1. art and entertainment

The Mason Sheer Project
Volume 1 : Kublai Khan
Episode 8 : Leaving Las Vegas
by
Peter Bulloch,
Dave Kemp,
Robert LaBerge
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 8: CHAPTER 1
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
Cook and Jimmy the Cop have finished breakfast and are
sipping coffee when Cook reaches for a letter on the
counter. He opens it and passes the cover to Jimmy.
Jimmy studies it with interest.
COOK
This is a letter from Mason from Vegas. It’s the same
size and type of stationary that the Old Man and I used
to use for years. And somehow he even got a vintage
stamp. It’s hilarious.
“Dear Rambo,
I am honoured to have been invited into your old letter
club but before I respond to your letter, let me tell
you about my trials and tribulations.
When the hotel delivered your letter to my room I was
shockingly surprised. I knew I had to follow the rules
you and the old man had about your letter writing. So
before I ripped it open I got dressed and went
downstairs to buy a letter opener, an old school ink
pen, stationary and some old stamps.
I had to go to some fancy ass stationary store in
Caesar’s that charged me a small fortune for the pen
with a gold nib and the other supplies.
As for some old stamps no-one knew where I could find
them. Someone explained I needed to find a philately
store.
I always thought philatelists were sex offenders.
Eventually I found one in old Las Vegas. I showed them
your stamp and said I want four of this vintage.
The stamps costs a fortune. Maybe I got ripped off.
Maybe they are truly rare. Apparently stamps like this
only have real value when they are NOT used. When I said
I wanted them to mail a letter he said I was crazy to
destroy their value.
I had a good poker session last night at Bobby’s room in
the Bellagio so I figured I could handle a few stamps.
(MORE)
2.
COOK (CONT'D)
I was just about back to my
didn’t buy ink for my fancy
Home Depot on the strip and
turned out. At least ink is
room when I realized I
new old pen so I went to
bought ink. Indelible as it
cheap.
Back in the room as I was trying to load the ink into
the pen I spilt the whole bloody bottle all over my new
shirt, slacks and the fancy hotel chair. I negotiated
with the hotel to pay two thousand dollars to get the
chair and desk refinished and the carpet cleaned.
After everything was cleaned up I discovered my fancy
new old pen came with pre-loaded ink cartridges!
Go figure. Being Akashic isn’t all that it’s cracked up
to be.
Well if I remember your rules of letter writing, each
letter cannot be more than one page double sided so I’ll
send you a real letter soon - in a secure envelope.
Meanwhile I best go back to the poker tables to pay for
all this.
Plus I promised I take Tu Tran out to S-W’s tonight.
That’s the best steak house every.
All my best. Say hello to Jimmy the Cop for me.
M
NARRATOR
Cook and Jimmy laughed at Mason’s humour and ability to
mock himself.
After Cook explain the “Barbara Streisand” reference,
Jimmy gave Cook and kiss and said he had to run.
SFX: musicChapterEnd
3.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 8: CHAPTER 2
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
The weeks passed. Cook enjoyed staying at the boathouse
and especially loved sitting out on the balcony.
Here he thought about Jimmy the Cop. About coming out.
About keeping his secret from Peter. About how much
better he was sleeping.
He should have told Peter he was gay. This wasn’t a New
Zealand secret. He told Peter everything.
If only he could reach out to Peter like Mason could.
But despite trying over and over, he never could.
SFX : cellRing
COOK
Hello?
MASON
Hey buddy. When are you leaving?
COOK
Ten days. What about you?
MASON
I decided not to play in the World Series of Poker. I’m
really doing well playing the cash games taking money
from disgruntled tournament players. Nice to see my
bankroll starting to rebuild after that tax fiasco.
COOK
And your earnings are tax free?
MASON
Yes, I looked into it carefully. Only tournament
winnings are taxed.
Tu plays in the big Pot Limit Omaha games and has made
over eighty K since she’s been here.
She’s wants to use her winning to visit her family in
Vietnam. I’ve always wanted to play in Macao so we’re
leaving tomorrow. She’ll visit her family while I’ll
play with those crazy Chinese businessman who throw
money around like rice.
4.
NARRATOR
Cook hears a beep on his phone.
COOK
Mace I’ve got another call. Can I call you back?
MASON
No need. We’re just getting on the plane. I’ll keep in
touch. And when I’m back, I’m going to rebuild Diesel in
the boathouse with the new feeds. Then I’ll be more
useful to you guys.
COOK
OK guy, nice work down there. Chat soon.
NARRATOR
Cook disconnects and reconnects with the other line.
COOK
Hello.
LIANA
Cook, it’s Liana.
COOK
Liana! I didn’t recognize this number. What’s up?
LIANA
I’m at a pay phone. Wish I had your ear buds.
COOK
Why?
LIANA
What do you know about Mason’s girl friend?
COOK
Tu?
LIANA
Yes.
COOK
Nothing really, why?
LIANA
In my Diesel queries I discovered Kublai Khan had a
grand daughter called Catherine Choi-Young. Apparently
Kublai Khan is or was Korean, not Chinese or Mongolian
as we thought. They’re from North Korea not South Korea.
COOK
OK.
5.
LIANA
Well there’s still no record of Kublai Khan or whether
he even exists but last month Diesel pulled up a Tu
Tran. I just assumed it was because she was linked to
Mason.
But, when I dug deeper I discovered a Tu Tran in Toronto
who claimed she was a victim of identity theft. That Tu
Tran was Vietnamese.
COOK
I still don’t see the connection.
LIANA
Diesel is somehow connecting the two. I think Tu is
Catherine Choi-Young. She’s Korean not Vietnamese.
COOK
You gotta let Mason know.
LIANA
Can I ask you to tell him? I don’t want him to think I’m
being petty and vindictive toward Tu.
COOK
OK. I’ll call him when he lands in Macao. But for this I
need to wait until he’s wearing his buds.
LIANA
OK and can you send me a set of buds? You’ve got me so I
don’t even trust pay phones.
COOK
Alright. Leave this with me.
I just got off the phone with him and both he and Tu did
really well in Vegas. They’re flying to Macao where Mace
will play the big games and she’s off to visit her
family in Vietnam.
LIANA
Oh. If that’s the case then Diesel is wrong.
COOK
Unless she’s flies off to North Korea rather than
Vietnam.
LIANA
Can you determine that?
COOK
I think we’ve said enough over this line. In future only
call me on the buds.
6.
LIANA
OK. And I’m sorry.
COOK
Why sorry.
LIANA
Masonj needs a break. I feel like the Grinch.
COOK
You did good work, Lee.
I can see why Peter loved working with you.
SFX: musicChapterEnd
7.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 6: CHAPTER 3
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
Cook calls Jimmy the Cop using a secure cell phone.
COOK
Jimmy, got a sec?
NARRATOR
Cook relayed the details of the call from Liana and her
fears that Tu might be related to Kublai Khan.
COOK
What about Bianco? Could that be a woman? Could that be
Tu?
(pause)
OK, she said the name was Catherine Choi-Young possibly
from North Korea.
I’d like to call Mason as soon as possible. I mean we
have no evidence she’s some evil bitch but if she is the
grand daughter then she probably played a role in the
Las Vegas Catastrophe.
If fact if I remember correctly, she was playing in the
World Series of Poker but not on the opening day. She
was starting on day two.
(pause)
OK. I’m going to ask my handler to look into this as
well. Unless you want to talk to him?
(pause)
CYA guy.
NARRATOR
The next day Jimmy called saying there was a good chance
Liana had found the first credible link to Kublai Khan.
But they did not believe she was Bianco who was thought
to be American or European, not Asian.
They decided that Mason should hide the ear bud in Tu’s
suitcase and it’s GPS position could be monitored by
New Zealand.
(MORE)
8.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
Cook agreed and texted Mason to call him using the buds
when he is alone.
Five minutes later there was a beep on Cook’s bud.
COOK
Mason?
MASON
Hey buddy, what’s the big secret?
COOK
Are you alone?
MASON
Ya, I’m outside the Macao casino. You should see this
place. Awesome. The cash games are sickeningly crazy.
I’ll either...
COOK
(interrupts)
...Mace, sorry, we just have a few minutes. We have
reason to believe that Tu Tran might someway be
connected to Kublai Khan.
MASON
(pause)
Are you kidding me?
COOK
Dead serious. And really sorry to tell you this. I hope
we’re wrong.
MASON
Jesus.
COOK
Is she there?
MASON
Yes, she’s flying to Saigon tomorrow to visit her
family.
COOK
Can you embed one of your ear bugs into her bag? Ensure
she doesn’t find it. That way if she goes to Vietnam we
know we’re probably wrong. But if she goes to Korea then
that sends out a nasty flag.
MASON
Hold shit. You bastards better be wrong. I’m starting to
really dig this chick. Was hoping we could take it to
the next level.
9.
COOK
Maybe you still can.
You have two sets of buds, right?
MASON
Yes.
COOK
Keep one on at all time. Even when you’re sleeping.
And try to find out the name on her passport.
MASON
She travels as Catherine Choi-Yong.
COOK
What!
MASON
She says Tu Tran is her maiden name. She was married
briefly some years ago.
COOK
Holy shit. Sounds suspicious.
Lets wrap up. Tell me when you’ve planted the bud and
her’s flight’s taken off. I’ll have her GPS tracked.
MASON
OK.
SFX: musicChapterEnd
10.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 8: CHAPTER 4
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
Cook tapped his bud and Mason answered.
MASON
Hey. Give me some good news.
COOK
Well, it’s getting more complicated. She did fly to
Saigon but then immediately took another flight to
Singapore.
MASON
So not Korea?
COOK
No. And then we lost the GPS signal from the bud.
MASON
Could it have run out of power.
COOK
Unlikely, New Zealand thinks it was discovered.
MASON
So what now?
COOK
If Tu is indeed related to Kublai Khan then she knows
she’s been made and your life is in danger.
Leave immediately. I mean right now.
MASON
OK.
SFX: musicChapterEnd
11.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 6: CHAPTER 5
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
Mason flew back to Toronto where Cook was waiting. Mason
insisted he treat Cook to a night at a great hotel and a
first class dinner. Mason was exhausted from the long
flight so they didn’t talk about anything but poker.
Although Mason did not do very well in Macao, overall
his trip netted him over two hundred K. He was
convinced if he had more time to adjust to the Chinese
style of play, he could have netted a million dollars
with ease.
They arrived at the boathouse where they both sat back
and relaxed.
Mason lit a joint and shook his head as the recent event
played back.
He knew he should talk about Tu but not quite yet.
He passed the join to Cook.
MASON
So, are you banging Jimmy the Cop?
COOK
I am.
MASON
Good. You probably needed to get your pipes cleaned.
COOK
Mace. I’m so sorry about Tu.
MASON
Ya, I’m not doing very well with my ladies these days.
Maybe I should jump ships?
COOK
I wouldn’t, Gay men have pretty high standards. Stick to
women.
MASON
I can’t believe Liana figured out the Tu connection.
COOK
Well, Diesel did.
12.
MASON
Still, apparently Diesel is not that easy to use. It’s
fascinating how well Liana can use it.
COOK
The good news is that we have a ton more leads to
follow. Sad for you but good for the cause.
MASON
Ya.
When I was in Vegas I met with a developer I use from
time to time. Here’s what he and I are going to do.
I’m going to move Diesel from the cloud into the
boathouse and hook up sixty four XBOX’s creating a kind
of super computer. This guy knows how to make that
happen.
I still need all the feeds but the boathouse has better
web access than most places I’ve been to in Toronto. Not
sure why.
COOK
It’s because there’s a big fibre network that hooks up
all the Canadian Universities. You are tapping into the
line that goes to one of the universities up North.
MASON
Ah... that explains it.
COOK
Liana seems to enjoy using Diesel. Will she be able to
access you proposed setup?
MASON
Sure. I’ll open a doorway for her.
COOK
This an expensive proposition?
MASON
About two hundred K. I’ve gotta give my Vegas boy 50K
for his effort plus all the XBOXs and a petabyte of
commercial grade storage.
COOK
Do you want help from New Zealand?
MASON
Well I don’t need the money now but it would be nice if
it could generate some income at some point. My
bankroll is getting weak.
13.
COOK
Well on Sunday I’m off for sixty days.
MASON
Can you tell me about it?
COOK
My squad has been contracted to try and recover a group
of kidnapped officials held somewhere near Cairo.
MASON
I thought they normally made a big thing about killing
their captives publicly?
COOK
This kidnapping is all about swapping prisoners for the
captives.
MASON
Well in sixty days I’ll be running Diesel 2.0.
you can scare up some business?
Maybe
COOK
Between Jimmy and I, we’ll get you lots of business.
SFX: musicChapterEnd
14.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 8: CHAPTER 6
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
After three weeks, Mason continued to have real problems
getting the networked XBOXs running smoothly. He even
flew up his Vas Vegas colleague to work on the problem
first hand.
Then after the right set of fixes Diesel started running
perfectly. Like a beast.
His queries used to take 8 hours were now taking
minutes. Those that took minutes now took seconds.
When his colleague left, fifty thousand dollars richer,
Mason hooked up the new secure feed to the US State
Department and the super secret feed to the Chinese
Government that was provided by the hacker he met in
prison. That hacker would not take any money for the
source code that accessed the feed. Mason figured it was
better to not ask why.
He tapped his ear buds to tell Cook he was ready for
business but Liana answered.
LIANA
Mason?
MASON
Liana. I’m sorry, I didn’t even know you were using
Cook’s buds?
LIANA
Yes, ever since my last discovery, Cook insisted I only
chat over the buds.
MASON
Well, that was quite the discovery.
LIANA
You know how sorry I am.
MASON
I do. Thank you. I’m getting good at handling
disappointment. I might write a self help book one day.
On the positive side, I did well playing in Las Vegas so
I can still pay the bills.
15.
LIANA
And those taxes? All handled.
MASON
All handled. Everything I have and do is now completely
legal?
LIANA
You quit smoking dope?
MASON
Oh ya. Forgot about that. But up here it’s virtually
legal.
LIANA
We only have a minute or so left on this line. Did you
want to say anything.
MASON
Yes. I am shutting down Diesel and launching Diesel 2.0.
I’m going to open a back door for you so we can work
together.
LIANA
Great.
MASON
OK. I’ll forward the new instructions in another
session. Give me a few days.
LIANA
OK, thanks Mason.
MASON
Everything OK at your end?
LIANA
Not perfect but we get better together as time passes.
MASON
OK doll. Talk soon.
LIANA
OK Mason.
SFX: musicChapterEnd
16.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 6: CHAPTER 7
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
Something told Mason that Liana was not doing well. If
she was, she’d probably put Diesel and all the bad
memories behind her. But Mason was determined not to
interfere.
He shut down the old Diesel service on Microsoft’s Azure
Cloud after two days of copying all the query history to
the boathouse.
Microsoft still provided Mason a set of legitimate feeds
in multiple languages including the Bloomberg business
feed. But now he had to pay for the services, albeit at
a serious discount. Microsoft wanted to keep a positive
dialogue going with Mason and was particularly intrigued
by his networking of 64 XBOXs. They even sent a
representative up to the boathouse to see it operating
in real time.
Liana was given special back door access to the service
and now Mason was ready to do some serious work.
He started crafting the queries and then watched the
wall of XBOX do it’s work. It gave him great pride
especially when the results came back so quickly.
Nothing new yet but he kept the focus on Tu Tran,
Catherine Choi-Young and Singapore.
He bud beeped.
MASON
Hey Cook.
COOK
Hey guy, I’ve just got a minute but I’ve heard something
interesting from New Zealand about the Pistachio Farmer.
It seems that about thirty years ago they were
experimenting with gamma rays as a way to enhance crops
by killing nasty pests. Well, in trials in Iran about
half of all the pistachio farms were damaged when the
gamma rays killed off the good bacteria with the bad.
That is
is that
all the
dollar.
not the interesting fact. The interesting fact
your Pistachio Farmer, Arshan Hamadi bought up
failed pistachio farms for ten cents on the
That’s how he cornered the market.
17.
MASON
Do you think the Pistachio Farmer intentionally
destroyed his competition.
COOK
No one mentioned anything about that. But that’s an
interesting thought.
MASON
So, we need to find out who ran those gamma ray trials.
COOK
This is your first contract from New Zealand. Find the
name or the group that ran the trials.
Gotta run guy.
Oh... how’s Diesel 2.0?
MASON
Ready for business.
COOK
CYA
SFX: musicChapterEnd
18.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 6: CHAPTER 8
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
Another two weeks passed.
Mason ran fresh queries using Iran, pistachio farms,
gamma rays and the Pistachio Farmer.
But in spite of all the power of 2.0 Mason could not
find anything substantive.
He was frustrated. When Cook asked for his help with the
Drone project almost a year ago, he never came up with
anything actionable. It was clear that he was either
chasing ghosts or an organization so discrete that they
had virtually no footprint.
Time to talk to the old man.
Being late August meant it was hot but there was a
lovely breeze passing over the balcony. He setup his kit
and smiled when his father appeared.
MASON
Since we last chatted I had a pretty good session in
Vegas and Macao. It’s been two years since I played in
the big games but it came back quickly.
And I wore that amulet that Shania left me.
PETER
Didn’t your Pistachio Farmer wear one of those?
MASON
Yes, and my poker buddy, Daniel Ivey, wears one. But I
couldn’t wear the one I had. Too creepy.
PETER
Did you go to Vegas with Tu?
MASON
Well, that’s another story.
NARRATOR
Mason took the next hour to fill Peter in on the Tu saga
as well as Diesel 2.0.
PETER
Well Liana was right when she says you are a high octane
kind of guy.
19.
MASON
Not by choice.
PETER
So, how’s the new Diesel working out.
MASON
Awful. For weeks now I’ve been beating up on 2.0 and
getting nothing in return.
I suspect the group I’m looking for simply doesn’t have
any kind of digital footprint.
PETER
Isn’t that why you added in the random thingme.
MASON
What do you mean?
PETER
I thought you added in the random queries so you can
possibly find things that aren’t part of their digital
footprint.
NARRATOR
Mason looked at Peter with amazement.
MASON
You are a genius. I have it hard coded that every 100th
query is random. I do that to keep the costs of
processing down. But now that I run the thing right here
in the boathouse I can jack up the random feature to any
number I want.
You are a genius.
PETER
It feels good to help.
MASON
It does?
PETER
Ah... this is one of those big questions. Do you want to
open that door right now?
MASON
No. I think I’m starting to get you but am enjoying
trying to figure it out myself.
PETER
OK.
20.
MASON
Did I tell you what inspired me to put in that random
query feature?
PETER
No.
MASON
It was because of that story you told me about that big
heads up poker game at the Wynn in Vegas years ago
between the Vegas Pros and Andy Beal the Texas Banker.
You told me that Andy Beal’s strategy was to win by
playing perfect poker on his schedule.
You told me he had a gizmo attached to his shoe that
tapped his ankle randomly every X minutes. Whenever it
tapped then he’d bluff on his next hand, even if he was
dealt pocket aces.
I never forgot that story. That’s why I embedded the
random query in Diesel.
PETER
Another interesting part of that story was the final
day. I don’t think I ever told you this.
It was suppose to be between Daniel Ivey and Andy Beal
but Daniel was hit with appendicitis so Jennifer Harman
filled in. Andy Beal was up two million dollars and the
bookies were laying 3 to 1 odds against Jennifer.
Jennifer won the session to the surprise of everyone.
My theory is that all the other pros were like night
creatures. They played at night and did their best work
at night. When Andy Beal insisted that each session was
to be played during bankers hours, they reluctantly
agreed only to keep Andy from walking.
But all of the pros were playing against their own
circadian clocks. They were night owls and this gave
Andy a huge advantage.
Except for Jennifer. She had recently had a child and
was used to getting up early and going to bed early.
Their circadian clocks were in synch.
And in the end, her skills trumped Andy’s.
MASON
I’ve never heard that story.
21.
PETER
Crank up the random option and let 2.0 free to do it’s
thing.
Let me know how it turns out.
MASON
OK but if this proves successful then we need to discuss
what it means when you can be inspired by a spirit.
PETER
It’s not unusual. They call it religion.
NARRATOR
Mason smiled at his father’s wisdom.
Something was holding him back for trying to really
understand the mysteries of their sessions. The old man
was such a comfort that he was loath to do anything that
might interfere. He suspected knowledge could be a two
edged sword.
He put away his drinking kit and moved over to 2.0. He
modified the subroutine that allocated random queries.
Instead of generating random queries one percent of the
time he made it twenty five percent.
He was in no rush. Even if it took a few days.
He reviewed the entire query set of everything he and
Liana had submitted since the killing of his father.
He reorganized them a bit and clarified them a bit but
they still looked great.
He submitted the queries and watched the monitor. He had
developed a nice graphical user interface that show the
progress of the analysis and nothing at all appeared.
Twenty five percent was stupid he thought. He was about
to stop the process and change it to ten percent when a
little blip appeared. Then another. Soon more and more.
Each blip represented a thread. With enough blips he’d
create a string. And string theories were what Diesel
was all about.
After an hour another graphical symbol appeared. This
was the starting of a string. It took three threads to
make a string.
The most Diesel ever returned was four string theories.
(MORE)
Then another symbol of a string appeared.
22.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
Mason felt good as each string was new. Something they
had not seen before.
Mason was getting tired so he decided to crash and
review the strings in the morning.
He went to bed with a smile on his face. His dad had
given Diesel a new lease on life.
He wanted a good night sleep so he put his gold and
crystal amulet around his neck.
Shania explained the amulet help filter Akashic energy.
It would help him sleep.
SFX: musicChapterEnd
23.
VOLUME 1: EPISODE 6: CHAPTER 9
SFX: musicChapterStart
NARRATOR
Mason awoke early and quickly wheeled over to see
Diesel.
The session was over and the results sent securely to
his tablet.
Mason opened the tablet app and saw there were sixteen
new string theories! Four times more than Diesel had
ever generated.
He quickly scanned the string theories and raised his
eyebrows in confusion.
They were nothing like he expected.
He stopped then decided to make a pot of coffee and give
them a good study out on the balcony.
Four hours later Mason started to make sense of the
strings. Some were ridiculously random like “Tahitian
bubble gum”. He assigned these a very low value.
The Chinese feed played a large role but since the
engine had an English bias Mason was uncertain how to
evaluate some of the Chinese strings. For example one
string simply said “White head”. Which meant nothing to
Mason but it wasn’t nonsense so he flagged it as medium.
Others which seemed intuitive he give a high rating.
For the first time he got a few images back and even a
random piece of music.
The next pass should be more interesting. It would be
largely driven by the new queries while embracing all
previous queries.
Something was bothering Mason which he couldn’t
identify. Something in that query set was unsettling.
He took a lot of time reorganized the queries and
prepared for another submission. Then he let Diesel go.
He went to the balcony to get some sun and soon dozed
off dreaming about fighting dragons like some stupid
video game.
(MORE)
Diesel was still grinding away so Mason made himself
some pastas and watched a movie in bed.
24.
NARRATOR (CONT'D)
Again, first thing in the morning he got his coffee and
toast and took his tablet to the balcony to study the
strings.
The unsettling feeling got worse. He was starting to see
a pattern developing. A pattern he didn’t like.
He repeated the same exercise for two more days.
Refining the strings and re-inserting them into Diesel.
Each result set was smaller than the last and the
queries got more focussed.
Finally when he looked at his tablet on the balcony on
the fifth day he saw what he prayed he wouldn’t see.
Time to call his team. He looked at his watch and waited
till Cook in Egypt would be available.
He tapped his ear bud and waited.
Liana was first to answer.
LIANA
Hello, Mason?
MASON
Hi Liana, can you standby? I am hoping to have a
conference call.
LIANA
OK
NARRATOR
Next Jimmy the Cop came online then finally Cook.
COOK
Hey, what’s up?
MASON
I wanted you all to hear what Diesel 2.0 came up with
while looking for Kublai Khan. Are you all listening?
NARRATOR
They all confirmed and Mason took a breath.
MASON
We are looking for Rose Rapino.
AKA Shania.
AKA Bianca.
AKA my mother.