Clandestine meeting

And so, once again you find yourself in the car with Emi, heading towards a strange meeting. The sun is setting, and you can’t help but feel a bit of trepidation as you drive towards your destination, which your gps has marked as a pub. Emi is quiet, watching the lights of the passing streets as you drive. As for yourself, you’re trying hard not to worry too much about this meeting, whatever it is.

You pull into the parking lot of the pub, a surprisingly new looking building. The place is called “Mixed”, and you’re not sure what that’s referring to other than drinking. Places like this always try to have clever names. You get out of the car, taking Emi’s hand, and head to the door.

It’s fairly quiet inside, though not empty. No one seems to pay much attention to either you or Emi, despite Emi not wearing a disguise. It doesn’t take you long to figure out why, as you look around the pub. Almost every occupied table has at least one Hybrid in the group. Suddenly, the reason for the name of the place is obvious, and you feel a little bit more comfortable walking in. Still, you have no idea who you’re here to meet, but that mystery is solved quickly as well, when a man gets up from a table in the back corner and approaches you.

“Andy, right? And this is Emi?”

He extends his hand, which you shake after a moment’s hesitation. “That’s right. Who are you? And why are we here?”

He shakes his head. “I’ll explain, but please, come sit first. There’s someone else you should meet.”

He gestures for you to follow, and walks back towards the table. As you approach, you see there’s someone else seated there, a woman. On second glance, you revise your thoughts, she’s a Hybrid, and familiar, somehow. Long blonde hair, somewhat unkempt, with furry ears, and sad looking, downcast eyes. She’s clearly not getting much sleep, and she looks incredibly depressed. After a moment, you realize who she is, and you gasp in surprise.

It’s Abby, the dog girl who was Jack Marceau’s companion. Who he supposedly ‘discarded’, to use his words. Dressed plainly, and clearly in the depths of misery, she’s almost unrecognizable from the cheerful, happy Hybrid you saw in the past.

Sitting beside Abby, the man nods. “I see you’ve recognized Abby. My name is Devin, and I’m here to have a chat with you about several things. In the interest of clarity, you should know that I am technically an employee of CompanionCorp. More specifically an employee of Mr. Marceau.”

You look at Devin, curious and cautious now. “What’s going on? Why is she here?”

Devin lifts a hand. “Stay calm. I’m on your side. To start, Abby is here because she was…abandoned.”

Abby herself speaks, a tear running down her cheek. “Master said that I bored him. He said he wanted a new toy.”

Devin rests a hand on Abby’s shoulder, and she quiets, wiping her tears. “I took it upon myself to take her in, for now. She was going to be…well, let’s just say it would have been unfortunate for her otherwise. So for the moment she’s staying with me, until I can find her a permanent place.”

You nod. “That’s good of you. But who are you that you’re willing to do that? Your boss doesn’t seem like the compassionate type.”

Devin shakes his head. “He’s not. And I don’t have any special regard for the Hybrids, but I also don’t think they deserve to be treated like toys. And so I took Abby in. For now.”

Emi touches your hand. “Could we take her in? She looks so sad…”

You shake your head. “I barely have room for you and Lili as it is. It wouldn’t work.”

Devin cuts in. “Not to mention that it would definitely draw my boss’s attention, which you don’t want.”

You nod. “Right. So we’ll move on. Why are we here? Just to meet Abby? Because that doesn’t seem like a good reason.”

Devin sits back, glancing around the pub. “No. I brought you here because I have a proposal. Abby is here to show my sincerity.”

You cross your arms. “What kind of proposal?”

Devin leans forward, his voice dropping low.