Chapter 95

 

 

Hotel de Paris, Auction Room

 

9:15 p.m.

 

Nash set his hand on the scanner. It illuminated with near infrared light. After several seconds a CCD digital camera snapped a picture.

“You’re good to go, Scorpion Tide.”

The security guard looked up as Nash removed his finger. He reached below the table and produced an optical head-mounted display, shaped like a pair of goggles. Nash knew Calla and Jack were listening; perhaps he could communicate via the device.

He found the microphone button and switched it on so they could hear. He drew in a sharp breath. “What next?” he asked the guard.

“These goggles will help you in the auction.”

“I’m auctioning in a virtual reality environment?”

“Don’t get seduced by the virtual reality. It’s a quick way to lose money. Think of it as a hands-free smartphone and your very own navigation system into the Blackhorse fiefdom.”

Nash needed to send Jack as much information as he could from the auction room.

As if sensing Nash’s hesitation, the man took the control of the goggles and activated them. “You can communicate to the auctioneer by switching on this button here. The auction app is running. Your credentials have been entered. Happy auctioning.”

Nash eyed the device as the man handed it back and smiled at Jack’s genius of pulling off the hack. He nodded his thanks and started a quick march to the closed cabin behind the scanner, catching a glimpse of several cabins lined next to his.

“How long will I have in there?”

“I’m not privy to give you that information, sir. Good luck.”

Nash closed the door behind him realizing he hadn’t the faintest clue what he’d walked into. An auction held in a virtual reality environment would make it difficult to separate reality from fiction. Once inside he ran his hand along the metal of the steel chair and desk. He inspected the glass enclosure he had to sit in.

A row of lights switched on giving view to the outline of a row of cabins all adjacent to one another in a circle. Twelve if he guessed right. The room, though white, was bathed in darkness. He found Jack’s bug on his tux and leaned into it. “You guys there?”

“Yes,” Calla said. “What does it look like?”

“A stall, one of twelve.” He reached for the goggles he’d been handed. “Jack, I’ll be put in a virtual plane. You should be able to hack further into the Blackhorse Group satellite once I log on.”

“Nash,” Jack said, “be careful. You don’t want to get virtual nausea.”

“I’m good with motion sickness. Ready?” Nash said, switching on the machine.

“Yeah, I’m in. This baby was hard to hack. It’s sending out a billion signals,” Jack said.

Nash’s focus moved to the side of the room where a digital clock counted down. The auction would begin in exactly ten minutes. Though he couldn’t see the faces of his fellow bidders, he turned on the night vision feature of the goggles giving him a silhouetted view of his opponents.

Each booth was occupied. They would put in their bids via control pad and a VR glove.

A voice came on to the room interphone system.

Digital.

Impersonal.

 

Good evening, Scorpion Tide and welcome to the auction.

You’ve chosen to enter a secret bidding procedure. You will not be informed what you are bidding for until you have entered a suitable bid in your VR environment.

 

You’ll be able to enter the environment and only see your opponents as images of your own imagination. Beware. It will be difficult to distinguish reality from the fictitious.

 

You will have three chances to enter an anonymous bid.

You will be bidding against eleven parties for each item that will be presented as a figment of your desired reality. There will be items you won’t want to bid for.

 

We operate a blank check policy. We draw money instantly from the given account once your bid is the highest. The parties with the three highest bids will be the only ones allowed through to the next auctions.

If you lose this bid, arrangements can be made for you to apply for any of the remaining items in our art and antiquities auction catalog.

Are you ready?

 

Good luck, Scorpion Tide.

 

The screen flashed. Nash analyzed the glass encasing around them. The countdown began and the world around him swirled.

Images of a fictional reality began to form. He was back in the CIA building being presented with a file.

Calla’s.

The VR environment hadn’t only tapped into his desires, but also his memories.

He had to enter a bid.

Motion-sensor lasers had been positioned in the room; if he left, an alarm would be triggered. If he didn’t bid, they could lose everything. He leaned into the mic. “What’s the bid we want to place, Jack?”

Jack’s voice came in his earpiece. “My gut is they will aim to start low.”

Calla’s voice came on. “Nash, it’s likely this is a unique bid offer. That means there’ll be only one winner. I’m calling the game’s rules bluff. We need to enter the highest bid we can think off and throw off the game.”

Nash studied the screen. “I’ve fifteen seconds to enter one bid. Jack, remember the possibilities we looked at? The technologies they would be selling. What was the highest estimate we put on the Capsule Project hack codes?”

“Two billion.”

“Where will we get that?” Calla said.

Nash winced. “Jack, can you hack into my digital eyes. If we penetrate the system before the auction shuts, we might beat it,” Nash said.

He received the data from Jack’s cellphone and began a system load through his goggles’ motherboard. He then entered a bid of two billion US dollars.

A sharp noise pierced his ear and muted all sound. The interphone came on a second time.

 

You’ve been outbid, Scorpion Tide.

 

The game was on.

He had to stop the auction and a bid that, for all he knew, was for his child.

Nash felt a presence in the room and squinted.

The blow to his jaw came from above and then two seconds later, he endured a sharp clout to his neck.

And then darkness.