Shadowrock, Chapter 6 (Patreon)

Chapter 6: Contact

The couch was surprisingly comfortable. High-class furniture is usually made to look fancy, rather than be comfortable and functional, but there were always exceptions. A classy-looking couch that was still easy to sleep on was the kind of practical flex the congressman’s image would suggest. And it made getting a few hours of sleep much easier for me, which was nice.

I woke up early, at about 06:00, when Holly’s cousin, the housekeeper, started working on breakfast in the kitchen. I checked in with my team, and found that Cougar was on watch. The girls had talked after I turned in, and decided on a strategy for dealing with the Congressman and his family.

Cougar: The plan is to turn over only a portion of the recordings TechKat recovered from their server. Ones involving the family’s friends, instead of some of the more important people. That will limit your exposure.

Cougar: As further insurance that you don’t get blamed for this, TechKat purposefully left some signs that the server got hacked, with the timestamps altered to show that the intrusion happened last week, long before you showed up at their house. Not obvious enough that they’ll show up immediately, but the moment someone starts really looking, they’ll see that the server was hacked a couple times, and the trails both lead to a neighbor’s house. The husband and wife show up separately, in two different recordings, and they’re apparently going through a messy divorce.

Pussycat: So, any heat from the Congressman and his people will start looking for whatever hackers the unhappily married couple used to go looking for evidence of cheating? And the timeframe means that they won’t be looking directly at me?

Cougar: Pretty much. Thin, circumstantial, and doesn’t really ask the question of how they would have known to go checking the Congressman, since the Laésal Wine didn’t leave memories behind. Though the fact that each of them did the ‘walk of shame’ the next morning would be enough for people already suspicious of their significant other to send a hacker searching.

Pussycat: Sounds like a plan. What about my ‘morning after’ chat?

Cougar: Well, the girls and I talked it over. If you think you can swing it, this might be a way to rope in a Congressman as a contact. Not one we could use often, and we would need to work to get the loyalty up. But I don’t think any players have those kinds of contacts, yet. Also, TechKat sent you a code for four free VIP seats with backstage passes for our next show. Give that to your fangirl, and she’ll probably help convince the parents.

Pussycat: whistles Trying to pull that off would be impressive. So, start with the biomonitor and simrig, toss in the tickets, and see where the conversation goes from there?

Cougar: That’s the idea. Putting things in those terms may also help keep them from thinking you know about the cameras, or the recordings. Of course, it may also make them consider tying up loose ends.

Pussycat: What about the Mr. J who contracted us to find blackmail material? Even if there’s nothing directly connecting us…

Cougar: Like I said, it depends on how persuasive you think you can be. If you don’t think the Congressman can be swayed, then don’t bring it up.

Pussycat: What about an ‘anonymous tip’ to some tabloid types that Casey Rhodes, lead singer of Kittenz, went home with the Congressman? If they get one of their ‘journalists’ over to try and take pictures of anyone leaving…

Cougar: Good call. I picked a tabloid blogger as a contact, so I’ll drop her a line.

Pussycat: You girls still ready to evac me, if needed?

Cougar: Lioness just woke up, so yes.

Pussycat: All right, I hear people coming. Keep the channel open, and we’ll see how this goes.

I made a show of stretching as I ‘woke up’, just as Grace walked in. She was all smiles as she came up to me, the happy fangirl once again, instead of the sexual predator her parents trained her to be. Since we were doing this, I decided to go all out with it. Before Grace had a chance to speak, I’d already pulled her into my lap, and sealed her lips with a kiss. She kissed me back, half in shock. It became all shock when I grabbed her ass through her sundress, and whispered in her ear, “You know, Grace, if you’re going to drug people in the entertainment industry, you should really ask if they’ve got biomonitors and simrigs running. You naughty girl.”

Grace’s eyes went wide, afraid, but that quickly melted into lust as I kissed her again, and began pulling her sundress off. She had to muffle her moans as my lips met her nipples, knowing that her housekeeper aunt was in the kitchen nearby. By the time her parents came down, she was naked and kneeling between my legs, eagerly eating me out.

“Grace!” Nicholas said, sharply. There was surprise and a bit of anger in his voice, though I knew it wasn’t religious outrage, but rather him getting upset that Grace wasn’t following the rules they had for their games. What was the point of the drugs if you gave the target new memories the next morning, after all?

I smiled at him through half-lidded eyes. Grace really was good at this. “Mmm. Don’t worry, Congressman. Your daughter is just doing her best for playing that nasty trick of drugging me last night.”

Nicholas and Holly stiffened at that, but it was Holly that spoke first. “But, how? You shouldn’t remember anything!”

Pussycat’s Con test: 15d6 = 5 Hits, 2 Miss

Nicholas’s Negotiation Test: 12d6 = 3 Hits, 3 Miss (2 Net Hits)

I moaned as Grace’s tongue hit my clit just right, causing me to cum on her face. I pet her head as I looked at Holly, and said, “I don’t know who redressed me and cleaned me up after I went out, but you should know that an active simrig keeps recording even after someone goes unconscious. When I woke up to an unfamiliar room, a biomonitor telling me I’d been drugged, and no memories of the gala, much less the night? Obviously, I checked to see what I’d missed.”

The congressman’s face went pale as he realized exactly what kind of position he was in. I was, after all, a national celebrity, and his reputation was one built on being squeaky clean. The tabloids would run wild with any story I put out. I looked him in the eye as I stood, guiding Grace to her feet at the same time. I stalked over to him like a predatory cat, and reached down to start stroking the front of his pants. It was strange, touching something I had recordings of me truly enjoying, but didn’t have any memories of, but I put that dissonance aside, for the moment.

“I want to start by saying the only thing I’m upset about is the decision to drug me. But I can look past that, since I know you have a reputation to consider. In fact, I’m going to do you a favor, Nick. You don’t mind if I call you Nick, right?”

The congressman was visibly flustered by my actions, which, well, was completely understandable. “Ahem. Ah. No, Nick is fine, when we’re in private. My friends call me Nick.”

“Excellent. And I do want to be your friend, and for you to be mine. Which ties back to that favor I mentioned. I’m guessing this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this, but I’m guessing the other ‘guests’ weren’t wearing biomonitors, or didn’t have simrigs. So, my favor for you is something you can use next time.”

“N-next time?”

“Yes, because I am sure that you’re going to have other women over for the same experience in the future, just as I am sure you know that, as an entertainer, the tabloids are always looking to create ‘interesting news’ about me, and the rest of Kittenz. I have a friend who helps keep anything too damaging from seeing the light of day. The kind of friend that no one should find a direct link between them and a sitting congressman, you understand, since not everything they do is strictly legal. And, because of the circles they run in, it is best that they not be seen communicating with people in government.”

Nicholas relaxes slightly, as he gets the shape of what I’m saying. “So, if I come across a situation where someone finds some ‘false information’ about me, I can speak with you, and you can have a word with your friend to ensure that the information either disappears, or is completely discredited? And I’m assuming that there would be a fee for this, naturally.”

“Of course, Nick. You know what the old saying is. If you aren’t paying for a product, you are the product. And while both of us are the product for certain things, I don’t think either of us want to be that kind of product, yes?”

Nicholas took a breath, and said, “You’re taking this better than I would have expected. And you aren’t pushing for nearly as much as you could.”

I smiled at him, and said, “Like I said, I’m mostly just upset that you drugged me, but I understand the need for secrecy. So, I’m willing to let that slide, and we can all be friends. And friends don’t take things too far when the other side is over a barrel. That just convinces them to become very ‘unfriendly’ the second they think they can get out from under you.”

Nicholas chuckled. “So, a long-term play, because pushing harder would make me want to push back? And you’re just telling me this?”

“I’m telling you this because I want this to be a long-term play. And you don’t start a long-term relationship by insulting the other person’s intelligence. Even better, you don’t have to come up with a reason to get in touch with me. Your daughter is a fan of mine, after all.”

I turned to look at Grace, who had gotten dressed by this point, and tossed a digital code from my commlink to hers. “That will get you four VIP tickets to Kittenz next show, for free. I also tossed my contact info in there, though I think you know you shouldn’t go spreading that around. But if it happens to end up on your father’s commlink as well…”

Grace squealed in delight as she realized that the commcode and tickets were real, and jumped at me, hugging me. “Oh, this is the best! The best ever! And there’s backstage passes, too? Oh, Daddy, can I go? I could bring Leah! And maybe Jessica and Kristy?”

Nicholas and Holly shared a look, and he sighed. “Sure, sweetheart. Go ahead and call the girls. Just remember to not say too much about how you got them, or why.”

I chuckled, and added, “The simple story is the best. An enthusiastic fan found me at the gala, and more than a few drinks were had. Because the Congressman did not want to put me in a vulnerable situation by letting me take a cab while impaired, he insisted that I sleep on the couch, and I thanked him by giving you the tickets the next morning, since we had such a fun conversation, and I wanted to win points with a powerful man like your dad.”

Holly just shook her head. “Lying with the truth, really?”

I shrugged. “The best lies are at least half true. When they’re almost completely true, then it is even better. And it is something that won’t hurt Nick’s reputation, and won’t hurt mine, either. Everybody wins.”

Nicholas nodded slowly. “Yes, everyone wins. And I think having your comm code would be useful for the future.”

New Contact

Name

Nicholas Anderson

Type

NCSA Congressman

Connection

5

Loyalty

1

Nicholas Anderson is Atlanta’s sitting representative in the NCSA Congress. He has a reputation for being completely honest and incorruptible, both financially and personally. Of course, the secret is that he enjoys finding attractive women to share with his wife and daughter, before dosing them with Laésal Wine to remove all memories of the encounter, so that they can never prove anything happened, and his reputation remains secure. And it worked, up until he targeted Pussycat. Fortunately, they came to an understanding for moving forward.

I smiled at the notification, but further conversation was cut off by the siren call of breakfast being ready.