Flash

corridors of self-storage lockers.

23
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    A t eight o'clock the following evening Jasper got gingerly out of the cab in front of the Enfield Mansion. He had been right about the bruises on his ribs. They had not improved in the course of what had proved to be a very long day.
    "Looks like the Mansion's been taken over by space aliens or somethin'." The cab driver squinted up at Jasper. "Some kinda weird gig goin' on here tonight, huh?"
    Jasper glanced at the old Capital Hill house as he removed some cash from his wallet. Every window of the stately two-story mansion glowed with an eerie blue light. "Just your typical software launch party."
    The driver examined the surreal scene with an expression of bemused wonder. "Looks kinda like a giant arcade game."
    "Perceptive of you to notice.'' Jasper slipped his wallet back into the inside pocket of his evening jacket.
    He walked up a brick path that wound through a garden stuffed with rhododendron bushes to the graceful, colonnaded veranda.
    A young man garbed in blue chain mail and a blue tunic emblazoned with the Camelot Blue logo inclined his shaved head. He held an electronic notebook computer in one hand.
    "Welcome to the festivities, Sir Knight. May I please have your name?"
    "Sloan. Jasper Sloan."
    "Ah, yes." The gatekeeper clicked a name. Then he bowed deeply from the waist and swept out an arm. "I bid you enter the world of Camelot Blue, Sir Knight."
    "Thanks."
    Walking into the wide hall was akin to sinking into the deep end of a bottomless swimming pool. Jasper was enveloped immediately in an unearthly realm.
    He was amused, in spite of his sore ribs and generally frustrating day. He had made a bet with himself that Olivia would not be able to top her Silver Galaxy Foods Night event, but he had been wrong.
    The entire interior of the mansion was illuminated in the odd, dark turquoise hue that was the Camelot Blue trademark color. A forest of deep azure banners hung from the ceiling. The walls were draped in yards of iridescent blue fabric. Tables were covered in faux blue stone. Even the cushions of the chairs were blue.
    Although the unrelenting blue furnishings created a bizarre impression, Jasper realized that the otherworldly sensation was achieved primarily with special effects lighting. He suspected that most of the high-tech fixtures had been "borrowed" from the test labs of Glow, Inc.
    Great advertising, he reminded himself. At least, that's what Olivia claimed.
    A waiter dressed in a Camelot Blue medieval page costume held out a blue tray. "Hors d'oeuvres, Sir Knight?"
    "Thanks. I didn't get dinner." Jasper was relieved to see that the food was not blue.
    He piled several canapés onto a napkin and wandered into a ballroom suffused in a hazy blue light.
    He recognized the centerpiece of the room. It was the large sword-in-the-stone model he had seen in the Light Fantastic studio. Tonight only the blue gem-stone-studded hilt of the sword was visible. The blade portion was sunk deep into the fake blue stone. The entire assembly pulsed and glowed neon blue.
    Computer stations were set up in a circle around the model. Heads were bent intently over screens that flickered with Camelot Blue software products.
    Guests, some in futuristic medieval fantasy costume, others in evening dress, swirled around him. Musicians garbed in gleaming blue tunics played on a stage illuminated in a foggy turquoise light. The decibel level of laughter and conversation indicated that the crowd was enjoying itself.
    "It's a mock-up of Camelot Blue's new game," said a familiar voice. "The idea is to find the secret code that allows you to pull the sword out of the stone."
    Jasper glanced at Todd, who had come up beside him.
    Todd was dressed as conservatively as himself in a black evening jacket and tie.
    "Bolivar explained the game to me." Jasper selected the canapé on top of his small pile and took a large bite. "Looks like it will be another hit for Camelot Blue."
    "Probably. They haven't had a failure yet."
    "I know," Jasper said. "That's why Sloan & Associates financed their new product line research four years ago."
    Todd shook his head. "I should have guessed. Have you been upstairs?"
    "No."
    "If you think this is weird, wait until you see what Olivia did on the floor above."
    "I'll check it out."
    The gold rims of Todd's serious glasses winked in the blue light. "I didn't know you planned to be here tonight."
    "I had to see if Olivia could outdo Foil Town."
    Todd