"Bloodbags and charges every six centimeters or so under the synflesh," came the slurred voice of the young man named Newton. "Used to work for Disney. Know all about that animate stuff."
"If they were animates," said the Sayers shadow and someone giggled.
"You damn well know they were," came Justin's voice. "We never got out of the damned Park. Ten thousand goddamn bucks."
"It was so ... real," said a.voice that Disantis recognized as belonging to the airwaves minister. "But surely there were no . . . bullets."
"Hell, no," said Newton. "'Scuse me, Reverend. But they couldn't use real slugs. Customers'd kill each other by mistake."
"Then how
"Lasered UV pulses," said Justin.
'Triggered the charges under the skin," said Newton. "Easy to reset."
"But the blood," said Reverend Dewitt in the darkness. "The ... the brain matter. The bone fragments .. ."
"All right, already!" shouted Sayers so loudly that several of the other men shushed him. "Come on, let's just say we got our money's worth, okay? They can buy a lot of spare parts for that much, right?"
"You can buy a lot of spare gooks for that much," said Newton and there was a ripple of laughter. "Jesus," he went on, "did you see that gook girl wiggle when Jeffries slipped it to her the first time . . ."
Disantis listened for a few minutes more and then went into his room and carefully closed the sliding door.
The morning was beautiful with tall, white clouds piling up above the sea to the east while the family had a leisurely breakfast on the restaurant terrace. Sammee and Elizabeth had eggs, toast, and cereal. Headier ordered an omelette. Disantis had coffee. Justin joined them late, cradled his head in his hands, and ordered a Bloody Mary.
"You came in late last night, dear," said Headier.
Justin massaged his temples. "Yeah. Tom and some of us went to the gaming rooms and played poker 'til late."
"You missed the excitement this morning, Dad," said Sammee.
"Yeah, what?" Justin sipped at his drink and grimaced.
"They arrested Mr. Minh this mornin'," Sarnmee said happily.
"Oh?" Justin looked at his wife.
"It's true, dear," said Heather. "He was arrested this morning. Something to do with illegal contraband in his luggage."
"Yeah," said Sammee, "I heard the guy downstairs tellin' somebody that he had a rifle. You know, like ours, only real."
"Well, I'll be damned," said Justin. "Is he going to stand trial or what?"
"No," said Disantis. 'They just asked him to leave. They shipped him out on the morning shuttle to Tokyo."
"There're a lot of nuts around," muttered Justin. He opened the menu. "I think I will have breakfast. Do we have time before the morning tour?"
"Oh, yes," said Heather. "The helicopters don't leave until ten-thirty this morning. We're going up the river somewhere. Dad says that it should be very interesting."
