159.
As the Senator and TOM are having coffee, two thousand miles west Alpha team, Davis, Saunders and Drysdale have already begun operations. Following a script magnificently authored by Her Majesty, they are making themselves known as players in the Las Vegas casino owned by Sheldon Adleson.
The Queen, as a hobby, has long been perfecting a computer program that will override the fail-safe security systems of certain models of slot machines. Her ex-boyfriend and one-time MBI soldier Cyrus Williamson had a contact at one of the two major manufacturers of the machines that proudly claim the moniker ‘One Armed Bandit’ as an honor. Fifty-thousand US dollars was enough for him to share some trade secrets and a few schematics. Her Majesty took it from there and nine months later had a working model of a device that could electronically ‘jam’ the random sequencing selector and deliver a jackpot on demand. Having tested the device thoroughly under the watchful eyes of the MBI management with impressive success, she finally took it to a small casino for a live trial. Under the microscope of video surveillance, with in-house security always on the watch and playing against the bandits whose pre-set random payouts dramatically favored the house, her ‘volunteer’ gambler took home over twenty large the first night.
Impressed and looking for an angle, Big directed her R&D efforts into something he considered to be a bigger fish. His thinking, that if she could hack into Vegas casino’s bread and butter money machines, what could the possible payoff be if she used her considerable skills to hack Wall Street instead of Flamingo Way?
Of course, that was before the shit hit the proverbial fan, blood smeared the campus of Georgetown, a pair of agents were killed in a night of extreme prejudice and Big was bagged red-handed with a pistol at the head of the former vice-president of the US. Still, The Queen persisted in her free-time code writing of the program that could steal a boat-load of money from the biggest casino in the world, Vegas and Monaco included.
She now had it ready for serious testing.
Seeing the Liberty Bells as child’s play, she has scripted the act to demonstrate to Adleson that, A) The device works, and B) That this is chump change compared to the potential sting on Wall St. And of course the C) of needing a connected partner to bankroll the operation and assist in the subsequent money laundering after the score.
Davis and Drysdale, outfitted in handsome black tuxes and Saunders in a stunning floor-length gown, are enjoying the opening act. Having formally dined in the casino’s elegant restaurant, leaving a ridiculous gratuity and feigning boredom, they walk towards the crap tables with nonchalance elan.
“Shall we try the slots?” Saunders asks on cue.
Both her escorts pshaw the suggestion preferring the dice games and their instant drama.
But Saunders insists and takes up residence in front of a five-reel slot called the Desert Fruit Machine. She reaches into her purse and swipes her players card activating the hack sequence. She selects a one-hundred dollar bet and uses both hands to pull the lever.
Cherry-cherry-cherry-cherry-and pineapple. Good for a payout of four hundred Franklins of credit. She whoops and wails. Davis and Drysdale play unconvinced, but move a step closer to watch the action.
This charade continues until Davis and Drysdale are joined by a fascinated mini-mob of mid-western retirees all celebrating her every win with hoots and hollers.
By the time she hits another four cherries, security is among the spectators, talking into their wrists and asking for video closeups and authentication. The hacking device also senses counter-cheating activity and terminates the control of the machine sending its operation to normal just as the casino operations are about to manufacture a malfunction, close the station and study the situation, and its participants, closer.
Point taken by management that the newcomers are young, talented, affluent and lucky.
The threesome moves into the felt jungle and Davis is about to toss the laughing bones just as Adleson gets a text message about the incident.
Two thousand miles east TOM thanks the Senator for his time and consideration in the new protocol.
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