Mardock Scramble by Tow Ubukata

Author:Tow Ubukata [UBUKATA, TOW]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: FIC028000
Publisher: VIZ Media
Published: 2011-02-07T16:00:00+00:00

04

“Truly marvelous!” bellowed the Doctor.

They were at the baccarat table. The high rollers’ corner. Men puffing on cigars, women sporting jewels and low-cut dresses, all in thrall to the mountainous piles of high-value chips.

–Why did we win? The other side had a higher hand than ours.

The Doctor answered Balot’s question as he was raking in the pile of his winnings. “The side whose hand adds up to the number closest to nine wins. The player side only had a four so was obliged to draw another card, which turned out to be a six.”

–But four and six make ten—that’s closer to nine than you were!

“A hand that adds up to ten is called baccarat and equals zero in this game—it’s the worst hand possible.”

Balot nodded vaguely. Baccarat wasn’t one of her designated games, and the rules were now only a faint memory. She was standing right behind the Doctor now, left hand on his shoulder. Her knavish left hand. Oeufcoque could read almost any game in progress and pass the message on through Balot’s left hand to the Doctor—this was the setup.

Baccarat was supposed to be a game of pure chance; participants would bet on the player or banker side, trying to guess which one would draw closer to nine. But, of course, once Oeufcoque entered the game the rules went out the window.

He was able to sniff out the people who drew on the player side or the banker side, and use this to work out roughly what cards they had drawn, what numbers they had seen, and what sort of plan they were hatching.

The Doctor had completely grasped every little habit and tell of every player at the table, and said to Balot, “Here you go—some of the winnings. Go have some fun.” He passed a whole basket of chips over to Balot.

This was a cue to say that he no longer needed Oeufcoque’s help and could manage perfectly on his own now. Balot was impressed as ever by the Doctor’s superhuman memory and observational skills, but she couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed that she would be walking away from this game without really getting it, without understanding why it was supposed to be so absorbing.

–I’ll be at the place you told me, so come and find me if you start losing.

She tapped the Doctor’s shoulder as she left. What she really meant, of course, was that he should come and find her if he needed Oeufcoque’s help again, but the Doctor just smiled back at her to show that he was invincible.

–We’ve already reached the figure we need for now. We need to consider the casino as a whole when we make our next move. If we throw one particular game too far out of kilter we’ll attract suspicion. So let’s not get carried away—you’re not here to enjoy yourself.

Oeufcoque seemed to be able to read Balot’s thoughts as perceptively as ever, and he communicated this lecture through her left hand again.

Taking her cue, Balot reluctantly left the table.

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