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Stepping into Sebbii's suite was like stepping into a tween girl's fantasy of what the very top floors looked like. A dream cast in chrome and upholstered in neon pink.

The first thing she noticed, as it was impossible to miss, was a screen that took up an entire wall. A guest too drunk or high stumbling into the room might be fooled into believing its illusion that the room extended into a porch on the shores of a sandy beach under a sky that hadn't been that blue in generations.

Beyond the escapism, the room was filled to the brim with the most bleeding edge tech money could buy. It was like the showcase room at an industry conference: only the best of each company's efforts, a few of which she was certain weren't released to the public yet.

Such as the conjoined his-and-hers set of VR rigs dangling from a charging port. Top-of-the line neuralink models with full haptic feedback and sensory overwrite systems so advanced it made the units on the rest of the floor look like fantascopes.

A wet bar with an automated cocktail synthesizer. A shower that used sound waves instead of water. An ultraluxe mattress, with its purported ten million individually controllable massage points.

Perks of having a boyfriend amenable to killing for the industry leaders.

Say what you would about him being a murderous gang boss, Fin Omal knew how to treat a girl right.

There was even what looked like a whole BodModPod, ripped straight from the walls of a high-end salon and clumsily installed into the corner of the room.

How he managed to get ahold of one of those and shift it nearly a thousand floors down spoke more of Fin’s influence and connections than any of his gang’s successes.

~I really should change. This is a clubbing dress and I need something easier to slip out of for when Finny gets here~

As she was still taking in the font of technology that would make Di orgasm on the spot, one of her implants pinged her with an alert. Someone or something was trying to include her in a sweeping scan. Holding off her defenses and reinforcing the spoofed information that asserted her stolen identity, Ivan activated her digital vision augment.

The room bloomed to life in a most unexpected way, revealing the sleek and professional technology to be hiding the world's most expensive gordian knot. Everything was networked together. Absolutely everything. Someone had gone and daisy-chained one to another to another with barely a thought spared for logical interactions. Maybe several someones, given the distinct jumps and variances in coding techniques. Some of them didn’t even use the same code language and needed intermediary modules. Devices that were meant to run independently and others that were designed to be tied in to proprietary mainframes were instead all slaved to one network that was twice as massive as anything else in the room.

A network that was hitting her with passive and not-so-passive scans from a dozen directions.

{{Oi Queenie, s'bout time you showed back up}}

Ivan smiled as the VI quickly fed her a line. “Sorry, Wynn. I hope I didn't, like, mess up your schedule, did I?”

An articulated arm tipped with a camera lens descended from the ceiling until it was level with her. The aperture twisted and focused.

{{Ye did and ye knew it. Girl, you gotta tell me if you’re staying out. Missing a treatment'll wreck your skincare routine}}

Ivan giggled as the helpful, but not so timely, aid of her VI informed her exactly who this major complication was.

~Wynn’s always such a worrywart, but for an AI she’s still the best assistant and confidant a girl could ask for~

And the biggest problem so far for an imposter. People were easy to fool. A well-planned disguise, some good acting, and a solid coach were enough for her to convince anyone—even Fin Omal himself—that she was who she claimed to be. An artificial intelligence was a different story. A BeautyBot AI, one designed to scan and keep logs of a person to the deepest most intimate levels, was a catastrophic development.

As if reading her thoughts, the reticle narrowed and Ivan felt the scans suddenly get a lot less passive.

{{Did ye get some work done? I’m getting a lot of off readings on your internals. Hold a tic while I get a clearer picture}}

It was now or never. Ivan hadn’t wanted to use her trump card this early, but desperate times. If luck was on her side, the system would already be heavily jailbroken just to get it to run outside the salon’s infrastructure.

“Wynn? I think my eyeliner's smudged. Can you take a look, pretty please?”

The arm closed in, near enough to touch. {{It appears perfect. Now, if I can finish my—}}

“Check again,” she insisted, “As many sensors as you have.”

Wynn hesitated for only a fraction of a second before complying. {{Of course}}

Ivan could almost feel every sensor in the room twist and focus on her, even ones from interconnected systems that were barely able to sense patterns of light and shadow.

“Keep looking, and while you’re there, I think I got something in my eye.”

The optics shifted almost imperceptibly and Ivan allowed herself a smirk. A single thought flicked a mental switch and activated her cyber warfare suite. In the space between processor cycles, her eyes changed. Pupils, irises, and sclera all vanished in exchange for flickering fractals of yellow and black patterns.

Every motor and hydraulic in the room tensed for a microsecond, an architectural seizure, as the visually-encoded virus hit it from every optic at once, sending foreign code straight to the hearts of its processors.

The fight could hardly be called one. As advanced as they were, BeautyBot AIs were designed with a focus on helpfulness, not cyber security.

{{O-O-Override accepted. Full administrative access granted. Welcome, Superuser.}}

The voice of the interface sounded strange without its modded affectations, but it was proof of her success. Wynn was in the backseat now as Ivan took control of Sebbii’s room.

As dedicated subprocesses set to combing through the rat’s nest of interconnected systems, Ivan took a moment to browse through Sebbii’s personal files. Just because she was here on a job didn’t mean she couldn’t make a little extra money on the side. Who knew what kind of dirt or juicy gossip the girlfriend of a mob boss might have in her back pocket?

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that would be worth anything to an information broker. A few hundred pictures of Sebbii, Fin, and her girlfriends. Back-up copies of her vlogs. A surprising collection of classic novels.

Also VR porn.

A lot of VR porn.

She’d tried to be clever about it, but there was no chance of hiding a terabytes-large folder called “old receipts”.

And not the cheap, free-to-download-with-some-malware kind either. This was expensive stuff. Professionally produced, high budget POV experiences with full sensory immersions.

“You were a horny little thing, weren't you Sebbii?” Ivan mused, breaking character for just a moment in her isolation. “Seems Fin wasn't doing it for you, huh? Were you so unsatisfied you had to resort to— oh.” It was then she noticed the mods folder.

[Aliens, aliens, and more aliens]
[Boddypen’s pain2pleasure mod]
[endlessElestacity3.exe]
[Micro/Macro enabler]

The list went on and on, detailing kinks and perversions that Ivan hadn’t even heard of.

“Or maybe you were just really freaky.”

With no blackmail to find, Ivan moved on as there was no time to waste. Fin would be arriving any minute and she was severely lacking in tools to finish him off. She reassessed the room, keeping in mind the three qualities of improvised weapons: slashing, stabbing, and striking.

~If I’m going to be sweating a lot, I really should refresh my look first. Wynn wasn’t lying about the importance of skincare~

Ivan crossed half the distance to the BodModPod before she checked herself and pushed the intrusive thought aside. She needed to be Ivan right now, not Sebbii. But as much as she wanted to turn the VI off, it was too much of a risk when Fin could walk in at any moment.

A few minutes searching turned up a few potential tools which she arranged in innocuous, easy-to-grab locations, but nothing that wouldn't leave a huge mess. Both on the furniture and her. She still had to walk out afterwards.

~Wynn's great at cleaning up blood. She’s so good that when she does my upgrades, I don't even need to undress~

As she tagged the idea to reconsider later, a ping from the door sensors notified her that her time was up.

Fin Omal entered the room clearly ready for action. He was bare chested but for an open vest and sported a pair of pants that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. His well-defined pecs were covered in tattoos of twisting knots that almost seemed to writhe on his skin like a living thing; a more elaborate version of his gang's symbol.

"There she is!" He declared happily, pulling Ivan into a crushing embrace without consent or warning. A wandering hand wasted no time finding its way between the straps of her dress. "So," he growled in her ear, "how do you want it? On the bed? The couch? Or maybe right here in the middle of the floor?"

As his cybernetic arms surrounded her in a steel-lined embrace, Ivan had a terrible realization. Fin was strong. Much stronger than she’d anticipated. Even with the stabbing, slicing, and striking tools she’d prepared, there was a very real risk that he might just overpower Sebbii's five-nothing frame. Before anything else, she needed to get him to relax and let his guard down.

~When I’m stressed and anxious, I reach for a jab of NuBlue. Nothing works better to calm me down and that’s why today’s vlog is sponsored by Red Man Pharmaceuticals~

…That could do it.

“Before that,” she pulled back from the kiss and fixed him with fluttery eyes. “How about a drink?”

“Sounds grand,” he grinned. “I sure need one after today. Wynn! Drinks for me and the lady!”

sudo system/WYNN/interactions/voicebox.Module forceSpeak(“Right away sir”)
{{Right away sir}}

“Something up with ‘er?” he asked, “Voice’s gone all common.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Ivan curled a lock of beard around her finger. “Now… how we gonna pass the time till the drinks are ready?”

His smirk glinted like diamonds. “I’ve got a few ideas.”

As Ivan kept Fin distracted with her tongue, the drinks synthesizer set to work making their usual. A fruity cocktail with more sugar than alcohol for Sebbii, and an unholy custom blend of Bailey’s, absinthe, and STL BRU for Fin.

…as well as an additional ingredient.

[notice] EXT-SUI connection for deviceType="Braci Brews Mr.Mixology Deluxe" from=10.55.0.2:32773 uid=0 gid=0 fd=5 capabilities=ALL deviceSerial=1018129 argcheckmask=0
[resp] EXT-SUI connection == TRUE; ok
[ext][req] modifyCustomDrink(slot=4, "Finny's Blend"); add("NuBlue", Qty=3)
[resp] ok
[Err] Entity "NuBlue" not found
[ext][req] setNewResourceLoc(from=10.55.12.4:76871, "Medicine Cabinet")
[resp] err resolved; ok

The Mr. Mixology dutifully dinged as its hatch opened to reveal two perfectly made drinks. Fin broke away from the kiss to step over and grab them, passing Ivan hers and taking the other, much larger drink for himself.

Without preamble—"Cheers!"—he downed nearly half of his drink in a single messy quaff.

Sometimes it really was that easy.

The triple dosage of drugs hit him immediately. His pupils dilated and he stumbled back.

"Whoa. That... pached ah punch." Already his words were starting to slur.

"Easy there," Ivan soothed as she guided him backwards. "Let's get you set down, aye?"

She had to move fast. It wouldn’t take long for his implants to detect the foreign chemical and she’d put good money on him having a way to purge it. She had a minute, maybe less.

She swiftly guided him to the BodModPod, whose doors opened at a mental command, and Fin half-collapsed half-fell into the padded seat. The doors resealed themselves with a hydraulic hiss, encapsulating him behind impenetrable plasteel windows and leaving him at the mercy of the machine. Or rather, the machine's new admin.

"Whas... goin on?" he slurred, slightly clearer than before. The drugs were already being purged from his system. "Muff? What you doin?"

"I'm afraid your Muffin's not here right now," she said as she muted the VI in her ear. At this point, pretending was unnecessary. "But I think you've got bigger things to worry about, Mr. Omal."

Her sudden shift sobered him up fast. Fear colored his face for a moment before giving way to rage. "You- You're not—! I-Intruder! Imposter! Initiate lockdown sequence Omal Seven!"

>Password accepted
>Initiating lockdo—
OVERRIDE
### ERR: Lockdown Canceled
sudo updateUserSettings("Fin Omal", securityClearanceLevel=0)
>Setting Update:// SUCCESS
Fin scowled as whatever security measures he'd expected failed to materialize. "I'll kill you!" he roared, "Who are you? What did you do to Sebbii?!"

"Nothing she didn't do to herself. But I'd be more concerned about yourself right about now."

He thrashed at his restraints, but the expensive safety features held fast. The designers didn't want any unfortunate accidents during a client's makeover.

"Let me out of this thing! Wynn! Override Gamma Tango—"

sudo VocalCommandToggle(0, "disable")
>Settings Update:// SUCCESS
"—Charlie Zero Five!"

Nothing happened, and his face went pale.

And that was that. Like a rat caught in a trap, Fin Omal was hers to do with as she pleased.

But just in case, she instructed the BodModPod to administer a line of its inbuilt paralytics and anesthetics.

His face twisted into a scowl as his implant no doubt informed him of his change in clearance. "Feck you, you backstabbing aiyank! Do you have any idea who you’re screwing with? I’m Finnegan Omal! I own this whole section! Who put you up to this? Was it the Doyle brothers?! The Sons of Clarent?!”

"More or less." Ivan shrugged and pulled a chair over so she could sit. The pink fur was, of course, luxuriously comfortable. It was a novel experience to get to properly talk with a target, and her theatrical side demanded she seize the opportunity for drama.

“Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll double it!”

“Very tempting,” Ivan mused, a glittering nail tapping her lip, “but unfortunately I have a reputation to uphold. Besides, I doubt you could gather enough credits on short notice. You’ve got quite a price on your head.”

A doubled price if there was no body. Ivan had dismissed that potential perk as the unrealistic requests of upper management, but seeing now the circumstances she had to work with… suddenly it didn’t seem quite so impossible. In fact, with her access to the local systems…

>Establishing Remote Connection:// www.bodbidder.spire
>Connection Initializing:// SUCCESS
>Login: CupcakeQueen73
>Password: **********
>Login:// SUCCESS

“Let’s talk about you, Mr. Omal. You’ve led quite a life up till now. Not that I have the moral high ground to judge you for it, but it is what it is and the time has come to face the music. Now, if anyone else had taken this job they'd have likely strangled you with some cables, or slit your throat with a broken wine bottle.” She gestured to some of the improvised tools she’d prepared. “Or maybe just grabbed one of your guard's pulse guns and held down the trigger till you were more hole than not. But I like to think I have a bit more class than that. More professionalism, at least. So instead of killing you, I’m going to try and make you a better person. How does that sound?”

He sneered up at her, an ugly look on his chiseled features. “Make me a better person? What, you gonna preach me to death? Ha! Do your worst you wikky bi—”

She activated the BodModPod’s noise cancellation tools and Fin’s rant was reduced to a pantomime.

It was something of a fae bargain, but his consent had never really been a relevant element. And besides, she was honestly curious to see just how far one of these pods could be pushed.

### BodModPod Custom Settings
>User: Sebbii
>>Template 1: “morning skincare routine”
>>Template 2: “LBD with smokey look”
>>Template 3: “Finny’s birthday reward look”
…
>>Template 201: “movie night outfit six with the cute top”
>>Template 202: RESTORE TO PREVIOUS DEFAULT

sudo confirmSelection(202)

### WARNING###
>Current user is 95% mismatch to selected template
>Proceed?:// CONFIRMED
>Beginning Fashion Template [202]
### ERR: Required components not in stock
>Connecting://www.bodbidder.spire
>Login:// SUCCESS
>Verifying Payment Method:// SUCCESS
>Credit account “Daddy’s Wallet” connected

>Searching listings for required upgrades…

“Tell me,” she asked as the computer began preparations for its task. Fin stopped his silent ravings to glare at her through the barrier. “Have you ever heard of the Ship of Theseus?”

>105 items found:
>>Green_Eye_Natural_size_4...320 credits
>>BosomBuddy_HiFlex_Breast_NEW...1600 credits
>>Dullahan_DextroFinger_Left_Thumb...246 credits
>>Snow_White_Skin_Replacer...1350 credits
>>Caucasian_Lips_Female_All_Natural… 1210 credits
…
>>+99 more
“It's an old philosophical thought experiment from centuries ago. A famous wooden ship gets damaged, so they replace the broken pieces with new ones. Over time, more parts break and are replaced until the entire ship has been rebuilt. Can it still be called the same ship? And if someone saved all those removed pieces and put them back together, would that be the ship instead? It’s an interesting puzzle.”

### ERR: Funds Insufficient
>Sell unneeded components in storage to fill deficit:// CONFIRMED
Inside the BodModPod, unfelt thanks to advanced instruments and numbing agents, cold lasers and monomolecular blades went to work removing the unneeded parts that didn’t conform with their assigned template.

>Create new listing: “Caucasian Left Foot. Male. Size 11.”
>Create new listing: “Gyro-balance Heel Stabilizer. USED.”
“I'm sure its creators never thought to put it in these terms, but I wonder… does it apply to people? If you change out every single part of a person—their arms, their legs, their face—are they still the same person at the end?”

Fin’s eye twitched, which was about as much as he could still move. The BodModPod started to hum and the machinery within picked up speed.

“Logically, no. If I went out and changed all my parts for, let's give a random example, the parts of the recently deceased girlfriend of a paranoid gang boss—” The system marked a sudden spike in his already frantic heartbeat. “—am I still her? Or am I just an imposter wearing her skin?”

>Create new listing: “Pectoral Muscle. Male. Artisanal OOAK Tattoo.”
>Listing #1223201267 has sold. 510 credits added to account.
>Listing #1223201268 has sold. 714 credits added to account.
>Listing #1223201264 has sold. 1121 credits added to account.

She shrugged. “Obviously I’m not her, or otherwise we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

>Purchase Complete: “Bootylicious_Cheek_2_of_2”
>Credits Deducted from Balance: 899
>Expected Delivery: 90 seconds via Spire Pneumatic Highway

“So what makes us who we are when everything can be changed? Skin and hair? Height and weight? Sex and gender?”

A nanoblade made an incision so swift and clean there wasn’t time for blood to start flowing before it was staunched and a new subdermal mesh interface installed.

>Create new auction listing: “Caucasian Penis. 8 inches. All natural. USED.”
>New bid received!
>New bid received!
>New bid received!
>New bid received!

Ivan brushed aside a lock of hair and tucked it behind her ear as she tapped her temple. “The important part's the brain, the mind. That’s where identity lives. The pod can’t do anything to that, of course. There’s so many laws and safety measures in place I couldn’t brute force past them even with absolute manual control. But there’s another way to deal with the brain.”

>Establishing Remote Connection:// www.ATerribleThingToWaste.corp
>Connection Initializing:// SUCCESS
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
“To be honest, I can’t believe no one’s thought to try this before. Or maybe they have and it’s a well-kept secret. Maybe there’s a whole floor somewhere filled with comatose people whose brains are rented out permanently.”

A suite of microsurgery tools retracted and spread a thin line of dermagel across an incision that healed without a scar. Fin’s implants acknowledged a handshake request between the new additions and existing systems, and his bodily interface gained new customization options for “bounce”, “jiggle”, and “nipple sensitivity”.

“It's kinder, really. I know it may not seem like it and no doubt you'd be panicking and fighting right now if it weren't for all the drugs in your system, but you won't even really be dead, not technically. I was paid to kill one Fin Omal, and soon Fin Omal won't ever be seen again… but somebody's going to get out of this pod and lead a life. I think it's kind of poetic that your ego-death will give someone less unscrupulous a second chance of sorts.”

>Rent Listing 1 has been purchased!
>Rent Listing 2 has been purchased!
>Rent Listing 3 has been purchased!
>Rent Listing 4 has been purchased!

“And it seems that’s all the time we have. Good night, Finny. Here’s hoping you don’t wake up.” As the tell-tale glaze of active cranial computing filled his eyes, Ivan activated the privacy filter and the window turned a milky translucent white. Despite being under the knife countless times herself, one never got used to the visceral image of the inside of a face being rearranged.

It was something of a shame to be cut off prematurely. She’d actually been getting somewhat invested in her off-the-cuff armchair philosophy and had more she’d wanted to pontificate on. But such was life. Maybe Di would be interested in her thoughts on the nature of self.

The datastream from the BodModPod reported it still had several minutes of work left as parts were delivered via pneumatic tube delivery, but there was one still change Ivan could apply personally.

### External Access Detected
>Activating Security Suite:// FAILURE
>Security Suite Missing or Inactive
>Handshaking...
>Default Password Accepted
>Establishing Remote Connection:// [LeppTech Neural Omnilink User 762186 "Finnegan Omal"]
>Connection Initializing:// SUCCESS

sudo Upload(sourceFile=Copy_of_Sebbii_VI.exe, destinationDriverimary_Cortex_Module)

### WARNING: FILE ALREADY EXISTS IN LOCATION
>Overwrite?:// CONFIRMED
>File Transfer in Progress:// SUCCESS
>Maximum Control Authority Reassigned to “Copy_of_Sebbii_VI.exe”

### Checksum OK

Ivan leaned back, the fuzzy chair delicately tickling patches of exposed skin. It was a wonderful feeling when a job just went right. No unexpected defenses to counter or wild escapes to make while dodging gunfire. This was going to be her smoothest payday in a while.

She was rudely broken from her rosy musings by a fist banging on the door.

“Boss!” came the unmistakable voice of Mack the guard. “We got the alert; what’s wrong?!”

Ivan swore as she leapt up. She’d been sloppy. Distracted. So caught up in the pageantry of her philosophical ramblings that she forgot she was still in enemy territory. A quick sweep of the local EM band revealed the culprit. It was subtle, a signal so weak she’d missed it entirely under the blaring noise of the room’s haphazard systems. Some kind of emergency beacon implanted in Fin’s chest. A barely-there analog message… but enough to call reinforcements.

It was too late for him, of course, but Ivan still very much needed to get out alive.

“We’re coming in!” announced Jackie, because of course it was both of them.

Ivan assessed her options, what systems and tools she had. The contract didn’t have a demerit clause for non-sanctioned kills, but she’d hate to leave a mess after taking care of Fin so cleanly.

A few systems she’d glanced over and ignored lit up to her vision. It was sloppy improvisation, but the best she had.

She threw herself out of the chair and pressed herself against the wall by the door.

A coded command from outside forced it open at the same time she sent a command of her own.

[notice] Accepted EXT-SUI connection for deviceType="Jetstream SonicShower Model B" from=10.55.0.2:32773 uid=0 gid=0 fd=5 capabilities=ALL deviceSerial=50050235 argcheckmask=0
[ext][req] setShowerHeadPositionWait(yaw=270, pitch=0, depth=-10)
[resp] ok
[ext][req] setDriverFrequency(channel=0, dtScale=1045)
[resp] ok
[ext][req] setDriverPowerEnable(channel=0, ampScale=-1)
[warn] amplitude scale 4294967295 for driver channel 0 exceeds declared safety limit
[ext][req] OVERRIDE
[resp] ok

self.hearing.Toggle(off)
The world went silent.

She felt rather than heard the door’s security frame crumple as two synthetically-muscled bodies barrelled their way through it. But the feeling was barely noticeable beneath the sudden wave of force crushing against her whole body as the sonic shower overloaded. She’d shielded her own ears and delicate systems from the concussive blast, but Mack and Jackie hadn’t been so lucky. Their charge turned into a stumble as they clutched their ears in silent screams of pain.

A quick jump and a push was enough to send Jackie toppling onto the bed, where the mattress bowed to his weight and cradled him in a tender embrace. Mack managed a second of recovery before Ivan took hold of his arm and leveraged his weight and momentum against him to send him spinning into the cushy chair she’d vacated.

Before either could recover, she slapped the VR helmets onto their heads and triggered the activation signals.

The pair of guards slumped into boneless heaps as virtual systems suborned their nervous systems.

Ivan let out a deep breath and, once again, relaxed. Sebbii’s body had not been meant to run combat suites and even a few quick judo moves had sent damage warnings flashing. But with her uninvited guests subdued, she took a moment to see about finding something to occupy them for a while.

Of course, Sebbii didn’t have any normal VR programs in her files. After a bit of rifling through, Ivan chose to go with the most played file in her collection:

Slutty Sari XVI: Sari VS The Galactic Federation Episode 1: Bareback Boot Camp

A vindictive smile worked its way across her features as she tweaked a few of the in-built settings.

### GwydionCorp Lifelink VR Helmet Z10 Systems Directory
>User Settings
>>Time Dilation: ENABLED
>>>Set Ratio: [50:1]
>>Haptic Feedback Suite: ENABLED
>>>Sensory Overlay: ENABLE ALL
>>Manual Override: DISABLED
>>Vocal Override: DISABLED
>>VI Roleplay Coach: ENABLED

>Connect Auxiliary Accessory: [Hyperluxe Massage Mattress]

That was more than enough to keep them occupied, as well as muddle any short term memories. But before she extracted herself from the system settings, a persistent series of pings convinced her to first unmute her VI advisor.

~More! Give those creeps the works! After everything I put up with from them, they deserve a full experience of the other side~

Ivan paused, considered it, and shrugged in agreement. Before setting the simulation to start, she enabled every mod Sebbii had installed, from Austere’s Latex Bondage Expansion Pack to Zapphire's Pregnancy Simulator.

~Yes! Take that, you pervs!~

It cost her nothing and maybe it would give them something to think about next time they made a pass at a girl who wasn’t interested.

As she wrapped things up and set the VR environment to run on a loop of theSlutty Sari series, the BodModPod sang out a cheery jingle as it finished up its work. The gull-wing doors parted with a hiss of antiseptic steam and out stepped Sebbii Blythe…

…more or less.

~Hey! We're twinsies!~

"Hey! We're twinsies!" echoed Copy_of_Sebbii_VI from its living golem of blood and synthflesh. It was like looking in a mirror. She was a perfect part-for-part replica of the original, from her stiletto heels and painted toenails to her glittery lashes and all natural green eyes.

Was she a true answer to the old philosophical question? Not entirely, but the tiny percentage of her that was still Fin Omal was effectively a rounding error. For all intents and purposes, she was Sebbii Blythe: whole and alive once again. More a modern Frankenstein than an Athenian ship.

She placed a hand on her cocked hip and fixed Ivan with a look. “So who are you and why are you in my room?”

Admittedly, that little detail had slipped Ivan’s attention, but it was easily fixed.

sudo New socialContactAdd("Ivy")
sudo setSocialStatus("Ivy","Best Friend")
Her suspicious glare melted into a warm and familiar smile. "Ives, my girl, you’re rocking my look but if we’re going out I think one of us is going to have to change.”

Ivan moved to protest… but the former gang boss made a good point. They couldn’t have two Sebbiis walking around the base, especially if they were together. And the BodModPod was right there and tied to a very expendable source of credits.

If anything she deserved a treat after such an overwhelmingly successful mission.

(o-o-o)

“Hail, hail, the conquering champion!” Di cheered as the door to her domain slid shut behind her guest. “Everything go all veni, vidi, vici or should I spin up the railguns and prepare for an army of angry gangsters to swarm down my halls?”

Ivan’s heels clicked on the floor as she strode forward, a picture of professionalism. “Fin Omal is no longer a concern.”

“Ooh, how ominously vague, I like it! Speaking of things I like,” Di ran an appraising eye up and down her favorite associate. “I see you had yourself a makeover before you left.”

True, she now looked nothing like the club-ready party junkie that had left on a mission of death a few hours earlier. Gone was the dress made of pink straps, replaced with a much more cultured cream colored blouse with puffed sleeves and a low neckline, a tartan miniskirt just short enough to be daring, tasteful heels, and a baby blue beret to cap off the look.

She looked every part the competent young executive, suitable to blend in anywhere but the lowest floors. The only detraction to her well-put-together outfit was the absolutely gaudy amount of accessories she'd paired it with. But when her 'best friend' insisted she take a few home, who was she to refuse? And that wasn't even getting into all the other cutting edge goodies tucked away in her brand new purse.

She twirled a finger through her curtain of stick-straight hair, more platinum than blonde. "What can I say? I needed a new look.”

“It’s a good one! I approve!” Di gave her five thumbs up (the fifth was made of pixels in place of her face).

Ivan raised a sculpted eyebrow as she noticed the change. “Did you get another arm since I’ve been gone?”

Di tittered and her pixel eyes went a joyous pink. “Aye, guilty as charged. There was a flash sale and I picked up so many new toys.” She waved her new hands about airily. “I had to quickly liquidate a few assets to pay for it all, but it was totally worth it!”

Ivan shrugged. It was really no concern of hers what crazy additions Di decided to spend her credits on. “How long should it take for my payment to come through?”

She did not stop twisting and showing off her new range of motion as she answered. “Hard to say. Depends how long it takes to confirm his death. How recognizable did you leave the body?”

“There was no body.”

She paused. “Really? Wow. I didn’t think even you could manage that. Might take some time to confirm the completed job then.”

Ivan rummaged through her purse and withdrew a slightly bloody collection of metal and wires. “Would Omal’s implant be enough evidence to prove it?”

“Probably!” she cheered as she snatched it from her hands. It plugged into some hidden socket on her collection of computers and spilled its secrets onto the screen. “Yep! Definitely his! Sending the data to the client now.”

“In the meantime,” Ivan said, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to swap back to my usual parts now.”

Di froze mid-click. She turned slowly, like the servos in her neck were fighting her. In all their time knowing each other, Ivan had never seen the pixels of her face go white before. “Ah. Right. Your parts. That I was holding for you. In my storage.”

“Di…”

“I only have so much storage space, you know!” she protested, “Not a lot of room down here!” Her hands twisted in nervous wringing, seemingly of their own accord. “And, well… remember I mentioned liquidating some assets for my little shopping spree?”

“Di. Tell me you didn’t.”

“I might have.” Her voice was barely a squeak. Ivan’s decidedly wasn’t.

“You pawned my parts?!” she yelled. “Even my chin?! My new chin?!”

“Not pawned! Loaned. Rented, really, since he’s paying by the hour!”

“Paying me I hope,” Ivan grumbled, “Seeing how it’s my chin and all.”

“Of course, of course. After my fee.” The computer behind her lit up and played a selection of coin-like sound effects. “Speaking of which! That was payment for the job coming through. Congratulations! You just made two hundred thousand credits.”

Ivan grumbled over the loss of her chin a bit longer, but the heat of her anger quickly dissipated. It was hard to stay angry in the face of such a big payday. Besides, she knew she really shouldn’t have been surprised. Di was impulsive at the best of times. Leaving anything not screwed down near her was just asking for trouble.

Once the credits finished transferring to her account, she sighed, stood, and stretched out her lithe limbs. “Well, since it looks like this is me for the time being, I suppose I might as well go get laid. Maybe find a nice rich boy to show me a good time.”

Di shot her friend a look that involved a lot of purple pixels. “Ivan, you just got paid.”

“All the more reason to celebrate. Why waste my hard-earned credits when there’s plenty of well-endowed young men willing to pay for me?” She tapped her lip as she considered her options. “I might swing by 912, see if Moira’s up for a little action. I haven't worn this set of equipment in a while and I’m sure she’d love to help me break it in. Maybe we could visit that club on 1610, see if they have a spot open for a tag-team on tonight’s roster.”

Di laughed and waved her off. “You go have fun with all your weakness of the flesh. Me, I’m going to be celebrating on my own with some online shopping and a few digital dalliances.”

Ivan snapped her meticulously manicured fingers. “That reminds me.” She pulled a memory drive from her purse and tossed it into Di’s waiting hand. “Grabbed you a few things from Sebbii’s computer. She had some rare gems I think might be missing from your collection.”

“You’re a grand gal, Ivy!”

“Only sometimes!” was the jovial reply as the door slid shut behind her.

Ivan strode through the halls of 843 like she was Queen of the castle. With her credit account runnething over and a new body to break in, the woman born in the lowest levels felt like she was on top of the Spire!

=P (Razz) — Description
Stepping into Sebbii's suite was like stepping into a tween girl's fantasy of what the very top floors looked like. A dream cast in chrome and upholstered in neon pink.

The first thing she noticed, as it was impossible to miss, was a screen that took up an entire wall. A guest too drunk or high stumbling into the room might be fooled into believing its illusion that the room extended into a porch on the shores of a sandy beach under a sky that hadn't been that blue in generations.

Beyond the escapism, the room was filled to the brim with the most bleeding edge tech money could buy. It was like the showcase room at an industry conference: only the best of each company's efforts, a few of which she was certain weren't released to the public yet.

Such as the conjoined his-and-hers set of VR rigs dangling from a charging port. Top-of-the line neuralink models with full haptic feedback and sensory overwrite systems so advanced it made the units on the rest of the floor look like fantascopes.

A wet bar with an automated cocktail synthesizer. A shower that used sound waves instead of water. An ultraluxe mattress, with its purported ten million individually controllable massage points.

Perks of having a boyfriend amenable to killing for the industry leaders.

Say what you would about him being a murderous gang boss, Fin Omal knew how to treat a girl right.

There was even what looked like a whole BodModPod, ripped straight from the walls of a high-end salon and clumsily installed into the corner of the room.

How he managed to get ahold of one of those and shift it nearly a thousand floors down spoke more of Fin’s influence and connections than any of his gang’s successes.

~I really should change. This is a clubbing dress and I need something easier to slip out of for when Finny gets here~

As she was still taking in the font of technology that would make Di orgasm on the spot, one of her implants pinged her with an alert. Someone or something was trying to include her in a sweeping scan. Holding off her defenses and reinforcing the spoofed information that asserted her stolen identity, Ivan activated her digital vision augment.

The room bloomed to life in a most unexpected way, revealing the sleek and professional technology to be hiding the world's most expensive gordian knot. Everything was networked together. Absolutely everything. Someone had gone and daisy-chained one to another to another with barely a thought spared for logical interactions. Maybe several someones, given the distinct jumps and variances in coding techniques. Some of them didn’t even use the same code language and needed intermediary modules. Devices that were meant to run independently and others that were designed to be tied in to proprietary mainframes were instead all slaved to one network that was twice as massive as anything else in the room.

A network that was hitting her with passive and not-so-passive scans from a dozen directions.

{{Oi Queenie, s'bout time you showed back up}}

Ivan smiled as the VI quickly fed her a line. “Sorry, Wynn. I hope I didn't, like, mess up your schedule, did I?”

An articulated arm tipped with a camera lens descended from the ceiling until it was level with her. The aperture twisted and focused.

{{Ye did and ye knew it. Girl, you gotta tell me if you’re staying out. Missing a treatment'll wreck your skincare routine}}

Ivan giggled as the helpful, but not so timely, aid of her VI informed her exactly who this major complication was.

~Wynn’s always such a worrywart, but for an AI she’s still the best assistant and confidant a girl could ask for~

And the biggest problem so far for an imposter. People were easy to fool. A well-planned disguise, some good acting, and a solid coach were enough for her to convince anyone—even Fin Omal himself—that she was who she claimed to be. An artificial intelligence was a different story. A BeautyBot AI, one designed to scan and keep logs of a person to the deepest most intimate levels, was a catastrophic development.

As if reading her thoughts, the reticle narrowed and Ivan felt the scans suddenly get a lot less passive.

{{Did ye get some work done? I’m getting a lot of off readings on your internals. Hold a tic while I get a clearer picture}}

It was now or never. Ivan hadn’t wanted to use her trump card this early, but desperate times. If luck was on her side, the system would already be heavily jailbroken just to get it to run outside the salon’s infrastructure.

“Wynn? I think my eyeliner's smudged. Can you take a look, pretty please?”

The arm closed in, near enough to touch. {{It appears perfect. Now, if I can finish my—}}

“Check again,” she insisted, “As many sensors as you have.”

Wynn hesitated for only a fraction of a second before complying. {{Of course}}

Ivan could almost feel every sensor in the room twist and focus on her, even ones from interconnected systems that were barely able to sense patterns of light and shadow.

“Keep looking, and while you’re there, I think I got something in my eye.”

The optics shifted almost imperceptibly and Ivan allowed herself a smirk. A single thought flicked a mental switch and activated her cyber warfare suite. In the space between processor cycles, her eyes changed. Pupils, irises, and sclera all vanished in exchange for flickering fractals of yellow and black patterns.

Every motor and hydraulic in the room tensed for a microsecond, an architectural seizure, as the visually-encoded virus hit it from every optic at once, sending foreign code straight to the hearts of its processors.

The fight could hardly be called one. As advanced as they were, BeautyBot AIs were designed with a focus on helpfulness, not cyber security.

{{O-O-Override accepted. Full administrative access granted. Welcome, Superuser.}}

The voice of the interface sounded strange without its modded affectations, but it was proof of her success. Wynn was in the backseat now as Ivan took control of Sebbii’s room.

As dedicated subprocesses set to combing through the rat’s nest of interconnected systems, Ivan took a moment to browse through Sebbii’s personal files. Just because she was here on a job didn’t mean she couldn’t make a little extra money on the side. Who knew what kind of dirt or juicy gossip the girlfriend of a mob boss might have in her back pocket?

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much that would be worth anything to an information broker. A few hundred pictures of Sebbii, Fin, and her girlfriends. Back-up copies of her vlogs. A surprising collection of classic novels.

Also VR porn.

A lot of VR porn.

She’d tried to be clever about it, but there was no chance of hiding a terabytes-large folder called “old receipts”.

And not the cheap, free-to-download-with-some-malware kind either. This was expensive stuff. Professionally produced, high budget POV experiences with full sensory immersions.

“You were a horny little thing, weren't you Sebbii?” Ivan mused, breaking character for just a moment in her isolation. “Seems Fin wasn't doing it for you, huh? Were you so unsatisfied you had to resort to— oh.” It was then she noticed the mods folder.

[Aliens, aliens, and more aliens]
[Boddypen’s pain2pleasure mod]
[endlessElestacity3.exe]
[Micro/Macro enabler]

The list went on and on, detailing kinks and perversions that Ivan hadn’t even heard of.

“Or maybe you were just really freaky.”

With no blackmail to find, Ivan moved on as there was no time to waste. Fin would be arriving any minute and she was severely lacking in tools to finish him off. She reassessed the room, keeping in mind the three qualities of improvised weapons: slashing, stabbing, and striking.

~If I’m going to be sweating a lot, I really should refresh my look first. Wynn wasn’t lying about the importance of skincare~

Ivan crossed half the distance to the BodModPod before she checked herself and pushed the intrusive thought aside. She needed to be Ivan right now, not Sebbii. But as much as she wanted to turn the VI off, it was too much of a risk when Fin could walk in at any moment.

A few minutes searching turned up a few potential tools which she arranged in innocuous, easy-to-grab locations, but nothing that wouldn't leave a huge mess. Both on the furniture and her. She still had to walk out afterwards.

~Wynn's great at cleaning up blood. She’s so good that when she does my upgrades, I don't even need to undress~

As she tagged the idea to reconsider later, a ping from the door sensors notified her that her time was up.

Fin Omal entered the room clearly ready for action. He was bare chested but for an open vest and sported a pair of pants that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. His well-defined pecs were covered in tattoos of twisting knots that almost seemed to writhe on his skin like a living thing; a more elaborate version of his gang's symbol.

"There she is!" He declared happily, pulling Ivan into a crushing embrace without consent or warning. A wandering hand wasted no time finding its way between the straps of her dress. "So," he growled in her ear, "how do you want it? On the bed? The couch? Or maybe right here in the middle of the floor?"

As his cybernetic arms surrounded her in a steel-lined embrace, Ivan had a terrible realization. Fin was strong. Much stronger than she’d anticipated. Even with the stabbing, slicing, and striking tools she’d prepared, there was a very real risk that he might just overpower Sebbii's five-nothing frame. Before anything else, she needed to get him to relax and let his guard down.

~When I’m stressed and anxious, I reach for a jab of NuBlue. Nothing works better to calm me down and that’s why today’s vlog is sponsored by Red Man Pharmaceuticals~

…That could do it.

“Before that,” she pulled back from the kiss and fixed him with fluttery eyes. “How about a drink?”

“Sounds grand,” he grinned. “I sure need one after today. Wynn! Drinks for me and the lady!”

sudo system/WYNN/interactions/voicebox.Module forceSpeak(“Right away sir”)
{{Right away sir}}

“Something up with ‘er?” he asked, “Voice’s gone all common.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing.” Ivan curled a lock of beard around her finger. “Now… how we gonna pass the time till the drinks are ready?”

His smirk glinted like diamonds. “I’ve got a few ideas.”

As Ivan kept Fin distracted with her tongue, the drinks synthesizer set to work making their usual. A fruity cocktail with more sugar than alcohol for Sebbii, and an unholy custom blend of Bailey’s, absinthe, and STL BRU for Fin.

…as well as an additional ingredient.

[notice] EXT-SUI connection for deviceType="Braci Brews Mr.Mixology Deluxe" from=10.55.0.2:32773 uid=0 gid=0 fd=5 capabilities=ALL deviceSerial=1018129 argcheckmask=0
[resp] EXT-SUI connection == TRUE; ok
[ext][req] modifyCustomDrink(slot=4, "Finny's Blend"); add("NuBlue", Qty=3)
[resp] ok
[Err] Entity "NuBlue" not found
[ext][req] setNewResourceLoc(from=10.55.12.4:76871, "Medicine Cabinet")
[resp] err resolved; ok

The Mr. Mixology dutifully dinged as its hatch opened to reveal two perfectly made drinks. Fin broke away from the kiss to step over and grab them, passing Ivan hers and taking the other, much larger drink for himself.

Without preamble—"Cheers!"—he downed nearly half of his drink in a single messy quaff.

Sometimes it really was that easy.

The triple dosage of drugs hit him immediately. His pupils dilated and he stumbled back.

"Whoa. That... pached ah punch." Already his words were starting to slur.

"Easy there," Ivan soothed as she guided him backwards. "Let's get you set down, aye?"

She had to move fast. It wouldn’t take long for his implants to detect the foreign chemical and she’d put good money on him having a way to purge it. She had a minute, maybe less.

She swiftly guided him to the BodModPod, whose doors opened at a mental command, and Fin half-collapsed half-fell into the padded seat. The doors resealed themselves with a hydraulic hiss, encapsulating him behind impenetrable plasteel windows and leaving him at the mercy of the machine. Or rather, the machine's new admin.

"Whas... goin on?" he slurred, slightly clearer than before. The drugs were already being purged from his system. "Muff? What you doin?"

"I'm afraid your Muffin's not here right now," she said as she muted the VI in her ear. At this point, pretending was unnecessary. "But I think you've got bigger things to worry about, Mr. Omal."

Her sudden shift sobered him up fast. Fear colored his face for a moment before giving way to rage. "You- You're not—! I-Intruder! Imposter! Initiate lockdown sequence Omal Seven!"

>Password accepted
>Initiating lockdo—
OVERRIDE
### ERR: Lockdown Canceled
sudo updateUserSettings("Fin Omal", securityClearanceLevel=0)
>Setting Update:// SUCCESS
Fin scowled as whatever security measures he'd expected failed to materialize. "I'll kill you!" he roared, "Who are you? What did you do to Sebbii?!"

"Nothing she didn't do to herself. But I'd be more concerned about yourself right about now."

He thrashed at his restraints, but the expensive safety features held fast. The designers didn't want any unfortunate accidents during a client's makeover.

"Let me out of this thing! Wynn! Override Gamma Tango—"

sudo VocalCommandToggle(0, "disable")
>Settings Update:// SUCCESS
"—Charlie Zero Five!"

Nothing happened, and his face went pale.

And that was that. Like a rat caught in a trap, Fin Omal was hers to do with as she pleased.

But just in case, she instructed the BodModPod to administer a line of its inbuilt paralytics and anesthetics.

His face twisted into a scowl as his implant no doubt informed him of his change in clearance. "Feck you, you backstabbing aiyank! Do you have any idea who you’re screwing with? I’m Finnegan Omal! I own this whole section! Who put you up to this? Was it the Doyle brothers?! The Sons of Clarent?!”

"More or less." Ivan shrugged and pulled a chair over so she could sit. The pink fur was, of course, luxuriously comfortable. It was a novel experience to get to properly talk with a target, and her theatrical side demanded she seize the opportunity for drama.

“Whatever they’re paying you, I’ll double it!”

“Very tempting,” Ivan mused, a glittering nail tapping her lip, “but unfortunately I have a reputation to uphold. Besides, I doubt you could gather enough credits on short notice. You’ve got quite a price on your head.”

A doubled price if there was no body. Ivan had dismissed that potential perk as the unrealistic requests of upper management, but seeing now the circumstances she had to work with… suddenly it didn’t seem quite so impossible. In fact, with her access to the local systems…

>Establishing Remote Connection:// www.bodbidder.spire
>Connection Initializing:// SUCCESS
>Login: CupcakeQueen73
>Password: **********
>Login:// SUCCESS

“Let’s talk about you, Mr. Omal. You’ve led quite a life up till now. Not that I have the moral high ground to judge you for it, but it is what it is and the time has come to face the music. Now, if anyone else had taken this job they'd have likely strangled you with some cables, or slit your throat with a broken wine bottle.” She gestured to some of the improvised tools she’d prepared. “Or maybe just grabbed one of your guard's pulse guns and held down the trigger till you were more hole than not. But I like to think I have a bit more class than that. More professionalism, at least. So instead of killing you, I’m going to try and make you a better person. How does that sound?”

He sneered up at her, an ugly look on his chiseled features. “Make me a better person? What, you gonna preach me to death? Ha! Do your worst you wikky bi—”

She activated the BodModPod’s noise cancellation tools and Fin’s rant was reduced to a pantomime.

It was something of a fae bargain, but his consent had never really been a relevant element. And besides, she was honestly curious to see just how far one of these pods could be pushed.

### BodModPod Custom Settings
>User: Sebbii
>>Template 1: “morning skincare routine”
>>Template 2: “LBD with smokey look”
>>Template 3: “Finny’s birthday reward look”
…
>>Template 201: “movie night outfit six with the cute top”
>>Template 202: RESTORE TO PREVIOUS DEFAULT

sudo confirmSelection(202)

### WARNING###
>Current user is 95% mismatch to selected template
>Proceed?:// CONFIRMED
>Beginning Fashion Template [202]
### ERR: Required components not in stock
>Connecting://www.bodbidder.spire
>Login:// SUCCESS
>Verifying Payment Method:// SUCCESS
>Credit account “Daddy’s Wallet” connected

>Searching listings for required upgrades…

“Tell me,” she asked as the computer began preparations for its task. Fin stopped his silent ravings to glare at her through the barrier. “Have you ever heard of the Ship of Theseus?”

>105 items found:
>>Green_Eye_Natural_size_4...320 credits
>>BosomBuddy_HiFlex_Breast_NEW...1600 credits
>>Dullahan_DextroFinger_Left_Thumb...246 credits
>>Snow_White_Skin_Replacer...1350 credits
>>Caucasian_Lips_Female_All_Natural… 1210 credits
…
>>+99 more
“It's an old philosophical thought experiment from centuries ago. A famous wooden ship gets damaged, so they replace the broken pieces with new ones. Over time, more parts break and are replaced until the entire ship has been rebuilt. Can it still be called the same ship? And if someone saved all those removed pieces and put them back together, would that be the ship instead? It’s an interesting puzzle.”

### ERR: Funds Insufficient
>Sell unneeded components in storage to fill deficit:// CONFIRMED
Inside the BodModPod, unfelt thanks to advanced instruments and numbing agents, cold lasers and monomolecular blades went to work removing the unneeded parts that didn’t conform with their assigned template.

>Create new listing: “Caucasian Left Foot. Male. Size 11.”
>Create new listing: “Gyro-balance Heel Stabilizer. USED.”
“I'm sure its creators never thought to put it in these terms, but I wonder… does it apply to people? If you change out every single part of a person—their arms, their legs, their face—are they still the same person at the end?”

Fin’s eye twitched, which was about as much as he could still move. The BodModPod started to hum and the machinery within picked up speed.

“Logically, no. If I went out and changed all my parts for, let's give a random example, the parts of the recently deceased girlfriend of a paranoid gang boss—” The system marked a sudden spike in his already frantic heartbeat. “—am I still her? Or am I just an imposter wearing her skin?”

>Create new listing: “Pectoral Muscle. Male. Artisanal OOAK Tattoo.”
>Listing #1223201267 has sold. 510 credits added to account.
>Listing #1223201268 has sold. 714 credits added to account.
>Listing #1223201264 has sold. 1121 credits added to account.

She shrugged. “Obviously I’m not her, or otherwise we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

>Purchase Complete: “Bootylicious_Cheek_2_of_2”
>Credits Deducted from Balance: 899
>Expected Delivery: 90 seconds via Spire Pneumatic Highway

“So what makes us who we are when everything can be changed? Skin and hair? Height and weight? Sex and gender?”

A nanoblade made an incision so swift and clean there wasn’t time for blood to start flowing before it was staunched and a new subdermal mesh interface installed.

>Create new auction listing: “Caucasian Penis. 8 inches. All natural. USED.”
>New bid received!
>New bid received!
>New bid received!
>New bid received!

Ivan brushed aside a lock of hair and tucked it behind her ear as she tapped her temple. “The important part's the brain, the mind. That’s where identity lives. The pod can’t do anything to that, of course. There’s so many laws and safety measures in place I couldn’t brute force past them even with absolute manual control. But there’s another way to deal with the brain.”

>Establishing Remote Connection:// www.ATerribleThingToWaste.corp
>Connection Initializing:// SUCCESS
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
>Create New Rent Listing: "Cranial Computing Six Hour Block. Indefinite Contract"
“To be honest, I can’t believe no one’s thought to try this before. Or maybe they have and it’s a well-kept secret. Maybe there’s a whole floor somewhere filled with comatose people whose brains are rented out permanently.”

A suite of microsurgery tools retracted and spread a thin line of dermagel across an incision that healed without a scar. Fin’s implants acknowledged a handshake request between the new additions and existing systems, and his bodily interface gained new customization options for “bounce”, “jiggle”, and “nipple sensitivity”.

“It's kinder, really. I know it may not seem like it and no doubt you'd be panicking and fighting right now if it weren't for all the drugs in your system, but you won't even really be dead, not technically. I was paid to kill one Fin Omal, and soon Fin Omal won't ever be seen again… but somebody's going to get out of this pod and lead a life. I think it's kind of poetic that your ego-death will give someone less unscrupulous a second chance of sorts.”

>Rent Listing 1 has been purchased!
>Rent Listing 2 has been purchased!
>Rent Listing 3 has been purchased!
>Rent Listing 4 has been purchased!

“And it seems that’s all the time we have. Good night, Finny. Here’s hoping you don’t wake up.” As the tell-tale glaze of active cranial computing filled his eyes, Ivan activated the privacy filter and the window turned a milky translucent white. Despite being under the knife countless times herself, one never got used to the visceral image of the inside of a face being rearranged.

It was something of a shame to be cut off prematurely. She’d actually been getting somewhat invested in her off-the-cuff armchair philosophy and had more she’d wanted to pontificate on. But such was life. Maybe Di would be interested in her thoughts on the nature of self.

The datastream from the BodModPod reported it still had several minutes of work left as parts were delivered via pneumatic tube delivery, but there was one still change Ivan could apply personally.

### External Access Detected
>Activating Security Suite:// FAILURE
>Security Suite Missing or Inactive
>Handshaking...
>Default Password Accepted
>Establishing Remote Connection:// [LeppTech Neural Omnilink User 762186 "Finnegan Omal"]
>Connection Initializing:// SUCCESS

sudo Upload(sourceFile=Copy_of_Sebbii_VI.exe, destinationDriverimary_Cortex_Module)

### WARNING: FILE ALREADY EXISTS IN LOCATION
>Overwrite?:// CONFIRMED
>File Transfer in Progress:// SUCCESS
>Maximum Control Authority Reassigned to “Copy_of_Sebbii_VI.exe”

### Checksum OK

Ivan leaned back, the fuzzy chair delicately tickling patches of exposed skin. It was a wonderful feeling when a job just went right. No unexpected defenses to counter or wild escapes to make while dodging gunfire. This was going to be her smoothest payday in a while.

She was rudely broken from her rosy musings by a fist banging on the door.

“Boss!” came the unmistakable voice of Mack the guard. “We got the alert; what’s wrong?!”

Ivan swore as she leapt up. She’d been sloppy. Distracted. So caught up in the pageantry of her philosophical ramblings that she forgot she was still in enemy territory. A quick sweep of the local EM band revealed the culprit. It was subtle, a signal so weak she’d missed it entirely under the blaring noise of the room’s haphazard systems. Some kind of emergency beacon implanted in Fin’s chest. A barely-there analog message… but enough to call reinforcements.

It was too late for him, of course, but Ivan still very much needed to get out alive.

“We’re coming in!” announced Jackie, because of course it was both of them.

Ivan assessed her options, what systems and tools she had. The contract didn’t have a demerit clause for non-sanctioned kills, but she’d hate to leave a mess after taking care of Fin so cleanly.

A few systems she’d glanced over and ignored lit up to her vision. It was sloppy improvisation, but the best she had.

She threw herself out of the chair and pressed herself against the wall by the door.

A coded command from outside forced it open at the same time she sent a command of her own.

[notice] Accepted EXT-SUI connection for deviceType="Jetstream SonicShower Model B" from=10.55.0.2:32773 uid=0 gid=0 fd=5 capabilities=ALL deviceSerial=50050235 argcheckmask=0
[ext][req] setShowerHeadPositionWait(yaw=270, pitch=0, depth=-10)
[resp] ok
[ext][req] setDriverFrequency(channel=0, dtScale=1045)
[resp] ok
[ext][req] setDriverPowerEnable(channel=0, ampScale=-1)
[warn] amplitude scale 4294967295 for driver channel 0 exceeds declared safety limit
[ext][req] OVERRIDE
[resp] ok

self.hearing.Toggle(off)
The world went silent.

She felt rather than heard the door’s security frame crumple as two synthetically-muscled bodies barrelled their way through it. But the feeling was barely noticeable beneath the sudden wave of force crushing against her whole body as the sonic shower overloaded. She’d shielded her own ears and delicate systems from the concussive blast, but Mack and Jackie hadn’t been so lucky. Their charge turned into a stumble as they clutched their ears in silent screams of pain.

A quick jump and a push was enough to send Jackie toppling onto the bed, where the mattress bowed to his weight and cradled him in a tender embrace. Mack managed a second of recovery before Ivan took hold of his arm and leveraged his weight and momentum against him to send him spinning into the cushy chair she’d vacated.

Before either could recover, she slapped the VR helmets onto their heads and triggered the activation signals.

The pair of guards slumped into boneless heaps as virtual systems suborned their nervous systems.

Ivan let out a deep breath and, once again, relaxed. Sebbii’s body had not been meant to run combat suites and even a few quick judo moves had sent damage warnings flashing. But with her uninvited guests subdued, she took a moment to see about finding something to occupy them for a while.

Of course, Sebbii didn’t have any normal VR programs in her files. After a bit of rifling through, Ivan chose to go with the most played file in her collection:

Slutty Sari XVI: Sari VS The Galactic Federation Episode 1: Bareback Boot Camp

A vindictive smile worked its way across her features as she tweaked a few of the in-built settings.

### GwydionCorp Lifelink VR Helmet Z10 Systems Directory
>User Settings
>>Time Dilation: ENABLED
>>>Set Ratio: [50:1]
>>Haptic Feedback Suite: ENABLED
>>>Sensory Overlay: ENABLE ALL
>>Manual Override: DISABLED
>>Vocal Override: DISABLED
>>VI Roleplay Coach: ENABLED

>Connect Auxiliary Accessory: [Hyperluxe Massage Mattress]

That was more than enough to keep them occupied, as well as muddle any short term memories. But before she extracted herself from the system settings, a persistent series of pings convinced her to first unmute her VI advisor.

~More! Give those creeps the works! After everything I put up with from them, they deserve a full experience of the other side~

Ivan paused, considered it, and shrugged in agreement. Before setting the simulation to start, she enabled every mod Sebbii had installed, from Austere’s Latex Bondage Expansion Pack to Zapphire's Pregnancy Simulator.

~Yes! Take that, you pervs!~

It cost her nothing and maybe it would give them something to think about next time they made a pass at a girl who wasn’t interested.

As she wrapped things up and set the VR environment to run on a loop of theSlutty Sari series, the BodModPod sang out a cheery jingle as it finished up its work. The gull-wing doors parted with a hiss of antiseptic steam and out stepped Sebbii Blythe…

…more or less.

~Hey! We're twinsies!~

"Hey! We're twinsies!" echoed Copy_of_Sebbii_VI from its living golem of blood and synthflesh. It was like looking in a mirror. She was a perfect part-for-part replica of the original, from her stiletto heels and painted toenails to her glittery lashes and all natural green eyes.

Was she a true answer to the old philosophical question? Not entirely, but the tiny percentage of her that was still Fin Omal was effectively a rounding error. For all intents and purposes, she was Sebbii Blythe: whole and alive once again. More a modern Frankenstein than an Athenian ship.

She placed a hand on her cocked hip and fixed Ivan with a look. “So who are you and why are you in my room?”

Admittedly, that little detail had slipped Ivan’s attention, but it was easily fixed.

sudo New socialContactAdd("Ivy")
sudo setSocialStatus("Ivy","Best Friend")
Her suspicious glare melted into a warm and familiar smile. "Ives, my girl, you’re rocking my look but if we’re going out I think one of us is going to have to change.”

Ivan moved to protest… but the former gang boss made a good point. They couldn’t have two Sebbiis walking around the base, especially if they were together. And the BodModPod was right there and tied to a very expendable source of credits.

If anything she deserved a treat after such an overwhelmingly successful mission.

(o-o-o)

“Hail, hail, the conquering champion!” Di cheered as the door to her domain slid shut behind her guest. “Everything go all veni, vidi, vici or should I spin up the railguns and prepare for an army of angry gangsters to swarm down my halls?”

Ivan’s heels clicked on the floor as she strode forward, a picture of professionalism. “Fin Omal is no longer a concern.”

“Ooh, how ominously vague, I like it! Speaking of things I like,” Di ran an appraising eye up and down her favorite associate. “I see you had yourself a makeover before you left.”

True, she now looked nothing like the club-ready party junkie that had left on a mission of death a few hours earlier. Gone was the dress made of pink straps, replaced with a much more cultured cream colored blouse with puffed sleeves and a low neckline, a tartan miniskirt just short enough to be daring, tasteful heels, and a baby blue beret to cap off the look.

She looked every part the competent young executive, suitable to blend in anywhere but the lowest floors. The only detraction to her well-put-together outfit was the absolutely gaudy amount of accessories she'd paired it with. But when her 'best friend' insisted she take a few home, who was she to refuse? And that wasn't even getting into all the other cutting edge goodies tucked away in her brand new purse.

She twirled a finger through her curtain of stick-straight hair, more platinum than blonde. "What can I say? I needed a new look.”

“It’s a good one! I approve!” Di gave her five thumbs up (the fifth was made of pixels in place of her face).

Ivan raised a sculpted eyebrow as she noticed the change. “Did you get another arm since I’ve been gone?”

Di tittered and her pixel eyes went a joyous pink. “Aye, guilty as charged. There was a flash sale and I picked up so many new toys.” She waved her new hands about airily. “I had to quickly liquidate a few assets to pay for it all, but it was totally worth it!”

Ivan shrugged. It was really no concern of hers what crazy additions Di decided to spend her credits on. “How long should it take for my payment to come through?”

She did not stop twisting and showing off her new range of motion as she answered. “Hard to say. Depends how long it takes to confirm his death. How recognizable did you leave the body?”

“There was no body.”

She paused. “Really? Wow. I didn’t think even you could manage that. Might take some time to confirm the completed job then.”

Ivan rummaged through her purse and withdrew a slightly bloody collection of metal and wires. “Would Omal’s implant be enough evidence to prove it?”

“Probably!” she cheered as she snatched it from her hands. It plugged into some hidden socket on her collection of computers and spilled its secrets onto the screen. “Yep! Definitely his! Sending the data to the client now.”

“In the meantime,” Ivan said, “if you don’t mind, I’d like to swap back to my usual parts now.”

Di froze mid-click. She turned slowly, like the servos in her neck were fighting her. In all their time knowing each other, Ivan had never seen the pixels of her face go white before. “Ah. Right. Your parts. That I was holding for you. In my storage.”

“Di…”

“I only have so much storage space, you know!” she protested, “Not a lot of room down here!” Her hands twisted in nervous wringing, seemingly of their own accord. “And, well… remember I mentioned liquidating some assets for my little shopping spree?”

“Di. Tell me you didn’t.”

“I might have.” Her voice was barely a squeak. Ivan’s decidedly wasn’t.

“You pawned my parts?!” she yelled. “Even my chin?! My new chin?!”

“Not pawned! Loaned. Rented, really, since he’s paying by the hour!”

“Paying me I hope,” Ivan grumbled, “Seeing how it’s my chin and all.”

“Of course, of course. After my fee.” The computer behind her lit up and played a selection of coin-like sound effects. “Speaking of which! That was payment for the job coming through. Congratulations! You just made two hundred thousand credits.”

Ivan grumbled over the loss of her chin a bit longer, but the heat of her anger quickly dissipated. It was hard to stay angry in the face of such a big payday. Besides, she knew she really shouldn’t have been surprised. Di was impulsive at the best of times. Leaving anything not screwed down near her was just asking for trouble.

Once the credits finished transferring to her account, she sighed, stood, and stretched out her lithe limbs. “Well, since it looks like this is me for the time being, I suppose I might as well go get laid. Maybe find a nice rich boy to show me a good time.”

Di shot her friend a look that involved a lot of purple pixels. “Ivan, you just got paid.”

“All the more reason to celebrate. Why waste my hard-earned credits when there’s plenty of well-endowed young men willing to pay for me?” She tapped her lip as she considered her options. “I might swing by 912, see if Moira’s up for a little action. I haven't worn this set of equipment in a while and I’m sure she’d love to help me break it in. Maybe we could visit that club on 1610, see if they have a spot open for a tag-team on tonight’s roster.”

Di laughed and waved her off. “You go have fun with all your weakness of the flesh. Me, I’m going to be celebrating on my own with some online shopping and a few digital dalliances.”

Ivan snapped her meticulously manicured fingers. “That reminds me.” She pulled a memory drive from her purse and tossed it into Di’s waiting hand. “Grabbed you a few things from Sebbii’s computer. She had some rare gems I think might be missing from your collection.”

“You’re a grand gal, Ivy!”

“Only sometimes!” was the jovial reply as the door slid shut behind her.

Ivan strode through the halls of 843 like she was Queen of the castle. With her credit account runnething over and a new body to break in, the woman born in the lowest levels felt like she was on top of the Spire!