Leave it up to fate

You realized your lack of specificity was doing more harm than good. To cast a net, one must know how to fish. It made sense that your eye kept drawing to women. After how good your time with Clair had felt, you weren't surprised that you wanted more.

Suddenly, an idea struck like a bolt of lightning. You quickly pivoted toward the food courts and stepped toward the bathroom. Not wanting to even risk getting caught, you simply dropped the yellow ring to the floor between both bathrooms, male and female. You noticed that the floor cracked beneath the unbroken ring.

Durable. Nice.

You turned and began to head back to the parking lot, bumping into a few people by mistake. "Sorry! Excuse me!" You remarked as you found youtself getting too excited by the idea of fate deciding your last two bodies. Would I wait until tomorrow? Perhaps you would wake up and help Clair drop Jack off at day-care, then you could pop into Sierra for a- HOOOONK!

You nearly collided with a car on the road as your thoughts were elsewhere, but the other driver managed to swerve in time. Your heart raced as you focused on what was in front of me. Were you becoming addicted? Was that the warning in the manual?

Once or twice you found yourself lost in thought as you rode past Middle Street and into the west side of town. How couldn't you be? You had just done something more rash than anything else you've done before. You abandoned a ring and left your 4th body to fate.

Would anyone pick up the ring? What if no one did? As you parked your car outside of Buffalo Avenue, you hoped that you'd get someone interesting. These rings... This power... It was addictive, and you didn't even know if you wanted to stop.

You arrived in Little Asia and took the red ring from your pocket. I shakily took it and began to walk around the block, looking for somewhere to eat.

Little Asia was a pretty unique place; Not only for Smoak, but in general. It wasn't like your regular China Town, little India, or any other ethnic neighborhoos you would find in your regular city. It was diverse, hosting cultures from the Red Sea to the Yellow, with one uniting factor; the majority were asian.

Nobody is quite sure how this place got started, but your first guess would most likely be correct; some old texan politician a century ago decided to pack all the foreigners in one place, and that method stuck. And while with rampant crime rates you couldn't exactly say his plan backfired, it at least became one of the more interesting parts of town.

Little Asia was known for two main thing, great food and awful gangs. For the most part, the latter wasn't all too noticable. The streets were pretty safe at day, other than the occasional con artist or pickpocket, but you would be a fool to walk here alone at night.

There were dozens of local gangs, and while none of them were as fearfull as the ones of Middle Street, things have gotten a lot more dangerous ever since Hawk's gang started to expand their territory into the nieghborhood, invoking clashes which local news warned might devolve into a full-on gang war. Police attention was of course high, but that did little to curb the gangstars' enthusiasm.

Pushing those thoughts away was easy as you walked down the no car zone. Hands in my pockets and with your hood up, you were just another bystander in the crowd. All of the scents of food wafted through. the air in an orchestra of fragrance. Indian, Korean, and more you didn't even recognize all tickled your nose. This part of town was your favorite.

You walked through the main street of the neighhborhood, looking at the shops lined up to both sides. Buffalo avenue was a very narrow street, yet once it became a no car zone it quickly evolved into the the main tourist magnet of the area, filled on both sides with all kinds of foreign foods.

Your eyes windled on one kebab spot you quite liked, run by some Iraqi immigrants. Right next to them was an Israeli Hummus joint which was actually in surprisingly good relations with the former. You thought about stopping there for a minute, especially when you noticed how relatively empty the place was, but then you realized you were thinking about this wrong. On a regular day while out for food empty would be good for you, but in this case you were looking for as much traffic as possible.

On the other side of the road were two small Indian and Japanese places next to eachother. Both seemed quite busy, but with a Japanese-American mom of your own you looked for something more... exotic for you. Even more exotic than Indian.

Finally you stop at a Thai reataurant near the end of the street. It was very busy, and it dawned on you that you never really tried any Thai food. With a happy smile, you decide to finally take a sit, palming the last remaining ring in your hand.

It takes some time, but you take your time to think of the perfect chance to drop the ring. Maybe on an empty table? Or just on the floor and to see who would pick it? Perhaps you could try having a pickpocket take it off of you?

Deep in thought of the rings, you found yourself drifting back to an earlier memory of this place.

You and your mother were driving through this part of town to pick up her bridesmaid dress. It was one of the few times you had seen Mom look... Gloomy. Even at six you could tell she wasn't herself. When you asked what was wrong, she simply told you she hated being back home and didn't say more. She was all smiles again as you made our way back home, Little Asia long behind you.

Those thoughts are cut when you are finally served. Your waitress is a young beautiful woman, barely looking in her mid 20s. She seemed to be related to the owners, as she herself is Thai.

"Uh, yes?" She asks with quite the attitude, chewing on her gum. You quickly snap out of your trance and order the first thing on the menu; a Pad Thai, whatever that is, and watch as the woman goes to the kitchen with it. She seemed like the perfect target for the earlier form of your plan; beautiful yet bitchy so you wouldn't feel too guilty for using her as your lab rat. Yet the excitement of letting fate decide was still filling your brain with adrenaline. Was it better to try your luck, or go with your guts?