Technomancer (Unspeakable Things: Book One)

security guard and used his right to put a finger into my face. I thought about grabbing, twisting, and breaking it—somehow I knew I could. But again, that wasn’t my purpose in coming here.
    “In the old days we would have worked you over and put you out in the alley with the cats and bums. You know that?”
    “Yeah,” I said, “lawyers and cameras have ruined everyone’s good time.”
    Bernie snorted and we all started walking again. “You are one funny, crazy son of a bitch. You want to see the boss? OK, fine. He’s probably still awake. But you should be careful what you wish for, Draith.”
    It was my turn to be surprised. I should have known they would have ID’d me by now. Casinos were paranoid places full of cameras, computers, and unsmiling security types. Money, booze, and lowlifes mixed in every casino, making a volatile brew. They knew who I was all right. Maybe they knew more about me than I did.
    We came to a private elevator. We rode up at least thirty floors in silence. When the elevator dinged and the doors opened, I knew I was in a private region of the hotel. There was a lobby outside a single closed door. The burgundy carpets were rich, thick, and framed with green borders. Bernie and his henchman led me to the door and paused. There was a camera dome over the door, with one of those pricey infrared units spinning around inside. The pit boss had thesecurity goon search me. I’d given my gun to the bride, so they didn’t find much except my wad of cash, which they left alone.
    Bernie ran a card through the door slider, then touched his thumb to a pad, which glowed green after a few seconds. I was impressed by the heavy security.
    The door swung open silently. The interior was black. I blinked and squinted inside.
    The two men gave me a push, propelling me into the room. The pit boss laughed, which broke into a coughing fit. He put his fist to his mouth and hacked. He sounded like a smoker in his last decade of life.
    “Any last words of advice for me, Bernie?” I asked as the door swung shut between us.
    He grinned unpleasantly. “Too late for that, funny guy.”
    The door closed, and all sound shut out with it. The walls seemed to suck up any hint of vibration, like a soft, fresh coat of snow in a forest.
    Not liking this situation at all, I pulled out my sunglasses and put them on. I felt for an opening mechanism and found it. The door was locked. I twisted the handle and felt the gears fight for a moment before going rubbery and beginning to give way.
    “Very impressive,” said a sonorous voice in the dark. It was male and authoritative.
    Startled, I turned toward the voice, taking off my sunglasses and putting them in my breast pocket. I could make out a figure in the dark room. There was about as much light as a movie theater with a black screen, but my eyes were slowly adjusting. Runners of LED lights ran under the furniture along the floor and around the ceiling, providing just enough soft illumination to see outlines once my eyes were used to it.
    “I’m Quentin Draith,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant. I peered at the seated man. It didn’t look like a monster. I decided to ask a dumb question. “Can we turn the lights on in here?”
    The man with the musical voice chuckled. “No. That would not be wise for either of us.”
    I detected a slight accent, European most likely. Maybe Russian. I blinked in the blackness, wondering where to take the conversation and why we were in the dark. Was the guy an albino or a vampire or embarrassingly deformed? Did he have the senses of a bat and a gun on me, enjoying a private joke? I decided to play along. I could see the furniture in the room now as dim outlines. I took a step forward, felt the back of a leather chair, and took a seat without asking.
    “You have what my relatives would have called pig balls, Draith,” my host said.
    “Pig balls?”
    “Have you ever been to a hog farm? Boars have very large equipment, you know. The size of cantaloupes. Did you know that, Mr. Draith?”
    “I can’t say that I did.”
    “They do, take my word for it,” he said. “They are quite impressive creatures. As are you.”
    “Thanks,” I said, never being one to turn away a compliment. “You are doing a nice job with the intimidation routine as well. But what do you find so impressive?”
    “Tony’s trick. I knew he had one, but I did not know it was the sunglasses. He stole from me several times in the past, did you