“Program elite candidate Susara, born Susara Kino and handed over to the program when she was eight. She had the tentative designation of Dainty, and her skill was best described as Suit Bait. She was smart, seductive, and the most amazing friend a woman can ask for. Her death was ordered by this man. The Mentor.”
She flicked to a silhouette, and the men and women in the room snorted.
Hron asked, “Where would she have gotten into contact with him in the first place?”
Zera clicked the image of the funeral. “Here. She was fourteen. He came up to her and touched her cheek and shoulder. I saw him. This is my best depiction of his face.”
She forwarded the image, and the group gasped.
Hron asked, “How did you see him? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”
“I wasn’t sure until he crossed her path again. He wanted her, wanted all her firsts. Well, the ones that were still available. He started sending her messages. She was scared, so she came to me, and we formulated a plan and a business model.”
She took in a deep breath and clicked. The room dissolved in murmurs. “Since he was going to come for her anyway, she decided to draw him out. She put herself up on Blind Date and waited for him to request her. She didn’t have to wait long.”
Zera played the conversation.
“Ah, little one, I want to see you in that gown with nothing under it. I am sending you the coordinates. Do you travel with a chaperone?”
Susa’s voice was soft and sexy, “I do. One human and one mech, just in case. They are circumspect and will remain within five hundred metres of me during the entire encounter. After the designated hour, they will come in and look for me if I am not outside. They will find me.”
“A charming threat. I will be on my best behaviour.”
“I will have my mask, but what shall I call you, sir?”
“Consider me your mentor and address me as such.”
The call disconnected, and Susa’s voice asked, “Did you get that, Zera?”
“Yes, Dainty.”
“Well, Hopper, suit up. He took the bait. You are my ride.”
They both chuckled, and the call ended.
Zera sighed. “The meetings started through the app, and I came with her to every one. The security bot came with us, and she got more and more information on the Mentor. Then, he started booking her for hours at a time. He started to involve others in their encounters, and that is how she met the man she fell in love with and he with her. Their boss was informed, and she ended up an empty shell. The man who did this was Jinthen Vel, the doll maker.”
The peacekeeper captain asked, “How do you know what she did with her clients?”
“She told me, but more than that, I was along for the ride. She told me about every meeting and took me along on every trip until last night.”
“What was different about last night?” Hron asked.
“Delvis was going to die. Apparently, the Mentor would bring him in for a threesome but was upset when Dainty preferred him.”
One of the researchers looked at her in surprise. “What do you mean, along for the ride, Hopper?”
Hron frowned. “You have an activation, Hopper?”
“I can enter the mind of others, whether they want to or not. I was holding her hand—metaphorically speaking—on every date.”
Hron cleared his throat. “You are bound by the blindness as well?”
“Of these little masks?” she tossed one to the boardroom table. “Of course not. I designed them; I can override them. Don’t worry. My staff can’t.”
The team members relaxed. The peacekeepers were curious, and the captain asked, “What the hell is Blind Date?”
“Escorts for the activated. It is legal. I have all necessary permits.” Zera smiled. “Women and men who disclose their vulnerabilities and are excellent lovers for those who are in stressful private positions.”
The peacekeepers looked at each other in surprise. Hron filled in, “It is a lovely time but hellishly expensive.”
One of the peacekeepers put the mask on. It adhered to his face, and he panicked. Zera walked up to him as the scanners rejected him, and the mask dropped back into her hands. “It isn’t calibrated for you. It won’t stay on.”
“I just saw blurry figures.”
“Yeah, that is all it allows you to see. Even I can only get thermal data.”
Astel blinked. “You do this as well?”
Naima smiled, “Can I get your number?”
Zera smiled. “You have already had it. Most of the teams that come here work their way through the roster. The personnel I have will service either sex, so it works very equitably.”
Naima frowned. “I don’t remember you.”
Zera nodded. “It is on our contract. Your short-term memory will be blurred as to specific details, but you will retain all the bulk memories of your contracted time. Shape, size, sounds, but not voices.”
Astel looked at her in shock. She shrugged.
The captain asked, “Why would they pay for that?”
Hron met her gaze and answered, “Because Zera knows that we have trouble finding lovers who are activated and won’t be injured and who aren’t seeking us out for fame or popularity. It is once and done.” He chuckled. “Until we realize how freeing it is, and then, we do it again.”
Naima sighed, “And again and again.”
Zera gripped her mask. “I would like the record to show that the team members stated that they were clients and not me.”
Hron chuckled, “So noted.”
Astel smiled slightly, and Naima blew her a kiss.
Zera looked to the peacekeepers. “As you are suddenly aware, the activation also works on the hormones, pheromones, and sex drive. You can’t have enjoyable sex if you would tear through your partner like gauze. The teams have to either look for other activated folks or remain celibate.” She sighed. “The activated crime bosses have the same issue.”
The peacekeepers’ eyes widened. “You service them?”
Zera shrugged. “Sure. It would look weird if we only serviced team members and would not be much of a business. As
