Nazoli needed to scrounge up enough money to make the payment of 50 credits. The market rate for the kind of accommodations they lived in was only 40 credits monthly, but they needed to pay 10 credits on top of that as protection money to the local gang, the Blue Genies, that controlled the sector they lived in. Finding a job had been difficult for a drow like her, but she had managed to land a position as a barista at Pathbucks serving artisanal caffeinated beverages to hippy students who paid more for a single drink than she made in an entire day. It paid just enough to cover her share of the rent and to survive on field rations - chewy, brownish blocks of processed nutrients that were technically capable of sustaining life but completely lacking any sort of flavor or other appeal - with a smattering of credits left for other expenses.<br/><br/>A few weeks of those rations had been enough to make Nazoli desperate enough to start up Sensual Health Services.  For the past week she had dabbled with handjobs and blowjobs, graduating to full vaginal only recently, and they provided a welcome supplement to her income affording her some real food at last. Cheap and poor quality, but real nevertheless. The downside was that the only credits she had remaining from selling her body were from today's session, all 5 of them. At least her own half of the rent had been saved up in advance, so Nazoli had a grand total of 30 credits in her credstick already.<br/><br/>"I know I'm not exactly an avatar of financial planning," Astrae admitted, "But I think you're going about your SHS project the wrong way. Putting ads on the net will only get you the worst and worst-paying clients. I've found that for all the technology and communications out there, the best jobs still come out of face-to-face meetings. Gotta get a feel for what they need, find their weak spot, press on it til they cough up the cred. And I think that's even more true in your... line of work. Sooner or later you're going to need to get into the Red Shift District, let them see you with their own eyes and smell your pheromones. Things that the holos can't replicate, that's where the opportunities are."<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Astrae left the apartment early the next day.<br/><br/>The first recourse, unlikely to succeed but needing to be tried, at least, was to attempt to obtain a payday loan to cover the difference. There was an outstanding arrest warrant for Astrae thanks to some of her old jobs which made it unfeasible for her to show up at the bank. That left only Nazoli for the attempt.<br/><br/>"Next please," was the first thing the teller said as soon as he saw it was a drow who had stepped up to the counter.<br/><br/>The second thing the teller said was "Ma'am, if you don't leave the premises right now, I'll have to call security." So much for a loan.<br/><br/><hr/><br/>Business was slower than usual at Pathbucks, which gave Nazoli a chance to plan out how on Absalom Station was she going to come up with 20 credits in the span of a single evening. First shift started at 3:30 in the morning but luckily Nazoli wasn't assigned to this shift today. Her shift was the second one, running from 11:00 to 6:30 (deliberately just short of the 8 hours which would grant her employee benefits under Absalom Station law).<br/><br/>The Red Shift District was Absalom Station's entertainment and red light district, located in the literal and metaphorical underbelly of the station, the Spike that housed the station's engineering spaces and slums. While other sectors dimmed for the artificial night, the Red Shift District only truly came to life in those designated dark hours. At one end of the district was the eponymous Red Shift, a club owned by AbadarCorp, boasting the hottest music and dance floor of the system as well as every intoxicant and drug that could be found on the Pact Worlds, with private rooms where clubbers could take their dances to private, even hotter levels. As one went down the maze of alleys and humanoid-sized pipes left from the Red Shift District's origins as a reclaimed engineering crawlspace, the establishments shifted from clubs to brothels catering to every known perversion in the multiverse, serving a clientele as diverse as the same. At the other end of the district was the Black Hole, a house of hedonism not for the weak of heart where orgies take place openly in the lobby in plain sight, rumored to be a hideout for cultists of Urgathoa.<br/><br/>Starting time: 7pm<br/>Potential activities for timetable:<br/><br/><strong>Shop at AbadarMart (1 hour)</strong><br/>Clubbing Outfit (Formal Clothing for clubbing, 5 CR): A sexy outfit for going clubbing. Lacking the Clubbing Outfit at a club can cause you to take a penalty of up to -4 to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Disguise checks at the club.<br/>Streetwalker Outfit (Professional Clothing, 5 CR): Announces one's profession and allows easy access. You gain a +1 circumstance bonus to "money shot" checks to determine Credits earned while wearing (or having worn) a Streetwalker Outfit.<br/>Hygiene Kit (3 CR): Allows quick and easy cleaning after sex. Without a Hygiene Kit, you must find a toilet to clean up after sex or forgo cleaning up, which will impose a cumulative -2 penalty to relevant skill checks for each time.<br/><br/><strong>Gather Information (1 hour)</strong><br/>Make a diplomacy check DC 20. Success grants you an insider tip on which establishment is hot tonight. May be retried using 1 hour each time.<br/><br/><strong>Go High-class Clubbing (closes 2 am)</strong><br/>Attempt to find higher quality and better paying clients at a club. Be prepared for a cover charge of a few credits although there are ways to avoid it. Clubbing Outfit should be worn, otherwise penalties may occur.<br/><br/><strong>Go Low-class Clubbing (closes 2 am)</strong><br/>Attempt to find clients at a more crude and vulgar kind of club. Low or no cover charge and Clubbing Outfit is optional not required. Streetwalker Outfit can increase credits earned.<br/><br/><strong>Streetwalking (time varies)</strong><br/>Flash goods on the streets. Fuck in back alleys or rent-by-the-hour hotels for quick credits. Streetwalker Outfit can increase credits earned.<br/><br/><strong>Fucking@Home (time varies)</strong><br/>A potential SHS client has requested an oral session for 7pm, offering 2 credits plus tips. If accepted, if Nazoli rushes home right after work she can make it! Expected to be available for other activities by 8pm.<br/>A potential SHS client has requested a vaginal session for 10pm, offering 5 credits plus tips. If accepted, Nazoli needs to leave the Red Shift District at 9:30pm to make it home in time. Expected to be able to return to the Red Shift District by 11:30pm.