I stepped up to the inconspicuous door and gave the knock. Three, pause, one, pause, one. The door slid open, and I slid through.

The thick in the anteroom held up his hand. "Submit to the scan, please."

I held up my arms and spread my feet apart as he wanded me. Just as well I wasn't wearing any of my usual bug mods for tonight, since the thick would bounce me if the scan found them. Places like this didn't like anyone to grab images of their clients.

"You're clean," said the thick, putting the wand away and opening another door. "Enjoy."

"Thank you," I said, in my best dignitary voice, as I proceeded into the center of the den.

The main waiting room of the pleasure parlor looked nothing like the anteroom. Red upholstery covered practically every seat in the room. Gentle golden light undulated over the walls, between every door. The hostess stood to the side of the entrance, behind a registry console just like any restaurant. Most restaurants didn't have these sort of refreshments, though, not like the treats on display around the seating area.

"Good evening, madam," said the hostess, giving me a nod. She clearly wasn't on the menu, but she was still highly decorative, polished to the inch and every joint silky smooth. "Please look here." She held up a small sphere that painted my face with light, feeding the data to the console. I didn't dare peek at the screen, but I knew that it was using my face scan to generate my borrowed ID number, along with the credit rating that went along with it.

"Ah," she said. "Welcome back, Madam Councillor." So my guy's intel was living up to the hype, and my new face mod was already paying for itself. Nice. "Pardon me, but I thought you would be indisposed this week, at your unification summit."

"Now, now," I said, tapping the side of my nose. "What you don't know won't hurt you, my dear."

"Of course," she said. "My apologies." I could see the faint whiff of panic flash across her face, quickly concealed under the professional allure. Right. Keep my mind on the job at hand, going after that slimy excuse for a councillor. Business first, pleasure second. "Do you have a particular item in mind for this evening?"

"I'm here for Galatea," I said.

"Excellent," she said. "Please make yourself comfortable while I fetch her." She waved me over to one of the cushy divans in the pit in the middle of the room, and, well, I made myself comfortable.

Plenty of other clients were waiting for their appointments tonight. One guy was getting acquainted with a lady with six fingers on each hand. Another had one on each arm, moving in perfect sync. At first, I assumed that one or both of them had gotten cosmetic reskins, but then I realized that it was actually one lady with a split control stream, using a remote body double. Not a lot of parlors would be able to afford talent like that, but I recognized the guy she was working on. He sat on the board of at least three big corps in town, and he had his name on all sorts of charitable stuff. Shame they wouldn't let me grab any images in here. A shot of him and his two hers would be awfully interesting to an awful lot of people.

No, no. Business first, pleasure second.

Like a warm draft, I felt a hand on my shoulder. A voice slid into my ear like it enjoyed it.

"Hey, baby," she said. "Missed you."

I looked up to see Galatea standing above me, and I didn't have to pretend to enjoy the view. Every lady in here was as finely sculpted as you would expect from such an upscale parlor, but Galatea had something in her that made you look twice. As much as I looked forward to exposing the councillor and knocking her down a few dozen pegs, I had to admit that I admired her taste. I already knew that Galatea had a few mods of her own that catered to the councillor's particular preferences, including quick-release joints and a personal wireless control net, which I was looking forward to learning more about.

I took her hand and rose from my seat, stepping up out of the seating pit and slipping my hand around Galatea's waist. She gave me a smile that might even have been genuine, and she pulled me close. When she pressed her face against mine, I let business slide for a moment and stole a little pleasure for myself.

"Come on," she said once our lips parted. "Let's go somewhere."

"After you," I said.

She wrapped her own arm around my waist and led me into one of the side rooms, just as well decorated as the waiting room but with a slightly different flavor. A long bed sat in the middle of the room, with a sort of padded stool at the head. Galatea slowly disrobed and climbed up onto the stool, draping her luxurious legs on either side of the bed and patting the cushions with her bare foot.

"There you go, baby," she said. "I've saved your seat for you."

I reclined on the bed, wearing her legs like a feather boa, as I heard a click from behind me. While her thighs stroked my face and shoulders, I felt her hands walking down from the stool and alongside me. With a practiced maneuver, she pivoted her upper half into my lap, laying down against me and staring deep into my eyes. My hands wrapped around her truncated midsection almost on their own, but I couldn't deny them their priorities.

She smiled as she reached up under her chin with her free hand. I saw one of the panels slide aside as her finger found the catch, and her head detached from her neck. As her headless torso rolled over and moved one of my hands onto one breast, she lifted her head up toward me and handed it over.

"And this last part is for you, baby," she said. "I bet you can come up with something fun to do with it."

Right, then. To business. I held her head in my hand and made sure she was paying attention.

"Galatea, I need to tell you something."

She kept smiling, professional to a fault, but her brow furrowed a little. I took my hand off her breast and reached around the back of my head, in between her thighs. I found the little node that plugged in beneath my hair and gave it a twist. Her professional demeanor faded as the false face reset to my own features, and her legs tensed.

"We have duress codes," she said. "If you do one thing I don't want, three guys burst in here and take you in."

"No, no, don't worry," I said. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just want some information from you, and maybe some help. My name is Fira Timms. I'm an inquisitive."

"Yeah, I figured that," said Galatea. "You and a dozen others, sniffing around for mud to sling." I felt her legs part and slide away. She lifted her torso up and turned it around to face me, her arms folding. "Like there was anything wrong with people looking for a little close-up time and willing to pay for it. You got a reason why I don't have you bounced right now?"

"Look," I said, "this isn't the usual curtain-twitching, okay? The Four-Corner Coalition hired me."

That got her attention. Her arms uncrossed, and her eyes softened a little. She would have called for backup if I had mentioned a cranky spouse or a political rival, but it was hard to suspect the Four-Corner Coalition of anything nefarious. They didn't have enough money for that.

"I'm only here with you because the councillor is one of your regulars. The only time she ever lets her guard down is when she's in here with you. You're the only one she lets in."

"Hey, I'm good at what I do," said Galatea, arcing one eyebrow and smirking.

"That's why you're the only one who can plant this on her." I opened the stash hatch in my upper arm and retrieved the little slip hidden there. "It's a long-range uplink node. It'll send all of her internal telemetry data to a remote monitoring station. The Coalition will have eyes and ears watching over her shoulder whenever they want."

"How'd you even get that in here?" said Galatea. "Why didn't the door guy find it on you?"

"It's not sending right now," I said. I squeezed one corner of the slip. "Now it's on." I squeezed the corner again. "And now it's off again. You'll need to turn it on before you plant it on her, and then it will latch on to her internals and draw from her own juice. She'll never notice it's there."

"Hang on, I need a closer look." She beckoned to me. "Hand me over, will you?"

"Oh, right, sure." I gave her her head back, and she put it where it belonged before taking the slip from me.

"Where's it supposed to go?"

"Small of the back is best," I said, "but any available seam in the torso will do."

"What's this all about, Fira?" she said. "Why go this far to bug the councillor?"

The Coalition didn't want too many people in on their op, but they also trusted my judgment. Getting a civilian to help on a job like this usually cost a bit of cash, but she hadn't even asked. Maybe a little trust was in order. Besides, it wasn't as if she didn't have a good reason to help, even if she didn't know it yet.

"You remember the spill a few weeks ago in the Colonnade?" I said.

Her eyes widened a little. "Yeah, I heard about it," she said. "Are you looking into that?"

"Not anymore," I said. "I found out that a small-time group was hired for the actual work, and  I'm pretty sure I know who arranged it. I just need proof."

I reached up and held her knee, trying to help the news sink in.

"You mean that - "

"I've got eyewitness reports from most of the survivors," I said. "Including what's left of the Galmo family. You remember them, don't you, Jem?"

Her jaw dropped when I said her real name.

"Look, you know how much pull the councillor has," I said. "If I swing at her and miss, your bouncers will be the least of my problems. I need everything I can get on her before the Coalition can move. This will get it."

"I - I don't think I can do that," said Galatea, Jem to her friends.

"Well, there is another option," I said. "If you let me borrow your face ID, I can take over for you the next time she comes in for an appointment. Wouldn't be the first time."

She looked me up and down. I could feel her giving me marks, but I think I got at least a passing grade. "Yeah, I bet it wouldn't," she said with a wry little grin. "Do you have one of these, though?" She lifted up on her hands and stroked the underside of her torso with her foot.

"Definitely not," I said. "Still on the wish list."

"So it's up to me," she said. She closed her eyes for a moment. "I remember Loe Galmo. He always needed help with his lights."

She looked back at me. "Okay. I'll do it."

"Thanks, Galatea," I said. "And I'll talk to the Coalition about getting you recognized for this."

She tucked the slip under part of the bed, and she smiled at me. The real thing, not a performance. Just for me. "Call me Jem."

"Thanks, Jem." I smiled back at her, and I started to lift myself up from the bed, but her legs pressed my shoulders back down.

"Hold on," said Jem. "The councillor always stays for her whole time, and I figure you still have ten minutes or so left. Can't go blowing your cover, can you?"

I laid back on the bed, as she leaned forward and rested her torso once more against mine.

"Well, it's not like it's my money," I said. "Do you mind running up Madam Councillor's tab?"

"I won't tell if you won't," she said.

Her legs lifted up and pulled her closer to me. I felt her cheek with my fingers.

Business concluded. Time for pleasure.