The double doors were massive, presumably made of reinforced cherry oak. In each door were peculiar ingrained insignias of a three-headed animal. It consisted of a lion with a ram’s head, dragon wings and a serpent’s tail. Definitely a property of Chimera. Talk about hiding in plain sight, Caiden thought. Upon his entrance, unpleasant fumes pervaded the air; a mixture between flesh, drugs, perfume, and alcohol. A thick misty cloud of smoke sat atop the area near the tall ceiling, unmoving and potent. It was almost stifling. Slavo was there, waiting to greet Caiden.
“We finally meet, Mr. Knowone! How goes it? Do you have the money I asked for?” Slavo pleasantly asked while rubbing his hands.
“I got it right here for you,” Caiden replied.
Slavo took out a small cylindrical scanner and scanned the unique barcode of the Cred codec Caiden presented to him.
“One point five million all here. Beautiful.”
Slavo seemed jittery, but excited nonetheless. In person, Slavo was a freakishly tall and sleazy man, with faded pink-copper colored hair. He sported a spiky punk rock hairstyle with a bald fade on the left side of his head. His clothes consisted of white and grey dress pants, a grey vest with a white shirt and grey tie, and a long white over coat. The collar of the coat was popped, adding to his gangster, bad-boy aesthetic. He had a cybernetic visor where his eyes should be, and the upper left portion of his face had been reconstructed with a synthetic durable substance that had the appearance of skin. His surgery appeared to be a result of a horrific accident that left his orbital bone and both of his eyes severely damaged. As a result, he must have had to undergo cybernetic surgery to save his vision. His cybernetic visor possessed an EMP resistant vision with switchable modes between regular, infrared, and night vision as a result of the implant.
After he confirmed the money on the codec, Slavo handed Caiden a special keycard labeled ‘Suite 2233’. “Those exotics are ready for you now. We’ve provided the suite with two vials of Mania for your pleasure,” Slavo stated.
Mania was Neon District’s most popular drug of choice. It induces neurological and psychological euphoria. The drug was injected via a needle hooked up to a VR machine interface to enhance ones Virtual Reality experience, taking it to inhuman heights. Some have even claimed a temporary merging with the AI of a given system. To the naked eye, the drug appeared to be a fluorescent blue liquid. The substance was billions of dissolvable synthetic cells that traveled to the cerebral cortex to over stimulate its activity. To take this when not on a VR Network machine would be extremely dangerous, as the mind would be left to its own overstimulated senses. Without a VR machine, Mania caused psychosis, the users will even exhibit sporadic hypersexual and violent behavior. Many Mania users preferred taking it as it was, enjoying the potency and full effects head on. It was a rather fitting drug for both customer and escort for a prominent brothel like The LoveMaars.
“Wild night for me, I guess!” Caiden nervously exclaimed.
He had no intention of doing anything, except for getting those girls out of there. He surveyed the area. Security guards were everywhere. Ten guards inside, as well as the additional two outside. All of them were freakish in one way or another. They were all equipped with somewhat grotesque cybernetic enhancements, if you could even call them that. It was evident that their surgeries were handled by black market doctors. These enhancements did not abide by the regulations the city-state provided. They were like demons, fresh from the pits of hell. They all looked like they were preparing for a long night as they spread out and went to their assigned areas of the building.
The most dangerous looking one had two additional cybernetic arms lodged into his upper torso. Each arm was coated in a gleaming chrome finish. At the elbows, were wires and metal ball joint contraptions. The fists looked like they were built specifically for violence, covered in armored, reinforced ridges on each knuckle, to presumably cause maximum damage upon impact. From a glance, you could tell that there were only shreds of humanity left in each guard. One could feel their collective menace emanating serious murderous intent in the air. Caiden memorized the characteristics of each guard he passed as he made his way deeper into the brothel. There were hordes of women, all of them nearly naked and heavily drugged. Its was difficult to determine whether this was really a brothel or an insane asylum. A good number of the women were engaging their customers sexually, out in the open. It was an eye-opening experience for anyone who had never entered this type of world before. There were vials of Mania on top of every table and counter. The ambience was accentuated by the peculiar haze and dim pink lighting. Caiden was taken aback by the lustful imagery of this new environment.
During the elevator ride to the twentieth floor, Caiden synced his holo-watch to the security systems of the building in preparation of his planned escape with the girls. Hopefully, I can convince them to come with me, he thought. The elevator doors rolled open and he moved forward. As he made his way down a hallway illuminated by soft, sensual pink lights, he approached a door with cursive lettering; ‘Suite 2233’. This was the luxury suite for the high rollers and big spending clients. He showed his access card to one of the hulking guards at the door and was allowed to pass. He slid the keycard into the access point and opened the door.
The door closed behind him and he heard it lock. Upon entry, he saw two beautiful women, scantily clad in nothing but thin black and white leather straps covering their areolas and groin. These leather straps wrapped around their legs all the way
