Lorelei was genuinely confused. She arrived at the coordinates relatively intact. Her suits power cells were down to 3% battery life, and thus she had to shut all its special features down. She was down to her womanly wiles, natural instincts, and magical affinity for now; all her tech was on standby. It might be possible to get the stealth field up for a few seconds, but that would be it. Meanwhile, she was out of special narcotics. Even now, she wondered how her staged love-birds scene was doing.
Probably not very good… She cringed just thinking about it. Lorelei could just imagine half the Maw's warehouse being set on fire right about now.
She sighed, feeling a weight off her shoulders. Her skin was sticky with sweat; her perfumed scent was pungent and already attracting attention from some of the men around her, all of whom she eyed with a killers glare to force them away. Despite how much she loved her suit, Lorelei was already looking forward to going home to her tiny room and getting out of her clothes for the night. She might even pay extra for a longer shower.
Lorelei found herself standing over a small bridge; the dry riverbed below was home to thieves, scoundrels, and leech merchants. There were small fires spewing chemical reeking smoke from below, and Lorelei wondered if the client actually wanted to meet her down there. That would be insane.
"You here?" The voice in her receiver nagged her.
"I'm… On the bridge. Are you sure you sent me the right coordinates?" She asked. Looking around, there were only flickering street lights, broken cars, and piles of trash around her.
"Take the ladder down. Don't worry, you get used to the smell."
"Great…" Lorelei responded unenthusiastically.
She hoped the iron ladder wasn't too withered by age, it definitely looked like it could snap at any given moment. Somehow it bared her weight easily enough and she made it down to the mud crusted earth. Her feet sank into the mush. Lorelei had to clutch her nose; the smell alone made her want to gag.
Just underneath the bridge, she found the very same man who had approached her at the restaurant earlier that morning. He was still wearing his trench coat, the sword on his belt was still sheathed, and he was smoking a rather large cigar while waiting for her. The tobacco was strong enough to mask some of the worse smells.
Lorelei approached, and noticed a small device embedded in the wall.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Oh, that?" The client motioned to the device. "Just a little something to ensure nobody can overhear our conversation. You'd be surprised what flies might be lingering on the wall."
Lorelei raised a brow. "Are you a Paxie?" She blurted out the question.
The client nearly choked while puffing on his cigar, then started laughing while coughing. "If only… But no, don't worry about that darling. If anything, you can call me an anti-paxie."
"Sure… Sure…" Lorelei's false smile was quivering.
A few seconds passed. The sounds of cheap copper Siins being passed for small wet bags could be heard in the near distance.
"So, you ready to earn your Dominions?" He asked with a cheerful tone. He had recovered his composure and resumed puffing on his cigar happily.
"Sure, what exactly do I need to do?" Lorelei asked.
"First, let me see the data."
"Oh, yeah." Lorelei took out the small terminal and handed it to him.
He noticed how sweaty it was, and Lorelei watch his trousers stiffen a bit around his damn crotch. Extracting a small chord from the back of his ear, he then plugged into the small hand held terminal and data began streaming before his eyes.
"Hmm… Interesting." He looked through the info. After a couple of minutes, he noticed Lorelei just standing there, her back against the opposing wall with her arms crossed, watching him. She was studying him silently, trying to get a read.
"Want a smoke?" He offered.
Lorelei just shook her head. "I'm good, thanks."
"You sure?" A playful smile released a small whiff of smoke.
"I don't smoke." Not tobacco anyway.
"You really are pure as the undriven snow, aren't you?"
Lorelei was confused by that. "What is snow?"
"Hmm?" He seemed transfixed again in his work. "Never mind."
Lorelei looked down the gullet of the dry river. On either side of the narrow ravine, the steep angles leading up to the roads were layered with granite stone and pockets of cement. The smog was so thick it was hard to see the glowing light of the shield above. Even the silhouette of the city skyline was eerie and hard to discern. Ghostly apparitions seemed to fade in and out of the gray blanket of fog while black-green chemical smoke mixed with the gray.
"Very good." The client eventually unplugged his mind from the terminal. He extracted a small chip from it, looked it over, and then reached into his coat, revealing a wad of plastic bags.
"Here, take this." He offered them to her.
Lorelei accepted the parcels along with the small chip that was now loaded with more data. She peered into the bag, noticing the garments inside. There was a pair of leather leggings and boots along with a very open top jacket. It wasn't particularly expensive material, the leather was fake, and the logo on the sleeve was a niche design of a succubi's arrow pointed tail. It was quite salacious; the garb offered no coverage of her entire chest and frontal body.
"The next part starts in about an hour." The client studied her reaction. "It shouldn't take long, in fact, I bet you can accomplish your task rather quickly. But I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to stay a while after finishing."
"What is this?" Lorelei could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight.
"Up above, three blocks from here, you will find another warehouse."
"What is it with you and warehouses?" Lorelei sighed.
"Don't worry, this one is way more up your alley." The client waved his hand in the air. "It's being operated right now as an Exquisite House. Dozens of succubi are free to mingle for their…"
Lorelei was completely dumb struck, frozen in place looking at him with her face flustered red.
"Are you ok?" He asked.
"There's… There's an Exquisite House here? In Vult?" This was the first time she heard of it.
"I take it you weren't informed?" He genuinely seemed confounded.
"No!" Lorelei blurted. She immediately caught herself and looked around to make sure no one had noticed the sudden outburst. A pair of leech merchants looked at her, then returned to whatever they were talking about.
"Well, good news then. The Courtesan's of the Perfect Master are running the show. Just be mindful, their Master will definitely have eyes on you. With those assets you have, it'll be easy to distract anyone who gets in your way." He smirked.
Lorelei was struggling to keep her composure and remain standing upright. Her eye was quivering, and her face was locked in a pout. She was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood. Her tail was weaving and whipping, betraying her inner hunger, and desire to lash out.
"I don't know whether to thank you for that info or feel genuinely disgusted with your suggestion that I should go there wearing this." She looked at the bag again, just imagining having to wear such a revealing outfit. Then again, it was the kind of thing succubi wore in places like that.
Exquisite houses, the not-so-secret extensions of Cubi depravities. They were sometimes called temples, carnivals, or even courts. Calling them exquisite houses was just one of the many common street terms for places like this. Succubi used them to attract males, particularly males of other species for nourishment. Incubi liked using them to find new members for their harems, and other races came to enjoy the experience of being surrounded by many lustful Cubi. Such houses were prone to offer gambling, sell sex slaves, and even acquire new indentured servants among the populace who were willing to sell themselves to survive. It was a place of drugs and rampant pleasures; a place of transformative revelry and sinful depravicants.
During the war, Exquisite Houses in Eshirith were replaced with slave dens and breeding circles. There wasn't a lot of consenting going on there. More so, it was used to break the mind and bodies of prisoners of war. Since the war, Lorelei wasn't sure if Exquisite Houses would return, even discretely, among the public. She wasn't even sure the general public would accept them. Then again, everyone liked sex, and banning the affiliation with the most sexually gratifying of the demi-human races must've been a losing proposition. Lorelei hadn't lived in Vult for long, and she supposed it only made sense that an Exquisite House would be built in a district like this where humans and other races were more dominant.
The man continued. "I need you to get inside and wait until a certain patron arrives. Then, I need you to upload everything on that chip to his own implant. Should be simple enough, just got to get close enough to slip the chip in one of his many physical imports. After that your job is done." He smiled. "I'll meet you outside with your dominions when it's done. If something goes terribly wrong, I'd advise you get out as soon as possible."
Of course he's not gonna lift a finger if shit hits the fan. Lorelei wasn't surprised.
"Just who is it I'm supposed to plant this on?" She asked.
"He's a military colonel, a human stationed in Vult by the name of Rail Sainz. He's tall but lean, with a lot of implants. Half his face is cyberware, and he has a very bad thin layer of black hair that he likes to gel. You will know him for sure when you see the slave he's dragging around. He keeps a wood elf girl by his side; she has caramel colored skin and is very lively. Apparently, she's had her memory wiped and goes by the name Dove now." He noticed her apprehension. "Once you slip him the chip, you might have the opportunity to save her too. If your heart is so inclined."
"I just have to wear this stupid outfit?" Lorelei swallowed.
She wasn't surprised to hear of a mind wiped slave. There were numerous ways to create one. During the war, the Cubi used slut molding magic to make new slaves. Humans preferred technology to do the same, their own SMP SyStem acting as a competitive alternative. Lorelei suspected the Courtesans of the Perfect Master used a variation of slut molding to convert some of the women in Vult to become their concubine soldiers as well.
"Oh, another thing. There will be a guard at the front. Simply lean in and whisper that Konrad sends you. He'll let you in without another word." He took another long puff from his cigar, breathing out a waft of smoke.
"So, you're name's Konrad?" Lorelei asked, finally happy to learn a secret of his own. It might have been a cover, a false name, but Lorelei was still glad to learn something of this man. When this job was over, she was going to have a long conversation with the fixer who gave her this job about handing her these kinds of assignments with people who were most likely agents of the government.
He smiled, not betraying a hint of concern. "I really appreciate your hard work on this. Just rely on your natural instincts; I'm counting on you."
Right… Lorelei resigned herself to the task at hand. She carried the parcel in one hand, while tucking the chip behind her ear for now. She would have to find a better place to hide it later.
Lorelei was just about to turn away when Konrad spoke up again. "Oh, and your gambit seems to have paid off. Whatever you did, no alarms were sounded by the Maws."
"That's a relief." Lorelei held the bag closer to her chest. "I guess I'll see you later."
She walked away, just glad to get out of this muck, and started making plans. She needed to scout out this new warehouse, find a place to get changed, and prepare herself for what could be a good night. Her stomach rumbled, and her fingers were twitching. The part of her soul that bequeathed magic was stirring, hungry at the prospect for nourishment.
A smile crossed her face, as long as she was a good girl, she would be well fed tonight.