THE MOLECULAR CASINO

By Clement Masloff

The head of Hyperchip Corp., Sekar Airan, and his research director, Dr. Bijan Jha, create a new bio-computer with DNA microprocessors for the casino owner, Vinod D evar.

But a secret group of ex-gambling addicts, the Rigorists, make a cyberattack on the casino and shut it down for a time. The brother of Bijan Zha is part of this fanatical

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Mulberry Books
• Release date: May 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952405334

Clement Masloff

The author has been involved with science fiction and speculative literature since teaching himself to read in 1941-1942. He served in the Army as a linguist and translator in four Balkan Slavic languages. For several decades, he taught sociology in Ohio after graduating research in Russian social history. In his retirement years, he has been writing science fiction, a return to dreams of the early 1940s.

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The Molecular Casino

Copyright © 2020 by Clement Masloff.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher and author, except by reviewers, who may quote brief passages in a review.

This publication contains the opinions and ideas of its author. It is intended to provide helpful and informative material on the subjects addressed in the publication. The authors and publisher specifically disclaim all responsibility for any liability, loss, or risk, personal or otherwise, which is incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents of this book.

ISBN: 978-1-952405-34-1 [Paperback Edition]

978-1-952405-33-4 [eBook Edition]

Printed and bound in The United States of America.

Published by

The Mulberry Books, LLC.

8330 E Quincy Avenue,

Denver CO 80237

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Part I

I.

Sekar Airan had never had reason to visit Lake Ezero before. But he journeyed to the resort city on a track train car packed with happy tourists looking ahead with the joy of expectancy to their vacation days on the bright sunny shores and the famous attractions of their destination.

Only I among the males aboard am wearing a formal business suit, said Sekar to himself with a knowing smile.

All of a sudden, a young traveler in a leisure sports outfit, sitting opposite him, blurted out a question aroused by this seriously-attired neighbor.

Are you planning to play a lot at the Lake Ezero Casino? inquired the merry-looking vacationer.

Sekar eyed the curious stranger with a blank look in his own gray eyes.

No, he curtly replied. I will be in Lake Ezero on important business for my company.

He looked out the window at the green landscape of meadow and pine trees. I think the track train will arrive there in just a couple of minutes, he murmured as if he were alone.

The young man fell silent and looked away, realizing that the other did not wish to say any more to him.

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The slender, lissome figure in a pale yellow seersucker outfit climbed out of a beach jitney and headed for the entrance of the Lake Ezero Casino, a famed saprobic structure built in the style termed biomorphic architecture.

Sekar, before walking into the main entrance, stopped to look a few moments at the gigantic casino contained under a shell of saprobiontic microorganisms. He could make out the fiberglass screens underlying the outer plants and fungi.

As he made his way forward and entered the main vestibule of the working casino, he realized how dependent this gambling institution had long been upon frontier advances in new technology and scientific breakthroughs.

Sekar went up to an information booth and asked a security guard how to find the executive offices, specifically that of the president-owner of the casino, Mr. Vinod Devar.

The uniformed woman gave him a smile. Do you happen to be Mr. Airan from Hyerchip, sir? she asked him.

"Yes, I have an appointment to come to his office as soon as I arrived at Lake Ezero City, whatever the precise hour of the day it might happen to be.

I have already been to my reserved rooms in the Casino Peninsula Hotel, and took a cab here immediately.

"Please follow me, Mr. Airan. I have received orders to guide you at once to the main mezzanine offices, where our Director is present and waiting to greet and speak with you.

Welcome to Lake Ezero City and its premier casino, sir, she beamed as she moved from behind the counter and led the visitor toward the back wall and its bank of people-moving platforms.

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The office of the owner on the mezzanine between the ground and the second floor was huge and brilliant, shining with polished wall and furniture of aluminum, magnesium, and cobalt.

Vinod Devar, leading his guest from the entrance to a corner overlooking the first floor electronic game and slot machine section through a one-way glass, asked him to be seated on a sofa, then himself sat down on his favorite easy chair only a few feet away.

How was your trip from Siliquo City? began the proprietor of the establishment. I hope it was pleasant for you, and I wish you to have a pleasant stay with us here in Lake Ezero City.

Sekar studied the square, stony face of the beefy, ponderous owner for a short while, then spoke to him.

I cannot complain about my trip here, not at all, he muttered. "I wish to hear what you intend to propose to my company, The Hyperchip Corporation, occupies my mind every minute, every second.

My expectation is that you have something of enormous importance to relate to me.

Sekar waited expectantly to learn what it was that had brought him here to the Lake Ezero Casino.

"I know that you have been impressed by how scientifically advanced this casino of mine is. My dream has been, from the beginning, to make Lake Ezero and my enterprise the most up-to-date and progressive gaming center on our planet of Siliquo. This has meant continuous improvement and unending investment in what will increase the productivity of the business.

"I can declare, without boasting about the fact, that Lake Ezero City would not be what it is today without the attraction centered on my famed casino institution. Everyone knows and has heard of its games, everywhere. And beyond that, I have been the champion and the pioneer in the field of electronic games over cables and electromagnetic signal frequencies.

How does this casino building affect you as a first-time visitor? It is a wonder unmatched anywhere else. I had it specifically planned and designed for the particular climate conditions here on Lake Ezero.

I find this building amazingly impressive, answered the visitor.

It is a marvel of technology and bio-engineering, boasted the other. "The special shell, due to its natural features and properties, can adjust itself immediately to weather and seasonal changes in the hot, tropical climate of the zone in which Lake Ezero is located.

This structure reveals how much scientific innovation and discovery can add to all fields of business and living when put into practical application.

That is why I can say that my company, Hyperchip, is dedicated to: the utilization of laboratory breakthroughs to real, everyday use and exploitation. Sekar paused for several seconds, then went forward again. That is what inspired me to accept your unexpected invitation to come here and see the Lake Ezero Casino. I believe that our researchers and developers can do a lot for advancing your level of technical applications.

Vinod grinned at what he was hearing from the guest.

First of all, I believe that you must see with your own eyes how we operate here. I myself shall act as your guide on a tour of the five levels of the casino.

He saw that Sekar was brimming over with a flooding curiosity.

II.

Vinod Devor first led Sekar to the main entrance of the casino and pointed out the two surfaces forming the shell of the gigantic building.

These skins, the inner and the outer ones, make instant adjustments to conditions of the environment outdoors, explained the owner with supreme pride in his voice. "Micro-umbrellas in the membrane automatically open and close in order to prevent excessive sunlight and cool the interior of the building.

"There are photoelectric cells in the outer shell that collect and even store power that we use to reduce the amount of electricity that must be brought in from outside sources.

Specially cultivated saprobiants in the polystyrene layer of the exo-facade are saprophytic microorganisms that could be called fungi of an exotic kind. They cool and air-condition the entire casino, making it comfortable for the large crowds of gamblers who congregate here all day and all night, smiled the man who owned the establishment.

Let’s look at the hundreds of slots and electronic games on the ground floor, he proposed. Then, we can ride a platform up to the other four stories.

The two took a walk around the brightly lit, crowded lowest floor of the casino, packed with frenzied men and women attempting to beat the rotating wheels and gears of scores of devices that seemed never to be inactive or at rest. Next, Vinod took his special visitor to have a look at the quieter second storey, a place of tables where card games were in progress. Poker and blackjack were most popular and frequent, although less popular and little known card games were the focus of the most skilled, experienced players.

Smiling with pleasure, Vinod reeled off the names of several of the more obscure games going on around the fringe of the better-known games in play.

"We have special tables with hearts, rummy, euchre, canasta, spades, whist, and even with crazy eights. If someone is a perfectionist fan of old games, I can set up tables for faro, pinochle, pitch, rook, and red dog. Have you ever heard of any of these kinds of card playing? I myself love the old-fashioned, obsolete ones like bezique and cribbage.

Cards go back a long way of many centuries in planetary and interplanetary history, my friend.

Vinod then led his guest to the platform and the pair ascended to the third floor, where the sounds of spinning roulette wheels shot across the spacious playing hall.

Sekar noticed a wide area of activity with scores of round tables with silent, focused gamblers and dealers seated about them as if in profound contemplation.

The owner explained what they were doing. Those are baccarat games going on over on that side, gtinned Vimod. The bankers working for me at each table are the best anywhere on Siliquo planet, I can say with absolute confidence.

As soon as they reached the fourth floor of the casino, Sekar was startled by the rows of wide electronic screens shining from one end of the hall to the other. He and his guide halted while the latter explained what went on at this level.

"Here we have displays of actual sports events going on all over Siliquo, as well as many times more electronic, imagined sports games and competitions. Our patrons are able to make bets on both real, actual sports as well as fictional ones that they can become an active participant of.

You can see for yourself how excited and enthusiastic these many players become in this gigantic gambling arena.

Back to the platform the two stepped, ascending to the top storey, the fifth one.

This floor is the electronic-technical center of the entire enterprise, explained the owner. "Our electronic cable communications extend to Siliquo City and out to the entire planet. But just as central and vital are the electromagnetic connections that we utilize over wave frequencies. We can directly receive wagers from players at any location anywhere on Siliquo who possess a personal transmitter unit of any sort.

"But this computer center is also connected by electro-wave to every dealer, croupier, gaming machine, and floor manager on all floors of the building. By eye-lens apparatus or finger-ring, our employers are under systematic control, monitoring, and management. They receive instantaneous advice, information, and cyber commands from up here.

But the truth is that my casino earns more income and profit over wire and air wave than it does from actual visitors or tourists who walk in through the door. We operate at the center of a vast, unlimited, invisible net of electronic communications and connections.

The owner grinned with self-satisfaction and deep delight.

I find all that you have shown me amazing and interesting, smiled Sekar. You have built a magnificently successful business here on Lake Ezero. No one can question or doubt that.

Vinod appeared to make a grimace that resembled a frown. I want to talk to you about my plans for future development of the casino, he announced. Let’s go back to my office and discuss what it is that I have in mind that you can be a part of, my friend.

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The pair seated themselves on sofas looking out over Lake Ezero through a long, panoramic window.

Vinod offered to make his guest a cocktail, but Sekar begged off the offer.

I follow a strict private health program that excludes all popular beverages and drinks, said the latter with a friendly smile and a sincere tone of voice. My hope is never to deviate from its rules and requirements.

The owner of the casino gave a short, understanding laugh. "Let me get