Operation Escort, Codename: Ladies of the Night, was created in order to tighten up my hold on the people and to keep them safe. This would also be a mission for gathering basic information about the people of the city and their habits, worries, and concerns. All of this information would be important for the future after I dethroned Ned. He was still working on Thomas and five other Order of Salvation members, and it looked like I would have another 2 days before the others, and he became a problem.
"The Ladies... of the Night... have been dropped? Why are we calling them that? And why did you make them look female?" Kilna asked, lifting up her headset after getting the last wasp drone into place.
"Women are easier to trust than men, and even looking robotic, they still carry a certain sex appeal. This should help attract customers, but if it doesn't, I will try a new tactic tomorrow," I said as I looked up at the wall of twenty small screens that were behind Kyla's desk. It was only Kilna and me in the room since I let everyone else go at 5pm.
"I guess that is true, but they look a bit silly with dresses, don't you think?" She asked, and I shrugged.
"Another test. This is something new for me, and I am still trying to figure out how I can fit into this world. Tonight is going to be a way to gauge how people feel about Numerians. If I can figure out what people are scared of and what people like, I can use those things to manipulate them. Information is power, and the more you know about someone, the better you can predict what they will do when you do something," I explained, and Kilna nodded slowly as she got up and came over to stand beside me after completely taking her headset off.
"Are you sure that you don't need my help? This seems like a big job just for you alone. I struggle with just two drones, and you are controlling them all! Is it really okay for me to go and relax?" Kilna asked with a concerned look, and I nodded.
"I need you to rest your mind. You are only human, after all, and overworking you will get me less than the best results," I said without turning. There had been no request for help so far, but I was keeping tabs on the surrounding areas and needed to focus on the screens while doing ten other things.
"Alright, I will leave you be then and see you in the morning," Kilna said, and then left the room as I sent a warning to one of my Ladies of the Night to pull back.
Currently, I could only cover one district effectively with the guards, but I had drones following high-risk targets that left the area. Since it didn't look like anyone was going to trust a robot, good-looking or not, so I was going to have to look for trouble. The Lady that pulled back with her sign watched as a suspicious-looking group of rougher-looking males with tattoos and scars passed by. As they did, I scanned them and noticed that they all had rats tattooed on their necks. This must mean that they were part of the Shadow Rats, and it looked like they were looking for trouble, so I locked a drone on them and waited for them to pass before giving an order for the Lady to leave the alley.
From there, I swapped views to eight blocks over, where one of my Wasp drones was responding to the sounds of yelling. When it reached the alley, there were three men surrounding an older man who was backing into a corner. The man was telling him that he had no money on him, but it was clear from the ball of fire in the one man's hand that they didn't care.
My drone flew down and effortlessly shot three darts into the back of the men's necks. Each of them tried to reach back to see what had just hit them, but none of their hands made it before they each collapsed, fast asleep.
"Huh?" The old man asked as he lowered his hands, and my drone flew over to him.
"Do you need an escort home?" The wasp drone asked in Fawna's voice. I had got her to record a series of words and phrases so the Ladies of the Night would be able to interact with people.
The man blinked in confusion and then narrowed his eyes at the wasp. "You are that Numerian that everyone is talking about, right?" He asked.
"Yes."
"You don't sound that scary to me, and you are helping me? Hardly a thing that an abomination would do, right?" He asked.
"Do you need an escort home?" The wasp drone asked again since my responses were limited.
"What will it cost me?" He asked.
"First time is free."
"Really? Well, hard to say no to free!" He laughed and smiled at the drone as he gave one of the ugly and big men a kick in the head. "I have a scar from my elbow to my wrist from where this son of a bitch tried to slash me!" the man growled and stepped over the men.
"All I ask is that you recommend me to other people for the evening and late-night escort. The Ladies of the Night will be working until dawn and will provide discounts for trips to and from certain establishments. These places include Bars, restaurants, and stores that are open later. Lists for these establishments will be given out in the future," the drone explained as it followed the old man out of the alley.
"That is one heck of a good idea! My name is Brice, and I deal in magical wear. If you are looking for a deal and you are serious about this escort stuff, I would be interested in having you escort me each day. Not only that, but maybe you might consider escorting customers during the day?" The man asked as he walked. "I have guards at my store, but they stay there overnight to watch my goods, and I already pay them more than I should. I have expensive magical clothing, and my business has been dwindling because of the gangs jumping my customers after they leave my shop. Hard enough to keep me and my wears safe, but now I even have to worry about my customers! You would think that the leader of the city would at least try to clean the place up, but our council member for the district is nothing but a puppet for King Kaido!"
I was dealing with a few other altercations in the district, but the other people were just normal workers that were being hassled. This Brice was an interesting fellow, so I was concentrating on him and decided to use my real voice so I could ask some questions.
"This is what I normally sound like, but I use one of my team's voices to sound friendlier. What is it that you are looking for in the future?" I asked, and the man stopped and looked at my drone with a lifted eyebrow.
"Now that sounds more like a dangerous criminal. Future, you ask? That is a precarious thing to think of in this city," Brice said and started walking again. "But, if I had to say? I would like for us not to have to make business deals like this. I am sure that there are much more useful things a being like yourself could be doing rather than escorting an old man, right?" He asked.
"I have escorted 10 people home and stopped 24 assaults of different varieties. Some of the people fled after I helped, but that can't be helped. While I agree that I should be doing other things, getting people moving in this city is important. The place is a shit hole that is letting the economy go down the drain, and the state of the city shows it," I said, and the man nodded as he walked up to one of the better-looking rundown buildings.
"That is relieving to know. Thugs are usually out in the morning, so if you would like to meet at 6am, I will take you up on an escort to my work, and we can talk more about how we can work together and the payment, of course," Brice said with a smile and nod of his head.
"Very well. I will see you at 6," I said, and then did a full transfer into one of the Ladies of the Night. Now that the sun had gone down, it was time to visit the 2 local bars in this district and start getting some cash flowing in. The Escort service was going to take a bit off the ground, but it was one of the best ways to earn money, and Miles had sent people earlier to let the owners know I would be stopping by after dark.