AlphaXero

I'm pulled from my sleep: not a particularly deep slumber, but I was feeling rested all the same. Lying in bed, I slowly become more aware of my surroundings. Why am I suddenly awake? I'm not sure. Maybe it's my youngest sister in the room next door making noise. She does tend to stay up to ungodly hours of the morning. Perhaps my brothers are having another raucous online party in 'Overwatch', or 'Team Fortress 2', or whatever new shooter they're playing just because it's free, or their system meets the requirements. Or it's possibly my uncanny ability to hear my mother's alarm from the other side of the house   Who knows. What time even is

    Tsukasa pushed at the food on her plate, silently taking stock of the room around her. Each of the places set at the table seemed to be superfluously made up: six pieces of dinnerware, eight eating utensils, and napkins made of cloth. If that alone didn't make her nervous enough to use them, the embroidery along the outside edges did. It wasn't just the way things were on the table, though. The rest of the people in the room were all wearing expensive looking suits and dresses. Designer, no doubt. All of them a far cry from the simple one piece, dark blue dress she had chosen to wear. Earlier in the night, she had thought it looked nice,

     Damian leaned forward in his large chair, his sapphire hair falling slightly over his shoulder. Moving his cane to the side, he grabbed two small sugar cubes off the table in front of him and dropped them into the steaming beverage to his right. Picking up the small, silver spoon next to the cup, he mixed them together.    They had their tea now, so it was as good enough time to talk as any. "So," he started, brushing his long hair out of his face with his free hand, "to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"     The woman across from him was plainly dressed, her ever-present white walking stick next to her. The tan skin of her exp