The virginity auction, fully backed by Tingoo, and the night at the hotel were over. The driver from Tingoo who dropped me off said I should first catch up with the Winfield group, get some rest, and then handle the reports and discussions ter. He left me at the apartment building.

  As soon as I stepped inside, Mom rushed over and pulled me into a hug!?

  "Welcome back, Angelica. Are you okay?"

  "I texted you on my phone that I was fine. There's a bit of soreness down there, but nothing major."

  I nearly colpsed from exhaustion, but if I had, Mom would've been right there to catch me. Michelle was among those waiting to greet me. When I'd left, she'd said something brief like "Sis, please come back safe," but her worry shone through loud and clear. We couldn't linger in the entryway forever, so everyone headed to the living room.

  We're living in a high-rise rental apartment building now—the kind I'd never even seen back in Winfield. It's close to the brothel, so I commute by bike, which I bought for the first time ever. ...After practicing with rented protective gear and thick clothes, and taking a few spills, I finally got the hang of it. Apparently, imperial kids all learn to ride as children—impressive. They keep the gear rental system around for folks like us who pick it up ter in life. Especially since we're about to start selling our bodies; a scratch on this fwless skin would be a disaster.

  The automatic doors at the entrance and that "auto-lock" thing still freak me out more than they reassure me—I'm terrified of getting locked out. The pce is designed for special groups like ours to live together, but with an eye toward keeping rent reasonable. There's one luxurious suite per floor with a big lounge room and such—that's Mom's. A few family-sized units too. The rest are cozy singles (think a six-mat room with a unit bath and kitchenette, like a student dorm). It's rare for a whole floor to fill up with one group, but once the numbers are set, the extras open to the public.

  On shift days, a few hours before starting, Tingoo hooks us up with free meals, drinks, and makeup. If you want something fancier, that's extra. So living costs should stay pretty low.

  ...Except for Larry, who's not on Tingoo's payroll. He's still got early-stage Winfield citizenship—far from full imperial rights—and he's here as an out-of-town wyer and accountant. We're his employers, with Mom at the top. The gadgets he can use are limited to migrant-worker level, worlds apart from ours. He has mandatory room inspections and probably surveilnce too.

  Still, he gets to stick with us because he stays strictly within the w. Imperial ws and all are public info—no issue digging into that, same for industry maps and such. Sitting in on negotiations as our advisor or proxy? Totally legit worker rights. Past annexed countries must've had guys like him. But the empire's always batted those efforts away. It's like, "Go ahead, try it."

  ＊＊＊＊

  Once everyone gathered in the living room, I started my report... but first, they called me out on my no-panties mini-skirt—everything showing!—and my braless top with nipples poking through. It wasn't peak foot-traffic time, and it was just a car ride from the hotel, but if anyone saw, I wouldn't mind—in fact, I'd be thrilled, and congrats to the lucky guy... Okay, sorry, my bad!

  A maid, following orders, grabbed some of Mom's stuff in a different size for the quickest fix. I slipped into a side room to put it on. Acting like that silly mishap never happened, I put on a serious face and turned to Michelle.

  "This is going to be tough for you to hear, Michelle. But I need you to listen as long as you can handle it—try not to run away if you can help it."

  She looked pained but nodded. "Okay, I'll do my best."

  Mom had been at the auction, so I picked up from heading to the hotel with Marquis Ansbach. How he treated me gently and guided me through all those firsts. I'd only known about this stuff secondhand before, but it brought my fantasies to life in a big way—giving me real confidence for my future as a prostitute. When I revealed my kinks for the first time here, everyone looked a bit shocked, but I expined how the marquis embraced them fully, cheered me on, and seems like a reliable supporter going forward.

  Michelle's face, already grim, went even paler, but she stuck it out to the end.

  When I mentioned we'd dive deeper into what's next, she said, "I'm still processing everything about you right now, Sis. Once I've wrapped my head around it, I'll listen to more—so can we stop for today?"

  Mom and I wrapped her in a hug.

  "You did great today," Mom said as she walked her back to her room. "You've still got time. Take it at your own pace, bit by bit."