Mariko

I continued making deliveries but my mind kept returning to that Hiromoto tech. What had possessed me to talk to him? I knew I'd get into big trouble with Barbara if she found out, but it had been months since I'd spoken to Mariko and I felt the sudden desire to reach out to her and ask if she could help me get out of Barbara's trap if things got out of hand.

It was late afternoon and nearing the end of my shift when I got a summons via my MMU for a pickup in the east wing. It was an area of the complex that rarely used mailgirls and I'd never been to this particular office before. I had a feeling I knew who was summoning me and my nerves began to rise as I made the long journey there from the tower.

As I entered the office my suspicions were confirmed as I saw the Hiromoto tech I'd talked to earlier standing there with a cellphone in his hand. "Close the door," he ordered brusquely and I complied. He spoke a few words of Japanese into the phone then handed it to me.

"Hello?" I said into the phone.

"Danica! I am so pleased to hear from you." I recognized Mariko's voice immediately. "I understand you wish to speak to me?"

"Yes, I um..." I stopped speaking as I looked at the Hiromoto tech standing in the room staring at me. Mariko sensed my hesitancy.

"You may speak freely in front of Hideki," she said to me. "He is loyal to me and can be trusted to keep our conversation private."

"Okay. I'm so glad I got ahold of you, Mariko. There's so much that has happened since we last talked and I, um...I don't know what to do!"

"Please tell me everything, Danica. I will help if I can."

The floodgates opened now and I told her everything that had happened over the previous months. I told her about the whippings, the quid pro quo session, the stage presentation with me as the naked prop, Anna, the condo, the constant enforced nudity away from work, and the web that Barbara had been slowly weaving around every aspect of my life.

Mariko remained silent for a few moments after I'd finished before she spoke. "Danica, I must tell you that you should leave there immediately. Go to the condo and retrieve your belongings. You should leave and do not return."

"Mariko, I can't get into the condo without Anna."

"Then after work return with her to the condo. Do not allow her to lock up your passport and your bank cards. It will be much more difficult for you to escape if you do."

I felt my heart thumping heavily in my chest. "Do you really think it's that bad, Mariko? If I quit now I'll owe so much money. And I know it sounds crazy, but I'm not so sure that I don't want to be her naked slave, at least for awhile."

"I understand having those feelings, Danica," Mariko said to me. "I also have those kinds of feelings. However, my arrangement with Mr. Hiromoto allows me to leave at any time if I choose. I believe it is Barbara's intention that you never be allowed to leave. That is what she has told Mr. Hiromoto."

"She has?" I responded, surprised that Barbara had been revealing her plans for me with Hiromoto.

"Yes," Mariko replied. "She has told him that one day she will be able to openly own you as a naked slave. Mr. Hiromoto found that very amusing. He did not believe that such a thing would be possible in America. Barbara assured him that she has a plan to make it happen."

I should have been shocked by this but I wasn't. Barbara had pretty much told me the same thing. What frightened me was her absolute confidence that she could make it happen. "Barbara told me that after this contract expires I would sign another one. She seems certain that it will happen, although I don't know why."

"I would not underestimate her," Mariko said.

I let out a short humorless laugh. "Believe me, Mariko, I don't. But what about this lawsuit against DDE? Do you think the courts will rule that our contracts are invalid?"

"That lawsuit will go away, Danica. Mr. Hiromoto will take steps to ensure that it does not interfere with his business interests in America." How in the hell was he going to do that, I wondered. Bribe the girl bringing the suit? Threaten her? I probably didn't want to know. What I did know was that Hiromoto was a dangerous and powerful man and what Mariko was telling me was true.

"Okay then, if somehow she forces me to sign another contract is there something you can do to intervene?"

Mariko was silent for a few moments. "I can not," she said. "Mr. Hiromoto has taken a personal interest in the DDE arrangement and Barbara Anderson. He is fascinated by her. Only Mr. Hiromoto would be able to intervene to help you. However, I do believe he could be convinced to help."

"You want me to convince Hiromoto to help me? Why would he ever do that?"

"You must offer him something of value. As I have said, Mr. Hiromoto does nothing without receiving something in return."

"What the hell could I ever offer Hiromoto? You want me to fly to Tokyo and fuck him? Let him whip me?"

"Of course not," Mariko replied.

"Then what?"

"Mr. Hiromoto values information."

"Mariko, what kind of information could I give him that he would care about. I'm just a mailgirl."

"Yes," she said, "you are a mailgirl. No one sees or hears more than the lowly mailgirl. She goes everywhere and is seen by all, yet remains invisible. She is not worthy of hiding secrets from." This was the second time that Mariko had told me this and I now understood the truth of it. I'd been everywhere in the DDE complex, from the executive lounge on the tenth floor of the tower to the production floor of Gangsta to the accounting offices in the south wing. Over the past six months I had seen and heard many things.

I may have been slow on the uptake but I finally realized what Mariko was asking me to do. A lowly mailgirl made the perfect corporate spy. Few people thought of us as anything other than eye candy and mindless bimbos so it never occurred to them to hide anything from us. No other employee moved so often and so freely between every department in the company

"So you want me to be a spy? Why? We're a gaming company. What kind of information could I provide that would be useful to Hiromoto Industries?"

"Mr. Hiromoto values all information," Mariko replied. "He believes information is power."

"I don't know, Mariko. I don't think I want to spy on my own company."

"It is a company that lied to you in getting you to join its Mailgirls program. It is a company with a top executive who wishes to enslave you."

I couldn't argue with any of that. DDE certainly deserved it, but the idea of becoming involved in corporate espionage still bothered me. It seemed like I'd be crossing yet another line that I thought I'd never cross.

"I'll think about it, Mariko. I should go though. I've been here too long. Barbara will become suspicious when she sees this on my log." I knew that Barbara looked at a log each day of all of my pickups and deliveries and this stop was going to stand out like a dandelion in a rose garden.

"Visits to this office will never show up on any log," Mariko said. "Barbara will see nothing unusual in your daily log."

When I heard this I suddenly realized that this office must have been established as a safe room for mailgirls within the DDE complex long before I ever contacted the Hiromoto tech earlier today. Suddenly everything began to click into place. I remembered Mariko's small office and her admission that the Mailgirls program, despite its notoriety, generated relatively little money for Hiromoto Industries.

It was then that I had a moment of clarity: Mr. Hiromoto didn't give a damn about making money from selling licenses and technology to his Mailgirls program, he was using it for corporate espionage! It allowed him to gain access to inside information from corporations all over the world!

"I have to go Mariko," I said. "I'll think about it, I promise."

"Very well, Danica," she replied. "You must do what you think is best. I will be in touch again."

I hung up the cellphone, handed it to Hideki and fled from the room.