Aventine stirred her coffee and frowned.

"Why all the mystery?" she said quietly. "Three high-end tech items. I can't even start without some definitive information."

Mike sat back in the chair and looked around the café. He hadn't met with her in real life for at least a year. All the same, she'd agreed to make some time in her schedule for him surprisingly quickly after he'd called in on her late last night. Voice only, so there was no way for her to know that he was covered in naked catgirls at the time.

She looked a little more hawk-like and intense than he remembered. The stress was probably getting to her. He'd seen it in enough people who decided to move in those circles to know that it wasn't for him. They might make tons of credits, but they never looked very happy about it.

"Are you comfortable with security if we go direct?"

Aventine gestured around them.

"I meet clients here all the time, I wouldn't have chosen this place otherwise."

It was just an unimpressive little coffee shop near the University, with five tables and a bored-looking student ignoring them at the till. Two of the other tables had people absorbed in their own decks, oblivious to the world around them.

"Look," Aventine pointed across the way at a tall, silvery building. "Engineering department. They're used to private business discussions. It's nothing new here."

Mike brought up a line to the neuralink unit on his ear, and handed the other end of the thick, heavily-shielded cord to her. She frowned and clipped it in place and closed her eyes.

Connected? he said.

Roger roger, she said. It was an old joke from university days, and he smiled in case she took a moment to look over at him.

I came across something that's going to be challenging to move.

Stop being coy and just out with it.

Well, hang on. I'm not just being evasive for no reason. If this was something that might create Federal issues, maybe even military ones, would you rather I move on? I don't want to give you any information you'd be uncomfortable with.

She said nothing for a few moments. He opened his eyes and found her staring back at him with an inscrutable expression.

Mike, what have you gotten yourself into?

Like I said, my main worry is not bothering you with this if you'd rather I didn't.

Your secrets are safe with me regardless, just get on with it.

I want to move three special units, and there will be some issues involving restricted technologies, and even finding buyers could be risky.

I'm not a babe in the woods Mike. I have some clients that might surprise you.

Okay, well, I have three catgirls for sale.

There was silence and he looked at her again. She was frowning with her eyes still closed.

Well shit Michael. How the fuck did you do that?

Right place at the right time. Problem is, they're all activated. They've already fixed on a master.

Tell me it's not you.

Sorry. I didn't know anything about them. I would have kept them switched off if I had.

That changes the picture already.

So I'm told.

Really? Who's doing the telling? You're making me nervous. There's a lot of restricted information around those things. Why is someone telling you about them?

It's someone I trust. Someone I've known for a long time. They're already running security for me, and not for free.

Someone who knows details about restricted technologies?

I don't know the specifics, but they have a lot of experience and they're very solid. They've been running their own operations for longer than we've been around.

So you and this other person have three activated, imprinted catgirls that you want to move.

From what I understand, there's only a limited set of parties who would be interested.

He didn't like saying it even on a secure link.

You got that right. The kinds of people who would wonder how the fuck some schmo in the Burbs managed to get his hands on not just one but three of them. This is dangerous territory.

I know. I don't want to drag you into anything you're not comfortable with. That's what I was saying.

She drummed her fingers on the table. It was an old habit that told him she was weighing options.

Twenty percent, off the top. That will include my own expenses.

Shit. Fine. I'm already in for ten plus expenses to the other party.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

This isn't without risks. It's business, Mike.

Right, I know. Twenty it is. That's fair.

You need to keep those things under wraps. They're already contraband. Some people wouldn't think twice about just removing them from your possession.

I'm working on that. I think we're okay for now. But it would be good to move this as fast as possible.

No shit. I'll get started. Look closely at anything I send you. I'll be using max steganography, encryption, everything.

Aventine whipped the cord out from her neuralink port and flicked it across the table at him.

"I'll be in touch as soon as I can," she said.

"Thanks Av," he said. "I feel good about having you on this."

He downed the dregs of his coffee and stood up, but stopped when she reached out to grab his hand.

"Don't get sucked in," she said, staring at him intensely. "Remember the difference between real emotions and synthetic ones."

He squeezed her hand back quickly.

"No worries, I'm a big boy. Everything will be fine."

"I hope so," she said.

Part of him wanted to reassure her, but there wasn't much else he could say in the open, so he waved and headed out.

Of course Maria would know the second he tried to take them out of the building, and she wouldn't be happy if he was showing them in and out like regular guests. So he needed to kill two birds with one stone for this. He took another ride across town after he'd spent a while scanning a public access point with a modestly expensive set of borrowed credentials. It would be pricey, but once the sale went off he could easily afford it. It was just a business expense after all.

Two hours and two more sets of fake credentials later, he had a short-term lease on a furnished apartment overlooking the lake. It was more than he ever would have spent for himself, but the building's business model was renting out to corporate types who needed a nice place for a couple of months, so it was a standard arrangement. He'd need to be more careful about security, but since they hosted high-rollers on an ongoing basis their baseline firewalls were nothing trivial either.

It was the perfect spot to house his merchandise for now. Taking the girls there would be a load off for Maria, and would get them far away from the search zone.

He spent a few minutes staring out of the huge window of the living area, and watching dozens of boats on the lake, their sails contrasting brightly with the silver-gray of the city towers. Crowds were already gathering below, and there was a perfect view of the fireworks float and the airspace for the drone show later. He had to admit he was actually a little excited to let the girls see the city at its best.

Leaving the building, he noted another DynCorp flyer parked nearby and his stomach jumped. Walking past it casually it was empty and he couldn't see anyone who looked like they were connected to it.

It's a big company, I'm just noticing them now. Normal selective attention effect. Don't get paranoid.

"Master!"

Seema jumped on him the second he walked through the door. He gave her a kiss and looked around in amazement.

"It never ends," he said. "Every time I get home this place is more spotless. It looks brand new!"

What actually struck him just how bland and boring his place was. They really did deserve to be living somewhere more like the new apartment on the lake. Part of him was looking forward to showing it to them.

Meela bounded down the hall grinning madly.

"We worked really hard on it today Master! If you wish we could look at some catalogues and order paint and materials to make it be any way you like!"

She jumped into his arms, and Reema padded down the hall then waited patiently for her turn to greet him. Once he'd given her a kiss and a pat too, they all settled down on the couch together.

"It's amazing work, and I think you all deserve a treat," he said.

"Whatever makes you happy Master," Meela said. "I have some ideas about what I could make for dinner tonight too, if you'd like to hear."

"Nope," he said. "No cooking tonight. We're going out for the evening."

They all stared at him, wide-eyed, with their ears perked straight up.

"Outside?" said Reema. Her tailed swished back and forth and her cat pupils had gone wide, so they were almost totally black.

"Of course. I thought about what you said last night and I want to take you all out to see the sights. Plus a bit of business, but I think you'll like that part too."

Seema make a squeaking noise.

"I can't wait, thank you so much Master," she said and broke into loud purring.

"Where are we going?" said Meela. "Should we put on our wigs?"

"For sure. But it's a surprise. There will be a lot of people. So be ready."

"Is that safe?" said Meela.

"Crowds are better," he said. "You'll blend right in. Just keep your glasses on and your tails wrapped. There's no way you'll fool anyone if they see those."

Reema nodded seriously.

"Master, we should tell you that we have all received broadband access requests today. Several times."

Seema jumped in.

"Of course we ignored them. We have maintained total silence as you told us to do."

Yikes.

"That's great girls," he said, trying to sound as relaxed as he could. "Well done. Any idea how close the source was?"

"It's hard to say for certain," said Reema. "But based on the way the signal strength varied I'd guess they were searching this area, and some others nearby. Some of the signals were very faint."

So they aren't focusing on this building yet. That's something. Unless they're being deliberately misleading.

He told Reema and Seema to get ready, but kept Meela with him. He sat her down at the kitchen table and gave her a serious look.

"I need to ask you about something delicate," he said. "Don't be afraid to tell me the truth."

Her ears flicked.

"Master, I will always tell you the truth," she said. "Always."

"Okay, but have the three of you talked about how I became your master? About the communications silence? The fact that we've been kind of hiding?"

"Of course," she said. "We have discussed how we may work to help you better in concealing us."

"That's great. But I mean about the reason why."

"Master?"

He sighed.

"I wasn't the master you were supposed to have. The four of us came together sort of accidentally, as it were," he said, watching for her reaction. "Do you understand that?"

She smiled and her tail twitched.

"We are happy about it. This is a very exciting way to start our lives together."

He couldn't help but roll his eyes, despite her enthusiasm.

"Okay but technically you're not my property, is my point. If DynCorp had anything to say about it."

She shook her head firmly.

"Our master is our master. What some company says about it means nothing."

He stared at her, but she appeared to be completely serious.

The other two came back into the room, sunglasses and wigs in place. They weren't exactly inconspicuous, but they didn't look like catgirls either. Or at least they wouldn't once they hid their tails away. They stood together, waiting happily for his directions. He sent Meela to change and sat down on the couch with their warm, purring bodies pressed up against him.

Catgirl loyalty. There's nothing else like it.

He could see why people were willing to pay so much for it.