[Stuttrboy]

Tit's Up isn't quite dead but it's damn slow today.  Half a dozen bodies sit on perverts row and there are maybe three occupied tables.  The choking stench of cloves hangs heavy in the air.  You don't know how people can stand to smoke those things.  It's dark but the bright spotlights on the stage help wash out any blemishes on the skin and it feels warm on your skin a welcome relief from the chill in the air that the club owners sustain so people will buy more drinks.  The music is new and it's been making the scene in clubs everywhere,  an old school synth punk band named Idon.  The lead singers voice is haunting and sultry and it makes you feel sexy as you writhe and strut on stage then punctuated by intense refrains that adds to the diversity of your act.

You might have lost yourself in the moment but for the hair-raising intensity of an ork who observes you from one of the back booths typically reserved for lap dances.  Keeping an eye on him you notice one of the other girls come up to proposition him but he never takes his eyes off you just shakes his head, then thrusts a chin at you.  The girl looks at you, meets your eyes and shrugs.  Clearly you are wanted when your performance is over.

[Mercy Merchant]

Elena is a professional and actually loves the work.  She puts real effort into each performance, not the normal remove-your-clothes-as-fast-as-possible-so they-can-see it-all routine that many of the girls do.  No, dancing on the stage and dancing between the sheets, or any other place a client wants to do her, is about as close to any real emotion she ever feels or shows.  Her personal life is blah and any relationship is completely non-existent at this time, but performing on stage or in bed is...............well, it is her.  And the customers of the bar know the difference.  This may be a shitty strip bar in a crappy part of the Barrens, and the people that come here might be the low end of wageslaves or even worse, but they know the difference between a good performance and the listless ones most of the other girls give. 

Elena notices the back and forth between the Ork and the other girl, Cindy, and mentally shrugs.  Cindy is probably the only other girl here that seems really interested in the work.  She is supporting two kids and an invalid mother on the tips and wage she makes here and has seen that she can earn better than the norm if she puts real effort into it.  She is also probably one of the few people Elena might call a friend.  Elena stoops to pick up the scrip and notes with com codes from the stage, giving the slotters in perv row another good look at what she has to offer.  She silently makes a quick count of the take, deducting the portions she will have to pay the music guy and the Bailey, and is pleased.  There will be enough here to allow her to take a few days off and relax, if she wants to.  Then there are those upgrades to her implants that she is interested in and she realizes that this will put her a bit closer to that goal.

She leaves the stage after blowing kisses to the audience and goes to get dressed even as the next girl is being introduced.  After dressing, Elena stops by the "cage" and pays the music man his cut of the set's take and does the same with Bailey at the bar before heading over to where the Ork is still sitting.  She can walk quite seductively when she wants to and this time she wants to.  Elena stops in front of the booth and says, "Hello.  Would you like some company for a bit.  I can sit with you if you buy us drinks, or perhaps a lap dance?"

[Stuttrboy]

You can feel the bass in the mans voice as he speaks.  Those drink scams are for the house, I don't know why you guys ever bother offering those.  I mean unless you really like watered down soy beer on ice.  Lap dance please

He's still watching you intently.  Your chrome ever put guys off?  Or do you sometimes spring for the extra nice synth-skin?  I think the chrome is sexy.

He lays out a certified credstick.  Let's see what ya got.

[Mercy Merchant]

Elena gives the Ork a brilliant smile.  "Good money was spent making these as realistic as possible and most people cannot even tell I have chrome.  That you can tell the difference is impressive.  Those that do know are usually too drunk to care and are more interested in other parts of my body.  For 10Y you get a dance and my top comes off, 20 will let you see all of me up close and personal, 50 will let you touch me.  Anything else is possible and we can negotiate the price for those services if you are interested.  We can start out with the 10 and you let me know if you want to go farther."

Elena slots the stick in a reader she carries with her for such purposes and sets it at 10Y before hitting the send button.  Putting the stick back on the table, she presses a small button in the arm of the booth, bringing up some music for her to dance to.  The volume is low enough that any nearby bar customers will not be distracted from the music coming from the stage.  Anyone that can push a credstick across a table here is probably well-heeled, so she decides to do her best for this client.  She expertly  gyrates to the music, teasing the Ork with peeks and glimpses of flesh and turning to sit on his lap and push against him.  She can feel that he is getting aroused by her dancing and smiles, letting him know by her breathing that she is aroused as well.  The really funny thing is that she really IS aroused.  She genuinely likes the act of sex and loves the foreplay that leads to it almost as much.  After a couple of minutes, she times the removal of her top to the music, exposing her breasts to the man.  Facing him, she straddles his hips, sitting close to him where his eyes can feast on what he is paying for.  She is aroused and some of that inflects her voice as she purrs, "Do you wish to see more?"

[Stuttrboy]

The whole stick is yours I added an extra fifty for the lap dance.  Gunderson sent me.  The cred stick is a 500 dollar retainer for your services.  Apparently the guild has had a few lowelies go missing and you seem to have the perfect cover and skill set to investigate, even though it's not your typical job we think you can see how appropriate your are for the job.  Finding and eliminating the cause of these disappearances will gain you and additional 2500.  The ork leans back, done with business he appears to be looking forward to you working off the rest of his fifty,

[Mercy Merchant]

Elena smiles broadly at the Ork.  Gunderson is a frequent client for her other skill set. and she knows that she will accept his offered job.  She will contact him when she has a few minutes, but right now, she owes the Ork in front of her his nuyen's worth.  She leans forward, placing her breasts against the man's face, allowing his tongue to swirl and caress her very erect nipples.  Standing, she returns to her dance, teasing him even more as she slowly removes the rest of her clothes to the beat of the music, finally exposing all of her to the hungry stare of the Ork.  She idly strokes the man's obvious arousal through his pants and leans forward to whisper into his ear.  "For what you paid you get to touch.  Feel free to do so.  For one of Gunderson's friends, I can suck you off for an additional 20Y.  Interested?"

[Stuttrboy]

 Maybe another time.  Gunderson frowns on that while I'm on duty.  Talk to Kat she will give you pertinent info.

Kat is the madam for the neighborhood, but she's more like an agent or a den mother.  She gets a cut of everything, but she gets you jobs and she keeps the girls protected.  Having some disappear is bad for her business model and she knows it, she pays Gunderson for protection so could his people have been slacking off?  Not likely.

[Mercy Merchant]

Elena gives the Ork a final gentle squeeze and straightens up, nodding.  She bends over to pick up her clothes and gives the client a few last looks at her as she dresses.  She frowns a bit in genuine sorrow that she will not be taking care of the man tonight and pauses as she shifts everything back into place.  "I understand.  Come see me some time when you are not on duty."  she walks away with a swish of her nicely formed ass and walks back onto the floor to serve drinks and do more lap dances as requested, although she refrains from accepting any offers for sex after she gets off her shift. 

She takes a quick break during a lull on the floor to send a message to Kat.  >>Kat.  Elena.  I hear that some girls are not showing up for work.  Gunderson suggested that I look into it.  I am on shift at Bailey's place right now, so can we meet after I get off at 2 AM?<<

[Stuttrboy]

The response is almost immediate.  >>Of course.  I'll be at the Union as usual.<< 

Your shift ends quickly business doesn't really pick up much as the evening turns to night.  You make your way to the Union, the speakeasy slash club, slash brothel that is the hub of the prostitution network.  No Pimps, no madams, just an actual prostitution union.  There are dues, Kat is the current head but she is one of you, just with more connections and dues go to maintaining the infrastructure of the union and protection money from the guards at the union to the individual panic buttons given to each member.  The union is a bar, with a dance club in the back and rooms to rent by the hour upstairs.  The bar tenders are scantily clad eye candy that can mix a mean drink.  They wave happily at you as you enter.  There are a few people drinking and you can see the dwarf Mortimer lost in AR.  Mortimer is a well known fence and is allowed to work here as his exchanged tend to result in money being spent on the amenities and lets the girls make quick cash off any "presents" they may receive.  A troll bouncer named Malcolm leans against a pillar in the bar keeping an ever watchful eye on the girls.  He may look fierce but you know he loves the girls here and is extremely protective.  He thumbs at the door behind him the entrance to Kat's office. 

[Mercy Merchant]

The Union is a good club and Elena supports the idea of a means to organize the prostitution in the area and pays her dues on time.  She waves to the bartenders, letting her eye settle on a couple of them before turning to Kat's office.  She runs a hand along Mortimer's arm as she passes him, throwing him a wink.  Elena knocks on the door and waits for the call to enter before slipping inside and approaching the woman at the desk.

[Stuttrboy]

Kat is typing in the air on what you suspect to be an AR console.  Her trodes and glasses are both off the rack easily recognizable AR tools.  She smiles warmly at you as you enter but goes right back to working. 
I'm glad Gunderson got someone on this so quickly.  I have files on the two missing girls.  Their addresses, list of know clients.  Some girls keep some clients off the books but they may have info in their homes.  I don't usually worry unless it's obvious but this is one of the reasons we frown on that sort of thing.  I didn't see any obvious overlap except for a few regulars.  You can speak to them if you want but I doubt they would have anything to do with this kind of thing.  She flings her hand at you and ykir comlink buzzes letting you know it got the data. 

Let me know if you find anything.  Neither one used their panic button, so either the went willingly or they didn't have time.  I'm not sure which scares me more.

[Mercy Merchant]

Elena nods at Kat and leaves the office, pulling up the names and addresses of the missing girls.  She heads over to the bar and asks the girls there who might have been their closest friends and if anyone knew anything that might help.  "Did either of them keep off the books clients?  Or talk about some special appointment?  Maybe a new boyfriend?"  Elena looks at the other girls and waits for an answer, hoping for a clue.

[Stuttrboy]

The girls look at each other and shrug.  Pretty much everyone does.  Kat doesn't mind if it's just a few, says the brunette.  Though she sometimes uses that as leverage for special favors, business as usual.

Kati had a boyfriend but they broke it off last month, adds the redhead.  Kati said it was mutual, but I think maybe she hid what she did from the guy and he found out.  Jessica was into girls and she was talking about a new friend...never caught a name though.   I don't think it got serious though, Jessica hadn't made the "big reveal" yet and thought the chick was probably hetero, ya know?  Jessica bad this way of convincing them to experiment though...worked on me.  It was fun but not really my thing.

[Mercy Merchant]

Elena looks at the others.  "So no special appointment for either of them on the day they vanished?  Or the night before?  Some special sugar daddy that could help them get out of this life. perhaps?"  She knows that most of the girls are hoping for the big score; the guy who will put them up in some fancy house and come visit for a few hours when he is bored of his wife and she hopes that perhaps one or both of them had talked about something like that.

[Stuttrboy]

Not that they talked about.  It's kinda gauche to talk about it, since we aren't really supposed to do it.  Sorry we can't be much more help than gossip.  Have you checked their apartments?