Time date: 10:13:06, 11 June, 2059
Location: Chalis Covert Operations Command Center, Mission Planning Room B3SL2
Violet was seated in a conference room, surrounded by twelve other individuals of varied form and purpose. The only one who she recognized was Director Brentwood.
"Well, not Director any longer but rather CFO," Violet thought.
Victoria was not present.
All eyes were on Violet.
This was Violet's first visit to the Ops facility at Chalis. The brothels and sex clubs were her home turf, though she had always been a bit curious about Ops. This is where Jos worked, or served. His obligation was close to the same duration as Violet's obligation. They were both required to serve for roughly eleven years. They were at the six year mark. Violet had just turned thirty years old.
The distinguished looking man who had introduced himself as Tactical Director Archer looked ready to continue speaking.
A woman, likely a medical scientist if anything could be judged from the white lab coat she wore, had touched his sleeve lightly a moment past, triggering him to pause, lean down to her, listen, and then stand straight again. The woman turned her full attention back to focus on Violet.
Violet glanced to Brentwood. She judged his expression. Her read was that Brentwood was trying to convey both support, and a warning that this was a very serious matter under discussion.
Archer resumed the brief. He looked directly at Violet, again.
"In a previous interview, you indicated that you could kill someone if you knew that they were truly wicked, and that by doing so, you would save others from pain, suffering, and even death. Do you recall?" Archer asked.
"Yes," Violet replied.
"Do you still hold to this position?" he inquired.
"Yes, I do," Violet responded.
"Excellent," Archer said.
"That is exactly what we wish you to do. Kill someone," he finished.
Violet's expression registered some level of shocked surprise, but she kept her composure, and her eyes never left Archer's face.
Archer leaned forward, placing both hands, palms down, on the conference room table.
"After we inform you with specifics, if you agree to proceed, you will begin extensive training in several areas. You will engage in various simulations, and you will need to undergo certain procedures. For now, these are the key facts: A brutal crime lord has risen to power over the past few years in a region in Central Africa. He has killed hundreds of men, women, and, sadly, indirectly, children. The local people under his thrall live in abject fear, and now there are rumors that he is trying to purchase a large stock of assault weapons on the black market," Archer finished.
After a brief dramatic pause, Archer continued speaking.
"We have accepted an extremely high value contract to terminate him," he said.
Violet frowned. "Why me?" she asked.
"I mean, I doubt I could win a fight against most of the girls I know, and I have never even held a gun," she said.
"We are looking at using a delayed action poison, and subtle ways to administer it. You would need to get close, intrigue him, seduce him, sleep with him, either as his girlfriend or as one of his whores," Archer said.
Violet noticed a few of the men shift in their chairs.
Archer glanced aside at the same woman in a lab coat to whom he had spoken previously.
"Nicole, will you take this next part?" he asked.
"Uh, yes, certainly," Nicole replied.
Nicole looked at Violet.
"Let me begin," Nicole said.
"We call him Reaper. I know, overused, but it works."
"He is amoral, ruthless, and highly intelligent."
"He is white, of Western European descent, forty-one years old."
"Drugs, prostitution, gambling, piracy, theft. You name it - he has his hands in it."
"He maintains heavy security. He is extremely cautious, and rarely leaves his compound, relying on his lieutenants to extend his reach."
"He likes his women. They are perhaps his one weakness. This is what we hope to leverage."
"The key detail here is that while he, himself, is white, he finds white women to be distasteful. Black is where it's at for him."
"Violet, if we deploy you as you are, you would never get close to him. You would either be given to his men, those of lowest rank and file, or perhaps simply killed. As I said, he is cautious, and he would be suspicious of you because you do not belong. There have been multiple previous attempts on his life," Nicole added.
"Are you with me so far?" she asked.
"Yes," Violet said.
"But, I'm not seeing how I fit in here," Violet responded.
"You will," Nicole replied.
"Let me continue. We have run simulations with every sex worker active at Chalis - thirty seven runs to be precise. The models show that if we deploy you, the average probability of success is ninety-six percent. Probability of success with the girl who is our next best option, behind you, falls to seventy-four percent. We send you or we send no one, but, we cannot send you as you are," she finished.
"What do you mean?" Violet asked.
"You need to be black," Nicole replied.
"Wait, what? Can you even do that?" Violet questioned.
"We can," Nicole replied.
"It's not nearly as complex as our gender procedure. In simplified terms, we would use stem cells from a person who is of native black African descent and combine with one of our designer viruses. We sedate, introduce the combination into your system, and let mother nature do the rest. It takes about eight days. You would be under constant care for the duration. The DNA of your skin cells would essentially be rewritten. The process would not alter the structure of your appearance however, so we would need to perform some cosmetic surgery on your face, to give you a more natural African look," she explained.
"Oh, and we would dye your hair black of course," she added.
Archer chimed in.
"We cannot make you do this. Unlike your obligation to sex work which still runs for, what, another five years, this decision is yours to make. There is significant risk, but as explained, there is also a high probability of success," Archer stated.
Brentwood watched Violet, knowing she was processing everything.
"Does it hurt the stem cell donor?" Violet asked.
"No, we gather small amounts of skin and soft tissue from the donors waist and hips, and then produce the needed stem cells. It's relatively simple and there is a quick recovery," Nicole replied.
"Can you change me back?" Violet asked.
There was silence in the room for a moment.
"No, it's permanent," Nicole said.
"I see," Violet responded.
"What about the social aspects, like cultural appropriation? I would not wish to offend anyone," Violet said.
"We know you have no bias or prejudice in any regard, except toward those who intentionally seek to harm, across a broad spectrum," Archer replied.
"Look, we have someone we would like you to meet," he said.
Archer signaled to an aide who until now had been standing watch by the conference room door.
The aide stepped outside of the room for a moment. When he returned, he escorted a stunningly beautiful young black woman before him.
The young woman glanced around the room as if looking for a specific someone. Her search stopped when her gaze fell upon Violet. The young woman seemed anxious, or perhaps excited, yet shy of those around her.
"This is Subira," Archer said.
"Until a few weeks past, she lived with her parents in a small village under Reaper's iron fist. Her parents are dead now, as are many of her friends, at the hands of Reaper and his men. We are sponsoring her, and have provided her with a small apartment and adequate financial support so that she can pursue an education here in this country. We are not grooming her for sex work. That's not how we operate. In return, she is providing us with detailed information on Reaper's activities and on the local region where she was born and raised," he said.
