Mardock Scramble

had caused her to let go of the coin early.

The wheels in the machine spun around and stopped.

There was no siren. Instead, about twenty five-dollar pieces clattered out of the bottom of the machine. Balot was confident that if she’d been allowed to get the timing absolutely right, she would have won at least ten times that.

“Remember that out of all the chips in the casino, we just need the four that we’ve come for. We could win hundreds of other chips along the way, or not, it really doesn’t matter in the end—either we get the four we’re after, or we fail. For now, best play it safe and make sure we don’t draw the casino’s attention unnecessarily.”

–I thought you said you’d let me have some fun…

Balot seemed a little disappointed.

“It might seem like fun to you, but somehow I don’t think the people around you will see it the same way. Casinos like winners—but not people who win too much.”

Oeufcoque’s words reminded her again of the cameras overhead.

Balot meekly collected her winnings in her basket and went to rendezvous with the Doctor.

03

“So, you think you’ve started to get the hang of it?” said the Doctor.

The Doctor had nothing in his hands, so at first glance it looked like he had lost all his chips, but, “Looks like we’re just around the ten thousand mark combined,” he went on to say, surprising Balot by pulling out a handful of thousand-dollar chips from his pockets.

–Aren’t we going to use these machines to try and get Shell’s chips?

“Even if we were to bleed all the slot machines dry, we’d still be shy of two million. There’s no way we could reach our target. In any case, we don’t want to seem like we’re taking the casino head-on.”

–So what are we going to do?

“Make some money off the other punters.”

Balot’s ears pricked up. They’d been over the plan a number of times, but only the main points and in broad strokes: what to do, when, and how to do it. The overall master plan was firmly the Doctor’s territory.

“Well, looks like our supply train has come in. All that’s left for us to do now is mosey on down to the front lines.” The Doctor finished speaking and walked over to the other side of the slot machines.

Once they had escaped the maze of the slot machines they arrived in a large, expansive room, big enough to fit a number of tennis courts side by side.

A number of gaming tables were lined up in the middle of the room in an orderly fashion, and on either side were green plants decorating a cocktail bar. The bustle and clamor of the previous room had completely disappeared.

This space was far more chic, and the atmosphere could have been described as sophisticated.

A number of immaculately turned out dealers stood behind their tables, like actors holding the stage. Waitresses carrying trays of complementary drinks circulated briskly. Some of them wore traditional bunny outfits, and others sported outfits bearing card-inspired designs or the brand names of certain alcoholic drinks.

“You know what a mechanic is, don’t you?” the Doctor asked under his breath, and Balot nodded in response.

The Doctor had told her all about mechanics—card sharps. Everything from their modi operandi to their motivations—why they risked everything to cheat at cards. Some did it for the sheer thrill, others saw it as a shortcut to fame and riches. In other cases—particularly for those who grew up as dealers in the territories where casinos were illegal—cheating was just par for the course, an act as natural and obvious as eating and drinking.

“Let’s see if we can hook ourselves a couple,” said the Doctor. “If we targeted the casino right at the outset then we’d be out on our heels before we knew it. So our next maneuver should be one that benefits us the most while benefiting the casino at the same time, and certainly not causing them any loss. That’s how we’ll dig our trench, so as to provide us with a solid foundation from which we can launch an all-out offensive later…”

–But would we be thrown out even if we didn’t actually cheat?

“Well, look at it this way. If we tried to turn ten dollars into a million in the space of an hour, we’d be asked to leave long before we got there. Even if our ambitions were more modest—a thousand into a hundred thousand, say—we’d get away with it to a point, but you can be sure the casino would sniff us out before too long and stop us from going much further. What we need to do is turn a hundred into a thousand, then a thousand into ten thousand, gradually, without attracting any untoward attention. The real battle starts only once we’ve built up a proper war chest.”

Balot understood exactly what the Doctor was saying. But she had a question.

–How do we know which ones are the mechanics?

“I found us our marks while you were playing on the slot machines back there.”

–How do you know, though?

“It’s like I told you. Our next maneuver should be one that benefits us the most while benefiting the casino at the same time.” The Doctor looked up at the ceiling with a triumphant air, flashing her the thumbs-up. Amid the hustle and bustle of the casino, Balot gleaned his meaning all too well. “Mechanics are seen by the casino as the ultimate pest. Anyone who looks in the least bit suspicious is noted, and the best dealers are immediately put on the case to sniff them out and catch them in the act. Alternatively, the dealers themselves might be in on the act, and the casinos are well aware of this possibility, so they have measures in place to detect this too. The dealers have to share reports of any suspicious activities every half hour, and there are pit bosses and floor managers taking records in the background, floating behind any and every dealer that has the potential to come in direct contact with the customers. Mama sees everything, is the idea.”

Balot realized why the Doctor had been grinning in the general direction of his PDA. He’d been eavesdropping on the conversations of the most suspicious people and what games they were playing.

“Now then, my pretty little niece, let Uncle show you just what a dab hand he is at the gaming table.” The Doctor was suddenly speaking in a loud voice, humming away, conspicuously checking out the different games in progress. He looked every bit the cocky country squire, here in the big city determined to prove to the world that he was no bumpkin, and probably ready to lose the shirt off his back to feed his gambling habit. Truth be told, he played the act so convincingly that Balot was a little embarrassed to be seen with him.

All the while Balot was playing the part of a girl who had no interest in the actual games but rather was overwhelmed by the glamour and the sophistication of her surroundings. This was her assigned role—and again she felt more or less this way in reality too.

“Right, let’s try this spot here. Looks like there might be some nice pokers rolling around,” the Doctor boomed, arriving at a table that was in between games.

–Pokers?

The Doctor indicated to Balot to sit down, and she did.

The Doctor had an extremely self-satisfied look on his face. “Yeah, pokers for prodding each other with. That’s the sort of game poker is.” So saying, he laid his chips on the table.

The dealer looked at Balot. “Is the young lady with you, sir?” he asked. He was a young man, whose blond hair went well with his clear blue eyes.

“Indeed. Though once she’s at the table beside me, she’s as good as a rival,” the Doctor said, and then nodded without delay. “You have a go too, young lady. You’ve played in your game room at home, right? If you don’t spend your pocket money here you’ll only squander it on clothes anyway—why not use it for something a bit more thrilling for a change?”

–How many chips will I need, Uncle?

As she spoke, Balot grabbed a handful of hundred-dollar coins from her basket. The dealer and the other punters at the table were momentarily taken aback. Those must be quite some clothes for her to squander that much money on them…

In reality, all the clothes she had ever bought in her life up to this point—with the money that she had struggled so hard to earn—could have easily been bought twice over with less than the amount she was now