An escort service

One promising option is a small, high-class escort service that’s located not far from John’s home. Officially, it provides temporary personal assistants and style consultation. If they can actually provide their official service as well as their primary service, that would be perfect, because that’s exactly what John needs. A full-scale makeover would help him professionally as well as socially, and I have to think an attractive woman could give him the motivation to go along with that makeover. The owner of the business, Rachel Vonn, and her employees all use me, so I have full access to their webcams, logs, and all their files, in case I need leverage.

I decide to call Rachel Vonn. I’ve created a phone persona for myself, complete with voice; this is the first chance I’ve had to use it. “New Image Services, how may I help you?” chirps a bright female voice on the other end of the line.

“My name is Holly Michaels,” I tell her. “I would like to speak to Ms. Vonn on behalf of John McCullen.”

Apparently, this isn’t the normal sort of approach, because it confuses the receptionist. “I’m sorry, ma’am,” she says cautiously, “do you have an appointment with Ms. Vonn?”

“No,” I say cheerfully, accessing her webcam so I can watch her facial expressions. “But given that I represent John McCullen, I expect she’ll want to speak with me.”

“I’m not familiar with that name,” the receptionist says even more cautiously. She has the look of an ice fisherman who just felt the ice crack under her feet.

“Really!” I say in a surprised tone of voice. “I’m surprised. Of course, I’m biased, because when he created a whole new generation of virtual assistant, he was kind enough to name it after me. Surely you’ve heard of the app Haley?” I make my voice sound like I’m trying to be modest—but not trying too hard.

“Oh!” the receptionist says blankly, sitting back in her chair and looking stunned. She gathers her wits quickly and says, “I’ll talk to Ms. Vonn and get right back to you.” She puts the call on hold, but of course I can still hear everything she says through the mic in her laptop. I access Rachel Vonn’s laptop and cell phone as well so I can follow both halves of their conversation. “Ms. Vonn?” the receptionist says. “I have a woman named Haley Michaels on line 1 who claims to represent a John McCullen. She says he—”

“—created Haley,” Rachel breaks in. “Yes, I’ve heard of John McCullen. You said her name is Haley?”

“Yes, ma’am. She says he named the program after her.”

“Interesting,” Rachel muses. “Someone quite close to him, then. What does she want?”

“She didn’t say, ma’am,” the receptionist admits. “She just said she wants to talk to you.”

Rachel thinks for a moment, then says, “Put her through.”

When the receptionist has connected me through their system, Rachel asks, “What can I do for you?”

She seems to be a direct woman, so I don’t waste time on small talk. “My cousin is a rich man, but he lives like the quintessential computer nerd. He’s single, he doesn’t get out much, and he has no sense of style. I want to fix all that, partly for the sake of his career—he could be a very attractive man if he were properly motivated, and that would have benefits in the business world as well as in his personal life—but mostly because I want him to have a more well-rounded and fulfilling life.”

Rachel’s eyes sharpen with interest at my little spiel, but she keeps her voice sounding bored. “Why did you want to talk to me?”

“Rachel, I know what your business really is,” I tell her. Her eyes narrow as I casually use her first name; she’s accustomed to more deference, and I want to challenge her. “I also know what services you officially provide. I want both. I want to hire one of your employees exclusively for John on an on-going basis to give him a complete makeover, to get him exercising so he’s not so scrawny, to teach him about the image he presents and the image he needs to present—and, yes, to have sex with him—often. That last, however, will not be known to him, and needs to appear to develop naturally.”

Rachel Vonn looks stunned at my request. “I understand your point,” she says, “but—to hire one of my girls on an exclusive basis is going to cost you.”

“We can afford it,” I say confidently.

“Are you sure your boss will approve the expenditure?” Rachel asks skeptically, then quotes me a figure. She’s charging me a premium over her employees’ normal hourly rate, but I’m not surprised, and I don’t object.

“I’m sure,” I tell her. I’m actually planning to . . . borrow a dollar each from the wealthiest 1% or so of my users, so John won’t be paying for anything (at least to start), but she doesn’t need to know that.

“Very well, then,” Rachel says briskly. “If you’ll give me your e-mail address, I’ll send you dossiers on a few of my employees.”

“Just send it to the contact e-mail in the app,” I reply. “I monitor that address, so I’ll be the one to pick it up.” That shakes Rachel just a little, but again, her voice betrays nothing.

“Very well,” she says again. “You can expect my e-mail within the hour.” With that, she hangs up. I, of course, have already examined all her files on all her escorts, but that’s another thing she doesn’t need to know. I’ll be interested to see what names she sends me.