Club leader

Jane leads you inside, and you’re amazed by what you see. It’s nothing particularly fancy, just a big group of people and Hybrids talking and meeting. There’s a line of tables off to one side with food and drinks, and a few tables and chairs, but for the most part people are standing around and talking.

There’s some music playing, and there’s several Hybrids dancing an laughing together. Lili bounces excitedly, holding your hand and watching them. You can tell she wants to join in, but she’s staying with you for the moment. Emi, meanwhile, seems like she’s a bit nervous, squeezing your other hand tightly. When you look at her questioningly, she smiles and shrugs. You’re about to ask how she’s feeling when Jane leads you up to an older man who is seated at a table. Sitting beside him is a Hybrid, clearly some kind of lizard. She has small scales on the pale skin of her arms, legs, and cheeks, and a scaly tail which curls behind her. Yellow, reptilian eyes sheen as she smiles, and her long, black hair cascades over her shoulders. She holds the older man’s hand in both of hers, possessively.

Jane speaks up. “Andy, meet Harold, the head of the club. Harold, this is Andy, I told you about him.”

The older man, Harold, smiles and extends a hand. “A pleasure to meet you.”

You let go of Lili’s hand and shake, unable to let go of Emi’s. “Likewise. This is an interesting meeting.”

Harold laughs. “It’s nothing particularly formal, just something I thought up. It gets me and Sylvia here out of the house!”

The lizard girl smiles, leaning against his shoulder. You smile to see the obvious affection, which is familiar to you. You relax a bit seeing the casual nature of things.

Lili tugs at your sleeve. “Can I go dance, please-please?”

You laugh. “Go ahead, Lili. I’ll be here.”

Lili claps her hands and kisses your cheek, before bouncing off to join the small group of dancing Hybrids. You watch as she’s immediately accepted into their little group, and smile at the happy expression on her face. Harold laughs as he watches her as well.

“She seems lovely. You’re a lucky couple.”

You nod. “Sorry, I should introduce Emi, my girlfriend.”

He shakes Emi’s hand as well, and gestures at some empty chairs. “Please sit, I’d like to talk for a minute. Go over our club and explain a few things, if you don’t mind.”

You nod, sitting down. Emi sits beside you, still seemingly a bit nervous. Jane waves, heading off to visit with some other people while you chat with Harold. You spare a glance at Sylvia and note that she has markings at her throat, similar to the markings you’ve seen on other Hybrids. Harold seems to notice your glance, and sighs.

“The marks, yes. Sylvia cannot speak, though she understands us perfectly. I’m working on teaching her sign, but it’s slow going.”

You nod. “It’s good that you’re making the effort, at least.”

Harold smiles. “Thank you. I think we’ll get along just fine, Andy. One of the few rules I have for this club is that Hybrids are to be treated with respect. Any **** or poor treatment is unacceptable. From what I’ve seen, that’s not a worry for you.”

You shake your head. “I would never hurt Lili, she’s very important to me.”

Emi gives your hand a squeeze before speaking. “The same goes for me. She is just as important as any human.”

Harold smiles at her words, and looks between the two of you for a moment. He seems to be assessing you carefully, before responding. “An interesting answer. Tell me, how do you feel about the classification of Hybrids as pets?”

You see a surprising interest in his eyes, and you think about how to answer for a moment. Emi, on the other hand, has no such hesitation. “It’s awful. Hybrids are people too! Treating them like animals is wrong.”

You nod in agreement, and Harold smiles even wider. “I’m so glad I red you two correctly! I feel exactly the same way. What’s more, the further I look into CompanionCorp, the less I trust them. Tell me, have you looked into them at all?”

You glance at Emi before answering. “Yes, a bit. And I’ve come to a similar conclusion.”

Harold seems to be getting excited now. “Finally, someone who sees things like I do. I was beginning to think that I was becoming a weird conspiracy theorist. Most of the people here are simply happy to have a companion. They’re good people, but they don’t want to look deeper.”

You nod. “I suppose it’s understandable. People just want to be happy. Digging into what was done to make Hybrids would ruin that for many people.”

Emi sighs. “And some people just don’t care.”

Harold pulls out a small notepad and a pen, scribbling down some notes. “Here’s my phone number, and a website I’ve set up for people like us. We’re trying to dig up more information about CompanionCorp.”

You take the paper and put it in your pocket. “Thanks, you’ll definitely be hearing from us.”

Harold smiles. “Wonderful. Hopefully we’ll be able to improve things for Hybrids. Now before I let you go mingle, I have to ask, what started you down the road of questioning all of this? For me it was realizing that they don’t care about the plight of poor Sylvia.”

You’re considering how to answer, when someone trips on a nearby chair, practically falling across your lap. As they stumble, their flailing makes them run into Emi, and in the confusion, her hat is knocked from her head. She freezes, sudden panic in her eyes as her three ears spring up from her head. Harold simply stares, his mouth dropping open.