Chapter 39: The Meeting

So, they were The Users. The group that asked us to meet them and caused the fear that ran rampantly through my group and me too. I did my best to keep my face calm and bland. All of us remained standing, gathered around the throne apparently intended for me. I wasn't going to sit until invited to. I'd rather not sit at all, just go home.

The woman across from us held out her hand, indicating the big man to my left. "This is Law." Law looked from her to me and gave a long bow of his head, eyes closed. I returned the gesture. I didn't know what was going on and what may construe an insult, so I showed respect until they sprang their trap or gave me no other reason to stay.

We held eye contact for a moment before I noticed the center woman's movement. She held out her other hand to the other woman. Her blue on blue markings moving excitedly, as if she was being energized by something and the unnatural pigmentation echoed that energy.

"This is Chaos."

True, she was chaos, in body, in movement, in sheer distraction. Here clear crystal blue eyes held mine for a moment, and suddenly she winked. I didn't know if it was just sudden inspiration or planned, but it looked just as luscious as any of my girls could pull off. The blue skin didn't do it for me, but looking at the shape of her curves, I could tell that she would fit right in with my group. Her breasts were full with dark blue nipples, tummy bunched up to allow the man between her legs to service her. Her thighs looked good with the way the tops of her boots helped to outline her shape. However, all that blue just made me turn away.

Looking back at the brunette, she gave a slight upper body bow in her throne, "And I am Vikkor."

After I gave a similar bow, she raised and looked pristine as ever in her large cushioned chair. She had spoken only in those short statements but I finally recognized her accent. It was French. I didn't know if anyone in our group knew any French. It really was too late to ask. Then again, I hadn't expected to meet anyone from a different country tonight. I felt down the line for Yvonne. She was from Russia. On my other side were the twins. They were of Japanese descent, though they didn't have broken English or a hint of an accent. They sure looked like they could speak it fluently though.

I had been concentrating on my girls and didn't notice Vikkor move until I heard her, "Please, have a seat." She was holding out her hand to indicate the chair/throne I stood next to.

I knew it was meant for me, but I didn't like demeaning my girls by having them crowd around me on the floor. It dawned on me that they had ended up that way a couple of times over the last two days, but it was their choice, not because someone else thought they should. "There is only the one seat." I wasn't about to call it a throne. "Where will my friends sit?"

Vikkor just looked at me. I could have sworn the temperature in the room dropped a notch or two, her stare was so cold. I knew what they had meant by arranging the seating as such, but I was going to make it known that I did not think of my girls like that. She came up with what I thought was a well rehearsed excuse though. "We were not sure how many you would be bringing and so setup the simplest of arrangements. One chair per Master and their subjects can sit around them."

"I am not a Master," I returned.

Her eyes warmed a bit. Either I was amusing her or she couldn't hold the cold stare for long. "But you have a harem."

"I don't care for that term." My statement was flat, such as fact.

"Concubines?" she asked. Now it was turning into a game.

I shook my head slightly. "Friends," I offered before she could come up with some other derogatory remark.

A smile played across that lovely face. "Oh, I see. You are still ... attached."

Attached? Yeah, we were attached. No one had stopped touching anyone in my group since we started down the stairs to enter their lair. I nodded.

She looked along our group. "Is it a physical problem? I see all of you still holding hands."

I glanced to one side and the other. I didn't have to, but it was good to play up that we couldn't do anything more than they thought at that point. Looking back at Vikkor I offered, "No. It's not a problem. Touch helps to keep them calm. It makes everyone comfortable. You can understand, an unknown place, strangers asking us to meet them. It is a bit frightening."

She tsked us. "I did not mean to frighten." She looked to Law and then Chaos before offering, "Unfortunately, we do not have enough chairs for everybody." She had been including their subjects in that statement. It was possible that with my added numbers they were short of chairs. If that was the case, the question would be: who would have to stand?

Through the links, I could tell everyone was calmer. I got the impression from all of mine that as long as they could remain in contact with me they didn't mind curling up around me on the offered pillows. I looked back at Vikkor and nodded in agreement to the offered chair. I didn't like the symbolism but it was the best we were going to get. I sat down and the girls spread around me on both sides. To my left, Erin kept her hand on my wrist and to my right, it was Renée. Through them the rest chained to hold together our collective.

Once everyone was settled, Vikkor began our conversations. "Well, Ral. I can see that you are most certainly a user and have marked yourself as a male others would be jealous of." The statement was cryptic on so many levels. "How long have you been using the program?"

"Not very long," I answered. If she wanted to know specifics, she had the wrong person. She was being cryptic and off tempo with me and I could play that game. If she started being open and honest, so could I.

"Well, you seem to have picked up some skill."

I wasn't sure what skill she was referring to because my girls were a wide variety of looks and tastes. "I'm a fast learner."

She seemed to be thinking about something heavily, "Yes. Yes, a fast learner to have understood the subtle looks and body language of your women. Or is there something else passing between you? Something that we cannot see or hear?"

She was sharp, or it was a really good guess. I was betting on intelligent in a detail oriented way. She didn't care what passed between us; it was the fact that we had shared something. She had probably seen through my half-truth about our touching and wanted to know how it worked, how she could add such a simple concept to her group, or how to bypass it or keep it from happening. She was going to want the code on how it worked and I couldn't even offer it, because I didn't know how it worked. Since I couldn't share it and she probably wouldn't share anything with me I had to answer in a way to allow me an out whenever any such question rose, "We all have our secrets." I looked and nodded to Law, who watched the exchange studiously, and Chaos, who seemed to still have eyes for only me. I looked back at Vikkor. "Even me," and I nodded toward her.