Mariko

As I entered the room I found Mariko there waiting for me along with Hideki, the Hiromoto technician. It was the first time I'd seen her since Tokyo nearly two years earlier. She bowed her head in greeting and smiled at me. "Hello Danica. I am very pleased to see you again," she said in her formal, methodical English.

I didn't really know how to respond so I said nothing. In a way I was glad to see her so I could get some answers but I couldn't help but feel an overwhelming sense of betrayal over the release of our phone conversations to Barbara. Mariko spoke a few words in Japanese to Hideki who then turned and exited the room leaving the two of us alone together. Without speaking she removed her heels and then pulled her black business dress up over her head and placed it on a nearby desk.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I sense you are angry with me and I wish that we speak together as equals. We cannot do that if I am dressed and you are not." Mariko continued stripping until she was completely nude, then knelt down on the floor before me. She was displaying the same uncommon grace and humility that I'd seen in Tokyo no matter the circumstances. My anger began dissipating as a result of this humble gesture.

"Please? Will you join me?" she asked. I knelt on the floor facing her. "I wish you to speak freely, Danica. I will answer your questions as best I can." The scent of her delicate perfume wafted in the air and I remembered my first impression of her in that parking garage in Tokyo. Two years later she was still the most beautiful and intoxicating woman I'd ever met.

There was still much to be resolved though and I wasn't going to leave this room without getting some answers. "Mariko, you knew that Barbara had found out about my spying and you let me keep doing it anyway."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"What would you have done had I warned you, Danica?"

"I would have stopped!" I said.

"That is why I did not tell you," Mariko explained. "You would have lost Mr. Hiromoto's protection if you had done so."

"What protection? He gave those damn recordings to Barbara. She used them to blackmail me into signing a terrible contract and now I'm stuck as her personal slave!"

A look of concern came over Mariko's face. "Please tell me everything that has happened since we last spoke," she said. I told her the whole story of my meeting with Barbara on Monday and her plan to strip me of what little freedom I had left.

Mariko remained silent for a few moments after I'd finished as if contemplating her next words. "Danica, please remember that when you first contacted me from this room and asked for help I counseled you to leave Barbara and the company immediately. You chose not to take my advice. I did not wish you to get involved with Mr. Hiromoto in this."

"I know, but that would've wrecked me financially. You're the one who told me I would have Hiromoto's protection if I gave him information. Was that a lie, Mariko?

"No."

"Then why the hell did he screw me over?"

"He did not," Mariko replied. "Mr. Hiromoto gave those recordings to Barbara because he considered them inconsequential."

"Inconsequential? They're evidence that I committed a crime! And he made it worse by having Kelly steal the VR headset."

"They are inconsequential because Mr. Hiromoto believes that Barbara would never allow the company to hear them. That would risk the future of her Mailgirls program and she cannot allow that to happen." This had occurred to me as well but I couldn't risk calling Barbara's bluff because the consequences if I was wrong were so high. Those tapes were anything but inconsequential to me.

"I would never have gotten involved in this if I'd known his plan was to steal technology from DDE," I said.

"What did you believe Mr. Hiromoto was going to do with the information you provided?" Mariko asked.

"I don't know. Insider trading or something."

"And is that not also illegal?"

"Of course it is. Listen, Mariko, I didn't have any illusions that Hiromoto was going to use the stuff I told him for altruistic reasons. Believe me, I've had a guilty conscience about this for a long time. But I never would have agreed to steal proprietary technology for him."

"That is why you were not asked to do it. Your friend Kelly had no such reservations."

"Did Hiromoto know about DDE's VIrtual Reality program before I told you about it?" I asked her.

"No."

"So how did you guys know this prototype even existed because I didn't tell you that. I didn't even know about it myself."

Mariko was silent for a minute as if wrestling with the decision about how much to tell me. She finally spoke. "Hideki was asked to look for information involving this program and he discovered the existence of this prototype and where it was kept."

Hideki! Suddenly I understood the full brilliance of Hiromoto's corporate spying scheme. Mailgirls Tracking Units, also known as MTU's, were located throughout the complex to track mailgirls' movements via the MMU's strapped to their arms. The contract with Hiromoto allowed only his technicians to service these units, allegedly for proprietary reasons. These MTU's were all over the place hanging from ceilings and walls which allowed Hiromoto's techs access to virtually every room in the DDE complex. So Hiromoto not only had mailgirls to supply information but also had his own men on the ground here to help verify this information and coordinate any plans of action. Hiromoto probably used this information for insider trading, technology theft, and maybe even to blackmail executives.

"God, Mariko, this whole damn Mailgirls thing is just a scam by Hiromoto to rip off his licensees, isn't it?"

Mariko lowered her eyes to the floor. "Our Mailgirls program does provide real benefits to businesses but I am afraid Mr. Hiromoto has also used it for his own purposes. I wish that were not so."

"Why do you do it then?" I asked. "Why are you helping him?"

"I do it to protect the girls, Danica. I fear that in many places mailgirls would soon become sex slaves if I did not. Mr. Hiromoto uses his power to prevent this, but only as long as I am providing information that may help enrich him."

So mailgirls like me are nothing more than bargaining chips to get Mariko to do his bidding for him, I thought to myself. What a sick bastard. We were many things to many people, but real, living, breathing human beings seemed to be far down the list.

There was something else I was curious about. "What about Linda?" I asked. "The girl who quit and went to that feminist group to sue DDE. Did Hiromoto buy her off to get the lawsuit dropped?"

"Linda belonged to Mr. Hiromoto all along," Mariko replied.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Hiromoto knew there would be many challenges to his Mailgirls program in America so he believed it would be useful to discredit his opponents as quickly as possible. He used his contacts in this country to find an actress who would play a role for him in doing this."

"So Linda is just an actress who was hired to discredit the UAW?"

"Yes," Mariko replied.

The brilliance of this was stunning. Knowing that there would be legal challenges to the Mailgirls program Hiromoto had planted Linda into the UAW only to have her recant at a time of his choosing and then scorch the feminist organization and its famous attorney on her way out. It had thrown the opposition to the Mailgirls program into disarray. As much as I hated to, I had to admit a little grudging respect for the man. He was playing a very long game and was clearly a master of it.

"Did Barbara know about any of this?" I asked.

"No. Mr. Hiromoto did not need or want Barbara's assistance in this."

It was at this point I think I finally realized the full depth of the mess I was in. I was caught between a crazy woman who wanted to turn me into her slave and a cunning, ruthless Yakuza who was using me for his own twisted purposes. I closed my eyes and wished I could just disappear someplace where no one knew me. Somewhere I could just start all over again.

"I should have listened to you, Mariko," I said quietly. "I should have just gotten into my car and driven as far away from this place as I could before it was too late."

"I understand why you did not, Danica," Mariko said. "I must admit that protecting my girls is not the only reason I have not left Mr. Hiromoto. The life of a mailgirl has a certain allure to women like us. It is difficult for me to imagine returning now to a normal life. It is why I still work mailgirls shifts when I am able though I am not required to do so."

"I suppose that's true," I replied. "I know there's a part of me who still wants to surrender to Barbara even after everything she's done."

"Do you remember Aiko?" Mariko asked.

"Yes, of course." Aiko was the mailgirl that Kelly and I had interviewed in Mariko's office in Tokyo. She was the one who Kelly had followed around the next day on her rounds.

"After Aiko completed her contract I placed her into a good job in the accounting department as she requested. It was the field she had been trained in at the university. Six months later she came to me and begged to be allowed to return to being a mailgirl."

"She did? Why?"

"She said she could not bear the thought of another day chained to a desk and encumbered by clothing. A normal job had become slavery to her while being a mailgirl was freedom."

"And you let her come back?"

"Yes. She has been a loyal worker and may remain a mailgirl as long as she desires."

I understood Aiko's feelings. Even now I still felt the strong gravitational pull of this crazy life. If I ever did manage to gain my freedom I wondered if someday I might also find myself begging Barbara to return to it. But there was really no choice for me anymore. I would rather have the option of begging to return to this life than being trapped in it with no way out.

"Mariko, I have to get out," I said to her. "If I don't do it now I may never be able to."

"I understand," Mariko responded. "Mr. Hiromoto is not a good man but he has not lasted this long by betraying those who fulfill their agreements with him. You have done as asked so if you wish to leave he will assist you."

I looked at her, stunned. For the first time in days I began to feel hope again. "Really? He will? Is Hiromoto in town with you?"

"No," she replied shaking her head. "He is too old now for long journeys. I am here only with a company lawyer to finalize the agreement with DDE."

"So when can he pull me out?"

"Any time after the new contract with DDE is signed. Not before."

"When will that happen?"

"Everything should be completed by Friday. Mr. Hiromoto is only willing to do this once the new contract is signed with DDE."

"What about Kelly?" I asked. "Can he get her out, too?"

"Yes."

"And there are others..."

"No," Mariko interrupted. "You and Kelly have been useful to Mr. Hiromoto. The others have not. He will not help them. Only the two of you."

"How is he going to do it?" I asked.

Mariko smiled. "I cannot tell you that. I can only say that Barbara thinks of herself as a master of the game, but she has not been on the playing field with Mr. Hiromoto before."

"What does that mean?"

"Mr. Hiromoto believes that once the new contract is signed with DDE his Mailgirls program here can safely continue without Barbara. She is not as indispensable as she believes she is."

"So what will happen to her? He won't hurt her will he?"

"No, he will not physically harm her. But you must understand that Mr. Hiromoto intends to ruthlessly destroy her ego and her hubris."

"Really? Why?" This was suddenly starting to sound very personal between Hiromoto and Barbara. It occurred to me that he had very little interest in me, it was Barbara he was after.

"Barbara bypassed me and demanded to deal only with Mr. Hiromoto in negotiating the original contract. She presumed to be be his equal and that was a foolish mistake."

Hearing this reminded me of the time I had bypassed the chain of command to bring Lin to Barbara and had received a whipping as punishment. Had Barbara made the same mistake with Hiromoto? Was she about to receive her own figurative whipping for her arrogance?

I also thought about something else. "Barbara said you were there during the negotiations as his interpreter. Is that true?"

"Yes."

"So Barbara doesn't know he speaks English?"

"No," Mariko replied. "Very few people do. He keeps it secret because he believes it gives him an advantage when dealing with English speakers. He only spoke it to you because he considered you inconsequential." There was that word again. Inconsequential.

The more I heard about Hiromoto the more it reaffirmed my original opinion after watching him whip Mariko: the man is a misogynistic asshole. It was obvious that his original intent for his Mailgirls program was simply to humiliate and debase women for his own pleasure. It was probably only later that he figured out he could also use mailgirls as spies.

I was almost starting to feel sorry for Barbara after hearing all of this. "Mariko, I don't know that I actually want to see Hiromoto destroy Barbara or anything like that. Is there another way?"

Mariko shook her head. "That is the only way out. You may delay that day if you desire, Danica. You can keep playing the game as long as you wish knowing that you can get out whenever you choose."

I thought about this and once again I felt the bizarre allure of this life tightening around my will like an invisible bond. I couldn't deny that playing the role of Barbara's slave for awhile still held a perverse appeal to me. If I knew I had a way out why not keep playing her game for awhile? Now that she was taking it to an even deeper level than ever before it would be exciting to experience that for at least a little while, wouldn't it?

Fortunately I was able to put a halt to these thoughts before I got sucked too deeply back into Barbara's destructive vortex. No, Danica, you can't do this again, I told myself. Every time you've been given a set of options you've always chosen the path that leads deeper into Barbara's trap. Stop it! You can't trust Hiromoto to keep up his bargain forever. And he is a very old man so what happens if he dies or has a stroke?

It had taken me two years but I'd finally learned my lesson. I knew what I had to do.

"I want out now, Mariko," I said to her. "Burn Barbara to the ground if you have to."