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Authors: Andrew Cunningham
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hearing voices.”
“Second,” she said quickly, before I could cut her off, “remember how we decided that it has trained me slowly to recognize it over the last year? This is probably a continuation of that. I have to pick up the clues gradually so it doesn’t overwhelm me. Like this last clue. Even a few days ago, to have it shock my body like that would have been too intense for me. Anyway, that’s my theory. She looked at me as if to say, “ try to challenge that logic .”
I couldn’t argue it, so I just shrugged my shoulders and said, “that could be it. It would just be nice once in a while for The Voice to be specific, like ‘Go to Joe’s Bar tomorrow at ten and ask for Porky. Tell him The Voice sent you.’”
Jess laughed. “Hey, you never know. Another few weeks of this, and I might be getting that kind of message.”
“Not sure we want another few weeks of this.”
I instantly regretted the remark because it brought up the question in my mind: Would we be alive in a few weeks? I looked over at Jess and knew the same thought was going through her head. But she covered it well and quickly changed the subject.
“I was thinking about the cameras in the casinos,” she said. “Should we start planning how I’m going to get in without being seen?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “From what I hear, they also have state of the art facial recognition software these days, so that if they get your face on camera, all different kinds of agencies could tap into it.”
“I suppose I could wear a floppy hat and sunglasses.”
“Still risky. Eventually you’ll look up without knowing it.” And then I had an idea. “If you look like you’re trying to be anonymous, you never are. Those are the people who tend to stand out. But if you stand out in the first place, nobody really notices you.”
“Once again, your vagueness is impressive. And you were in sales?”
“Yeah, well, I never had to sell something like this. Anyway, a wheelchair. You pretend to be handicapped. You know how you often see a handicapped person being wheeled around by a relative? Like someone with severe cerebral palsy. You notice the wheelchair and then look away because you don’t want to stare. I could wheel you in and no one would really notice you. A floppy hat wouldn’t be out of the ordinary, and if you turn and kind of hang your head over the side, no camera will pick you up. They probably won’t even notice me because they’ll be looking away. And really, who notices the person pushing the wheelchair anyway?”
“It means you won’t be able to check in alone. There will now be someone connected to you.”
“Right, but once we leave Vegas, we can go back to the other system. Will they really flag me? I don’t know. Maybe I’ve just been extra cautious. Anyway, I could have been coming here to pick up a relative or an escort and take her out for a couple of nights. People meet other people in Vegas all the time. Hopefully it won’t register. It’s worth a try.”
“We have to find a store that sells wheelchairs. Bet we can find one at Wal-Mart.”
“If not, we’ll find a medical supply store. Can you look up Circus Circus on my phone and dial it?”
She did and in five minutes I had a handicapped room reserved. The advantage for us of Las Vegas falling on hard times was the abundance of rooms available. An hour later we found a Wal-Mart and I came away with a simple wheelchair for about $200, a floppy hat, and a blanket to add to the illusion.
“Do you feel like we are somehow mocking handicapped people by doing this?” Jess asked.
“No, my goal is to keep you alive. It’s as simple as that. And I don’t care what I have to do to accomplish it.”
She put her hand on mine and squeezed.
We discussed her upcoming acting job and by the time we hit Las Vegas, our plan was clear. Jess put on her hat and draped the blanket over her lap. A moment later, I pulled in to the valet parking at Circus Circus. I
“Second,” she said quickly, before I could cut her off, “remember how we decided that it has trained me slowly to recognize it over the last year? This is probably a continuation of that. I have to pick up the clues gradually so it doesn’t overwhelm me. Like this last clue. Even a few days ago, to have it shock my body like that would have been too intense for me. Anyway, that’s my theory. She looked at me as if to say, “ try to challenge that logic .”
I couldn’t argue it, so I just shrugged my shoulders and said, “that could be it. It would just be nice once in a while for The Voice to be specific, like ‘Go to Joe’s Bar tomorrow at ten and ask for Porky. Tell him The Voice sent you.’”
Jess laughed. “Hey, you never know. Another few weeks of this, and I might be getting that kind of message.”
“Not sure we want another few weeks of this.”
I instantly regretted the remark because it brought up the question in my mind: Would we be alive in a few weeks? I looked over at Jess and knew the same thought was going through her head. But she covered it well and quickly changed the subject.
“I was thinking about the cameras in the casinos,” she said. “Should we start planning how I’m going to get in without being seen?”
“Yeah,” I answered. “From what I hear, they also have state of the art facial recognition software these days, so that if they get your face on camera, all different kinds of agencies could tap into it.”
“I suppose I could wear a floppy hat and sunglasses.”
“Still risky. Eventually you’ll look up without knowing it.” And then I had an idea. “If you look like you’re trying to be anonymous, you never are. Those are the people who tend to stand out. But if you stand out in the first place, nobody really notices you.”
“Once again, your vagueness is impressive. And you were in sales?”
“Yeah, well, I never had to sell something like this. Anyway, a wheelchair. You pretend to be handicapped. You know how you often see a handicapped person being wheeled around by a relative? Like someone with severe cerebral palsy. You notice the wheelchair and then look away because you don’t want to stare. I could wheel you in and no one would really notice you. A floppy hat wouldn’t be out of the ordinary, and if you turn and kind of hang your head over the side, no camera will pick you up. They probably won’t even notice me because they’ll be looking away. And really, who notices the person pushing the wheelchair anyway?”
“It means you won’t be able to check in alone. There will now be someone connected to you.”
“Right, but once we leave Vegas, we can go back to the other system. Will they really flag me? I don’t know. Maybe I’ve just been extra cautious. Anyway, I could have been coming here to pick up a relative or an escort and take her out for a couple of nights. People meet other people in Vegas all the time. Hopefully it won’t register. It’s worth a try.”
“We have to find a store that sells wheelchairs. Bet we can find one at Wal-Mart.”
“If not, we’ll find a medical supply store. Can you look up Circus Circus on my phone and dial it?”
She did and in five minutes I had a handicapped room reserved. The advantage for us of Las Vegas falling on hard times was the abundance of rooms available. An hour later we found a Wal-Mart and I came away with a simple wheelchair for about $200, a floppy hat, and a blanket to add to the illusion.
“Do you feel like we are somehow mocking handicapped people by doing this?” Jess asked.
“No, my goal is to keep you alive. It’s as simple as that. And I don’t care what I have to do to accomplish it.”
She put her hand on mine and squeezed.
We discussed her upcoming acting job and by the time we hit Las Vegas, our plan was clear. Jess put on her hat and draped the blanket over her lap. A moment later, I pulled in to the valet parking at Circus Circus. I
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