Thomas sat on his throne, his eyes scanning the cavernous room. There were seven people. Seven. In a space designed to accommodate a thousand, the handful of customers looked like lost souls wandering a desert.
Three of them were already starting to fade as they woke up in the real world, leaving only four people huddled near the bar.
"I went back to the basics," he told himself, rubbing his temples. "I added lights. I added comfort. I made it look like a high-end establishment. Why does no one want to come?"
He thought back to his early days on the ship. Back then, it was a cramped, dingy room with a single table and a few stools. Yet, people had practically fought to get inside. Now that it was a sprawling casino of gold and glass, the "customers" were avoiding it as if it were haunted.
"Is it too much?" he wondered. "Are they intimidated? Or am I missing something fundamental about how this world works?"
