‘Excuse me, kind sir,’ he said, ‘I was thinking I might head downstairs. May I?’ Asking questions in this circumstance was something his character, the newbie, would certainly do.

The bouncer barely reacted. ‘Depends,’ he said. He sounded like a clichéd comedy bouncer too, brutal vowels and hardly opening his mouth. ‘Are you on the list?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘Then you’re not on the list.’

‘Where is this list?’

‘You can’t see the list.’

‘Who else is on the list?’

‘Are you on the list?’

‘Possibly.’

‘Then you can find out.’

‘But not from you?’

‘Depends.’

‘On what?’

‘Are you on the list?’

It was as if he was a character in a video game. Costain was pretty sure now that the bouncer wasn’t a human being, but something made by someone. A sort of deliberately placed ‘ghost’. But one that the non-Sighted were very much aware of. ‘Is the list real? Or is it just some sort of metaphor? Does whether or not you’re on the list change from moment to moment? Is it down to how confident you are or how you dress or who your parents were? Please, dear sir, enlighten me.’

The bouncer paused for a second. Processing. But no, there was nothing robotic about those quivering jowls. Whatever he was had been made of emotion and flesh. ‘Depends,’ he finally decided.

Costain sighed. His way out of this place, should he need it, was what it was. No advantage to be found here. It was time to share the risk his unit was taking. That was the right thing to do, and these days he always did the right thing.

Besides, Ross was down there. Among the powerful shit.

He headed for the stairs and patiently waited until it was his turn with the gatekeeper, who looked at him as if it was incredible that two black men had come his way this evening. He made the gesture and sighed at the result, letting him through as if the sky had fallen. Rules were rules, he seemed to be thinking, but he didn’t have to like what the rules allowed.

Costain was about to walk past him with confidence, the star of this picture. Then he remembered the character he was playing. He stopped and made his body language submissive and dropped his gaze to the floor. ‘Excuse me, sir,’ he said.

The gatekeeper inclined his head, and Costain went down the stairs.

Chapter Six

SIX