Lukas carried the envelope to the table and sat down.

He turned it over in his hands first, checking the outside.

It was made out of plain paper and had no markings or seal. He had no way to tell who had sent the letter nor anything that differentiated it from any other envelope he had ever seen.

With his checks complete, he opened it.

Inside it were two things. A playing card and a folded note.

He retrieved the card first, noting the surface. It was a joker card, but that wasn’t the important part.

It was the fact that the card had the same design as the deck they’d used in the cafeteria game.

It had the same interlocking lotus pattern on the back, and the surface had a few bumps to feel the number and suit of the card.

With a frown, he set it on the table and unfolded the note.

It was handwritten and it read:

"You’ve passed the preliminary round, Mr. Lukas. You’ve been invited to participate in the real game. Carriage 122. Midnight. Come alone."

He blinked at what he read before setting it down on the table.

The real game? Does that mean the cafeteria match had been some kind of audition?

Just what had he gotten himself into?

He stood up immediately, leaving the room quietly.

He quickly made his way back through the connecting passages to the cafeteria.

If he could catch the ongoing game, he’d be able to get answers.

The cafeteria was still open, but there were just a handful of passengers scattered at tables with drinks, and the bar attendant wiping down glasses at the side of the room.

But the table where the Deadly Draw game had been running was empty.

The crowd was gone, and so was the dealer. The only evidence he could find that something had actually happened there was the way the chairs sat at odd angles.

"What the..."

It hadn’t even been up to thirty minutes since his match ended, so did they just disappear?

’Maybe...’

He began checking the surrounding carriages, moving from the lounges to the next cafeterias, searching for the dealer’s face or any ongoing card games.

He found nothing.

He stood in one of the cafeterias, wondering if the whole game itself had been a setup when one of the train attendants passed by him.

He quickly stopped the attendant.

"The card game that was running in the cafeteria earlier," he said. "Do you know where those people went?"

The attendant stared at him blankly. "I’m sorry, sir. I’m not sure what you’re referring to. I haven’t seen any card games this afternoon."

He held her gaze for a moment, and could see she was telling the truth. Or if she was lying, she could act really well.

"Thank you," he said.

She smiled and continued down the corridor.

He stood there for a moment longer, just looking at the empty cafeteria. The. He turned, making his way back to the bunk room.

His wives were still sleeping when he arrived.

He sat at the round table, placing the envelope, card, and note on the table before him.

He was still sitting there staring at it when Melody woke up. He heard her sit up, yawning loudly.

Then she leaned over the edge of her bunk and looked at him, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Don’t tell me you’ve just been sitting there for a long time," she said, frowning. "What happened?"

"Come see for yourself."

She climbed down, her feet finding the floor quietly. She picked up the note from the table and read it. When she reached the end, she looked at him.

"You played the card game."

"I did."

She said nothing for a moment. Then she turned and crossed to Akira’s bunk, placing a hand on her arm and shaking it.

"Akira. Wake up."

Akira groaned, still asleep.

"Wake up," Melody said, shaking her.

She groaned, this time louder, but stirred from her sleep.

"Akira."

This time, she woke up. "Whaaaaat?" She groaned, pushing herself upright with a wronged expression on her face. "This better be good."

Melody held the note out to her.

Akira took it, squinting in the low light of the evening.

When she was done reading it, she swung her legs over the side of the bunk and dropped to the floor without using the steps, landing quietly.

She pulled out the chair across from Lukas and sat.

Melody took the remaining chair.

They both looked at him across the table as Akira placed the note on the table, before picking up the Joker card resting there.

After examining it, they finally spoke.

"So," Akira said. "What are we doing?"

"Since I found no signs of the game anywhere even after searching extensively, I guess this has to be a legitimate game of some kind," Lukas said.

Melody shook her head the moment he finished. "Don’t go. Whatever this is, the risks are too high. You don’t know who’s waiting in that carriage or what they want."

"Sounds like a fun adventure to me," Akira said.

"Akira."

"I’m serious. It’s in an unknown location with a midnight invitation and tied to a mysterious card game. It sounds like a bedtime story. And this is exactly the kind of thing that makes life interesting."

"It’s the kind of thing that gets people killed," Melody said flatly.

Lukas sighed.

"It’s dangerous," he said. "That much is probably true, but this might be connected to the quest about finding the person who shouldn’t be on this train. What if this game is the reason why they’re on the train in the first place?"

Melody was quiet for a moment.

"If you’re going," she finally said, "you can’t go as yourself. I’m not letting you walk into somewhere you don’t know with your face bare for all to see. What if they’re other people there?"

She stood. "You need a mask."

"I don’t have one," Lukas said.

"I know." She reached into her spatial ring. "That’s why I’m making you one."