“The outer districts aren’t typically important for any election. Most of the people living there don’t even vote, why should we care what they think?”

“True, but perhaps we can make a token effort to draw in another crowd?”

“That idea gets floated every year by every party, when did it ever actually work?”

“It probably won’t in most cities, but we have quite the population in the outer districts. If we can get them on board we might be able to tip the scale.”

“Yes, but most of them are too busy being miserable for them to pay any attention to the important parts of the city.”

“Well, with the two new Samurai now showing up in the redlight district, we have eight Samurai who live in the outer districts. That is a good quarter of all Samurai in the city. Nearly all outer districts have at least one by now. Maybe we can talk to them, see if they’d be willing to hear us out?”

“I guess the idea isn’t entirely without merit. Okay, run the numbers, see what we can expect to see, then we can decide if it’s worth the effort. But don’t come to me with this again unless it actually makes a huge difference. And check the Samurai first, if they’d even be useful for this. Not all of them would take our advances well.”

“Got it, Boss.”

- Excerpt of a discussion between two leading members of the Freedom for All partey sponsored by Zamazon, 2057

Behind the gate was a rather spacious room with a couple of tables and chairs, similar to those school mess halls I could vaguely remember from my childhood, with various doors on either side leading deeper into the complex.

People milled about, some had food, some a drink. Probably alcoholic if I smelled it right, not that it was easy with this many musky people in the room. There probably were showers somewhere in this disaster, but redlight district folk weren’t exactly known for their excessive cleanliness.

Some also obviously were snorting something, or had a syringe in hand. Pills could be found changing hands, basically the same old same old from the redlight district.

There were some large screens splattered about the room, playing some news channels that everyone seemed to ignore as usual.

Sharon’s moans were quite obvious, coming from a far corner of the room where a queue of people were waiting by a door. Not sure how exactly she planned to go back to charging people for railing her, now that half the district had a chance to stick their dick inside her, but that wasn’t my problem. At least I didn’t think so.

I wasn’t sure if I would go back to organising my wing of the brothel again, considering that I would probably have a rather unique working position when I returned to bed service, but I doubted Victor would push that responsibility on me again unless I asked. Probably best to wait and see how my replacement would do, otherwise I would step in to make sure things went smoothly.

While there were quite a few people around, it obviously wasn’t everyone. Not that it surprised me, we had walked past quite a number of doors on our way here, so the rest were probably in other rooms.

I was pretty sure though that these were the ones I had seen in the shelter. Although truth be told, I hadn’t paid that much attention to the masses.

Of course the moment we stepped inside we drew nearly everyone’s attention. At least of those that were awake and lucid enough to realise we were present.

It didn’t take long for Castas and Tina to appear, walking quite close together now that I was paying attention to it, and each with their own entourage behind them. Castas of course had a couple of his gang members, three men and a woman that I was pretty certain could bench press a car, while Tina had four joytoys trailing her, surprisingly also mainly consistent of three men. The one woman who was with her was one I could vaguely remember as being from the other hallway in the Rose Carpet. She seemed to be high on something, but if she was fit enough for Tina she was fit enough for me.

“Princess, Sentinel,” Castas greeted, nodding to both of us.

I chuckled, “It’s Myriad, Castas. Myriad, the Living Weapon swarm. Bit of a mouthful, but it does sound badass.” With a gesture I motioned to Jenna, “And for her it’s Legion. I thought maybe the news had already reached you though.”

He shrugged, “Might have, might not. We’ve been too busy to bother with the news.”

“Good you finally chose a name though,” Tina said with a smile. She was wearing an outfit reminiscent of her ‘work uniform’ but with a lot more cover. It fit her quite well.

“Oh? Why’s that?” I asked her a bit confused.

“Well, there have been some ideas for what to call you. Princess of the Sheets, Dandelion, Slutty Fox, Devourer of Men, or Women, depending on what you prefer. Splits, or Spread Legs, the list is very long.”

She chuckled at my horrified expression.

“Wow… Those are bad,” I muttered, “Remind me to thank Chloe for that name idea. No way in hell would I want to run around being called ‘Spread Legs’ all the time.”

“I liked Demon Fox Mistress,” Castas admitted with a bit of a snort in his tone, “It’s dangerous. And fitting, with your weird pets.”

I snorted a laugh at that, “Sure, because that is definitely the kind of joytoy you go to.”

“Still planning on continuing?” He sounded a tad surprised.

“Yup, love the job too much not too. Especially considering the changes I want to introduce. Would be rather strange for me to turn being a joytoy into my dream job only to wander off the moment it happens, no?”

He shrugged, “Better for us. A Samurai joytoy working the sheets will have a lot of people coming over to the redlight district. Which means more business, which in turn means more money.”

I nodded at his logic, “That's what I was thinking. Now, let’s sit down. I could use a drink and I’d like to hear what you did in the meantime.”

Turning to the soldier woman I continued, “You are free to join us, uhm?”

“Major Cheryl, ma’am. Not sure I should, I tend to make people uncomfortable.”

“I insist,” I said with a sweet smile.

There was some shuffling, Castas' boys gently pushed some people away from the table they were snoring on and moved them somewhere a bit more comfortable, but eventually we could all sit down. Jenna, Major Cheryl and me on one side, Castas, Tina, and of course one of their entourages each on the other. Curiously the woman that was with Tina was the one that sat down. Despite her slightly glassy eyes, she seemed attentive enough.

Some were eyeing Myriad who stood behind me, with the Queen’s Guard close by, although invisible. I ignored their glances, and she did as well.

Not a moment later someone brought us some glasses and a bottle of cognac. Not my preferred drink of choice, but I could deal. Castas poured each a glass, although since those weren’t shot glasses there wasn’t too much in them, then pushed them to each of us.

“Now, let’s hear what you have come up with,” I said and took a sip. It wasn’t the best cognac I ever had, but it was also far from the worst.

Castas and Tina glanced at each other and he gave a small nod, which she returned before facing me.

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“I spent some time talking to other joytoys and trying to get into contact with the brothel owners. Most of them are somewhere in this shelter, although some didn’t make it. For those we are in the process of figuring out replacements. The main question I had on my mind was what the joytoys wanted in their job. I already know what your plan is, so I tried to keep that in mind. The long and short of it is that many simply wish for more agency on which client to choose and maybe some vetting on the clients in general. So far anyone with a credit chip could come in and bang anyone they wanted, and while that is generally fine and what the joytoys agreed to, not all share your enthusiasm with different fetishes.”

She waved a hand at me with a smile, “There are plenty who would like some changes. Also plenty who didn’t work for the Rose Carpet who’d like more drugs. In many cases I believe that to be a pretty bad idea. Typically they are those who try to cope with doing the job they are doing by drowning their sorrows. Not exactly what I would call a healthy job environment. There were some ideas floated to see if we can’t get them into different jobs, but the discussion is ongoing. In terms of drugs and what is needed and wanted, Castas knows more about it.”

“About that,” the man in question chimed in, cautiously eyeing Major Cheryl, “You sure you want her to be present for this?”

I nodded, “Her job is to make sure that I am a very happy little Samurai so that I don’t get any funny ideas about coming after her bosses. So why not abuse the fact that she’s already involved to get some proper protection until we are set up and can do things on our own? She could probably get some men to help us set up as well. Of course, for a little something in return. I bet there are some amongst the ranks who wouldn’t mind some time off with pleasant company.”

Cheryl snorted, shaking her head in mock disbelief, “I bet there are… You’re quite the bold one, aren’t you?”

Instead of saying anything I just smiled at her primly.

“And yeah, I can probably swing something like that. Only for the transitioning period though, unless you want a proper outpost down there,” she added with a more serious tone.

“During the transitioning period is fine,” I replied, “Once everything is set up I wouldn’t want the army near my district anyways. Too many points of contention and neither myself nor anyone else in the district want a permanent army base down there. If such ideas were floated I would appreciate you telling your bosses to reconsider. Should they not and things go bad enough, we might be inclined to savour the kind of taste you wouldn’t want. Feeding a swarm is hard work, you wouldn’t believe how much we can eat if we wanted to.”

The atmosphere at the table got a little colder, which was kind of the point.

We didn’t want to piss off the army, much less Majory Cheryl since she had been good to us, but we wanted to make very certain that the district was ours, and ours alone. A bit of friendly banter now would be more helpful than waiting for problems to arrive.

“Now,” I continued with a more friendly smile, “The joytoys want more agency, which I think makes sense. I won’t butt in there, that’s your bed to break. I’m mainly here to help organise everything until you stand on your own feet. To that end, Castas?”

He nodded, “The whole drug business was so far something we mainly avoided. It isn’t our strong suit and while there is money to be made, the amount of drugs cooked day by day and are in circulation makes any kind of oversight a bit of a hassle. It will take some time to get it all in order and will probably if not definitly lead to some kind of tension eventually.”

That made sense and I nodded my agreement.

“We were kind of hoping that you might help, alleviate some of that tension if and when it comes,” he looked at me and Jenna.

“We can do that,” I agreed, “Anyone who bothers you gets a warning. If they ignore it, well. We do have a swarm to feed.”

“I might also be able to send some Sentinels your way once I get my production up and running,” Jenna added, surprising me a little, “Not sure how many yet, probably only as many as you need to secure the more important locations. I don’t think an army of Sentinels running around would be good for the nerves of many people.”

“You want to help?” I asked her, one eyebrow raised in curiosity, “Not that I’m objecting of course, just curious.”

“Yes. I don’t like doing the job, but I do want to make sure things get better eventually. And the redlight district is still my home, even if I wasn’t born there.”

“Thanks,” I told her, and meant it too.

“That would help,” Castas admitted, “We had some plans to maybe talk with Haze, see if we can’t come to an agreement. They know their way around the drug trade, and with us busy keeping the district in check we are spread a bit thin on that front. Having more people to keep an eye on things and regulate the drug trade would be helpful.”

“Oh?” I asked, not having expected that idea to pop up.

“Yeah. Not sure how agreeable they are likely to be, so it’s a bit of an open question on whether we can count on them or not.”

“Probably not very,” the joytoy next to Tina butted in, drawing all eyes, “Haze are a pretty simple minded group. Where the Crows are mainly in it to get some pussy, Haze basically only cares about how much territory they control. A deal like this probably won’t appeal to them. Not unless we hand some territory over. It also doesn’t help that they don’t like having a boss, and even if you wouldn’t directly interfere, Myriad, it would feel that way to them.”

I took a moment to give her a thorough once over. She was beautiful, the kind you normally didn’t see much in the redlight district, dressed in skimpy clothes that barely covered anything, and would allow easy access with even the faintest breeze. Marks on her arm denoted heavy drug use and she had the typical remnant scent of horniness that most shiver addicts had. Unlike them though, she seemed pretty put together, which meant that she most likely took it not to cope, but because she already loved sex and simply liked trying new things.

“Know them well?” I asked, “And what’s your name?”

“I’m Bella,” she introduced herself, “And yes. For years I was the personal pleasure doll for the boss of Purple Haze. Because of that I was basically with him all the time, it allowed me to get a pretty good idea about what he wants. He didn’t mind his cum dump hearing all about his plans, and often had me service his guests after their talk, which gave me some pretty good insights into what they were like.”

“Damn,” I muttered, “And he just let you go?”

“He threw me away. I was too horny for his tastes, never satisfied. It annoyed him too much in the end, so I ended up in the brothels. Sultan never was the sharpest tool in the shed, so I don’t think he even realised how much I knew when he threw me out. His second though, Mark, did. For a time he had some people keep an eye on me.”

“Good to know,” I said, emptied my glass and leaned back, “So, how would you advise we go at them then?”

She shrugged, “You’re a Samurai. Put a little pressure on and he’ll fold like a house of cards in the breeze. Sultan likes to act all tough, but he’s a weak willed coward. If you want to be a bit more cordial I would advise offering some territory, anything in the industrial district that isn’t his is high on his list, as well as some border territory in the redlight district. If you go that route though make sure to milk him for all he’s worth. If there is something he wants he tends to overpay quite a bit. You wouldn’t believe the amount of drugs he shoved up my arse just to have me there as his personal toy. And from what I could gather from his business partners, they also enjoyed that generosity.”

“Then what should we ask for?” I continued, mentally noting everything with the rest of us.

She leaned back, thinking about that for a moment. “Honestly… I don’t think it matters much. Mark will want an in on the drug deal, you should probably give it to them. It will make them feel like they achieved something and got one over on you. Other than that just make sure that you distribute his men in a way that they overextend their reach. Sultan won’t notice although Mark probably would. Not sure if he’d comment, he might not, hoping to take advantage of it to finally get his boss out of the picture. It leaves them destabilised should they be foolish enough to try anything.”

Again I took the time to consider her. She was not what I expected.

“You’re pretty sharp for an addict,” I noted, and she nodded.

“High functioning. Give me stuff to snort and I'll build you a kingdom. It doesn’t hurt that my parents were corpo big wigs and I’m basically a designer kid. Way smarter than most, if I do say so myself.”

That had me raising my eyebrows, “Not that I don’t feel similar, but how did you end up in the redlight district with that background?”

She snorted, “Well, my parents wanted to marry me off to some idiot for political gain. You know, those secret backroom deals that technically aren’t legal. I wouldn’t have minded being a trophy wife, but the idiot thought of me as some kind of slave. Otherwise I would have spent the time like any trophy wife would, banging all his friends behind his back and taking drugs til my heart gave out. But since he wouldn’t have let me out of my room, and he himself had a three inch dick, no finesse, and about as much endurance as an old fart with one foot in death’s door, I snuck out of the house a day before our wedding and left. Never looked back since.”

I nodded, understanding where she came from. While it wasn’t how my life went, it could have easily gone the exact same route.

“Thanks for answering my questions, I can see why Tina has you on her board. Very well, we’ll keep your advice in mind,” I told her with a smile, and was about to turn away when she spoke up.

“If you don’t mind, Myriad. Would it be possible for us to spend a night? I would love to know what a Samurai is like in bed. Call it personal curiosity.”

I gave Jenna a glance, but she just shrugged with an encouraging smile.

“Sure,” I said with a bemused smirk, “We can spend a night, have some fun. Consider it payment for a job well done. I’ll get in touch when I have a free evening, although I can’t promise a date yet.”

“Thank you.”

Turning back to Castas I continued, “Well then. Should we talk with Haze now or later?”

“Probably best if we do it sooner rather than later,” Bella threw in, “Don’t give them time to get home and set up again.”

Castas gave her a glance, but nodded. “You heard her.”

“Do you have a room for us to meet in?” I asked Cheryl, “Preferably a private room?

I knew she would get my meaning, and she nodded.

“Give me ten minutes. I’ll let them know you want to talk.”