The skill of deduction was likely one of the most useful tools that any entity could ever have at hand. To be able to see the truth of the situation, and to figure out what every being involved wanted. To figure out the desires, the needs, and the actions of another before they started on the first step. A battle had begun from the moment the first thought had passed the mind, even if nobody ever realised it.

Cassandra always noticed. There had never been a moment where she did not scheme for the future. Every action on her part was done with the full intention of being for the future. What was a step if not for progress? Therefore… deduction would be most useful.

There had already been an idea about her having it. The deduction was not something that was inborn in people. Yes, some minds were able to be more predisposed to it, yet there was training to be had no matter how gifted one was. Was Cassandra gifted? She certainly liked to think she was.

Recent times have put that idea to the test. What was her pitiful planning for the grand game that was played by those in the chairs above? Cassandra had no clue how far the board was, had no idea who knew of the board at all, and if she was a player in it or just another pawn to be moved around. It was all so confusing.

Information was key to success. Knowing was half the battle, and the woman had spared no expense to that. Every moment she could spare was used on retroactive deliberation. If she could look through any weakness, any hint of what was truly going on, she would be able to succeed. If there was any part of it all that had a pattern, Cassandra could exploit it, just as she had done hundreds of times before.

Because that was the greatest thing about defences. No matter how grand they were, no matter how impenetrable it all seemed, there were always cracks in the foundations. No system was perfect, and Cassandra always found just what was wrong. She would widen the cracks into holes, and she would blow it all up. She would revel in the destruction while walking elegantly upon the ruins. She would win it all. She would…

Be in checkmate yet again. Or, was that checkmate? Looking over the remaining pieces, her mind quickly shuffled all the possible combinations down. There were not many moves to count, after all, with only a depth of two at the best. While she was not in checkmate yet, it would be one step to the right, of which that step was the only one which could be done, and there her king would meet his doom. So she spoke, and so it would be.

That is if she even wanted to wait for death. Instead, Cassandra just let the king fall down, the standard move used for giving up. In that way, she could take it as something other than a total loss. Jules did not sound happy from it, though.

“Just let the game run to the finish for once!” the automation complained. The tone used was whining, reminding the woman of a small child not getting its way. The idea did not work in the current reality, the so-called child much too big to be anything but annoying to look at. “This torture! It's against way too many conventions, so stop doing it.”

Cassandra did her best not to scoff, as she began to put the pieces back in the right order. How many rounds had she survived this time? Seventeen? It was almost twenty at least. Less time had been spent counting that this time around, more focus used on trying to figure out the perfect moves. The automation should just have been happy about being indulged. Though, that might more have been due to her lack of ability to force it back over to the charging stations. No matter. It would lose power eventually.

There had been an idea about chess. The woman would not have called herself the greatest, but neither would she call herself bad. Cassandra had been a part of a chess club during her younger years. In it, she had scored quite highly against the machines. High enough that she had been asked about pursuing it more seriously. That had been refused, of course, yet the offer had not been ignored. It had been a promise of her high skill.

So… why did she keep losing to the scrap-bucket? And why did she lose so badly? The first game was over in seven moves. Legal mate. It was a dirty trick that Cassandra had forgotten about during her chess-free years. Yet… that had only been due to a lack of practice. That had been her personal excuse. After the first three losses, her stance had changed.

“I am still unsure how you are cheating,” Cassandra said, tracing the edges of her king. It was the last piece to be put back on the board. She would play black this time. That was a change in tides, she supposed. This time she might have an actual chance. “From your model, there should be no secondary transmitters.”

If there was one thing she would always reject, then it was the notion of Cassandra being a sore loser. Which she was not. There was never a moment she would go out on another due to her failure. Because she would never fail. Cassandra was perfect like that. Which made it all the harder to figure just why that seemed to be what was happening.

She had already checked over any transmitted signals thrice now. There was a chance that she had failed to notice one, but Cassandra doubted that. Jules had to have external help somehow. It just had to come from somewhere other than the automation itself. She would have made it strip down, if not for the negative connotations attached with such a command. And, it would likely just reject the command anyway.

The game finally started out again. Jules took the traditional move of moving a pawn over to e4. It had been the automations favourite. Yet, each attempt to use that made it all the harder to play. Nevertheless, Cassandra fired back with the standard pawn to d6.

“Why do you think I cheat?” Jules questioned, getting the next move over instantly. The automation clearly needed no time to think. Yet, Cassandra did. Even if the board had not filled itself yet, there would soon be problems. She already knew that, as the bucket moved another pawn up, letting it land on d4. A sacrifice? No way to know yet. “Can't you just accept that I'm naturally perfect at everything?”

Since it was still her turn, Cassandra finally decided on a safer gambit, moving a knight over to f6. A small nudge that would force the next move. And… she was correct, the iron slab moving its own knight over to c3. In the early game, it was easy to see what could do what. It only got harder from there, one piece already in a stress position. She could still win, however. She just had to keep up with the changes, while still holding her own pieces in the right places.

“If there was anything natural about you, I could have passed it off as skill,” Cassandra stated. Her words were harsh and cruel, yet she knew it would distract the thing for more than a moment. And moments did not count in a game of slow strategy. No clock ticked for their time. Her fingers were quick when she made her move, nevertheless. A pawn to g6 “Yet… that aspect is lacking with you. No heart that beats, no lungs that fill you with oxygen. Can you ever truly call yourself skilled?”

The automation fired back by putting the left bishop up to e3. That had been… unexpected. Not what she had guessed would be done, at the very least. No matter. The move was not misleading, since it still fit into what could be called a good move. She just needed to be a tad more careful, lest she would lose before she even realised. With care, she took her own bishop over to g7. It was not fully out yet, but she knew it would be used soon enough. Offensive moves would likely be needed soon.

“If I am not skilled, what do you call this?” Jules inquired. It smiled, the teeth showing the tiniest bit. That detail would have distracted Cassandra for a few seconds, if not for the hand that moved to envelop the automation’s queen. It was on the move already… only up to d4, however. A wise choice, when she had to think about it. In another move, she could have threatened it easily. Cassandra just moved up another pawn, response. This one was to c6. A possible way to threaten the king.

“The act of logical processes calculating the best possible move against me personally. With the occasional faked blunder, of course,” Cassandra said, added in the last bit as an after-thought. The current match had received no such fakery added, but she would not be surprised if such a thing happened soon enough. Jules just moved yet another pawn, this one going up to f3. Pawns were being used a lot in this game.

Was it mirroring her? It was an annoying technique, but it was not the most unwise of strategies to make. It would force a blunder at some point. She would need to test it out. Moving up her pawn to b5, a critical scenario was begun. The knight could be killed soon. Or, Jules could kill the pawn immediately, letting it die soon after. No matter what, it would end up in the first blood.

As a surprise, Cassandra had to stop herself from grinding her teeth at the sight. The automation had taken the unseen knight out from hiding, putting it in the perfect spot for an attack at the grounds of his fallen friend. That is… if his friend was to ever fall.

“You sacrifice a lot of things. Everything is just numbered in your head, isn't it?” Cassandra said, leaning back in her chair. She needed to be good for this. Her mind was drifting a bit.

A fast series of moves happened after that. Pawn to a5, bishop to h6, the first blood spurred on as an act of knowing death. Neither talked, the automation seemed to know that silence needed to be used. The queen avenged the fallen foe, another piece being taken off the board at h6. Cassandra moved her last bishop to b7 in response.

“It's not in my head,” Jules informed her, as it moved a pawn to a3. That caused her to pause.

“What do you mean?”

“The plans are not in my head,” Jules said. Was the automation coming to terms with the fact that it was a lousy cheater? “All processes actually happen in my chest. Better protection, you know.”

“... Right.”

That threw her off a small bit. More moves came forward. Pawn to e5, the king and tower embracing, the queen moving out of her hiding hole, and the king beginning to run while the tower remained valiantly. It took no genius to know its fate. She just continued, putting her pawn to a5.

The deduction was always important. And with her latest turn, the woman did her best to perceive what would happen. What would move where? How could she circumvent it?

… As her eyes glided on the board, it became more obvious. Each side had taken a bishop, yet the path that would follow would only bring ruin to her. A good start, yes, but it would only go downhill afterwards. That queen on the other side was more resilient than she let on. Could Cassandra beat her? The answer was unclear. Much would be wasted, to the point, she would be ruined long before that.

The future had spoken, and she would obey. Against impossible odds, against a sight where every ending was plagued with her ruin, what would dear Cassandra do? Somebody would choose to bear through it, to do their best no matter what. Some would be angry.

Cassandra put down her king again, with no remorse in the action. She had done it before, and she knew she would do it again.

“It would have been so pretty,” Jules whined. “Can you just promise that we play one round where you don't do that? I’ll even play with my left hand!”

“You’re ambidextrous.”

“And? It's the thought that counts."

Cassandra just stared at the piece of scrap.

“Come on… think of it as repayment for saving your life! It's just one game!”

The woman had been under the presumption she had already paid that particular debt off, yet the automation was clearly intending to milk it for all it was worth. How… human of it.

Then again… how human did one need to be before they were a fool? Cassandra certainly fell under that category, as she put up the pieces yet again.