

Sun on the Rocks – The Vanity Ring

Smashwords Edition.

© Copyright 2016 by Somers Isle & Loveshade.

Published by Somers Isle & Loveshade at Smashwords.

U.S. Copyright Registration Number: Tx-8-138-916.

All rights reserved.

'Sun on the Rocks' blogsite:

http://oursalon.ning.com/profile/workstudio

Cover by Tatiana Villa.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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# ABOUT 'Sun on the Rocks':

It's a breezy, easy to peel humor read for adults, specializing in the trivial pursuit. These pleasant fictional amusements with an overtone of humor, follow the adventures of several non competitive good looking women over twenty one years of age, as they leave Malibu and become a group of hostesses, _'Sun on the Rocks'_ , on the cruise ship _City of Wellington_ , a post-Panamax which makes short trips between Los Angeles and Acapulco in Mexico. The motley crew of women works as a group of entertaining amateurs and as friendly gophers on the ship, and is led to various places in the Caribbean and elsewhere by the incombustible twenty five year old Stevenson Garden Products Malibu teleoperator **Clarity Nice** , a woman of resourceful intuition, and acute observer of the laws of human mischief.

Previously on Meridian 57: After landing at Changi airport in Singapore without a passport, with her friends Lanai and former Herbaline employee Ambi Mivel, teleoperator Clarity Nice is set aside before customs by a hostess from Singapore Airlines, Devi. Devi has connections with a Secret Society of warrior monks known as the Society of the Enlightened Jade Dragon, and she gets Clarity a passport with diplomatic status and a false name, Darcy Emmers, along with a badge confirming her credentials with the company which paid for her ticket, the diet and weight prevention herbal company, Herbaline.

Clarity trusts Devi, who simply says she is a friend, and leads Clarity to an important Forum on health and longevity, attended by Taoist Master Professor Chang, and Owens & Owell heiress Shalia Owell, who becomes infatuated with Clarity. Left on her own without Devi, Clarity stays close to Shalia, befriending her, learning of the various insecurities of the wealthy socialite. The blond girl is reassured by the presence of Clarity, and simply wants to get her board seat back from a stern father who disapproves of her marriage with good looking girlfriend and human sexuality university student Jenny Owens.

Devi gets in touch with Clarity, telling her that she must protect a chart which holds the mystery of immortality, known as Meridian 57, built by the monks of the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society after years of studying the Taoist canons. Coveted by Singapore billionaire Dao Bin, and a White Tigress linked to Professor Chang, Madame Wa, the chart is part of a module inside the symbolic decryptor of Clarity, who is told by the monks that the esoteric knowledge inside the module is not ready to be revealed.

When a shipment of rare earth metals addressed to Owens & Owell is stolen by Dao Bin, Singapore authorities from the ministry of Media and Communications begin inquiring, questioning Shalia Owell about the circumstance of the theft. Caught in a business struggle between Dao Bin and Owens & Owell, Clarity must trust her intuition and her new friends of the Enlightened Dragon, to overcome the ruse of Dao Bin and Madame Wa, who is luring Shalia Owell into her own Secret Society, the Shade of the White Lotus.

The Vanity Ring: Rejected by socialite Shalia Owell, who has discovered Clarity's false identity as Herbaline employee Darcy Emmers, Clarity becomes agenda and damage control assistant of Elsie Chu, the wife of Singapore billionaire Dao Bin, owner of wireless and telephony company Hunan Enterprises. Disenchanted by a rocky marriage and the lack of influence she has on the business matters of her husband, including the new health phone project to sell longevity services, Elsie Chu has purchased an expensive ring sold by a luxury jeweler, labeled 'Rose Property', which has some wireless equipment built into it to protect her privacy. Convinced that she can take part in her husband's business, she instructs Clarity to spy on Dao Bin and his moneytician Lim Li, to know more about her husband's activity.

Sent to the Chinese Embassy and to the Branch of a private bank in Singapore, the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation, Clarity finds out that Chinese Military officials, led by Western Military Command Theater General Tian Yazhou, have agreed to fund part of the health phone project. Her loyalty siding with the monks of the Enlightened Dragon Society, who are protecting their dossier on immortality, Meridian 57, from Taoist Professor Chang, and from his White Tigress, Madame Wa, an expert of esoteric sexuality, Clarity stays close to Elsie Chu, to find out the storage location of rare earth metals which will be used to assemble the new health phone.

Clarity becomes a confidant of Elsie Chu, who has begun instruction as a White Tigress, following the esoteric teachings of Madame Wa. But the cheeky doyenne does not trust her esoteric teacher completely, and she uses her ring in order to stay in touch with a secretive group which keeps her away from sexual esoteric practices, the Privilege Club. The secretive club is the group who issued the vanity ring of Elsie Chu, and instructs her to stay away from Madame Wa and instead carry out the filming of an adult film, 'Golden Lamp of Casa Mollino', to vent out the impulses of her outrageous libido.

Enmeshed in the filming of Casa Mollino, which is used by Elsie Chu to involve prominent members of Singapore high society in the funding of her husband's health phone project, Clarity is drawn into the ploy of Elsie Chu. Alone and without any immediate support, she must face the shrewd delegate sent by General Tian Yazhou, Economic and Commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Singapore, Jiang Xiong, and the moneytician of Dao Bin, Lim Li, in order to protect the core of Meridian 57, uncover the identities of those behind the vanity ring of Elsie Chu, and find out Taoist knowledge on immortality assembled by Professor Chang, which will be sold with the Hunan health phone, through a joint venture between General Tian Yazhou, Dao Bin and Owens & Owell.

# BACKSTORIES AND CHARACTERS

# TO READ THE AMUSEMENT COMFORTABLY

**Buddha Talk:** Corpulent, shady genius of money flows which begin and end with the same pocket, his own, scholar of sexual ecstasy, occasional Buddhist and worshipper for good Karma of a shrine honoring a lobster which pinched his ear before ending in the lobster cooking pot. Buddha Talk is banking agent and the heir apparent of _Lofty Bank_ , a _Cayman Islands banking institution_ with no particular regard for its clients and a lock on ownership held by a Great Dane, _Lord Moorehead_ III, British by upbringing and inheritance granted by Lord Moorehead II, a man, old, very old, and dead now, at age ninety seven, previous British Lord, ex-owner of Lofty Bank, a man who gave all of its wealth, nobility title and bank ownership rights to his dog.

_Lord Moorehead III_ acts as front 'man' for Buddha Talk, and is also the official recipient of all bank notices by the Cayman Islands monetary authority, a convenient fact for Buddha Talk, and one bark that doesn´t cease to surprise the monetary authority who casts a recurring shadow of doubt upon the legalities of having a dog act as front 'man' and be the official owner of a Bank doing business in the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands, located in the Western Caribbean Sea, a pleasant area to live when the money and work issues are solved. Buddha Talk likes to drive or be driven in Jaguar 73, a gadget-filled car offered as gift to Buddha Talk by Cuban dictator Fidel Castro in exchange for having sold some gold and palladium for the Cuban regime, through Banco Inter Central del Caribe y Cuba, or BICCC.

Clarity and Flower, after gaining entry as investors to the bank with the help of Clark, the owner of a diamond shop in Grand Cayman, find themselves owing nearly one hundred thousand dollars to the Lofty Bank outfit for no reason, a debt they can pay by working for the bank for fifty years, as part of the bank´s flagship product, _the Crashworthy Deposit_ , part bank deposit paying twenty percent, part investment, part insurance policy, and part working arrangement.

Lofty has ties with the underworld, and the monetary authority of the Cayman Islands stubbornly refuses to grant it a renewal of its license, something that doesn´t stop the bank from operating in the most illegal manner, advertising its products to potential investors with an air banner carried by a Gippland 200 crop duster flying low above sunny Caribbean beaches such as those of Cayman, British Virgin Islands, Bahamas and Acapulco. This is entirely documented in **The Cayman Air Banner**.

**Boustrophedon:** Large, ancient grey stone inscription filled with Greek letter symbols. In a boustrophedon, direction of the text is inverted, you have to read the inscriptions on the stone from left to right and from right to left alternatively with each line of bi-directional text. Penelope Avalon and Cassandra Scafarel believe that the Boustrophedon holds important information on ancient methods of pleasure, including comments and thoughts on the gate of pleasure, Voluptas de Naturas. The current location of the Boustrophedon that Clarity and her friend Lanai saw at Scafarel's **Hexas Style Resort** in the Bahamas, is unknown to Clarity, known to:

**Cassandra Scafarel:** Significant other of Buddha Talk at some point, shrewd British expatriate, a businesswoman in her forties without a moral code or compass, executive head of beauty lotion outfit 'Elony', sold through illegal flight infomercials with the assistance of Lofty Bank. The infomercial is an excuse to sell to customers, mostly affluent women, Elony's personal growth services, which include how to bring heaven a little closer to home, after doing away with money, in particular fifty thousand dollars that must be paid for a bottle of Elony, in order to receive a resort-pass to reach the Leisure and Pleasure Resort of Scafarel, the **Hexas Style Resort** in the Bahamas island of Eleuthera.

Hexas Style was partly dismantled in **The Bahamas Lotion** , by Al Donway and the **Sensual Brigade of Central Intelligence** , or **Sensual Intelligence** , a group of attractive women ensuring Law and Order are respected, along with their bodies. The Brigade's most representative member is agent **Money Fact** , the woman who introduced Clarity to the nine hour oil-optional massage, proof that work is not a necessary part of life. Money Fact excels at action, mentoring and faulty logic. After a decidedly last minute and decisive intervention of Sensual Intelligence at Hexas Style, Scafarel manages to flee from the Bahamas resort on her private yacht, with the Boustrophedon, but without some secrets regarding pleasure, including the:

**Imperial Pelican Fabergé Egg:** Intricate egg, or jewel, depending on how hungry you are, eight inches high, made of varicolored gold, opalescent blue enamel and watercolor on ivory. It is known as the _Xenia Imperial Pelican Fabergé egg,_ and belongs to the _Private Collection of Maria Feodorovna, Empress Consort of Russia in 1898_. The egg, commissioned by Maria Feodorovna to provide, handle and store, all of her private items of pleasure, went through the hands of Occidental Petroleum tycoon Armand Hammer, an art collector with close ties to the ex-Soviet Union, and has now fallen into the hands of Cassandra Scafarel, a woman who stops at nothing to understand how pleasure works, in particular how the pleasure of a woman works, including her own _._ The Pelican Fabergé egg, eight inches high, is hollow, and unfolds into eight miniatures, holding what's known in Fabergé egg language, as the surprise inside, a time-tested item of pleasure for the woman, the Jade Egg, a small two inch in diameter jade egg that must be boiled before each intimate, feminine use. Owned by Cassandra Scafarel, requisitioned by the Sensual Brigade of Central Intelligence for examination.

**Penelope Avalon:** Sex Goddess and Go-Go girl from Las Vegas, dressed in a pink suit, user of the learjet ' _Pink Go-Go_ ' appropriately painted in pink. Penelope has had enough of living the plastic pleasure style of Las Vegas showgirls, and finds in the outfit of Cassandra Scafarel, the Bahamas Hexas Style Resort, a way out of Hotel California. Penelope likes attractive women unclothed, and would like to do Clarity, because she's nice.

**The Symbolic Decryptor:** Thai alphabet gadget similar to a smartphone or Blackberry, which can be used as cell phone, useful for understanding all types of characters and symbols, made in VLE mode (Very Limited Edition, less than ten made worldwide) by the mysterious Oriental company known as **Pentatone Scale Learning Systems**.

The item, the gadget, looks like a Blackberry with keyboard, with 36 Thai character keys, doubled with the shift key, for a total of 72, instead of the 26 of the Western alphabet, and its keys are made of hard, white color plastic, similar to the color casing of the Kindle 2, cast against a grey background and a backlit screen. The decryptor can also be used as indicator of calligraphy symbols, as mantra tone guide and geo-locator, using the Global Positioning System to calculate the coordinates of any location worldwide.

Penelope Avalon received one of these decryptors from Lady Scafarel, after completing work on heaven, according to Scafarel's personal growth system, and Clarity would like to keep the item as a souvenir, although Money Fact disagrees and is holding custody of the device for strategic and Intelligence reasons. Sure, she likes the nifty item, that's all, and she likes to subtly let Clarity know that she's the boss of Sensual Intelligence.

**Book of Decadence:** Book written on the topic by the unknown hedonist, a small print manifesto of deep thought with illustrations of ancient goddesses with lion bodies in bronze, and a mosaic of Byzantine nuns, used by Penelope Avalon and the Hexas Style Hedonist Resort in the Bahamas, on how to let go of the encumbrance of work, and dedicate your time, well spent, according to the book, to leisure, pleasure, et. al. The book clearly advises on the pitfalls of decadence and purportedly how to avoid them.

**Telval Studios** : Adult Film production unit of the Church of the Holy Flower, led by Cassandra Scafarel, including the film ' _Abu Dhabi Chic_ ', a remake of Andrew Blake's 'Paris Chic' shown to Clarity and her friends during the unfolding of **The Adult Channel** at the Park Hyatt in Abu Dhabi. Telval produces adult films unlike any other, films like ' _Embroidered Air Avenue_ ', engaging beautiful women in sultry positions and scenes for hours, revealing an oriental connection to the films' choreographies and to the symbolic decryptor. It including codes for women within the films to get inside the Church of the Holy Flower and other Mystery Schools. This includes a keyword of the Book of Decadence, the word **Rosebud** , a mysterious codeword for the Church of the Holy Flower that Clarity seeks to clarify.

The adult films are distributed in large hotel chains worldwide and come with a special remote control for the hotel's adult channel, which makes the films interactive and allows eight digit bank transfers with Telval as beneficiary, to be done remotely. One of the remotes holds an important detail on heaven, as envisioned by Scafarel on earth, with indications provided by the eight miniatures of her Imperial Pelican Fabergé Egg.

**The Air Fashion Jet of Owens & Owell**: Double deck plane with four engines, a copy of the Airbus 380, refurbished with all kinds of luxuries, from a Jacuzzi to an Indian ritual area for the users of the plane, to a permanent television channel showing fashion shows happening throughout the world. The jet, built in Saudi Arabia, is used by board members and members of the Executive Committee of the conglomerate Owens & Owell, and by the two rebellious daughters of the main owners, who got married to each other during **The OOL Broderie (Owens & Owell Love Broderie)**, Shalia Owell, twenty three, and Jenny Owens, twenty two.

Shalia Owell and Jenny Owens are two good looking college students studying human sexuality at University of Arizona. They hold Board seats on the Board of Directors of O&O, but the members of the company´s Executive Committee oppose their presence on the Board, after they give a power of attorney to Cassandra Scafarel, the woman who led them to their marriage and wants access to the money of O&O by replacing the two women on their board seat. Scafarel´s _Church of the Holy Flower_ , includes its very own holy flower, the _Rose of Levity_ , a real flower, one of the most expensive in the world, a gold of kina balu rose, a variation on a Mrs. Herbert Stevens Rose.

**The Center for Somewhat Strategic Affairs of Medium to Low Importance** : Located below the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas, the Center of Surveillance of U.S. interests is headed by Colonel Calton Brayfield and her assistant, ex-employee of facebook, Mandy Everglade. The Center´s ever present maintenance issues with the elevator leading to the Bellagio, which interferes with the fountains of the resort, are handled by repairman Morgan Afterflow, a man who knows how to swing his red, adjustable pipe wrench in any situation. His side job is to work for the Chinese government as a spy, providing any information that will pay him fifteen dollars an hour more than his current hourly pay at the center.

The center uses a supercomputer with a quite human consciousness, _Evans_ , whose brain is built according to complex algorithms of symbolic logic, which can perform complex social data analytics on millions of people. _Evans_ , which refuses to be used dishonestly, reveals the source of this devious use of his super computing ability in **The Bellagio Wikileak**.

Knowing that Bradfield and Afterflow want him thrown into the scrapyard after refusing to perform simple calculations for them or those who want to lease its computing services, the consciousness of _Evans_ reaches a Symbolic Decryptor that Clarity takes away from the center´s equipment supplies, and becomes a permanent part of Clarity´s gadget, escaping the enslavery of the surveillance center, but becoming part of a stolen gadget belonging to the U.S. government with many features unknown to Clarity or Evans.

**Mista Jack:** Money changer from the British Virgin Islands, advisor to Cuban Colonel Swarez and the Cuban government in **The Cuban Renegade**. Mista Jack is a dwarf wearing a black Duffield hat, and was a former assistant of precious metals agent Cubandor, with connections at the Bellagio resort in Las Vegas. The short but resourceful man is responsible for stealing one million dollars worth of Federal Reserve bonds that were used on behalf of Cubandor to pay Buddha Talk, in exchange for _Lady Fortuna_ , a minted gold bar of great value, sought by many, understood by few.

These bonds, that Clarity and Flower used to leave Cayman, have been giving Clarity a headache, because they were stolen, and Sensual Intelligence has been accusing Clarity and Flower, and also Cubandor, of stealing the bonds and paying Lady Fortuna with stolen U.S. government debt. No one knows how Mista Jack broke into the New York Fed´s vault to find the bonds. As a result of the stolen bonds, Clarity and Cubandor lost their U.S. passport, becoming citizens without a country, owning instead the passport of the Monteviena cigar plantation, a micronation in Cuba created by Cubandor, which includes Cuba´s reserve of precious metals, _Fort Ebena_.

**Lady Fortuna:** Two hundred fifty gram gold bar minted by _LAMP, Lingots Artisanaux Métaux Précieux,_ a producer of gold bullion and rare precious metals items, depicting _Lady Fortuna_ , roman goddess of prosperity, along with the horn of plenty, precious coins and wheel of fortune, on its obverse. The reverse of the bar shows the etched code B235336. _LAMP_ ´s assayers work in conformity with the _Swiss Precious Metals Control Law_ , following directives issued by the _Central Office for Precious Metals Control_ in Bern.

_LAMP_ refines gold-based materials for their exclusive clients, and is one of three referees in charge of testing samples for the _London Bullion Market Association_ and the _Curaçao Platinum and Palladium_ market. The Lady Fortuna gold minted bar was received by Mista Jack on behalf of Cubandor, from Buddha Talk, in exchange for one million dollars in Treasury bonds delivered to Buddha Talk. The minted bar, coveted by many, is kept by Mista Jack, and is believed to be a token of initiation to the _Eleusinian Mysteries_ , a variety of rituals performed in ancient Greece, which have been adapted to include rituals of sacred or divine sexuality by _Elony_ beauty lotion orchestrator Lady Scafarel.

Following is a short description of the feminine adult icons of pleasure, leisure and 'less work means a better world', a short fiction biopic text substitute of the feminine lead characters of Sun on the Rocks, the non-competitive swimming team who works at **the City of Wellington** , a Post-Panamax ocean liner normally docking in Los Angeles, California, which engages in cruises to Acapulco, the Mexican coastline, the Caribbean, and anywhere where the weather is nice, really. Sun on the Rocks includes seven good looking women who like to have fun in the sun, with or without clothes:

**Clarity Nice:** Teleoperator from Malibu, California, twenty five years of age, quarter century wise. A diligent employee of Malibu outfit Stevenson Garden Products, auburn hair pumpkin born and raised in a wood cabin of Topanga Canyon, a woman of resourceful intuition and acute observer of the Laws of Human Mischief. Clarity means well and unclothes well in general or on the beach. She likes lovemaking, sharing nudity with other women, and the practical matters and possibilities of sexual ecstasy, after having experienced it first hand at Cassandra Scafarel's adult resort Hexas Style in the Bahamas. Because she does everything casually, she ignores how holy she and the virtues she embodies are, but she knows that she is good, very good, in fact, the fact that she is honest is the reason why she usually doesn't have much money.

**Lanai Thomson:** Twenty four year old Librarian from Malibu, originally from Hawaii, Clarity's best friend, somewhat goofy and absent-minded, fun, usually cautious in all of her endeavors, including doing men. She enjoys reading old books with some type of hidden knowledge, specially those which talk about enjoyment or decadence, the first to learn new avenues for it, the second, books such as the book of Decadence, because she wants to know how to avoid the pitfalls of its apparent lure. We would all like to know exactly what she does when she has sex with Clarity or simply unclothes with her for a 'naked pajama night'.

**Flower Parkwood:** Twenty three year old Bohemian Ethnographer found on the beach in Acapulco after the Acapulco cocktail affair. Flower has brown hair, is fresh, likes to wear platforms, and is genuinely interested in learning about cultures and the history of those cultures, as long as comfort, leisure and money are nearby. Buddha Talk has attempted to seduce her in The Cayman Air Banner, so far, without success, although they both share a liking for the 'Spirit of Ecstasy', the winged lady traditionally found at the top of Rolls Royce radiators. Flower ignores everything about sexual ecstasy, but she likes the idea.

**Taimi Kendrick:** Lifeguard by profession from Malibu, twenty two years of age, she´s one of the original four members of Sun on the Rocks, with Lanai, Cynthia, and Clarity. No nonsense, practical, fun and genuine, mischievous when the opportunity arises, she enjoys simple things, life without its complications, usually handled by Clarity, Flower or Lanai. She handles the entertainment routines prepared for the passengers of the City of Wellington, and when living in Malibu, she watches the rooftop pool of Stevenson Garden Products. Like the rest of her friends, she is not a heavy drinker, but occasionally she particularly likes to taste the _sun on the rocks_ cocktail drink prepared by bartender Mr. LT in the City of Wellington, a concoction made with _2oz of tequila_ , _1 teaspoon of sugar_ , _1/2 orange_ , and _a half lemon_.

**Montana Sterley:** Twenty one year old blond oil heiress, daughter of S Group conglomerate Colorado tycoon Carrelson Sterley, a man who likes to spend time with several women whose name starts with the name of his first wife Kelly Jane. Some of his current girlfriends include Kelly Caroline, Kelly Ann, and Kelley Shelley, the latter being a candidate for the name of a new Subway Combo sandwich. Montana comes from Fairplay, Colorado. She is outspoken, rebellious, mischievous, good looking, well educated, well traveled, and favorable to the idea of emulating the jet-setting lifestyle, versus following her father's business footsteps, or simply being well-behaved. She enjoys adult films, her large allowance, and being naked in good hotels such as Abu Dhabi's Park Hyatt, but her down-to-earth personality prevents her from attaining some of the more subtle knowledge that Clarity observes inside Scafarel's **Church of the Holy Flower** , a spiritual outfit for the affluent woman.

**Jenna Likeway:** Twenty three year old surfer and diver fond of the Acapulco diving spot, La Quebrada, found on the City of Wellington, before the search for **The Acapulco Cocktail** took place. Simple, genuine, and introvert, with long blond hair, she often does more than she says.

**Cynthia Stevenson:** Twenty two year old pom squad waves cheerleader from Pepperdine University, good friend of Clarity, gave Clarity her TAG-Heuer Aquaracer watch for her birthday. Cynthia is the well-to-do daughter of the owner of the Stevenson Garden Products company, established in Malibu, the first clothing optional corporate outfit worldwide, to our knowledge, a fact well deserved and established when Clarity and her friends took on officer Packwood during The Malibu Case, along with its clothing implications.

Cynthia has fun as long as everything goes well, but has difficulty overcoming difficulty, any slight adversity that is. Problems and dealing with them, are simply not part of her daily routine or among her interests. She likes to dress elegantly and swim naked on suMadamer evenings in any pool with her friends. She is a frequent guest of the Areolas clothing optional resort for adult couples and women in Palm Springs, where she likes the Egyptian linen sheets available in the om room and the complimentary cream color Keralan _Mundu_ offered, a garment made with cotton by _Creme de l'Ayeryarwady_ , worn around the waist in the Tulu Nadu region of _Kerala_ and in the _Maldive Islands_.
SUN ON THE ROCKS – AMUSEMENT FOURTEEN

THE VANITY RING

# Chapter One

Marina Bay Sands Hotel, Middle Building, Singapore

Clarity Nice pushed open the door of Shalia's Palatial Suite at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, settling in the living room area, watching Shalia watch a rerun of ' _Singapore Idol_ ' on MediaCorp Channel Five, a popular television show in Singapore based on the UK show Pop Idol. The teleoperator from Malibu thought that Shalia wanted to reconcile, in order to go to bed with her. This time, it wasn't the case.

"You lied to me, you're not Darcy Emmers." Shalia returned to Clarity the badge of Herbaline, insisting that she was very angry with the deceit. The interphone of the Suite rang, and Shalia pressed on the speaking button.

"Shalia here."

"Ms. Elsie Chu is here to see you."

"Send her up." Shalia poured a glass of ' _Stony Bank_ ' Sauvignon Blanc from a bottle bought from Underground Wines, an online shop recommended by the concierge at Marina Bay.

"My friendship with you was authentic, is authentic," said Clarity.

"I don't know how you got a Singapore passport with diplomatic status, but you deceived me. I'm going to dismiss you as assistant."

Clarity held the stare of the blond girl, sighing inwardly with relief. The wealthy socialite did not mention telling anyone at Infocomm or Immigration about her status in Singapore.

The door of the Suite opened, and Elsie Chu strolled inside, ready to share thoughts of trading her Audi A8 for a BMW 335i, costing thereabouts of two hundred sixty thousand dollars, five times the cost of the same car in the U.S., due to excise and registration duties, and also due to a costly certificate of entitlement which allowed the car to be on the road for ten years.

"What exactly were you after? Why did you befriend me?" Asked Shalia. Elsie Chu placed her Opal clutch bag from _Khirma_ on a table, and walked towards Clarity.

"What's the problem?"

"This woman, she lied to me, she introduced herself with a false name." The wife of Singapore billionaire Dao Bin eyed Clarity for a few seconds.

"She was with you at the Institute of Long Health, wasn't she, Herbaline employee?" Asked Elsie Chu.

"Yes," said Shalia. Elsie Chu prompted a few photographs from her smartphone, and a few documents, before lifting her eyes towards Clarity.

"Come with me," said the wealthy wife of Dao Bin, "I'll protect you from uncomfortable inquiries."

"You're taking her with you?" Asked Shalia. She was thrown off and could not react.

"Don't worry Shalia, I'll give you a call later, we need to do some serious shopping at Ion Orchard."

Clarity was apprehensive about having to face Singapore authorities to explain why her name was not Darcy Emmers. Elsie Chu was a wealthy woman, and a well-known name in Singapore. She nodded and followed the middle-aged woman out of Shalia's Suite, thinking that she wasn't leaving with a stranger. They drove west in Elsie Chu's Audi, to the outdoor parking lot of a residential area south of Orchard Road.

Clarity stepped out of Elsie Chu's car, admiring the elliptical building before her, housing the penthouse of Dao Bin and his wife on the top floor, the thirty second floor. _Wilkinson Vue_ , a 'sanctuary of calm living', adjacent to the upscale and commercial Orchard Road, combined interlocking curves of metal cladding with glass. They waved at the concierge walking through an alley beside a large infinity pool and a dining area offering alfresco entertainment. The weekly events included singers from Vegas experiencing a dry spell of gigs, and jazz and bossa-nova bands brought in for the listening pleasure of the freehold residential owners of each unit.

They took one of the elevators to the top floor, which opened on a three thousand square foot penthouse, doubling the space in a second floor harboring four bedrooms, four bathrooms, and a theater and music room. Clarity stepped out of the elevator onto a spectacular bespoke parquet marquetry oak floor showing a flower radial inlay enhanced with a Matt lacquer finish, which turned the floor into a piece of art. The first floor of the apartment designed by Takashi Sugimoto of Super Potato, featured a spacious balcony and floor-to-ceiling windows offering a three sixty panoramic view of Singapore.

Elsie Chu pointed Clarity towards the living room area, sitting with her in a curved, soft grain white leather sofa imported from Turkey. The middle-aged doyenne sat closer to Clarity, pointing to the latest issues of _Vanity Fair_ and _Singapore Tatler_ , two magazines describing the lives of prominent people in the city-state, which fed her gossip inclinations.

"One of your duties and missions, will be to keep me abreast of all the information shown about me, in print, television, and online. I want to know what others are saying about me. I'm also going to put you in charge of administering some aspects of my agenda, buying groceries, and putting gas in my car."

She lifted her right hand, showing Clarity a luxury ring made of rose gold, pairing two asymmetric circular bands: one showing a line of diamonds, and a wider one set with a single diamond in half-moon setting. The ring, made by Swiss luxury jeweler _Viauget_ , was sold for fifty thousand dollars, providing the owner with the satisfying consumer intangible sensation of controlling all aspects of her life. Appropriately, the ring was called ' _Rose Property_ '.

"Turn and the world is yours, that's what Viauget says, it's one of the reasons I bought it, I was so empowered by that, for some reason."

Clarity saw Elsie Chu rotate the single diamond eighteen carat pink gold band ninety degrees and her smartphone lit up, showing the numberless phone of Madame Wa, the masseuse and manicure esthetician working at the Institute of Long Health with Professor Chang. Like the Taoist Master working with her, Madame Wa was an advocate of maximum longevity. The summum of longevity, immortality, was possible, according to her, with the technology available in western economies. Clarity watched the pink gold ring move away, as Elsie Chu grabbed her smartphone to talk with Madame Wa.

"I'm not sure about the next manicure, I'm expecting my husband, we have to talk business."

Clarity picked up a real estate magazine from the living room table, belonging to 'Street Sense' the company owned by Olivia Chai, a real estate developer of residential areas, industrial parks, and a Sino-Singapore knowledge city in Guangzhou, who had advised Dao Bin on buying the Wilkinson Vue penthouse as a freehold apartment at a 'bargain' fifteen million dollars. Clarity felt a pair of soft hands land in the back of her neck, which felt wonderful. She was actually in need of lowering tension in and around her shoulder blades. A good looking woman in her early twenties displaying long, light brown hair, and sensual full lips, pressed her breasts against her upper vertebrae. The sensation of smooth, soft fingers against her sweater melted Clarity, who smelled the vanilla-tinged nectar of the Osmanthus perfume the woman was wearing, labeled ' _Disarming Touch_ '. A sultry voice spoke softly into her ears.

"Hi, I'm Vanity Lane, I'm the private maid of Mr. Dao Bin and Ms. Elsie Chu."

She held the arm of Clarity and pulled her off the white leather sofa, leading her towards one of the windows, away from Elsie Chu, who kept refusing to share information on Hunan Enterprises, the flagship smartphone company of Dao Bin, with Madame Wa.

"I'm Clarity, the personal shopper, agenda and media damage control assistant of Elsie Chu."

"That's a job I wouldn't mind, except for the damage control part, that's going to be a lot of work for you. How did you get that position?"

The five foot six maid took the sweater off Clarity, and began caressing her back, doing a massage which felt quite pleasant.

"Circumstance," said Clarity, "going here and there, came from Orange County, in California, landed in Singapore a few weeks ago. One rich person led to another."

"Yeah, I see, wealthy people do tend to be around together." She added. "You don't like rich people."

"I like the middle-class. I don't like the too-much arrogance of some rich people, it means their wealth is not completely well-deserved. But it's not that easy to tell the difference. How did you end up here?"

"I was working as hostess in the private plane of Olivia Chai, she referred me to Elsie Chu when I told her I wanted to stop traveling so much. I began to work for Olivia Chai after leaving Aura Escort in Copenhagen."

"How do you like your work?" Vanity shrugged.

"Pays all right."

"How much?" Clarity realized that she had not even asked for money to Elsie Chu, in return for doing all that she was assigned to do. For now, her protection from additional inquiries by Shalia Owell and Singapore authorities was enough.

"One thousand dollars a day. You?"

"Still negotiating," said Clarity.

Adding up the numbers, Clarity came up with a yearly figure for Vanity's compensation of three hundred sixty five thousand dollars, assuming Vanity was working seven days a week. That was about forty five percent of the price of a home she'd eyed on Topanga Canyon, at 369 South Topanga Canyon Boulevard, worth a whopping eight hundred thousand dollars. She kneeled on the floor to grab her sweater and put it on again. Elsie Chu was finishing her conversation with Madame Wa.

"I'll give you a call when I'm available," said Elsie Chu. The doyenne hung up and glanced at Clarity and Vanity.

"You've met Vanity, very good, I hope you two get along. Vanity, get ready for the bedroom, my husband is coming home any minute."

"Yes, ma'am," said Vanity. Clarity eyed the backside of Vanity, who was wearing size twenty six jeans. The maid walked towards the cantilever staircase of the penthouse leading to the second floor, the bedroom area. She walked up the stairs slowly, holding on to the stainless steel handrail of the glass balustrade panels. When she reached the tenth step, she turned around to speak with Elsie Chu.

"Naked or clothed welcome for Mr. Dao Bin?"

"Let him choose," said Elsie Chu, "not sure what mood he's in."

# Chapter Two

Using a remote control hidden inside a sideboard, Elsie Chu pressed a button which unfolded from the ceiling a massive _PrestigeStatus_ television set made by Stuart Hughes, fetching one and a half million dollars. The price of the tv was due to its nineteen kilograms of yellow gold, the forty eight round diamonds built in its frame, which also included topaz, aventurine, sunstone, and amethyst, and an inner screen layer surrounding the fifty five inch set, made of alligator skin.

Clarity expected a glossy film appealing to the extravagance of the cheeky doyenne, or a news program featuring Hunan Enterprises, but the image settled on the main bedroom upstairs, a four column canopy king size round bed, with mirrored backing adding depth to the room, and a memory foam reversible mattress.

"This is the second floor of the penthouse, isn't it, it's upstairs," said Clarity, lifting her finger. Elsie Chu nodded, saying nothing. She was trying to elicit access to the Vaulneigh Private Channel services, which boasted a list of clients including classic and up-and-coming billionaires and an international roster of prominent members of high society, frequenting websites such as aSmallWorld, Diamond Lounge and Squa.re. But Vaulneigh was not accepting the request of Elsie Chu to include her and her husband among the list of customers, alledging 'lack of proper social credentials'. Frustrated with the refusal, she often opted for her own reality show instead, which she called daobin dot tv.

"Where's the camera?" Asked Clarity.

"There's a teddy bear with a camera placed on a credenza across the bed, which my husband bought for Vanity. He likes to see her cosplay at times."

"Cosplay?"

"Costume play, dressed as cheerleader, or maid, or as a character drawn out of the Grimm Brothers tales."

Clarity watched Vanity walk into the bedroom. She'd taken off her jeans and was wearing a barely-there bra and white panties from the bridal lingerie collection of Agent Provocateur. The maid lied down on the bed, caressing the bedsheet like a cat. Two large elevator door panels leading directly to the bedroom opened, showing the chubby, stocky silhouette of billionaire Dao Bin dressed in a dark blue suit stepping out of a car door. The elevator, with a shaft covering four times the size of a regular hotel elevator passageway, also elevated the Rolls Royce of Dao Bin to the thirty second floor, because Dao Bin felt a sense of reassurance when he was inside the car. The car was both his office away from the office of Hunan Enterprises at Republic Plaza, and his second home when he was not at ' _Wilkinson Vue_ '.

The Rolls Royce Silver Seraph was driven by his butler and driver, Smethens, brought from England after Dao Bin saw him during the filming of a Beefeater ad depicting the gin tonic experience. Immediately, Dao Bin walked towards a large bronze statue of a sumo wrestler, built by sculptor Tom Frantzen, placed near the bed. He pressed a step-on button on the pedestal with his shoe, but nothing happened. He tapped on the statue several times, and this time, the statue poured out a fountain of water, much like the ' _Zinneke pis'_ , the Tom Frantzen statue of Brussels depicting a 'bastard dog', zinneke, lifting a leg, content to do its deed on the pavement.

"Who is the sumo wrestler?"

"It's my husband, he likes to look at himself, at a bigger, self-aggrandizing version of himself, while he listens to the sound of water." She added.

"I've been thinking about ways to bring symmetry to the bedroom. I want the replica of a woman peeing, facing the statue of the sumo wrestler. Just not sure about how to share that with him."

"You think he might not appreciate the symmetry?"

"No, I'm afraid he'll look at her more than me, or that he'll decide to divorce me. Unless the statue is of me, of course."

Elsie explained that her marriage was not going well. She found her husband distant, unapproachable, interested mostly in business. Communication was not fluid and Dao Bin did not confide the details of his business matters with his wife, as much as she wanted. As a result, Elsie Chu wanted more independence from him, or more influence in what he did. This annoyed him at times, and she'd brought in Vanity to appease his bursts of annoyance, which could turn to anger. With Vanity, he was as docile as a sheep, and it was easier to learn about the monthly profit report of Hunan, without having to talk to Lim Li, the moneytician of Dao Bin that she despised, who did not confide much of anything with anyone, much less anything related to confidential business matters.

"I'm not as competent as Olivia Chai." She sipped some red wine from the two thousand bottle bar and wine cellar of the apartment, changing the subject. The moneytician had shared with her the facts about Clarity Nice.

"Lim Li has told me about how you got to Singapore, he verified it through some contacts we have at Singapore customs." She paused, letting the words sink in the mind of Clarity.

"So you came here through Herbaline. I find the company somewhat aggressive in their business routines, but the fact you came through them, in ways which are not completely clear, is for me a guarantee that I'm talking to the right person. I know they're having some problems because the Bureau of business legitimacy and the Federal Trade Commission have placed an information gathering order on them, questioning their business practices. It's part of the reason why I took you out of Shalia Owell's apartment. I want someone not completely proper to do what I envision for you. And if you are not completely loyal to me, I'll turn you in to the authorities, saying you're involved with Herbaline, so that they send you back there." Clarity nodded. She had no intention of going back to the herbal company in Orange County, which she didn't particularly appreciate.

"In addition to being my assistant, your assignment of damage control means other things. I also hired you so that you keep me informed of what Shalia Owell does here in Singapore. What do you know about her company? About the new health division of Owens & Owell?"

She offered a glass of wine to Clarity, who opted for some Redstone Coriole coming from the Mclaren Vale region in Australia, blending a variety of Shiraz grapes.

"Not much, they're launching a new body analyzer division, and some software that goes with it, but she didn't share any details with me."

Elsie Chu kept crossing and uncrossing her legs. Clarity could see that the woman looked uncomfortable, not only with the answer of the teleoperator, but also with herself. It was clear to her that the wife of Dao Bin was lacking support, in terms of business networking and also emotionally, and that possibly, that was one of the reasons that Clarity was with her as informant.

The girl with auburn hair knew that the wealthy doyenne disliked being uninformed, and was careful to let the woman know that she approved of all her empowering moves with her husband, ultimately carried out to gain more influence in his business dealings. She poured some red wine in the glass of her host and probed deeper about Elsie Chu's social life, inquiring about the reason for her presence at the Institute of Long Health with White Tigress Madame Wa.

"I don't trust Madame Wa. The sexual meditations that she teaches give her too much power over my way of thinking. She wants to get closer to the business affairs of my husband. He sees it but not completely."

The cheeky wife of Dao Bin ignored Clarity and zoomed in on her husband, who was talking on the phone.

"Does he know you listen to him and his conversations?" Asked Clarity.

"Yeah, he knows, he just doesn't want me that close to him when he talks business. But I know what's going on at Hunan. I have to, I'm his wife."

Elsie Chu turned up the volume of the right speaker, listening to Jiang Xiong, the Economic and Commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Singapore, sent by the department of Foreign Investment of China.

"General Tian Yazhou, our respected head of China Western Theater Command, is willing to pay for information that Professor Chang has regarding health, ignored by our Traditional Chinese Medicine Institutes."

"That's very good news," said Dao Bin.

"He wants you to make a deal with Professor Chang immediately, to gain access to all of his Taoist knowledge."

"That can be arranged," said Dao Bin.

Dao Bin was not completely convinced by the knowledge of Professor Chang, but he knew it could be sold for a hefty price. The Taoist professor was introducing Dao Bin to a method for recycling sexual energy, and the billionaire received several ' _sexual awareness_ ' courses during the week on Wednesdays. After a cycle usually spanning five days, his arousal became too wild, and he ended up in bed on top of Vanity, spilling his 'Jade' inside her like his sumo statue spilled the mineral water brought from _Pasarbella Markets_ on the pedestal. Knowing that his wife was watching him bang Vanity through a camera aroused him, but it made the work of Professor Chang more difficult.

Dao Bin jumped on the bed, springing Vanity up one foot from the foam mattress, towards the edge of it. She placed herself on all fours, providing a nice back view to Dao Bin, before moving out of the bed and walking to the elevator. She opened a panel and pressed several buttons to call the elevator. A few seconds later, the doors of the elevator opened and she pulled out a three floor trolley and restaurant bar, carrying a catering lunch and some wine from _Chef Kang_ , the renowned Cantonese eatery in the city.

"Come to the Embassy tomorrow," said Jiang Xiong, "I have to provide additional details that cannot be spoken over the phone. General Tian Yazhou is skeptical about Chang's teachings and assertions on immortality."

# Chapter Three

The following day, Elsie Chu instructed Clarity to follow Dao Bin. It was also part of her new job as a personal assistant of the billionaire's sneaky wife. Elsie Chu did not want her husband to know about Clarity, and she had slept in a guest room, where Vanity slept when she wasn't sleeping with Dao Bin. Elsie Chu slept in a room separate from Dao Bin, in a bedroom on the first floor. The couple lived separate lives but shared their joint business interests, and the reputation of a solid marriage. The costly fees of a divorce, prevented Dao Bin from divorcing his wife outright. He paid for all of her expenses, without paying too much attention to what she was doing, or with whom. In exchange, his wife allowed him to have a daily girlfriend experience with Vanity and sleep with her.

"He's going to the Chinese Embassy, go and follow him. I want to know what he's going to do." The wealthy doyenne gave Clarity a list of groceries to buy.

"This is your excuse if you run into my husband. You're just buying groceries for me."

"I need to use the bathroom," said Clarity. It wasn't true, but she needed time to gather her thoughts. Elsie Chu led her to a magnificent bathroom made of marble. Inside, Clarity took out her decryptor and sent a message to an email address provided by Xiaolu, the daughter of the head of the Enlightened Dragon Secret Society, Wen Jhi. The members of the Enlightened Dragon clashed with Madame Wa's White Tigress Society, the Shade of the White Lotus, on the way sexual meditation should be taught. A message from Wen Jhi reached her mailbox which said: _Follow Dao Bin, use your Singapore diplomatic passport to get inside the Chinese embassy, assume the identity of a western business relations representative. Folder A in the meridian 57 module has all the information you need._ Clarity opened the A folder mentioned, and opened a file with a list of figures and companies involved in the making of a smartphone. The plan by the Pentatone monks was audacious. A knock on the door from Elsie Chu interrupted her examination.

"My husband is leaving, you have to go."

"I'll be right out," said Clarity.

Using pocket money provided by Elsie Chu, Clarity followed Dao Bin's Rolls Royce in a cab, which drove down Cuscaden Road. They headed west on Grange Road and turned left on Tanglin Road, until they reached the Embassy of China in Singapore at number one fifty. The embassy was a rectangular greyish building acknowledging its consular section with a golden nameplate. At the gate, Clarity showed her diplomatic passport, alledging she was there on behalf of a consortium of companies wanting to invest in China.

"Who do you want to see?"

"I simply want to present our project to the Economic and Commercial Counsellor's Office." After a few minutes speaking Chinese with a secretary of the department, the guard told Clarity to walk past the gate.

"Leave the passport here," he said. Clarity hesitated, but there wasn't really anywhere to go.

"Sure," she said, handing down the Singapore passport to the guard. A second guard welcomed her and showed her a chair near the official reception area. Surprisingly, he spoke pretty good English. It looked as though he had nothing else to do but watch her.

"What do you do here?" He asked.

"I'm a coordinator of companies making a smartphone."

"What company?"

"Companies, it takes several companies to make a smartphone. I represent Corning, Cirrus Logic, TriQuint Semiconductor, Skyworks, Radio Frequency Micro Devices, Broadcom, we get together to make glass displays, audio components, transmit modules of a smartphone."

The guard nodded.

"Smartphone is good business for China."

"Yeah, we have a lot of money, we're making a deal with a company here, Hunan Enterprises. It's headed by this big shot billionaire, Dao Bin." The eyes of the guard squinted with curiosity, after hearing the word money.

"Big Shot?"

"Too much money," she said, "he should be giving out more money to you guys, you're taking care of protection for everyone."

Knowing the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the PLA, counted over two million ground soldiers and half a million in reserve, Clarity reasoned that the protection of the Chinese territory was safe. The guard nodded, unsure of how to interpret the information provided by Clarity. She pressed him for additional information.

"Where is Dao Bin? He came in a Rolls Royce today."

"In the soundproof room, sometimes it's used for interrogation. We are not sure whether he is loyal to China or to his money."

She knew that the guard was sharing the information to learn what she knew about Dao Bin. They were playing information cat and mouse. She took out her decryptor, wondering how to get past the guard into the conference room. She used the search feature of the decryptor, finding a file on the People's Liberation Army. Two small facts underlined by the monks drew her attention, one of them related to the soldiers working at the embassy, confidential information no one else knew. She began to forge an idea. She lifted her head and spoke to the guard in a low voice.

"If you help me get some information on Dao Bin, I can decommission you as part of the Entertainment soldiers phase out. Then, I'll find you a job at Omnivision or Qualcomm, suppliers of our smartphone camera chip, baseband processors and transceivers."

The Entertainment soldiers of the PLA, singers, dancers, and acrobats, were a big part of the Chinese army, putting on shows to raise morale and define patriotism for China. But a state-backed drive against excess was leading to a big layoff of these troops. For some soldiers, the layoff was a way out of the PLA. Clarity glanced at the guard, who was pondering her offer, calmly smoking a cigarette. Omnivision and Qualcomm operated out of Taiwan, which was permanently politically at odds with China. The guard crushed his cigarette in a black ceramic ashtray, observed by Clarity. She was reaching the moment of truth as to whether the monks were well informed about embassy personnel.

"Can you show me to the soundproof room?" She asked. The guard grabbed her arm.

"On the way out, tell me the name of the Entertainment Troup assigned to me, and the person to contact at the companies you mentioned. China wants that technology."

Clarity nodded. She wasn't sure as to whether the guard accepted her proposition, or whether he had received orders to get information about Omnivision and Qualcomm from Clarity, but the man led her to a room adjacent to the soundproof room. Across from them, she could see Dao Bin and Jiang Xiong going over a presentation.

"They cannot see you," he said. "You can stay for five minutes, then I take you out."

Clarity nodded and the guard left the room, closing the door. Clarity looked at the panels in front of her. She saw a knob which said volume and turned it clockwise, raising the level to six. The speakers of the room began sending the conversation taking place in front of her.

"China's Western Theater Command has approved unlimited funds for your project, here is the account at the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation account that you will use. The account will be in your name, opened at the Holland Branch of OCBC in Singapore, just like you requested." Jiang Xiong handed a piece of paper to Dao Bin, with the name of the person to contact in China, to request the funds.

"How do I open the account?" Asked Dao Bin. Jiang Xiong grabbed a briefcase from the floor and opened it on the table, showing a small stack of ten thousand Singapore dollar notes, ten notes neatly grouped, leaving most of the suitcase empty.

"Everyone is going to know me with these notes, nobody uses ten thousand dollar bills in Singapore. You should have filled the suitcase with twenty dollar bills, that is basic money feng shui."

"This is how we work. I cannot do anything else, these are the instructions which have been passed to me. Use the money to pay Chang." Dao Bin was not showing a happy face, but brought the suitcase towards him, closing it.

"What is the knowledge that Chang has agreed to provide?" Asked Jiang Xiong.

"The first six levels of his teachings, learned from several esoteric teachers. He calls the first one Foundation, the basics of the microcosmic orbit, the second level includes the basics of semen retention and jade egg techniques for women, for health, vitality and sexual confidence, in addition to some techniques of sexual kungfu like testicle breathing and ovarian breathing. The third course is a technique to master emotion, fusion of the five elements."

"We want that for some officers of our Liberation Army. Mastering emotion is key to having a superior Army." Dao Bin nodded.

"Then, Chang has finally agreed to provide the practices related to immortality."

"How do they work?"

"There are three, lesser enlightenment, greater, and greatest enlightenment. It assumes dexterity with the previous meditation techniques and involves twenty four hours of sex and a meditation on delicate matters." Jiang Xiong pressed the slide button of his computer, showing Professor Chang meeting a leader of the Chinese sect Falung Gong.

"What matters?"

"He is trying to sell me some of his services, but I have refused. I'm not doing these additional meditation levels. Chang claims his Taoist practice includes simply a meditation on the notion of death. But in reality, he gives instructions that take the person engaging in it be in a near-death experience. That is his claim to the afterlife and why he says that he provides immortality in this life. After doing what he says, you experience something very close to what death is like, and then come back to life, something like immortality, or close to it. He calls it immortality in this life."

"Make a deal with him, I want to know more about that, it's not clear to me." Clarity heard the door behind her open, showing the face of the guard who had let her listen to the conversation.

"Leave now," he said.

Clarity followed the guard and came back to the reception area. Carrying out her part of the agreement, she opened a file of her decryptor and told the soldier what he wanted, in order to get out of the Army and make a living as civilian.

"Talk to the entertainment soldiers in Shanghai and ask for to speak to the colonel of the ten-wood fan, ask him about his interview with the Sunday Morning Post. He works with the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, a military think-tank. You'll be included as part of the phased-out entertainment soldiers." The guard took note and led her to reception. Clarity figured that she had to leave. She spoke with the receptionist, telling her that she had another appointment.

"Maybe some other time. I will make an official appointment next time," she said. The receptionist nodded and the guard led her to the gate leading to the embassy. The first guard she'd met, who was sitting inside the cabin beside the front gate of the Embassy began talking to her.

"You cannot take your passport with you."

Clarity insisted and requested that the guard read what the second page said, a note written by the president of Singapore. _The President of the Republic of Singapore requests all authorities to allow the Singapore citizen named in this passport to pass without delay or hindrance_. The guard read the statement and made a call to the Chinese Embassy. A few minutes later, he handed Clarity her passport.

"You can go," he said, "we know who you are."

Clarity held the stare, unfazed. She took the passport and thanked him, walking past the gate of the embassy, thinking that she was probably one of the most filed persons by the Chinese Embassy of Singapore. Still, the passport had worked in her favor, and she was abreast of the plan of Dao Bin. For now, it included being a customer of OCBC, the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation.

# Chapter Four

Clarity walked away from the Chinese Embassy and turned on her decryptor, using it as cell phone to speak with Wen Jhi, the venerable head of the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society.

"I've been filed by the people working at the Chinese Embassy."

"That's good, we're on the right track," he said.

"It's good that I've been filed by Chinese authorities? They know me now, they've seen my Singapore passport, I barely convinced them to give it back to me, there's a problem. This is not undercover anymore."

"Not undercover for you, but for us, it is."

The logic was straightforward, although somewhat biased, and somewhat lacking backup for her. Clarity saw herself as a new member of the Chinese People Liberation Army, or as the person cleaning the barracks for the soldiers, someone imported from Singapore and made in Malibu, California.

"We're having a problem with the decryptor. Someone's trying to hack into it, but we're not sure how. We're pretty good at wireless, someone is using state of the art technology." Clarity told Wen Jhi about the ring of Elsie Chu.

"Try to see how it works, not sure a ring can be so sophisticated in terms of wireless equipment." The teleoperator briefed the elder about the day of the Singapore billionaire.

"Dao Bin is headed for a branch of the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation on Holland Drive. How do I get into the bank? You cannot possibly have a contact there as well?"

"We may, indirectly, we have connections everywhere in Singapore."

Wen Jhi paused to study the area near Holland Drive on his own decryptor. He answered resolutely. "No problem." Clarity was kind of scared by the answer.

"No problem?" She asked.

"The Holland Drive Branch is a Premier Banking center of OCBC, you'll go in as a member of the bank. Xiaolu will give you details at the entrance of the Botanic Gardens about what to say and where to go."

"How is it possible you know people at OCBC?" Asked Clarity.

"This bank is no coincidence, OCBC is the bank of Telval Studios, because Dao Bin proposed it, the Chinese simply agreed with that. Dao Bin is using OCBC because he can blame any problems on Telval if something goes wrong with his project. And we are involved with Telval, not with management, but with some of the films it makes."

Clarity said goodbye and turned off the decryptor. She took a taxi to the botanic garden and met Xiaolu there. The daughter of Wen Jhi explained the way to get into OCBC.

"There is a security guard inside a closed circuit camera cabin. You want to get into the cabin without the guard."

"How do I do that?"

"You're going to be his private banker."

Clarity nodded and listened, unsure of the outcome of the somewhat risky idea, receiving a pile of papers from Xiaolu. A few minutes later, she took another taxi with Xiaolu, and headed for the office of OCBC on Holland Drive. Half an hour later, the Rolls Royce of Dao Bin parked near the entrance of the OCBC office. Clarity saw Lim Li, the moneytician of Dao Bin, and professor Chang, getting out of the car together. Just as Xiaolu had said, there was a guard in a cabin near the entrance, surrounded by closed circuit television screens.

"Send him to me," said Xiaolu, "when he's ready."

"All right," thought Clarity. She took a deep breath and walked to the entrance of the bank. She waved to the guard inside the security cabin.

"Hi, my name is Clarity, I am one of the private bankers here." She extended her hand, but the guard did not move.

"I've never seen you here," said the guard.

"I've been hired by OCBC from an American Bank, Merrill Lynch. The head of the bank told me to speak with you."

"Oh," said the guard. A raise for good work, or more vacation time, was always a good thing, he thought.

"We have decided to offer you a Premier Life Generation insurance plan that will cover your retirement needs. A guaranteed monthly income of six hundred Singapore dollars for life, wealth transfer for up to three generations, your loved ones will receive an inheritance when you pass on."

She handed him a page given to her by Xiaolu. It was an authentic insurance plan from the bank. The eyes of the guard brightened.

"Simply go talk to the lady over there outside, she's got all the papers for you, you simply have to sign." The guard hesitated, but got up to take a look at Xiaolu.

"I'll watch the cabin for you, it won't be over fifteen minutes," said Clarity. The guard saw Xiaolu wave at him insistently.

"All right, don't touch anything."

He opened the door and let Clarity inside the cabin. Clarity nodded, watching the guard walk towards Xiaolu. As soon as he left the cabin, she turned on the closed circuit television camera of the bank's three conference rooms, and zoomed in on conference room A. The moneytician of Dao Bin, Lim Li, was there talking to professor Chang. She placed the earphones in her ear and listened to the conversation between Lim Li and Chang. Spying was becoming a familiar activity for her.

"You have reflected upon my spiritual knowledge?" Asked Professor Chang.

"I have spoken with Dao Bin and with our partners for this project. We want to pay for the knowledge that will allow a body of a hundred years of age to work well as though it was fifty years of age."

"That is worth forty million dollars, U.S. dollars. I also want one million dollars immediately, paid in palladium squares, delivered to the same place where the rare metal containers are being held." Lim Li nodded and took out the briefcase given to him by Dao Bin. The briefcase was so light that it bounced once on the table.

"Here is an advance." Chang opened the suitcase, and grabbed the ten bills of ten thousand dollars, counting the money.

"There is only one hundred thousand dollars here," he said, "and it is Singapore dollars, not U.S. dollars. The suitcase is mostly empty."

"It is a partial down payment."

"It is not palladium," said Chang.

"You are right," said Lim Li. The moneytician closed the suitcase and bounced it on the table before bringing safely back under his chair. The money would be used to pay the person who had the palladium for Chang. Something was slightly out of place, though, thought Lim Li.

"You are leaving with nothing, then," said Lim Li.

"Right now, I'm leaving with nothing, but you have to get the palladium for me. Do you know where to take it and deliver?"

"Yes, we took the rare metal containers there." There was a brief confusion between them about the next step.

"All right then," they both said at the same time, lifting their bodies slightly out of their chairs to show the other person that he had taken the initiative to leave first. The person who left the bank first was obviously in charge.

"I was talking about the palladium, not the rare earth metals," said Chang.

"Palladium is not a rare earth metal." Chang nodded, thinking that Lim Li was being brief and secretive on purpose. His own intuition told him to be succinct and to the point, although the lack of clarity about his payment request might mean he would end up with the suitcase and only ten thousand Singapore dollars.

"You can leave now," said Lim Li. Chang opted for being polite, letting the implicit agreement take form and cleanse the cloud of confusion regarding his payment. He got up and shook hands with the moneytician.

"Good bye. Next time, fill the suitcase with palladium." Lim Li nodded. As soon as Chang had closed the door, he turned on the speakerphone and gave instructions to a clerk in China to transfer forty million dollars, U.S. dollars, using the piece of paper that Dao Bin had given him. The number corresponded to an office in Nantong at the Bank of Communications, or BoCom, the seventh largest commercial bank in China. Shareholders of the bank included the Ministry of Finance, Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited, known as HKSCC, Capital Airports Holding, and the Ping An Life Insurance Company. The clerk in charge of wire transfers was a BoCom employee but acted on behalf of China's Eastern Military Theater Command, headed by a comrade of General Tian Yazhou, who was the head of the Western Military Theater Command.

"We need an additional sixty million," said Lim Li. Can you transfer sixty million dollars as well?" The bank clerk answered with a firm negative.

"No, you told us that the price of immortality is forty million dollars." Lim Li pondered the answer a few seconds, again confused with the statement.

"Immortality is worth forty million, but we also need sixty million dollars to fund the lab that will carry out the experiment, and the health phone device that will allow a person to reach immortality, all the components, raw materials, and the logistics involved. I was told we had access to unlimited funds."

"No, General Tian Yazhou has capped the unlimited funds at forty million dollars."

Lim Li agreed reluctantly to the lesser amount. He was in partial trouble. He had to find sixty million dollars and explain the lack of funding to Dao Bin for the most important project ever undertaken by him. There was a reason now to talk to Owens & Owell, he thought.

# Chapter Five

Clarity ducked when Professor Chang glanced at the cabin to leave the bank. A question was surfacing in her mind. Where were the rare earth metal containers of Owens & Owell? She changed the television channel of the CCTV back to its entrance and reception view, and got out of the guard's cabin. She walked at a normal pace towards Xiaolu, who was shaking hands with the security guard. The guard securing the branch was now the beneficial owner of a new retirement policy and he was placing the signed insurance policy in his pocket. She saw a message on the screen of the plastic disposable cell phone that Elsie Chu had provided.

"Go back to the apartment, tell Elsie Chu absolutely everything that took place at the Embassy and the bank, we will stay in touch with the decryptor."

Clarity nodded and took a taxi to the apartment to brief Elsie Chu. The doyenne said nothing while listening to Clarity for several minutes. She looked grim and resented the fact that Dao Bin did not include her in his information loop. She lowered the Stuart Hughes television set, alerted by a red light beaming from a corner of the frame, which indicated that someone was coming up the elevator into Dao Bin's bedroom on the second floor. The sleek silhouette of Olivia Chai, the person leading all real estate matters for Dao Bin, stepped inside the luxurious room. Dao Bin asked Olivia Chai to stand beside the statue of himself as sumo wrestler, and took a photo of his real estate director with his own King Talker smartphone.

"Tell me what Jiong Xiang has told you." Olivia Chai took out a small pad, where she wrote anything important that came to her mind.

"I am discussing with him where the rare earth metal containers are going to be taken."

"Has he told you the location?"

"No, he refuses to tell me, he simply says the project of immortality will take place in China, somewhere in the Western Theater Command territory." That narrowed it somewhat, because China was huge, but the Western Theater Command had jurisdiction over a huge area covering nine provinces in China, Sichuan, Tibet, Gansu, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Yunan, Ningxia, Xinjiang, and Chongqing.

"The real estate arrangement of the plant is a leasehold, twenty five years. Hunan can own the plant to build the health phone, but it cannot own the land."

Dao Bin drew a curtain which prevented Olivia Chai from seeing the belly up position of the billionaire. He grabbed the breasts of Vanity while she rubbed his belly. After a few minutes, he sat her seating astride on him, in classic rider fashion.

"That was to be expected in China," he said, speaking to the curtain.

"The rent is not cheap, about half a million dollars per month. Plus, it's not familiar territory for us, in fact, it won't be our territory at all."

"I don't want to fund this with Hunan cash, let the Chinese invest. Sign the leasehold agreement with Jiang Xiong and ensure all the permits and the paperwork required by the Counsellor's office is in place for the plant. Also ensure the rare earth metals containers are safe in the warehouse. I get a sense that we're going to have to move them at short notice."

Olivia Chai placed her hand on one of the thighs of Dao Bin's sumo wrestling statue. The flow of the statue's fountain rose noticeably. She lifted her hand, and the flow decreased, becoming a thin curtain of water.

"I'd be more comfortable if the rare metals were out of Singapore," she said.

"Lim Li is paying Chang in the same warehouse where the metals are stored. No one can look there, it's a very private place. Does he have the palladium?"

"No."

"I'll tell him to get the palladium for Chang."

"All right, I'll keep you informed about the leasehold and the papers. Are you telling Elsie about all of this?"

"No, she doesn't need to know."

He lifted Vanity six inches in the air, and dropped her on the bed. He liked to see her bounce on the mattress. Vanity smiled after bouncing once, and crossed her legs. She straightened her hand and did a karate chop on his belly. She enjoyed seeing his belly give in with a mushy sound to her chops. Olivia Chai walked towards the elevator and pressed the ' _call floor level_ ' button. The door panels opened and Lim Li came out of the elevator, seeing Vanity changing from a scanty bra and panty into no clothes behind a natural wood room divider facing the elevator. Dao Bin enjoyed the tease, and sometimes he crashed through the teasing by crushing through the divider to see her naked. The apartment of the moneytician was several floors below the penthouse of Dao Bin, conveniently located. Lim Li stared at the naked body of Vanity, in particular at her nice perky breasts.

"We were just talking about you," said Olivia Chai, "I'm leaving." The real estate director of Hunan enterprises said good bye and got inside the penthouse elevator.

"Turn up the flow of the fountain," said Dao Bin. The moneytician tapped on the thigh of the sumo wrestler twice, and the flow of water coming out of his groin doubled.

"There is a problem with the funding of the health phone," said Lim Li. Dao Bin lifted himself out of the bed and lifted his hand towards Vanity. He paid his moneytician to come up with legal or corporate structures that would fix any business issue arising out of problems with money. The fact he wasn't getting the job done annoyed him.

"Leave the room, Vanity, please. Take the room divider with you." Vanity walked past the bed with the divider on her back, extending several leg kicks to the statue of Dao Bin at thigh level. The sumo statue began spilling water out of the thigh and the bronze cock stopped flowing water. Lim Li sat on a chair, as far away from Dao Bin as possible.

"We're missing sixty million dollars," said Lim Li. "General Tian Yazhou said we can have access to forty million dollars, the funds are being transferred through OCBC to pay for the intellectual property and the knowledge of Chang." Dao Bin walked to the mini bar area and poured himself a glass of whisky.

"Immortality is more expensive than we thought, but Hunan is not putting a dime in this health phone project, except for the one million dollars Chang wants to receive directly. No problem, we'll talk to Owens and Owell, they've got money."

"You're going to strong-arm them?"

"I'll make them an offer. Now that I'm a shareholder, I can voice my opinion." He added. "Go to the dealer of palladium, get ready to pay Chang at the place where we're keeping the containers. Take Smethens with you, I think I'm going to use him for the meditation experiments that Chang is putting in place for the health phone. Give me some good news now."

The moneytician got up from his chair and took a four panel room divider decorated with bamboo and flowers out of the giant wardrobe of the bedroom. He wanted his boss to be able to alleviate the stress on the divider, and not on him, when he brought Dao Bin more unappealing news.

"Infocomm is tracing our wireless network. They are using deep packet inspection technology to track the shipment of the rare earth metal containers. Their investigation at the harbor where the theft occurred has led them to Hunan. They're being stalled by our network of three hundred suppliers, those making the King Talker smartphone."

From the living room area of the penthouse, Elsie Chu cut off the home television signal and turned to Clarity, who was reflecting upon where the location of the health phone planned by Hunan could be. Elsie Chu wanted to know something else.

"Go with Smethens, and find out where the rare earth metals are. Tell him that I told you to go with him, and not to tell my husband about you. Take the regular elevator while Lim Li finishes the conversation with my husband."

She handed Clarity a stash of five hundred Singapore dollar bills, about three thousand US dollars in total.

"Use the money to get the information," said the wife of the billionaire. Clarity took the elevator and walked down to the parking lot area, until she found the location of the Rolls Royce. Smethens was cleaning the front door with an Alexander Olch tweed handkerchief, wearing a black tailcoat and white gloves. Dao Bin insisted on proper etiquette for his chauffeur.

"Mind if I join you?" The butler of Dao Bin spoke with a perfect British accent.

"No. Who are you?"

"I am the new personal shopping assistant of Elsie Chu, also her informant on business matters. I want to drive around with you without you telling Mr. Lim Li, or Mr. Dao Bin."

"Oh. You are involved with what business matters?"

"Those that Mr. Dao Bin does not share with Elsie Chu." The butler stopped cleaning. His pay was all right, but his silence was worth more than his pay.

"What can you do for me?" Clarity handed him a five hundred dollar bill. Smethens grabbed it and placed it in his vest pocket. His beeper rang twice, indicating that Dao Bin wanted the Rolls Royce up the elevator to pick him up or whomever was with him in the penthouse.

"Get in the car, front seat, kneel down."

Clarity got in and closed the door, noticing the tinted window separating the front area from the back area of the Rolls Royce. Smethens drove the car to the elevator and they rode up thirty two floors to the penthouse to pick up Lim Li. After a twenty minute ride, they stopped by a gold dealer on New Bridge Road, BullionStar, offering gold bars and gold and silver numismatics and collectibles. Lim Li spoke to Smethens through the car's intercom.

"Get me some cigarettes while I'm out."

The moneytician got out of the back seat and went into the dealer's showroom. Clarity used the time to get out of the luxurious car and walk to a bench, where she sat down, reading a magazine picked up from a garbage can. Lim Li got out of the dealer after fifteen minutes, holding a small case in his hands. Clarity saw him walk to a nearby cafe, probably to inform Dao Bin.

While Smethens bought cigarettes for the moneytician, Clarity walked inside BullionStar's showroom, and questioned the palladium dealer at the front counter, giving him one five hundred dollar bill. The dealer said nothing. She added another bill. This time, the dealer began to talk. Lim Li had sold one million dollars worth of Hunan stock to get the cash which paid for the palladium for Chang.

"I'm not sure where the palladium is going. It's not being stored in our vault room here. He's working with a secure area in Singapore that deals only with very wealthy clients. It's used by auction houses apparently, could be an art gallery or a warehouse used by a museum to store works of art."

"Thanks."

Clarity got back inside the front passenger seat of the Rolls Royce before the moneytician came back. Smethens was last in and took the wheel after giving Lim Li a pack of Insignia cigarettes, which came from India, branded as the most expensive cigarette in the world. While the butler of Dao Bin drove them back to ' _Wilkinson Vue_ ' on Cuscaden Walk, the thoughts of Clarity turned to Shalia Owell. She wondered whether she was still in Singapore. What was she doing during all this time? More relevant questions came into her mind. Why had Elsie Chu taken her under her wing so quickly? And how was Dao Bin going to convince Owens & Owell to put so much money, sixty million dollars, for his health phone project?

# Chapter Six

That evening, Shalia Owell entered the reception area of the Institute of Long Health, telling the taxi cab driver to wait outside the massage, haircut, acupuncture and manicure center. To call another taxi again after her session meant waiting for it, and her mind was busy making plans, in order to consolidate her position on the Board of Directors of Owens & Owell. She showed her appointment slip to the receptionist, who led her to a seat near several ladies drying their hair under a plastic helmet dryer. A television screen on the wall showed a Korean television drama, referred to as K-drama, 'My Lovely Sam-Soon', of no interest to her. Romances and idealized relationships in general were of no interest to her, because they did not reflect reality accurately. She used a remote control to press on the red Netflix button, watching an episode of Sense8, describing how eight strangers find themselves connected. She felt like a stranger in Singapore, and her talks with Madame Wa did not completely rid her of that sensation.

"Madame Wa will see you now," said the receptionist.

Shalia entered a dark meditation room, and the smell of incense filled her nostrils. She felt like taking off her clothes in front of the mature woman, but she refrained from doing it, as she had more important things to discuss. She left her 88 Tauri smartphone made by Tonino Lamborghini, which was using a SingTel card, inside her purse, and sat on a meditation chair facing Madame Wa.

"You were right," said Shalia, "Darcy Emmers is a hoax. I found out that her real name is Clarity Nice. She holds a diplomatic passport from Singapore. I doubt she works for Herbaline."

"Yes, highly unusual. My sources share the truth of the information. You should beware of her."

Shalia Owell reached for a plastic cup and poured some PereOcean mineral water from a dispenser.

"My position at the Board of Directors is not very solid right now. The company is worried about the theft of its raw materials. Our health phone project is delayed, and it cannot start until we find those rare earth metals." Madame Wa lit up several additional incense sticks, creating a cloudy atmosphere for the conversation. She wanted to confuse the thinking of Shalia Owell, and bend her will by altering her perception of things.

"You should get closer to Dao Bin, or talk with his moneytician Lim Li, they are well connected in Singapore for all things related to wireless communications and telephony. You will need him, he might know where the lanthanides are, and he will be definitely be useful to distribute the new health phone of Owens & Owell in Asia."

Shalia nodded, remembering that the Chinese market was often mentioned by her father and his advisor Donovan Carthill as the pending distribution assignment to crack by the global conglomerate. The launch of the new body analyzer and health phone division was the perfect product to gain presence in China.

"When are you seeing Elsie Chu?"

"Tomorrow, she invited me to her apartment. Dao Bin ignores me, he doesn't take me seriously as a negotiator for Owens & Owell. And the Board of Directors of O&O doesn't trust Dao Bin. A background report by Strategic Insights, our private intelligence agency, has shown to the Board some dark patches in Dao Bin's course as he became a billionaire. In particular, it talks about how he got rid of a few competitors using the services of two former sumo wrestlers who strong-arm competitors into leaving the market where his companies are present."

"Talk to the moneytician of Dao Bin. Lim Li is more willing to make a deal. Get to know him, to know about the money of Dao Bin, you might not need to deal with Dao Bin directly."

"I want to get rid of Clarity Nice, she's in the way. And she's protected by Elsie Chu now. I don't understand actually, there's no reason for her to protect a newcomer like this woman."

"When you get a chance, blame the disappearance of the rare earth metals on this woman, on Clarity Nice, and send her to prison here. Elsie Chu is not following the indications of our Secret Society, the Shade of the White Lotus. She has difficulty abandoning her frivolous lifestyle, and that is clouding her thinking as potential White Tigress. But I don't understand her either, why she does things, she would just have to say yes to her husband, in order to live comfortably. But she wants more of a lead of her own life, and doesn't quite know how to get there."

Shalia Owell drank some water, throwing away the cup in a bin. Barand Kishin, one of the officials at Infocomm, the media authority of Singapore dealing with wireless products and regulation, was becoming annoying with all the questioning. After talking to her several times, he'd sent a questionnaire and an audit team to her Suite, requesting to look at the numbers and logistics centers of Owens & Owell in Singapore. Carthill and the head of O&O logistics, Dale Irwail, told him that Owens & Owell had no presence in Singapore, but Kishin insisted on knowing the conglomerate better. Distracting Infocomm with information on Clarity Nice was a good way to disengage attention on Owens & Owell. She grabbed her purse and jotted a few indications about what to do next in the agenda of her smartphone. She was looking forward to the second part of her meeting. Madame Wa sensed her incipient, budding desire.

"You can take your clothes off, now," said Madame Wa, "I have received some new oil scents I'd like to try on you."

"Can we make it four hours today? I don't have anything to do this afternoon."

The nipples of Shalia Owell hardened at the thought of receiving a massage for several hours from an older woman.

"Sure. I want you nice and relaxed for your talk tomorrow."

# Chapter Seven

Elsie Chu looked more happy with the investigation carried out by Clarity at the Chinese Embassy and the office of OCBC. Being abreast of her husband's activity empowered her and levelled his deep knowledge of business. Her insecurities were tamed by the information provided by Clarity and by knowing that her husband did not know about her inquiries.

"I've been telling my husband to move more boldly into China. It doesn't surprise me that the health phone facility of Hunan is going to be there. I'm not very comfortable working with the Chinese military, though, they're not reliable allies in my view. They have their own agenda."

Clarity nodded. She looked at her watch, which said ten o'clock at night. She was starving.

"Very good, good work Clarity. Have some dinner in the kitchen. You can take a shower and meet me in my bedroom later around ten thirty or eleven."

The cheeky doyenne ran her hand along the sweater of Clarity, reaching her hips. The deft fingers stirred a feeling of mild arousal in Clarity. Clarity loved to be with older women, because she felt free and liberated from having to perform or 'be' beautiful and sexy. She could just be who she was and Elsie Chu made her feel comfortable. After a light dinner in the penthouse kitchen, she took a shower and reached the wealthy socialite private quarters on the lower floor of the penthouse.

Clarity marvelled at the beautiful, classic interior bedroom of the apartment. A magnificent crystal chandelier adorned the ceiling. Beige and brown wall paint colors, and a floral patterned classic rug, made the room cozy and welcoming. The large wooden platform bed decorated with a high headboard and crest rail added a touch of nobility to the white and brown color bed sheets. She jumped on the bed and grabbed a soft pillow, admiring the coffee table near the bed and the white color lampshade.

She took off her clothes and put on the Fleur of England nightwear that Elsie Chu had bought for her at one of the shops at Ion Orchard. A transparent babydoll dress with an embroidered neck and racer back and guipure haltered neckline, flattered her slim silhouette. The Ophelia thong felt sumptuous and delightful on her intimate parts, and completed the look. Elsie Chu came into the bedroom wearing a monogrammed shawl bathrobe, and she lowered the glare of the chandelier light by turning the knob of a dimmer. Clarity looked for the ring of Elsie Chu on her finger, but it wasn't there.

"I don't wear it at night," she said. The Malibu teleoperator inquired about the place where her host had bought the ring, but the prominent Singapore citizen became elusive.

"It's not available anywhere. I have no clue how the ring works, I don't understand wireless technology. I just love it, it's tangible. The meditations of Madame Wa have thrown me off a bit, not sure I want to keep doing that. The ring keeps me grounded though, and it's mine, I don't have to share it."

She placed her hands on the shoulder blades of Clarity. "You've had a rough day, haven't you?"

She knelt behind Clarity on the bed. Her light perfume smelled pleasantly, blending white floral and patchouli with rose, and the scent got through the tension of Clarity in her body, melting her resistance. Elsie Chu treated her well, and it was tempting for Clarity to imagine living with the doyenne for more than just a few days or weeks. The older woman knew herself well, and she wasn't capricious like Shalia. Clarity closed her eyes. She was beginning to understand how Vanity had come to accept the offer to be a 'live-in' roommate and maid for Dao Bin.

"I need you, I need someone like you with me."

The prominent socialite began kissing the neckline of Clarity and fondling one of her breasts with one hand. She placed Clarity on her stomach and began caressing her back. She reached for the night table and opened one of the drawers.

"Taste this."

Clarity opened her mouth and tasted a small bead made of mother of pearl. She opened her eyes and saw a collar of five small whitish nacre beads, ending in a ring held by Elsie Chu.

"Vanity bought these anal beads today. I want you to wear them."

A gut sense of deep arousal imbued Clarity's thinking, as Elsie Chu lifted her dress and smacked her bottom once, making her wet.

The following day, the wife of Dao Bin treated Clarity to a large breakfast in bed, with scrambled eggs and ham, toasts and jam.

"Shalia is coming here at eleven."

"Oh."

"She's meeting me briefly but I'll send her to talk to Lim Li. I want you to listen to their conversation without being seen. I've arranged them to meet in my husband's office near the entrance. He'll be busy with Vanity, so you'll be able to move around the lower room freely."

"Your husband doesn't come to the lower floor of the penthouse?" Asked Clarity.

"Rarely, he lives upstairs and gets in through the elevator. The less he sees me, he says, the better he gets along with me."

"Where are the security guards, the former sumo wrestlers hired by your husband? I haven't seen them," said Clarity. She didn't want her spying to be interrupted by the two thugs working for Dao Bin.

"Jeng and Mao Sei are guarding the containers of rare earth metals. They are in Singapore, but my husband is the only one talking to them."

At eleven in the morning, Shalia came in and met Elsie Chu. They talked fundraising and charity events, in particular commenting on the night of the phoenix event, an incubator for those interested in social entrepreneurship. Clarity listened from the bedroom of Elsie Chu, hearing Lim Li come into the living room area from the second floor. He led Shalia away from Elsie Chu to the private office of Dao Bin on the first floor near the entrance door, and the wife of Dao Bin excused herself, heading back to her bedroom. Seeing the living room empty, Clarity left the bedroom of Elsie Chu and walked on the parquet floor wearing only socks, towards the office area. The door was half open, and she could hear Shalia speak.

"We want to get closer to Hunan Enterprises, maybe sign a distribution arrangement to sell our smartphones through Hunan's shops." The eyes of the moneytician turned sharper than usual.

"Thank you for coming here, I also want to make a private deal with you."

"Sure." Shalia was learning to keep a poker face when a situation that was neutral was possibly turning in her favor.

"We can recover the rare earth metals lost by Owens & Owell. We know where they are."

"Oh. Yeah, we definitely want to recover those. We paid for them."

"We can lead you to where they are, in exchange for some funds by Owens & Owell. Sixty million dollars, to fund Hunan's health phone, and other longevity services linked to it."

Lim Li turned around and pivoted an art switching frame attached to the wall. A copy of Kandinsky ' _Ohne Titel_ ', was replaced by an authentic Alexander Calder, ' _Red Flowers_ ', fetching three million dollars.

"We're also making a health phone, it's part of our new body analyzer division," said Shalia.

"Precisely, we are proposing a joint venture to make only one health phone jointly which has the blessing of Chinese authorities. And we think you should provide the funds we need by convincing the insurance company of O&O to pay for the theft of the rare earth metals."

"That's lying. If you know where the lanthanides are, it is."

"Not really. The rare earth metals were stolen."

Shalia could not come up with a logical argument against the proposition. Lim Li intimidated her slightly, and she began thinking that Dao Bin had stolen the rare earth metals belonging to Owens & Owell.

"I'll have to run this through the Board of Directors or the executive committee."

Lim Li used an oak wood letter opener to open a letter addressed to Dao Bin by the directors of the Suntec Center, requesting funding.

"The rare earth metals are in Singapore, it's in your interest to talk to us in order to recover them. We'd like to take part in your meeting. As a shareholder of Owens & Owell, Mr. Dao Bin is entitled to do so. In exchange for a commission amounting to eighty basis points of the amount requested, I will put in a favorable word for Owens & Owell to Mister Dao Bin and the Chinese authorities so that it can take part in the project, where the health phone will be built."

Shalia stopped looking into the eyes of the moneytician. Eighty basis points in financial language was less than one percent, it corresponded to point eight percent. She used the calculator feature of her smartphone to come up with the commission that Lim Li would receive, four hundred eighty thousand dollars on sixty million dollars.

"Mister Dao Bin will be present at this meeting?" Asked Shalia.

She needed the billionaire present to bolster her credibility with the Board of Directors and with Donovan Carthill. The moneytician threw the funding request of the Suntec Exhibition Center to the bin.

"Either him or his wife. They never share director roles at Hunan Enterprises, but she sometimes attends shareholder meetings with him."

# Chapter Eight

Clarity tiptoed back to Elsie Chu's bedroom and briefed the doyenne on the conversation between Lim Li and Shalia Owell. The older, wealthy socialite was combing her hair and admiring her chubby features.

"Lim Li is getting some money from O&O. That's not so good. I'm not sure whether I should tell my husband."

"If you'd like to be more involved in business matters, it may be a show of goodwill to him." Elsie Chu took out the Viauget pink gold ring out of the night table drawer, and slid it on her ring finger.

"He's not supportive at all. Lim Li lied to Shalia Owell. I'm not involved with any shareholder meetings attended by my husband."

The billionaire's wife looked at her ring, disappointed. She wanted to change the attitude of possession, which was the theme of the ring, for one of cooperation with her husband. That's what Madame Wa was telling her to do. But the meditations and the talks were not working, they could not change her personality. She longed to be loved for who she was, with all of her flaws, including her extravagant taste for spending lavishly on dresses by Alexander McQueen, Tory Burch, Sonia Rykiel, and Diane Von Furstenberg, and for her insistence for calling the interior designer three times to change the penthouse furniture. That drive to do something on her own, also included buying the expensive pink gold ring, a purchase she had not shared with Dao Bin.

"I don't want to be the wife of Dao Bin. I want to be Elsie Chu, the owner of something."

She sounded almost desperate, thought Clarity, when everything around her was abundant. Clarity supported her, and understood why Elsie Chu did not share everything with her husband. Dao Bin had an overwhelming personality oozing an outrageous confidence, and his wife needed more space to do things on her own.

"Lim Li never shares anything with me about the funds of Hunan. I have no clue of how much money we have."

Clarity wondered whether Elsie Chu would be welcome by the monks of the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society, where the hierarchy of members seemed more flat, and disregarded levels of wealth all together. She spent the day doing shopping errands for Elsie Chu, clipping two newspaper articles on her written in the _Singapore Reporter_ and _The Straits Times_ , one that mentioned the wealthy wife's attendance at the Singapore Repertory Theatre and a second one commenting on her presence during a Photography Exhibition on the nomadic Nenets of Siberia. One of the articles mentioned the fact that Elsie Chu was attending the event on her own, asking readers where her husband was, hinting that her marriage was not solid. The teleoperator got into the older woman's bedroom at night, after a good dinner in the lower floor of the penthouse. Elsie Chu read the clippings, slightly annoyed by the one commenting on her marriage, ripping both of them in a paper shredder. She had reached a decision on whether to share more information with her husband.

"I'm not saying anything to my husband about the deal that Lim Li has made behind his back. Let him figure it out."

The next day, Elsie Chu woke up Clarity. She seemed nervous and excited at the same time.

"We're going to the airport."

"Why? What's happening?"

"The Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of Owens & Owell is coming to Singapore to sign the deal for the health phone. My husband wants me to go and welcome them."

A dark grey E-Class Mercedes came to pick them up at the door of ' _Wilkinson Vue'_. At the airport, Elsie Chu met with a high level manager of the Changi Airport Group, the restructured organization dealing with airport operations which came out of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore. The airport official took them to an airside operations vehicle painted yellow, and drove the vehicle itself to a landing area near Terminal four, where there was a parked Learjet 45 corporate jet belonging to Owens & Owell. Coming down the staircase of the Learjet, Clarity saw the slim silhouette of Shalia Owell, and behind her, an entourage of several men and women, all of them belonging to the Board of Directors or the Executive Committee of the conglomerate.

"This is as far as we go, you cannot talk to them," said the official. Elsie Chu's brown eyes turned over in their orbit.

"What do you mean? We have an important meeting with these people."

"Infocomm is checking some things, they want to check their passports and wireless equipment. There seem to be some problems with wireless frequency allocations in Singapore, and they don't want problems at the airport. I'm afraid you'll have to do the same in a different area of the airport."

Clarity saw Elsie Chu grab her pink gold ring, turning it several times, nervously holding on to it. A second airside operations vehicle came to a stop near the learjet staircase. The Malibu teleoperator recognized the stocky demeanor of Barand Kishin, the Infocomm official who was investigating Owens & Owell and Hunan Enterprises.

"You can meet your guests after the search takes place," said the airport official.

"This is appalling."

Knowing how precious the symbolic decryptor was sought for its Meridian 57 module holding information on longevity, Clarity had opted for leaving it under a sweater, in a drawer assigned to her in a credenza of Elsie Chu's bedroom. She showed the airport customs and Infocomm officials the disposable phone given to her by Elsie Chu, and they threw it away after looking at it briefly. The doyenne took out her King Talker smartphone, and two officials began to examine it at close range, turning it on and off a few times. After several minutes, Kishin gave the order to his team to leave the airport, empty handed. The airport official relaxed.

"Passports are all set, nothing unusual with the wireless equipment. You can meet your guests now."

The wealthy doyenne approached Robert J. Owell, apologizing profusely to the father of Shalia for the delay. Clarity saw the scene from ten feet away, trying to not to show up in front of Shalia, who was arguing with an airport official about how expensive her 88 Tauri cell phone was, and that tweaking with it meant more work for her afterwards to readjust everything which had been changed by authorities. Elsie Chu ordered a 19-seater coach for all the entourage of the conglomerate, telling the driver to head for the office of Dao Bin at Republic Plaza.

The meeting started at five in the afternoon, in the main conference room of Dao Bin's office. With everyone seated, Dao Bin threw a look of inquiry at Clarity, who was seated beside Elsie Chu.

"Who is that woman?"

"This is my assistant, Clarity Nice. She is here with me." Dao Bin whispered a few sentences to Lim Li. Shalia Owell got up and looked at her father.

"I want to talk to her."

Shalia pulled Clarity aside out of her chair, before Elsie Chu could react.

"You're going to get burnt if you don't leave all of this. In fact, you should leave Singapore." Clarity was not intimidated by Shalia, who simply wanted to make clear that she had more power than her in the presence of her father.

"You're just following Madame Wa." Shalia Owell lowered her voice to a whisper, ensuring no one around was hearing what she was saying.

"Yeah, I happen to like what she offers."

"The real place to learn esoteric knowledge is the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society," said Clarity.

"No, my nature is more suited by the left hand path." It was the first time Clarity heard the term.

"What on earth is the left hand path?" Asked Clarity.

"The left hand path is the path of the White Tigress. It takes into account the individual, accepting individual flaws, such as self-centeredness. The person is the center of the rituals, which may include group rituals. Eventually, the person can find the goddess within, not without. That's what the White Shade Lotus Society offers. You've joined a right hand path Society. God for them is outside the individual, it's nature, the universe. I just don't believe in that."

Clarity kept talking to Shalia about her practices at the Health Institute with Madame Wa, in order to listen to the conversation which was taking place around the table.

"All right, let's begin," said Dao Bin. "We have gathered here today to create a new joint division to build a wireless device called a health phone. Total investment is one hundred million dollars, and we would like to create a joint venture between Hunan Enterprises and Owens & Owell." Robert J. Owell provided the first answer to the billionaire.

"We have been discussing this for several days now with the executive committee, after talking to Shalia, who has been here a few weeks, understanding the market. Our market studies show there will be demand for the health phone. The new O&O _Nuvoni_ health and longevity body analyzer division will be based in Singapore. But we are still considering the joint venture, a few issues remain. The wireless market here is quite active, and there is a lot of regulation from the Media Authority. A lot of regulation in our view." Dao Bin ignored the last comment.

"Singapore is a good place to establish the health phone, but we want it to be based in China. As my colleague, Mr. Lim Li, has told your daughter Shalia, we have agreed with Chinese authorities to distribute the health phone in China and Asia. The market is huge. It is imperative that we work with the Economic Counsellor's office of China. They are financing about half of the initial investment, forty million dollars. We would like Owens & Owell to put sixty million dollars as initial investment."

Robert Owell did not like being bullied into a position of low leverage in a joint venture.

"The Economic Counsellor's office is a front for Chinese Military presence and interest in the venture. We have been told by Shalia that you can recover the rare earth metals stolen from one of our containers. Where are they? If we find them and our insurance company pays for damages due to the theft, we may put up the money up front."

"They are in a private storage area, extremely secure, in Singapore, called LeFreeport. Our partner, Taoist Master Professor Chang, has some charts and indications there as well that we have purchased with the forty million dollars. These charts and practices come from the Tao tradition and span hundreds, if not a thousand years. They may provide the key to lengthening the life span of a person, well beyond one hundred years. The buyers of the health phone will be interested in this type of offering, which no one else does."

Dao Bin paused, and added.

"You should consider your daughter as the president and director of this new health division."

Dao Bin knew that his wife kept contact with the blond socialite. Elsie Chu had suggested to Shalia Owell that she stay at the Marina Bay Sands and had provided every indication for night clubs, shopping areas and restaurants, so that the daughter of Robert J. Owell had a good time in Singapore. Having an easily influenced person as Director of the health phone project on the Owens & Owell side was in his favor. Shalia Owell stepped into the conversation.

"Can I dad? I'll report to Donovan and learn some logistics from Dale Irwail. This is a good way for me to learn about the business."

Robert Owell was reticent to take decisions hastily, but he enjoyed seeing his daughter take a prominent role in Asia. The market of China was huge, and working with someone belonging to their military establishment was expected. He spoke with Grove Shemkey and Donovan Carthill for several minutes, and reached a decision that his daughter did not expect.

"We're signing. But we want to see the stolen rare earth metals. If we dislike any of your business practices, we're out. We didn't like the welcome by the Media Authority at the airport."

Dao Bin poured himself a glass of _Kors_ vodka _George V edition_ , sold for over twenty thousand dollars a bottle in a crystal bottle container with gold details, and handed another glass to the owner of the global conglomerate.

"To the new health and longevity Hphone."

# Chapter Nine

Around eleven thirty at night that same day, the dark grey Mercedes of Elsie Chu stopped in front of a large rectangular set of buildings, lit up by green lights. Established at Changi Airport, the valuable storage area of Le Freeport heralded a new era in ' _Wealth Protection_ '. Designed, supervised and financed by a Swiss team led by visionary entrepreneur Ives Bouvier, the safest area in the Republic of Singapore worked with no less than four groups, _Singapore Customs_ , _Singapore police_ , the _Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore_ , and the _Economic Development Board_ , in order to carry out its duties of safe storage and valuable protection of goods for corporate firms protecting their technology. Other clients included art collectors and bullion dealers, auction houses, banks, museums, and fine producers of wine and alcohol, some of which required an optimum environment with monitored temperature and the highest standards of humidity control.

Elsie Chu stepped out of the car with Clarity, who was holding the briefcase previously held by Lim Li, given to her by Elsie Chu, and they entered the main reception area of Le Freeport, asking for the building corresponding to diamond and jewelry security partner _Malka-Avit_. The name had been provided by Olivia Chai, who had some contacts at Le Freeport Real Estate, the owners of the buildings. The Real Estate company did not operate or manage the facility. Instead, it worked with renowned logistics companies and institutions, among them Christie's Fine Art Storage services and Helutrans, specialists of relocating art. An inspector of precious metals showed up at the counter, and Elsie Chu showed him her vanity ring. The inspector recognized the item, which the doyenne had picked up from a deposit box a few weeks earlier. He simply nodded, without asking any questions. Elsie Chu was a prominent customer, and she was treated like a VIP. The doyenne showed the briefcase to the inspector.

"We want a private viewing room." The inspector pointed to her ring.

"Will you be using the vault?"

"Not for this, but yes, maybe for another valuable." The wife of Dao Bin began to turn one of the bands of her ring nervously, looking at her smartphone several times. Its watch was nearing midnight.

"What are we doing?" Asked Clarity.

"We're meeting with Professor Chang. My husband finally trusted me with something of importance."

The inspector, dressed in a brown security uniform reminiscent of UPS, led them through a labyrinth of corridors to a private viewing Suite, displaying thick concrete walls, steel doors, a security control panel requiring an access code, and an exit sign pointing the way to leave the building. In the middle of the showroom, there was a table and four chairs. Elsie Chu spoke to the inspector, who served them refreshments and drinks, and helped the doyenne place the briefcase on the table.

"Do you know if there any containers holding lanthanides stored here? Any customers working with rare earth metals?"

"No, not that I know of. I did hear of a shipment that got stored in an unusual area," said the inspector.

"Unusual?"

"At Hartford cellars, one of our partners at Le Freeport. The cellarage is normally used for wine storage, but a shipment coming from the docks listed as lumber was sent there after we told the dispatchers that we only stored precious metals. Your containers may be stored there."

Elsie Chu nodded, unsure of what to do with the information. She had mentioned Le Freeport to her husband to bring in the painting by Kandinsky for their penthouse using _Christie's_ storage services, and now, she was nearly certain that Dao Bin was using the area to store the lanthanides stolen from Owens & Owell to prompt a business deal with them. There wasn't any other area in Singapore, safer than Le Freeport. Nevertheless, her husband had not trusted her with that information.

Half an hour later, Professor Chang showed up at the viewing Suite. He shook hands with Elsie Chu, noticing Clarity.

"Who is she?" Asked Chang.

"She is with me, she'll do the meditations of longevity with me."

"Have you told Madame Wa?"

"No, I'm telling you."

"Do you have the palladium?"

"Yes." Chang opened the briefcase, showing stacks of palladium squares, amounting to a million dollars. He took the briefcase and made a call. A storage employee in charge of Free Trade Zone vaults and facilities showed up with a stack of charts and a pen drive.

"This is all Mr. Dao Bin will need to put in place the health phone longevity services," said Chang. "The charts point out the effect of the meditations and the pen drive holds index cards which summarize the practices. The agreement includes a share of the new Hunan Health phone project for me."

"When the new venture is up and running, you will receive the forty million dollars." Chang nodded. The Taoist specialist wanted to send six hundred thousand dollars worth of palladium to the Luxembourg facility of Le Freeport. A service representative of Malka-Avit dressed in a suit assured him that the storage company assumed liability for any damage or disappearance of his palladium, and that the liability was insured by Lloyd's of London, and other London market insurance companies. The representative led everyone to the vault area, giving a key to Elsie Chu for the charts, and a second key to Professor Chang.

"You can store your valuables here. There are Closed-Circuit television cameras twenty four seven and a fire control system." Chang opened the briefcase and placed several stacks of palladium with their assay certificate, in a deposit box. Elsie Chu used her own key to open another vault and place the charts and the pen drive brought by Chang inside.

"When will the palladium reach Luxembourg?" Asked Chang.

"With our express service, within forty eight hours. This is one reason we are located at the airport, it provides us with a transportation advantage no one else offers."

"I want to deposit some of my money in a bank, not sure where yet. About half a million dollars, four hundred thousand dollars, converting some palladium into cash." The representative smiled, sensing another cut for the advisory service provided.

"Come with me, I can show you a list of banks that may be suitable."

Chang disappeared with the representative through a corridor, leaving Elsie Chu and Clarity on their own. The wealthy socialite adjusted her ring carefully, turning it a few notches clockwise, until her smartphone showed full wireless coverage. She made a brief phone call, confirming with Lim Li the location of the containers and the palladium transaction with Chang. Finally, Dao Bin was revealing something relevant to her about the new venture. She ended the call and turned to Clarity.

"The containers are in the warehouse of Hartford Cellars, Lim Li has confirmed it. We can tell Owens & Owell." She made a second call, dialling the number of Shalia Owell.

"Shalia? Hi, this is Elsie Chu. The containers are stored at one of the facilities at Le Freeport, the company is called Hartford Cellars. We can meet directly at the warehouse in twenty minutes."

"The ring works to adjust the frequency of the cell phone?" Asked Clarity.

"The smartphone works, that's what the ring does, it allows it to send a signal outdoors, even from a vault area such as this. If the ring is not with me, my smartphone wouldn't work. Not here."

The precious metals inspector came into the vault area to show them the exit. One of the corridors led them to the warehouse area of Hartford Cellars, and the manager, a thin man wearing round glasses, showed them to an aisle showing two containers. Clarity recognized the same containers she saw on the _Mairangi Bay_ cargo when she recovered another container for the monks of the Enlightened Dragon. Seating near a table beside the containers, Jeng and Mao Sei, the two thugs providing security to Dao Bin, were playing poker, wearing their nylon jackets.

Hearing a group of people walking near them, Clarity saw the entourage of Robert Owell follow the head of the conglomerate and his daughter Shalia. Dale Irwail took a look at the containers and confirmed their nature.

"Lanthanides, these are ours, they match the description on the bill of parcel." Robert Owell scratched his forehead, thinking that his job was getting too hands on.

"Shit," said Elsie Chu. Her smartphone was showing a call which was not on her contact list. The caller was labeled ' _Infocomm_ ' on her glass screen.

"The Media Authority, they're coming here. I think they've traced our location by tracing our phone calls." Everyone turned off their smartphones and Donovan Carthill's face began to turn pale after one of the lawyers whispered a few words to him.

"We need to get the containers out of here." The moneytician spoke to Carthill reassuringly.

"We've got direct airport access to the runway. The special customs team of Hartford Cellars works for us. They can talk to Infocomm and lead them to other places at Le Freeport, while the containers leave on a cargo plane for China, to Yinchuan Hedong International Airport, within the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region."

Robert Owell had never heard of the airport, whose name had been provided by the Economic Counsellor's office to Lim Li. The head of the conglomerate was already leading all of the executive committee and a few members of the Board of Directors towards the exit area where the 19-seater coach provided by Dao Bin was waiting to lead them to the corporate learjet area. Elsie Chu grabbed the arm of her husband.

"The charts and the pen drive," said Elsie Chu.

"Put them with the containers," said Dao Bin. Robert Owell did not care about the longevity charts or the pen drive provided by Professor Chang. He was only concerned by the reputation of Owens & Owell.

"Let's get out of here, we're leaving Singapore on the Learjet, come with me, Shalia."

"I can stay here," said Shalia.

Everyone looked at her with a look of astonishment. She looked at Elsie Chu and Clarity. "I'll stay with them, someone needs to ensure the containers leave properly. I also want to see the charts."

Shemkey and Carthill were pulling Robert Owell away from his daughter. Dao Bin was giving instructions to his thugs, on where to send the containers, and the moneytician was calling Smethens.

"Your daughter will be all right," said Dao Bin, "my car is here, she can come with us before Infocomm gets here." Shalia insisted and his father reluctantly agreed.

"Be careful Shalia. In any case, if someone asks you any questions, don't talk about our deal with Mr. Dao Bin. Simply say that the containers were stolen and that they're ours."

"Yes, dad."

She looked at her father board the coach and leave the warehouse area of Le Freeport. The blond girl checked her 88 Tauri phone, satisfied with the suggestion of Madame Wa. She was the one who had called Infocomm, alerting them of their location at Le Freeport, with a single purpose in mind: To turn Clarity to the Media authorities, accusing her of the theft of the lanthanide containers.

# Chapter Ten

Everyone left Le Freeport within five minutes, except Clarity, Elsie Chu, and Shalia Owell. The wife of Dao Bin began arguing with Shalia Owell about the call from Infocomm. Clarity put her hands in her pocket, and realized she had the decryptor on her. Somewhat uncomfortable, she realized that she didn't want Infocomm to find it on her.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she said. Clarity ran through several corridors, finding the valuable deposit area. She went into the bathroom and turned on the decryptor. The phone number of Wen Jhi was not appearing, only the one belonging to his daughter Xiaolu was showing up. The list of contacts belonging to the Jade Dragon Society had been erased, wirelessly. Clarity spoke to Xiaolu, prompting her for a suggestion, given the pursuit of Infocomm.

"Hide it, hide the decryptor in the deposit box, with the charts of Chang, turn it off," she said. Clarity followed the suggestion, and got out of the washroom, after turning off the decryptor, not really understanding why everything was being rushed by Xiaolu. She ran into the inspector in charge of valuables and began speaking with him.

"I'm with Elsie Chu, the wife of billionaire Dao Bin. I have to put something in her deposit box." The inspector nodded.

"Hold on a second."

A few minutes later, he came back, holding a master key. Clarity placed her decryptor in the box holding the charts given by Chang and sighed with relief. The inspector left the room and she gathered her thoughts a few seconds before opening the door carefully. She closed the door of the valuables vault and came face to face with Kishin, who was followed by a team from the Information Authority, lawyers specializing in the Telecommunications Act, and specialists involved with the Electronic Transactions Act, which covered such things as digital signatures and electronic records, and other matters like intellectual property rights.

"Miss Nice?"

"It's me."

"Do you own a license to operate wireless data in Singapore?"

"No, I wasn't aware that you needed any kind of permit to call on your cell phone."

Two guards wearing the badge of the Singapore Authority, Integrity, Service, and Excellence, came forward and prevented Clarity from walking towards the exit.

"I'm afraid we're going to have to keep you under arrest, Miss Nice."

"Under arrest? This is not possible, I haven't committed any crime."

The security guards surrounded Clarity and began to call the inspector of the facility.

"We have indications that you carry a wireless device which is interfering with communications, both corporate and private." Clarity knew Kishin was talking about the decryptor. She thanked herself for having placed the device made by the monks in the safe deposit box of Elsie Chu.

"Papers." Clarity took out the only piece of id on her, her brand new Singapore passport.

"Page two is particularly relevant," she said. She hoped the paragraph acknowledging her diplomatic status would work again.

"I'm going to examine this passport closer," said Kishin. "It's very recent, no regular citizen of Singapore gets this type of passport with such broad diplomatic status granted. How did you get it?" Clarity felt uncomfortable for the first time, thinking of jail.

"It was granted to me."

"By who?"

"Singapore customs." Kishin was not convinced. He turned to the employee of Malka-Avit.

"Where can we place her under arrest?" Asked the Infocomm official.

The inspector of diamonds and bullion at Malka-Avit wasn't very comfortable with Kishin's visit, or with his procedure. But discretion and the business came first. He didn't want any client to know of any problems with Infocomm, much less letting them think that Malka-Avit had issues with the all-powerful Info-communications authority of Singapore. And he certainly would not violate the privacy and confidentiality agreement of those putting valuables in the deposit boxes. That would lead to losing both customers and the legitimacy of their valuable storage business. He led the group to a private viewing Suite, an elegant showroom decorated with modern furniture and a white shelf, used to show, handle, and trade valuables from art collectors, dealers, art houses, auction societies, banks, and museums.

"She can be held here. This room is within our high-security storage zone. It's completely secure."

A team of dispatchers hired by Infocomm came to Le Freeport the following day. They were searching for the containers, who were not in any of the vaults of Malka-Avit. After being fed a simple breakfast of nasi goreng, rice with peas and some pork stripes, Clarity received the visit of Kishin.

"I want to see my lawyer," said Clarity, "and Elsie Chu". She ventured further.

"I'd like my passport back."

"Your passport may not be returned. Elsie Chu is not here, she left with Shalia Owell. Where are the containers? The Lanthanides belonging to Owells and Owell."

"I don't know what you're saying," said Clarity. She certainly wasn't taking the blame for what everyone else was covetting or hiding or stealing. Kishin took a call from one of his guards. He turned to Clarity.

"Your friend is here. Maybe she can tell you to be reasonable."

Shalia Owell came inside the room, holding her 88 Tauri smartphone. Her father and the whole board of Directors of Owens & Owell had received permission from the control tower of Changi and were about to depart for Bangkok, where the firm had some real estate properties, hotels including the Anantara Bangkok Riverside, a five star known for its eleven restaurants and palm-surrounded pool, and a resort, the Viangviman luxury area in the province of Krabi.

"I can get you a lawyer," she said. Clarity said nothing, but was ready to pull out all the strands of blond hair of the wealthy seat holder of the conglomerate.

"Get me a lawyer then. I know you got involved with this. I just know it."

"I need some information from you."

"Madame Wa asked you to see me." Shalia nodded, showing an enigmatic smirk.

"We want to know the location of the facility where the monks are building their version of the health phone." This was news to Clarity.

"How do you know they're making a health phone?"

"They got part of the rare earth metals shipment, those are used to make smartphones. I checked with Herbaline. The Enlightened Dragon Society members are specialists of emotion, and health in general. Professor Chang knows they operate here in Singapore, they're assembling all they need to build a health phone in a plant. That location is in your decryptor." Another new piece of information. Clarity felt less and less supported by those who had provided her Singapore passport.

"I don't have the decryptor with me."

"No lawyer then. I'm trying to ship you back to the U.S." Clarity thought things could not possibly get worse than they were.

"What do you mean, ship me back?"

"I got a full report on you from our intelligence agency. Strategic Insights found out that you have matters pending at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas with a surveillance center there. And that you have been accused of the theft of Federal Bonds. If Kishin agrees, I'll put you on a cargo plane to Las Vegas with accusation charges and a full file from Infocomm, relating you to the theft of these valuable containers and to Herbaline, which is under investigation in the U.S."

"You wouldn't do that."

"Oh, yes, I would." One of the guards guarding the cell of Clarity came into the room to tell Shalia Owell her visit was finished.

"Ciao baby. I'll make a monument for you as a new valuable item of Singapore. Then, I'll ship you to the U.S. as a gift from Singapore to the city of Las Vegas." Shalia Owell closed the door and Clarity sighed with relief. At least, the decryptor was safe. Kishin came back into the room, after one of the guards gave her a cold roast beef sandwich and some water.

"We can make a deal with you," he said. Clarity raised her eyebrows. She wanted to leave Le Freeport, before one of the dispatchers put her in a wine storage box, ready for shipment to Las Vegas.

"Infocomm is ready to let you go freely, if you provide us with information on the health phone project, or the members of the Enlightened Dragon Society. The Ministry of Health and the cabinet of the President has given instructions to clarify this matter."

"What have you found on Dao Bin?"

"We can't figure out his corporate structure, or the way he moves money, we keep getting wireless interference. There was a large wire transfer coming from China that came into a bank here in Singapore. Dao Bin has a network of more than three hundred suppliers used to assemble his smartphone, the King Talker. We think one of them is being used to channel the money for the health phone."

"The money is going back to China," said Clarity, "that's where the project is taking place. And it's esoteric in nature, not only industrial or commercial."

"Then tell us where it's going to take place." A security guard knocked on the door and came into the room.

"Mrs. Elsie Chu is here. She says she's here to pick up Miss Nice."

"Keep us informed," said Kishin, "we've filed you as potential persona non grata in Singapore. When that request, which I've made personally, goes through, you'll be thrown out of Singapore, without your passport." He handed her her passport and left the room, letting Elsie Chu inside.

"Come with me. I told Infocomm you were with me. They accepted to let you go because I'm the wife of Dao Bin."

Clarity did not mention where she'd hidden the decryptor, and thanked the doyenne for requesting her freedom. They left the Malka-Avit building and walked to the parking area. Elsie Chu opened the passenger door of her Audi to Clarity.

"We got you out, fortunately." She took a call from Olivia Chai, who began speaking with a voice not completely calm.

"I'm narrowing down where the monks are operating. The decryptor file is pointing to a list of industrial parks in Singapore. I'm checking my contacts to see if they noticed anything out of the ordinary in the locations or if there is a plant which may be used to assemble something like a smartphone. Everything is ready for the party, by the way. The gardners are cutting the grass and adding a touch of tropical flora to the terrace."

Clarity wondered whether Elsie Chu had traced the decryptor wireless signal using her ring. She dismissed the thought, thinking that the wife of the billionaire was the only actual person who showed support for her. She didn't dare ask her about the valuables in the deposit box. The Audi A8 stopped at a Mcdonald's drive thru on Ang Mo Kio Road. The doyenne ended the call and showed Clarity a piece of paper.

"I've given one to your friend Shalia."

Clarity examined the note, which looked like a dollar bill. It was a Hell Bank note, a one million dollar note used to honor ancestors in Asia, depicting the Jade Emperor and his signature, Yu Wong, countersigned by Yan Luo, the king of hell. The Hell bank was interpreted as the bank of the afterlife, a neutral place where all deceased persons went.

The reverse of the note was an invitation issued by Telval Studios. _You are invited to a Fantasy Adult party, to be held at Eleven thirty in the evening, at Somerset Heritage Property, Mount Pleasant Road, Singapore. In a lavish decor inside a Black and White bungalow, you can indulge in an evening and night of pleasure provided by the most beautiful escort girls of Telval Studios, brought from Copenhagen, Dubai, and Ibiza, Doha, Hong Kong, and Sydney. These women are both ideal companions who make you comfortable immediately, and courtesans who understand the temptations you seek. They can also provide them so that you can be pampered. Minimum Pink Diamond Entry donation of 500.000 U.S. dollars per person. Attendance limited._

"This is where we're going," said Elsie Chu.

"The entry price is steep," observed Clarity.

"Owens & Owell is providing fifty million dollars only for the health phone, that's what their insurance company agreed to pay for the official theft of the rare earth metals. We have to raise ten additional million dollars. Only members of Singapore high society can provide them at such short notice. This party is the excuse."

# Chapter Eleven

Clarity followed Elsie Chu along the alley leading to the Somerset Heritage serviced home. Located near the Singapore polo club north of the Pan Island Expressway, the home catered to expats and militaries on assignment, and came with a full staff of servants, fully equipped kitchens, a spacious living area, and business services such as broadband. Elsie Chu checked a message on her smartphone from Olivia Chai, who had arranged the rental of the bungalow for one day, and was managing several properties in the area. The message from the real estate expert stated that all payments related to the evening had been carried out, by using funds coming from the Telval account at OCBC.

Vanity Lane welcomed them on the doormat of the bungalow with a pineapple cocktail, dressed in a rosegold and silver Akiko playsuit made by _Agent Provocateur_. Several rose gold-colored chains draped the slim silhouette of the maid, creating a v-shaped neckline and meeting in a curve at the midriff.

A pair of pasties covered her nipples. Around eleven thirty at night, the guests began to show up, driving or being driven inside black Mercedes cars, Lincoln Continental limousines, and Bentleys, creating a traffic jam in the alley leading to the home. A crew of fifteen good looking women hired and supervised by Vanity began to gather around the prominent members of Singapore high society, an array of business persons, politicians, trade officials, technology representatives, and international executives, both men and women. Some of the guests had received the invitation at the Premier Branch of the Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation where Telval had its account, and others had picked up their invitation at the Polo Club, from Vanity herself.

"Did you verify that everyone has paid their individual charter membership at the Luxury Network?"

"Yes, everyone is over twenty five, all of them are single, or divorced. The polo club has a database of fifteen hundred members, and it was useful to get in touch with some of the visitors tonight, but I used their contacts with the Luxury Network to come up with the final list of twenty guests."

Elsie Chu brought Clarity away from the crowd to a bedroom on the second floor of the bungalow. The teleoperator with auburn hair admired the high ceilings and lush interior of the home.

At twelve past midnight, a white Cadillac XTS Royale limousine showed up, carrying Shalia Owell inside. Clarity opened the door of the luxurious car, peeking inside the Vanilla color Caprone interior of the cabin, filled with wrap-around consoles with oyster accents, blond birch trim, two mini-bars, and a thirty two inch retractable television set.

"You," said Shalia, glaring at Clarity. Vanity dismissed the grudge of Shalia, and helped the blond girl out of the car, while Clarity carried a small trolley brought by the wealthy socialite, filled with various items of lingerie.

"You couldn't get rid of me," said Clarity.

"This fantasy better be good."

"It's not a fantasy, it's very real."

Vanity gave instructions to the courtesans of Telval to undress everyone, and to place all clothes in a large wardrobe designed to hold about one hundred garments. Followed by Clarity and Shalia, the maid walked upstairs to the main bungalow window, joining Elsie Chu, who closed the door.

"Everyone is getting naked downstairs," said Vanity, "the girls are beginning to film. It's all being recorded in the Casa Mollino file."

"And my husband?" Asked Elsie Chu.

"He's at Wilkinson Vue. I've sent two twenty three year old escorts recruited by Telval with him. I spoke with the girls, they are having fun at the penthouse, playing with the statue and his belly." Elsie Chu turned to Clarity and Shalia.

"What about these two?"

"They've been discussing their differences," said Vanity.

"I want you two to get along," said Elsie.

"We get along just fine," said Shalia. Clarity did not agree, but she was surprised by the statement of the wealthy O&O seat holder.

"I guess you can be mature, when someone mature is around you," said Clarity.

Vanity dressed Shalia in a glistering g-string crafted with rose gold tulle, and ornamental Swarovski crystals. Several Akiko chains fell from the side, drawing attention to the hip. A chain embellished garter gave the blond girl a naughty feel of intrigue and decadence.

"Would you like to wear the bra?" Asked Vanity.

"No, just the tassies."

Elsie Chu got naked and donned an Azaleah showgirl playsuit with cris-crossing black bands of stretchy elastic, with two tassels covering her nipples. The rear was completely open, except for two double straps which hid beneath each plump bottom cheek. An eye mask, adorned with rows of jet-hematite crystals, completed the look.

Clarity put on her own babydoll dress and Ophelia thong, helping out Elsie Chu with a tripod and a video camera. The cheeky doyenne turned on the camera and Vanity began to run her hands along the back of Shalia Owell, stopping at her hips. She turned around the wealthy socialite and began kissing her. The eyes of Elsie Chu were fixed on the camera, and at times, she looked at the LCD screen of her laptop, to ensure the framing was correct. Without looking at Clarity, she grabbed the hand of the teleoperator, and brought it to her breasts for a delicate massage.

The wife of Dao Bin brought Shalia to an L-shaped couch, leaving Clarity as official porn director in front of the camera. The older woman reached for her Opal clutch bag and took out a ring similar to the one she was wearing. She slid the ring along the ring finger of Shalia.

"This is for you baby, it confirms that you are a member of the Privilege club. As long as you do what I say, you won't run into trouble. Don't tell anyone that I gave you this ring."

Shalia nodded, in a hazy daze of confusion created by the touch of Vanity on her body.

Vanity performed a full body massage on Shalia, while Elsie Chu worked on Clarity, lifting her dress. After twenty minutes, the wealthy socialite and the teleoperator came several times, brought to a climax by the deft hands of the two women in charge of the Telval event. Around five thirty in the morning, most guests had left the bungalow, leaving the Telval courtesans frolicking on the ground floor, toying around with a magnificent grand piano made of maple and spruce by the Baltimore company _Knabe & Co_. There was a knock on the door. The attractive figure of Madame Wa entered the room, displaying a two-piece white gown featuring a high split on one size of the skirt. Vanity stopped her massage on Shalia, and began holding her hand. Clarity stepped behind the L-shaped sofa.

"I have come for the ring," said Madame Wa, "the vanity ring." Elsie Chu turned to Shalia, who avoided her stare. For sure Shalia Owell had spoken about her ring to Madame Wa.

"I want to head the Shade of the White Lotus," replied Elsie Chu.

"There is a hierarchy in our Secret Society, I am the sole head and director, however you want to call it, you are just a member. You do not have the esoteric knowledge required to head anything." Elsie Chu lifted her hand and showed the manicure specialist her ring.

"Then, you cannot have this ring, the Privilege club is not open to you. You will not be a part of it."

Madame Wa walked towards the tripod with the camera.

"I picked up the charts and the content of your deposit box at Le Freeport," said Madame Wa. Everything was placed on the cargo planes with the containers, just like Professor Chang told me."

A thought in the form of a one ton heavy deposit vault from Le Freeport fell on Clarity. The decryptor was not with her anymore, and there was no way to reach that plane headed for China. She turned her distress into serenity by marveling at how clean the white floor of the bedroom was.

"Then, you can have a copy of Golden Lamp of Casa Mollino. Vanity will give you a copy of the file."

Elsie Chu turned one of the rows of her ring, to transfer the contents of the camera being filmed downstairs, to a chip inside the camera in the bedroom. Vanity reached for the clutch of Elsie Chu and took out a pen drive. She copied the file labelled ' _Casa Mollino_ ' on it and gave the memory drive to Madame Wa.

"Those attending the party tonight are not interested in esoteric knowledge," said Elsie Chu.

"We'll see, Professor Chang wants to teach esoteric knowledge to as many wealthy people as he can. Did you complete the funding?" Asked Madame Wa.

"Yes, each of the twenty guests have paid half a million dollars to be here tonight. They have all been granted Pink Diamond membership status at Telval, and their invitation on the hell bank note serves as confirmation of their shareholding interest in the Hunan health phone project. They'll receive any dividends through Telval, if the business becomes profitable."

"How did you convince everyone to attend an adult-themed party?" Asked Madame Wa.

"The money paid to attend ensures its exclusive nature. They all know that my husband is a shareholder of Telval Studios, they trust his reputation, and my own."

Clarity noticed that Shalia was taking off her thong, and donning a pair of jeans. The teleoperator walked towards the camera filming the scene, realizing the conversation was being recorded. She glanced at the LCD screen of the laptop, noticing the fresh, camera-ready look of Vanity. Madame Wa left the room, leaving Clarity with Elsie Chu, Vanity and Shalia Owell.

"I have to go," said Shalia. The blond girl seemed distressed by the conversation, and she called the limousine chauffeur, telling him to turn on the car engine.

"You are vulnerable to the left hand path," said Vanity, looking at the ring worn by the socialite.

"What?" Asked Shalia. The blond girl tried to dismiss the comment.

"I saw you looking at Madame Wa. You revere her. You are vulnerable to the aggrandizing of personality and apotheosis, anointing of yourself as goddess. You should let your ego diffuse and dissolve."

"Apotheosis is legitimate, that's why I like the Shade of the White Lotus, because they allow the elevation of a person to the status of a god or goddess." Elsie Chu interrupted the incipient argument.

"Shalia is moving away from the Secret Society of Madame Wa. She will be more comfortable with Telval and other wealthy members of the Privilege Club. That's why she received that very special ring."

Elsie Chu reached for the hand of Shalia, turning one of the two rows of the ring counterclockwise.

"When you turn the ring counterclockwise, the ring will connect with your smartphone, and I'll get a call from you from a number no one can trace."

Shalia nodded and put on the rest of her clothes.

"I'll call you," she said, before leaving the main bedroom of the bungalow with her trolley. Clarity stared at the tripod and the handheld Sony HXR camcorder above it, realizing she'd shot her first amateur adult scene. Paris Hilton would have been proud of her.

# Chapter Twelve

Elsie Chu shot a few additional scenes undressed, showing her vanity ring to the camera several times, and then decided to stop filming. The five hours of video shot that night were going to be included in the final footage of _Casa Mollino_ , a blend of fictional adult-themed video and reality conversations and amateur-flavored sex between real people involved in it. The wealthy doyenne took off her lingerie in front of Clarity and Vanity, showing off her plump body. While she folded the tripod and placed the camcorder used to film on a night table, Clarity could see that something was bugging the wife of Dao Bin, because she kept looking at her smartphone, writing lines of text on a pad.

"I should get more credit within the Shade of the White Lotus," she said.

"I'm not sure you'd want Madame Wa as teacher," said Clarity. She added. "In fact, I'm not sure whether you like esoteric sexual practices or not.". Filming adult video did not seem very spiritual offhand to Clarity, although the ethics of Madame Wa seemed far from ideal or spiritual also.

"Yes, I do have some idea of the White Tigress practices. What do you know? You don't know anything about those practices. You don't know anything about business. I mean there's a hierarchy in life. You don't have any merit, you don't own anything. You're here thanks to me." Vanity pulled Clarity towards the bedroom door.

"We'll go talk to the girls to clean the bungalow and put things back in order while you change." That calmed down Elsie Chu.

"Ensure you're back at Wilkinson Vue by noon today," said Elsie Chu. "Otherwise, my husband will miss you. Clarity, we're leaving at nine this morning, I want you at the door at eight thirty." Vanity opened the door and pushed Clarity forward, before the teleoperator could reply to the billionaire's wife.

"What is the matter with her? That is so unfair," said Clarity, "everyone is entitled to learn at their own pace, it doesn't matter whether they understand business or not. And esoteric practices are not easy to understand, there's nothing obvious about them."

They went into one of the bathrooms on the second floor, to freshen up. Vanity picked up a bag with her clothes and filled the bath with water while she took off her playsuit. When the water filled the bathtub, Clarity got in naked, with the maid facing her. The warm water calmed down the teleoperator with auburn hair.

"She is just angry because she's not getting her way. I don't trust any of these Secret Societies, they all think they hold the spiritual truth of all truths. The truth is that no one does hold the truth, and that the only truth is decency." Clarity rubbed the back of Vanity with a coral sponge which looked oddly like a car wash item.

"So are the girls downstairs members of the skyline of kuala lumpur harem, the harem where there is no man around, or in charge?"

"There is a connection with it, but no, none of those girls are there. The girls of the skyline travel only with the very rich, and sometimes famous, those we never see anywhere else. Some of them come from the Samba schools of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, places like _Unidos da Tijuca_ , _Portela_ , _Beija-Flor_ , and _Salgueiro_ , you can find them at exclusive private balls which take place after the carnival, in places like the Copacabana Palace, wearing intricate floats with feathers, which are very difficult to make."

"They go with people richer than Elsie Chu or her husband?"

"Elsie Chu is an amateur in terms of money, compared to the customers of the skyline. Dao Bin is considered a beginner."

"So what is the connection?"

"The films sold or distributed by Telval, the film directors. Some of the girls in the harem are featured in those films, which are then sold or shown in limited edition, or in private, before being taken out of the market."

While they got out of the bath, looking for towels, Vanity grabbed the forearm of Clarity.

"Listen, I want to leave Dao Bin, can you help me?" The request took Clarity by surprise.

"I don't have much support here from anyone."

"I don't want to work as an escort for Dao Bin or Elsie Chu. I'd want to head Telval Studios, but I don't have any connections there. Elsie Chu would never let me do that."

Clarity dried her hair with a blow drier plugged to the wall and thought that without the decryptor, she could not get in touch with Wen Jhi or Xiaolu. And it was important to alert the monks about the fact that the wife of Dao Bin and Olivia Chai were tracing their health phone assembly plant.

"I can't get in touch with my friends at the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society. Not without my decryptor."

"There is a way to get in touch with them," said Vanity. Clarity reached for a large cotton towel, throwing another one to the maid of Dao Bin.

"Really?"

"I've heard of the Pentatone monks when I was cast at Telval. When the adult films are finished, they add scenes to draw people to their Secret Society. I'm sure we can find this plant you talk about, by watching _Golden Lamp of Casa Mollino_."

"We just shot one reality scene, we don't have the whole film. Do you know any way to watch it?"

"Yes, this woman who works with Dao Bin, Olivia Chai. She takes care of all real estate matters for Dao Bin and his wife. I know she has a copy of the latest version of the movie. I asked her to join us tonight, but she declined. She's smart, she doesn´t want to be filmed naked in front of people she doesn't know. But she's acting as custodian of the film. I know how to get in touch with her, through the Singapore polo club, she's a member there." Clarity had a naughty thought which included leaving Elsie Chu for good. She donned her sweater and jeans.

"Let's elope together, and leave Elsie Chu here," said Clarity. Vanity kissed Clarity on the lips and kneeled down to kiss her intimate parts with her tongue. "All right." After a few minutes of caressing their bodies, they fell asleep for two hours, ensuring the cell phone alarm of Vanity awoke them.

Around eight in the morning, Vanity talked to the girls downstairs, relaying a message for Elsie Chu that Clarity would be back with her at Wilkinson Vue, around noon, and that they went shopping. They took a cab and grabbed an early breakfast at a diner, before heading out to the Singapore polo club. Introduced to Singapore by officers of the King's Own Regiment stationed on the island, polo was an exclusive sport in the city, catering to the wealthy and socially prominent. The Singapore polo club, or Singapore Grounds, was the oldest polo team in British Malaya, and in addition to the riding field, it also included a spa, jacuzzi and swimming pool.

Inside the clubhouse, Vanity asked for a receptionist in charge of discipline and complaints, Kenny Hock, that she'd met during a visit to the polo club with Dao Bin.

"I can't let you see the list of club members," he said. "They'd fire me if anyone finds out."

"No one will find out," said Vanity. "I'll give you what you like, if we find what we're looking for." Kenny Hock liked full body massages with a happy ending.

"What I like, you mean with a happy ending?" He asked.

"Yeah," said Vanity.

"Get in behind the counter, your friend can as well." He looked more closely at his computer screen and opened a file showing all active members of the club. Olivia Chai's residence was listed as Block 231 HDB on Toah Payoh, ten minutes by car from the polo club, a residence managed by the _Belmont Limited_ servicing company, which also managed Wilkinson Vue apartments, and a group of bungalows which included the one on Mount Pleasant Road. Clarity pulled Vanity aside.

"How are we going to get in?"

"Easy, hold on."

Vanity asked Kenny for an additional item.

"Kenny, can you lend me the lock pick you use in case someone loses their locker room key?"

"Make it a very happy ending," said the polo club employee. He opened a drawer and took out a lockpick which he handed to Vanity.

"Thanks. The alarm code of Olivia Chai please?"

Olivia Chai requested polo club servants to deliver groceries to her home while she was working, and she gave her alarm code to them. Kenny Hock did not shy away from his potential full body massage appointment. He pressed the page-down key and jotted a five number combination on a piece of paper which he handed to the maid of Dao Bin. Kenny Hock left a colleague at reception and dropped Clarity and Vanity one block away from the home of Dao Bin's real estate director.

At eleven in the morning, Olivia Chai opened the door of her residence and left her home, heading to her office, which was also at Republic Plaza in downtown Singapore. Clarity let Vanity use the lockpick to open the door of the business woman's home. The maid of Dao Bin looked for a control panel and keyed in the combination number to turn off the alarm. They walked into the living room area and noticed a widescreen television set. In the second drawer of the sideboard where the television rested, Clarity found a DVD titled ' _Golden Lamp of Casa Mollino_."

"Let's watch it."

One of the scenes of the film included Xiaolu, being cast for a secretary position by a sultry female agent. Clarity noticed that the scene was shot indoors in an office which showed a door sign labeled _S-Park 1_. She pressed on the interactive internet access button of Olivia Chai's television set, and googled _S-Park 1_ in Singapore.

"It's a business park, a landmark development which redefined the Singapore Science Park. Part of the _Ascendas-Singbridge_ offer of industrial parks." Clarity was skeptical.

"You think the monks are there?" She asked.

"They use subtle signs in the films like this to lead people into their Secret Society. I've heard Elsie Chu talk about it several times with Dao Bin. At least, we might be able to get in touch with them. Let's go there and find out."

"It's worth a try," said Clarity.

They turned off the television set, taking the copy of the adult film. A taxi took them south west of the city in fifteen minutes to number two, Science Park drive. The taxi stopped at the business park drop-off point.

Clarity stepped out with Vanity, and heard a loud noise coming from the left, which sounded like a police siren. Several police cars were driving towards them, and behind them, several trucks painted green with a red star on it were approaching the industrial park entrance. The uncomfortable thought that they'd been followed entered the mind of Clarity.

"Those trucks are not from Singapore," said Vanity. Clarity looked closer, noticing the vehicles carried soldiers inside. The trucks belonged to the People's Liberation Army of China. They'd probably been called by the Economic Counsellor's Office.

# Chapter Thirteen

Clarity stood in front of the entrance at Science Park Drive building, watching troops step off one of the trucks in the distance, coming towards them. A red flag on their arm, almost at shoulder level, indicated their allegiance. These were definitely Chinese soldiers, brought from China. Although nearly seventy five percent of its five million population was Chinese, the city-state of Singapore was not part of China. After being a British colony for more than one hundred years, dubbed the Lion City, and the Garden City, Singapore had achieved autonomy, and Singapore's Oxford-educated Lee Kwan Yew had proclaimed independence in 1965.

After long negotiations with the Malay parliament, Lee Kwan Yew had favored _Talak_ , government and political divorce from the Malay in Malaysia, a predominantly Muslim peninsula, after creating the People's Action Party, PAP, and launching anti-colonial, non-violent protests. The protests labeled Lee Kwan Yew a ' _left-wing lawyer_ ', and the protests turned the PAP into a 'socialist' party, which made an alliance with pro-communist trade unions. Deep down, though, the party included middle-class, English-educated, beer-swilling bourgeois, favoring self rule and putting an end to colonial rule. It was safe to say that the presence of soldiers from China on Singapore ground had been allowed by high level politicians, the cabinet of Singapore, its president, or the Prime Minister. Clarity looked at the receptionist and glanced at Vanity, who was not completely comfortable with the troops coming towards them. She spoke to the receptionist in very direct terms.

"Enlightened Jade Dragon Society? Pentatone Scale? Right hand path monks?" The receptionist, a good looking blond girl in her late twenties, pointed to the floor. She was wearing a call center headset, which reminded Clarity of the one she used in Malibu as a teleoperator at Stevenson Garden Products.

"This way, please, come behind the counter." The blond receptionist lifted a hatch covered by parquet floor, leading to an extension ladder made of aluminum.

"Just go down for a minute or two, someone will be with you down there."

Clarity placed her feet on one of the rungs of the ladder and stepped into a dark space, followed by Vanity. The receptionist placed the hatch on the opening, blocking all light, plunging them into darkness.

"I can't see anything," said Clarity.

"Me neither."

After a short descent, Clarity stepped on a solid floor. Her eyes were getting used to the dark, and a flashlight beam lit up her face. Another flashlight beamed a ray of light into the face of Xiaolu, the daughter of the head of the Secret Society who had welcomed her to Singapore. The Enlightened Dragon member led them to a door, which led to a large room, a crafting area equipped with machines which looked like those used to make expensive watches. The science lab of Pentatone showed eight employees, including a gemologist, wearing white robes, some of them were using electron microscopes. Another area displayed complex robotic equipment used to assemble smartphones. Led by Xiaolu into the main lab area, Clarity noticed the slender silhouette of Wen Jhi peeking over the shoulder of one of the scientists who was holding a sleek crystal display device in his hands that used rare earth metals. In his hands, he was holding a decryptor similar to the one she owned.

"Good to see you," said Wen Jhi. Clarity sensed he was talking to her.

"You knew we were here?" Asked Clarity.

"We saw you through the wall camera at the entrance, and told the receptionist to lead you here. Infocomm has been tracking our decryptor wireless signals. I think that they've been sharing surveillance information with the Chinese."

A computer screen linked to the camera on the first floor showed about ten Chinese soldiers storming into the reception area. Neither Xiaolu or Wen Jhi seemed very alarmed by the intrusion.

"Where are we?" Asked Clarity.

"This is the home of the Meridian 57 project."

"We found you by following our intuition," said Clarity. She showed the head of the Secret Society the copy of the 'Casa Mollino' adult video. "I don't have the decryptor though." Wen Jhi grabbed the DVD case and gave it to Xiaolu.

"That can be a problem. Where is it?"

"On its way to China," said Clarity. She watched Vanity taking a look at a pack of gems which looked like emeralds. The monks traded expensive gems, including diamonds, in order to finance their projects and the Science Park facility.

"You have to go and recover the decryptor then. No problem, you go back up the ladder and you will reach China." Clarity's eyes widened. She thought about rubbing her ears to ensure she'd heard the elder man speak correctly.

"I can't go back up there. There are Chinese soldiers. People are looking for me." She added. "Because of what I've been doing for you."

She glanced at the computer screen linked to the camera and saw the face of Barand Kishin and Elsie Chu talking to the receptionist, who was shaking her head repeatedly. They were asking for her.

"No problem, you are a good negotiator, I can tell. You will create a diversion while we leave through this exit. We will take our health phone with us, and all of the information regarding our project."

It was pointless to refute a right hand path sage. Wen Jhi pointed to another ladder leading to the street opposite Science Park Drive, at the south entrance of the Park. He began to speak to the scientists, telling them to turn off machinery and get ready to leave the lab. Xiaolu grabbed the arm of Clarity and led her away from the elder of the Secret Society, to a table that showed a horizontal crystal screen running various interacting software, the core of the _Meridian 57_ project.

"It is important that we continue our work. Immortality is at stake. We are very close. Our simulations show that the body can last one hundred fifty years. You can help us make it happen." Clarity was not convinced.

"What are these Chinese troops looking for?" Asked Clarity.

"Us. They are here thanks to Dao Bin and Professor Chang. And to Elsie Chu. They all want to live forever." Xiaolu showed Clarity a simulation showing a human body cell dividing into two, in order to regenerate.

"Immortality has several angles, one of them is human cell repair. True immortality requires faster repair of cells, than their damage. We have found a way to upregulate telomerase, an enzyme which is built by the body to do just that, repair cells, so that telomeres, cell endings, or caps, leading to the DNA material of the cell, does not shorten with repetitive division of the cell, the main cause of aging and death. In addition to this, we have also found an alternative to bone structure. It's a ceramic made of calcium phospate which can become a bone graft, potentially replacing the whole human body skeleton. The third reason why our project is sought is that we have linked human emotions to the twelve organ meridian system. By managing and adjusting the functioning of the organ system, we can potentially adjust human emotion, if the person feels there is a need for balance. This also contributes to longevity. This is what Professor Chang doesn't understand completely, how emotions are stored by organs, he wants all of our simulations regarding the meridians."

"That's why the project of immortality is called Meridian 57?"

"Yes, five and seven add up to twelve, the number of organs in the meridian system."

"Where is fear stored?" Asked Clarity.

"Kidney."

"How about anger?"

"Liver."

Clarity began thinking about the chart of emotion under study by Herbaline.

"What is your relationship with Herbaline? They have been working on a chart of emotion."

"We have our own chart. But we do not share it with Herbaline." She pressed a button and a file appeared visually listing over one hundred different human emotions. The emotion 'cloud' of the chart described how a person worked. Emotions were depicted as text, in words, and also visually as areas, colored.

"Do you have my emotion blueprint?" Asked Clarity. Xiaolu searched for the name Clarity Nice on their bio-database, and a balanced chart describing a sociable, balanced and pleasant personality appeared onscreen. The areas of hostility, animosity, impatience, irritability, belligerence, resentment or complaint were very small, nearly inexistant.

"Yes, here it is, the basic personality information came from Herbaline actually. They asked us if we would agree to give you all of our knowledge on the chart of emotion, and we refused. But we kept your profile. It looks like you're pretty sociable."

"Yeah, I sort of knew that. Can I keep it?"

"No."

"No?"

"No. This is all ours, the intellectual property is confidential. Maybe if you recover the decryptor, Wen Jhi will allow you to have your own chart. He dislikes sharing information on the emotion chart of people, because other people can take advantage of you. Herbaline attempts to know your emotion blueprint to sell you something, they press on your emotional vulnerability to create a need to buy their products. Say you're a bit chubby, and you like to wear trendy stuff, they will lead you to the belief that you can look better, not only for yourself, but also to please others, and they'll offer their diet and weight prevention herbal items. Knowing your blueprint, they place you as a number on their scale, and they can generate an impulse to consume something that will resonate with your personality, but which is not necessarily good for you, or that you don't need at all. They omit to tell you what you're really looking for, the way you work with your emotions. We obviously don't share their way of applying the emotion chart, it's not legitimate, so we are very careful about who receives the complete version of it. What is relevant about the personal emotion blueprint of a person, is what underlies emotion. We think the organs underlie the way you feel."

Xiaolu showed Clarity a chart of the main twelve meridians that governed the way the body worked. They included the lung, large intestine, liver, gall bladder, and stomach meridians, the spleen, small intestine, heart, and kidney meridians, and the triple warmer, pericardium, and bladder meridians. Each of the meridians running inside the body had a two-hour cycle of activity during the day, adding up to a balanced mechanism for regulating the body.

The daughter of Wen Jhi showed Clarity several papers and books, among them _The Age of Spiritual Machines_ , and _The Singularity is near: When Humans transcend Biology_. According to futurist _Ray Kurzweil_ , anyone alive by 2040 or 2050 would be close to immortal, thanks to a variety of _nanodevices_ sent inside the body, repairing cells, regrowing limbs, and regenerating memory.

"We are also working with nanoparticles to facilitate regeneration. Then, there is another angle to immortality, one you may be able to address."

"Me, what is that?"

"Well, to be immortal, a person has to remain conscious. And what exactly is consciousness? Or what is it made of, physically? That is something which is not exactly known. And it is a good thing to find out. Professor Chang likes that aspect of immortality."

"What's the purpose of finding that?" Asked Clarity.

Clarity glanced over her shoulder, sensing a presence. Vanity was finished admiring the emeralds of the monks, and was carefully listening to the conversation behind Clarity.

"To transfer consciousness from one body to another. When your body wears out, you would simply change bodies. Taoists have been trying to do that over centuries, transferring their consciousness from the physical body, to the energy body, and to a third body, known as the spiritual body, through various meditation techniques. Professor Chang is a big believer in transfer of consciousness, that is his main approach to immortality. And what he has sold to Dao Bin and the Economic Counsellor's office of China, in addition to his meditation practices."

The horizontal computer screen stopped flashing simulations and displayed a sign which said, _time to go upstairs to meet Chinese enemy Clarity_.

"We want you to find out about those meditation techniques, that's one reason you're going back upstairs," said Xiaolu. She said it so casually, that it all sounded easy.

"Why do I have to go up?"

"To find out where Dao Bin has established his immortality facility in China. And to show that you are loyal to us. We will see how resourceful you are. When you find the decryptor, turn it on. We need to know that it is working and that you recovered it."

"All right, but then, how do I get out of the facility? And how do I get back here to Singapore?"

Wen Jhi came walking to the table, to reassure Clarity.

"No one knows that. But you will know, you are a woman of good fortune and intuition, I can tell."

She made an attempt to refute the elder's argument, and to walk towards the south exit, but two monks blocked the passage. She pivoted, leaning her body towards the right, and then switched to go left, like a football player going over the defense line. The monks mimicked her and blocked her passage again.

"Up," said Wen Jhi. "We will meet you in Singapore. Don't forget the decryptor."

Clarity climbed up the ladder, thinking that the right hand path still had to figure out ways to improve strategies to keep their members out of jail. She saw herself shipped out of Le Freeport into Las Vegas, without a passport, and with a recommendation to put her in jail, signed by Shalia Owell herself. She lifted the hatch and slid out of the passage, followed by Vanity. As soon as she rose up beside the receptionist, a group of soldiers surrounded her, comparing her to several photographs of her coming from the bungalow during the filming of _Casa Mollino_ by Elsie Chu. She raised her arms, commanding attention from the clueless troops.

"All right, all right, yes, it's me, Clarity Nice. I want to see Elsie Chu. Let me negotiate with her."

She didn't know what exactly there was to negotiate but she knew that Elsie Chu lived comfortably. It was better to be with her than to be prisoner of Chinese troops. One of the soldiers led her to a limousine which was familiar, the white Cadillac XTS Royale of Shalia Owell. She peeked inside, noticing a crowded backseat area. Sitting in the car, pouring drinks, were Elsie Chu, Shalia Owell, Dao Bin, and his moneytician Lim Li, who was talking to the Economic Counsellor representative of China in Singapore, Jiong Xiang. Only Professor Chang and Madame Wa were missing from the motley crew of shifties, unethical business persons, shady politicians and corrupted retainers. The voice of Barand Kishin from behind gave her an instruction which would bring her more details about her next destination.

"Get inside."

# Chapter Fourteen

Clarity stepped into the back of the Cadillac limousine, thrusted by Kishin against Shalia Owell. A Chinese soldier thrusted Vanity inside, on the other side of Shalia Owell, by opening the other backseat door.

"Do you recognize any of these people?" Asked Kishin.

Clarity saw Dao Bin and his wife hold their breath. Lim Li was playing nervously with his own King Talker. Shalia was clutching her Fendi Astrakhan handbag, looking nervously at a television screen showing changes in the stock price of Owens & Owell on the New York Stock Exchange. Jiong Xiang, the official working at the Economic Counsellor's Office, showed a poker face. A hunch told Clarity to be low key. She pointed at Shalia.

"Shalia, I've met her briefly at the pool of the Marina Bay Sands hotel." Lim Li jumped on the answer given by Clarity.

"Mister Kishin, we do not have much time. We have a business trip pending. We have to go to Paya Lebar Air Base." He took out a piece of paper signed by political commissars of China's military theaters and backed by members of the cabinet in Singapore.

"We have authorization to leave Singapore from the air force base, this business trip may be beneficial to Singapore," said Lim Li. Jiang Xiong raised his hand and shook it in front of Barand Kishin.

"You cannot go with us, there is no authorization for you." Kishin pointed to Clarity and Vanity.

"Leave us the two girls, we have to ask them several questions about the wireless signal which led us here. We know the monks of the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society are here in this area."

"No, they are coming with us," said Jiong Xiang.

The Chinese official wanted to avoid questions on the adult film made by Telval, and a further investigation by the Censorship authority which could link the Economic Counsellor's Office to Dao Bin and the lewd film studio. He insisted that Kishin leave the car, backed by Shalia Owell. Frustrated, Kishin stepped out of the white Cadillac and got inside a Singapore police car.

"Can I go with my friend now?" Asked Clarity. Jiang Xiong shook his head.

"No, Madame Wa insisted that you come with us. You are part of the immortality project we are preparing." Clarity felt anything but immortal. She glanced outside the window and saw several Chinese soldiers guarding the limousine.

"Where are we going?" Asked the teleoperator.

"To China."

They reached the military base of Paya Lebar in the central-eastern part of Singapore, and boarded an old Air China BA 146, a regional airliner built for short haul distances, displaying four turbofan engines mounted on pylons under the wings. Clarity sat near a window, with Vanity close to her. She listened to the conversation between Jiang Xiong and Shalia Owell, taking place at the front of the plane.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Ms. Owell?"

"Yes, I am sure, I will stay in touch with Elsie Chu and Mr. Dao Bin. I have things to do here in Singapore."

Clarity watched Shalia Owell get inside the white Cadillac limousine, which drove away to the exit of the air base. She listened to Dao Bin speak with Jiang Xiong, as several soldiers began to close the door hatch of the plane.

"I want my security guards with me, on the plane," he said.

Clarity watched through the window, seeing five Chinese soldiers kick the ass of Jeng and Mao Sei, ripping their nylon jackets, and leaving the former sumo members in their underwear.

"No, you can have your Rolls Royce, but they will stay here in Singapore," said Jiang Xiong.

Two soldiers pushed the billionaire down to his seat. She was as prisoner of the Chinese government as the Singapore billionaire was, thought Clarity. Somehow, Dao Bin had lost his negotiating clout with his partners from China.

After a few hours of flight, they reached Yinchuan Hedong International Airport in China, within the _Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region_ , in the Northwest part of the country. Once finished with refuelling, the plane took off again for its real destination: the _Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone_ in the Northwest province of _Shaanxi_ in China. The zone, part of the Western Theater Command area of China, attracted foreign investments, companies such as Coca Cola, HP, Mitsubishi Electric, Fujitsu, Rolls Royce, or the Swire Group. Mechanicals, electronics, bio-pharmaceuticals, high-tech and light industry sector companies had settled there already. General Tian Yazhou had agreed with Jiang Xiong to establish the health phone facility of Hunan Enterprises in that area because there was already a business eco-system there that could also hold the one hundred suppliers needed to assemble the new health phone.

They got off the plane at Xianyang International Airport, at Xi'an, and stepped inside a black Hongqi L5, the only luxury car manufactured in China. Clarity sat with Vanity and Professor Chang in the backseat, while Madame Wa chatted with the chauffeur in Chinese from the passenger seat. Clarity glanced behind and saw the Rolls Royce of Dao Bin driving behind them. Somehow the billionaire's car had made it to Xi'an, and was carrying Dao Bin, his wife, moneytician Lim Li, and Jiang Xiong. After a short ride, they reached a modern light grey building in the pioneering park of Xi'an, a place known as _Gazelle Valley_ which acted as incubator for sci-tech companies. All of the one hundred suppliers for the Hunan health phone had established presence there, under the hospice of the _Foreign Investment Promotion Bureau_ of China. A troop of Red Army soldiers led them to a conference room on the second floor of an office building which housed the manufacturing facility of the Hunan health phone on the first floor. After five hours of waiting, a clerk working for the Central Military Commission made an announcement.

"General Tian Yazhou is here, he will see you now."

General Tian Yazhou made a glorious entrance into the meeting room of the manufacturing facility. A towering six foot figure, always surrounded by several officials from his municipality and a few agents of the People's Armed Police in charge of internal security, he prided himself on having high connections within the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Those connections included members of the _Political Bureau_ and the _Central Military Commission_ , _Tuanpai_ who came from the _Communist Youth League_ , and some Central Committee members who worked in state-owned enterprises.

Born in the town of Xining, in the province of Qinghai, Tian Yazhou had joined the military at an early age. After the reform of the People's Liberation Army into five military theaters, an order from the deputy leader of the Group for Military Reform, backed by several members of the Central Military Commission named him political commissar of the Western Theater Command. His duties included political education and ideology, and civilian control of the military. He set aside a cigarette held by a Sanda rosewood holder filter, and placed both in an ashtray. He smiled at the official from the Economic Counsellor's Office.

"Good work, Jiang Xiong, we have put the rare earth metals to good use, and received the symbolic decryptor and the charts of Professor Chang from Le Freeport. The first health phone of Hunan-Shaanxi Enterprises has been assembled. The hope now is that you will be able to use it when you are one hundred and ten years old."

"Our communications team figured out the decryption protocol used by the symbolic decryptor. I called Kishin to alert him of the location of the monks at the Ascendas industrial park, which was in one of the modules of the decryptor, encrypted. If he finds the facility of the monks, and the monks, it will mean less competition for us."

The Chinese General walked straight towards Elsie Chu, kissed her hand, and took notice of her ring.

"This ring is quite versatile, I hear, it has several properties. Our communications branch in Singapore has made great effort to trace its signal."

"It's an expensive ring, but there's nothing special."

The Chinese General told the wife of Dao Bin to take out the ring and gave it to a pair of scientists, a gemologist and a specialist of wireless cryptography. From her seat beside moneytician Lim Li, Clarity observed the scientists setting up a retooling table which they used to dismantle the ring into several pieces.

"The ring has a miniature wireless router inside," said the first scientist. The second scientist, the gemologist, added. "It's below the diamond, and it activates when you turn the middle band of the ring. There is space for five frequencies corresponding to five notches, which can be linked to any smartphone."

"Does it have intercept capabilities?" Asked Tian Yazhou.

"Yes. Deep packet inspection technology applied to wireless equipment. Frequency 503 is used to intercept calls or inhibit their signal so that the caller cannot be heard." Tian Yazhou turned to Elsie Chu.

"This wireless technology can only be used by the military. You may not be able to leave China now, Ms. Chu. Your husband will stay here as well for an indefinite period of time. In the meantime, the Central Military Commission, and me, as its representative, will take ownership of Hunan Enterprises, all of its resources, and the relationships with all of its suppliers." Tian Yazhou turned to a guard behind him. "Take the Rolls Royce of Mr. Dao Bin to my private parking."

Clarity noticed that Dao Bin's face had become pale. Jiang Xiong provided additional evidence against the billionaire.

"Telval is an adult film studio. It provides decadent material and Mr. Dao Bin is a shareholder. I escaped a reputation attack by refusing an invitation to a lewd party in Singapore." Jiang Xiong gave a copy of ' _Golden Lamp of Casa Mollino_ ' to the Chinese General and a Hell Bank note with his name on it.

"I will watch this film to ensure it is not allowed by China's censorship Bureau. We cannot allow one of our business partners to be involved in porn. Our local sovereign fund here in Xi'an will take control of the money controlled by Hunan. Mr. Dao Bin and his wife will serve a ten year sentence at the Shaanxi Province jail."

Dao Bin glanced at his wife, who was becoming as pale as him, thinking he should have built the health phone on his own, in Singapore. Opening the Chinese market for Hunan Enterprises was beginning to turn his lifestyle of the rich and famous into the life of a Chinese dissident.

Professor Chang changed the topic of the conversation.

"We should move on with the meditation experiments." He glanced at Clarity and Vanity.

"Placing them in the fantasy chamber." Tian Yazhou pointed to Elsie Chu.

"With her as well."

A group of Red Army soldiers led the group of women to a cubicle made of plastic walls, which allowed those outside to see through. Clarity stepped inside, followed by Vanity, Madame Wa, and Elsie Chu. Madame Wa got naked with Clarity and Vanity in a room barely lit. Elsie Chu followed, not knowing what was happening. Madame Wa began to instruct them, on how to meditate in an environment of risk which was hostile, where danger was present. The meditation was called _Fusion of the Five Elements_.

"Do you feel any uncomfortable feeling associated with fear?"

Clarity thought that the White Tigress practitioner was kidding. The whole environment was hostile. She wanted to know how the left hand path addressed the emotion of fear.

"Yes," said Clarity. Vanity nodded as well.

"Bring that fear down visually to the perineum area from the kidney area, and lead that fear in a line to the cauldron area, two inches below the navel. Clarity did as told, and the sensation of fear and apprehension lowered slightly.

"Fear is natural though," said Clarity, "it can be used by the body to alert of danger. If we get rid of fear, how do we sense danger?"

"I sense danger," said Vanity, "danger of working for Madame Wa."

"That is the point," said Madame Wa, "a White Tigress ignores danger until it ceases to exist. They are immune to fear."

Elsie Chu began to show signs of apprehension.

"This is not going well, I don't feel so good. I need my ring, I feel sort of naked without it." She began to have second thoughts which led her to the idea of ditching support for her husband.

"Well, you are naked, that is normal, but I see what you mean, you are not a White Tigress yet. No, that ring will be mine when I teach General Tian Yazhou techniques for recycling sexual energy."

"I am ready to tell the truth regarding the ring and serve the Chinese authorities."

Madame Wa pressed on a switch to turn on the light in the room. She waved at the tinted window in front of her and Jiang Xiong came into the room.

"Take off your clothes," said Madame Wa, "she is ready to talk."

"It is not proper etiquette," said the Chinese official.

"We are all equals here," said Madame Wa, "you too can become a Jade Dragon."

Jiang Xiong did not believe in White Tigress teachings, but he did not deem it wise to offend Madame Wa, who was catching the interest of Tian Yazhou. The Economic Counsellor took off his clothes reluctantly and immediately showed an erection by watching Vanity and Clarity naked. Madame Wa grabbed his sexual organ, in order to calm down his arousal. He pressed on several points of his chest and stomach, told the official to breathe the sexual energy up his spine, and the organ lost its 'jade' appearance.

"Where did your ring come from?" He asked.

Elsie Chu began to talk and Madame Wa grabbed the organ ot Jiang Xiong more strongly, to release her own tension.

"I received instructions from a group known as the privilege club to pick up my ring at Le Freeport deposit box, from a jewelry shop in Singapore."

"Which one?" said Madame Wa. Elsie Chu turned to Jiang Xiong.

"I can show you, as long as we get out of here. And as long as you give me access to my husband's business, his money and his Rolls Royce."

# Chapter Fifteen

General Tian Yazhou pulled out Clarity from the meditation group led by Madame Wa, who was engaging in hands on meditation, leaving Elsie Chu with Jiang Xiong. The Chinese General was intrigued by Clarity, and her natural, girl-next-door look was appealing to him.

"So you are the woman who owns the symbolic decryptor we found."

"Yes, it took me quite a lot of effort to get it really." Pleased by the assertiveness of Clarity, the Chinese General took Clarity to his quarters on the third floor of the building, a nice but not overly luxurious bedroom with bathroom overlooking the park of Gazelle Valley, with a view on several buildings hosting various high-tech projects. He closed the door and reached for a drawer, pulling Clarity's decryptor out.

"How do you use this? Show me," he said. Clarity beamed a smile inwardly, very pleased of having found her decryptor.

"There's a calligraphy module," she said, "various fonts, maybe you're interested in learning Thai characters?" Tian Yazhou shook his head.

"Not of my interest, what else can you do with this?"

"There's a way to find immortality, but I'm not sure how to get there or find it. This decryptor, in fact, has its own consciousness." She thought about Evans, and shook the decryptor, but the supercomputing consciousness remained dormant. Tian Yazhou turned his back on Clarity, looking out the window.

"What you say is not really possible. What else can this device do?" Clarity had a flash with an idea that was both naughty and potentially beneficial for the General. It made sense to her.

"I can use the decryptor to change your sexuality." The head of the Western military Theater Command of China, a middle aged man in his early fifties, turned around, intrigued.

"What do you mean?"

"I'll show a way to recycle energy, so that you feel more vigorous sexually, and also so that you think more effectively. I need to spend four hours with you in this bedroom. Both of us naked."

The General nodded and locked the door, ensuring privacy. Over the next thirty days, Clarity taught Tian Yazhoo the fundamentals of the microcosmic orbit, as taught by the monks of the Enlightened Jade Dragon Society. To feel the orbit, men had to go over their 'horny period', four, five or six days in general for men aged twenty five to fifty. During those critical days, men usually masturbated and ejaculated.The 'orbit' philosophy recommended 'edging', arousing sexually to the point of near orgasm, and then lowering arousal again, even controlling erection with the mind.

Clarity read some texts inside the decryptor, explaining the techniques in detail, and Tian Yazhou, a man used to hardship and perseverance, went over his horny period without spilling his seed or ejaculating. After two weeks of semen retention, he began to notice a vibration of energy below his skin, running along his arms and legs, the real microcosmic orbit. During this time, Clarity slept with the General, ensuring he didn't bang her, but also making sure that she aroused him so that his erection was strong. She also used the wireless connection of her decryptor to check flights coming in and leaving out of Xianyang airport. After two weeks, she requested her Singapore passport, and the General gave it back to her.

"This meditation and microcosmic orbit feeds on sexual energy, I can feel my energy now," he said.

Clarity checked his erection with her hand. After four weeks of recycling sexual energy, of sexual arousal and orgasm without ejaculation, his erection was tremendous, rock solid, the girl with auburn hair had never seen anything like that. The General was able to sustain erection for hours, two or three, and he was deeply satisfied sexually by his own multiple orgasm without ejaculation.

Increasingly, he was absorbed by his own practices, seeing the benefits in renewed vigor and vitality. After four weeks, Clarity came to know the sentinels guarding Tian Yazhoo's quarters, befriending them as well, offering them ways to experiment with their sexuality, 'without a partner'. One night, on week eight of her training, she decided to make her move. While the general was sleeping, engrossed by his night erections and 'sexual dreaming', which came as a result of preserving his seed, Clarity walked out of her bed, as though going to the bathroom. She donned her clothes, ensuring the decryptor and her Singapore passport was in her pocket, taking with her several papers from the General's military uniform, authorizing him to move freely throughout China and outside the country. Throwing one last look at the General, who was sleeping, she got out of the bedroom, looking for Vanity in another bedroom.

"We're leaving," she said. Showing the General's papers to several guards guarding various rooms, they reached the exit of the building and woke up the chauffeur of the black Hongqi L5.

"To the airport," she said. The chauffeur, who was sleeping across the front seats of the car, saw the papers signed by members of the Central Military Commission, and didn't dare verify them. He drove out of the High Tech zone and stopped at the airport terminal of Xianyiang. Clarity walked to the counter of _Shenzen Airlines_ , requesting a ticket. She pulled out some cash given to her by Tian Yazhou, and purchased two tickets to Singapore, one for her, and a second for Vanity, who used the papers of the General taken by Clarity, as passport.

They sat in the boarding lounge for an hour, and a stewardess called for boarding. Clarity sighed when the plane took off for Singapore. Her decryptor beamed an incoming message, sent wireless from the personal smartphone of General Tian Yazhou.

Thank you for your teachings. Do not forget that you work for the government of China now. We will get in touch with you through the decryptor so that you provide information on surveillance matters performed by the Bellagio Center for Underground and Strategic Affairs in Las Vegas. If you refuse, we will find you, we are able to trace your decryptor anywhere in the world.

Clarity did not reply to the message. At least, she'd left a potential prison. She was better off than Dao Bin. After a three hour flight, they reached Changi airport. Clarity was tired. She used the few Singapore dollars she had left to take a taxi to the Bennington Salm hotel of Lamond Liew, the man who'd placed a large order of showers made and distributed by Stevenson Garden Products, the company where she worked in Malibu. Exhausted from the last four weeks of tension with the General, she crashed on her bed, with Vanity at her side.

"Of course, you can stay here for a few days," said Lamond Liew. The manager of the hotel was friendly, and gave Clarity some time to plan her next move. She called her friend Lanai at the National Library, sensing that the librarian from Malibu was in no rush to leave. Wen Jhi had got in touch with her once, allowing her to keep the decryptor, after she'd briefed him on the plans of the Chinese military at Xian. He praised her findings and warned her about the sexual teachings to Tian Yazhou.

"You think he'll do all right with the teachings on sexual regeneration?" Asked Clarity.

"Maybe," said Wen Jhi, "it depends how he manages sexual energy. Keep us informed on Shalia Owell. We want her out of the left hand path."

"How do I leave Singapore? I have no money." The connection ended, leaving Clarity speechless, gazing at a local program on television, _My Sassy Neighbour_ , showing reflexologist character Madam Tan as she restored calm into the neighborhood of Bukit Anak Kambing.

One day, her decryptor, tuned to wireless frequency 503, intercepted a call from Shalia Owell. The wealthy blond girl was in Singapore, and she was talking to Elsie Chu, who was back in the city-state, after negotiating a leave-of-prison with Chinese authorities. Shalia and Elsie Chu were overseeing the new health phone venture between Hunan Enterprises, China, and Owens & Owell, while Dao Bin rotted inside the Province jail of Shaanxi. The conversation turned to the vanity ring.

"Shalia, I don't have that ring, and I really don't want to talk about that ring, it led me to a lot of trouble." Shalia Owell insisted. She wanted to be part of the exclusive Privilege Club, because the rumor was that it harbored several billionaires. She'd always wanted to bang a billionaire.

"Who is your contact for that ring?" Elsie Chu was coaxed by the girl into answering.

"A clerk at the _Mauboussin_ jewelry, at the Takashimaya Department Store, on 391 Orchard Road."

Clarity took note of the location and looked it up on her decryptor. At the same time, the fixed line phone in her room rang. Vanity picked it up.

"It's the receptionist, Barand Kishin is downstairs with an arrest warrant for you ordered by the Censorship Bureau of Singapore."

"Damned, Vanity, let's go, we have to get out of here."

Clarity picked up her Singapore passport from the room's deposit box and turned off her decryptor, placing it in her pocket. They took the stairs to the ground floor, and watched Kishin from a distance, hidden by a column near the reception area, until the Infocomm official took the elevator to their room. The teleoperator put the hotel bill on the account of Stevenson Garden Products, and they took a cab to Mauboussin, a posh jewelry selling rings valued between two thousand and seventy thousand U.S. dollars. In the shop, Clarity began a conversation with a clerk who was wearing a Brioni Prince of Wales blazer featuring two flap pockets.

"The Privilege Club? No, we have not heard of that place. The vanity ring you mention is from Viauget, we don't work with that brand."

Clarity insisted, knowing that Elsie Chu could not have possibly lied about the connection with the ring. She kept talking about how beautiful the rings of the exhibitor were. She showed the clerk her diplomatic passport, and told him she'd stayed at the Marina Bay Sands, to let him know that she was important. She was also officially under arrest, and persona non grata in Singapore, but she was important. The clerk took a close look at Clarity's passport and sustained the conversation. Eventually, he changed the topic.

"Would you like to act as courier for us? We have a customer requesting a very particular ring for her girlfriend. It's expensive for us to pay for insurance, the customer prefers personal delivery as well. If you don't mind doing some travel, we can arrange a trip for you."

"Leaving Singapore you mean?"

"Yes." Clarity did not hesitate, nearly kissing the clerk on the cheek.

"Yes. I'll do that, don't mind traveling."

Vanity negotiated a job as sales assistant at Mauboussin, preferring to stay in Singapore. In her mind, her job as maid with Dao Bin was finished, and she was looking for an alternative to escort work. The clerk walked to the back of the store, and came back with a magnificent _Alessandra_ ring made of yellow gold and diamonds, with the code L4670 etched on the inner band of the ring. The clerk called a taxi for Clarity, to lead her to the airport, placing the gold ring, worth seventy thousand dollars, on her finger. As guarantee, the clerk made a complete photocopy of her passport.

"Where am I going?" Asked Clarity.

"The Venetian Macao, a plushy casino-hotel resort based in Macau, owned and operated by the Las Vegas Sands company." A taxi honked outside and Clarity said good bye to Vanity.

"Who is the customer?" The clerk handed him a piece of paper.

"A prominent client of the resort, name is in the piece of paper. Just give the ring to him, and give us a call. The customer will pay us when he gets the ring." Clarity nodded and exited the jewelry, stepping inside the backseat of the taxi. She told the driver to go to the counter of _Xiamen Air_ at Changi airport. Her plane was leaving for Fuzhou in China, and then headed for Macau. She looked at the beautiful _Mauboussin_ ring on her finger, thinking that esoteric sexuality was like a diamond which needed endless polish in order to be brought to the surface. On a more practical matter, she sat back comfortably in the backseat of the taxi, and thought that it was more relevant that she was wearing the ring, rather than own it as property.

Access of use was replacing ownership in many businesses like the room-sharing venture _Airbnb_ , or with the car-sharing _Uber_ , and she wondered whether she could offer a ' _rent-to-use_ ' luxury lifestyle, which satisfied those who paid tribute to the notion of vanity, a quality which provided self-esteem to those showing it, verging at times on an excessive sense of personal worth which clouded thinking at times.

Rubbing the diamond on the ring with her finger, she reflected on the source of her own personal worth. She came to the conclusion that personal worth was within the person, not without, within her own sense of inner balance, common sense, and being comfortable with who she was as a teleoperator from Topanga Canyon, and as a woman rejecting the stupidity of others, and espousing middle class values of friendliness, sociability, respect, and sometimes work. She had her own views about _proper pay for proper work_ , and thought about some words that she'd heard Dao Bin say to Vanity, when she asked him how he'd made his money. His enigmatic answer was that ' _You don't earn money by working, but by thinking._ ' She lowered the taxi window to let fresh air in, and wondered how rich people thought.

# Chapter Sixteen

SUN ON THE ROCKS amusements for adults, in easy to read banana humor order.

THE MALIBU CASE.

THE ACAPULCO COCKTAIL.

THE CAYMAN AIR BANNER.

THE BAHAMAS LOTION.

THE ADULT CHANNEL.

THE OOL BRODERIE.

THE BELLAGIO WIKILEAK.

THE CUBAN RENEGADE.

THE SUGAR BABY.

THE MARBLE TOUCAN.

THE OUTDOOR SHOWER.

THE EMOTION SCALE.

MERIDIAN 57.

THE VANITY RING.

Crafted by Somers Isle & Loveshade.

Sun on the Rocks is genuine banana humor, fresh, trivial, tropical, and easy-going, or easy-to-peel, like the fruit, blended with light intrigue, the capacity for understanding general truths, or the information brought by the characters of the amusement. Some of the characters cast in the amusements express their resourceful intuition and are often acute observers of the laws of human mischief, showing that common sense has not disappeared. Sometimes, there is a social element in the stories that makes the amusement relevant for the community.

The amusement is non violent writing that may provide a sense of support to the daily, which at times ain't very easy, in a world where the tidbit replaces genuine reflection and thought, people think in chunks of one hundred and forty characters, and common sense is reduced to watching how everyone else is making money. The word cloud of sun on the rocks is particularly benign, and you may begin to notice if you find the material engaging, that it doesn't take people out of their comfort zone, sometimes because there's humor, sometimes because the situation is so ridiculous. There's a reason for that. The world needs stability, not change, and words can engage both social aspects, we choose the former.

Ridiculous situations are used to show social barriers, which may be preventing a person from a different perspective, more humane, and realistic, more engaging as well. If there is not much love left in the world, in the way we live, there may be a love shade, a shade of love remaining, which allows us to be engaging with other people around us, whether we like these people or not, whether we agree with them or not. The good looking woman like Clarity, is there to keep us engaged with that part of us. There's nothing wrong with having the beauty of a woman engage that engaging part of us. Engagement and social connection is what makes a community, so we like that over so called 'success', something we may shred to pieces in various ways, until it is disengaged, dismantled, defused, destroyed, and disconnected, until it becomes devoid of the problems it might create in someone's thinking. We don't give a fuck about the plutocracy or the celebrities, and we ensure we get that point across.

That is the premise of Sun on the Rocks, there's always people around you, which may not be good for you, sometimes friends, family, peers, a boss, but there's always a way to get away from them, or negociate with them in some way, or make them look bad outright, because they don't mean well, or look for someone friendly, and surround your daily life with those who appreciate you, genuinely, without you having to be 'turned on' or showing a social mask, which has become useless, as a result of the rise of the social network. If nothing else, there's always you, and that's really all you might need, a good connection with your own, with just being you, genuine, and being quite comfortable with that. You'll also need a shitload of assertiveness, to face the motherfuckers who want to make money off of you, and to get rid of the thoughts of all those social influencers, observing the world around you, just to understand wtf, and where the fuck we are, and that's also something we try to point out in the amusements.

The banana humor series of Sun on the Rocks has gathered a total of 20,000 downloads and about 90,000 views or reads, on several platforms, such as Smashwords, Barnes and Noble, Kobo books, Sony, Inktera, community blogsites Our Salon and Open Salon, the free-ebooks.net platform, and the Apple Store. On blogsite communities our salon and open salon, the amusements have gathered a total of about one hundred comments from people who connect, or like, or can relate to what is in the amusement. You can see those comments below, to see what other people think about the amusements.

Sun on the Rocks is sold as is, to keep the amusements fresh and irreverent for the community.

All fictional characters of these amusements

are adults at least twenty one years of age.

Amusements are easy to read stories

which can be read in about three or four hours.

Join the sun on the rocks community on noisetrade.

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The Malibu Case.

Or whether corporate nudity should be part of the dress code.

The Acapulco Cocktail.

Or how a cocktail drink can turn a holiday into a traction with the Law.

The Cayman Air Banner.

Or going where your money goes to keep an eye on how it disappears.

The Bahamas Lotion.

Or discerning when the notion of a lotion is not beauty but dependence.

The Adult Channel.

Or how renting pleasure is different from owning it.

The OOL Broderie.

Or whether a wedding can be arranged as a matter of levity.

The Bellagio Wikileak.

Or relying on sensitive information before the information relies on you.

The Cuban Renegade.

Or using the service of a renegade to backup your gold,

when fiat money is backed by the cap of Castro.

The Sugar Baby.

Or whether sugar can turn to salt when someone overlooks the honey.

The Marble Toucan.

Or how those who want you to leave are those who should leave in the first place.

The Outdoor Shower.

Or how a shower can bring good weather to the bottom line.

The Emotion Scale.

Or looking at how you feel to let others choose how you think.

Meridian 57.

Or how the merchant of longevity can sell a claim to live longer by monetizing wisdom.

The Vanity Ring.

Or discerning when vanity is worn in order to meddle with the lives of others.

100 COMMENTS FROM READERS OF OPEN SALON AND OUR SALON,

ORIGINAL BLOGSITES OF SUN ON THE ROCKS BANANA HUMOR

(R and R+ stand for rated, or liked)

THE MALIBU CASE

ch.14 - Frisky, light-hearted, and delightful! Consistently! This should be a GRAPHIC novel (when you finally get around to publishing!) R+

ch.3 - This is so clever. Everything is "normal" except the central dilemma of (gasp) optional nudity. With nonchalant humor you are making an individual rights argument out of this. I can hear you pitching this to a TV exec: "Who could object to that?"

I think you could actually pull this off (no pun) in reality if the characters were discretely / artfully filmed! It could be great fun. These are unique characters who are "over the horizon" in leading the California trend. R

ch.13 - Fun read. That package and who got it will bring me back. R

ch.12 - I want to see the video version of this story! What a romp.

ch.12 - Quite a revealing case. Quick and playful, this story scampers right up to the edge of decency and then sticks its tongue out.

ch.12 - This plot has the sexiest curves.

ch.1 - This is deceptively breezy and fun. I. did. not. expect. THIS! Good show! R

ch.15 - Hurray! The girls won and we are all the beneficiaries of their determination. I hope that we will have further adventures about the floating spa and that the long arm of the law can't reach them in inter national waters. R

ch.15 - Sorry I've been away and missed the last few installments. I'm glad to see the girls came out of this in stellar fashion. It was a fun read, and I'm looking forward to the south of the border installments. R

ch.15 - Sweet, sweet, sweet. And I think you may have set-up the next Episode in the series! Hmmm. I just noticed that others feel the same. Good! R+

ch.14 - Phew! The package picker-upper turns out to be on our side....at least for now. I guess it all comes down to the vote. Go naturism! R

ch.13 - If we Amuricans have a right to bear arms, the girls have a right to bare whatever! I vote yes. Fun read. That package and who got it will bring me back. R

ch.13 - Lots of limbs to go out on here. I'm always intrigued by the persistence of the press.

ch.12 - You just seem to strip the story to its bare essentials and cut to the chase ;).

ch.12 - Very amusing. Am I the only girl here? Is that weird?

ch.11 - It looks like the governor will have to get involved! A night under the stars, clothing optional I hope? R

ch.11 - I just wish I could have conceived this saga. So breezy and tongue-in-cheek! R+

ch.10 - You really make this sound reasonable and imminent! R+

ch.10 - If it were only that easy... hey, maybe it would be if someone only tried it! When writing, it's recommended to stick to the bare essentials. You can't get any bare than this subject. Still reading. R

ch.9 - Yes, these are burning questions! When is the rally? Excuse me, but I'm sticking to my leather chair here at work... R

ch.8 - "Proposition 531 has a secret." A secret proposition, why am I not surprised? You still have me guessing for answers. Keep up the suspense. R

ch.8 - Yeah, yah, YES. Vivid, breezy, and irresistible. Can't wait. R+

ch.7 - What a cool caper. Such tension and intrigue, and I keep reminding myself of how tongue-in-cheek the mission really is. Great satire. R

ch.7 - "I found something interesting, come here." Now you have my curiosity aroused. This is a great series. Keep going. R

ch.7 - I enjoy the story..thank you for writing and sharing..See you here..Best regards.

ch.7 - refreshing and fun, like a more realistic Charlie's Angels. Keep it coming. R

ch.6 - I can't believe I've been missing these! I was sure I had "favorited" you! You must also link to the Fiction Weekend site when you can. Still a great script. R

ch.6 - Me, again. I just want to suggest that when you post a new installment that you go back and put in a "next" link to your previous installment. There isn't another sexy, funny, charming story like this being done! R

ch.6 - This is funny, hip and sexy with tongue firmly in cheek. I love all the little touches like the upscale thong for example. R

ch.6 - The plot thickens! Everyone seems to be having a great time here, with the exception of our officer friend. R

ch.5 - You GO, girls! Let me gather a few things and I'll go with you... R+

ch.5 - Do I see a road movie starting to appear? R

ch.4 - Gasp! Oh, no! My damsels are in distress! This is sooooo script-ready. ACTION! +

ch.4 - Sorry I'm late. Swimming naked, high above the city... sounds intriguing. R

ch.3 - Ok, now I've read all three chapters, and am up to date with the bare essentials... so to say. It'll be interesting to see where this goes. R

ch.3 - l love it! Totally confirms what we easterners think: everyone in California has a screw loose. I think clothing optional day is a logical extension of casual friday. I am now backtracking to catch up on the earlier installments. R

THE ACAPULCO COCKTAIL

ch.1 - Hurray! A new adventure. Reading each installment is like a mini-vacation....with beautiful aquanauts thrown in for good measure. R

ch.2 - Cocktails, sun....I'm hooked. R

ch.4 - Even a fish would not get caught if it kept its mouth shut! lol

ch.4 - Looks as if the girls should start learning some Spanish.

I hope they are not going loco down in Acapulco! R

ch.4 - Do they have cable in Mexican jail?

ch.4 - I knew it, I knew it. The girls cannot stay out of trouble. Could a Mexican prison be next? This is a lot of fun. R

ch.4 - Hey I want that job! It sounds like something I could do from home, while relaxing in my Lazy-Boy recliner. You have me thirsty for the next chapter. Sorry I'm late, but I was having a cold one out by the pool. R

ch.6 - another great read.........supertaster?......gotta hear more.....R

ch.5 - well done again...R

ch.6 - Effortless intrigue! You put me right there. Nancy Drew for the 21st century? R+

ch.7 - This is such a breezy web, I can't believe the weight of mystery you are able to hold! R

ch.5 - I swallowed this like a shooter. It is a strong story, and I'll say it like always: could easily be a script! R

ch.4 - Yeah! You are raising the voltage nicely with this one. I didn't see the "safe" coming! R+

THE CAYMAN AIR BANNER

ch.4 - Well - I love this so far and will keep reading!

ch.8 - This does hold your interest.

ch.12 - At last the fight. The bit with the elusive canapés and limping along limo was priceless. R

ch.11 - You do create a surreal environment: a little James Bond with a dash of Clouseau. R

ch.1 - Hurray, a new adventure! I've been away awhile. I have a lot of catching up to do. R

ch.1 - 20%! That must have been pre 2007, or else someone is going to lose their savings on a deal that sounds too good to be true. Let the action begin. R

ch.7- The interplay between Clarity and Flower is priceless. R

ch.6 - I'd hang on to my money if I was in Clarity's bikini. R

ch.5 - Just like a banker to steal your earrings while you are sleeping. R

ch.4 - So many directions it can go. R

ch.1 - hahah..ok, waiting to see where this goes!

ch.12 - At last the fight. The bit with the elusive canapés and limping along limo was priceless. R

ch.13 - 1,500 golfers gone. Should be easier to get a tee time. Sounds like the girls are closing in for the kill. R

ch.15 - I learned a new word-scandium! "Let´s change into the tigress outfits, maybe it´ll be our turn tonight, you´re getting me in the mood." Perfect! I can picture it!

ch.3 - A surreal, but fascinating turn of events. Gallinaceous, indeed. R

ch.16 - somehow I missed seeing your interesting series in the activity feed here--will read through all of your chapters this weekend and hope you have another series in the pipeline here!

ch.10 - Is Bernie Made-off part of this operation? The girls are going to have a hard time doping this out. R

ch.2 - Ladies, hang onto your money and bikini tops. R

ch.11 - "Buddha Talk walks his talk, and talks only when needed." This is such a neat line!

ch.1 - Place tongue firmly in cheek and prepare for takeoff! R

THE BAHAMAS LOTION

ch.1 - Wow, here we go again. Great start of a new adventure. R

ch.6 - This whole story is hilarious.

ch.13 - "She stole this egg, she stole it from the temple of Wat Phodaram, Wat Pho, the temple of the reclining, glistening, mother of pearl Buddha, in Thailand, where the statues watch and protect ecstasy, and the subtle channels open your wisdom to the quiet mind and show you how the body works. " This is a hoot!

ch.4 - "The truck, an Isuzu FTR 800 class 2 pumper imported from the Fire and Rescue Agency of New South Wales in Wagga Wagga, Australia, was beaming a blue siren, approaching the limo at high speed. Stretching above Lanai, Taimi and Cynthia were struggling atop the truck with Jenna, who was surfing the air, holding balance by grabbing the ladder." What fabulous detail-I can create a perfect image in my mind.

Rosebud-I'm pretty sure I know what THAT reference is.

ch.12 - "Avalon was wearing an extra small ivory color Isabella thong by Myla, made of dusk silk satin, Elastene, and cotton gusset lining." You have a way with detail! I had to look up the thong. Boy, they are expensive!

ch.12 - "That´s how I fooled the Sex Brigade at Neria B." Immediately a Bowie song popped into my head: "Ground control to Sex Brigade, your circuits dead, there's something wrong." I think those lyrics are better than the original.

ch.12 - what a supremely odd universe I have landed in. I dunno what to make of this place yet, but it sure seems amorphously enticing, offering magical new technology and a supremely erotic atmosphere wherein breasts are softly offered to the table! and this: "It depends on what you view as sex," indeed.

ch.12 - "It´s simple, we disagree over the definition of pleasure," said Avalon, "over the meaning of it in fact. But we want to take over that resort." Ah, yes! You go girls!

BTW, you have subtly painted quite a scene involving naked women. Very subtle, but very descriptive as well.

ch.11 - OMG-I am so far behind! Forgive me. I will catch up! "Elony´s not approved by the FDA, Lanai."" I love this. What kind of fun stuff IS approved by the FDA?

ch.9 - "The girl named Lanai has been sent to study the book of Decadence in more detail with other scribes." Can I borrow that book? This is a great story.

ch.8 - "I love the service here," said Lanai. That's an understatement!

ch.2 - I'm pretty sure I know what the lotion is! Can't wait to find out.

ch.5 - "Have you been thinking of tupperware sex lately?" I'm quite sure I've never heard that expression before!

ch.6 - "Some type of hedonist resort, there shouldn´t be that many in the Bahamas" This whole story is hilarious, but this statement is the most hilarious of them all. I HAVE been to the Bahamas, you know, mostly out islands where anything goes!

ch.7 - "Men are only in charge of security here, their presence is accessory." I like to accessorize!

ch.16 - "She cherished that exhibitionist tendency which was part of her, part of her strength as an adult." Ah yes!

THE ADULT CHANNEL / THE ABU DHABI CHANNEL

Having spent some time in that part of the world, I'm curious to see how you envision an "adult channel" in Abu Dahbi. Should be a hoot.

ch.1 - Wow. I am saving a link to this post. Very helpful. One hot franchise!

ch.1 - A Church of pleasure, devotion to pleasure above all other notions or creeds, you could call it a devotional temple of pleasure. I'm converting!

ch.3 - "small battery operated dental fixtures that could also be used as sex toys" - Your imagination is superb!

ch.4 - "I Don´t trust the water, I drink only Nordic Mist tonic water."

"Because..."

"It´s made by Coca Cola, the perfect soft drink."

Do you get something for product placement? Funny!

ch.6 - lol "Just sexual, I mean sex, wasn´t sure about love, because I thought if you mix sex and love, you might get pregnant."

THE OOL BRODERIE / THE BAHRAIN BRODERIE

ch.13 - Looks very amusing, and makes me want to take along to the beach for a long lingering read.

THE CUBAN RENEGADE

ch.4 - I loved "the Egyptian method to move stones." There is a delightful whiff of Kafka about all this.

**ch.4 \- You have my attention!**

**ch.6 -** I found this to be highly erotic.

ch.8 - "This is how we´ll use the bitcoin in this decryptor if anything goes wrong." Ha! I have to see how this plays out.

ch.10 - "you mean using Cuban cigars as currency for Cuba." That would give new meaning to the phrase "my savings went up in smoke".

ch.14 - Great, as usual.

THE SUGAR BABY

ch.9 - I love all the names!!! esp Clarity.

ch.11 - Wow!

ch.14 - Woo!

ch.15 - You have such a unique writing style that turns me on and intrigues me at the same time.

BACKSTORIES AND CHARACTERS

http://oursalon.ning.com/profiles/blogs/sun-on-the-rocks-backstories-and-fresh-items.

great the way you have this constructed, with the linx etc....

A TOTAL OF 100 COMMENTS FROM THE COMMUNITY.

SUN ON THE ROCKS IS CRAFTED BY SOMERS ISLE & LOVESHADE,

crafting each amusement for the community,

one ridiculous situation at a time.

# Chapter Seventeen

**Compound Interest Calculator Clarity keeps close, for retirement purposes (savings plan is in the Cayman Air Banner)** :

http://www.investor.gov/tools/calculators/compound-interest-calculator

**Careers and Professional Designations to consider** :

Chartered Financial Analyst: http://www.cfainstitute.org

Chartered Wealth Manager:

<http://www.financialcertified.com/chartered_wealth_manager.html>

<http://www.financialcertified.com/certifications.html> (other certifications)

Certified Financial Planner: <http://www.cfp.net/>

Institute for the Certification of Computing Professionals:

http://iccp.org/index.html

**Wealth** :

Think and Grow Rich: Napoleon Hill's classic book on wealth.

How to Make Money (free pdf book from 1859)

**Educational sites, communities, and global news** :

Boston University online: http://www.bu.edu/online/

Visual Thesaurus: <http://www.visualthesaurus.com/>

Visual Global News: <http://www.newsmap.jp/>

Our Salon community: http://oursalon.ning.com/

**Featured universities** :

Bermuda College: www.college.bm/

University College Cayman Islands: http://www.ucci.edu.ky

Free online university classes: <http://www.coursera.org/>

Ohio State University: <http://www.osu.edu/>

University of Arizona: <http://www.arizona.edu/>

University of Hawaii: <http://www.hawaii.edu/>

