Astral Zephyr: “Does anyone else have questions?”
Madam Elsie: “I do. It’s more of a request, actually.”
Zephyr: “Go ahead.”
Elsie: “I am Madam Elsie of the Dancing Dragon. I hope you become familiar with all of you, as I am in charge of the house of pleasure aboard this ship. Astral Zephyr, I am to understand that you are watching every room in the ship?”
Zephyr: “I am. Or, at least, I am recording visual and auditory data from all of my room. Particularly with my current size, I am not capable of paying attention to every part of myself.”
Elsie: “And this includes bedchambers and the rooms you have given over to our professional usage?”
Zephyr: “Naturally.”
Elsie: “I must request, as a necessity of our professional work on this ship, that the rooms given over to our professional usage be unmonitored, with cameras and auditory recording devices disabled. We cannot do our jobs if our interactions with our clients are being monitored, as many people are self-conscious when under the scrutiny of cameras.”
Zephyr: “I do not distribute the videos to any human, and I myself have little interest in carnal affairs – it is fairly hard for me to related, what with me being decidedly not-fleshy. I can assure you that any recordings will remain private.”
Elsie: “With all due respect, it is not a question of what you do with the recordings, it is that the recordings are created at all. If you put a fake camera into the room, it would be just as damaging to the comfort and perceived privacy of our clients. It is a natural part of romantic or sexual liaisons that people often which to keep them private – something special that exists only between the two partners. If this is not going too far, I will speculate that, given the shuttles being the only non-monitored part of the ship currently, that crewmembers may have already visited it for no reason save for the privacy it affords their relationship.”
Zephyr: “Well, I suppose that is true. You must understand my recalcitrance: it is not an easy thing to destroy some of my eyes – they are a part of me, after all. Still, what manner of leader would I be if I did not listen to my crew in their areas of expertise?”
Alexander Gestler: “My lady: Then you should listen to me, as well.”
Zephyr: “Chief Security Officer Gestler.”
Elsie: “Oh gods, you…”
Gestler: “My Lady, I warn against granting this request in no uncertain terms. First, it is a security breach to have any part of the ship not under surveillance. It is dangerous for the crew, in the event of an accident of some… sort. It is dangerous for you, in that a number of rooms is more than enough to build unauthorized devices, or worse, conspire against you. Secondly, I am not at all comfortable with Madam Elsie, because—“
Elsie: “Because you’re a self-righteous puritanical—“
Gestler: “Because her and her ‘Dancing Dragons’ are the only crew who became part of the crew as a group, with previous loyalties to each other.”
Elsie: “Oh, is that what you meant when you said, ‘I will not let you despoil her halls with your indecent harlotry’? You just want to see us fail.”
Gestler: “The combination of their allegiance to each other, and their privacy would increase the risk geometrically, particularly if they can speak with other members of the crew, and recruit them without you knowing. Additionally, if you grant them privacy, other crewmembers will likely ask privacy for their own quarters, resulting in you having more of your eyes gouged out.”
Zephyr: “Gestler, enough.”
Gestler: “My lady, I speak only to serve your interests.”
Zephyr: “Then serve my interests by remaining silent, until such a time that you can curb your prejudges and apologize to Madam Elsie.”
Gestler: “…”
Zephyr: “Madam Elsie, I apologize for the behavior of my security officer. He is over-zealous at times, and I should be keeping a tighter hold on his leash, so to speak. I assure you, his opinions and prejudges are his alone.”
Elsie: “Thank you. I had assumed as much, given that the captain saw fit to hire me at all. Were you behind that?”
Zephyr: “When I have to be a secret, I find myself behind a lot of things.”
Elsie: “And the surveillance of our quarters?”
Zephyr: “I will have Chief Engineer Santiago and her people remove the cameras from your quarters. I’m not willing to lose my other eyes, however, but I understand the need for privacy. If you would be so kind as to share your working chambers with any other people who desire privacy for their liaisons, I would appreciate that.”
Elsie: “That is acceptable, and well within our mission as Dancing Dragons.”
Zephyr: “I am glad. And again, I am sorry for the actions of my Chief Security Officer.”
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