Dinner with the doctor

When the weekend rolls around, you find yourself quite excited about Sam’s visit. You tell yourself is because she has more information about Emi, but you can’t deny that you’re also curious as to where the night will lead. Thankfully, you’re not alone in this. Lili in particular is quite vocal about her excitement, often simply breaking into song just because she’s happy. The harpy has a lovely singing voice, so it’s not a bad thing! Emi is more reserved, for a variety of reasons, but her excitement shows in how much effort she puts into making dinner.

Sam arrives just as you and Emi finish up in the kitchen. Emi made a fairly simple meal, marinated chicken breasts and spiced roasted potatoes, with parmesan crusted broccoli. It all smells wonderful, and Emi looks very proud of herself. When you open the door to let Sam in, she laughs a bit.

“I could smell the food even before I came in! If it tastes even half as good as it smells, I may never leave!”

You laugh. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

Sam laughs again, playfully punching your shoulder. You lead her inside, and she sets her bag down before taking off her jacket. She’s dressed much the same as last time, though you notice that she’s wearing a different choker, one that’s plain black leather, without studs. She opens her bag, pulling out a thick folder, and brings it with her as you lead her to the table.

Once she’s seated, Emi serves up the food. Sam looks surprised at this. “Emi, did you make all this?”

Emi blushes slightly, and nods. “Andy helped a bit, but yes.”

You shake your head. “I did very little. Emi has become quite the cook!”

Lili bounces in her chair. “Yes-yes! She makes really-really delicious food!”

Emi blushes more at the compliments, sitting down quietly. The smile on her face is gratifying, however. Everyone digs in, and unsurprisingly, it’s just as delicious as it smells. You and Sam make small talk, keeping conversation light at first.

You learn that she’s about your age, and only recently was able to establish her own practice as a doctor. She explains that her interest in Hybrids comes from a lifelong love of fantasy, especially fantasy novels. This leads to a tangent between Emi and Sam, each recommending a few different books to each other. You explain a bit about yourself as well, and Sam seems very interested in learning more about you.

Eventually, everyone finishes their meals, and Lili hops up to clear the table. As she does, Sam pulls the folder she grabbed onto the table. “So, as pleasant as our conversation is, we should probably talk about Emi. I’ve found out quite a bit, actually.”

Emi leans forward, clearly anticipating this. You nod to Sam. “I agree, this is the whole reason you came over after all.”

Sam raises an eyebrow. “Maybe not the whole reason, but certainly a big one. So. First off, it was difficult to run Emi’s lab work. The specialized equipment that CompanionCorp gave us doesn’t recognize Emi’s samples as being from a Hybrid. She’s too different.”

You nod. “You mentioned that, something having to do with her being a prototype.”

Sam lifts a hand. “That’s what I thought at first. But it’s actually far more complicated than that. First off, though, I ran the labs like I would for a human, and as far as I can tell, Emi is completely healthy. To be sure, we would need a full body scan, but that would be difficult to hide. In my professional opinion, the coughing is a result of the extensive…procedures that were performed upon Emi.”

Emi nods. “That’s a relief. Thank you, Sam.”

Sam shakes her head. “That’s not all, I’m afraid. I have some friends online that are good at digging up information.”

You chuckle. “Hacker friends?”

She shrugs. “I guess. I don’t question it, they’re good people. They work in shady areas, but they use their skills to fight against even shadier organizations. Regardless, one of them is as interested in Hybrids as I am, and CompanionCorp in particular. It seems that about five years ago, they quietly bought a biotech company, and that’s where the Hybrid project got its start.”

You nod. “I suppose that makes sense. It does seem like an odd product for a pet supply company.”

Emi shakes her head. “So…what does that have to do with me?”

Sam sighs, opening the folder. “In the buyout, several projects got transferred over to CompanionCorp. One of them was an ongoing attempt at crossing humans with animals. Highly unethical, and probably illegal. Most of the information is buried, and impossible to find, but my friend found one case file, their last attempt, and the basis for the Hybrids.”

She looks at Emi. “Whoever this woman was, her background is completely erased, as if she never existed. But the case included a photo. Here.”

She hands a large photo to Emi, who takes it with a shaking hand. The cat girl stares at it for a while, unable to speak. Without a word, she hands the photo to you. It’s a picture of a young woman, probably still in her teens, with dark hair and piercing blue eyes. It’s obvious that she’s been crying, and there’s a fearful look on her face. It takes a moment for you to recognize her, but when you do, you gasp and drop the photo. Though she’s younger, this is clearly a photo of Emi! There’s no scars, no catlike eye, and no cat ears, but it’s unmistakably her.

Sam nods at you. “Yeah. I think you see what I mean. Emi isn’t a hybrid at all, or at least she didn’t start as one. Whoever she was, she started as a human.”