Dead Neon: Tales of Near-Future Las Vegas

4/18

97 Cities฀built฀on฀sand฀are฀by฀nature฀ephemeral.฀Vegas฀was฀no฀different. ฀฀It฀was฀always฀a฀kind฀of฀mirage฀that฀you฀could฀move฀into.฀The฀hotels฀ played฀it฀up฀big฀in฀the฀old฀days฀before฀the฀town฀got฀uppity฀and฀became฀ one฀of฀the฀world’s฀“great”฀cities.฀Think฀about฀it.฀Before฀Wynn฀was฀the฀ Mirage,฀ before฀ Excalibur฀ was฀ the฀ Dunes,฀ before฀ Paris฀ was฀ the฀ Sahara,฀ before฀Monte฀Carlo฀was฀the฀Desert฀Inn,฀before฀Venetian฀was฀the฀Sands.฀ Anyway,฀you฀get฀the฀idea.฀The฀town฀knew฀it฀was฀in฀the฀desert.฀Then฀it฀got฀ greedy,฀and฀so฀noisy฀it฀didn’t฀hear฀the฀desert฀winds฀blowing฀their฀warning .฀It฀forgot฀who฀was฀boss. Moving฀two฀and฀a฀half฀million฀people฀into฀a฀mirage฀is฀probably฀a฀bad฀ idea.฀When฀there฀are฀only฀four฀major฀highways฀in฀and฀out฀of฀that฀mirage,฀ it’s฀probably฀a฀worse฀idea.฀Add฀to฀that฀railroad฀trains฀carrying฀hazardous฀ wastes฀running฀behind฀the฀Strip฀hotels฀and฀the฀whole฀thing฀is฀a฀really฀ lousy฀idea.฀Then,฀of฀course,฀there’s฀the฀problem฀of฀water.฀Just฀for฀kicks฀ add฀a฀nuclear฀test฀site฀nearby฀and฀whole฀thing฀becomes฀even฀goofier than฀ Dubai’s฀building฀islands฀in฀the฀ocean.฀They฀didn’t฀listen฀to฀the฀ocean’s฀ voice฀any฀more฀than฀Vegas฀listened฀to฀the฀desert.฀But฀that’s฀another฀story. Yet,฀ insane฀ as฀ it฀ seems,฀ it฀ worked฀ until฀ the฀ butterfly that฀ flaps its฀ wings฀in฀China฀and฀causes฀a฀tornado฀in฀Kansas฀went฀into฀overdrive฀and฀ the฀lights฀and฀everything฀else฀went฀out฀in฀Vegas.฀Talk฀about฀the฀butterfly effect! The฀ butterfly’s฀ name฀ was฀ Hank,฀ which฀ is,฀ I฀ realize,฀ a฀ strange฀ name฀ for฀a฀butterfly,฀but฀it฀was฀Hank฀who฀set฀off฀the฀chain฀of฀circumstances฀ that฀left฀so฀few฀to฀listen฀to฀the฀winds฀blowing฀through฀the฀canyons฀of฀the฀ empty฀city. Once฀he฀had฀been฀a฀colorful,฀if฀minor,฀character฀around฀town.฀When฀ 4/18 FELICIA CAMPBELL 98 ♦ F E L I C I A C A M P B E L L the฀color฀faded,฀what฀was฀left฀of฀Hank฀was฀pretty฀dismal.฀A฀small-time฀ gambler฀who฀had฀outlived฀both฀his฀pals฀and฀his฀environment,฀he฀combed฀ his฀few฀remaining฀strands฀of฀reddish฀hair฀across฀his฀patch฀in฀an฀effort฀ to฀ conceal฀ his฀ baldness฀ when฀ shaving฀ his฀ head฀ would฀ have฀ been฀ the฀ cool฀thing฀to฀do.฀His฀grizzled฀stubble฀was฀far฀from฀cool.฀His฀shoulders฀ stooped,฀his฀sports฀jacket฀rode฀up฀in฀back,฀so฀far฀out฀of฀style฀that฀it฀was฀ almost฀back฀again,฀and฀he฀incessantly฀moved฀his฀jaw฀back฀and฀forth.฀He฀ peered฀at฀the฀world฀through฀giant฀glasses฀that฀made฀him฀look฀like฀a฀fly.฀ The฀streets฀in฀which฀he’d฀felt฀like฀a฀conquering฀hero฀when฀the฀glasses฀ were฀new฀now฀made฀him฀feel฀like฀a฀fly,฀the฀gigantic฀high฀rises฀looming,฀ ready฀to฀swat฀him.฀He฀was฀pissed,฀royally฀pissed. There฀wasn’t฀a฀joint฀left฀on฀the฀Strip฀or฀downtown฀that฀he฀could฀walk฀ into฀as฀though฀he฀owned฀it.฀He฀had฀gradually฀been฀edged฀out฀to฀the฀rundown ฀casinos฀on฀Boulder฀Highway,฀but฀even฀there฀the฀old฀faces฀in฀the฀pit฀ had฀been฀replaced฀by฀hip฀young฀ones฀who฀looked฀right฀through฀him.฀He฀ had฀become฀invisible,฀which,฀he฀dimly฀realized,฀could฀be฀one฀hell฀of฀an฀ advantage฀if฀you฀plan฀to฀bring฀down฀a฀mighty฀city. In฀the฀afternoons,฀he฀read฀the฀morning฀newspapers฀that฀he฀scrounged฀ in฀the฀coffee฀shops฀where฀he฀ate฀his฀late฀breakfast฀and฀began฀to฀formulate฀ a฀plan.฀He฀knew฀the฀tourists฀had฀stayed฀away฀in฀droves฀after฀9/11.฀The฀ town฀had฀been฀weird.฀With฀almost฀no฀air฀or฀ground฀traffic, the฀silence฀ had฀been฀palpable.฀The฀parking฀towers฀at฀the฀hotels฀were฀empty฀of฀all฀ but฀a฀few฀of฀the฀employees’฀cars.฀You฀could฀have฀fired a฀gun฀through฀the฀ casino฀pits฀and฀not฀hit฀anybody฀but฀a฀fake-tanned฀pit฀boss,฀a฀whey-faced฀ dealer,฀or฀a฀bored฀hooker฀carrying฀her฀stiletto฀heels฀in฀her฀hand.฀What฀he฀ needed฀was฀to฀create฀something฀like฀that฀but฀better,฀different,฀something฀ that฀would฀last฀forever.฀It฀would฀be฀his฀revenge,฀his฀monument. He฀finally remembered฀stories฀told฀by฀his฀buddy฀JC฀that฀scientists฀at฀ the฀ test฀ site฀ or฀ the฀ university฀ or฀ somewhere฀ years฀ ago฀ had฀ worked฀ on฀ creating฀germs฀or฀microbes฀or฀something฀like฀that฀that฀were฀impervious฀ to฀radiation฀and฀could฀neatly฀wipe฀out฀any฀of฀the฀population฀left฀after฀ ฀ a฀nuclear฀attack฀or฀make฀nuking...