It took longer than Cami expected for the conveyance to arrive at the Lepus Mal Central Home for Working Girls, but when they arrived, she was not disappointed. The home was located near the commercial district of the city and was, to her eyes, an imposing structure. More than thirty stories in height, it was by far the tallest building she had ever been in.

“Let’s get you signed in.” Jan said as they walked to the entrance. They went straight to the main desk.

“Jan ot Weir, guardian for Cami sis Nep, who is under contract to the Trigon Club, to sign in.” Jan showed her identification and guardianship authority to the guard, then motioned Cami forward so that Cami could present her own identification and authorisation documents’.

The guard looked at all of these, all in electronic form of course, then nodded to himself. “Seems in order,” he said and entered a command on his comm unit. “Scan your implants here, the girl first.” He motioned to a reader.

This had been expected by Cami, it was something they had to do at the start of each school year and were also scanned into and out of school every day. She moved to the scanner and placed her forearm in the proper position. Jan did the same.

Now satisfied that the pair in front of him were who they said they were, the guard turned to a colleague who had joined them. “The girl is yours, new contract.”

“Okay, I will sign her in.” He waved at the pair. “Follow me.”

Taking the necessary gene samples, face recognition pictures and iris scans was the work of just a few fractions. Before it was completed a young woman had joined them.

“Greetings Madam Weir, I am Dara sas Feeder, I have been appointed as mentor for Cami sis Nep.”

Cami looked over at Dara. She saw a woman several years older than her. Dark hair tied back in a braid gave maturity to a pleasant face. She was dressed in the usual style of Ti Lepus which covered the person but still somehow failed to disguise the body underneath. Cami got the impression of a slender yet no longer youthful body. She also had the impression that, for all the surface politeness, that there was some antagonism between the older and the younger woman. She wondered if this was a girl who had been assessed and received a contract to a salon but was never accepted by a patron.

“Greeting to you Dara sas Feeder, I remember you well.” No smile was exchanged as was normal. Jan ot Weir indicated Cami who was now having her eyes scanned. “This is Cami sis Nep, we have just arrived from the west and she is being entered into the security profiles.” The two stood in silence until the scanning was completed.

Cami stood up from the chair in front of the scanner and stood uncertain as to what she was going to do next. “Over here Cami.” Her guardian waved to her. “This is your mentor, Dara sas Feeder, she will take care of you now.” Jan pulled out her comm and pulled up a program. “Your implant please, Madam Feeder, for the transfer.”

Dara put her arm to the comm, a ring confirmed the acceptance of the transfer.

Her face blank, Dara waved to Cami. “Come and get your bags, I will show you where to go to get to your room.”

As Cami walked over, she turned to Jan and gave a small bow, “Thank you Madam Weir for your guiding me here. Good day to you.”

“And good day to you, Cami,” Jan replied, struggling to hold her face blank while returning the bow.

*********

Walking down the street to the Trigon Club, Cami could not stop looking around at the city scenes. The walk itself was a revelation, she had not expected that her new home would be so close to the club.

“The school is close by as well, it just makes everything more convenient.” Dara had told her. Dara had shown Cami quite a lot. Showing her where to sign into the buildings security system was easy. One of the guards had come with them and used his override command to confirm Cami’s identity. Cami then learnt that she could only go to the twenty first floor, where some of the girls for the Trigon club were housed. Arriving, Cami next used her implant to sign into the room she had been allocated. She was disappointed to learn that she was to share the room with three other girls.

“There are thirty six girls like you on this floor, all in nine rooms so that’s four to a room. There is also a room for me and three other mentors on this floor and the club has apartments on two more floors. Other clubs and other organisations also have rooms and their own floors, all girls, no men or boys allowed above the main entrance.” That last made sense to Cami.

“Any boys ever tried to get into the girls quarters?” She asked as they continued their walk to the club.

“On occasion.” Dara replied. She stopped and looked closely at Cami. “You must understand that not all people consider themselves bound by the rules of Ti Lepus. They feel that the rules don’t apply to them and think that they are free to do whatever they want to. So be careful and keep your guard up.” She pointed. “Look, this is the street where the club is.”

Looking around as she nodded in agreement with Dara’s warning, Cami realised that in the few blocks they had come, they had moved from a district with residential apartment blocks to one where there were a variety of stores, eating places and places of entertainment. All in the subdued manner of the people of Ti Lepus, at least on the surface.

Cami had wondered about this anomaly, the conflict between the strict rules of etiquette and both public and private dress that she had to abide by contrasting with the existence of the clubs such as the one which she was about to enter. Unable to resolve the conflict between the two opposites, Cami reacted as might be expected; she put it out of her mind.

“Where do we go in?” she asked as they approached the club. “Through the front door?”

“No we have our own entrance. Follow me” Dara went past the main door to an inconspicuous side door. “Here is where you will enter.”

*********

Back in the Lepus Mal Central Home for Working Girls, Cami met her three roommates for the first time. Two of them had been in school in the morning and early afternoon so both were to work at the club in the evening. It had surprised Cami when she learnt her schedule was to work the noon shift for most of her time with the evening shift rarely and only on the planets two days off. There were two days in the week when she would not be at the club, and these would rotate between the girls.

Two older girls who were sharing the room took one look at Cami, realised that she was a serious potential rival for any contract and suggested, in the polite but blunt way of the planet, that she keep to herself. The third girl, she had been at the club earlier, introduced herself as Nia ot Remma from a rural district just north of the city. A pleasant and amiable girl, she had quickly struck up a tentative friendship with Cami.

Lying in bed that night, Cami thought over what she had learned that day. Dara was pleasant but formal, with all the information with all the information given in a strictly impersonal manner. Nia may become a friend, but this would take time. Friendships in the Ti Lepus society were slowly won and easily lost. Cami also realised that she would have to manage her time carefully. She would be in the club from the eleventh period to the fourteenth period, every day she worked. This meant that she would have to leave the Center at least a period before that, to allow time to arrive, get ready and make herself perfect for the customers. She also need to remember everything that she had to do in the club, from all menus to clearing the tables. This had been made very clear to her by the Manager on duty that had shown her through the club.

School was actually easier. For her it would run from the seventeenth to the twenty first period and the school was in the same block. That meant that Cami could come in from the club, change into the school uniform and eat before going to the school. Her work load would be simpler as well, school work would concentrate on the core subjects and these would be spread out over the school week with only two or three subjects a day. So, while there would be more information per subject, this would be easier to deal with Cami thought.

‘At least I am here!’ Cami thought to herself. ‘It’s all up to me now. I will succeed and get a contract! A good one!’ Unbidden, the words that her brother Tremma had spoken to her about the Dark Lord came to her mind. ‘Why would I think of him,’ she thought. ‘He is nothing to me.’ A smile came to her lips as her thoughts changed to the Dark Lord, the supreme ruler of the Empire, giving her whatever she asked for. With a silent laugh at that pleasant thought she rolled over and went to sleep.