If it weren’t for that, and the fact that he has paid for her and knows what she is, Kodai would assume she’s human.
He walks down a stairwell with liquor and pollute advertisements flashing on the wall.
A particular Suntory Whiskey ad catches his eye, an ad in celebration of their former televised commercial ads. It’s a clever marketing scheme: piece together your old marketing campaigns to remind the public just how long you’ve been at it.
The names of the foreigners that have advertised for Suntory appear in katakana next to their pictures – Sean Connery, Bill Murray, Francis Ford Coppola, Sammy Davis Jr. – before the collection of clips switches to people who have become famous over the last thirty years, from Korean pop stars to Chinese actresses.
~~Celebrate whiskey. Celebrate Suntory.~~
The commercial ends as they hit the second floor.
Kodai walks into a dimly lit room filled with slurping sounds. He sees the back of the first man, a Japanese native, who sits on a couch while a woman on her knees goes at it. The man faces another couch also turned backwards, where another man gets the same treatment, his face filled with ecstasy.
This one finishes with a groan, and once he’s done, the woman stands and walks to a little sink behind a thick curtain and flicks the water on.
Kodai stops for a moment, watching the topless woman add toothpaste to her toothbrush and quickly go to work on her teeth. Meanwhile, the door on the other side of the room opens and another woman goes to the man who has just orgasmed. She cleans him off with a wet napkin, unsnaps her top, and drops to her knees.
Kodai waits at the other side of the room for Tesla to catch up with him. He takes the next round of stairs, to another room, on the bottom floor, which is arranged in the same way as the top floor. From there, they head to the office, where they find a short balding man eating from a bowl of instant ramen.
“Kodai!” Rin stands and quickly tries to hide the ramen on his desk.
“Did you not know I was coming?”
“I was just trying to finish up before you got down here,” he says with his mouth full.
Kodai raises an eyebrow at the man. He keeps it raised long enough for the man to see his life flash before his eyes.
“I’m sorry!” Rin stands and bows as respectfully as he can while his teeth chatter.
Kodai lets him stay on alert for just a bit longer until he finally says, “It’s fine, Rin, but you’ve now been warned, and anyone who works for me knows what it means when I warn them.”
“I understand,” Rin mumbles, his head still bowed.
“I’ve come here to talk about profits from the last three weeks.” Kodai places his hands behind his back as he walks towards a holoscreen on the far side of the room.
A calendar appears on the screen, detailing work schedules. From there the profits and losses of the last three weeks take shape. Kodai verbally instructs the holoscreen to expand to the profits from the last two months, and once the line chart is visible, he points at the dip.
“This is what I’d like to discuss.”
“Yes, Kodai.” Rin wipes his hands on his pants and nods to Tesla. The humandroid’s eyes flash black as she scans him. “This is because of Neon Cats, N-Cats, run by Gintoki Sakata.”
Kodai clenches his fists together. “That’s Gintoki’s place?”
Rin nods. “N-Cats is a new salon that opened up just a few weeks back. If I may … ” Rin approaches the holoscreen and gives a series of commands. The line chart expands to show the profits from the last year. “I’ve been steady, you can see that, Kodai,” the sniveling man says with a grin on his face. “Business is good – was good – until N-Cats opened up.”
“And what makes them better?” Kodai asks as pictures of the new pink salon in question appear on the holoscreen, each accented by a popping sound. “Younger girls?”
“That would be illegal,” Rin says.
“And?” Kodai smiles faintly. “I’m joking, Rin, I know we’re not going to get much younger than the eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds we have.”
Same age as my brother, Kodai thinks as he says “nineteen.” Hard to imagine making the life decisions one would have to make to wind up at a pink salon just out of high school, but their decision-making processes and the future futility of them is of little concern to Kodai.
Once they’re too old, or if they start having children and gain weight, he’ll move them to the salons he manages in Nakano, if they still want to do this for a living. The old fucks that frequent those places don’t care about appearances anyway.
“Are their girls prettier?”
“No, of course not,” Rin says.
“Then what is it?”
Rin’s voice softens as if he’s in on some big secret. “I had the door guy, Akira, visit the place two nights ago as a civilian.”
“And?”
“Humandroids. They are employing humandroids.”
“So are we.” Kodai looks at Tesla, who stands at the doorway practically at attention.
She turns her head to Kodai and smiles. “Is there something you’d like me to do?” she asks.
“There is.”
His mouth still agape, Rin looks askance at the humandroid and finally turns back to Kodai. “She’s … a humandroid?”
“Yes, a newer model. You couldn’t tell?”
“No, I thought … ” He shrugs. “I thought she was your girlfriend, or something, but then I was wondering why you didn’t have your normal security detail with you, but then I assumed they were on the rooftop.”
“Wrong on all counts and yes, Tesla, I would like you to see about the humandroids they are employing.”
“And who will provide security for you while I’m out?”
“Give me a moment.”
Kodai’s iNet screen flashes on his pupils as he fires off a message to Yugio, Gorira’s replacement.
Yugio: I can be at Jan Hinamaru in thirty minutes.
Kodai: Make it twenty.
“Yugio will come with a few men. Once he’s here, I’d like you to see about the humandroids at N-Cats,” Kodai tells Tesla.
(0)__(0)
Yugio and his men arrive, and in the meantime, Kodai has Rin order each of the female employees to come to the office and speak with him. He gives each of them a small bonus, and tells them what a good job they’ve been doing. At the same time, he comments on their weight, tells the one named Aimi to get a different haircut, and reminds the women that they are always able to interview for jobs at his other establishments if they want to try something else in the water trade.
The water trade, mizu shōbai, is the euphemism used exclusively for the nighttime entertainment business in Japan. This euphemism encompasses everything from hostess bars to cabarets, and while Kodai has businesses that fit under the general mizu shōbai umbrella, his most profitable subcategory is fūzoku, the sex industry. Soaplands, fashion health shops, pink salons, image clubs – sex is a cash cow, and it always will be, which is why Kodai is excited to deal with the competition.
Kodai and Rin now sit on two chairs in front of the holoscreen. The holoscreen broadcasts Tesla’s iNet feed. The humandroid is in the alley outside of N-Cats, walking casually up the street.
“In position, Rin,” she says, her voice coming out of a sleek rectangular speaker over the holoscreen.
Kodai smiles at Rin and returns his gaze to Tesla’s feed.
“Good,” Rin says, clearing his throat. “Stick to the plan.”
Tesla approaches the front door of N-Cats and is stopped by an older man in a black suit.
“Can I help you?” he asks warily.
“I’m here from Walliburton subsidiary, WallRep,” she says, flashing her humandroid ID.
“Subsidiary?” He studies her ID for a moment longer.