Chapter Eight
The following day, Clarity heard a ring tone from under the bed of Shalia. She reached under the quilt and picked up her smartphone. The name Elsie Chu appeared onscreen. She handed the device to Shalia, whose face brightened when she saw the name calling her.
"Elsie, nice to hear from you." Shalia walked away from Clarity towards the balcony of the Suite, nodding several times, saying yes, a lot more often than saying no to the wife of Dao Bin.
"We got an invitation from Elsie to attend the Institute of Long Health," said Shalia, "we're going for a hot stone massage and a manicure. Get some towels, I'll tell Dale Irwail where we are, so that he can let us know the meeting time with Infocom."
"They've got towels over there," said Clarity.
"I like to bring my own towels to these places, I feel cleaner for some reason."
She pointed to the bathroom and Clarity noticed a pair of bathing towels with the letters S and O etched on them. She grabbed them and followed Shalia to the lobby of the Bay Sands, where the concierge promptly called a cab.
The entrance of the Institute of Long Health led to a room painted red which acted as hall and waiting room. The area was filled with two zebra-design cover seats and the frames hanging on the wall which recognized the various massage, manicure, waxing, eyebrow and eyelash tinting, and pedicure designations crediting the skin care know-how of the place. A large photo of Professor Chang hung above the two zebra-skin covered seats, placed near a large shelf holding at least one hundred small bottles of various nail polish color.
Shalia spoke the name of Elsie Chu and the receptionist called on a woman, named Madame Wa, used to providing massage services to expats and celebrities in Singapore. Clarity overheard the name and grabbed a copy of Tatler magazine lying on the table. She became slightly alarmed by the name, remembering it was the same name ushered by Aiguo Liang. A hoarse, sexy voice welcomed them.
"Welcome to the Institute of Long Health, where your body is treated as a temple, and your nails are filled with precious stones to make the temple stand out to men and women. Come this way, please."
Madame Wa was an attractive Eurasian woman in her late thirties, showing shoulder length black hair and wearing an embroidered red-floral patterned silk qipao worn at weddings, fitting her shapely silhouette. She showed them inside a massage room, where a large glass window divided the room from the manicure area filled with golden seats and cushions reminiscent of Victorian era lush furniture. Two women across the glass window were looking at them.
"Do you like being watched?" Asked Madame Wa. "The women who come here are quite liberal, and they enjoy the company of other women."
"I don't mind the attention," said Shalia.
The rich, young heiress took off her clothes and wrapped herself in one of the towels, lying on her stomach on a massage table. Clarity did the same and got naked, catching the view of an older lady owning a well-known jewelry store in Hong Kong, coming to visit Elsie Chu for a charity concert. Lying on her back, Clarity saw a large mirror on the ceiling above her and she glanced at Madame Wa placing two rhinestones on each of the nails of Shalia, while a young esthetician performed a facial massage on her. Shalia liked to speak while Madame Wa performed the manicure on her. The conversation turned to their side interests, which included an inclination to learn about esoteric knowledge.
"I am a White Tigress," said Madame Wa, "I am aware of many esoteric secrets, knowledge meant for few people, which a young lady like you would want to acquire."
She emphasized the word acquire, as the glitter of a rhinestone began to reflect the soft neon light of the place The lineage of Madame Wa dated back more than two centuries. The name White Tigress indicated a female with shaved vaginal lips, according to the classic manual on the topic, Chin Hua's Tigresses of Nanjing, describing the three functions of sexuality, procreation, recreation, and transformation.
The first two were widely used, but few people used sex for their transformational benefits. These aspects were developed by a lineage of courtesans, women revered by Chinese society, female taoist practitioners who carried out spiritual sexual cultivation from mainstream society, not as nuns. Shalia caught her towel and let it slide to her thighs, leaving Clarity with a view of her friend's firm, round bum, and a row of warm stones lying on her back.
Madame Wa added a touch of white varnish to one of Shalia's nails. The masseuse of Clarity was 'drawing the bow', making light side-to-side movement on the skin above the upper lip, stimulating a point on the side of her nostril and the midpoint between the upper lip and the nose, for added immunity and increased alertness.
"I have my own teachings, coming from the Church of the Holy Flower," said Shalia, "I have begun to reach areas of my orgasmic potential which were not active before. I want to know more about immortality."
Madame Wa smiled, pressing a warm hand on the sacral point of Shalia, merging her spine with her butt.
"Some schools of Tao believe in physical immortality, preservation of the physical body for longer periods. Another meaning is that the spirit and consciousness remain lucid during death, able to direct itself to heavenly or paradise realms of existence."
"What does it mean to you?" Asked Shalia. She turned around on her back, as the masseuse of Clarity turned the teleoperator on her stomach. A floor mirror allowed Clarity to see Shalia and Madame Wa, through the reflection of the ceiling mirror.
"Living in good health for over one hundred years, and achieving lucid consciousness at the moment of death." Shalia spread her legs slightly.
"How can I learn more about immortality?" Asked the socialite.
"Come in for a chi monitoring here at the Institute. You will feel your own chi for the first time, and see all of this is real. You can awake your innate esoteric powers."
The phone of Shalia buzzed in vibrating mode, interrupting the conversation. The blond socialite grabbed the device and spoke in a whispering voice to the head of logistics at Owens & Owell, Dale Irwail. Clarity saw her friend get on her knees on the massage table, showing her nice apple-shaped breasts. Shalia Owell, aware of the effect her body was having, stared into the eyes of Clarity, pulling herself closer to the teleoperator. She began kissing Clarity on her face, under the astonished view of Clarity's masseuse, who kept using her hand to find a few reflexology points on Clarity's ears. When the lips of Shalia reached her own lips, Clarity felt a sizzling sensation jolting all of her body.
"We have to go, the man from Infocom Media Authority is in my Suite waiting." Clarity saw Shalia don her clothes and kiss Madame Wa goodbye on the cheek. Clarity put on her panties and jeans and grabbed the towel brought by Shalia.
"I´ll think about your proposition. Thank Elsie Chu on our behalf." Madame Wa nodded, saying the wife of Dao Bin was a regular customer of the institute.
Inside the cab driving towards the Marine Sands, Shalia shared her impressions with Clarity.
"What do you think of Madame Wa?"
"She's a bit intimidating, like she's not saying all that she knows, simply to impress you."
"She did impress me, I'm doing my thesis at University of Arizona on the benefits that immortality would bring to humanity. I think she does hold some real esoteric secrets, information that could be valuable to many women. I think the secrets of the White Tigress should be revealed to the many, and then sold for a price. With health care costs going up the roof, this is low cost preventive medicine, it's probably a good idea to get this knowledge out in the open." Clarity disagreed.
"This is sacred knowledge. It's passed on to a few adepts through oral tradition. You can't make a market out of tradition."
"When all of this knowledge is simplified, many can benefit. It's just like any other course. There is some material to be learned and all of it can be explained. To a few people, then to many people."
"But esoteric knowledge is precisely knowledge meant for the few, it's all hidden. There must be a reason for that, for not divulging that know
ledge."
"There is no reason," said Shalia. Clarity turned to a question which had been in her mind after listening to Madame Wa.
"So how much is immortality worth to you?" Asked Clarity. Shalia did not answer the question, but noted it in her jotting pad. Something definitely worth contemplating carefully.
At the Marine Sands Suite, the head of Owens & Owell logistics, Dale Irwail, was waiting for them with a high ranking person from Infocom Media Authority of Singapore, Barand Kishin. Irwail was a balding man of average height, always carrying with him a vehicle tracking device which indicated where each of the Owens & Owell vehicles and containers carrying O&O merchandise was at all times, anywhere in the world. Owens & Owell was big on control, and tracking features included status of vehicles, geo-positioning, reports confirming delivery of shipments, and alerts for any unforeseen delays. He sat down on a posh sofa, inviting Kishin, a stocky five foot four, to a cup of 'Moët et Chandon' champagne. Shalia reached for a can of classic coke buried under a pack of ice in an ice bucket, and poured some of the soft drink in a glass. She shook hands with Kishin and leafed over the report prepared by Irwail.
"What is the damage for Owens & Owell resulting from the theft?" Asked Shalia.
"Our insurance division estimates that the amount corresponding to the goods stolen is fifty million dollars," said Irwail, "several containers each holding rare earth metals were stolen." Barand Kishin grabbed a canapé from a platter and swallowed it in a single mouthful.
"We do not like incidents like this in our port."
Kishin spoke with a voice that said something had to be done immediately to fix the situation. Irwail addressed the veiled message of the Singapore government emissary.
"We have not had any problems with our shipments or containers here. We have a few manufacturing facilities that build mobile workforce devices and applications, satellite navigation devices, business dashboard software, and on-site data mining devices sold to other companies. Owens & Owell uses rare earth metals in several devices it makes, and we will do our best to find out what happened." Kishin grabbed a second canapé and held it in his hand, cupping it with care in his palm.
"Singapore boasts a very good name in manufacturing today. It has taken us fifty years to build our reputation for high quality production in various segments, and electronics is our bedrock for the economy, we pride ourselves on modern electronics and communications. We don't want our reputation tarnished with a series of thefts that add insecurity to manufacturers seeking the highest quality in their supplies. Rare earth metals are used in many of today's communication devices. They are not that easy to find, as their name indicates, and we want to be a reliable distribution hub for them."
Shalia sipped a dash of coke from her glass and Clarity opted for iced tea.
"Where are the items stolen coming from, these rare metals?" Asked Shalia.
"They came from China," said Irwail.
"It is important to recover these rare earth metals, the shipment stolen as a whole. We advise you against any publicity of this. Infocom, The ministry of health, the health promotion board, and the strategic development committee of Singapore all want to keep this incident hush. The president of Singapore is being informed of this issue."
Kishin swallowed the second canapé, grabbing a napkin. The Infocom representative got up and admired the view of Singapore from the Suite of Shalia, observing the Nordic Track incline trainer that Shalia brought with her wherever she went, in order to get some aerobic training. He played with a one-touch pink button of the console showing a camera, and a video of Shalia in underwear showed up onscreen. Alarmed by the lewd sight, he pressed and held an arrow key, and the treadmill platform began bouncing noisily. He walked away towards the door.
"See who is profiting from this theft Mr. Irwail. Good bye, miss Owell, we'll keep in touch."