Chapter 11

David could hardly believe he was going forward with this. There were so many emotional pitfalls.

His ethical concerns had not been assuaged so much as broadened. Hulda and Goody Brown had convincingly argued that much of the game involved challenging ethical trade offs. When it was just the question of intruding on the area of safety that the NPCs had built for themselves, he almost felt that he could grapple with the issue. But several of the NPCs welcomed Ariel. Also, the Whores Guild was no paragon of virtue itself: it sounded like the guild perpetuated some of the abuses of the world.

Hulda made a good point. Ariel was going to teach him a lot about what it was to be a woman. The game was realistic enough that he would certainly gain empathy that would help in the real world. Also, many of the things he was least prepared for—helping with babies, helping victims, and helping approach sexual maturity—would give him empathy in the real world. He didn’t know how to balance good in the real world against a high cost for the ephemerals in the game.

There was no easy answer. It seemed like the consistent approaches involved one of two paths. Either he could embrace the game world as a way to explore things that it would be wrong to explore in the real world. Or alternatively, he could significantly curtail (if not eliminate) his gaming entirely. Once he put it in those terms, he knew he would take the first option.

The game involved accepting a level of violence that would be pathological in the real world. David vowed to maintain empathy and avoid inuring Ariel to the emotional pain. The game seemed like it would push her in that direction anyway. Unlike in the real world, success as a whore seemed to depend on emotional openness.

So, once and for all, David decided to let Ariel jump in to the whore calling without reservation. Her quest was hard enough without second guessing at every turn. Feeling for her clients and those around her would have to be enough of a moral compass.

David and Ariel’s real struggle came in the form of a message from Phoenix Rising’s marketing department. Her masturbation scene had done even better than the scene of Hulda eating Ariel out. The marketing department wanted Ariel to produce a video blog of her time in whore training and as a whore. They didn’t want to give away all the guild secrets, but they thought that she could help sell the new class. So they didn’t just want experiential recordings and videos of her game play. They also wanted commentary.

They offered to run several well funded ads promoting the whore class and bringing people to her channel. If she did this, she might be a star of the Phoenix Rising game. They hinted that if she actually succeeded at her training, the income might be enough for a full-time job.

They would want a cut of course. But she would get help managing her comments and social media image. They would take over much of the work of managing her channel and let her focus on game play.

But the vulnerability! David would be protected only because no one knew he played Ariel. And yet, perhaps vulnerability was becoming Ariel’s new normal. Because she was considering it. David wasn’t sure he would stop her. He was sure they had a few things to do before Ariel’s next class. So the flames rose and they consumed him.

Their second night, Hulda had suggested Ariel go shopping. It seemed so long ago. So much had happened since then. But Hulda was right. Ariel would need sexy clothes and clothes that were easy to fuck in.

Dressmakers Square was a section of two of the main streets where dress makers, cloth merchants, leather workers, and similar congregated. Shopping for a girl in game seemed to be just as insanely complicated as it appeared to be in the real world.

Ariel went into a shop and said she wanted to get clothes for being a Whore. One of the assistants giggled and pointed, but the woman working behind the counter displayed proper decorum.

“Aye, we have lots of sexy clothes. What might you be looking for?”

“Do Whores come to shop here? What do they buy?”

“We have clothes like what you would see in a brothel if that is the look you are going for.”

“But do you actually have Whores as customers?”

“Perhaps. We cater to the immortal market, and as you must know, all the Whores are ephemeral. Perhaps one or two of the discerning Whores might buy something to impress an immortal client. I assure you that we have clothes as sexy as you might imagine.”

That might be true. But Ariel didn’t like how long it took to figure out that no, Whores didn’t shop here. Also, everything else about her guild was filled with surprises. She wondered whether there might be hidden aspects to dress as well.

“I will check around and may return.”

“Very well. Please keep the Bold Mermaid in mind.”

Ariel realized that she was actually a trainee now. Perhaps she could go to the members entrance and figure out where guild members shopped. The guild was not far.

As she stepped onto the marble of the members lobby, she noticed that Jonathan did not stand behind the desk. Instead, Master Kessler took his place.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Master Kessler. I was just hoping to ask a question.”

“Yes?”

“I think I’m going to want sexy clothes before the next class. Where can I buy them?”

“First, you apply to the guild with no understanding of what’s involved. Now you don’t even have clothes for your job.”

“That’s not fair. One of the girls in my class, Samantha Oliver, didn’t have clothes at all. Artisan Eslinger didn’t seem bothered; she told the girl to draw clothes from stores.”

“You cannot mean to imply that the guild should clothe you.” While Samantha’s situation clearly had been an exception, perhaps the guild had some arrangement for its members to buy clothes.

“It sounded like providing Samantha clothes from guild stores was an exception. I’d imagine I don’t qualify.”

“Certainly not!”

“Then where should I buy clothes?”

“Wherever you like.”

“I’d like to fit in. I’d like not to be surprised by failing to get something I need. Is there some store many of the members shop at?”

Master Kessler rang the bell. The lad from her first visit soon appeared. “Yes, master?”

“What’s the store where the new girls have been shopping recently? Ariel here wants clothes for her work.”

He looked me up and down. I guess he might not have heard that I eventually was accepted as a trainee. “Madam Foxy’s, I believe.”

“And where is it?” I asked.

“Near the back of Dressmaker’s Square.”

“Thank you. And have you heard of the Bold Mermaid? Are they any good?”

“Aye, some of the girls go there time to time. Ya’s wantin immortal fashions, they say the Mermaid’s not bad.”

“Then Foxy’s it will be. I will figure out the immortal fashions after I fit in here.” Master Kessler briefly looked surprised.

“Thank you Master Kessler, and thank you young sir.”

Ariel departed the guild and returned to Dressmaker’s Square. The sign was missing the apostrophe: Madam Foxys.

“Welcome to Foxys.” The speaker was a grinning young woman in a low-cut dress with lots of lace. At least up top, it left nothing to the imagination. As she stepped out from behind the counter, Ariel saw that she was wearing a more modest skirt; the lace gown flowed down over it.

“Are you Madam Foxy?” Ariel asked.

“Nay, not I. Call me Sasha. You’ll be Madam Foxy by the time we’re done with ya!”

“I’m training as a Whore. I have my first class in the training brothel in two days. I realized I need clothes.”

Sasha threw up her hands. “Two days! Well, not like to be the last girl wanting the impossible as she dreams of whoring. Ya got the money and we can even make it happen.”

Sasha glanced over Ariel’s head. “Wait! You’re immortal.”

“Yeah. I’m the first immortal whore trainee.”

“Oh! That’ll be a right interesting change. And ya got here.”

“Yes, asked at the guild where to come.”

“Well, that’ll be something. Reckon we might have ya to thank. First immortal whore is like to set trends. I guess I should check before assuming though. You want what we’d normally sell a whore, not more like what an immortal would buy?”

“You sell to immortals?”

“Aye, even changed the name for them.”

“What was it before?”

“The Foxy Slut. Toned it down a bit so more immortals’d feel comfortable in here.”

Ariel smiled. Even for her, Foxy Slut might have been awkward as a name for a store. “So, what’s the difference between what you sell immortals and what a whore would come in here and buy?”

“The immortals’re like to be more touchy about things like nipples and pussies for their own modesty.

“Ephemerals are less worried about what they show. If an immortal don’t wanna see, then they set it that way, and things blur or fabric is less sheer so it works out. So unless they’re teasing, a whore’s like to put more out there than an immortal.

“Course we see all kinds. It’s a spectrum.”

“I think you can outfit me like a whore.” Once the world had a naked video of Ariel masturbating, getting worried about how much her clothes left to the imagination seemed pointless. She would tease her clients of course, and that would need the right clothes. But the training, especially under Master Craggs, didn’t appear to focus on subtlety.