Stepping in and out of the pools of scarlet light that gave the red district its name, Juno stopped in front of the brothel where she was supposed to be meeting her contact. A pair of bodypainted twi’leks were writhing against the transparisteel windows, their jewelry flashing laser lights randomly into the crowd. Most people looked more annoyed by it than interested. Juno wondered if they might be targeting more than just customers with those lights. That's what I'm here to find out. Just doing my patriotic duty to the Republic. Really I'm going above and beyond that here.
Flashing a smile at the door woman, she headed down the hall to the dressing rooms. The smell of hairspray, baby powder, and a whole garden’s worth of perfumes hit her in a wave as she opened the door. Inside, a group of women were talking to each other. One of of them, a togruta in her forties, got to her feet. "You the new girl,honey?”
Juno nodded and glanced around the room. A dozen copies of her own face, pale, painted, innocently nervous, looked back at her from the mirrors. "Yeah, my name’s Tu’lia.”
"I’m Asha, the house mother. If you need anything, let me know. Sit down. I assume the owner gave you a basic run down with the health check?" She spoke in a breathless rush. Her movements were rapid and nervous. "You just sit behind the glass until someone picks you, then the host calls your number and tells you how long he’s paid for. The house takes ten percent off the time. Tips and what you get off extras are yours. You said you've done independent work before?”
Juno nodded and Asha ran a heated comb through her hair, perfuming it. The room throbbed with the scent of amber, honey and vanilla "Who do you usually get here? I don’t do quarren, trandoshans,, or mon cal."
Asha laughed a pained, brittle laugh "We don't get much of those. Mostly we have humans, and humanoids. Lately, we've had lots of clones since we're one of the few places who take them. We've had less since the murders, but still a decent amount. They're pret-"
"Murders!?” Juno’s eyes opened wide and she started to sit up.
"Hold still." Asha’s hands were shaking slightly as she resumed combing. "Yeah, there have been some clones killed in the District. Not in brawls or robberies, neither.They've been found in the brothels. I know someone in security and they said that they had been gutted. That someone had cut them open like fish."
Juno gasped. She knew all this and, more. The files had told her that they hadn't just been gutted, they'd been harvested. The killers had taken organs, limbs, and in some cases, mutilated them so badly that they had only been identifiable as clones by DNA testing.She didn't have to fake her wide eyed look of horror. The togruta squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry, we have great security here. Everyone is checked for blasters when they come in, and we have a panic button in every room. Someone gives you a hard time or starts to scare you, hit that button.”
"Get dressed, and head to the lineup.” Asha swept her gaze over Juno as she stripped, inspecting her dispassionately. "I think the red dress would look good on you. Make those darling little curves sing."
"Thanks." She slid the dress over her head, and smoothed it over her body. "So, uh, do they have any idea of who is doing the murders?”
Turning to the mirror, The older woman began to inspect her own face, avoiding looking at Juno. The two other women glanced up, warily. ”They have people in custody, they say, girls they picked up at the scene. Said that they all confessed, but I don’t believe it. Security likes to pin things on us.”
One of the other women, a blond human, spoke, "They're talking about shutting the place down if the killings don’t stop, though."
The third girl, rutian twi'lek, snorted, "Any excuse to go after us."
Out of the corner of her eye, Juno saw Asha inhale deeply, and force a smile to her face. ”We've lived through worse, girls. We'll get through this." Her smile softened as she looked at Juno. "Very nice. Be friendly and polite and you’ll do fine. Don't let them talk you into anything. They'll try to. Some guys like pulling one over on new girls. Don't let them get away with that flarg."
Asha tapped her back,and steered her to the door to the lineup. "Go get em, honey." Juno grinned and walked towards the hallway of glass booths. She stepped inside the one she'd been assigned to. Her contact would be here, soon, she knew, but She was still nervous. Every minute she spent here was time that another clone could be attacked. She opened the curtain and sat down, smiling out at the patrons in the hall, hoping he'd find her soon.
"Commander, it is good once again to see you." Palpatine spoke, his voice assuring and proud that he could trust one Clone completely. Well, not completely, but enough to earn all of his loyalty, and with no questions. "I take it you have come with some sort of news, yes?"
