"That should be just about everything you'll need to know, with one exception." He puts the UV flashlight in Sofia's hands, before pushing the button to turn it on. "Apartment residents have the ability to write on the walls of the elevators, in a way that doesn't show to anyone but you, or them when using this tool. After you've done whatever request they made, you just wipe it off to let them know you've done it." As he explains this to Sofia, his eyes noticed what it said one one of the apartment doors: "Clean up mess in bathroom, unit C3-551".

"Well, Sofia, sounds like you're getting the see when this job is at its worst. I'd like to see you try doing this all by yourself, just to see if you'd be ready to completely take over for me."

The secret messages are So Coool!

"I can try, yes!"

The mess is nothing she hasn't seen before, but for some reason she's finding the cleanup much easier than usual. The cleaning tools definitely help (the funnily colored cleaning fluid still feels like magic) but there is something else she's missing...

Oh! The mask! It's completely filtering out any smell! She now understands why it's part of her uniform! And the gloves are great: it feels like not having them, but it only takes little effort to wash them if they get dirty!

Working here is good!

"You seemed like you had the stomach for it. Know what, Sofia, I'm really happy to have someone who could take over for me. It's been a lot of work housekeeping in this understaffed building, and I'm happy to have earned a ton of money doing so, but I'm happy that I can move out and enjoy the money I've made now that I know that the residents of this building will still have a housekeeper there for them. Thanks, young lady."

"You're too kind!

I'm happy you will have time to enjoy the results of your work, and grateful that you took the time to teach me."

Meanwhile, Cynthia is enjoying a chauffered ride to the hospital with Sana, her legs in the rear-facing seat in the same open, indulgent pose that she always sits in. She has a suitcase, made of incredibly light plastic, containing the work clothes she'll be wearing for some of her clients today. It's tucked under the row of seats that she's making full use of.

"I think we should talk about what happened in the bathtub. You said that if my 'finger slipped' with a customer I would be in trouble. Tell me more about that, what are the expectations on the job?"

"Well, basically, the key is that you're allowed to use body language to touch them anywhere other than exactly between their legs, that they accept. You need to double-check and get verbal affirmation to touch them in that one, most intimate area, certainly if it's the first time. But usually they'll tell you really directly, so you're unlikely to need to ask."

"Seems simple enough. I would be surprised if they didn't want to be touched that way, after I'm done with my massage."

"They probably would like that, yes." Some 10 minutes later, the duo arrive at the hospital. It's truly huge, taking up several city blocks, with towers connected to each other via walkways. The skyscrapers surrounding it all have spacious balconies, dedicated to housing beautiful green gardens. Cynthia walks out of the car, her legs ostentatiously kept apart when exiting it, as she makes her way into the hospital lobby with the suitcase under her arm. "Please follow me, you'll want to meet the staff before getting started with me."

She dutifully follows.

The hospital lobby is spacious and luxurious, being two stories tall. There's soft artificial grass everywhere, with children and adults both sitting on the soft ground, or on the spacious mesh benches. There's a constant flow of patients getting treatment, or seeing their loved ones in the lobby, and a counter with a few employees waiting behind it, including one woman in a blue and white dress that reaches to halfway down her knees.

"Hi Serena! I'm here to find some patients needing service, together with the newcomer behind me, Sana. She hasn't gotten the upgrades, quite yet. So I'd like you to start the onboarding process for new emotional service workers like myself."

The weird grass everywhere is very pretty, but must be a lot of work to keep clean!

She whispers to Cynthia: "Upgrades?"

"Well, yes. So you don't get pregnant, and don't have periods where you won't be able to work, and so you'll always have the guards available to protect you. Now, please follow Serena; she helped me get my upgrades, so she'll walk you to the room where you'll get yours." Serena then nods before leading Sana and Cynthia through the hospital, before ending up in a spacious and comfortable room not too far from the lobby. "This is where we'll wait for everyone."

Oh.

Oh WOW.

No pregnancies.

Guards always available.

(No periods is good too but. It pales in comparison to the other two.)

"Cynthia. We'll need to talk. Later. About... where I come from."

"Well, we'd want to do that, wouldn't we?" It's maybe 10 minutes of waiting, before Serena returns with 2 things: a small ball, placed on the end of what looks like a syringe, together with a small, thin semi-cylinder that looks virtually identical to Sana's skin color. "So, this one's called a ball implant, and it stops you from risking pregnancy. I'll want to put it in somewhere near your side. That larger thing, is called an Emergency Summoning Cylinder. It sticks to your skin, so you'd need to take off everything to put it on. Do you want me to leave the room when you put it on, after giving you the ball implant?"

"I don't mind, really."

"Sure, let's not waste any time." Serena takes a pen from out off her pockets, rubbing it against Sana's back for a moment, before using the scalpel hidden under the ball implant to make a tiny incision and insert it inside her body, slightly above her waist, in the right side of her back. Then she hands over the 10 cm tall semicylinder to Sana. "Where do you want to stick it? It should be somewhere it doesn't show too much, or changes your  silhouette out of clothing. It's common to have it on either a bit above your waist, at the back. Or on the back side of your thighs, it's really up to you. But it has to be reachable using your hands, of course."

"Let's go for above the waist, it sounds more comfortable."

"Right. I can put it on there for you, if you want? But usually the wearer sticks it on themselves, so they get better control."

Stick!

"So, there's a small ring that you pull. And that activates the signal to summon the guards. Do you want to try it, in the room with the guards? Or do you think you're ready to start doing some rounds with Cynthia, being a friendly face and helpful hand for isolated and frustrated patients?"