“If I see just one more post shipping me with some random idiot, I’m going to find out where the fuck you live and I will fucking blow you into pieces. You hear me?!”

- Blood Widow under a post discussing Samurai ships

As I had expected, the rest of the meeting went much like the beginning. Various groups tried to sell Us on the benefits and whatnot that our cooperation with them could get Us, from monetary benefits to eccentric galas and the like. I was slightly surprised that only two of them were representing corporations with a hand in the pornography market. I would have expected them to be all over Us, alas they seemed to be the exception.

The Family group was the most interesting out of all of them, considering that they were the only ones not trying to sell Us on anything. Instead they simply invited Us to join their little club, laying out the perks of doing so, but without a direct sales pitch. I wasn’t quite sure what to think about that. The rest of Us was a bit divided, some seeing the logic in joining, others feeling like it was too much of a hindrance. After some moments of extensive internal debate, we decided to send them on their merry way for now. Should we decide to join, we could. Otherwise we wouldn’t, simple as that.

Outside of them, there were only two offers I did take more seriously. The first was from one of the corporations dealing in porn, specifically the more esoteric fetishes. While the representative was not one I could personally find very likeable, the offer she did bring before Us was rather enticing. In effect it would just be an extension of Our Queen’s job as a Joytoy.

I noted it down to present it to Our Queen later, sending the representative on her merry way with a few polite words.

The other offer was one I had not expected. It was from a corporation called QuantumCore Dynamics, apparently a well known player in cyberspace technologies and cybernetic enhancements. Their representative was a person I found very easily likeable, a man who seemed to know exactly how to interact with Us and who was very aware that he was not the one with all the power.

It made him very personable, most likely the reason he was sent to Us in the first place. Regardless, his offer was one that I found the most enticing out of all of them. QuantumCore Dynamics had multiple different departments for various technological foci, and they were very interested in the Hard-Light Technologies that Our Queen had access to. They wanted our help in perfecting their own production, and quality testing, regarding such technology and offered not only more than reasonable monetary recuperation, but also the opportunity for Us to learn more about various other technologies they were working on.

It made me a bit cautious, as it seemed like they knew about our ability to adapt, but they didn’t seem to have any obvious plans of exploiting Us. I had Kaysa check them out for a moment, just to be sure, but she couldn’t find anything untowards. That wasn’t perfect proof, of course, her reach was limited by the access we had through our own technology, but I trusted her assessment.

He was the only person I exchanged direct contacts with, promising that we would get in touch once we had time to convene over the offer.

After all the corporate offers were dealt with, I was left alone with the representative of Blazing Inferno, who had so far sat back quietly; the only one without an entourage to accompany him inside.

“Blazing Inferno,” I said, giving him a once over.

He didn’t react at all to the way I regarded him, nor did he seem to be bothered by my inhuman eyes. The others all had some reaction to them, even if most of them hid it well, he didn’t seem to be bothered at all by them, which was a bit amusing.

“Why exactly did you come to Uss?”

Finally he nodded, sitting up straighter. “Pretty simple. First off, I’m Jensen. My job is organisin’ stuff on the street level. In a way you can say I’m the right hand of the right hand of the boss. Your presence did make us a bit wary so we checked things. I don’t think I’m revealin’ any secrets when I tell you that we have people all over neighbouring districts, much like most other gangs do. Keep an eye on things, y’know.”

I nodded at that, that wasn’t a stretch. While their agents wouldn’t be the same quality as corps could manage, we were pretty sure everyone had some eyes in the other groups.

“Alright, so we know about some kind o’ deal you struck with Red Crows and Crimson Rose. Not sure exactly what that looks like, but we want in. We’re not far from the redlight district, so it’s not like you gotta extend over half the city or somethin’. Question now is what you want in return and what you expect of us in specific. To put all cards on the table, we want to get your protection. It ain’t no secret that you took the redlight district under your wing. And while we can’t expect the exact same kind o’ treatment, ‘course, we wanna make sure that nobody can just come in an’ fuck with us, you understand?”

“I do. And it doess ssound like a reassonable thing to assk from your end. A new player jusst emerged, one much more powerful than you could ever even hope to meassure yoursself againsst. It would be sstranger if you wouldn’t try to get out of our line of fire, sso to ssay.”

“Exactly. We don’t want no bother with you. Nor with the Crows or Rose. But we also don’t know yet what the playin’ field looks like. And if we can get in with you, then we can be sure we won’t have to worry ‘bout the redlight district in the future.”

Again I nodded, he seemed like a smart man, or at least he was briefed well, which spoke to a competent boss.

“The deal we have iss relatively ssimple. Red Crowss iss in charge of the redlight disstrict. Crimsson Rosse iss in charge of the brothelss. Purple Haze helpss Casstass and his Crowss to keep everyone ssecure and to navigate the drug trade. That iss one of the main pointss Our Queen purssuess in thiss disstrict. While drugss will not be outlawed, there will be some changess in how that trade will be purssued. If you wish to enter into the deal it would make ssensse for you to contact Casstass and Tina. We guarantee the ssafety of the redlight disstrict and thosse operating within. Other than that, we do not interfere.”

He nodded, thinking for a moment. “Good to know. That means we don’t have much to offer directly. Are there any other things we could offer to end up with a similar deal?”

That made me think for a moment, perusing the knowledge the Burdened had curated and discussing things with the chorus. There were some things that could indirectly be beneficial, but we didn’t know enough about in what Blazing Inferno dealt with.

“What bussinesssess are you purssuing?”

“Bit of this an’ that. Mostly scavengin’ an’ the like, helpin’ out a bit in the undercity an’ such. We got some drugs goin’, sure, we got a couple of brothels, but that’s all in private hand, not our own. Old factories doin’ some production shit, whatever is needed. Exportin’ some shit into Inner City an’ its underworld… We don’t really have that one kind o’ business we deal in, just a lot of smaller shit. Helps that there is little competition within the district, mostly have to worry about groups tryna get in from outside.”

“Sscavenging?”

He nodded, leaning back and crossing his arms in front of him, “Yeah. Mostly old production sites that are left behind, rebuildin’ them an’ the like. Scrap what ain’t workin’ no more an’ build new shit for others to buy from us. We got heaps o’ rubble we can’t use, but nobody to take off our hands, so we just tryna use it for whatever.”

“Then perhapss you wish to contact Legion on thiss matter. She iss trying to ssetup production facilitiess. From what we undersstand she can make usse of mosst sscrap.”

His eyebrows rose. “An’ she’d be willin’ to hear us out?”

“Yess, I believe sso. If you wish we can put the matter to her, assk her opinion. She will get into contact with you then.”

“Please do. Not gonna lie, didn’t expect that. But I ain’t complainin’. So long we got a deal, we can work with it either way. Thanks, Myriad.”

“It iss of no conssequence. Now then, iss there anything elsse or can we conclude thiss meeting?”

He shook his head, “I ain’t got nothin’ else.”

I nodded in reply and got up, Jensen doing the same a moment later.

“We will be in contact. Pleasse let your bosss know that we are not averssed to cooperation in the future if you continue to dissplay ssuch circumsspect viewss.”

“Glad to hear. I’ll let her know.”

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Okay, it’s decided. We want your pizza for the rest of our life. The chorus has spoken,” I muttered, sitting at the table, holding my stuffed stomach.

Chloe’s cooking was illegally good. I had eaten much more than I ever thought I could, but it was just too good to pass up. Okay, most of that was because it was the first actually well prepared meal I had in, fuck, ten years? Not the cheap shit that you’d buy at the corner stores or order online. The point stood, though.

“I don’t think that diet would be healthy,” the cook in question said with a laugh.

“Absolutely no fucks given.”

“Didn’t you say you wanted to change to a more healthy lifestyle?” Jenna asked with a bit of a teasing voice, even if she held herself just as I did, having eaten way too much.

“Nope. I said I’d dial down the drugs, nothing about the food. That was your comment.”

There was a moment of silence and we exchanged glances, before we broke out in laughter.

“What should we do with the rest of the day?” Jenna asked once we had calmed down, leaning back into her chair with a content smile.

Joenna and Keity started to clean up the table and the dishes, moving with a quick, but sensual gait. They were obviously trying very hard to fulfil the pretty attendant role, which they did manage quite well in my opinion.

An opinion Jenna shared, considering the way she looked at them. Chloe was a bit less overt, but even she couldn’t pull her eyes away entirely.

“No clue,” I replied, “I don’t have much free time typically, the little I do have I normally spend with Sharon or Tina, maybe alone.”

“We could watch a movie?” Jenna offered, finally averting her gaze from Joenna’s figure and looking between Chloe and me, “Cleopatra can probably upload some for Evelyn.”

“Hm… That sounds nice…” Chloe muttered, closing her own eyes in contentment.

“Never was one for watching movies, although that’s mainly because I very rarely got the chance to. And those that we did watch were all porn of some variety or another. Not sure what’s good,” I said with a shrug, “But I don’t mind. Sounds like fun.”

“Yeah, no porn,” Chloe muttered, “That is not the type of thing you watch over a relaxed evening on the couch.”

I chuckled at that, Keity and Joenna following suit. “You obviously never spent a night on the couch with Sharon.”

“From your comment I’m not sure I want to,” Chloe replied, although she did blush faintly.

“We could also play some games,” Jenna chimed in, “I’ve seen some interesting board games in old forums. Not quite modern stuff, sure, but they looked fun. Of course there’s also video games if you want, getting the consoles is only a couple of points.”

“I think I tried like… one video game in my life,” I ventured, a little thoughtful, “Can’t remember the title for the life of me. Was some weird racing game with very skimpily dressed women all over.”

“Isn’t that like every racing game released in the last thirty years?” Jenna asked with a smirk and I stuck my tongue out at her.

“Eh, not too big of a gamer,” Chloe threw in, “I don’t mind a gaming session every once in a while, but it’s not really my style. Although there was this game that I wanted to try for quite a long time. Some game about hunting monsters or some such. One of those rare ones that have very little ads in them. At least, that was what I last heard about it, could’ve changed.”

A moment of long, content silence filled the room.

“How is having free time this hard,” I complained, “For once we have some time off, and we can’t even decide on what to do.”

“We’re the elite now,” Chloe sighed, “Lots of free time, no job consuming us every waking minute…”

With a chuckle I got up, feeling at least fifty pounds heavier after the meal, and made my way over to the bar. Before I could even say anything, or make my way behind the counter, another of my attendants appeared from the door leading to the pool and made her way over with a quick but sensual sashay. She smiled at me knowingly, then quickly began mixing a drink for me, making me chuckle.

“You take your job seriously, huh?” I observed as I sat down on one of the bar stools.

“Of course, my Queen. We got that from you, if you remember,” she replied with a sweet smile.

“Well then, Celine, I’m ready for a drink and a smoke,” I said with a smile of my own, watching her work.

“Coming right up.”

“Make me one too, if you’d be so kind,” Jenna said as she got up, slowly coming trundling over.

It didn’t take long until Celine was done. While I was never especially good at mixing drinks, I did have to do so every once in a while for a client. And of course the rest of Us had inherited that knowledge.

Celine placed the drink in front of me, a joint appearing next to it with a fancy bit of sleight of hand. That wasn’t something I had used in ages, although during my gang time I had learned how to make things vanish and appear seemingly out of thin air, which was a required skill for anyone on the street. If you couldn’t hide it well all your possessions would be gone in a heartbeat.

Chuckling at the call back to the olden times I picked up the drink and took a sip. It was just as I liked it; impossibly sweet with just the right amount of kick behind it.

Placing the glass down again I picked up the joint, finding a lighter and an ashtray in front of me a moment later. With an amused glance at Celine I picked up the lighter and lit my joint, taking a few deep pulls.

“I don’t think I’ve seen that in years.”

“Always useful,” she told me with a smirk, then turned to Jenna. “What can I get you?”

“I could go for something bitter right now, I think.”

“Coming right up.”

Taking another pull from the joint, I handed it to Jenna with a questioning glance. She hesitated but then took it, taking a pull of her own.

“So, movie later then?” I asked, taking another sip from my drink.

“Yup,” Chloe agreed, also getting up and making her way over. “Not sure which one yet, but I bet we can find something.”

“Oh, we can watch these really bad Samurai romance flicks!” Jenna exclaimed, an amused gleam in her eyes.

“Gods, no!” Chloe replied almost instantly, “If you wanna watch a romance, watch a proper one. Not that shit.”

“What, don’t like Samurai romances?” Jenna teased.

Chloe blushed slightly, then shook her head, “It’s not the Samurai bit that sucks. It’s the fact that it’s so over the top. Have you seen that one with Sideswipe? You could practically see how bored out of his mind he was! And the constant bad action scenes, like come one! It can’t be that hard to do them right.”

“I have not in fact seen that one, but I think I know what we will be watching later.” Jenna’s smirk was unrelenting.

“I hate you sometimes.”

“I love you too.”

“Should I leave the room? Or do you want me to watch?” I threw in with a smirk.

“Oh, definitely stay and watch,” Jenna said immediately, nodding sagely, “I think Chloe could use an expert’s opinion on things.”

“Weren’t you a Joytoy too?” Chloe sniped back, even though she couldn’t hide her blush.

“Yes, but I have nothing on Seraphine. Have you seen her statistics?”

“She has,” I threw in, not looking at her, “She booked me, remember? I’m pretty sure Vic still has all the numbers on the page.”

“You two are insufferable.”

“Hey, I wasn’t the one bringing it up,” Jenna defended herself with a smile audible in her voice.

“No, but you were the one who brought up the Samurai romances,” I countered.

“Which side are you on?” Jenna asked me in mock shock.

“My own? I thought that was clear.”

“Celine, I need something strong. Otherwise I don’t think I can survive the evening,” Chloe muttered as she sat down next to me.

“Oh, I have something for that. Do you prefer Shiver or something weaker?” Celine joined in unabashedly.

Jenna and I laughed out loud, while Chloe put her face into her hands, her voice full of mock-exasperation. “Surrounded by lunatics…”

“Wasn’t that obvious from the get go? We’re Samurai, I’m pretty sure that’s in the job description.” I said, bumping into her from the side with a good natured smile.

Then my nanite amulet came to life and a moment later a perfect clone of myself in my Samurai gear appeared next to Celine.

“To be clear,” Kaysa said in a mock-lecturing tone, “Being a loon is not in the job description. But there does seem to be a statistical connection between those that are considered loons and Samurai. It’s an ongoing investigation.”

“You too?” Chloe groaned, “Is there anyone normal around here?”

“Actually, according to online polls you are the supposed normal one. It’s why your ships are rather low ranked,” Jenna said, leaning over and patting Chloe’s arm. “No worries though, you never had a chance to begin with, considering that Seraphine is in the running.”

“Ships?” Chloe asked, her expression and tone stating very clearly that she wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer.

“Oh yeah, that’s a whole thing. Shipping Samurai has become something of a sport, really. Right now the pairing of Seraphine and I is in the lead, although that’s only if you look between the three of us. If we look on a broader spectrum it’s actually Seraphine and a Samurai called Brood Queen from Calagry. Not sure why, exactly, from what I could find on her she didn’t seem the type. Maybe it’s because they both have this Hive Queen thing going?”

“Wait, you’re actively following that?” I asked, unable to hide my amusement.

“Sure, I’m subscribed to several blogs. It’s fun to read about all the insane things people think about. Oh, by the by, Chloe’s most popular ship right now is with a guy called Speed Demon. Not quite sure about him, there isn’t much I could dredge up. And while I say most popular, that really doesn’t mean much. Not sure if you’re just too normal in the eyes of people, but there really aren’t a lot of them going about.”

Again Chloe groaned.

“What about you then?” I asked with a bit of a teasing smirk.

“Well, that’s kind of complicated. There is this one ship with Bahamut that seems really popular, but my most popular ship is with this Samurai called ‘the Witch of the West’. Not really sure why, but hey. From the little I found she sounds nice enough. And she’s damn hot, so I won’t complain.”

“Can we watch the movie yet?” Chloe complained, although her tone made it clear that she wasn’t actually seriously mad about the conversation.

“Sure. We can watch that Sideswipe romance!” Jenna exclaimed happily.

Chloe turned and gave her a deathglare. “I’ll fucking kill you.”