Arron was still deep in debt with the Ryu family due to the cost of his new clothes, accessories, and the weekly shaves and haircuts that had been added to his tab.
Since this was his first day on the job, it would be a while before he could even be paid. Even if he was paid, the credits would not reach him as it would all go toward the black hole that was his debt.
So, with a sigh, he turned around and walked back inside the [Pleasure Palace].
“Ah! Boss is there something you need?” asked Lily the perky bubblegum pink-haired manager of the building.
“'Cough' … Where is my office?” asked Arron, his face a slight pink in embarrassment as he asked this.
“Do you need help with some paperwork or...?” asked Lily as her eyes squinted as she inspected him in more detail this time.
“No, no! It's nothing like that! I... don't have the credits to get a ride back to my place.... so I need to stay the night in the office until the family can send someone to pick me up,” said Arron a bit embarrassed as he waved his hand back and forth in front of him to deny the unsaid words.
Hearing this, her expression softened and a slight smile appeared as she nodded in understanding. With a few taps on her own wrist datapad she flicked a file containing a map over to Arron. “Follow that path and you will reach the office. I'll send someone to give you the items you'll need to help you sleep.”
“Thanks,” said Arron with a nod before following the directions on the holographic map.
While walking through the hallways he tried to ignore the wild and sometimes exotic sounds of humans, AI, and even... animals, coming from the various rooms.
His office was in one of the basement floor levels so he did not need to use a mag-shoot to reach it. Instead, many security checkpoints scanned his face, NerViz cloud chip, and even his Irezumi tattoo to make sure he was supposed to be there.
As he passed through the last checkpoint he entered a large underground office that was even larger than his own apartment in Sector 11. The only furniture in the entire office was a desk, a hover chair, and several file servers built into the walls.
On each of the walls, there were large holographic windows that depicted a calm rural grassland outside.
Arron was silent as he watched the simulated moonlight shine down on the grassland which was moving like waves in a sea as the wind swept through it. This entire scene was something completely different than the chaotic reality outside the building above the office.
In the corner of the large open office was a walled-off bathroom that contained a shower as well as a toilet. There was everything he would need here so he would not have to use the facilities alongside the customers.
“AAAANNNNNN!”
His internal thoughts were interrupted several minutes later when a buzzer echoed throughout the room and a holovid popped up over the desk.
“Um... boss? Manager Lily sent me to deliver your sleeping items,” said a young female worker who was in uniform.
“Ah, just one second let me find the button...” said Arron as he hastened his steps and walked over to the desk, his hand hovering over the many holographic buttons on a menu for several seconds before finding what he needed. A few taps later the female worker was allowed to pass through the security checkpoints.
With a hiss, the office's door opened and the young girl entered the office carrying a box containing several items and a hovering cot that was floating behind her.
Arron was a little apprehensive with what type of 'Items' the manager had sent to 'help' him sleep as this place was … yeah.
Seeing Arron's troubled expression the young lady spoke up to ease his worries, “I made sure that everything was freshly cleaned!”
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“Ah... yes. Thanks for doing that...” Arron's mind was now in a whirlwind as her words brought up ideas that had not been there before but now that she mentioned it... the things here could get quite messy. Just thinking about the reason why they needed to be cleaned made him feel unconformable.
“'cough'... you can leave that by the desk,” said Arron pointing at the box and hovering cot.
“The Manager instructed me to set it up for you. If I don't follow her orders I will get in trouble...”
“Then... you can just set it up wherever...” said Arron. As he watched her go about pulling out items to set up the cot so that he could use it to sleep, he realized that she was rather young, a little too young to be in such a place like this.
“Um...”
“My name is Plum.”
“Plum, how old are you?”
“14.”
“14? Why are you working here? You're not a ...”
“No, I am not one of those types of workers. I am forever grateful to the manager for taking me in and allowing me to work here! I and my other sisters work here cleaning the rooms, laundry, cooking for the older sisters, and other odd jobs needed to keep the place running.”
“Sisters? Do you have other family members who work here?”
Plum shook her head as she continued to make the cot, “No, we call each other sisters. We were all in similar situations before the manager saved us from our problems. Many of my sisters were sold off by their parents to traffickers to pay off debts or in return for cash so that they could continue to live on since they were unable to feed them. Most of us were smuggled into the mega-city. I was lucky enough that my parents were able to use a large portion of their life savings to get me into the city so that I could live a better life and be able to send back money to help them. Most of my sisters were not so lucky, they were sold off, used, and abused in many horrible ways.”
“How is this place any different?” asked a confused Arron.
“It is completely different! Here we are paid for our work! I know that as someone new to this business it may sound like this place is vile. Trust me, from the stories I have heard from my other sisters, the activities in other places would get a normal person normalized immediately but the guests that frequent them are all high-level party members or Office of Reason agents. This place is nowhere near as crazy as the places we came from. Here most of the exotic things we provide are holographic and virtual simulated experiences as well as those sisters that have decided to continue in that type of work, as well as some masochist and sadist play. With the opportunity given to us by the manager, we can not break her trust in us and the second chance she has given us!”
“Some of the sisters were offered jobs in the city but when they got here they were trapped, unable to leave and were sold off to various party members, rich people, gangs, and red-light districts.”
Hearing all this was like a brick being thrown at Arron's head.
“Has it really gotten that bad outside the mega-city?” asked Arron.
“It has. The bubble burst may not be as noticeable here in the mega-city but everyone that is not living here, are the ones facing the brunt of the economy crashing down all to make it so that the city has little to no problems. Even though Mother and Father act as if everything is okay, the people are barely able to pay for the monthly costs of living. Why do you ask? Do you have someone you know outside the city?”
“My parents...” was all Arron said. He cut himself off as he was still undercover and revealing too much unnecessary information would only harm him.
“I see. So we are the same,” said Plum as she smiled at Arron in a friendly manner.
“Well... I guess you could say that,” Arron felt a slight pain in his heart at having her smile at him.
Their circumstances were completely different. From what she had said, she and her sisters had it far worse than he did. Even with the Office of Reason constantly hounding him and meddling with his life he was still living a far better life than many of the people with D rank SCS and even better than some of the C ranks.
“There, I have completed my task! Is there anything else that you need me to get for you?” asked Plum standing back up straight and looking at Arron.
“No. This is fine. I'll be sure to let Lily know that you did an excellent job,” said Arron. He wanted to do something for her but this was all he could do.
“Thanks!” said Plum happily before bowing and leaving the room.
Arron's mind was filled with turmoil as he took a quick shower.
With all that he had learned just now these places all took on a new meaning for him as he now saw it in a new light. There was no denying that this place was not filled with rainbows and sunshine as there were some sick and unsavory perverted things happening everyday, but it did give him a different perspective.
As he finished his shower he put on the synthetic silk robe that had been laid out for him and hopped onto the hovering cot after taking one of the pills from the black bottle.
With such an eventful day both his body and mind were exhausted and even though there was much on his mind, with the help of the pill, his pain and hectic thoughts began to fade away allowing him to drift off to sleep in his new cold and barren office.