Fortunately for the duchess and her beau, Alayla Thorne was not the sort of woman that bothered herself with personally arranging the 'services' of her male Syshin fighters with those that might desire a sordid distraction. Prostitution was not illegal on Zatis. In the greater Stellar Empire it was outlawed, with discrete individuals frequently circumventing notice or punishment, but it was a criminal enterprise that flourished on the outlying world. As such, it was customary for interested parties to make their requests and pay digitally to minimize overhead, maximize efficiency, and allow the veil of relative anonymity to remain intact.

Connecting to the planetary network brought up a variety of options for private meetings. Once Thorne's offerings were displayed the obstacles they had to overcome became more insignificant. Ten shuffled his funds around on a regular basis and all but a few accounts were untraceable, unattached to his identity, and disposable, as was typical of those in his profession. This left two choices: which two particular Syshin of the ones listed available they wanted to ask for and at which location. Being the shrewd businesswoman she was, Thorne would either send her slaves to a building she owned or a third-party hotel, but anywhere else required her review and approval, something they could not risk.

"Alayla uses numbers for the Syshin," Rosaria helpfully explained as they stared at the portraits. "The women have even numbers and the men have odd numbers."

"She has female Syshin?" Solae asked in mild surprise. The portfolio they were perusing edged on grotesque. There was a picture of each Syshin's face, which was understandable, but there were also images of their bodies clad in nothing but a loincloth, clearly meant to entice lonely souls. The aristocrats had been horrified, of course, but also curious as to why if she had no respect for her underlings why she did not make them pose nude. After a little while it became slightly more apparent that this was done to avoid giving away too much of the "experience" and add to an element of "mystery."

"Private servants," the teenager confirmed, "but not many. She sells most of them to her associates and partners. Alayla doesn't think that they are as good of fighters and they wear down more quickly on the rock hoppers." The reasoning was immoral but not factually wrong. Even with the Syshin, the men were larger, stronger, and more acclimated to hard labour tasks. Keeping the women could also add another layer of complexity if they fell in love with another slave or became pregnant. It was safer for someone in the trade to ferry the gender they did not wish to keep out to others to maintain order with minimal expenses.

"Do you know if any of these," the diplomat asked with a gesture to the screen, "were one of the ones that tried to escape and were recpatured? Or if any of them are more insubordinate than the rest?" One that had already been defiant enough to try to leave once might be more willing to trust in Solae than the rest. Either way it was a gamble, but she wanted to stack things in her favor if at all possible. The more desperate they were the more they would be willing to risk the 'devil' they didn't know rather than the one they did. She had not illusions that was how she would be viewed- just another demon exploiting the gentle race of aliens.

Rosaria looked uncertain for a moment before a number caught her eye. "That one, 427, I've overheard them complaining about him before," she said. It was obvious the youth was reluctant about taking on two bodyguards who harbored resentment for her ex-mistress and had enough muscle mass they could pose a serious risk if anything went awry. It was the duchess's absolute confidence in the Syshin- and her need to get off Zatis by any means necessary- that made her confide this information.

"We'll request 427, then," Solae affirmed before settling on another who looked more downtrodden than the rest and numbered 138. Rosaria was unfamiliar with him, and Rene gently inquired if she was sure, but the overflowing compassion in the linguist made her unable to look the other way. Number 138 might have the most melancholic expression but he was just as physically impressive as his peers.

"I'll schedule for tomorrow night," she declared as she finalized to have 427 and 138 sent to a hotel room that Ten thought was the safest given the other options. They would need time for Solae to don yet another costume, one that would make her unrecognizable for check-in and initial reception, and to prepare the methods of extraction. "Is Criesta still around?"

"Probably, why?" Rene asked with a raised brow.

"I think I have an idea for the guards that doesn't involve shooting," she disclosed. "Ambushing them would be difficult even in the best of circumstances, but we can't rely on a discharge not alerting someone that something is amiss; we should err on the side of caution," she elaborated more for Rosaria's benefit than the soldier. Solae could tell that the girl was disappointed though the recently-liberated protege knew better than to object before listening to the alternative.

"Is Criesta still on the premises?" she asked as she picked up the internal communication device for the compound. Ten had left their company when it became evident that Solae needed more than a few minutes to deliberate over what Syshin she most wanted out of the dozens Thorne owned. He had patience, but it was not endless, and he had things to oversee if he wanted to continue accruing his wealth.

"She is," Ten replied dryly with a hint of concern, "has Rene relapsed or torn open his wound?"

"No no, I need her expertise to help make a compound. Could you have someone connect me to her personal number? It's nothing she needs to be here for, at least not until it's ready for delivery," she told her benefactor calmly. Suspicion veritably radiated through the phone before he let out a sigh of resignation and there was a soft beeping noise to indicate the call was being forwarded.

"Criesta?" she said as soon as she heard it connect. "Is there any chance that you could make Sopor IV if I send you the formula?"

Sopor was a line of sedatives used almost exclusively in warfare and espionage. It could either be administered via ingestion if in a powdered form, which was slower acting and had a shorter duration, but was tasteless and odorless, or a injection could be utilized, which was obviously took effect more quickly, and was more potent, but was instantly discoverable by witnesses and the victim after the fact. It was one of many pharmaceuticals that a tolerance could be built up against, but only the nobility had the time and resources to create an immunity, and it was kept secret from the public this was even a possibility.

Solae did not have complete trust in Rosaria and guns could not be easily smuggled into her Syshin encounter. An injection device could. If they could bring Sopor IV, the newest and best line of the drug, and use that to compromise Thorne's guards, they wouldn't have to kill anyone. Not only that, if the teenager betrayed them in the 11th hour she would find the sedative worthless against the duchess and the colonel, and they would only have the inconvenience of trying to determine how to punish her duplicity.