The Ascendant Stars - Michael Cobley [129]
The Electric Theatre City actually was the size of a city and was encircled by half-kilometre-wide perception panels (or rather the virtual presentation thereof), each running a vee-epic. As they swept into the ETC by hovertram, Nicodemus named some of them: Casablanca 3: Rick’s Revenge; Lord Gatling’s Gun; Hot Larvae: The Dissolution; Conqueror: The Quest for Mario …
Dropped off at a spidery tower platform, they followed Nicodemus along gantries to a strange midair intersection of speeding walkways, or fastways. One by one they stepped on and were whisked away in a streaming blur through tunnels and passages between brightly coloured buildings of every shape and size. They came to an abrupt halt at a roof garden overlooking a bright neon-orange castle that sat between a noisy sensorium emporium and a smallish establishment called Leather Experience. Its towering frontage looked like stitched leather and was well provided with huge zips and studs.
‘Welcome to the Otranto House,’ Nicodemus said with a dark laugh.
Another fastway deposited them next to a curved shiny desk at the edge of an enormous, cavernous hall. Monumental pillars marched across its emptiness, half-lit by glowing lamps that floated just above head height. Nicodemus was not pleased.
‘By the beard of Baron Frankenstein, this is not what I ordered!’ he growled.
‘Is there a problem, sir?’
Unseen by anyone, a yellow-uniformed attendant had appeared at the desk. Her smile was ferociously unwavering.
‘The ceremonial amphitheatre, the red and gold carpets, the full-height perception screen, the ushers, the glittery lights … I ordered them, so where are they?’
‘As stated in your contract, sir, the Otranto House reserves the right to initialise booked content only in the presence of an actual audience.’
‘That would be me,’ Nicodemus said. ‘And my associates here.’
‘But—’
‘An audience is made up of those who view a show: we three will be using our sense of vision to view the show, ergo we are part of the audience. You may now remodel this interior to the specifications I have ordered and paid for … or must I now contact my lawyers, Fleam, Goad and Gimlet?’
‘That won’t be necessary, sir. Otranto House is now satisfied that the contractual terms have been met.’
Alteration raced across the surfaces of the great hall, a frantic wave of rerendering. The walls turned dark blue, hung with drapes, adorned with light sconces. The carpet became a rich red expanse patterned with elaborate letter Ns. Most of the pillars vanished and banks of plush seating appeared, and a vast opaque panel filled one entire wall. Last, a partition wall descended, creating an arrivals foyer, with a black-velvet-draped entryway.
‘Good,’ Nicodemus murmured, looking over his shoulder. ‘Wondered where he’d got to.’
Julia glanced round and saw a tall, broad-chested bulky man standing where the walkway had dropped him, swaying on the spot and blinking. He wore a formal black suit, which looked thoroughly incongruous for someone of his build. After a moment his gaze settled on the three of them and he approached.
‘Urm, Mr Nic, I followed yore ’structions … ’
‘And here you are, Alfred, well done!’ Nicodemus looked to Harry and Julia. ‘This is Alfred, formerly the Mad Mangler of Moneytown, the contact-sport zone – he used to be the most fearsome thing on two legs … ’
‘Dem days is over now, Mr Nic. I got my pottry biz to run now.’
‘Glad to hear it, Alfred. Now these are my friends,