Page 29 of Control

“More of this hack stuff,” I said as Reyna stepped closer to me. “Probably just her and a few of her friends have concerns and they just need me to help them make some sense of it all.” With that, I located Cris’s name on my friends list and teleported to her location with Reyna in tow.

The two of us spawned just inside Cris’s brothel, the most popular in the game where the girls often charge a small premium because they are attached to her. Cris is an official Madam in the game and is highly respected because of the way she looks out for the girls under her watch which is part of the reason she’s known as The Lookout. Any client that deals with any of Cris’s girls knows better than to handle them roughly, lest they pay the price by being blacklisted by all of her girls and when you end up on Cris’s blacklist, word travels far and fast so even those not under her may decline to service them.

The brothel itself was similar to a massive luxury suite on steroids, filled wall to wall with tables, barstools, love seats, and a small dance floor. In the back were all of the private rooms where the girls or guys, since some men were also in the business, would take their clients for some private time. The lighting was usually kept rather low and the music pleasant and elegant. The upper levels which were only available through an elevator was reserved for the most expensive girls and their guests.

When I first started escorting in Aurora there were no madams, but there were several wannabe pimps that treated their girls badly. I’d turned down many of them when they tried to recruit me and never felt the need to have one. Cris started playing about 2 months or so after the game went live and actually came to me for advice on being an escort. We talked about how it all worked and I told her about the pimps that were around the game and that it was best to avoid them. Seeing an opportunity, Cris decided to come with me to see a few clients so she could get a feel for the business aspect of escorting. After a week or so, she wanted to try her hand at being a Madam and recruited her first girl. I helped her out by sending clients to them that I simply didn’t have time for.

It went on that way for a few days until she managed to unknowingly lure away another girl from a pimp who was not happy to lose one of his money makers. After a shouting match ensued in one of the rooms the two of us frequented, I stepped in to settle both Cris and the rival pimp down. He walked away angry, but Cris was thankful for the help I provided. A few other girls that were with that rival pimp ended up leaving him and hooking up with Cris which led to another spat where he threatened violence which was quickly quashed by a moderator. After that flare up, we never heard from that player again.

At one point, when her business started to get bigger, Cris offered to partner with me since I’d helped her get started but I kindly turned her down. We remained friends though and I would visit with her often and she was even kind enough to send a few clients my way where my particular skill set would work best for them.

Taking Reyna by the hand once more without thinking, we walked to ward the elevator and using my private access code which Cris had given to me when she first started the room, the doors opened and we were able to step in. Cris’s private quarters were at the top level and again using my access code, we were granted access to it.

“So weird that they use an actual elevator here,” Reyna said as we stood there, the dimmed lights barely illuminating us.

“It’s more for atmosphere,” I said. “Using a teleporter just doesn’t have the same feel to it. Places like this like to mimic the real world as much as possible. If you use a teleporter, it just feels wrong.” Reyna nodded her head. It had just occurred to me that so much had changed since Reyna had been gone. We’d had a countless number of updates and patches. There was also a push to make sure the game, when possible, could offer as many items and assets as they could to make Aurora feel like the real world at least in the public areas that were created by the Dev team. Player created rooms did not have such limitations, but some people preferred rooms that felt as real to life as possible.

Once at the top floor, the silver elevator doors slid open and we were greeted by a handful of individuals that had apparently been awaiting our arrival. Cris’s private suite was the same as I had remembered it with high ceilings, dim lights, red, black, and gold furniture as well as a fully equipped bar and entertainment area. It was quite large and she was able to afford it all from the money she made being a Madam. As we walked further in, I spotted Cris speaking to a younger man and when she turned to us, she sent him away.

“Good,” Cris said to me, squeezing her hands together. She paused when she saw Reyna by my side with her hand in mind. Cris was aware of our past and that Reyna had left in a hurry. “Oh! Reyna! It’s…so wonderful to see you! I didn’t know you and Ana had reunited!” I looked at Cris a little awkwardly, but then saw her Irish eyes looking at my hand still holding Reyna’s. I realized and quickly dropped it and Reyna looked over to me for a moment.

“Oh,” I said to Cris while shaking my head. “We’re not…it’s not like that. She and I happened to run into each other and we were gonna discuss some business and then I got your call so I brought her here with me.”

“Right!” Cris said with a smile. “So um…Reyna. I’m gonna have to take Ana away from you for a little while. It’s a very private meeting. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh no!” Reyna said, not wanting to cause any problems. “It’s fine.”

“If you’d want,” Cris said to Reyna, “the bar is open and you’re welcome to anything you like. No charge of course for such a special guest!” Reyna politely nodded and smiled to Cris and headed over to a love seat by the bar where that same young man from earlier joined her, apparently offering to get her a drink. Cris motioned for me to follow her which I did. We walked through a set of mahogany double doors and down a long, brightly-lit hallway where there were several unlabeled doors on each side.

“I’d forgotten how beautiful she was,” Cris said, her short pink hair lightly swaying with each step she took. Cris was a beauty in her own right. Her pale skin and blue eyes attracted many suitors in the time I’d known her, but she was content with running her business while still occasionally having one of her friends visit her bedroom from time to time. “Not to sound crass, but remembering the things you and Reyna did together….” Cris let out a deep breath. “I bet you two had amazing sex.”

“We’ve never had sex,” I said to Cris which caused her to break out in laughter. She turned her head to me, still laughing and noticed that I wasn’t joining her in it. After a couple of seconds of silent walking and me looking directly ahead after a slight glance at her, Cris’s smile slowly dropped from her face. She stopped me by putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Are you being serious?” she asked, sincerely wondering if I was pulling her leg. “You two definitely had sex…right?”

“No,” I said, looking Cris squarely in the eyes. “Reyna and I have never had sex.” Cris stared at me, dumbfounded by my statement.

“Wait,” she said. “Wait, wait, wait. You have to be putting me on. You’re trying to tell me in all those times you two were together and doing all that crazy shit you all did that you never, not a single time, had sex?”

“That’s exactly what I’m telling you,” I said back to her. She shook her head at me as she tried to figure out how that was even possible. “I mean…yeah. We did all those wild things together and we were in each other’s company when all that happened. You know, us having sex with others. We even kissed some when they asked for it after the men finished on…you know what I mean. But as far as just Reyna and I having sex, one on one…no. It just never happened.” After another long pause, Cris shook her head again.

“How the hell is that even possible?” she asked me, completely bewildered. “You two were a couple for that long and you two never have sex. I just can’t see how that’s even possible, especially here.”

“We were never a couple,” I said which caused Cris to guffaw, putting her hand over her mouth as she did. As before, once she saw I was being serious, she stopped.

“Did I just completely misunderstand your relationship?” she asked.

“Reyna and I,” I said, pausing for a moment take a deep breath. “We were never an official thing if you know what I mean. It was a strange kind of relationship. People like to throw around terms like ‘Friends with Benefits,’ but that wasn’t us. The only way I can really describe it is maybe…more than friends but less than lovers.”

“What do you mean?” Cris asked. “Like soul mates?” I could feel my emotions beginning to take hold of me. I closed my eyes a moment to try and steady myself before answering.

“I don’t know,” I said, feeling my body temperature rising. “We were…we just bonded so much and….” I stopped myself for a moment. “I’m sorry Cris, but I really can’t talk about this right now.”

“Right,” Cris said, remembering why I was really there with her. “Right. They’re waiting for us. We should…yeah.” Cris and I started walking again, not saying a word to each other. Before too long, we arrived at stained-glass double door at the end of the long hallway. Pushing open the doors, Cris walked in and I followed, finally seeing who else wanted to discuss what had become a serious hassle up until that point. Inside was a large, circular table similar one you might see in a grand corporate office. Surrounding it were several chairs, business in style, with rolling wheels and leather-covered cushions.

I immediately recognized Mustafa, his massive stature and size hard to miss especially when compared to me. I walked right up to him and let him give me a massive bear hug the way he always did. I always felt like his muscles might one day try to eat me instead of making me feel safe! Pulling back from him I looked over his face, his wide and thick lips smiling at me as if he were really happy to see me. I always enjoyed visiting him in his room where some of the old stereotypes about black people were proudly put on display. Mustafa didn’t care though. What some people looked at as stereotypes I viewed as part of his culture, and he was proud of it. While his room did attract certain individuals that some in the real world might be fearful of, I always felt at home there since I’d grown up in a Black and Latino part of my home town. Being there among people that looked like I could have easily grown up with kept me at ease. It had been some time since I’d move out of that old neighborhood of mine, but I’ve never forgotten where I came from.

Giff was also there, dressed as he was earlier when he was spinning records in his club. I walked up to him and gave him our customary half hug and pat on the back. Of all the people in the game, he really did feel like a real life brother to me even though we were from completely different backgrounds. While I’d grown up in a not so great neighborhood, Giff had confided in me early before he revealed himself to everyone that in the real world he was from a prominent family. His father is well-respected doctor and his mother a successful business owner in Los Angeles.

---