“Spinning into distrust, madness, and finally a virtual state of war among the different castes – except for in truce zones, like this giant palace of parasitism that we’re standing in.”

I wanted to learn more, but it was time to focus on the practical. “So you knew who I was, even there in the hallway?”

“Not at first. Running into you there, spotting your exceptional curiosity about our history, that was a stroke of luck. Of course, I hurried to notify the Cal’mari Cops, who sent over the inspector here, to rope you in. But I was actually there, in the Hall of Heroes, to do research.”

“Research.”

“For clues to a special, secret place,” Nuts cut in, with a hushed tone of relish and mystery that was typically demmie. “They say it holds the key. And if I help them, they promise not only a pardon, but a big reward.”

“A key? What key?”

“The key to Leininger’s disease,” answered Dr. Katske. “And helping us to find a cure.”

Nuts led me into the next room, where several lab benches were stacked high with equipment, much of it archaic looking and rather dusty.

“The best I been able to figure,” she explained, “The people of this world have been in a dark age for quite some time, centuries at least. But they didn’t go down without a fight! Across the globe, dedicated groups mounted efforts to study what was happening to them, in secret labs like this one.”

“I see. But why in a giant casino?”

“Because that’s where the money was, especially toward the end. Universities and governments collapsed, but the law of supply and demand – catering to vice – seems to have greater staying power. In fact,” she motioned to some ledgers that lay spread open on a table. “According to these notebooks, work on a cure continued here – and a number of other places – until just a hundred or so years ago.”

Dr. Katske carefully opened one of the volumes and ran his fingers along some lines of writing in the local language. “Near the end, they were excited about something big. Researchers in one of the hidden labs made a breakthrough, decoding the essence of the ailment! Even ways to change it, or heal it. Only then—”

His hand stopped, where the writing did, halfway down a page.

“Let me guess,” I asked. “Management lost interest. By then, aristocratic vampires had taken charge of places like this.” I jerked my thumb backward, toward the main part of the building, where jangling tones sang an endless and monotonous song of predatory profit. “I don’t imagine they much relished the idea of a cure.”

“Well, it was complicated. But something like that.”