The two officers Minh sent upstairs to find In-Joo, who In-Joo knocked out with a sock full of coins, groaned awake inside the locked patient exam room In-Joo and I dragged them into.
We sat outside the room, talking. "So you were a scapegoat?"
"Basically Natalia's narrative is that I and my faction are sluts, and our existence and artificially lowered social status serve as a warning against others who might get close to you. Your number in the sky has just proven her right and expanded her political license."
The officers banged on the exam room door from the inside, asking to be let out. But we'd locked them in there for a reason. In-Joo stood near the doorframe to speak with them.
"You have two options," she said. "You can strip completely and leave, or you can stay. The bot will let you out if you shove all your clothes under the door."
No response from the other side of the door. We left them there to think. They had meals in the minifridge and a connected restroom.
It did not take long for the inevitable to come. Minh, Natalia, and a squadron of officers even bigger than last time banging at the front door. Ten strong. In-Joo stepped back from the blinds and sat on my desk. "We need to break her grip on their minds. Their view of sex is so narrow and prudish. Like if you don't come in them, what's the point? Or like if they even flirted with it they'd want to go all the way. They can't imagine satisfaction by any other mechanism."
Privately, I agreed with the mob. My expectation was that if sex became more open, at least five women would cross the line. But I nodded as if I agreed with In-Joo's point. "We could use the vapor gun to spray them all with HV55?" I pulled the device out of my drawer, which resembled a megaphone, but had slots at the top for loading medication capsules.
"That's in your interests," she said. "It's not in mine. I don't want them fiendish."
She took the vapor gun and went to search the medicine closet herself. I opened the window and shouted down to the mob. "What do you want?"
"We know you have you her," Natalia said. "And two of our officers. Return them."