Page 37 of Devil's Marker

After looking around in stunned silence for a full minute, a ping prompted a question.

“First, wow,” Win said.

Catcher grinned. “Impressive. Yeah?”

“Understatement.”

“It’s a lot of fun to work with this stuff when somebody has the scratch for state-of-the-art.”

Win pointed at the view of Boss’s office. “Did you get this,” he pointed to his face, “on video?”

“Yeah, man,” Catcher said. “Gruesome. Props though. You didn’t make a sound when it happened.”

“So you’ve got audio, too.”

“Just interior.” Win’s eyes found the video feed of the infirmary. “Yeah. We have the recording of you gettin’ your nose put back where it belongs.”

Ignoring that, or trying to, Win changed the subject. “What was that ping I heard?”

“We got a lot of cameras.”

“I see that,” Win acknowledged, looking around the room.

“And one person can’t be lookin’ at all of ‘em at once. So I have the system set to give me a little prompt when somethin’ passes in front of a camera. That was a bird.”

“Pretty sensitive then.”

“Better safe than sorry.” Catcher wiggled his head back and forth. “That’s what my grandma used to say.”

“Wise woman.”

“She was.” Catcher looked at a red box on the wall. “Boss wants you to learn about the emergency system.” He got up and walked over to it. “You’ll notice these all over the place. Anybody could pull the lever. And if they did, everybody would know it. Right away.

“All the rooms have big flat screens, but the TVs come under security purview in emergency and the whole place becomes a single sound system for broadcasting information. If somebody was watchin’ TV, we’d take control to make an announcement. It’s typed out on the screen and backed up with a verbal instruction. If the TV was off, it’d come on. Doesn’t happen every day. In fact, it’s never happened since I’ve been a prospect.”

“How long’s that?”

“Almost two years. If somebody sets off the emergency system, it’s assumed the problem is a big one.”

“What if the system is tripped and you aren’t here?”

“Lots of people qualified to follow the protocol. Operation is idiot ready.” He lowered his chin and gave Win a serious look. “Do not repeat that I said that.”

“What? Idiot ready? People don’t mind bein’ called idiots. If they did, the Idiot Guides wouldn’t be so popular.”

Catcher grinned. “You gotta point. Maybe I should call the protocal the Idiot Guide to the Marauder Emergency System. Wait. I just got an image of Boss’s face when I run that past him and I’m back to thinkin’ the best policy is to avoid use of the word idiot.”

“Secret’s safe with me.”

“Good. So whoever is here would make their way here first, type out a message on that keyboard.” Catcher pointed to a red laptop in the far corner.

Win shook his head. “Blown away. How many clubs have setups like this?”

“No way of knowin’. Everybody’s pretty secretive about their methods.” He chuckled. “For all I know this is the only one like this.”

“Boss told me the skylights have titanium covers that close and seal automatically.”

“That’s one of the things that happens in an emergency. Auto lock down. The skylight covers operate on one of three protocols. Manual. Solar sensitive. Emergency.”

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