The IT Files: Scott’s Paradise

by FreezAntix, with contributions from Zero

ITEA HQ, London, UK

6PM, Thursday

            Colette Landry was relaxing in her office, eating a few Cheez-Its as she casually read some of the latest reports from Rafael's analysts of a few pending cases. It was getting late in the evening and the blonde was really just trying to look at least somewhat busy if someone came in before she headed home for the night. Colette was privileged to not have a camera in her office connected to the main security hub, since she'd argued back when ITEA HQ was being set up that it was irrelevant for her, the mere assistant director of the technical wing, or computer wing as some called it.

            The ploy to look busy seemed to have come in handy as it was then that her office door opened and Angela Schwarz stormed in. Angela was German, a fiery redheaded one at that; her hair was teased and framed her head nicely with her red business skirt suit just further complimenting her crisp look. Colette's gaze didn't rest on Angela's cleavage, which was just visible under her white blouse, nor on the diamond necklace she was wearing that was supposedly a family heirloom if she remembered right. The French-Canadian's gaze was fixed on Angela's blue eyes, a trait Colette always admired since hers were the same hue. Angela had a CyPad resting under her arm and was looking at Colette like she was a war criminal. "Vee need to talk," announced the German, her accent strong though she still spoke English as per the agency's norm.

            "Okay, just please close the door," requested Colette, indicating that the entrance to her office was still open. Surprisingly enough Angela obliged, though she only did so with her black-heeled foot rather than with her hands.

            "I wass doing some digging into what happened last November, the Ashley Tisdale incident," explained Angela, calling up some files on her CyPad and showing them to Colette as she sat down in a chair across from the Canadian. "During the incident we had a network crash, and after looking at the facts the only way the fail could have happened is on the inside."

            "So someone used an administrator password?" asked Colette, playing dumb. The reality was Colette had crashed the network herself to slow down ITEA’s response, allowing her love Scott Dawson time to get to Ashley before they.

            "There's no evidence zat any account was hacked," answered Angela, shaking her head. "I've seen some impressive hacking, but there iss always at least a sign, if not a trail. Whoever did this knew the password and could pass additional security checks. The only accounts capable of the access we're talking about are yours and Paddy's, and Paddy was busy with other things before the network went down, with Sophia in the room with him."  She let her stare draw the conclusion.

            "So it was my account," nodded Colette, following the logic. "Ashley must have found a way in. I was in Malibu after all, and frozen by her for a while. My computer was on the scene though..."

            "A computer that was checked forensically, even to skin flakes and stray hairs, showed nothing but your DNA on it," pointed out Angela, pointing out the incriminatory records. "Still, I cannot exactly accuse you of being behind the crash. I'd need to know... why."

            "Exactly, I don't have a motive, and I do have an alibi even if the physical evidence isn't the strongest," agreed Colette, starting to wonder a bit. Not exactly nervous yet, Colette shifted fretfully in her chair.

            "None the less I did need to do some digging, just in case zat possibility was true," explained Angela, calling up more files. "Your background is impressive. Child genius, a prodigy with ciphers; you were working for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service at eighteen years old. It also happens that vun of your training officers was... this man." A file photo of Scott Dawson from his time at CSIS flashed on Angela's CyPad. "Scott Dawson, who is currently at large and was also a major – some say, key – player behind the Paradise Foundation. Unlike others connected to them, Scott wasn't granted immunity in spite of actually helping Interpol take the company down. Reports detailing your time with him at CSIS are sparse, but I'd have to imagine zat you would have grown close with the man that trained you."

            Colette shifted some more, even playing with the ring on her right hand. "Your point?" asked Colette.

            "I was hoping you could enlighten me," declared Angela, putting down her pad and pulling out a recording device. "I need to formally ask you to explain your relationship with Scott Dawson."

            "So this is an interrogation?" sniffed Colette, looking indignant.

            "An interview," corrected Angela, shaking her head. "I can't imagine anyone here being a traitor or a spy, but vee cannot be too careful. Please, just tell me, otherwise things could get bad."

            "Very well," sighed Colette, sitting up straight. Angela was across from her with the recorder in her right hand, her left hand balancing her pad on her legs. "Scott and I are... complicated," began Colette, spinning around in her chair as she spoke. "We fell in love, actually. Scott then quit CSIS to work for Paradise but we kept in touch." Colette paused and then smirked as she dropped the bombshell. "We still keep in touch. I've been tipping him off to anything he'd want to clean up before ITEA gets to it, and I even sabotaged Marika's own version of the Uranus generator. You’re absolutely right; I disabled the network, I froze the team I was with so they'd be slowed down, and I tipped Scott off so he'd get to Adrianna before us, I bullied Palmira into quitting... oh, and I just triggered Type-7 gas to fill this very room.  Did you get all that?" she finished with a grin.

            Getting up from her chair, Colette smiled as she saw Angela hadn't flinched and continued gazing unblinkingly across the desk. The Canadian wasn't sure exactly when during her confession the redhead had been affected, but all it took was a poke to the German’s shoulder to confirm Angela was frozen stiff. "This, by the way, is an Immunity Ring," revealed Colette, indicating the ring on her right hand, waving it in front of her accuser’s face.

            Now grinning ear to ear, Colette plucked the recorder from Angela's rigid outstretched hand and turned it off, then pocketing it in her jacket. The CyPad was collected next and stashed inside Colette's desk, at which point the question became what to do with Angela. "I can't just let you go knowing what you know," noted Colette rhetorically, worried Angela might have even gone to others with her suspicion before this confrontation. In case of a crisis Colette did have some supplies stashed to help her run away but she didn't think that was necessary, at least not yet. Angela continued to stare at Colette's empty chair with her arm outstretched while Colette rested her hands on the frozen redhead's stiff shoulders, tapping her fingers against them. Upon noticing she still had the large box that her computer had been delivered in, Colette had an idea, realizing that she herself could fit into it if rolled up into a ball and Angela was shorter than she.

            It took some effort; Colette was forced to remove Angela's clothes so they wouldn't get torn or, worse still, cause the woman to not be flexible enough to fit, but eventually the redhead, clad only in bulky black underwear, was folded into the box after receiving a needle full of Type-7 to the arm, enough of an overdose to keep her frozen indefinitely. Her clothing and heels were tossed in after her as packing before the box was sealed. To further cover up the deception, at least for the time being, Colette also made sure to hide her own computer monitor, keyboard and mouse in her closet, making it look to the casual observer that the computer really was gone. With Angela in the taped up box and the computer hidden, Colette risked leaving her office, letting let the gas dissipate.

            Colette found a trolley and was heading back to her office when an analyst, the blonde-haired blue-eyed Janelle Gallegos, who was close to forty years old, intercepted her. "Colette, have you seen Angela around?" asked the American. "Last I checked she was going to meet with you in your office about something."

            "She left a couple of minutes ago, said she was calling it a night," lied Colette, indicating the nearby clock with her head. "I was about to head home myself. I just need to ship out my computer."

            "Computer?" asked Janelle, confused. "Isn't the one in your office only a few days old?"

            "The fan's defective, I’m going to take it home and try and fix it," explained Colette, having prepared the excuse in her mind as she'd been boxing up Angela. "You having any issues with yours?"

            "No, I should probably check Agent Federov's though," mused Janelle, glancing towards the Team Zeta office. "She's out sick. Don't want her to come back to a defective computer..."

            "You're all heart Janelle," laughed Colette. "Have a good night."

            With Janelle dealt with, Colette seemed free; she managed to return to her office without incident. Moving the heavy box containing Angela onto the trolley was a bit of a feat but Colette coped, though as she rode the elevator downstairs she began to wonder how she'd get her captive into her SUV without looking obvious. After arriving downstairs however, Colette noticed that at least one security guard seemed free, so Colette pulled up beside her. "Excuse me... Jin, right?" asked Colette, speaking to the female guard.

            "That's right, Jin Pierce," confirmed the woman, who was in her mid-thirties, looked half-Asian and was a bit of a beauty. Like the rest of security, Jin was dressed in black and had her hair in a bun; the few security members who didn't go for buns having ponytails instead.

            "I was wondering if you could help me with something real quick?" requested Colette, indicating her trolley. "I just need to load this system into my car."

            "Sure, I just came on shift so I've got a couple of minutes before I'm alone," nodded Jin, indicating the abundance of security at the moment. Given the ITEA could really only afford two shifts with security, it meant that changeovers were rough, as Colette could see. How people could work for multiple twelve-hour shifts was beyond Colette's imagination.

            "This way," announced Colette, leading Jin through the small maze of hallways and into the parking garage. Not really interested in getting anything special, Colette had just accepted the offer of a high-end SUV when ITEA HQ was being established in London. While around half of IT's staff had cars and there were SUVs that could be borrowed, everyone else had been given the choice of getting a good deal on a Range Rover Sport or getting credits for an Oyster travel card. Colette wasn't big on city driving but liked having a car, so she'd gone with getting the SUV.

            "That looks like one heavy package," remarked a voice as Jin and Colette headed for the latter's Rover. The balding, jumpsuit-wearing Matthew Strathairn walked up to the duo, wiping a hint of grease off of his brow. "You want a hand with that?" offered the mechanic.

            "That would be great," allowed Colette, leading both Matt and Jin to her car, promptly opening the back hatch; what the British still called ‘the boot’.

            "Here we go," grunted Matthew as he, together with Jin, he managed to lift the box containing Angela and place it neatly in the back of Colette's Rover.

            "Heavy box," grunted Jin, shaking out her arms. "What is that? Your computer?"

            "Yeah; full of disks. Monitor too," lied Colette. "I need to test the fan at home, to figure out what's wrong with it. Maybe just needs some oil. Problem is, I'm in between home PCs right now so I needed to take the whole thing."

            "That's quite the bitch," chuckled Matthew. "Well, you have a safe drive home now." With that Jin and Matt both walked away, allowing Colette to breathe a small sigh of relief as she closed her trunk and got into the driver's seat. She glanced at her watch. It would be a little past 1PM in New Jersey, as good a time as any to make a call, she calculated and concluded before starting the motor and heading out.

Stilton of Newark, New Jersey, USA

Slightly past 1PM, Thursday

            “Good job Colette; quick thinking,” Ryoshi Dawson said into her cell phone as she leaned against the windowsill of her penthouse suite. “Are you sure that the agent didn’t talk to anyone else? Well, make sure when you can. I don’t have to tell you how, you should know. Hmm, what to do with her now?” Ryoshi asked, thinking out loud while looking out the large glass pane that served as her window. “It’s Tucker’s birthday soon…yes I think he’ll like her. Just slap a label on the box and ship her. Right. I’ll talk to you later,” the Japanese woman concluded, snapping her cell phone shut.

            Ryoshi took in the sight of the Newark skyline as it festered under the harsh afternoon sunlight. It was her second day in the city. She was on a recruitment mission, of sorts. After her experience in past missions, it was decided that even though the chips and their programming made their captives into perfect mindless slaves, actual human experience and muscle memory could make the programming more effective. With advanced programming that she and her husband Scott Dawson had come to master, a chip wearer could act so naturally that those around them would not even realize said person was under the control of the chip unless they were really watching the person or knew them personally. Though the programming was very difficult to match a person’s original personality or make them act as themselves while under chip control, new personalities that catered to certain specialized tasks were overlaid in place. For the most part this method was effective but it lacked the real-time decision making skills that came with actual human know-how and muscle memory. That was something that was nearly impossible to program, especially in a chip that was so limited in capacity. They could no longer just chip anybody for those highly difficult and specialized tasks. The wearer would now need some prior experience. They already tested a few ladies that had that background; they already proven to be much more effective than just a chipped person chosen at random.

            Their company, Utopia Holdings, was expanding as well as their private operations so new personnel were needed. For their legitimate business, Scott and Ryoshi wanted people with actual corporate experience to better utilize the chip’s programming. That experience would also come into play if anyone were to look into the company’s structure they would see that it was run by people with verifiable track records instead of former prostitutes or petty criminals, which she and Scott had plenty of. With business-oriented programming, anyone could run Utopia Holdings as good as any executive but they would eventually draw questions regarding their background. That could bring an unwanted degree of attention, especially when Utopia Holdings – though a by the book legitimate company – was also a cover for something entirely different. The company had recently acquired more offices along with a slew of local low-level employees that needed proper management. As of now, Utopia Holdings was sort of in a state of limbo when it came to middle management and the staff of the legitimate side of the company was more or less vacant. Ryoshi’s mission was to fill the empty space. Experienced managers would give the company a more traditional look so the police would not question its legality. By using chipped managers and directors, Scott and Ryoshi would be saving a little bit money as they would really only have to pay their unchipped low level local employees.

            Ryoshi smiled to herself at the thought of chipped managers being in charge of unchipped people. She hated coming to the States, but that was where the best candidates were so that was where Scott had sent her. They had put up an advert with job postings and had managed to get over thirty replies from experienced people. They guessed more interest was lacking due to the fact that the job required them to move out of the country. Nonetheless, all thirty responders were contacted to meet at the Stilton Hotel in Newark for a formal interview. After one day, there had been no candidates hired as of yet. All the applicants so far were more than qualified and willing to relocate, but Ryoshi was looking for candidates that had little or no family that might miss them; most importantly, she wanted single women. So far the candidates had been either married women, men or single women that seemed to have too many people in their social circle. She didn’t have that many positions to fill and had thought thirty should have been a more than adequate pool of candidates. Her time was running out; she needed to start to fill those positions. All wasn’t lost, however, she thought to herself as she turned away from the window and looked over at the large bed that occupied the lavish master bedroom of the penthouse suite.

            From what she had gathered, Valentine Mitchell had been in the hotel for a business meeting. She was a lawyer for a large real estate law firm in New York. After the meeting Valentine had stopped by the hotel bar for a drink to end the day. Ryoshi was also been in the bar, recovering from her first fruitless day overseeing interviews that had yielded nothing. She then caught sight of the stunning African American woman, who she would later know as Ms. Val. The woman was forty-six years old and looked great for her age; the tailored dark colored business skirt suit did wonders presenting her exquisite frame. She wore her light brown hair in a conservative bun that showed off her ageless face. What caught Ryoshi’s attention most was that Ms. Val had blue eyes that contrasted perfectly with her chocolate-colored skin. She introduced herself to the alluring women and learned that she was a lawyer, a property lawyer with a criminal law background. Val was single and her closest family were scattered out south in Georgia and Florida. It was perfect; even though Ryoshi hadn’t planned on filling a position for a lawyer, the company needed one. After some more talking and a few drinks, Ms Val was headed up to the penthouse suite with Ryoshi and Utopia Holdings had their first ‘hire’ even though she wasn’t originally a target.

            At the moment Valentine was chipped and sleeping in a jumble of blankets on the bed. She and Ryoshi had celebrated her new job into the very early hours of the morning. Valentine’s expensive suit, fancy hot pink lingerie, pantyhose and name brand heels were littered over the room’s Persian carpeting. “It’s after noon, time to get up Ms. Val,” Ryoshi ordered. The Japanese woman had woken up early, since the first interview of the day started at eight that morning. She was already dressed in a white pants suit with a pink blouse underneath. Her long black hair was loose but pulled back from face at the same time. A pair of pink heels finished her look.

            As commanded, Valentine’s blue eyes opened, staring blankly as she sat up, the blankets falling away from her naked body and revealing her bare breasts. Her breasts were natural and were good sized, though age had gotten to them and they sagged outwardly noticeably. All in all, in the buff Valentine looked more her age but was still very attractive nonetheless. “Out of the bed,” Ryoshi then ordered. The woman took good care of herself despite age being against her, Ryoshi concluded as she watched Valentine move robotically out of the bed. The lawyer stood naked with her arms at her sides. Her hair had fallen out of the bun and even though it was mess it still looked good on her. Naked, Valentine’s body didn’t look as slim as her clothing had made her appear a few years younger. Ryoshi eyed the black curls between the woman’s legs and smiled at the thought of the fun she had the night before. “Get dressed,” she then said as she turned and walked the short distance to a coffee table that held her laptop and the remotes for the room’s entertainment center.

            The penthouse had two levels; the upper level contained four bedrooms, a master and three smaller but just as lavish rooms. The lower level had a living room, office, and an entertainment room that could be used for large functions as well. A gym, with sauna attached, was also on the lower level. The interviews had been taking place in the office; with a wireless controlled camera and microphone, Ryoshi had been monitoring them from the master bedroom. Conducting the interviews was one of their new girls, Rosalina Vazquez. Rosalina had been picked up in Madrid. She was a former reporter that had gotten a little too curious. The Cuban had been chipped like all their other girls and now acted as Utopia Holdings CEO, a much more prestigious career than her last one. Being a former journalist, Rosalina had great looks suitable for television, thus it was an easy choice for her to become the face of the company. She now joined the ranks of Erika Stone, Maris Stilton, and Arlette Bouchard. Rosalina was not as high profile as those women though, and not even as close as being as rich either, but she could hold her own though. 

            Ryoshi picks up the remote and changed the channel on the large wall mounted flat screen. The screen flipped from GNA news weather report being hosted by Hawaiian native Malika Davies to the video feed of Rosalina conducting another interview. She sat behind a large redwood desk with the interviewee, a brunette woman, sitting on the other side. Both women were dressed in sharp looking business attire with Rosalina dressed in white skirt suit while the brunette was dressed in a dark pants suit with a teal blouse. The feed was an overhead shot from behind the Cuban, giving the image of the brunette in the dark pants suit center stage. She was only a year younger than the CEO and possessed softer features that gave her a girlish look, subtracting at least ten years from her actual age. Though she did not have model-quality looks she did have a captivating smile, which she held and nodded as Rosalina asked her a question. The candidate’s name was Melody Forsythe. She was a property manager for a large management firm located in the upper east side of New York City. From her resume, Ryoshi saw that she was easily qualified for what they were looking for; of course so were the other applicants that they had interviewed already. The big question was that if she fit the other unstated requirements.

            The double doors opened a crack to the room and closed as soon as the person that opened them entered the room. Ryoshi turned around, “What have you got for me, Teresita?” Teresita Zuniga was another new girl also picked up from Spain and was a new favorite for Ryoshi. So much so that she had made the newly chipped Spaniard her new personal assistant. Teresita was once part of a now non-existent smuggling operation based out of Madrid. She was dressed in a shiny pink silk blouse tucked into a white knee-length pencil skirt. The blouse and skirt were both tight fitting and showed off the woman’s shapely figure. Her legs were sheathed in nude pantyhose. White eight-inch heels that no sane woman would walk in completed the outfit. Teresita held a CyPad up against her ample chest.

            Looking down at the CyPad, Teresita replied in her sexy Spanish accent, “Mrs. Forsythe is single. Her immediate family is in Chicago and consists of a mother and brother. According to email and phone records, she rarely keeps in touch with both. Her father passed away when she was nineteen. Also according to online records, Ms. Forsythe is currently single. She works an average of sixty hours a week and seems to have little or no social life outside of the office.”

            “I think we have our first hire,” Ryoshi said with smile as she walked over to Valentine, who was now dressed back in her suit and stood at attention, staring blankly ahead, awaiting instructions. The woman’s hair was still a mess and only pointed out that her body was there but no one was home. She carefully combed the woman’s hair into something more decent with her hands. “Once the interview is concluded, offer Ms. Forsythe our special drink.”

            “As you wish mistress,” Teresita nodded. “Will that be all?”

            “Order some lunch,” Ryoshi then said as she guided Valentine to the coffee table. “I’m feeling like some poached salmon under dill sauce and a side of brown rice and asparagus,” she added as she hooked up the firewire from her laptop to the chip inserted on the nape of Valentine’s neck. The lawyer only continued to stand at attention with her blue eyes looking aimlessly at the big TV in front of her.

            “As you wish, mistress,” the Spaniard nodded before turning and leaving the room.

            Sitting down on the small sofa behind the coffee table, Ryoshi said, “Let’s get you programmed properly Val, so we can start liquidating your assets and get you ready for your move,” she smiled up at the silent lawyer as she began to type.

***

            Lillian Carmichael had been with Stilton Corporation for thirty years, she had first started out as maid and moved on up from there. Along the way she attended night school and earned a degree in hospitality management. She had worked in nearly half a dozen Stilton hotels with each new promotion taking her all over the country and few times overseas. Currently she was the manager for the Newark Stilton, a position that she had held for ten years. Lillian had been on a short list to become a corporate manager for the company. However, after the whole Richard Stilton incident, which resulted in his death, the company was now under new ownership and management. Richard Stilton’s death hit the company hard and many employees resigned because of it. Lillian had lost her master chef and in-house doctor because of the turmoil. The promotion list that Lillian had been on no longer existed as well. She had sacrificed so much to get to the top. Now, however, it looked like it had been for nothing; she had remained stuck where she was as all the positions above her were filled and the new CEO, Patricia Mero, had no intentions in hiring from within. All of her new hires had been from the outside.

            Her phone rang snapping her from her thoughts. Lillian shook herself awake and looked around her. She was in her large and luxurious office which was only missing windows as it was one level under the hotel. “Carmichael,” she answered. She listened for a moment rubbing her temples and sighing. “I’ll be right up,” Lillian said hanging up the phone and then grabbing her radio. Before heading out of her office she checked herself over as she always did before entering floor. She was a tad over fifty but she looked much younger. It was a wonder as her living habits were less than ideal. Her dark brown hair just brushed her shoulders, she had clear gray eyes and light complexion that looked flawless though age had only begun to creep up on her. She wore a white blouse and tan pantyhose under a navy skirt suit. A pair of dark sensible heels completed her look. Lillian adjusted the Stilton gold pin that only the managers wore over her left lapel before leaving.

            There was a personal elevator that she only had access to that was just down the hall from her office. The office space in this part of the basement was only occupied by her and her executive staff of ten. Lillian rode the elevator to the lobby. It opened up in the concierge’s office behind the front desk. From there she walked down another passage way and through a secured door that took her to the front desk where four of her staff were on duty and very busy at the moment. Looking at the main doors of her hotel she could make out her chief of security and two of his officers. There was also a small crowd gathering. “Good God…” she muttered as she quickly made her way to the disturbance.

            She smiled and dismissed the crowd as politely as she could as she moved through them. “Roy, what’s going on here?” she asked reaching the head of the dispersing crowd. Roy Austin was a monster of a man. The man was in his mid-forties and stood a little over six feet tall and weighed in at around 250 lbs. The security uniform consisting of a navy blazer and slacks over a white dress shirt and tie barely hid his hulking frame. He was a former marine gunnery sergeant having served most of his life in the corps. Roy was bald with a light brown goat-tee. He was blue eyed and spoke in a thick Texan tongue.

            “My men stopped them from entering the lobby,” he gestured with his radio which looked tiny in his huge paws that were his hands at the two women dressed in black that stood defiantly in front of the main entrance. There was a tall wooden crate between them that looked like it could fit a person. The crate was the issue here, as moving such an item through the glass doors let alone the lobby was against company regulations. The women both blondes were dressed in black tailored pants suits with black heels. Their hair was pulled back in tight buns and their eyes were shaded with dark slim sun glasses. Both wore black gloves over their hands and each had a bulge on their right hips under their jackets. Lillian noted the low key ear pieces and knew they were someone’s security. “I told them that they weren’t allowed to take that thing through the doors or the lobby,” Roy gestured again.

            Lillian saw that both of the women’s gloved hands balled up fists. She quickly stepped between Roy and them. “Please ladies, we have policies could you please take your package to the loading dock.”

            “I’ve tried that Lilly, they don’t listen!” Roy shot. “They just stand there.”

            “Roy, that’s enough, you yelling won’t make things any better.”

            “I tried to be nice, maybe it’s time for me to get physical…” Roy began and started stepping forward. Roy was a giant compare to the two women but they didn’t flinch and only stood their ground.

            A crowd was drawing again, “Roy get your men to keep the guests from forming a crowd this is already a fire hazard,” Lillian ordered. “I’ll take care of this.” Roy looked at the two blondes who had challenged him and for the most part won one more time before leaving to do what he was told.

            Lillian turned back to the women, “Who do you work for?”

            The women were silent for a moment before one of them spoke. It was an Australian accent. Guests at the Stilton were very diverse so Lillian had developed an ear for accents. “Utopia Holdings,” the taller of the blondes said. There was something odd about her voice but Lillian couldn’t make out what it was.

            Pulling up her radio to her lips the hotel manager said, “Front desk please make a call to Ms. Vasquez’s suite and tell them please send a representative to the lobby right away.

            It only took about five minutes for the VIPs that were staying in the penthouse suite to send down two of their representatives. It was the longest five minutes in Lillian’s life. “Sorry for the inconvenience,” Ryoshi apologized extending her hand. “I’m Vivian Lu, chief of staff for Ms. Vasquez and this is Veronica Estes head of security,” she added gesturing to Veronica who was dressed and looked like the two blondes. “What seems to be the problem?”

            “Hi, Lillian Carmichael hotel manager, it’s no problem Ms. Lu…” Lillian began to say shaking the Asian woman’s hand.

            “Please call me Viv,” Ryoshi said with her best smile.

            “Okay, Viv. We can’t have your security team pull any large packages through the front doors or the lobby.”

            “Oh I’m so sorry I was not aware of that…where should we take it?”

            “There is loading area in the back the hotel. If you can make your way there I can have security meet you there to assist you.”

            “Of course, that’s no problem,” Ryoshi said and turned to Veronica. “Ms. Estes please assist Ms. Keller and Ms. Sutherland with that.” Veronica nodded in reply as with the other two and did as they were ordered. Ryoshi watched as the two blondes tilted back the crate and carried it out of the building followed Veronica. She then turned around to the hotel manager who she found strikingly attractive. “I am so sorry about that…the guards are ex-government agents they don’t take kindly to civilians giving orders to them.”

            “It’s quite alright. I’m just glad it’s resolved. How has your stay been?” Lillian asked as they started to make their way to the elevator lobby.

            “It has been busy to say the least. Ms. Vasquez has us working overtime with these new applicants.”

            “New applicants?”

            “Yes, we’re interviewing to fill middle management positions. Utopia Holdings is quite new and we’re growing pretty rapidly and really in need of good managers right now.”

            Lillian couldn’t help to ask but she was curious in light of her current career path leading nowhere now. “How is the pay like and is there room for growth?”

            Ryoshi smiled seeing that it was that easy. Though they still had more applicants to interview adding another one, especially one as good looking as Lillian Carmichael wouldn’t hurt. “Pay is outstanding but it requires you to move to Brazil but the move is company paid for as well is living. Say you wouldn’t be interested would you?” She asked pressing the call button for the elevator.

            “Well Viv, I’m always interested in new opportunities but I’ve been with Stilton for a long time and they pay me very well…” Lillian was indeed interested she had been a shift supervisor in Rio many years ago and loved it. From her research she did on Utopia Holdings when Rosalina Vasquez the company’s CEO made reservations to the most expensive room in her hotel she knew the company was a raising fortune 500 corporation. It was actually one the richest real estate and property management firms in South America at the moment and it was still growing.

            “Well Ms. Carmichael,” Ryoshi started. “It’s up to you but if you’re interested you could stop by Friday night. It’s the only time Ms. Vasquez has available and you could talk to her more about pay and benefits. Just let security know I sent for you.” The elevator arrived and Ryoshi stepped in, “I’m looking forward to seeing you on Friday,” she said the doors slid shut.

***

            The double doors of the penthouse suite swung open as Ryoshi walked up to them and promptly closed after she entered the suite. She walked through the marble floored foyer and into the living room with long time chipped women Alexis Sutherland and Veronica Estes tailing her. Inside of the living room stood the large crate with newcomer Kate Keller standing next to it, she was tall blonde hailing from Australia. Kate fit her husband’s taste more than hers but she wanted to take one of the newly acquired bodyguards with her on this expedition and Kate was the only one that was ready. Kate and her colleagues were partners in small security firm in Caxias Do Sul that was recently ‘purchased’ by Utopia Holdings. Ryoshi still had bruises from said acquistion. Kate was a former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent being chipped now she was actually better trained than both Veronica and Alexis.

            “How did it go Kate?” Ryoshi asked as she eyed the crate.

            “Everything went as planned mistress. No witnesses. Target was taken without incident. Type-7 should wear off in the next hour,” Kate answered in her exotic accent. Her nephew Tucker’s birthday was coming up soon and she needed to get him a good present. She was new to the family and was fighting to be his favorite aunt though she was sure she was his only aunt. Scott and Tucker were close and she wanted in on that relationship. It had been a long time since she had family to think about. She and Scott had not really talked about what to get Tucker yet but they had decided to get him something together. Well she was fighting for favorite aunt so she wasn’t going to co-gift with her husband. That morning she had sent Alexis and Kate on a secret mission to a downtown used car lot on an intelligence hunch she had. She was happy that the mission had been a success.

            “Great,” she said then looked over her shoulder at her two other bodyguards. “Let’s open it up.” Alexis and Veronica pried open the crate and Ryoshi eyed the contents. She laughed at the sight. “You were a world class supermodel now you’re a model at a used car lot, oh how life plays cruel tricks on us…okay that’s enough close it up. She’s perfect for my favorite nephew.”

Utopia Towers, Caxias Do Sul, Brazil

4PM, Thursday

            The knock at the door following it opening and closing woke him from his nap. “Mr. Dawson,” a thick Russian accented voice said at the foot of his bed. “Is sixteen hundred hours sir, time to get up.”

            Scott sniffed and grunted as he opened his eyes letting his vision adjust to woman standing at the foot of his bed. She was blonde, his kind of woman and she was incredibly attractive also his kind of woman. Her name was Adrianna Dashkov and their relationship had gone full circle. She had started out as a secretary and receptionist working for him and then she was chipped and sold where she served as some millionaire’s personal assistant before her rescue. After her rescue, Scott lost contact with her and she had become sort of a criminal. He eventually found her and now she was chipped once again and was his personal assistant. Adrianna was dressed in a tight fitting pink business skirt suit that left little to the imagination. Her legs were naked under the thigh length skirt and she stood on a pair of impractical eight inch white spiked heels. Her blonde hair was parted in the middle and hung loose falling to her mid-back. A white silk scarf wrapped around her neck finished up the outfit. She stood at the foot of his bed with her hands behind her back and a friendly smile on her lips.

            “I miss anything?” Scott asked as he gently sat up. Looking to his left and right he smiled at the sight at the two naked gorgeous women who flanked him. One was a small blonde while the other was a brunette. The only benefit of his wife being away on business was that he could enjoy the many other women that were in his company including the newly obtained ladies that were in his bed at the moment. Both women were in a deep slumber thanks to the chips that they each wore on the nape of their necks. They would not stir until he told them to, so his movements did not even disturb them.

            “Nothing at all Mr. Dawson,  the mistress called a little while ago to report that she is making progress on her mission and to remind you that your nephew’s birthday is fast approaching,” Adrianna replied before moving to pick up Scott’s discarded clothing on the floor of the bed and started to neatly fold them.

            It was Ryoshi’s third reminder regarding the present to Tucker. It wasn’t something he would forget as Tucker was really his only family. She was planning to outdo him, it was obvious and she wanted competition. He would have to find a worthy present and let Tucker decide the winner. He smiled to himself at the thought and the sudden feeling between his legs. Looking at the end of his bed he spotted the naked sexy calves and feet that stuck out from the blanket and hung off the edge of bed with toes pointed towards the floor. He lifted his sheets and chuckled at the sight of messy brunette hair from the head that was situated over his manhood. He felt the woman’s lips against his shaft as his member began erected again.

            “I swear those lips are only good for one thing!” he exclaimed. “Alright ladies time to get up,” he then ordered. With that the two ladies at his sides rose robotically to a sitting position and sat back straight with eyes staring zombie like ahead. The woman that was between his legs sat up her knees and faced him with blank eyes from under her messy hair. “Out of the bed,” he ordered and watched in delight as the three women did so.

            Soon all three stood in a row at attention at the side of his bed, naked shoulder to naked shoulder. He nodded in satisfaction as he looked them over taking in their nude bodies and messy hair. The brunette that had flanked him was named Casey Adams. She was a former US Air Force officer who then was a private pilot for the stars. The blue eyed brunette was now his pilot. She had an athletic body with decent breasts and a stumble covered snatch. The blonde was named Shannon Andrews. She held an MBA but was only a personal assistant. She was small in stature but had a tight body with near perfect proportions, the blonde hair and crystal blue eyes only added to her sexy looks and Scott was glad he acquired such a beauty.

            The brunette that had been servicing his manhood was the biggest name of the three, was the biggest name of all of the women currently in his possession in fact. Her name was Angel Jenly and this was his second time chipping her. The brunette movie star with the sexy lips currently had three homes two in the states and one in the very building that he owned. She, her pilot Casey Adams and assistant Shannon Andrews had arrived the day before. Scott needed a pilot and Casey fit the bill, the other two were just bargains he couldn’t pass up. He would have to discuss Angel’s fate with Ryoshi since she was a known star but the other two were as good as his though he didn’t know what to do with Shannon at the moment. He looked over Angel’s bare frame as he climbed out his bed and realized that he was looking at a woman that was worth at least quarter of his business.

            He took his clothing, a white dress shirt, boxers and a pair of chinos from Adrianna who held out his neatly folded clothing for him. “Ms. Reich is awaiting your company,” the Russian reminded as Scott dressed.

            “Right, I’ll go see her now,” he said and then ordered. “Angel, make the bed and clean up the room. Adrianna take Ms. Adams and Andrews down to the lab, they’re to be properly programmed, please let Karen know.”

            “As you wish Mr. Dawson,” Adrianna replied and turned to the two naked women still standing shoulder to shoulder. Angel had started to make the bed while keeping the vacant look on her face. “Ladies if you would follow me,” the Russian said directed the other two mindless slave to follow her.

            After the other three women left his bedroom, Scott took the time to pull on a pair socks and some boat shoes. Moving over to his dresser he wore on his Rolex and stuffed his CyPocket into his pocket. He checked himself in his wife’s body length mirror and looked back at Angel cleaning the room. There was just something hot about the look on her face as she did what she was told that turned him on. He wanted to take her around the block once more but he had a busy day and he already wasted a chunk of it with his later afternoon nap. “Angel report to lab when you are finished,” he then ordered.

            “Yes master...” the actress said in a dream like voice that was robotic at the same time.

            “Hot,” Scott muttered with a smile before leaving the room.

            Scott and Ryoshi’s penthouse was the top four floors of their building. They had more than enough space for them and their slaves. There was also a good amount of operation space for the business. The top floor of the penthouse was where the gym and roof top pool was located. It was also where Scott and Ryoshi lived. The floor under it was centered around a lab and workshops where they maintained their chips and other equipment. The floor also contained living quarters for their slaves and guest rooms. Level two of the penthouse had offices and operational control center for their legitimate and side operations. A large library was also on this floor. Finally the first level of penthouse was the public spaces where parties and such would take place. The floor had the theater, living room, bar, dining area and kitchen.

            He could have used the steps down to the first level of the penthouse but decided to take the elevator instead. Scott was downstairs in less than a minute. The elevator opened up the living room with was furnished in mix of classic European and contemporary Asian decor. He casually made his way to the bar which was the next room over. The bar featured a long counter at one side of the room with alcoholic beverages of all types carefully shelved behind it. Bar stools lined the front of the counter which was dark polished oak. The stools were red cushioned covered with velvet covers. Four booths sat across from the bar against the tinted glass panel that looked at the Caxias Du Sul skyline which stood in the fore ground of a few mountains. The room had dim lighting that gave it a romantic feel even in the daylight hours and was carpeted by plush red carpeting.

            “Good afternoon Mr. Dawson, would you have your usual?” Carol Danvers asked from behind the bar. The dark skinned Canadian was a former prostitute turned pimp. She had initially been picked up during Paradise Foundation’s Vancouver operations. She was chipped and was in the process of being sold when the foundation fell. Scott and Ryoshi had picked her out a long with some others when they fled capture. Carol was her new name and she currently served as a general house staffer which took care of the cleaning, cooking or working the bar like she was now. Her dark hair was chin length and she was dressed in a traditional French maid outfit which consisted of a black skimpy little short sleeved bloused dress under a lacy white apron. Her legs were covered in dark fishnet stockings and she stood on black spiked heels.

            Scott didn’t reply at first as his attention was focused on the other woman that was in the room. She stood at attention completely absent of all clothing save for a simple silver ring on her right ring finger. Her body was muscular with thick thighs over high calves and trim ankles with strong looking arms. Her breasts weren’t noticeably big but she was not flat chest either. She was sexy in an Amazon warrior kind of way. Her dark brown hair was straight and hung loose just under her naked shoulders. She held a confused look on her face as her dark eyes stared emptily out the tinted glass panel. “Yes, Carol I’ll have the usual,” he finally answered as he walked around the woman. Carol retrieved a bottle of Alexander Keith’s from under the bar counter. She pops the cap and places the bottle a napkin.

            Parker Reich was the naked woman’s name. She was a former FBI special agent who specialized in unarmed combat and had done some deep cover assignments, even overseas due to being on loan. It was during that time that Parker had met Ryoshi and the two became friends. After being undercover for nearly year Parker had a meltdown of sorts and was drummed out of undercover work even though she had recovered psychologically. Parker was assigned to the academy as an unarmed combat instructor where she only lasted six months before resigning. Parker and Ryoshi kept in touch via cryptic emails off and on, only meeting in person twice since Ryoshi had quit the Public Security Intelligence Agency. While Parker wasn't the only friend of Ryoshi's to be an occasional contact, fortune had brought them together when a company called Talon Protection had hired her and set-up shop in Caxias Do Sul.

            "Alright, let’s get you dressed," decided Scott, looking at Carol. "Carol, put Parker's clothes back on her." The maid moved to do as orderd while Scott took a sip of beer. Talon Protection had been founded by Kate Keller, Greta Stevens and Gabi Lachman, enterprising women looking to carve out a nice niche in the private sector by setting up shop in Rio Grande Do Sul, choosing Caxias over Port Alegre to be their capital. Parker had been brought in as one of their first employees thanks to the promise of a lofty salary, but when she'd found out who their competition in the city would be she was quick to contact Utopia. Given Parker was a friend of his wife's and a viable confidant, Scott had agreed to match her salary but offered a great deal of benefits, which had included letting her in on Type-7 and most of Utopia's secrets. It had been a risk but aside from the hiccup that Parker was now paying for, Scott didn't regret his decision.

            "I suppose I shouldn't blame you, but it’s easier," noted Scott as he watched Carol continue to dress Parker, having already pulled on the woman's jeans and now working on her sleeveless tan blouse, no bra or underwear used. Thanks to Parker it was easy to ambush Talon, but during the operation there was an incident and Ryoshi had gotten hurt, which was one reason Scott had sent her to the US. While the accident most likely was due to Ryoshi being out of practice rather than any fault of Parker's Scott did want to establish a pecking order, showing his new trustee that she was still lower on the totem pole than some people. The ring Parker wore was what had frozen her, it being a modified Type-7 chip that let him freeze whoever wore it with ease, though it was also equipped with a tracking device for emergency purposes. Special sensors were set up in the building to turn everyone chipped against Parker if she took the ring off, thus she was forced to wear it for security purposes. Carol stuffed Parker’s bare feet into a pair of sneakers leaving them untied. She was about to tied them when Scott stopped her using his CyPocket and sent her back behind the bar.

            Pressing some other buttons on the small device Scott brought back Parker to the moving world. The woman jumped a bit and took a step back. She looked around and muttered something that Scott couldn’t hear from his spot at the bar. “Welcome back Parker,” he greeted.

            Parker jumped at the sound of his voice and spun around to face him, “What the hell happened? Weren’t we downstairs?”

            “Yes we were,” Scott replied taking another sip of his beer and added, “It’s also the next day too.”

            “What?” Parker asked and then felt herself, “What happened? How come I’m not wearing any underwear?” she demanded.

            “Probably got lost when I had your clothing removed for a search, you remember anything from yesterday?”

            “You removed my clothing?”

            “Well that’s obvious isn’t it? It’s a new hire thing. Now do you remember anything from yesterday?”

            Parker looked at the man she only knew as Scott Dawson, her good friend Ryoshi’s husband. She thought back to the day before which only felt like minutes not an actual day as Scott had claimed. “You had me meet in the leasing office and you told me about the company along with the Type-7. Then you gave me a ring telling me that is was for security purposes. Then you said something about punishing me for not backing up Ryoshi…” Parker recalled and then looked at the ring that was on her finger. “You froze me with the ring?”

            “Ryoshi was right you are smart,” Scott said raising his beer towards Parker.

            “What did you do to me?”

            “Just got you naked and had you stand here for a day,” Scott simply replied leaving out the fact that he did fool around with her a bit. Not that it matter as the former FBI agent wouldn’t remember anyways. “It was a new hire thing and punishment.”

            “Punishment? Ryoshi is more than capable to handle herself, I asked her if she needed back up and she said she didn’t. In the end it worked out didn’t it?”

            “True it did. The bruises on my wife were not acceptable though,” Scott replied and downed the rest of his beer. He placed the bottle on the counter and Carol removed it along with the napkin.

            “Well those three were trained agents I think bruises were expected,” Parker said crossing her arms. She didn’t like being punished for something that wasn’t her fault. She had warned Ryoshi about the three women. She also knew that Ryoshi’s skills were superior to all three of them. Had she known her friend was going to be in any danger she would have been there.

            “My wife was hurt and that was unacceptable regardless of the outcome. Remember that you work for my wife and me now and that no harm should ever come to her in particular. As long as you remember that, we’re good,” Scott said seriously standing up.

            “I will keep that in mind but in all honesty your wife is tougher than she looks,” Parker pointed out.

            “I know that. I think she has proven herself how tough she is already, so it’s not really that necessary for her suffer anymore injuries do you agree?”

            “I do but does she know that?”

            “She will eventually see it as I have seen it for myself. Now if this business is concluded and we have an understanding would you like a proper welcome to the company?”

            Parker smoothed out her clothing. “I would like that.”

            “Good, tie your shoes and follow me.”

            Despite his cold behavior towards her when she was unfrozen this was mostly brought on by the fact that Ryoshi had taken some minor injuries during the last mission. Parker noted, not that she would ever think about it not to harm Ryoshi or do anything that would get her hurt. Once the whole issue about his wife was behind them Parker found Scott Dawson quite charming and was jealous that her friend had nabbed herself a winner. They first toured the first level with Scott introducing her to the other maid who was named Jessica Drew. She learned that both the maids were chipped. An option that she could have fallen under had Ryoshi had faced more serious injury or that if Ryoshi didn’t think highly of her. Parker also learned that the two maids had faked names referenced from comic books. Scott explained that the maids or any other chipped people that she came across with odd names were once prostitutes from Vancouver.

            They climbed the stairs to the second level and toured the offices briefly. Scott showed Parker her own office that had a nice mountain view. It was better than anything the Bureau had ever offered her. The desk was made of expensive looking polished wood and the chair was over stuffed and covered with expensive leather. She sat in the chair and spun around in it as she had seen how evil villains did it in the movies. Once she was satisfied and Scott had a good chuckle they continued the tour of the second level. They reached a false wall that opened up after Scott had directed her place her ring hand against it. He then explained to her the ring acted as an access card of sorts as well.

            While all the offices had windows, the secret room they entered had no windows. In fact the room was situated in the center of the floor and was protected by the offices that surrounded it. Once inside the dimly lit room Parker and Scott moved down carpeted passage way before coming upon another secured door. Like before Parker used her ring to open the door, which slid open automatically. Behind the door was another dimly lit room that featured a large flat screen monitor mounted on one of the walls. The screen was about half the size of a regular theater screen. There were numerous windows opened on the screen showing different images and data. In front of the screen were several computer workstations spread out on two rows of tables. There were oak doors that looked out of place in the mission control styled room on either side of the tables.

            Though the room could easily fit at least a dozen people comfortably there were only two women that operated the workstations. They were dressed in skimpy maid outfits so Parker pegged them as household staff and former prostitutes. One was Asian while the other was a cute blonde. Scott gestured at the Asian and then the blond, “Meet Natalia Romanova and Susan Richards…” he paused to let Parker try to figure out the meanings to the names, when she didn’t say anything he added. “The Black Widow and Invisible Woman…”

            “Gotcha…I pegged them as much,” Parker said with a nod. “Not a big comic book fan.”

            “No worries. These two would alternate with the two that you saw working out in the penthouse every six hours. Even though they’re chipped they still get tired and the work in here is more restful than the manual labor in the penthouse. This is our command center as you can guess the two doors on either side are my office and Ryoshi’s,” Scott explained and pointed out.

            Parker nodded in acknowledgment and studied to large screen trying to make sense of what was going on the room. The data windows looked inventory lists for museums or antique importer/exporters, judging by the items that were listed. The lists scrolled automatically as the computer searched through them. The main window on the screen had a brunette talking with the sound muted. She looked young perhaps a college student, Parker figured. The background of image looked to be a food court of some sort. Her curiosity getting the best of her, Parker then asked pointing at the big screen, “What’s going on there? I understand the lists, your searching antique and museum inventories for the magical items that we are hunting for… can’t get my head around the co-ed though.”

            “Very perceptive Parker,” Scott replied with a grin and continued. “We have an undercover operation going on in the states right now that may yield some major findings. The image you are seeing from pair of NI Recon Glasses that our operative is wearing.”

            “Is the operative chipped?” Parker asked still looking at the screen.

            “Of course she is she’s a former prostitute…as I explained the chips have near endless possibilities when it comes to programming. She’s been undercover for a while now and so far no one has really notice anything odd. As precaution we monitor her status if anything drastic should come up we could program her from a fly from here.”

            “The range is that far?”

            “We have a wireless network that secretly piggybacked from a communication satellite that is linked to a modem near our operative.”

            “You have some resources here…” Parker commented in awe walking up behind the two maids who more or less ignored her. Parker was getting use picking out the chipped staff. The maids were easy due to their uniforms but she also was picking up on the fake expressions and the missing of the real personality.

            “Ryoshi and I put a lot of effort into it. Even then we could always use more. We’re fine on the technology end. As we all know however technology is only close to perfect it never is and that’s where you come in. To bridge that link, I have a feeling you will be the first of our non-chipped employees,” Scott said moving to stand next to Parker.

            “Well I’m glad to be on board and thankful I’m not like one of them,” she said leaning over Natalia’s shoulder to see what was on her screen.

            “Indeed,” Scott simply said and explained, “Natalia is scanning blogs and other internet databases regarding historical excavations to see if anything sparks our interest. While Susan here looks over possible items that are flagged by the computer from those inventory lists.”

            “Interesting, what kind of items have been flagged?” Parker asked moving to look over Susan’s shoulder.

            Scott looked at his watch and replied, “I’ll brief you on the undercover operation along with what items we have flagged later on tonight, perhaps over some tea. For now let’s continue our tour I have a dinner outing.”

            They moved up the next floor where Scott showed Parker her apartment which was like her office below had a great view of the mountains. The apartments were large and fully furnished with contemporary décor and high tech appliances. It was the best apartment that Parker had ever seen and to her surprise included in her benefit package she didn’t have to pay a penny for it. She couldn’t wait to move out of the ratty hotel that Talon Protection had put her in. Parker played with the large flat panel TV and toured her marble topped kitchen in joy as Scott pointed out the luxuries of the suite.

            Like the office in the floor below the suites on the floor ran the perimeter of the building while the massive center space was occupied by a medical center, lab, storage area and workshop. Also like the command center Parker and Scott gained entry to the secret space through a false wall and Parker’s ring. Behind the wall was a well lit corridor with polish hardwood floors and tan walls decorated in classic looking oil paintings. The short walk to the double glass doors that led into workshop gave Parker the impression that they were heading into an art gallery.

            The workshop was well lit with florescent lights and contained two workbenches that were covered with electrical equipment and tools. The walls sported counters which held computer workstations, shelves and cabinets. Parker spotted some weaponry on one of the counters. Scott explained to her that they created their chips and other forms of non-lethal weapons in the room. Scott gestured at an armored door on one end the room and pointed out that was where weapons both lethal and nonlethal were kept along with their stockpile of Sedative Type-7.

            Moving through and archway opening at the back of the workshop down another hardwood covered corridor the couple entered the medical center. The room was actually two rooms, with smaller room being a surgical suite. The main room had white tiled flooring and had two hospital beds in the one corner stashed behind some lockers that held medical supplies. The bulk of the supplies were housed in glass cabinets lining the wall. Bigger medical equipment, such as IV infusion pumps, a portable X-Ray machine, a vital signs monitor and a respirator machine were neatly lined up in another corner of the room.

            “Hello, Mr. Dawson!” greeted a cheery voice with a hint of a Latin accent as Scott and Parker entered the sterile medical center. Near the entry way was a desk and the woman who was seated behind stood when the couple entered. The woman had obvious Spaniard features with lightly curled brown hair just falling pass her shoulders. The white lab coat and stethoscope were dead giveaways that the woman was a doctor. She also had on silky pink blouse and an off white knee length skirt. Her legs were sheath in dark hosiery and she stood on black spiked heels. The heels looked painful to walk in but the doctor moved with ease and grace in them as she rounded the desk to greet her guest.

            “Ah, hello Doctor Delgado, I like you to meet our newest hire Ms. Parker Reich,” Scott greeted and then gestured, “Parker this Doctor Sarita Delgado our resident physician.”

            “Very nice to meet Ms. Reich or do you like to be called Parker?” Sarita Delgado greeted extending her hand.

            Parker took the doctor’s hand, “It’s a pleasure doctor, and Parker is fine.”

            “Well, then Parker welcome to the family. I suppose you are on a tour of our facilities? Have you seen your suite yet?”

            “I have, it’s something else, a little too lavish for my taste to be honest but I’m not complaining.”

            “You’ll get use to it, it’s the Utopia way. Since you’re on your tour allow me present you our wonderful medical center. I can treat any aliments or injuries 24/7, you’re in good hands with me,” Sarita assured with a smile waving her hand in a presenting motion at her state of the art clinic.

            “That’s great to hear, how long have you been with the company?” Parker then asked.

            “Oh about a month,” Sarita replied, “I worked at a Stilton hotel before this so it’s a change pace.”

            “Did Scott or Ryoshi recruit you?”

            “I was chipped by Mr. Dawson,” Sarita answered smiling endearingly at Scott who smiled back at the doctor before turning to Parker.

            “She had you going didn’t she?” Scott asked grinning. He had remained quiet throughout to see if Parker had picked on Sarita being chipped. Sarita was the first chipped person under his and Ryoshi’s strategy to chip experience people in order to enhance the chip’s capabilities. She was taken during Scott’s operation in Spain a month prior. Her programming was nearly flawless though it was probably far off from the real Sarita Delgado.

            “Yeah…she acts so natural. She’s different from the others,” Parker said looking at the doctor under a new light. The woman only continued to smile as Scott and Parker talked about her right in front of her. Now that Parker knew she could tell there was something off about the doctor.

            “Well we put a little bit more into her chip’s programming, she’s a bit more cheery than we like but overall she acts pretty natural. The chipped people with important roles we tend to put a little more into their programming. I only met the real Sarita Delgado briefly before I chipped her and I’m sure she’s not this cheery and I’m also sure that we’re far off on her real personality, if you’re wondering. She is good a doctor though. We looked into her after the fact to make sure we made the right choice. There were other factors during her capture but the main thing is we needed trained medical personnel with the muscle memory.”

            “She was taken against her will?”

            “She was a necessity,” Scott simply answered.

            Parker looked at the smiling doctor and felt a bit of sorrow for the woman and her family and friends that were surely missing her. “I understand…” Parker agreed though she could hear the doubt in her voice.

            “We made sure her people knew where she was going, though it was a bit of ruse rest assured that Sarita didn’t vanish without a trace,” Scott explained reading Parker’s doubt. “Parker if you’re hurt during an operation we can’t afford to have you go to a hospital for our business sake so this is what we have.”

            “I understand,” Parker said with solid nod. “She’s not dead right?”

            “Right,” Scott agreed and then turned to Sarita. “You could back to work doctor.”

            “Of course Mr. Dawson,” Sarita said with nod and turned to Parker, “Very nice to meet you Parker come and chat anytime,” She added before going back to her desk.

            “Shall we?”

            Walking through a set of swinging double doors they walked down a wide hallway that was covered and tan plush carpeting. The walls of the hall were lined with glass booths running down its length to a pair sliding glass doors at the end. The booths looked perfect to fit a standing human. They were clear of any features in the front but a small crystal knob that was used to open the front of the booth. Inside of the booth at the top was circular flat lamp that kept the glass structure lit with soft lighting. At the bottom the booth was heavily padded. Parker noted cables that hung off the backing of the inside of the booth. The cables continued out the back of each both and connected the wall just above the booth. It was like this on both rows of booths. Parker paused for a bit eying the booths on either side of her.

            “Storage?” she asked after a moment.

            Scott had stopped just ahead and turned to face her, “Exactly, we only give suites to the girls with the important jobs. The maids and operators are stored in these booths. If you would follow me to the end of the hall I can show you an example,” Scott explained and gestured.

            Parker followed and counted the booths, “There are nearly thirty booths here, and you have that many chipped people?”

            “No, but we’re still expanding,” Scott simply answered. “Only nine of the booths are in use at the moment.”

            Reaching the end of the hall Parker noticed that two of the booths were in fact occupied right at that moment. The booth to her right contained her former boss Greta Stevens while the booth direct across hall on her left contained Parker’s former co-worker and Mossad officer Gabi Lachman. Greta was a former CIA agent who had moved to the private sector to make some real money but instead ran head first into Scott and Ryoshi. The African-American stood at attention naked with her chest thrust outward, her dark nipples standing erect behind the glass door. Her silky straight shoulder length hair was behind her ears and hung loose. Her face was serene with her eyes shut as if sleeping with lips agape showing with teeth. There was dark bruise under her left eye and lip was swollen on the right side. Parker looked the woman up and down taking in her nakedness. She grinned seeing that the former CIA agent could use some work down south as her womanhood was covered in a mass of dark curly hair. Across the hall Gabi stood just as naked also at attention. The Israeli had small but round breasts capped with dark nipples. She was model thin with sexy hips and slender long legs. Unlike Greta, Gabi’s womanhood was shaven clean. Gabi held a determine look on her face with blank eyes. Her brown hair sat loose and fell just over her nipples. Parker also noted the slight bruise on the left side Mossad officer’s lips.

            “I believe you know Ms. Lachman and Stevens, they’re new hires just like you but as you can see their situation is little bit different than your own. Ryoshi was able to easily take out Ms. Keller, another former colleague of yours but as you can note from the bruising left over on Ms. Lachman and Stevens there were some difficulties…” Scott explained and added, “You could just as easily be standing in one of these booths just like them if things have gone another direction.”

            Parker sighed and bit, “Yeah I know Scott, you don’t have to remind me, they’re reminders enough…” she said gesturing to the two naked women.

            “Right, I apologize just want to be clear that you have earned a privilege. Anyways when the operators and the maids are off duty this is where they will go to rest. Even chipped people need some rest. In this state Type-7 is overdosed through them putting their bodies into suspended state. The chips are plugged up to the fire wire in the back of the booth for programming and maintenance purposes.”

            “The chips don’t require power?” Parker asked stepping up to Gabi’s booth and looking the woman up and down. She couldn’t help feeling a sense of control standing on the other side of the glass as Gabi stood frozen. Gabi was a top Mossad agent and from what Parker knew she had a very impressive record. She felt like a Bond movie villain the difference was the spy wasn’t going to get free.

            “The chips run on energy from its hosts and when the host is frozen as like you see before you, they charge automatically,” Scott replied.

            “I see,” Parker said moving over to Greta’s booth looking over the dark skinned woman once more. She couldn’t help but smile, Greta was a cocky know it all she would have never in a million years predicted this. “Is Kate somewhere around here?”

            “She’s off with Ryoshi, she was the first one to be programmed and she was in better health. These two are ready now too I believe, they look better than they did when we got them that’s for sure. Let’s hit the lab it’s the last stop for this tour.”

            Scott led Parker through the double glass doors that slid out of the way automatically once he was directly in front of them. The lab had stainless steel walls and white marble floors. Two benches lined two of the walls while the third wall contained a set off lockers and a computer work station that featured three large flat screen monitors. The wall which had the doors in which they had entered through had two more glass booths on either of the sliding doors with a small single monitor workstation on the left side. In the middle of the lab were two padded examine table with another single monitor workstation between them.

            The room felt crowded to Parker as they entered there were five people in the room. Learning from her experience with Sarita, she knew they were all chipped. There were two naked women lying on the two center examine tables one was a brunette while the other one was platinum blond. A short haired blond woman dressed in a lab coat over her white blouse and pink knee length skirt stood behind the workstation between the two tables. Another blond woman, who Parker knew as Adrianna Dashkov, Scott’s personal assistant stood behind the other lone workstation. Parker had briefly met the Russian shortly before she was frozen the day before. At the time she didn’t know about the chips but was now sure the Russian was chipped. Finally standing naked at attention in one of the four booths in the lab was, a familiar face that Parker had to double take before rushing over to the glass booth to be sure.

            “Oh my God it’s Angel Jenly!” Parker exclaimed looking at the movie star up and down in shock. Angel stood at attention with her long brown hair hanging free and a blank look on her face. “You took her?” she then demanded looking at back at Scott.

            “Sort of, she lives in the building. I don’t think we’ll keep her chipped being who she is. I figured that while she’s here she might as well be ours…” Scott replied moving next to Parker.

            “Unbelievable,” Parker said shaking her head in awe. “She looks a lot better in person.”

            “That she does,” Scott agreed and said, “Now let’s let Adrianna finish Ms. Jenly programming so she’ll be your assistant for a little while.”

            Parker looked at Scott with a smile, “Are you serious?”

            “Like I said, I don’t know how long she will be chipped so it’s nothing permanent and you do need some help settling in…I’ll get you a more permanent assistant later.”

            They moved over to the center of the lab where the blond woman looked up from the workstation. “Hello Scott,” she greeted in serious flat tone and then looked over at Parker. “You must be Parker the new hire. My name is Karen Draskal I am the chief science officer and this lab where the chips are programmed and constructed. When you are in here, Parker you must not touch anything. In fact,” She paused and looked at Scott. “Why is she in here? I thought only qualified and high ranking staff is only allowed back here?”

            Before Scott could answer Parker interrupted, “Do I get have access to command all the chipped individuals?

            Scott pulled out his CyPocket and tapped in some commands, “I guess you should since you’re not chipped. I’ll give you access to everyone except for me and Ryoshi’s assistants. You now have access,” Scott declared after a final tap.

            “Karen freeze!” Parker then ordered. As ordered the scientist froze while still looking at Scott sternly with her arms crossed and weight shifted on her right hip. “That’s better,” Parker said with a calm sigh. “Why is she programmed to be a bitch?” she then asked.

            Scott simply shrugged, “The real Karen Draskal was a little cheery motivated and a little bit of suck up, thought we make her the opposite. She actually worked with me when I was with the foundation. She designed a master control for the chips. She was a good employee,” Scott said looking at the frozen doctor.

            “Why did you chip her then?”

            “She’s a much better employee this way,” Scott answered with a grin.

            “If you say so, who are these two?” Parker then asked gesturing the two naked ladies on the tables.

            “The blond is Shannon Andrews she was Angel’s assistant and the brunette is Casey Adams, she was Angel’s pilot and it just happens we need a pilot,” Scott answered letting his eyes wander over the Casey’s nude body.

            “How about the blond?”

            “There is always room for blondes.”

***

            The tour ended with Parker ordering Karen to strip down naked before getting back to work. Scott programmed and gave a CyPocket to Parker before they left the lab. He also allowed Parker to take her old employer Greta Stevens along with Angel Jenly to assist in “settling” into her new apartment. Scott was pretty sure Parker was straight but he had noticed she did enjoy the look of a naked woman. She at least batted for both sides or just enjoyed the company of a beautiful woman, only time would tell. All in all Scott felt that Parker was a great addition to the company it was going to be nice to have someone to talk to when Ryoshi wasn’t around or someone to talk to aside from Ryoshi.

            With Parker off doing her own thing Scott headed back to his penthouse and pulled on a white sports coat. He was then met by Adrianna along with Gabi Lachman by the penthouse’s private elevator. Gabi was dressed in the standard security outfit that his operator wore; a black tailor fitted pants suit with matching heels with her hair tied back in bun. She stood with her gloved hands behind her back as the elevator doors slid open. Adrianna still wearing the pink skirt suit followed Scott and Gabi into the elevator.

            “Your reservation is made for your usual table,” Adrianna reported as the elevator doors slid close. Scott and Ryoshi would go out and eat at a seafood place every Thursday as it was one of their favorite chefs at said restaurant worked. Even though Ryoshi was out on business, Scott was still in the mood for some good seafood, which was hard to come so far inland.

            Two minutes the trio reached the lobby and stepped off the elevator with Scott in the lead flanked by Adrianna and Gabi. The lobby was decked out in marble, tropical plants, and wicker furnishings giving it a resort feel. As the trio made their way towards the main entrance, Scott caught the sight of a woman that he knew lived on his property but never really took note of her until now. He never really noticed her before mainly because she wasn’t a threat and Ryoshi was almost always with him so his attention had always been on his wife. The woman was slender giving her a tall look; the six inch heels helped little bit as well. She had lightly curled shoulder length blond hair that she currently wore loose. She was dressed in a tailored white business jacket with the sleeves cropped at her elbows. Her lower half was clad in a red mini skirt that showed off her slender naked legs that stood in white heels with red soles. A red purse held in the nook of her right elbow and pair of diva style gold rim sun glasses completed her ensemble.

            The woman smiled at Scott as she walked past him and he couldn’t help but to return the smile. Scott only moved a few more paces before he stopped in his tracks to admire the woman his entourage doing the same. “Go wait at the front desk, I’ll be there shortly,” Scott ordered as he watched the blond make her way to the public elevators and hit the call button.

            “As you wish Mr. Dawson,” the two women said in unison and did as they were told.

            Scott casually moved towards the elevator lobby, “Hello, I’m Scott Fisher,” he introduced using the name of his old mentor. It was his and Ryoshi’s official last name as citizens of Brazil.

            “Lydia Talent,” the woman introduced. “It’s odd to see you not surrounded by women.”

            “A man needs his space,” Scott replied with a chuckle. “I’ve noticed you a few times and thought I should introduce myself since it’s obvious that we’re sort of neighbors.”

            The elevator bell sounded at its arrival and the doors slid open and Lydia stepped in with Scott following. “Weren’t you heading out?” Lydia asked with smile as she pressed her floor button.

            “I forgot something,” Scott answered as the doors slid shut.

            “You’re taking this elevator up? I always see you take that private one. You’re the penthouse resident is that correct?”

            “Guilty,” Scott answered with a smile. “Truth is I just wanted to meet you.”

            “Charming, what would your wife think?” Lydia asked removing her diva glasses and slipping them into her purse. She had hazel eyes.

            “My wife?”

            “Yes, the lovely Asian woman that’s almost always with you that looks at everyone as if they’re a threat.”

            “She won’t mind. So tell me Lydia what is it you do besides live on the ninth floor of this building?”

            “Well, I work for Colts Brothers Financial. You heard of them?”

            “The bank that insures priceless items?”

            Lydia smiles, “Very good Scott. I run their office down here. Speaking of which you live up in the penthouse and I see what your wife and all those women wear…you don’t happen to have some priceless items do you? Keep in mind that my firm is the top in the business,” Lydia said her tone of voice going from causal to business in heartbeat.

            “No, we’re good,” Scott replied coolly as they reached the ninth floor.

            “I guess we’re done here then Scott, give your wife my regards,” Lydia said airily and with her chin held high she started to step off of the elevator.

            Scott had moved quickly. It still surprised him how fast he could still move even though he didn’t train regularly. It had only had taken half a step. Within that move he had removed a syringed pen from his coat inside pocket, uncapped and jabbed it into Lydia’s backside. The blond didn’t even feel the prick as she froze stiff in mid-step. Her left arm moving forward while her right was bent at the elbow with purse resting in the nook of her elbow. She had only one foot off the car and the warning buzzer had kicked on not allowing the doors to slide shut. Scott peeked out the car and was satisfied that the hall was empty he then wrapped his arms around Lydia’s waist and dragged her back into the elevator. The doors then slid shut but Scott hit the emergency stop button, halting the car on the ninth floor.

            Lydia’s face held a smug smile and her eyes were at half staff as she was in mid blink when the Type-7 took effect. Scott looked her over and smiled. He was amazed that it had taken him so long to notice the gem that was frozen before him. He recapped his pen and replaced it his inside pocket. He then eyed the three buttons that held Lydia’s jacket closed and was about to have a peek but then he thought better of it. Scott reached back into his inside pocket and withdrew his silver business card case where he kept some chips just in case of a situation like this. He removed a chip and then moved behind the unmoving Lydia. He moved the frozen woman’s hair aside revealing the nape of the woman’s neck.

            Once the chip was placed, Scott let Lydia’s hair fall back into place. He then pulled out his CyPocket and punched in some commands. Lydia went blank face and stood at attention, her purse falling from her arm. The purse hit the floor with crash but Lydia did nothing to pick it up. Scott only grinned as he moved to stand next to the woman that was now under his full control. “Let’s see if you look as hot naked as you do with your clothes on. Lydia strip naked,” he commanded.

            “Yes…” Lydia replied dreamingly as she stepped out of her heels and then unbuttoned her jacket. She then shrugged out of it letting it fall to the ground. Scott grinned seeing that the woman had no bra on. Her breasts were small but matched her slender frame; they were perfectly round and were capped with tanned nipples. While staring vacantly forward Lydia reached behind her and unzipped her skirt working it off her hips. Next she pulled off the white thong that she wore letting it drop on top of the skirt. She then stepped out of both items of clothing and stood before the elevators doors completely in the buff. She had started to remove her jewelry as well but Scott stopped her.

            “Lydia you would like to join me for dinner,” Scott then suggested as he let his eyes wander the blonde’s naked body. Her woman was shaven clean and Scott couldn’t help but to be in awe how fit she was. She was model thin without an inch of unwanted fat on her frame.

            “I would like to join you for dinner,” Lydia said in a monotone voice.

            “I would love to have you my dear!” Scott replied and then ordered, “Get dressed.” As Lydia began to dress Scott started the elevator back up and pressed the lobby button. He looked at his watch, he was running late but it was worth it he thought watching Lydia dress.

Utopia Marina, Porto Alegre, Brazil

12PM, Friday

            The company was named Utopia Holdings and they had seemingly come out of nowhere. Literally, one day they weren’t there and the next they were everywhere. Lara Zanella, being in the real estate business, noticed them right away. At first she didn’t think too much of it as real estate and property management companies was a dime a dozen in Rio, especially Porto Alegre. Lara had lived in Port Alegre all her life and though she loved living next to the ocean she had envisioned bigger better things for herself. At the moment she was an independent real estate agent operating all over Rio. The money was just enough for Lara to get by, far from what she was expecting when she graduated from college. She had considered switching professions before this new company sprang up. Lara quickly saw an opportunity. Utopia Holdings was obviously a foreign firm with money. In the short amount of time of its existence the firm acquired a few apartment complexes as well as a few dozen beach front properties. After a little digging and a little footwork Lara discovered the firm had no management structure or real employees. The existing employees were locals left over from the old firms that had owned the property before. They didn’t know who the new owners were and were just given a pay raise when Utopia took over. Lara felt that such a firm needed a local with experience to help expand and she knew that she was the perfect woman for the job.

            The Brazilian real estate agent climbed out of her little white Fiat 500 gathering her large brown leather pocket book with her. Closing the door Lara checked herself over in the driver’s window’s reflection. She had long, flowing slightly curled brown hair with blond streaks in it hanging loose to the middle of her back. She had dark brown eyes on a slender face. Her complexion was naturally tanned like many other locals. Lara was tall and model like, it was her looks mainly that kept her business afloat and she was willing to use it without doubt if it would benefit her. Her tall frame was clad in a sleeveless slim fitting blue dress with a hem that sat at her knees. A pair of sandaled blue heels finished her look. Lara gave herself a smile of approval before turning away from her little hatchback and heading towards the marina.

            Lara glanced at the luxury yachts that were moored to the docks. She had been to the marina before and to her most of the boats all looked the same. There were a large assortment of small motor boats and sailing boats of all types. Taking a closer look at the closest piers to land she noted the larger white and black yachts all sporting similar flags on their fantails. Lara didn’t have to examine the flags closer to know that they belonged to Utopia Holdings; she had etched the ammonite logo of the firm into her memory. She observed the numerous Asian women working on two of the larger yachts while a few talked with some locals. The Asian women didn’t really catch Lara’s attention as Brazil did have its share of Japanese and Koreans within its population. It was what the women wore that caught her attention. They all had on white formal sailing outfits that consisted of tailored suit double breasted coats and miniskirts. They walked around effortlessly in white high heels; it was daring to say the least to do so on boat decks and the wooden planks of the dock.

            The marina’s office was a single story building that was made of brick and wood. It would have looked like someone’s house had it not been for the glass door that marked its entrance. Stenciled on the glass was information on business hours and the company logo. A sign above the door read ‘main office’. Lara thought back and remembered that building had not been so nice looking in the past. It was another sign of money and that she was making the right decision in seeking sort of a partnership with this company.

            “Welcome to Utopia Holdings,” an Asian girl dressed similar to the girls outside greeted from behind a marble topped counter. The girl had visibly-dyed reddish brown hair that contrasted well with her fair complexion. She spoke in perfect Portuguese. The girl’s jacket had epaulets on the shoulders which were lacking on the jackets of the girls who were working outside. Lara figured she was finally getting somewhere with locating the management.

            “Hi, my name is Lara Zanella. I’m a local real estate agent perhaps you can help me out? I’m looking for someone with the upper management of your firm,” Lara greeted politely and then inquired.

            The girl was taken back for a moment, surprise of the question. It was obvious that it was not a question that she normally took. She regained herself and asked, “Ms. Zanella what would like to talk to management about perhaps I could be of assistance?”

            Lara looked at the girl’s name plate on her uniform before replying, “Miss Hwang? Please call me Lara. I don’t want any trouble, I have business proposition and your company is fairly new. I have been trying to locate management at your other venues without any success so I was hoping you could help me out on this?”

            The girl smiled at Lara, at ease now since knowing Lara’s intentions, “You could call me Mi-Young, and I’m only a boat and office supervisor. I’m afraid I can’t be much help in business matters unless you want to rent a berthing space or the use of one of our yachts. I myself and the other girls are left over from the old company which moved back to South Korea after they were bought out. Utopia hired us for more pay… all we had to do was wear these rings,” Mi-Young explained and showed her the simple silver ring on her ring finger. “They even gave us apartments to stay in. Rent free!” she added.

            “I see,” Lara said taking in the information. Mi-Young was like the many locals that she met with that now worked for Utopia, only the others didn’t have the plain silver ring that Mi-Young wore. She wondered what that was about, but pushed the thought out of her head since it was not important to her she was here for business not an investigation. “So you've never met any management either?” Lara then asked. The other Utopia employees that she had spoken to were all hired through the mail and by phone.

            “Well, Ms. Kobayashi is with Utopia Holdings… she hired us and gave us these rings,” Mi-Young replied and gestured behind her. There was another Asian woman dressed in a white business suit and pink blouse sitting in a glass pane office a few paces from the counter where Mi-Young was. The woman worked on her computer with a smiling face that looked really odd to Lara as the woman’s eyes looked empty.

            “Is she okay?” Lara asked puzzled looking at the woman who paid her no attention.

            Mi-Young looked over her shoulder, “Yeah, she’s a little off… we don’t know what her deal is but she is very smart.”

            “I see… you think I could talk to her?” Lara then asked.

            The Korean woman looked over her shoulder once more and bit her lower lip looking back at Lara. “She looks really busy… I don’t want to disturb her,” Mi-Young answered. When her boss Naoko Kobayashi worked like that it was hard to get her attention and it made Mi-Young feel awkward standing there until Naoko replied. Mi-Young and her co-workers had decided that they would not bother the Japanese woman that was their boss unless it was an emergency.

            “She doesn’t have any time?” Lara asked, looking at the woman in the glass office. She did look busy but she was also the boss, five minutes wouldn’t hurt. “I have time… I could wait,” Lara then offered.

            Mi-Young looked back over her shoulder. She didn’t know how long Naoko was going to be like that. Usually she worked like that for the whole day and then just left when it was time to leave. It was almost robotic. The Japanese woman would say the same thing every day at the exact same time when she left. “I think she’s booked…” the Korean said turning back to Lara.

            Lara gave the woman a look, calling her out on the excuse. “Are you serious?”

            The Korean was quiet for a minute thinking what to do next, this woman was making things difficult. She wished she had a normal customer. Unknown to Lara and Mi-Young, Naoko Kobayashi still smiling looked away from the computer monitor. She locked on Lara and then with a few key strokes the hidden camera mounted behind Mi-Young began to transfer data back to the main office back in Caxias Do Sul.

            Movement from the office caught Lara’s eye and she jumped slightly seeing that Naoko was smiling and looking right at her as she typed. As soon as their eyes locked the woman stopped typing and picked up the phone next to her computer. A second later a phone next to Mi-Young ranged. The Korean girl glad for the phone ring picked up and answered it pleasantly with a corporate greeting. Her smile faded and she turned quickly to face her boss who was still looking at Lara. Lara was now beginning to feel uneasy as there was something obviously wrong with the woman looking at her.

            Mi-Young was speaking what Lara presumed to be her native tongue into the phone. The Korean woman nodded a few times and spoke a few more lines before hanging up the phone. The woman in the office hung up her phone too but continued to look at Lara smiling. Lara smiled back, she wasn’t sure if she was ready to meet with the woman.

            “Ms. Kobayashi is unable to meet with you to discuss business,” Mi-Young began. Lara was about to say something before the Korean woman quickly continued. “She will make arrangements for you to meet with upper management in Caxias Do Sul however,” Mi-Young said as she wrote down the address on a scratch sheet of paper and then handed it to Lara. “They will be expecting you tomorrow at 5PM.”

            Lara smiled. She was finally getting somewhere. The Brazilian mouthed a ‘thank you’ to the woman in the office. Who nodded at her but continued to smile and stare at her. “Thanks for your help Mi-Young,” she then said putting the paper into her purse.

            “It’s no problem Lara, good luck,” Mi-Young said as Lara turned and left the office. She had to go home and prepare, she had a big day tomorrow.

Utopia Towers, Caxias Do Sul, Brazil

3PM

            “It’s a gorgeous apartment,” Catherine Harper commented as she walked around the fully furnished living room of said apartment. They were on the sixth floor of the Utopia Towers apartment complex. The building was the flagship building of Utopia Holdings. The price of the unit that Catherine was touring was something that she would never pay but of course she wasn’t really looking for a place to stay. She was there on business. “Do all the units look like this?” she then asked walking into the dining room that was separated from the kitchen by a bar counter.

            “It all varies by floor but generally we offer fully furnished. Here at Utopia Towers we like to keep all of our units consistent. Most of our tenants have other homes elsewhere as well so having fully furnished apartments is a convenience to them. The big difference is the units get bigger in square footage as you move up towards the penthouse level. Of course this also effects the pricing as well,” Torre Myers explained. The former salvage diver that was originally from Oceanside, California before she met Scott Dawson was dressed in a tailored white skirt suit and pink blouse. A pair of pink heels finished her look. The light clothing contrasted well with her dark skin and tresses. She was the property manager of the tower and currently also the leasing agent as well, thanks to staff shortages.

            “So mostly well off people live here and they’re mostly live on the higher floors?” Catherine asked as she examined the kitchen appliances. She tried to look more focused at the kitchen accessories then her small talk questions.

            It seemed to work as her guide only smiled and answered, “Well, we do have our share of models and actresses living on the higher floors but our lower floors have tenants that are normal people just like yourself Ms. Harper.”

            Not that normal, Catherine thought to herself with the prices to rent one of the tower’s lower units she would have to be a little on the wealthy side. That was to American standards as well, as there was no way a local could afford to live in this complex. She had visited several Utopia complexes and though they were a little less luxury they still catered to the wealthy. A thought crossed her mind. How could this company stay afloat in Brazil of all places with these rates? Shaking that thought she then asked, “So are the penthouses available?”

            “No, they have been occupied and they would have been out of the price range we discussed as well…unless you want something a little bigger we could head up higher,” Torre replied smiling, her tone of voice has changed to a more sales person tone.

            Catherine smiled and pulled the shoulder strap of her purse higher up on her shoulder. She was dark skinned like her host with dark flowing hair falling just under shoulder blades. She was dressed in silk green dress with a floral pattern and half sleeves. The hem of the dress was high showing off her naked legs and to accommodate the local climate. She walked on wicker strappy wedges that did wonders to her calves. “Why not, this is such a lovely building I would love to see more.”

***

            It took them another thirty minutes to tour some other units. Torre attempted to sell and Catherine acted as if she was really interested. When it was all over she had gotten the property manager to show her around nearly the whole building. She got to scope out the layout and also some of the tenants which to no surprise to her were all wealthy. A thing that did surprise her though was they all seemed to be good looking women. She didn’t see any men in on the higher floors and only recalled seeing only a handful on the lower floors. She and Torre were back down in the lobby. Torre was behind the front desk putting together a packet for Catherine that had some paper work reviewing the tour and applications if she decided to rent or buy a unit.

            When Catherine had first arrived she was welcomed by a cute blond named Heather Douglas. Heather was dressed in a short sleeved pink silk blouse and white skirt over pink heels. When they had gotten back down to the lobby another girl was with Heather, a brunette with blond highlights in her hair giving a unique color to her hair. The girl was very pretty naturally and could have been an actress or model herself Catherine thought. She introduced herself as Janet Van Dyne and she was the evening front desk girl. Though the two women seemed completely different, the only thing similar was their uniforms, they acted freakishly the same. It was like they were one person in two bodies. Though their voices were different they carried the same tones. Catherine was in awe by it and a little freaked out. The two front desk girls discussed the day events as Torre worked on the packet. The conversation didn’t look natural Catherine thought but she couldn’t put her finger on why. It was almost as if it was an act.

            Before she could think more into it, Torre finished the packet and walked around the front desk. “Here you go Ms. Harper we’re all set,” the property manager said handing Catherine a thick folder that was made with high quality material. The folder was white with an embossed gold ammonite on the front of it.

            Even the folder was as fancy as the building, Catherine thought taking it. “Thank you Torre I will definitely consider your building.”

            “That’s all we can ask for,” Torre and the two front desk girls said in unison flashing identical smiles at the woman. “You enjoy the rest of your afternoon,” they then added.

            “Right…” Catherine said smiling awkwardly not sure on what to make of the three women. She nodded at them and turned for the door. As she left she could feel the women’s eyes on her back.

            Unknown to Catherine there was another set of eyes watching from one of the dozen close circuit cameras secretly mounted around the lobby. The cameras tracked her until she left the building before switching to cameras mounted outside the building. The single camera that was now tracking Catherine followed her as she crossed the street and walked into a park that sat directly across from the apartment building. Catherine walked up to a park bench where another woman waited for her. The woman was a brunette with long hair that was tied into ponytail. She wore dark sunglasses over her eyes and held thick mystery book in her hands. She was dressed in pale blue open neck top with short sleeves. Her legs were crossed and covered with dark tight fitting jeans tucked into knee high black leather high heel boots. She moved the book bag that sat next to her as Catherine approached the dark skinned girl sat down next to her. The camera continued to watch, the pair completely oblivious of the fact.

            River Peck had been a good friend to Catherine for a few years. The two use to work together in a security camera company. Catherine had stayed with company until she was fired some six months ago. River had left the company way before that as she was just using the company to get some inside information on a house she wanted to burglarize. She was professional burglar, something she was into since she was eighteen. She operated mostly out of western hemisphere and though she made a nearly wealthy living from it she did it for the thrill for the most part. Catherine had uncovered her secret but never exposed her and for that she made a friend. Catherine even helped her gathered information on some other targets before River moved on. She never stayed in one location too long. It was unhealthy for someone in her line of work. Though she moved on she stayed in touch with Catherine.

            Her friend fell into some hard times when she was kidnapped and then lost her job afterwards. So being a good friend, River invited Catherine to work with her. They had recently worked Mexico together, it was their first time and River had been skeptical of their partnership at first even though she trusted Catherine. The girl proved herself however as good recon specialist of sorts and a getaway driver. Catherine would gather information on a target while River did the work and mapped out an escape route later on. Mexico had been a success. They were now in Brazil after learning about several celebrities living in Caxias Do Sol.

            “So what did you find out?” River asked her attention still on the book that she was reading.

            “Well you were right. All the good stuff is up on the top floor. Didn’t get to see the penthouses but it looks like they occupied top six top floors. I think that’s where you should go. There’s no security just a front desk person and they get off at mid-night from what I can see. Lobby has no security doors. There are two staircases and three elevators. One elevator seems to be only used to get to the main rooftop penthouse. The floors have most of their units running the perimeter was a few units in the middle. Elevator lobbies are located in the middle of each floor,” Catherine replied tossing the fancy folder into a nearby waste can.

            River thought for moment, a plan formulating in her head as she has done so many times before. She then put her book away and stood up. “Meet back in the safe house in an hour,” she simply said and added, “We work tonight.” Catherine only nodded as the brunette walked away.

            The camera watched as River walked east of the park before she was out of range. A few minutes later Catherine got up and walked west. Former Mexican Federal Police Captain Izel Cortez killed the camera feed with a few keystrokes. She was seated in a hidden office behind the front desk. She acted as the building’s head of security she was also Scott’s lead chipped operator. Unlike Scott’s other security operators who wore tight fitting tailored black pants suits. Izel was dressed more sexily in a tight fitting black skirt suit that showed off her alluring long legs. The Mexican picked up her desk phone and hit the speed dial. A moment later she reported, “Ms. Reich, we have situation that is developing. Could you meet me in the security office?”

Stilton of Newark, New Jersey, USA

12PM

            Ryoshi moaned comfortably and opened her eyes, staring at the ceiling of her hotel room. She sighed letting the sleep escape her as her mind focused. Looking over at the nightstand next to her bed she noted it was noon. Calculating in her head she concluded that she had been asleep for nine hours. The Japanese woman yawned as she sat up and stretched her arms. She was naked as the blanket fell from her body when she sat up. Ryoshi looked over at the woman that shared the bed with her. The woman was also naked and slept peacefully on her side facing away from Ryoshi. She was a brunette and when she was awake had matching eyes as well. The Japanese woman nudge the other woman’s naked shoulder, “Time to wake up dear.”

            The brunette sat up stiffly like a robot, thanks the Type-7 Chip that she wore on the nape of her neck. Her hair was mess from the eventful night that they had shared. Her brown eyes stared forward blankly while her lips remained agape completing a zombie look. “Out of the bed and get dress Melody,” Ryoshi then ordered.

            “Yes mistress…” Melody replied in a monotone voice as she stepped out of bed bring to bear the full sight of her nude body. Ryoshi naturally smiled taking in the woman’s features from her perky breasts to her neatly shaven womanhood. Melody went to work on her clothing that was scattered on the floor next to the bed all the while keeping a blank slack look on her face. Unfortunately for Ryoshi, Melody Forsythe had been the only hire yesterday and it was now Ryoshi last day. The Japanese woman had to fill the rest of her spots today, if she couldn’t find anybody she would have to get a little more forcefully in her methods. But for now her frustrated thoughts drifted from her mind as she watched Melody dress remembering the party they had to celebrate the chipped woman’s new job.

***

            “What time is the meeting again?” Helen Darwin asked her friend and co-worker, Sondra Parker. Both women were seated across from one another on plush leather loungers at small coffee table in the lobby of the Stilton of Newark. Helen was the younger of the two being ten years junior to forty-nine year old Sondra. The younger woman was dark haired with her hair currently pulled back into a business ponytail. Her body was clad in a dark tailored business skirt suit with her legs covered and matching hosiery. A pair of black high heels finished her look. Sondra was dressed in a gray knitted knee length dress under a black business coat. Her legs seethed in nude hosiery and a pair of gray ankle high heeled boots finished her look. Sondra’s dark blond tresses were worn loose and just fell past her shoulders.

            Her eyes glued to her CyPad Sondra answered, “In about thirty minutes, are you ready?” she then asked looking over at the younger woman.

            Helen took time to think for a moment before answering, “Yeah.”

            Putting the CyPad aside Sondra looked over at her friend seriously. “Are you sure, you don’t sound like it.”

            “Well…I can sell things that’s no problem…” Helen began to say. She was after all a real estate agent, selling was her business. She and Sondra currently worked for Signature Service Real Estate a real estate and property management firm based in LA with Sondra being a property manager of a mall. “I came all the way for a lie mainly…I’m not sure how I feel about that. They think I’m here for a job interview, now I’m going to show up with you and throw this on them.”

            “Helen we’ve talked about this…” Sondra said leaning forward to keep their conversation private. Helen had been unhappy with work and was job hunting when she saw an ad for management positions for a real estate firm based out of Brazil called Utopia Holdings. She didn’t have any real attachments to the states so she was gamed for moving south. The company did offer to pay for living expenses. Before applying for the position Helen met with her long time friend Sondra for advice on the matter. Sondra in turn looked into the company and found out they were new and had an idea. “This company is foreign they’re not going to be coming to the states often if not at all so this is our chance to pitch this. The worst that could happen is they shoot us down. It’s not like we flew down to Brazil. Worst case is we’ll take the red eye home tonight empty handed. Best case is we can both leave Signature and have our own business. I read that Caxias Do Sol pretty nice.”

            “Okay, I get that, I’m not too worried about that. They’re thinking about hiring me and we’re gonna offer to buy them out…seems kind of disrespectful,” Helen said.

            “Buy them out? We’re not going to buy them out…we don’t have the assets to do that. I looked up property values in Brazil and they’re dirt cheap so if we rent it shouldn’t cost us that much. We’re going to rent a couple buildings from them and offer a percentage of our profits.”

            “How are you so sure we’ll make even a profit?” Helen asked.

            “I’ve made some calls I may have an interested client and I did look at a few of the property locations, we should make a good profit,” Sondra answered. “They’re a small company ran a by a pretty former news reporter. Just let me do the talking if you have any doubt and they’ll bite.”

            “If you say so…” Helen sighed sitting back in her seat.

            “What do you think of Darwin and Parker or Parker and Darwin management?” Sondra asked with a confident smile.

***

            Ryoshi didn’t know the name of Asian woman who was currently interviewing with Rosalina, but she was attractive and would have been perfect. The woman however had a homemaker husband and a little baby daughter. The woman didn’t know it yet but she wasn’t going to get the job. Too many people would miss her, too much trouble for Ryoshi and Scott. Leaning forward over her laptop that was sitting on top of the coffee table in the bedroom, Ryoshi typed some commands in and sent it towards Rosalina’s chip. She then turned to look over her shoulder at Teresita. The assistant was dressed in a tight fitting white skirt suit today with pink heels and scarf. Her hair hung loose but was pulled back from her face. “Once the interview is over walk her out and let her know we’ll keep in touch with her,” Ryoshi ordered.

            “As you wish mistress,” Teresita replied with a nod.

            “Who do we have next?” Ryoshi then asked sitting back on the small sofa and propping her naked feet on the coffee table. She was only clad in her favorite pink komodo having felt like running the show from completely in the shadows for her last day. Her silky black hair was tied up in loose bun and held together with gold chopsticks.

            “Peter Bergstein…” Teresita started to say before being cut off by Ryoshi.

            “Well he’s not going to get hired,” Ryoshi mumbled and looked over at Melody Forsythe who was seated next to her. The brunette’s hair was still in slight mess, though it looked like someone had attempted to smooth it out. She was dressed back in her dark business skirt suit that she wore to her interview the day before. Melody sat with her back straight, legs together and hands resting on her knees. Her face bore a slight grin with blank eyes looking ahead. “It’s just you and Ms. Val…” Ryoshi said with a smile.

            The morning had not been a complete waste though, Ryoshi had not manage to hire anyone after three two interviews. It was about to be three after they met with Mr. Bergstein. She did manage to program Melody and had the woman liquidate most of her assets including quitting her current job. Her old boss was suspicious since Melody didn’t seem herself but for the most part accepted the short notice resignation. Ryoshi didn’t think the boss would be an issue. There was only one more step to complete Melody’s hiring process and for that she needed her security team to return from their current assignment.

            As on cue there was a knock at the bedroom’s double doors before Veronica opened it and entered. The Chipped Spaniard walked towards the sofa and stood with her hands behind her back. Ryoshi eyed the woman thinking how well she looked in her tailored black pants suit. “Mistress, the security team has returned with Ms. Mitchell,” Veronica reported. Right after the report, Alexis Sutherland and Kate Keller entered the room. Both blondes were dress similar to Veronica as usual. Following the two blondes was Valentine Mitchell dragging a rolling suitcase behind her. The gorgeous dark skinned woman was still dressed in the dark colored suit that she had sported two days ago when she had met Ryoshi. Her face bore a blank look as she came to stop next her two escorts.

            “Report, Alexis?” Ryoshi asked getting up from the sofa and walking over to Valentine, she looked over the woman remembering their fun a few a nights ago.

            “Ms. Mitchell’s property is taken care of,” Alexis started say, the woman was a former Scotland Yard inspector but spoke in a Texan drawl thanks to the Chip she wore on the nape of her neck. “We spoke to the landlord as ordered and allowed him to take care of everything. We had her pack a few outfits as requested as well.”

            “Any issues?” Ryoshi inquired rubbing the side of the lawyer’s slack face with the back of her hand.

            “One issue,” Alexis replied and looked over to her partner. “Ms. Keller.”

            Kate Keller the tall former Australian Secret Intelligence Service agent stepped up to Ryoshi and held out a note that she had carried into the room. “We found this note when we secured Ms. Mitchell’s penthouse. It’s from an FBI agent.”

            “FBI?” Ryoshi said to herself taking the note from the bodyguard. She looked over the note and grinned. “Well Ms. Val, looks like you’re an FBI informant…or shall I say was,” Ryoshi chuckled looking at Valentine’s blank eyes. “Teresita?”

            “Yes, Mistress?” the assistant asked stepping over to stand next to Ryoshi.

            “Make a note of this,” Ryoshi said handing Teresita the note. “Mark it as urgent. We’ll have to look into this more when we get back home.”

            “Yes Mistress,” Teresita nodded taking the note and glancing over it.

            “Melody,” Ryoshi called. The woman seated on the sofa stood and step over to stand next to the Japanese woman. “Follow Alexis and Kate, you well turn your apartment over to your landlord along with the possessions.”

            “Yes Mistress,” Melody replied obediently smile still on her lips.

            “Kate, Alexis take Ms. Forsythe to her apartment same operations protocol as before,” Ryoshi ordered and turned to Veronica. “Veronica will have the address and arrange for transport as before.”

            The three black clad women nodded and left the room with Melody following in tow. Teresita followed only to shut the double doors after the four women had left. Ryoshi turned to the wall mounted TV that was monitoring the interview and saw that the interview was concluding. “Teresita, guide our guest out and prepare for Mr. Bergstein.”

            “As you wish Mistress,” The Spaniard said with a nod.

            “Who is the next person?”

            Teresita consulted her CyPad before replying, “Helen Darwin.”

            “Great, I don’t want to disturbed until that interview,” Ryoshi said turning off the wall mounted TV. “Ms. Val and I will be in a meeting…”

            “Yes Mistress,” Teresita nodded and left the room closing the door behind her.

            Ryoshi turned her attention back to Valentine Mitchell, “How about we explore that body of yours again Ms. Val?”

            “Whatever you want Mistress,” Valentine replied seductively with a smile and started to unbutton her suit jacket.

            “That program suits you…” Ryoshi replied with grin taking off her komodo.

***

            It was only eight in the evening but it felt like it was a lot later as Lillian Carmichael had been on her feet the whole day. The day had gone from bad to worst. It had started with a gas leak in the main kitchen that resulted in food for the entire hotel being cooked in the secondary small kitchen, which staff did a great job picking up the slack. The main dining room and bar however had to be evacuated until the leak was repaired. It was nearly three in the afternoon when everything was back to normal with food service.  During that whole fiasco security was dealing with a peeping tom moving between floors and a couple of homeless men fighting in the back alley. On both occasions the police were involved. There were also some issues with checking in VIP guests as well that was caused by a computer error. The situation ended badly with the guests leaving to the hotel. Then there was a tour group that arrived a week early that claimed they called in advance, that situation ended badly as well. The group who were regulars had to look for another hotel. Finally when she thought it couldn’t get any worst, the plumbing for the whole tenth floor burst rendering all the suites on the floor without water. That problem had yet to be resolved.

            Lillian was sitting in her office. She was reclined back in her chair with her legs propped up on her desk crossed at the ankles. Her heels were off and at the foot of her chair while her suit jacket hung off the back. Her short sleeve blouse was untucked from her skirt and she held a glass tumbler filled with some whiskey and ice in her right hand that was resting on the chair’s arm rest. Lillian’s eyes were shut and she was deep in thought on what to do. She seldom drank at work but the day had warranted it. Patricia Mero had called her twice already, on both occasions Lillian was too busy to talk but promised she would explain everything later. Lillian figured that one of the VIP guests had went straight to the top to complain. For all that she knew now her job was quite possibly in danger. Even her thirty years with the company couldn’t help her, it might have under Richard Stilton but with the new CEO things were different. Patricia said she would call back at ten and busy or not she wanted Lillian to answer her. She had two hours to think of something. 

            As she thought about her future an idea came to her. Sitting up Lillian put the tumbler on her desk and stepped into her heels. Standing up she tucked her shirt back into her skirt before pulling on her jacket. Lillian smoothens up her outfit in front of the mirror and fixed up her hair a bit before leaving. In the lobby she took a mint from the front desk in order to hide the fact that she had been drinking before heading towards the elevator lobby.

            Five minutes later the mint was gone and her breath smelling minty fresh, Lillian Carmichael found herself in front of the double doors that led into the penthouse suite. They did offer her an interview she thought as she knocked on the door. Having an interview and possibly landing seemingly great career with growth was better than being in phone conference with Patricia Mero. After two knocks the doors opened.

            “May I help you?” asked Veronica Estes in her sultry accented English.

            Lillian remembered the woman as Ms. Rosalina Vasquez’s head of security. She didn’t think much of it before when they first met but now standing in front of the dark haired woman Lillian felt a bit intimidated. She smiled, “I’m Lillian Carmichael the general manager, and I have a meeting with Ms. Vivian Lu.”

            “Ms. Lu is not available,” the security chief replied crisply.

            “Oh…” Lillian said her smile fading as she didn’t know what else to do or say.

            “Who is that Veronica?” a cheery voice from within the penthouse and behind the bodyguard.

            “Ms. Lillian Carmichael, hotel manger,” Veronica replied with her eyes still locked on Lillian.

            “Oh?” the voice asked getting closer until it was behind the guard. “Is there a problem?” the voice then asked. At this point Veronica stepped aside letting the person behind come into view but at the same time keeping the double doors in position in order to protect to the person from some unseen threat.

            At first Lillian didn’t recognized the woman without her make-up. She had brown hair tied up in a loose bun. Her top half was clad in a long sleeve pink t-shirt while her bottom half clad in a pair of pink baggy pajama pants. She stood in a pair of white fuzzy slippers. A pair of thick frame trendy glasses completed her look. It was the beauty mark on her right cheek that drew some familiarity to the woman standing behind the security boss. It was former GNA correspondent turned wealthy business woman Rosalina Vasquez.

            “There is no problem Ms. Vasquez…I had a meeting with Ms. Lu but she’s apparently unavailable at the moment so I’ll be heading back downstairs,” Lillian replied finally coming up with what she wanted to do, so much for getting that new job.

            “Viv is finishing up some business but she has told me about you Ms. Carmichael,” Rosalina said. “I can meet with you directly?”

            “Well…if it’s not too much trouble.”

            “Not at all, my day is actually done, I was heading to the kitchen to make some tea and settle down to watch some news. See what my old colleagues are up to. Veronica let Ms. Carmichael in and take her to the office.”

            “As you wish Ms. Vasquez,” Veronica replied stepping aside, letting Lillian step into the penthouse. The bodyguard then closed the doors behind the hotel manager.

            “Since I’m heading to the kitchen anyways would you like something to drink?” Rosalina then asked.

            “Some tea sounds good if it’s no trouble,” Lillian replied.

            “It’s no trouble as actually I have a special blend from Brazil.”

***

            Ryoshi smiled thinking to herself how lucky she was, the mission had almost been failure and then all the sudden she had all of her positions filled. It had kind of happened by accident but Ryoshi now found herself with a whole pool of new talent: Ms. Val had been the first, then Melody, Sondra and Helen, and now Lillian. Sondra Parker had been a surprise coming along with Helen Darwin who was scheduled to be interviewed. The two ambitious women actually tried to buy out some property. Lillian was now resting her head on Ryoshi's pillows, a relaxed smile frozen on her face with her hands up at head height, Ryoshi working pulling off the last of her clothing. Ryoshi hadn't been sure if the hotel manager would be tempted, but it seems she'd lucked out after all.

            “Oh you are in amazing shape for your age,” observed Ryoshi as she saw Lillian fully nude, her white satin bra pulled away to reveal that despite the woman being over fifty she was in better shape than women over ten years younger. Veronica and Rosalina had delivered Lillian to Ryoshi and she'd then told them to wait in the other room, wanting some alone time. Val was also outside, Ryoshi having played with her a lot already and now wanting a chance with some of the new talent, while Teresita was tying loose ends up for Helen and Sondra who had already liquidated most their possessions.

            “Don't think I've forgotten about you two!” exclaimed Ryoshi, her naked form slipping away from Lillian as she moved to the two women standing at attention by the foot of the bed both dressed in their birthday suits. Ryoshi had been working on them when Lillian had come up for her late interview. Sondra Parker was first, the older woman of the two who stood with a sleepy smile on her face was casually pushed into the bed, her curly brown hair falling around her like a shampoo commercial. Helen was next, her own black hair ending up partially on Sondra's face as she hit the bed. Teresita scoped out the pain on the net and learned Sondra had few ties, twice divorced with no children, though she did have an older sister who had a family. None the less Sondra's family ties seemed easy enough to handle and her only real professional connection was Helen. Helen was pretty much a blank slate, two sisters she was listed as having zero communication with and Sondra appeared to be her main business reference. Sondra and Helen were essentially the perfect new employees.

            As Ryoshi dragged Sondra and Helen up to lay on either side of Lillian there was a knock on her room doors. The doors opened, Kate and Alexis entered, who'd returned with Melody who now dragging a purple rolling suit case with her. The property manager was still dressed kind of ragged despite her professional attire, but Ryoshi figured she could worry about dressing everyone up when she headed back home. The surprise of the arrival was that Kate had wheeled in a large cardboard box as well.

            “Report, Alexis,” ordered Ryoshi, approaching the box.

            “Affairs are in order, Ms. Forsythe's home is dealt with,” explained Alexis, standing at attention with her hands behind her back along with Melody and Kate, the box and dolly having been placed on the ground evenly. “There was however a complication.”

            “Explain,” demanded Ryoshi, and Alexis proceeded to open the box. The woman inside was quite attractive, having black hair, gorgeous blue eyes, fair skin and some sharp features that instantly made Ryoshi think she was Italian. The woman, in her mid-forties by the look of it, was in a black business skirt suit that included pantyhose, a circular pin on her left lapel and her short hair crossed with a wave in it. Ryoshi also noted large gold loop earrings, which she thought suited the woman. The woman had a look of surprise frozen on her face, her eyes wide and her mouth open, her right hand raised to her mouth.

            “Bonnie Corleone, Ms. Forsythe's employer, arrived and pegged her to return to work,” announced Alexis, her fake Texas accent fluttering a bit, Ryoshi noting she'd even said 'pegged' instead of 'begged.' “She refused to leave so we took her with us.”

            “I knew she might become a problem…oh well we could always use another manager, sure as heck can't send her back if this is how she looked when you froze her,” mused Ryoshi, quickly confirming Bonnie had been shot in the front, hence her pose. A quick inspection showed no wedding ring, though there was a tan line, and while Ryoshi didn't have a good look yet she was pretty sure the woman had at least one kid.

            “Kate, Melody, go and wait with Veronica and the rest, Alexis, go tell Teresita to look up Bonnie Corleone,” ordered Ryoshi, her three drones promptly doing as they were told. Ryoshi still needed to clean up after Lillian and now yet another woman was in her hands. Ryoshi didn't entirely mind, Bonnie being a decent catch, but after the complications with Val and Melody she was worried what baggage the blue eyed Italian might bring.

            As on cue there was a knock at the door and Teresita entered the room. “That was fast…what do you have for me on Bonnie Corleone?” requested Ryoshi as she carefully walked Bonnie out of the box, only to have the woman fall on top of her and leave them both laying on the floor.

            “Divorced six months ago, third marriage, has two children, both adults and estranged, recently posted her business was all she had and would hate to lose anyone as her employees were her only real family. Surprisingly enough the info was posted on her My Face page,” reported Teresita, ignoring that Ryoshi had toppled over.

            “I think I can work with this,” gasped Ryoshi as she reposed Bonnie a bit, moving her arms to be around Ryoshi rather than on her. “Welcome to Utopia Holdings.” Ryoshi couldn't help but giggle before she gave Bonnie her first kiss. “I think you came a little over-dressed for your first business meeting though…”

Utopia Towers, Caxias Del Sol, Brazil

12AM, Saturday

            River Peck was glad her black leather cat suit was well-insulated as she finished scaling the outside of Utopia Towers. The young thief had decided to scale the building from the outside, using a series of pitons to attach to balconies and then reel herself up with a belt-mounted winch.  The move had been tricky; it had taken River roughly fifteen minutes to scale to the top set of balconies, the job made harder by her satchel, which besides space for goods contained a special saw she used to quickly open safes and her trusty lock-picks. She wanted to go always the way to top but found the top four floors had no balconies and were just slick tinted glass. She was at the penthouse level though which was good enough for her. Catherine was waiting far below and a block away, the idea being River would just walk out through the elevator and meet with Catherine for the pick up. River did have a small wrist-mounted device she could use to temporarily scramble any security cameras so she wouldn't be spotted.

            Slipping into the last balcony, River noted it was a bit bare and had a peek inside. It was roughly half-passed midnight and the lights were off. Scanning inside River saw the living room was dark but there was light coming from under the floor of the door connected to the bedroom so she'd need to be quiet. Pulling out her special picks River made quick work of the screen door's lock and quietly stepped inside. Since there was light visible from a nearby room River decided to not turn on the lights or her flashlight, wishing with all the gadgets she owned she'd gotten a good, compact pair of night-vision goggles. Moving quietly River carefully put down her satchel on a couch, barely making it out thanks to the light from outside, and tip-toed over to the bedroom door. The door was slightly ajar so River was able to peek inside, then getting quite the surprise.

            Standing in the bedroom by the object that gave it its name was Angel Jenly, international film star and thus someone River was familiar with. The gorgeous woman was standing holding a glass of wine in her right hand, clad only in a red silk robe with her hair up in a purple towel. Angel's left hand was supporting her right elbow and she was looking blankly at another woman in the room with her. River could barely make out the woman with Angel but she had her hair pulled back in a bun, was wearing glasses and was clad in a loose white blouse and jeans with the tips rolled up, her feet bare. Both women were standing deadly still, and River just watched them. Time passed, and neither flinched. River noticed Angel didn't even blink after what she checked to see was three minutes.

            “Fuck it,” whispered River, carefully opening the door. River was now effectively in Angel's line of sight and the famous actress remained where she was.

            “I love your movies?” offered River at a normal volume, and Angel remained as silent as the statue she appeared to be. Now standing directly in front of the actress, River saw that the blonde, apparently Angel's assistant, was looking down at a CyPad in her grip.

            “Well this is messed up,” chuckled River, casually plucking the glass of wine from Angel's hand and noting that nothing was happening. River happily chugged from the glass and even dropped it, letting it shatter on the floor, and Angel remained as she was, as if she was just a wax mannequin.

            “Screw it, I'll question this later,” shrugged River, and she promptly got to work. Angel had a ring on her left finger that was easily slid off, River discovering that the frozen people appeared to be poseable as well since River had straightened Angel's finger to get at it. Next came a necklace that was around Angel's neck, appearing to be encrusted with rubies and after that the CyPad in the assistant's hands. Finally River pulled a watch off of the assistant's wrist, it appearing to be leather and gold, and decided to leave before her amazingly good fortune suddenly soured.

            “Thanks for the party favors,” offered River, patting Angel on the shoulder and watching, to her amusement, as the movie star toppled forward onto her assistant, leaving both in a heap like two mannequins at a collapsed display. Stuffing her stolen goods into her bag River carefully opened the apartment door and glanced out into the hallway.

            “Wow... so it isn't just them,” muttered River, getting a good look out at the hallway. A cute-looking brunette maid with a name tag that said 'JESSICA DREW' while dressed in a sexy French maid out was frozen in mid-step, another woman similarly frozen behind her. The second woman looked like a local Brazilian, wearing a white dress with a high collar but no sleeves that went down to her knees, gray horizontal stripes of various thicknesses lining it. The local had brown hair with blonde streaks and dark brown eyes, her slender face neutral with a bit of pouty lip. Jessica looked clean but the person following her was wearing a brass-beaded necklace with what looked like a black opal on it, so River happily walked up and carefully undid it, giving the silent woman a kiss on the cheek for her trouble. River then noted while the woman felt warm she was having trouble feeling a pulse, which did weird her out a bit, not that people frozen in place wasn't already. It did help that she had read about similar events like this helping in Europe and it was dream of hers to encounter something just like the situation she was in right now.

            A bit further down the hall stood another woman River recognized by name, namely the international super-model Lola Mateo, a gorgeous Brazilian with some French in her who had some naturally red roots as well as gorgeous blue eyes. Lola stood in a yellow bikini and brown sandals, looking to her right as her left hand was up as if to pull back the left side of her very straight hair. Lola's arm was slightly away from her side and she was looking, with an annoyed expression, at the nearby elevator. Glancing where Lola was River saw a slightly tall blonde woman in a brown pants-suit in mid-step exiting the elevator, a warning buzzer loudly sounds within the elevator signaling that the doors were propped. The blonde had her right foot forward and was eying Lola, a toothless grin on her lips as she held a camera in front of her. The blonde's hair was loose, looking a bit curly, and River noted she looked very natural as a statue, even in such a pose.

            Lola was clean but River couldn't let her go without taking something so River untied the sides of Lola's bikini bottoms and pulled it away, revealing that Lola did indeed believe in being a Brazilian in every sense. “I'm a bit jealous actually,” sniffed River, glancing at Lola's snatch before walking off with the model's panties, pausing by the blonde in the elevator she plucked the expensive-looking camera from the unmoving woman’s rigid fingers.

            Further down the hallway, River countered a pair of individuals standing outside of another penthouse door. The first was decently tall for a woman but still shorter than River, a brunette with a low ponytail wearing a black jacket, tight white T-shirt, loose-fitting jeans and brown cowboy boots. The second was a taller blonde, looking nearly six feet, the woman's hair cropped short and possessing sharp blue eyes, though her facial features were a bit round. The blonde appeared to be guarding the door and was all in black: T-shirt, shoes, pants, vest and gloves. The guard's arms were crossed and she was looking indifferently at the brunette, who had her left hand on her hip and was gesturing with an extended index finger at the blonde, her mouth open and a slight upward curl on her lips.

            “You fighting?” questioned River as she started checking the brunette, finding an old silver pocket watch, a plain silver ring and a CyPocket that she put in her satchel as well as a gun holster that she ignored. The blonde had little, just a wallet River decided to pocket after finding out the woman was named Dominika Chernov, a Russian-born woman by the looks of things with diplomatic credentials from the Belgian embassy. Figuring the identification might be worth something, plus the money in the wallet itself, River added it to her satchel before focusing on the door Dominika was guarding.

            “Okay, I need some space, so let’s just...” muttered River, taking great fun in pushing Dominika forward, causing her to topple onto the brunette and leave them both on the floor, their poses remaining though some hair was now out of place. “Oh that was awesome.” River then proceeded to use her picks on the lock, having not found a key on Dominika. Soon enough the door was open and River stepped into the next penthouse.

            The living room of the penthouse was very sparse, clearly the client having just moved in. The nearby kitchen was visible from where River stood though and that's where she saw her potential targets, who like apparently everyone else in the building was frozen stiff. A green-eyed, black-haired woman around thirty in a violet V-back dress was standing by the fridge, bent at the hip with an apple held to her lips by her right hand while her left rested on the back of her neck. The woman was gorgeous; her eyes shimmering even in the low-light of the penthouse, her features looking very regal and her somewhat fair skin shining against the red gloss on her lips. The woman also happened to be wearing a lot of jewelry, and River realized the woman was Princess Astrid of Belgium.

            A thin brunette was standing by the kitchen sink, her hand running under water. She was in a canary yellow-sleeveless blouse, her hair in an awkward bun and a white pencil skirt on below. Since the brunette had a purse River opened it and found out she was Victoire Glaisyer, apparently the Princess's personal assistant. The purse quickly went into River's bag but she did the woman a favor and turned off the water, which was apparently now ice-cold. Astrid meanwhile had at least four rings on, each having a different kind of gemstone, plus she was wearing diamond earrings and a necklace with a big sapphire in the middle. “These accessories just make you like cheap,” chided River with a grin, quickly removing all of the jewelry, taking great delight in particular with the earrings. Finally as a bit of a taunt River snatched up Astrid's apple and headed out of the penthouse, taking a few bites as she went.

            “All jobs should be this easy,” chuckled River as she avoided tripping over the fallen Dominika and friend, heading further down the hallway. River did want to know just what had made everyone apparently freeze in time, but at the moment she was just enjoying the freedom and living out her fantasy. The next penthouse door was no challenge at all, it was even unlocked.

            “Hello, professional thief here to-” began River, now being very callous, throwing the apple to the ground as she entered the apartment, but a sight promptly made her blood turn to ice. Another international super-model from Brazil was in the room, River knowing the woman as Calixta Teodoro, she had posters all over the city. Calixta was decently tall and had gorgeous dark brown hair that went down to the small of her back, currently wearing nothing but a white towel as she stood in an intimate dance pose with another woman. What had made River go cold as that the other woman, clad only in a towel and mirroring Calixta, was Catherine.

            “What the fuck?!” exclaimed River, running over to her friend and ignoring the third person in the room, a bodyguard type in black fitted black business skirt suit who seemed to be more or less standing at attention. “Catherine, what the hell!” River casually pushed over Calixta, not interested in the model, and violently shook her friend, who merely wobbled in place like all the other frozen people had. Catherine's face bore a sly smile and she looked almost like she was high on some kind of drug.

            “Catherine, snap out of it!” begged River, starting to pinch her friend. It was then that River heard movement and spun around, Catherine clattering against the floor as she was no longer being supported by River and off-balance. The third woman, who River now saw was wearing a name-plate that said 'IZEL CORTEZ', was moving and had a gun pointed at her.

            “The fuck did you do to everyone, you bitch!” screamed River, her hands at her sides and fear rushing through her chest. The only response she got was a gunshot and then silence.

***

            Scott was in his robe and enjoying the morning so far, having once again woken up next to Angel Jenly after finishing dealing with the pesky thief that had decided to break in. After Izel had identified the thief's companion Catherine Harper he'd decided to just gas the building, since it had been a while since he'd last done it, and give the thief a treat when she'd come in. Before the gas flood, which was combined with freezing all his chipped workers save for Izel, Scott had sent Parker to collect Catherine from her car, there finding identification on her and the thief, River Peck. Enjoying freezing Parker, Scott had decided not to tell her about the gas flood and instead asked her to check on their newest tenant, Princess Astrid. After River was caught Scott had settled in for some good fun, but made sure to unfreeze Parker before bed, deciding not to freeze her for long periods since she was more valuable without a chip on her neck.

            Entering his theater room, Scott couldn't help but take pride in the setup: Over twenty seats, a mixture of couches and reclining chairs, all of which having little comfort bonuses like drink holders that could be heated or cooled as well as massage functions. The back of the room also had a sort of concession area, a table that held a popcorn maker and both a coffee maker and slush drink machine, both connected to a special water cooler that was connected directly to the building's water pipes. A fridge with a freezer, ice maker and wine shelf was on the other side of the table, Scott making sure to always keep it stocked with some of his favorites, most notably some duck fat for the popcorn as he found it added a lot to it. The TV itself was massive, taking up nearly the entire wall, and had built in sensors for both hands-free menu navigation and smart-board functionality. Cameras were also in place if Scott wished to use the screen to video chat, which did often, and in a nearby pull-out cabinet were his media systems and a massive selection of movies. Scott had even picked up the latest video consoles and a few games in case he ever had his nephew down, though it had yet to happen, and Scott himself wasn't much for games.

            After making himself a cup of coffee Scott headed to the nearby couch, where three women were laying prone. First Scott had Lydia Talent, whom he'd had Izel collect early that morning for the experiment he was running. The business woman was dressed in silk red pajamas having directly been collected from her bed as she slept. Next to her was Catherine who was stark naked. The final of the trio was a mysterious blonde that had shown up during the gas flood the previous night, a photographer that had apparently annoyed Lola Mateo on sight. No identification could be found on the woman, and Adrianna couldn't find anything on her on the web and database searches, so he ultimately decided to dub the woman 'Maria Hill,' another Marvel comics character, and use her as another test subject. The woman had been strip down to her beige plain Jane undergarments when she was searched for her ID and remained that way for the test.

            Scott had been having Karen develop a new kind of Type-7 over the last couple of weeks, a kind he was nicknaming 'Type-7D,' the S standing for 'Death.' Type-7 did have some traditional effects as one would expect from a sedative, and in a way the state of stasis people entered when frozen by Type-7 was a kind of sleep. Scott however was interested in seeing just how well Type-7 could mimic the symptoms of death, just in case he'd ever need to fake his demise. The Type-7D better masked vital signs and the muscle stiffener would have a cycle similar to that of rigor mortis, or so the idea was. Lydia currently was slumped down, her back against the seat while her neck was the only thing the backrest was supporting. Trying to lift Lydia's arm Scott found it was rigid and was barely able to move it, thus it appeared the delayed stage of death was being well-simulated. Lydia had the drug in her system for roughly three hours. Scott also had special electro monitor fiber cables attached to each woman and was using them to check their true vitals, and at the moment none of them had, thankfully, actually died.

            Catherine was next, the would-be thief having slumped over entirely, her naked breasts touching her knees with her arms dangling next to her legs. Sitting her upright Scott saw Catherine was growing a little stiff but could still be moved around, her open eyes glazed and her jaw loose, she'd only had the drug in her system for about two hours. Maria, who was leaning over the side of the armrest with closed eyes, Scott also confirmed was completely limp, having been injected only an hour ago.

            “Well it looks like our friends are still with us,” Scott told the two statues he had in the room, both standing near the central recliner. River Peck stood on one side, flashing a big open-mouthed smile with her right arm out and thumb extended, the thief apparently overjoyed to be in the buff. On the other side was Astrid, the more regal woman merely standing with her hands on her hips and her head turned to her left, a relaxed look on her face as her dark hair spilled all over her. Scott had decided to put chips on Astrid's bodyguard and assistant, like he had with Angel, but wouldn't chip the princess permanently. Also like Angel, the Princess would be unchipped once it was time for leave Brazil. Her assistant and bodyguard would remain chipped and act as his sleeper agents the same went for Shannon Andrews. River, meanwhile, Scott had no qualms about, liking that she somehow reminded him of Megan Wolff despite not really looking like her and that fact that she was nibble and able to scale buildings also enticed him.

            “River, be a love and sit on my lap,” ordered Scott, the chip on the thief's neck springing to life as Scott sat in his chair. The gorgeous brunette planted herself firmly on Scott's lap, her legs dangling over the right side of the chair while she put her arms around his neck. It was then, naturally, that the video chat software kicked in and the screen came to life.

            Ryoshi was sitting in front of her laptop on a bed, Rosalina on her left with her head resting on the Japanese woman's shoulder, her left hand stroking Ryoshi's visible breast as the bed sheets only went up to her belly button. There was a couple hour's time difference between Scott and Ryoshi, Scott being further ahead so most likely awake longer. “Good morning, well, I was going to call you my love, but I see you're cheating on me,” greeted Ryoshi, grinning as she spoke as Scott casually ran his hand down River's backside.

            “We had a thief try to break in last night, so I decided to keep her,” revealed Scott. “Actually I acquired a couple more nice additions to our team. How did it go over there?”

            “Lets just say our management team is pretty much set. I’ll email you the new team layout in a little bit,” answered Ryoshi with a smile, then whispering something to Rosalina which caused the Cuban to leave the bed. “I'm just getting everyone ready for travel. Will a plane be waiting for me at the airport?”

            “I sent our new pilot,” confirmed Scott. “You'll love her... but try not to play with her while you're flying.”

            “You think so little of me,” complained Ryoshi, making a stink-face before chuckling. “So not long to your nephew's birthday... Have you gotten him anything?”

            “Had a woman come in just yesterday looking for a partnership, thought she'd make a good gift so I chipped her,” explained Scott, referring to Lara Zanella the now former real estate agent. Deciding to look a gift horse in the mouth Scott had chipped her after her propositon and had made Jessica do some measurements and such, though that had been delayed a bit due to River showing up. “I did consider him offering this girl... but he doesn't have a Brazilian and this girl reminds me of Megan Wolff for some reason.” Scott turned River's face towards the camera so Ryoshi could get a look at her.

            “Not sure I see it, but she is definitely a keeper,” remarked Ryoshi, nodding in approval.

            “You get him anything?” Scott asked next.

            “You'll see, Its a great surprise,” grinned Ryoshi.

            “Well hurry home,” Scott then requested. “I'm surrounded by beautiful women, but the fairest of them all is still at some hotel in Newark.”

The End

CAST

Colette Landry – Laura Vandervoort

Angela Schwarz – Lauren Ambrose

Janelle Gallegos – Elizabeth Mitchell

Jin Pierce – Moon Bloodgood

Matthew Strathairn – Jason Statham

Ryoshi Tenzo – Maggie Q

Valentine Mitchell – Vanessa Williams

Malika Davies – Malika Dudley

Rosalina Vasquez – Eva Mendez

Melody Forsythe – Linda Cardellini

Teresita Zuniga – Kate Del Castillo

Lillian Carmichael – Sela Ward

Roy Austin – Steve Austin

Kate Keller – Abbie Cornish

Alexis Sutherland – Naomi Watts

Veronica Estes – Paula Garces

Scott Dawson – Kiefer Sutherland

Adrianna Dashkov – Ksenia Sukhinova

Casey Adams – Jessica Biel

Shannon Andrews – Tara Reid

Angel Jenly – Angelina Jolie

Carol Danvers – Melyssa Ford

Parker Reich – Gina Carano

Jessica Drew – Elisa Gatien

Natalia Romanova – Kea Wong

Susan Richards – Alexz Johnson

Sarita Delgado – Valerie Cruz

Greta Stevens – Rose Rollins

Gabi Lachman – Gal Gadot

Karen Draskal – Josie Bissett

Lydia Talent – Dawn Oliveri

Lara Zanella – Deborah Secco

Mi-Young Hwang – Kim Hyo-Yeon

Naoko Kobayashi – Park Ji Hoon

Catherine Harper – Meagan Good

Torre Myers – Kelly Rowland

Heather Douglas – Alycia Purrott

Janet Van Dyne – Shenae Grimes

River Peck – Odette Annable

Izel Cortez – Roslyn Sanchez

Helen Darwin – Jennifer Connelly

Sondra Parker – Elizabeth Perkins

Bonnie Corleone – Debi Mazar

Lola Mateo – Adriana Lima

Maria Hill – Vanessa Branch

Dominika Chernov – Natascha Raginosa

Astrid Somers – Lynn Collins

Victoire Glaisyer – Bérénice Marlohe

Calixta Teodoro – Natalia Anderle