Dead Neon: Tales of Near-Future Las Vegas

Preface

To฀ many฀ visitors,฀ Las฀ Vegas฀ is฀ a฀ din฀ of฀ dirty฀ money,฀ the฀ sound฀ of฀ power฀ and฀ sex฀ clanging฀ together฀ like฀ a฀ slot฀ machine฀ paying฀ out฀ a฀ jackpot.฀it฀is฀the฀sound฀of฀taxicabs,฀hustlers฀on฀a฀street฀corner,฀and฀police฀ sirens฀screaming฀in฀the฀distance.฀it฀is฀the฀sound฀of฀the฀American฀dream฀ struggling฀for฀its฀last฀breath,฀the฀sigh฀of฀desperation฀mixed฀with฀the฀faint฀ staccato฀of฀hope.฀But฀if฀you฀listen฀closely,฀there฀is฀another฀sound฀in฀the฀ mix:฀the฀quiet฀hum฀of฀technology,฀electricity฀whispering฀through฀circuits,฀ and฀the฀murmur฀of฀neon฀illuminating฀the฀night. Las฀Vegas฀is฀a฀hi-tech฀city฀founded฀on฀a฀powerful฀technological฀vision฀ of฀the฀twentieth฀century:฀that฀millions฀of฀people฀from฀all฀over฀the฀planet฀ might฀drive฀combustible-engine฀automobiles฀or฀fly in฀jets฀into฀the฀middle฀ of฀a฀vast฀desert฀for฀pleasure฀and฀entertainment.฀t he฀city฀founders฀foresaw฀ that฀travelers฀could฀be฀lulled฀into฀machine฀dreams฀of฀sin฀and฀greed,฀most฀ of฀which฀depended฀on฀ever-advancing฀technologies.฀From฀fresh฀food฀to฀ water฀and฀energy,฀Las฀Vegas’s฀existence฀is฀made฀possible฀by฀advances฀in฀ transportation฀and฀aeronautics,฀surveillance฀systems฀and฀Lcd ฀screens,฀as฀ well฀as฀humans’฀ability฀to฀manipulate฀the฀c olorado฀r iver. even฀ in฀ the฀ early฀ twentieth฀ century,฀ Las฀ Vegas฀ was฀ a฀ science-based฀ vision฀of฀the฀future,฀one฀intimately฀connected฀to฀the฀Atomic฀Age.฀n ot฀too฀ long฀ago,฀guests฀could฀enjoy฀drinks฀on฀their฀hotel฀balconies฀and฀watch฀as฀ a฀mushroom฀cloud฀billowed฀just฀beyond฀the฀valley.฀t he฀n evada฀t est฀s ite฀ is฀less฀than฀a฀hundred฀miles฀away,฀and฀it’s฀where฀the฀instruments฀of฀the฀ c old฀War฀were฀tested฀and฀retested.฀even฀though฀science฀and฀futurism฀are฀ no฀longer฀part฀of฀the฀overt฀public-relations฀message฀of฀the฀city,฀hints฀of฀ the฀apocalypse฀remain฀a฀part฀of฀the฀city’s฀existence,฀like฀a฀bad฀memory฀or฀ a฀bloodstain฀that฀simply฀won’t฀go฀away. o f฀course,฀science฀fiction isn’t฀about฀stories฀of฀the฀past.฀s cience฀fiction ฀is฀about฀stories฀of฀the฀future—whether฀distant฀or฀near.฀in฀this฀town,฀ though,฀ the฀ future฀ has฀ already฀ arrived.฀ Present-day฀ Las฀ Vegas฀ already฀ provides฀the฀technological฀sophistication฀and฀modernism฀necessary฀for฀ a฀fabulous฀near-future฀science-fiction story.฀From฀facial-recognition฀software ฀ used฀ by฀ casinos฀ to฀ identify฀ card฀ counters฀ to฀ the฀ cyborg-inspired฀ mechanics฀ of฀ its฀ shows,฀ the฀ people฀ who฀ work฀ and฀ play฀ in฀ Vegas฀ are฀ ix PREFACE x ♣ Preface already฀ immersed฀ in฀ next-generation฀ wonders.฀ o nce฀ you฀ consider฀ the฀simulated฀volcanic฀eruptions฀of฀the฀Mirage฀and฀the฀giant฀synchronized ฀fountains฀of฀Bellagio฀and฀the฀massive฀glass-walled฀towers฀of฀c ity-฀ c enter,฀technology฀trumps฀humanity.฀n o฀other฀city฀offers฀so฀many฀unique฀ avenues฀ for฀ serious฀ literary฀ exploration฀ of฀ the฀ end฀ times;฀ readers฀ and฀ writers of sci-fi know this. t hough฀early฀visions฀of฀Vegas฀valued฀spontaneous฀human฀experience฀ and฀live฀entertainment,฀more฀recent฀visions฀have฀become฀burdened฀by฀ technology,฀ transforming฀ the฀ town฀ into฀ a฀ sterile,฀ electronic฀ graveyard.฀ What฀ was฀ once฀ a฀ boomtown฀ is฀ now฀ a฀ “doom฀ town,”฀ especially฀ if฀ you฀ live฀here.฀And฀if฀Vegas฀collapses,฀so฀does฀the฀United฀s tates,฀some฀say.฀ s o฀what฀would฀a฀collapsing,฀or฀collapsed,฀Vegas฀look฀and฀feel฀like?฀Who฀ would฀live฀there,฀and฀why? t his฀collection฀explores฀the฀future฀of฀America฀by฀examining฀the฀near฀ future฀of฀Las฀Vegas.฀Many฀legendary฀sci-fi, horror,฀and฀fantasy฀authors,฀ including฀s tephen฀King,฀have฀already฀turned฀their฀literary฀attention฀to฀ this฀city’s฀myth฀and฀magic.฀But฀in฀this฀collection฀the฀most฀recent฀payout฀ of฀Vegas-based฀and฀(inter)national฀writers฀presents฀a฀fascinating฀vision฀of฀ s in฀c ity.฀t hese฀imaginative฀artists฀will฀take฀you฀into฀the฀heart฀of฀America ’s฀most฀notorious฀metropolis,฀offering฀readers฀an฀insider’s฀prediction,฀ or฀maybe฀even฀prophecy,฀of฀the฀challenges฀that฀might฀one฀day฀be฀found฀ there.฀t hese฀stories฀capture฀the฀sound฀of฀the฀slot฀machines฀and฀the฀taxicabs ,฀the฀hustlers฀and฀the฀hustled,฀the฀whirr฀of฀a฀thousand฀circuits,฀and฀ the฀trouble฀these฀noises฀portend. Prepare฀ yourself฀ for฀ the฀ noise฀ and฀ the฀ power,฀ for฀ stories฀ streaked฀ across฀the฀messy฀canvas฀of฀the฀near฀future,฀as฀you฀dip฀into฀this฀dark฀and฀ delicious฀book. ...