Daisy stepped back instinctively. ‘Cover it up!’
Jazir laughed at her distress. There you go. Horror show over.’
‘You’re a head case, Jaz. You really are.’
‘It gets better. Here, hold out your hand.’ He had the test tube poised over her hand. ‘Palm up, stupid.’
‘Is it safe?’
‘It’s better than safe.’
Jazir opened the tube and poured out a large globule.
‘It’s horrible.’
‘A slight burning sensation. It soon passes.’
‘No. I mean it’s greasy. And… oh…’
‘Yes?’
‘It tickles!’
‘Good. It’s still alive.’
‘What?’
‘It’s still alive. Where it came from is quite dead, but it lives on. Don’t you see what that means? Everyone thinks the AnnoDomino created some kind of robot. Sure, there’s wires in there, but mostly the blurbs are organic. I think most of the workings are in the gunge. It’s a biotech creature. That Mister Million is one cool bastard.’
‘Can I get rid of this?’
‘Allow me.’ Jazir picked up a syringe, which he filled with the blurb juice off Daisy’s palm. ‘Now, watch…’ He dragged Daisy over to his bedroom door. ‘You wanted me to open the door, right? OK, try the door.’
‘It’s locked. You locked it.’
‘Try it anyway, just to make sure.’
Daisy tried it. ‘It’s locked.’
‘Good.’ Jazir shoved the syringe into the keyhole. He pressed the plunger. ‘Give it ten seconds…’
‘And?’
Try it. Go on.’
Daisy looked at Jazir like he’d gone mad, a clear possibility. Then she turned the doorknob. It swung open, nice and easy.
‘This is a trick?’
‘Well, it’s magic. Come here…’
He dragged her over to the bed, where he picked up a traveller’s alarm clock. ‘Take the batteries out.’ Daisy did so. ‘The clock has stopped?’
‘Of course it’s stopped.’
Jazir squeezed a little blurb grease into the empty battery well. Immediately the clock started again. The room was quiet with Daisy’s frozen breath and the ticking of the clock, like a countdown broadcast.
‘Don’t worry.’ Jazir took Daisy’s hand. ‘I was the same when I found out. Can you imagine what I could do with this? I could make a killing. All I need is a name for it. The stuff that opens anything! The universal lubricant. The oil of the world! Can’t you see the sales pitch, the marketing campaign. Puts Vaseline and KY in their place, don’t you think? Jaz Vaz! Yes. I can see it! Lovelies galore!’
‘It’s not your invention. Anyway…’
‘Ah, but we’re gonna take the AnnoDomino Co. out, aren’t we? Us two, together. Me and you, Daisy, and Joe Crocus at the wheel.’
‘It’s evil stuff. Can I have my hand back, please.’
‘One more demonstration, then we go to bed.’
‘Now look…’ Daisy was backing away.
‘You kissed me last week.’
‘I was under the influence.’
‘You want some garlic now? You liked it, right?’
‘Let’s work, that’s all.’
‘The door’s open, Daze. It’s all vazzed up. You can leave any time.’
‘Just show me what I need to know. What Hackle wants me to know. Then I’m leaving.’
‘Fine. The computer.’ He hit the space bar to vanish his official dancing Frank Scenario screensaver. He picked up a new box of disks, still sealed. ‘I want this to be foolproof.’ He ripped off the wrapping, took out a disk and slotted it in. A ‘disk not formatted’ message came up. ‘It’s empty, right?’ Daisy nodded, Jaz hit the button. The computer went to work. ‘It’ll take a few seconds.’
‘I’m very confused by all this,’ Daisy admitted.
‘It just shows the magnificence of Mister Million, whoever the fuck he is.’
‘You sound like you’re in love with him.’
‘I admire him. The man has got vision. Come on, don’t underestimate the enemy, you know that ruling. OK, here we go.’
The disk was ready. Jaz pressed on it to open an empty window. He didn’t ask this time, just looked at her. Daisy nodded. He took the disk out of the slot. All that was left in the syringe was then applied to the casing. He held open the sprung protector to allow the grease to seep inside, onto the floppy.
Back in the slot it went. The disk icon was pressed again, opening the window. This time an icon floated in the space: a tiny domino, the double-six.