Problematic client

Anna begins to describe her idea.

"You remember Charlotte? Well, she has one really picky and unreasonable customer. For several months, she's been trying to satisfy their taste by providing yachts that meet all their requirements. But it seems with every visit, their requests get more and more complicated..."

"So?...."

"Here's the thing. She said she'd do anything to deal with this customer for good. I asked if we could help. She said it was unlikely, but if we managed to discover what kind of yacht they're seeking—or more unrealistically, make them buy the one she presented to them previously—she promised to share a percentage from the transaction."

"And you think we could use this thing to make this customer buy her yacht and get a cut of the money?"

"Yeah, basically. I think it's a good plan. Since they were going to buy a yacht anyway, they wouldn't regret the purchase. Charlotte said they're extremely rich and have their own yacht club."

"I see... But to act, we still need to know who the customer is."

"Don't worry about that. Charlotte said they're meeting in an hour. We can still make it happen."

"Okay... Let's go."

You grab the SSR and MR (Memory Reader) and tuck them into your jacket pockets. You ask Josef for the car keys, and he lends them to you. You take Anna with you and drive to the port, arriving in 45 minutes.

At the dock entrance, you both see Charlotte.

"Hey, Charlotte!" Anna shouts, waving her arm.

Charlotte notices you and lets you into the dock.

"What are you doing here? Don't tell me you were serious about your proposition."

"Aw, c'mon, Charlotte. Can you give us a chance?" Anna begs her friend.

"Ugh... alright. But... if you mess up, you know what comes next, right?" Charlotte sets a condition.

Anna gulps and gives her a nervous smile.

"Y-yes, Charlotte. I-I understand."

The atmosphere gets tense quickly. You put your hand on Anna's shoulder and give her a reassuring smile. She smiles back, her visibly calmer.

"Okay... can you lead us to where you're meeting your customer?"

Seeing that even Charlotte's condition didn't scare your aunt off, she gives in and leads you both to a secluded yacht. The yacht itself looks incredibly luxurious.

"They were about to buy it previously, but something stopped them. I don't know what it was," Charlotte says, almost reading your mind.

You climb to the second floor and see a pair of velvety sofas with a coffee table between them. This must be the meeting place.

Just as you think about sitting on the couch to wait, you hear a voice from behind you.

"What is the meaning of this?!" a bossy, feminine voice exclaims.

You turn around and see a stunning blonde woman in a luxurious black dress.

"Excuse me, Mrs. Katarina, these two suggested they could help me satisfy your exquisite tastes," Charlotte tries to explain to the customer.

"You thought these two could understand what a noble woman like me desires? Are you a fool?" Katarina says mockingly.

"Please, madame. I'm just **** to fulfill your request. Just this once, can you spare me a chance?" Charlotte says with the utmost desperation. Seeing her like this makes you feel a mix of guilt and anger, but you manage to keep it inside.

"Heh.... Alright, just this once. If they can humor me enough, I may forgive you for such... rudeness." Katarina says, showing off her "noble" side.

"Thank you so much, miss. You are so kind," Charlotte thanks her as if the woman just saved her life.

With a smirk, Katarina sits on one of the couches.

"So? I'm waiting," she says impatiently.

"Charlotte, thanks again. Can you leave us alone?" you whisper to her.

She gives you an uncertain look but leaves the yacht anyway.

Both you and Anna sit opposite Katarina. You glance around to make sure the three of you are alone.

"So!? What do you suggest, pleb?" Katarina nearly shouts.

With a quick motion, you pull the SSR from your pocket and shoot at Katarina. She doesn't have time to make a sound before collapsing as a skin on the couch. It's the first time Anna has seen the SSR in action, so she's understandably freaked out for a moment as she watches Katarina's empty shell lie on the couch.

You take the MR and press it to Katarina's skin.

Beep

You notice the MR's screen displaying:

"File Katarina.mem found! Please proceed with the options."

Anna looks at you as you do this and asks, "What did you just do?"

"I exported her memory from her body. Now I just need to look through it to figure out what this bitch wanted," you answer.

"Memory? Did... did you do it with me as well?" she says, surprised.

"Sorry, I did. I needed to test it to fully understand it. Sorry, again," you answer sheepishly.

"O-ok. We'll talk about it later. Now read this bitch," she says, changing the subject. It's the first time you've heard her use the word "bitch." Wow.

You turn back to the MR. You press the import function and press the device to your head. Another headache. You begin to sift through Katarina's memories. You then stumble upon a dialogue with who seems to be her husband.

"What do you want from me? Can you explain, Mario?" she asks her husband.

"Katarina, how many times? Okay, one last time. Pretend to be a customer and say you want to buy a yacht from this naive girl. She's the only obstacle for me to completely monopolize the yacht business. Just don't buy the yacht. Come up with any detail you don't like about it. Have fun. Got it?" Mario explains.

"Yes, Mario..."

You snap out of the trance and look at Katarina's skin.

"This bitch!"

"Whoa, whoa, what's the matter?" Anna asks with a hint of concern.

"This bitch was just toying with Charlotte. She never intended to buy it. Her husband wants to take over Charlotte's business and is using her to sabotage it."

"Bitch! She's.... she's.... a BITCH!" Anna is at a loss for words.

"W-what should we do?" you ask your aunt. "Should we tell Charlotte? She needs to know the truth."

"But how do we explain it?" Anna asks reasonably.

That's tough. But maybe...