Gris is still wondering what kind of vehicle Krak and Bang-Bang are cruising around in - it's got a little bunk in its windowless back and a door to the driver's chair. Krak never looks at it this chapter, which is convenient, since it means Gris can't simply call in a description of the van or whatever and attempt (but fail) to get them arrested.
The two good g... the two less villainous characters see all the security thugs around the Whiz Kid Wives' apartment, so Krak has Bang-Bang drive to a nearby police station, despite his objections. She whips out another magic item:
Eyes and Ears of Voltar
Follow Compeller: When Unit A is worn by the operative and Unit B has been placed on or into the subject, Unit B will compel the subject to follow the operative by inducing a wrong feeling when he does not. For use in causing subjects to walk into embarrassing situations where divorce evidence can be obtained and subject executed.
So create a sophisticated, miniaturized device that manipulates a person's brain chemistry to make it feel "wrong" not to follow a second device, set up an embarrassing situation, covertly stick the device on someone, hope that the "wrong" feeling makes the person follow the device into that embarrassing situation, take a picture of them being present but not necessarily interacting with anything or anyone, show it in court as evidence that the person should be divorced or whatever, and get the person executed. As opposed to skipping all of that and stabbing the person in a dark alley.
The Voltarian CIA, ladies and gentlemen.
The Countess Krak sticks Unit A on Bang-Bang and tells him to walk around until he finds a policewoman, slap Unit B on her, and run back to the ice cream truck or whatever it is they're riding around in. Bang-Bang doesn't grasp the plan, and Krak starts to patiently explain it. And Gris stops listening, instead opting to call the police station being targeted and warn them about what he thinks her plan is.
Oh, it was very plain what the Countess meant to do. Bigamy, adultery, and other crimes in the Confederacy are punishable by death.
For reasons that have not and never will be explained.
And the only way you can get a divorce as such is to involve the marital partner in one of these and get him or her terminated by the State.
Instead of arranging for your unwanted spouse to meet a Tragic Accident yourself.
She was going to kidnap a member of the vice squad, get Bang-Bang to rape her, take photographs and use these to blackmail the female officer into arresting the poor, innocent girls! That is what we would do in the Apparatus. And the Countess knew how the Apparatus operated: she'd been a victim of it herself.
So because that's how Gris would do it, and that's how the Apparatus does it, and Krak is familiar with the Apparatus, that must be what she means to do. And yes, that is the obvious Apparatus way of resolving the situation, rather than knocking out the cop and stealing her uniform as a disguise.
Bang-Bang returns to what is only referred to as "the vehicle," a hard-bitten but handsome lady cop in tow, and Gris can only helplessly "watch the awful tragedy unfold." Bang-Bang jumps in the back of the van, the policewoman follows, and Krak uses a gas capsule! ...While she's in the same enclosed space as her victim. Huh.
A somehow still-conscious Krak ties up and strips the policewoman of her uniform. Gris keeps wondering when the perversion will take place, but Krak instead puts on the clothing without having Bang-Bang rape the woman, or even going lesbian to rape her herself. All in all, Gris considers the whole kidnapping quite the waste. "If that had been I, I would have raped the victim just to go by the textbook. Was it possible that I did not quite understand the motives and standards of the Countess Krak?" Book Seven and he's still trying to figure out that he just doesn't get these people.
It goes without saying that the policewoman's uniform fits the Countess Krak just fine.
Back to Chapter Two
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