smile. Ozzy tried to keep a smile on his face, too, but he hadn't quite gotten used to walking on thin air yet. It was the lack of sound when he put his foot down, more than anything, that unnerved the hyena.

"You will receive your casino tokens as soon as you have checked in with the hotel," Iannis continued, coming to a stop in front of the elevator and turning to face the group. "I encourage you all to pay a visit to our wonderful Fifth Star Casino as soon as you find the opportunity. I am told we are in a bull market at the moment, so you may find yourselves with a well-stacked portfolio upon your leave." The hare gave a small smile. "If you play your cards right, that is."

Ozzy scratched his cheek thoughtfully as Iannis spoke. A game of cards was always a fun way to pass the time. Plus, all the people here were older, rich types. Probably, they thought that their experience had made them smarter than a younger man like himself, immune to any tricks he could pull. That was why older guys were always such easy marks. A smile crossed Ozzy's lips as he saw in his head the image of men sadly pushing great piles of chips in his direction, his own arm stretching out to sweep in his winnings. He would start cleaning out one pocket after another as soon as he got the chance. Of course, he had no way of knowing for sure if the folks on the next station would be as easy as he thought, so he would need to be make an initial push to gauge their abilities. If he had ten tokens, then three would be the max he would be willing to lose. If he didn't win something in one of his first three tries, the smart thing to do would be to cut his losses.

Three tokens, Ozzy thought. That's four hundred fifty thousand dollars. Thinking about it that way made the vision of piles of chips go up in smoke. Losing even once would be losing more than he had ever lost on a single bet in his life. No, it would be losing more in a single bet than he had made over the course of his life so far. The idea made Ozzy's stomach knot up. How the hell could I even consider a gamble like that? A phrase popped to the front of Ozzy's mind, accompanied by an odd sensation, like something inside his head was buzzing around. "Win 5,000 5thstar tokens." The hyena put a hand to his head. It felt like someone was tugging at the back of it. "No!" he exclaimed, the wide, empty space of the elevator room magnifying his voice until it sounded more like a shout.

Ozzy heard his voice echo off the walls a few times before remembering where he was. Looking up, he saw Iannis judging him with his bubblegum eyes. The hare still wore an expression of subservience, but there was something in those eyes that spoke of a different emotion, one Ozzy couldn't clearly identify. "Sir?" he asked. Feeling stares on his back, he turned to see concern on several faces. Moving the hand on his head behind his ear, he began to scratch at it as if that had been his true intention all along. "I mean, no thank you. Casinos aren't for us, I think. Acoustics in this room are crazy. I wasn't expecting my voice to come out that loud." He forced out a laugh. The pastel hare gave a slight frown. "I see," he said, then rapped twice with a single knuckle on the thick glass wall behind him. The double doors slid outwards soundlessly.

The travelers filed into the elevator and took their seats as Iannis bid them farewell, the thick glass doors closing just after he had finished speaking, as if it had been rehearsed. With a bow, the pastel hare turned on a heel and walked off, the picture of dignified servitude. As soon as he had stepped off the air-floor and onto solid ground, the elevator sped off at an incredible velocity. "Going from zero to a thousand without feeling it gives me the heebie-jeebies," Sara said, staring out at the stars as they flew up.

"I don't think we're going that fast," Mort said from where he stood with his face pressed against the glass. "Look, the station's shrinking at a pretty normal rate. You can even still see the Ear--planet, if you look closely." Mort placed a hand on his chin, staring out with an expression of puzzlement on his face. "How are we moving at all, though?" he muttered. "I didn't see any form of propulsion. This thing is just a box; hardly aerodynamic at all. Come to think of it, that planet down there has life on it. That means it has to have an atmosphere comparable to Earth's, right? How did we get through the ionosphere without noticing so much as breaking a sweat? If only I could get out and have a closer look at this thing."

"Who gives a shit about all that?" asked Ana. "More importantly, look at how hot I am in this dress." Ana spun, holding up the corners of her skirt as if she was about to curtsy. Ana's fur was a uniformly coffee color, with no lighter markings on the ventral side. With her sparkling red dress, she looked like a movie star from the sixties. "Yesterday was so hectic, I barely remembered I was wearing one until I got into bed. Speaking of which, you could have warned me that you snore. I had to call Iannis at two in the morning to bring up some ear plugs." That last bit was addressed to Mary, who sniffed loudly at the accusation. "I don't snore. It must have been Sara." The wolverine lowered her head apologetically. "Sorry," she said. "I didn't think it was going to be an issue. This place is so nice, I figured they would just give us each our own rooms."

That had been the one part that had been anything less than ideal so far. Instead of each member of the group getting their own room, there had only been four assigned to the lot of them. One for each of the married couples, one for the single guys and one for the single girls. That would have been less problematic if there had at least been enough beds to go around, but only one bed had been assigned per room. Right, that was why Ozzy woke up on the couch. He had been so sloshed last night when he came back that he had opted to just pass out there instead of waking Frank up. Details from after dinner were still a bit hazy, and he was having trouble recalling many of the finer points. There was one major point that would have been nearly impossible to forget, though. It was a good an opportunity as any to bring it up, now that they were all here.

"Jeb, did you tell anyone about what we heard last night? At the bar?" The bear's face lit up, but he shook his head. "Wanted everyone to hear this at once," he said. Standing up, the older man cleared his throat loudly, gathering the attention of the room. Jeb began recounting how he and Ozzy had made their discovery, initially earning him tight-lipped looks of confusion that turned into open-mouthed shock as he reached the punchline. Total silence followed once Jeb had finished, the bear enjoying the stunned faces as he glanced about with a child-like smile on his own. A long time passed before anyone could work out how to react to finding out that they had just become millionaires.

Mary was the first one to come out of her stunned state, summing up the mood of the whole party with a succinct "Holy shit." Frank burst out in laughter, saying something intelligible about canes and going to church more often in the moments where he managed to get a breath in. Jeb had gone over to May and was holding his wife tight to his chest, whispering promises of a modest house and a peaceful life in the countryside. Mort lifted the lapel on the left side of his gray suit, examining it closely. "You said this was a temple sigil," he began, trying his best to angle the face towards him without wrinkling the fine fabrics. "Do you know what that means? Also, did either the lizard or the cat say anything else that stuck out at you?"

Ozzy gave a bark of laughter at the polecat's odd questions. "Who cares?" the hyena said, throwing up his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "When you get a gift, don't go asking what the price tag was. Enjoy what you've got!" Mort folded his arms as he leaned against his spot on the wall, eyes narrowing at Ozzy. "Over the course of my life, many people have come to me with money, offering me deals that seemed too good to be true," the polecat said in a tight voice. "I've taken a few of those offers, too. Always wound up biting me in the ass. Think about this: We've been here for less than a day and whoever runs these places decides, out of the goodness of his heart, to bring nine no-name people from a rotting apartment over to his space hotel and give them each more than a million dollars. That's a little farfetched, isn't it?"

Ozzy felt himself growing hot at Mort's attitude. Why did he insist on finding problems when there were none? He was about to say something a bit heated when May jumped in to answer for him. "It is farfetched, yet here we are, heading to our second 'space hotel', as you put it, of the day." The doe pushed away from Jeb, folding her arms beneath her breasts so she could look more authoritative. "This scenario we find ourselves in is so thoroughly beyond the ordinary that we have nothing to judge it against. Yes, getting a million dollars from a stranger might be highly unlikely on Earth, but that's not where we are. Until we get a better grasp of our surroundings, the only choice we have is to take things at face value." Ozzy sat back with a smile, happy that May was able to put what he was definitely going to say into more eloquent phrasing.

Mort remained unconvinced, however, as he stepped away from the glass to speak more seriously with May. "Like I said, taking things at face value has, historically, not gone well for me. I can't believe it has for you, either." Mort was looking at May, but that last was intended for the whole room. May had trouble meeting Mort's eyes, as did Jeb, while Mary started absently rubbing at her ring finger and staring out into space. Ozzy sat with a stiff back, staring knives at Mort. "And like May said, that was back on Earth," he said, a small, barely noticeable note of anger entering his voice. "We aren't going to be given the tokes in return for something. They're just going to give them to us."

"Is that what those mobsters told you when you took that loan from them?" Mort asked with a sneer. "You, of all people, should know that--" Mort cut off, looking down at his arm to find Adrianne gripping his wrist. Following her arm up to her face, Mort stared at his wife, who fixed him with a warning glare, saying nothing. A storm raged over Ozzy as he stood and walked right up to Mort, standing as close as possible so that the difference in their heights was emphasized. "I should know what?" Ozzy inquired innocently, bending staring down at the man in the gray suit. The polecat was more than a whole head shorter. Mort's eyes flashed to the side, towards Adrianne, who still held his wrist. Ozzy bent forward until his and Mort's foreheads were almost touching. "What is it," Ozzy asked again, drawing each word out slowly, "that I should know?"

Mort looked ready to launch into a tirade, but a cautioning shake of the head from Adrianne made him reconsider. Sighing, he set his back and returned Ozzy's stare. "You should know better," he said, then went off toward a corner with Adrianne before the hyena could respond. Ozzy heard his knuckles crack as his hands tightened into fists. "Do you know what I read every day?" Ozzy called after the departing couple. "Every day, front page news! It's always about talking about the great things being done by cunts who have never worked an honest day in their entire lives! A sweatshop owner takes a vacation on his private island! A Silicon Valley dickhead builds a robot programmed to kill anyone that says the word 'union'! An oil baron buys another thirteen-year-old for his harem! I'm sick to death of it!"

Ozzy's volume had been rising steadily as he spoke, to the point where he was now screaming. "Meanwhile, I've been working my ass off since I the first day I could work! I didn't even have a roof over my head when I turned twenty! Now, I'm getting mine! Is that so far past reason? Huh?! That someone who actually put in the effort might get something out of it one day? We are in space! It is a goddamned miracle! A gift from heaven! Why can't you just accept that?" Ozzy was breathing so hard that he barely noticed the concerned looks he was getting from the other travelers. The only thing he could see was Mort stopping in his tracks to look over his shoulder at him.

Mort began turning even as Adrianne tightened her claws in a death grip around his wrist but didn't have the chance to even open his mouth before Jeb clapped his hands so loud it jolted the room into silence. All eyes in the room turned toward where the black bear stood pressing the heels of his palms against his eyelids. "I appreciate that we're all very amped right now," he said, menace in his deep growl, "but I had quite a bit last night and am too hungover to deal with all this yelling right now." Taking his paws from his face, Jeb stepped up to place himself between Mort and Ozzy. "If you two can't start using your indoor voices, I'm going to get a headache. If I get a headache, I'll get mad. If that happens, I might say something I'll regret." Jeb fixed each of them in turn with a meaningful glare, but it was to Ozzy he said, "Get my meaning?"

Ozzy's face twisted with indignance. Him being pissed with Mort had nothing to do with a migraine, it had to do with the little asshole running his mouth! Ozzy spun away from the two of them and kicked a leg of the couch. "Ow! Fuck!" he yelled, hobbling on one foot. He could feel Mort's smirk on his back without needing to turn around, so he didn't.

"Hey, man," Frank said, approaching with hands raised in a pacifying manner. "Are you okay?" Ozzy took a moment to get his breathing under control. Taking in a lung-full of air and holding it, he set his injured foot back on the ground and stood up straight. "I'm fine," he said, though it didn't sound convincing, even to him. Frank's face grew more concerned, brow creasing with worry. The sheep came a bit closer, speaking softly so no one other than Ozzy could hear. "Seriously, where did that come from? Do you know something we don't?"

Clicking his tongue, Ozzy made for the liquor cabinet. "I'm going to have a drink to calm myself down," the hyena announced, stepping quickly away from Frank. The short sheep chased after him, still speaking in hushed tones. "Is this about Kane? Look, I know we're all a lot cooler on him than we used to be, but he really does mess with your head. Just being around him nearly drove me crazy." Ozzy picked up the pace, not wanting to entertain Frank's idea about him going crazy. "I'm fine," Ozzy said, his jaw so tight that his teeth muffled the words slightly. "Just need something to drink and I'll be cool."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Frank asked, frowning. "You were pretty hung over when I got you up this morning. You can't be better already." It was true, a dull throb had remained through the day, growing more pronounced now due to Mort's insistence on finding the cloud for every silver lining. Just thinking about the man brought another growl up from deep within Ozzy's throat. "Never mind," Frank said quickly, rushing away from Ozzy. He must have mistaken that growl as being for him. Ozzy would have to apologize for that later. Not right now, though. Right now, he needed to get his head on straight.

Ozzy found a glass and poured a room-temperature glass of either whiskey or whisky. He didn't bother to check the label to find out which before twisting the cap off. He downed half the glass instantly, then stuck his hand in his jacket pocket, rooting around for the remote. He read the small gold letters on the back for what must have been the fiftieth time. "Win 5,000 5th star tokens." Why ask that of him? Why give him ten of those tokens and then ask him to risk them? A million and a half was more than he ever could have imagined having in the bank all at one time. Mort had no idea what he was talking about. Frank knew something about this remote, but he didn't know Ozzy. Five years, chained to that shitty apartment because of his debt. With that money, he might have a chance at living his life. He wasn't about to throw away his future on a stupid gamble that served no purpose. Not again.

He'd be getting that money as soon as he checked into his room, Iannis had told him. He would stay a day, then cash out as soon as possible. The planet below might have been foreign to him, but the people were the same as on Earth. They used something like the US dollar. That meant he had a good chance of fitting in, once he had turned his tokens into currency. Only, how did one do that? Was there a desk? Ozzy finished off the rest of his drink. His hands were trembling. "Win 5,000 5thstar tokens." The words were gilded on the back of the remote, but they might as well have been written on the back of Ozzy's eyelids. The more he wanted to just walk away, the more the words appeared, unbidden, in the front of his mind. Ozzy poured another drink. Was this the cane? He raised the remote in his fist, ready to throw it against the ground, but found that he couldn't. Something bad would happen if he did. He didn't know what, or how, or why he knew, but he knew. Putting the remote away, he tossed back his drink and set the glass on the table, near the ice maker. Ozzy stared out the window, trying to find the planet beneath them. He found it after a minute, alien continents now reduced to the point where he couldn't make out. It was merely a pale blue dot, just like how he had known his planet.