3 – LOADING KERNEL
(Part 1 of 2)
WARNING: This chapter contains suggestive scenes featuring sexual acts and nudity. Not appropriate for readers under 18.
Casino Moreira North skirts of Hong Kong A few weeks ago
The top floors of the politician's casino were surrounded by military androids while the penthouse security was taken care of by augmented bodyguards. Its unbreakable glass canopy covered a system of pools and waterfalls, where dozens of naked women wearing mood-controlling collars were having fun.
The bottom floor of the penthouse had a fine elvish woman bursting in tears after having lost a bet. She kept shaking her head, but everyone around her kept shouting encouraging words at her.
Finally, she extended her hand and a scantily-clad android gave her a pill to swallow. In a couple of minutes the elf woman was completely naked, save for a chain and a leash, completely surrounded by more than fifty people, of all genders, who were cheering and moaning.
On the top floor, above the elite VR pods, was a lonely room with a table that served a dual function: As a standard octogonal pool table and an AR projector.
“So you see,” delegate Moreira said, showing an AR display of city on top of the table, “currently we have this bunch of lowlifes dirtying our beloved country. Crime is rampant, and those guys will sell their own mother for a couple of credits. Nobody in the city wants anything to do with them, do we?”
The businessmen kept listening to his plans. A man with a white ample mustache blew out the smoke from his cigar. “Delegate Moreira, what about Solaris? You know they've been a pain in the ass and keep ruining our plans. They keep protesting at any reform attempt we make, organize strikes, sabotage building equipment, expose god knows what secret to ruin our companies' reputations, and no matter how many times the riot police goes after them, they always keep coming back.”
A platinum-dressed woman put her feet on the table. She inhaled a puff of smoke from her long filtered e-cig. “No, dear,” she looked down, “slower, keep caressing with your thumb... yeah, that's it, you got it...” She cleared her throat. “Enrique, I agree with Jonathan here. You can't negotiate with Solaris. It's an impossible group to deal with. Unless you're telling us you're dropping a nuke on them or something, what guarantees you'll be able to build your airport?”
“Oh no no no, you're mistaken, Celine... let me explain.
There is a problem with this country, besides the immigrants. It's the economy. This country can barely sustain itself with its commerce, and the android market has already been eaten up by guess who.”
Everyone started mumbling. An AR hologram of Steven Meyer, CEO of Prometheus, in his best angle captured by news agencies, hovered over the table.
As Moreira went on with his speech, the projector followed with the appropriate images. “Virtual entertainment? Prometheus. The sex industry? Prometheus. Avatars? Prometheus. They even bought the fucking Fortress! Prometheus this, Prometheus that, EVERYONE'S sick of that wormson bastard and that crazy witch! Am I Right?”
“Yeah!”
“Yeah!”
“Absolutely!”
“Yes!”
“That's right, ladies and gentlemen, Prometheus is eating up all of our efforts to turn this into the perfect country to run our businesses. We need to –” He interrupted his speech to look at the woman again with a forced smile. “Celine... would you mind?”
“Oh!” The lady put her legs down. She reached under the table and grabbed the golden leash of the android girl servicing her. The scantily-clad eroid, who was also wearing noise cancelling headphones, got up from under the table and put her hands behind, expecting orders. The woman gently pulled the leash again, forcing the eroid to lean down and kiss her. “We'll get back to business in a few, darling. Come back when I tell you.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Now go with your sister and let her massage you veeeery slowly. Don't rush things, okay? The longer you edge, the better. And let me feel everything.”
The eroid nodded her head. “Yes, ma'am.”
“And remember!” shouted Moreira. “Away from earshot!”
“She didn't hear you, Quique.”
“Just in case.” He turned to the audience. “Fucking blueheads,” he spoke in low voice, “they give enough trouble with their spyware, and then they get curious on their own. You sure she didn't hear anything?”
“I ordered her to warn me if the headphones ever failed.”
“Well, she better. You sure she won't go rogue on you?”
“I'm not an idiot, honey... you think I'm going to mistreat my own fuckdolls? After the millions I spent on them? I even took them to a hunter, for Aphrodite's sake! They both passed the obedience exam with flying colors.”
“So fucking what? All androids do.”
“While animalized.”
Moreira winced for a few seconds. “Whatever.”
Everyone waited until the woman's eroid was far enough from the room. Moreira closed the door.
“As I was saying... where was I?”
“Prometheus ruining our efforts,” someone replied.
“Ah, yes. So, instead of trying to fight Prometheus, we work around it. What we need to do is give this country a boost. A boost... into space!”
The hovering layer of the airport over the Li district disappeared along with the square kilometers of slums surrounding it. In their place, a much larger and organized structure appeared.
“The airport won't be merely an airport. It will be... a starport!”
A glass of wine fell on the carpet, and every single one of the attendees stood up and hurried to the AR table.
“It will be the GREATEST starport on the Planet! There are only two cities with starports right now: Atlantis and New Cairo. Hong Kong has an airport with capability for shuttles, but can one really call it a starport? And its location has always been problematic, with China bordering on the west. The perfect place is right here, in the Li district. Just think about the possibilities, ladies and gentlemen! Think about the new industries that you can participate in!
The starport zoomed in, occupying all the space on the table. “Look at this beauty. My engineers spent years designing it! Not only hangars, but also ship manufacturing plants! Chemical plants, Nanoengineering plants, and...”
A huge rectangular building surrounded by what looked like some kind of prison camp appeared.
“A massive reeducation facility for immigrants.”
The applauses began pouring in.
“Thank you, thank you, gentlemen.”
“Wait, Quique,” someone said, “you still haven't told us how you're going to solve the problem of all the immigrants living in there, and what are you going to do about Solaris?”
“It's easy, gentlemen. We don't need to solve the immigrant problem. All we need is to make...” His smile began changing into a grin. “...something happen, so that the police will solve it for us.”
Some of the people began arguing. “No, no, we've tried that a dozen times. You can't get rid of Solaris that easily.”
“Get rid of?” He began chuckling. “Ladies, gentlemen... I never said I was going to get rid of Solaris. I'm going to make them work for me.”
The door opened and a muscular African man wearing an expensive purple suit entered. The man walked pompously, looking and scanning the rich men and women. He slowly nodded as he walked towards Moreira, who spoke to the audience. “Ladies and gentlemen... may I introduce you to Rahim, the soon-to-be leader of Solaris.”
The gangster smiled to the audience. He took a cigar from the table and smoked it. He blew it above the table. He stared at the cigar, raising his eyebrows. “Not bad... not bad.” He turned to the audience. “Ladies, gents... I see you have a problem in the city, and that problem's called Jakande. I can get rid of that problem, for a fee.”
“How much?” Someone asked. “Fifty thousand? A hundred?”
Rahim laughed. “Bitch,” he told Moreira, “you make me come here with the richest people in the fucking country and you're offering me crumbs?” He looked at the audience. “No nonono. This ain't how we deal with this. You need me, and you know it. I can get close to Jakande, and I can get rid of him, cuz I know when he's using his avatar and when he's not. But if we gonna do this, we need to be careful. I need men, implants, espionage equipment, augs, and ammo. And that shit ain't free, man! Fifty thousand? Gimme a fuckin' break, man! Ten million.”
Everyone gasped.
“Each.”
As the people in the room began discussing, Rahim spoke again. “So you want to get rid of Jakande or not?”
“How can you assure us you won't use all that money and equipment against us?”
Moreira spoke. “Because he's on my side. And I'm on your side. So what do you say?”