M [NDC Idols] Idoling Along 2b - Netting the Club

[Glein]

As the trio walked the streets towards the lower city entrance that was marked this week for the underground club that shifted from place to place, there were plenty of looks directed their way. Then again, it was hard to miss the trio due to one's pastel rainbow hair and fur, one's fiery red locks, and then the wild locks of raven black, all three of which were wearing Chimera netsuits, though the fox genemod's had been altered to give her tail a slot to came out of. Of course, just as different was what they wore with the suits.

Linda was wearing a black one size too small bikini atop the netting, letting her nipples press aggressively against the fabric as she stood there, grinning the whole time.

Nicole was wearing a red bikini that was properly sized and fitted under the net mesh of hers, the straps held secure with bands as well as the net meshing.

Then there was Marel in her simplest option, the tape strip covering her genitals and the hint of the plug in her ass easier to see due to the lighting which it had.

"We ready, girls?" Linda asked, looking at the other two, holding up a simple canister to denote their attendance to the club.

“I always wondered why they allow these, they’re so wild, and people let the crazy out here. Even heard one of the royals frequent sometimes?” Marel wondered this aloud to the others as they were strutting their stuff towards the entrance. This was her first time to one of these, and not because she hadn’t wanted to, but for how much of an unknown territory they kinda were. Part of her kinda worried if they were even allowed to be here, but she figured it had to be okay if the government hadn’t banned them, right?

The main reason was she just didn’t normally have the time, as for a while, idling took most of her time when the medical appointments hadn’t. Granted she was past the stage of regular therapy and deep treatments, so she had more time now then she knew what to do with when not on stage. So many things for the ex-chimera to learn and experience, just like their day at the beach the other day, which was also a first. She had fun with her friends, and that was what mattered, hence why she followed along by default usually.

Nicole smirked. "It's allowed since it's a way for people to cut loose without all the red tape and restrictions in place that you get in most other places to relax. Sure there's some regulations, but it's 'out of sight thus out of mind' as far as people are concerned." She explained for their erstwhile 'cherry' companion.

Linda nodded. "As for the royal, that's a fact. Even more so considering he's a university professor!" She quipped, hooking the canister to her netsuit and striding to the maintenance level entrance that was intentionally left unlocked though at a glance you would have thought otherwise.

Gesturing the other two in, Linda followed after, closing the gate and setting the lock back into place. Smiling as she took the lead again, guiding the way through.

Nicole laughed. "You've done this before haven't you?"

"Yuuup! This is my tenth trip! They move the venue around to keep it from being in the way of maintenance work and the like. You also have to know someone who's been there at least once to get invited in. Mostly so they can help guide you to it." Linda explained, grinning.

“Sounds like they take secrecy to HassaWood levels of overdone. Next you’ll tell me they have a flaming DJ or something wild like that”, Marel further piped up as they moved down the tunnel. Unbeknownst to her, there was in fact a flaming DJ even. But then again, she knew nothing about these things outside the bare minimum of details. “I’m assuming they have food and drink, yeah? Anything else, or important to know before dipping into this?”

"So that people feel like they're getting away with something they shouldn't." Linda replied on the level of secrecy. "OCPD has a couple of guys down there in plain clothes to keep an eye on things, but honestly, they're not likely to get involved in things unless it gets out of hand and medical teams need called in. As for the DJ... I think he's on tonight. Shoot, what was his name again?" Linda said, grumbling as she rapped her knuckles against the side of her head while they walked, though she made turns and such with such experienced ease to make it clear she's made at least this trip once before.

"Oh, and yeah, they got food and drink. Heck, a few months ago they had one of them Vaigarin's doing the bartending that night. Damned good mixer too." Linda pointed out, remembering that much.

Nicole snorted. "How'd they manage that? Couldn't have been easy or cheap."

“So a dragon was serving drinks….. Was he charging a gold coin per drink?” The Chimera gave a deep giggle at her own shitty joke, even though she felt a little bad that it might have come across as racist. “Sorry, but I can only think of dragons from fairy tales when people bring them up. Hells, I haven’t even met one in person, so that should be interesting if they’re here. If there’s scaly aliens, I wonder if I can find a fluffy one to keep.”

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "You have though. And a fluffy one. Izayl Yilas, Sanguine Queen? And her partner Katarina Visian, Queentamer? They're our Sirrisian Connections team, to help the Vaigarin and Tumnisian peoples moving into NDC cities adjust. You did a commercial with them."

Linda quickly started swinging her arms in a 'Don't!' fashion, but sighed as Nicole rolled right over. "Nicole, remember, Chimera. Her memory's not quite standard. It's getting better, but she had a lot of memory problems during the height of her treatment, remember?"

Nicole winced, remembering that after Linda's reminder. "Right... sorry, Marel." Nicole said, rubbing the back of her neck.

Marel had only been confused and lost as Nicole had gone on about all that, a dumbfounded expression on her face. “Whaaa.. Who dat? When?” she had said while trying to desperately piece together some semblance of recollection. As the apology came, the Chimera just sort of nonchalantly shrugged, “I’m gonna be real with ya chief. The only thing funnier than my memory, is the smell of those detox drugs they gave me. But oh well, maybe I can find one of those fluffy goat gals here or something if we’re lucky.”

With that, moehammer gestured for them to leave the awkward situation, and keep going. Wasn’t really anything she could get around, and it left a lot of holes in everything even before the treatments, but that was a problem for her during another time. At least if she was even capable of remembering the problem at that time, as who knew how memories could go moving forward for someone like her. “Come on, ‘nough moping, we have asses to shake, bottles to empty, and stares to get.”

Linda nodded, and led them to the blacklight marker that signaled the door they were to enter. "Just a quick swipe of your hand over the scanner, annnnd..." She said, putting action to words, and watching a small light flash green. "Oooh, tonight's last night here. Good to know." She said as a file upload happened with the swipe of her hand. "Anyways, once you've done so, you'll receive updates after they move if you dont swipe on the day before, since this is why you have to have someone already been here once to invite you in." She explained, stepping through the door.

Nicole nodded, swiping her own hand and following Diamondglen into the massive reservoir that was empty of any fluids that weren't bottles or barrels. The floor was filled with people dancing, talking, drinking, with tables to one side next to a adhoc bar handling food. Near the bar was a grill and cook station with stacks of crates labeled with food items in them. Of course, most impressive was just how little noise actually escaped the door, because once through the wave of music just slammed into you.

Linda however, was already bobbing her head. "Fuuuuck ya! Give me that heavy metal! Fuck the pop shit I have to churn out!" She cheered as she stepped down the stairs to the floor.

Marel couldn’t help but sway to it as well a bit, the music definitely up there with her, but even eyed the grill tentatively at first. Grilled foods, something else that was a weakness of hers, other then fluffy things. “Woah! This place has everything, I’d almost end up spending the night here if I wasn’t careful”, she said in awe after having passed in herself with a hand swipe. The colors, lights, and ambient noise was a little much, but the music helped tune that out well enough. Not to mention the aroma of fresh food wafting over with everything else in the air.

It was surprisingly cool, save for the radiant heat of jostling bodies moving in mass nearby. There were a few other smells her enhanced nose picked up, of other things possibly being done behind corners, but that was less on her radar. Maybe more on Linda’s now that she even gave it a thought, but who knew, her memory wasn’t the best for keeping personalities 100% straight.

Linda grinned. "I'm hitting the dance floor first. Get all those damned pop songs outta my head while I just go crazy." She said, giving a quick wave and hurrying down the stairs into the dance area and being lost in the sea of bodies.

Nicole chuckled and patted Marel's shoulder. "So, food first, or drinks first?" She asked, not quite dragging or leading the Chmeria down the stairs, but offering a guiding hand to help the woman with navigating her way.

“The grill is calling my name, I’m telling ya”, was all she said at first, watching after Linda on the woman’s skip to the floor. That tail hypnotized her as usual, but breaking off to look towards the bar and grill once it disappeared into the crowd. “I haven’t had ribs or an actual grilled burger in…. Well you know what I mean”, she added now that she was more focused, not feeling the need to rehash said memory discussion again.

Nicole smiled and nodded, guiding Moehammer to the food area. "It's probably psudeo-meat still, real meats that we can digest still a ways off, though I've heard a that a ranch is probably starting up soon with some actual animals from back home!" She said, grinning. Waving down a waitress run ragged from the party, Nicole placed an order for as much of a meat-heavy meal as the pair could enjoy. Nicole with a big ol' hamburger with all the toppings herself, and a full rack of ribs for Marel to enjoy.

"Huh, guess we ain't the only ones going light on the clothing department here." Nicole mused, watching the waitress walk back to the grill to get their orders started. "Linda would be all over that ass if she was with us at the table."

“Honestly that seems true with any clothing for what seems as long as I’ve known her, as short as that kinda seems. I still don’t get the attraction, but maybe that’s because I dress like that, and this normally. So it’s weird to hear people talk about it, as if it’s an oddity and not normal”, Marel seemed to trail into thought as they waited. Looking after the waitress, sure she was cute and attractive, but the clothes didn’t really feel like it made that opinion any different. “She doesn’t seem to go after us like others even though we do, is it because we’re not sexy enough?”

"Nah, Linda's just a bit on the picky side about who she'll have sex with. She'll ogle us all day long in clothes like these, but I doubt she'd pull us into bed because of it. She might be loud, proud and bold, but she's also not a complete idiot." Nicole explained. "Not to mention, we're all technically co-workers, so she sees us in similar on a regular basis, and some things lose their shine after a while."

As the waitress returned, drinks in hand, Nicole smiled. "Love the look. Mandated uniform, or personal choice?" Niocle asked her, getting a tired smile in reply.

"Personal. No real dress standard beyond the apron for the food staff. Barkeep's got the suit and tie thing going though. Just don't ask him about some of his 'specials' if you want to keep your liver." The waitress said, before catching sight of another customer trying to flag her down. Giving a nod she smiled at the pair before heading over.

"Good to know. So, feeling like getting a buzz to go with our meat, or stick to water for now?" Nicole mused, then looking over at Marel to ask her question.

“Kinda wish she would, just to see what these people she chases after get, that we don’t-. Hmm?” Marel with her one track mind at times, had still been thinking about all that Nicole had said so far. “Liquor is fine, it takes a lot to buzz me. Also what’s a liver?” She thought it was an organ, but as far as she knew, didn’t have one. A few things had seen replacement, or upgraded as the old doctors had said to them, which a liver probably was one of them.

Given how much the drugs and juice had worn on early batches, or burned through their bodies, likely was to more strongly process and filter them. Her blood wasn’t even quite red anymore, but a much almost black shade, making veins more clear in places.

"Something you most likely got taken out and turned into a high efficiency filter and pump unit." Nicole replied as though it wasn't that big a worry. "So yeah, getting you boozed up will be a challenge. I like that idea." She said, grinning. "I'm gonna ask the barkeep for one of his strongest drinks for ya." She stated, standing up and walking that way.

Marel watched her go, even letting her gaze go lower to see if it gave any sort of different feelings then those with tails. Somehow, finding the answer was no, was somehow disappointing. She really didn’t get it, and it was starting to make the estranged woman feel bad with how often such matters seemed to become a topic. Another thing she’d have to experience was people dancing around with her, because it didn’t click, which didn’t feel great either much like the awkward topic earlier of her memory situation. It was enough to make the Chimera groan before thumping her head to the counter, but she also suddenly felt oddly alone by herself at the bar with Nicole away, and Linda doing her own thing.

“Thanks life, I’m a weirdo, yyaayyyy”, she mumbled with a halfhearted groan to herself.

Soon Nicole was walking back with a hazardous material can, the sort you'd store things like, oh I don't know, nuclear waste in. "Back. Barkeep seemed insanely happy to hear someone ask for one of these." She said, offering the Chimera the can. "Said it was his strongest drink. Cited having a Chimera help ensure it was good. I don't buy that part, but hey, if you like it, I just might buy his BS."

In her other hand, she had a class of a fresh from the tap beer. "You feeling okay?" Nicole asked, concern leaching into her voice at the state Marel was in. Maybe Moehammer was a more apt handle than the pilot thought.

“Just giving the counter a nap test”, the experimental woman lied with ease, before turning to greet Nicole with the best smile she could offer. One who saw past it, could probably see how broken socially she was, to the point of a mask seeming to be second nature. After all, she had too many problems or failed things to understand, to really feel like letting anyone else take them on or be bothered by them. “Huh, well if that’s true, they chose a can that is the same we get our meds in”, she further added upon looking at the proffered canister.

Taking it, Marel twisted the lid off as she knew how, before taking a tentative sniff. To say the smell was strong was an understatement, but it was more like straight fumes of being sealed in such an airtight canister. “Yep… starting to think it's credible, which somehow I find concerning.”

"Whelp, if that's the case, good napping table, or hard pass?" Nicole asked, smiling, trying to help the Chimera feel more at ease and welcome. Taking a light drink of her own beer, Nicole settled in to wait for their food to arrive. She figured that Marel would open up on her own time. It was just one of those things that Nicole tended to have trouble with, since she was a Sirris-born Duskarian, so she really only had experience with the shit Linda and Marel did second hand at best.

It was all so strange and saddening to see these two put on such masks to protect themselves because of the pains and troubles they'd experienced during pre-exodus days. It was kind of why she was just trying to be a good friend to them. Help them feel like they didn't need those masks.

“Too much noise to get a good read, so inconclusive, but it’s nice and cool save for the part most people seem to lean on. Quite nice actually, I might need to get one for home to nap on.” After giving her review of the table, as little as that seemed, began to more closely inspect her drink a bit. It was an opaque liquid, and was a bit less fluid then expected, almost like the mixer was going for cartoon-like radioactive runoff. It was a comparison that suddenly made Marel giggle out loud at the thought, before only saying “Goopy” she chuckled oddly.

After the amusement settled, she without much hesitation, took a huge slurp of the contents. What was the worst that could happen, it poisoned her, put her in cardiac arrest, or just dropped her to the floor? It was…. Not normal of a drink, the texture matching the viscosity of the fluid inside. The taste was weird, yet potent, a weird almost chemically consistent flavor that happened to have hints of lemon like that one pre-war cleaner she remembered hearing a bald guy sing jingles for on the telecom.

"Well? How is it?" Nicole asked, sipping at her own drink while awaiting the verdict from Marel on the so called 'Chimera Drink'. After all, if it was good, who knew, maybe it could be a new market. That's how these things worked right?

The Chimera almost seemed enthralled with the contents of the canister in her hand now, a very subtle tremor to her hand now as her breathing picked up. Finally turning her head up to look at Nicole, her expression had an almost blissful smile, her eyes having focused and widened noticeably like someone on cocaine. “Like a rush into an oncoming armor column at full advance, I think my old stim unit just kicked in hard, and everyone is moving kinda slow. Music sounds like it's playing underwater now to-”

She stopped as she noticed the waitress passing by again, suddenly stopped, a frightened look at what she saw looking at Marel. A couple of the other patrons at the bar seem to become uncomfortable, or even move seats entirely. “Yayyy, i’m on a stim high aren’t I”, she said quietly, the mortification and shame bleeding through what felt like a drug induced smile.

Nicole blinked as Marel gave her description. "Uhhh, Marel?" She asked, gingerly reaching a hand over to the woman's shoulder to try and serve as a grounding element to hopefully avoid anything too drastic. The pilot wasn't entirely sure what a stim high was in this case, but it wasn't looking like something that was good.

Nearby, a man in a pair of extremely tight shorts walked over and brushed Nicole's hand away, before reaching down to Marel and feeling along her back. "Mark 5 Chimera rigging... With a Mark 3 pump... So shutdown should be... Here." He said, hand snapping up at the same speed as Marel's defensive snap. "Not bad. Actual combat Chim." He mused, feeling the conflict in their muscles as he held her arm in place while trying to deactivate the stim pump.

Her musculature had made an initial tensing as Nicole’s hand moved towards her, the whispers instructing her to intercept, to stop, to repel. But was thankful it was stopped by the stranger, but not as she felt their hand approaching instead. Her arm suddenly restrained brought the whispers to a roar, demanding violence, freedom and to be unbound and to neutralize a threat.

…..break the wrist, kick the knee, and dislocate both…. Follow with termination, move to advance, complete objectives….. Minor wound, walk…. Heavy impact, crawl… cripple, just continue to breath… persist, complete, and eliminate…

Marel shuddered, both somehow scared and beaming what seemed like murderous intent at the man who was now handling her. He was smart in pinning her legs to the bar front under one of his own, and shoving the stool into the other. Her right arm was the only thing free, but controlling one limb was better then fighting her own body wanting to fight on its own. “Purse pouch on right hip… I-I need the chem inject… it’s a chem key for the pump, they removed the physical switch with my model…. Please, they’re getting louder,... TeDirCom…”

The man grunted. "Fuck, Mark 7 hypo. You! Get me that damned autoinjector!" He said, glaring at Nicole, while he focused on restraining the activated Chimera in his hands.

Nicole nodded, her pilot training kicking in and calming her and helping her focus. Quickly side stepping around the pair, she reached into the purse in question, and pulled out an autoinjector. "This one?" She asked, getting a shake of the head.

"Blue band! Blue band!" The man barked, feeling the Chimera under his grip starting to get loose.

Nicole nodded, noting that she had one with a red band. Digging a bit more found the right injector. "Got it!"

"Great, now apply it! Right side of her waist!"

Nicole pulled off the cap and put it in place, then pressed the triggering button, letting the device do it's job and apply the 'off' switch chem cocktail that would turn off the stim pump.

As the device gave an audibly loud hiss that likely only the three of them could hear, the tremble in her body only grew more erratic and violent as the drug ran its course. Her breathing was made raggedly quick for a solid minute, enough to make even her enhanced lungs ache, as her body went into detox mode. Breath, sweat, and normal waste would get magdumped as her body violently sought to purge the stims as the pump was designed to trigger on shutdown. Once it had peaked, Marel slumped against the counter as her breathing slowed back to mostly normal, the expression melting off her face to a deadpan yet exhausted look.

“Someone please toss that can back at the barkeep… fucker…”, she said with no amount of energy, yet still managing to convey some measure of anger. She still had lingering anger that wasn’t her own, the whispers fading finally however. “Let go please… I have to pee…. A lot.”

The man let go, stepping back. "I'll take the can back." He said, growling. "Fucking asshole." He continued, picking up the can and walking to the barkeep in question.

Nicole though, was looking around, and then pointed to some porta-johns towards one end of the space. "They're right over there." She said, letting Marel go do what she needs to do.

Moehammer lumbered up with a small stumble from the stool, not even having pulled the injector from her side yet, before ambling off towards said porta-john. Even as she walked off, all the energy she had at arrival like her usual self, seemed gone. Sagging shoulders, and what seemed more like a shy and frightened girl without the energy to even convey that, shuffled off while seeming to pull in and be as small as possible while doing so. It was like she was suddenly scared of touching anything, or being touched.

After what seemed like a while, she returned, the injector finally removed and in hand. She halfheartedly hopped up to the stool, before seeming to just drop back into her pouch after a long moment of visible thought. With a small rummage, pulled out the red banded injector instead, before casually putting it up to her arm as she did everyday. Shooting the contents into her arm, she sighed before also dropping that one back in too.

“Life is soooo fun being a monster…”, Marel finally said after what seemed like a decent stretch of awkward silence.

"I'm sorry about that." Nicole said, moping as she sat at their table, looking down. "I didn't know it'd have that kind of effect. If I had, I would not have gotten you the drink in question." She said, holding her head in her hands.

The man returned, and offered a hand to Marel. "Glad I was present to help. I don't think things would have stayed calm and fun if I hadn't." he said. "Since you seem to be on the fresh side for a Chim, I'm guessing you're freshly defrosted? Or at least been out for a few weeks?"

“Never even went under, cryo kills model 7s like me, a failsafe for the latest batch of killing machines so they never saw past the armistice. Closest I got was a drug induced coma for…. Well, however long in that memory I don’t have anymore.” Her tone was so deeply depressed, not at all like the usual happy go lucky moehammer. “And it’s not your fault Nic’, I drank the shit, and I wasn’t aware it would either. But this is me… the sad monster I am, and the such peachy thinking girl I am underneath the drugs that sustain me.”

Marel’s head seemed to lul slightly, usually resting on one of her shoulders depending on which way she was focusing. Letting herself lean over, she leaned against Nicole’s side, sinking in against her to just rest as she was. “I’m sorry, I should have been more careful, I could have ended up hurting you or worse.”

"Hey, hey hey." Nicole said, hugging Marel. "We're figuring shit out." She stated. "Now come on, let's just enjoy the food when it gets here, yeah?" She wasn't sure what else to say or do. While Linda was clearly enjoying herself on the dance floor, Nicole was trying to help Marel enjoy herself. Hopefully.

"Well, shit is what it is. You stay safe now, ya hear?" The man said, giving the pair a quick salute with two fingers before he wandered back away.

"So, silence? Cause I'm not sure what to talk about now." Nicole admitted.

“Might be for the best in my case, otherwise my arse might start getting jealous of the shit I'd start saying”, she said with a dry chuckle, before weakly waving at the waitress who seemed to have returned to her duties. “I need a couple glasses of water please, not quite hot, thanks”, she said after getting their attention.

After a bit longer though, their food arrived too, which after all that she needed food in her. The water too, as she was a bit dehydrated, to sum up the most minor of her concerns. She hated this part of a drop, the after when the pump stripped them of their chemical safety blanket, and the unfiltered thoughts about what they’d done came through. Marel had already frightened Nicole enough, and that ashamed her, despite not also wanting to be fussed or worried she was going to jump off some ledge at any moment. “You know…. I love you guys…. I think, because you’re all like family, for what that can amount to as such for me. I don’t really understand love, just a definition, which just f- fuck I’m trailing off on a tangent.”

"Honestly, right now... Go on that tangent. I think you could do with the release, and honestly, I'm kind of an idiot and ignorant on a lot of shit pre-Duskarian. I mean, I'm only 25, and was born here in Obsidian City." Nicole pointed out, giving a small smile. "So, let it out. Just, not the tank killer yeah? Not sure you got another counter hypo to stop ya in that purse."

“No you don’t, you really don’t. No one is ready for that kind of dump, and I don’t want to put that kind of burden on anyone. So many reasons why, so many thoughts I don’t want in my head, but also don’t want anyone to hear. This is the me that deserves to stay buried under the drugs that keep my body working, and me living, because I don’t even want this me.” Marel turned her gaze and face away from Nicole as she said this, unable to look the other woman in the eye.

“Take a bullet, keep marching. Take a rocket, keep crawling. Take an artie, and keep breathing as long as you can pull a trigger. That’s the kind of sick shit we were raised on, driven by chems to do things they left us in locked rooms to have nightmares of afterwards”, she continued, unable to at least stop some of it from ranting out. Afterall, she was compelled to by the happier her, the her that didn’t have the thoughts circling like vultures when the chems were refilling. “I know all the shit, but the part that matters, me or how to be anything other then this me under the drugs. I can’t figure out a social cue from how to use my own Ps and Qs.”

"Well, I think it's something that needs to be said to the folks who are helping you guys get back into society. Since it makes sense that it be something they help you get fully back in." She pointed out. "I won't claim to know any real solutions, but maybe the shrinks will." She said, shrugging. "I want to help you though, however I can."

There was a somewhat hysterical giggle that Marel started to emanate in response at first, but it was rather quickly shifted to partly sound like crying instead. “There is no fix, no cure. The drugs that make happy Marel, was their fix, their help. No one is left alive to know how they did the programing, and the drugs have effected our psyches so much that changing bodies would be suicide on a subconscious level. And if they remove any of the drugs, or parts, I die because they made sure they were so well put together, we couldn’t be taken apart without breaking the whole thing”, she said with now small amount of bitterness about it all.

“I’m a gods damn freakshow who only works as a freakshow. I have no doubt the idol gig is one of pity and public image. Fewer people scared, means fewer people setting us off I guess. Honestly… we never should have survived the war, never made it past any of it… we don’t don’t deserve it.” The giggle was gone, and now there were only tears, the hysterical devolving into active sobs.

Nicole reached over and patted Marel's shoulder. "I doubt they won't find a fix. Sure, the records of how it was all done is gone, but the people working here aren't liable to give up. Especially since there is that standing mandate to help all the veterans of the war settle into the new world we live in. So I think they're trying, just haven't figured out the right combination of techniques, drugs and such to do so." She pointed out. Sure, it wasn't a perfect solution or hope, but it was something. And Nicole, while not an optimist by nature or trade, was certainly not going to just give up on a hope of helping a friend get back to some semblance of 'normal', or at least, not being as torn up about who and what they are.

Whatever that followed, was lost in a mumbled slur of tears and ramblings, as the woman clung onto Nicole. What bits were audible, or even coherent enough to be understood, were not pretty or related to surviving. The poor woman was just a mess right now, emotionally even as her body was until the drugs caught back up again. She would eventually peter out and settle into sniffles as Marel nestled into Nicole’s side for comfort.

Nicole just let it happen, holding onto her friend as the other woman had her ugly cry. That was about the only way the Nicole could describe it. And it was probably good to let the Chimera let it all out, since it was clear the woman needed it, especially coming down from that chemically induced combat high. So for now, she just hugged Marel, and rubbed her back to help her calm down. She wasn't sure what else to do right now.

After a while longer and she calmed down completely, the depressing silence was broken even over the music, by the growl of Marel’s empty belly. Having had her cry, she seemed to dig into the cold plate of ribs with gusto and determination. “Another plate, and a double of one of those burgers please”, the Chimera ordered after getting halfway through, her face smattered by the sauce. “Thank gods at least that this body at least lets me binge eat without gaining weight”, she mumbled from around a rib she was cleaning of meat.

The energy was slowly coming back, the scared girl slowly being replaced back to peppy Marel again.

Nicole smiled and nodded, working into her burger, letting the Chimera lead the way. "Imagine Linda's been having fun on the dance floor while we're dealing with real life horrors." She said, giving a small smile. "Leave it to Recon to skip out on shit like this." She mused, after of course, swallowing the bite of burger she'd taken.

“Could have been worse, and that would have likely not been pretty. I would make the effort to thank that guy, but he was so weird being dressed in shorts like that”, Marel said through a happy chewing face as she was stuffing one of the newly arrived burgers into her face. “I was like dude, talk about high speed, low drag. I don’t even think his balls left the tarmac”, she giggled out in between bites now that she was fully circulating the meds.

"YEah well, considering how he was going toe to toe with you, I think he was another Chimera." Nicole pointed out, grinning. "I mean, he seemed to know your extra bits pretty damned well. So maybe, like you, he just goes minimalist? Though, thankfully, it wasn't a speedo. Gah." Nicole said, shuddering at the thought that last sentence brought up.

“Nicccooolllee, don’t say it like that, it sounds way too lewd!” Why did she have to say it as extra bits, it made it sound so obscene that way.

As festivities went on the meal continued until Marel was full, having what little was left, put in a to-go box for her to take with. Asking for some wet wipes, the waitress just kindly tossed her a whole hand towel instead, still seemingly a little weary of the Chimera. Not that marel could blame her or anything. “So that was food,... well sort of drinks, so what now”, she asked Nicole after wiping her messy face down clean.

"Well, we could dive into the dance floor now, get mixed into the crowd for a bit. Otherwise, we just sit and talk while listening to some pretty decent music." She said, shrugging. Of course, the music had shifted a few times, right now playing some kind of synthwave music, which she was okay with, but she figured the sheer volume was appealing to Linda right now.

“I uh.. Don’t think my wobbly legs would get me very far, not that I know how to dance. All I can manage is that weird and sexual grinding kind of dance you see in clubs on the vids.” It was true, she had come with them knowing they were going to a club, but never really thought it relevant to mention that she didn’t actually know how to dance. “So if you want to hit the floor, I can find a booth to lay back and maybe catch a nap in with this full belly.”

"I mean, I won't drag you out to dance if you aren't really feeling up to it, especially after that little 'surprise' we got from the can." Nicole said, shrugging. "So if you wanna go find a booth to sleep off that fill, I won't stop ya." She finished. All while quietly in her head hoping that nothing else could go wrong this evening.

As the two had been going about their recovery at the bar, a man dressed more like a rebel, gasmask and bandolier of paint cans adorned. Roped down to the side somewhere from his place in the rafters, before making his way around the par, idly passing them at first on his way to the opposite end. There was a faint commotion after, before the same man came by again, now dragging the bartender with him unconscious as a telltale shock round was gooped across his chest.

The man carrying the other, simply stopped and leaned between them, “See me in my office later at the academy, it's an order. Also nice looks, the nets bring out… well everything, anyways, excuse me while I take care of this shithead.” The voice was unmistakable to anyone closer to the higher echelons like the idols were similarly, that was the voice of Talos Pine.

After he had left, Marel just looked over to Nicole, “You said something didn’t you?”

"No, but I certainly thought it. Yay for jinxing us... fuck." Nicole grumbled, putting her head in her hands as the man continued on his way. "I think I'm gonna need another beer before I throw myself into the dance floor to pretend I'm not about to get reprimanded up and down the fucking academy." She said, before slugging back the glass of beer she had.

“Then I’m gonna go take that nap, will ping the booth in case you or Linda want to crash there later, or find me to leave if I’m not awake by then”, Marel stated before hopping off the stool with her leftovers in hand, and shuffled off towards the more in the corner booths. They would be quieter, relatively speaking, and fewer people with those few probably getting down in other ways. Perfect place for a nap if she’d say so.

"Right." Nicole said while ordering herself another beer to make good on her statement, certain she was going to need the liquid courage later tonight. Better get it in the system now so it would be fully kicked in when they met with the guy.

Linda of course, had gotten herself fully lost in the throng and music, dancing in all sorts of styles, just having fun and forgetting all her duties for just a little while.

Despite the chaos, ups and downs, well at least one of them was blissful in having their fun. The night would drag on with the beets, as well as the drinks as the tender was replaced pretty quickly. Marel snoozed peacefully for quite a while, before waking up and enjoying her leftovers, then opting to nap again. Tomorrow would be interesting to say the least, even as the man to meet in question, resumed his watch from the rafters as before.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day….


Marel had never really been to the academy itself, only having gone through correctional and rehabilitation courses in protective facilities for people like her. Maybe she should enroll, just to see what schooling was like to be a part of, but also learn something new while she was at it. Not that the thought seemed to outweigh the worry Nicole seemed to have about the meeting they were currently waiting their turn for.

The Chimera seemed nonplussed about the whole thing, as people shouting or yelling at her, was nothing new. She listened of course, but the tone never really registered on her radar with how used to it she was. “I think we’re fine btw, they would have issued papers if we were in trouble, wouldn’t they”, she asked Nicole beside her, the two dressed in uniform today for the summons.

"So long as the Grand General or Admiral... Pretty sure it'd be the General in this case, isn't present, it's probably just a verbal reprimand. If the General's involved... It's gonna be a lot worse." Nicole said, shrugging. As it was, Linda had offered to join them if only to help mitigate the possible trouble the pair were in once she'd learned of what happened, but Nicole had been fairly adamant that it should be just them.

After what seemed like a little bit longer, the chime for the door sounded, signaling they were ready for visits. Marel got up with Nicole before the two apprehensively entered the office, where the man from the night before sat waiting. His hair was a muttered mix of white and black, both colors being known to be common among the Pine family, but not normally mixed.

“Please, have a seat girls”, he offered as he gestured to the set of chairs arranged before his desk. There was a datapad in his other hand, which he seemed to look over occasionally as it made soft beeps related to whatever it was posting to him as updates. “So first things first, I hope you’re okay Marel? Second, the bartender is in custody, so he won’t be doing that anymore”, Talos began as they sat down.

It would only be after Marel gave an appreciative nod that he continued. “Now to be clear, I’m not having you be here for an official reprimand, just a talking to. Not all bad, but I can’t promise all good either. So let's get the negative out of the way first. Nicole, you froze when she needed you, and that almost cost lives. Secondly, you need to be more careful about unknown substances when handling a Chimera, for obvious reasons as you’ve seen now”, he further went on now that he had both of their attention.

Nicole merely hung her head. "I'm sorry sir. But in my defense, I was never given any instruction, much less expectation from training, on how to help a Chimera in such a situation, and so I wasn't sure what would or wouldn't make things worse." She said, not trying to sound defensive, just, trying to lay out the situation.

"Something that I plan to talk to Idol Command about after this." Murcia said from the corner she'd been sitting in. "Pretend I'm not even here ladies. I'm listening in to decide what actions I need to make going forward." The Grand General said, smiling at the pair. She and Talos had spent an entire hour discussing what they would and wouldn't do about this whole situation with the pair, considering that it was her people that had been affected most by this, and so Murica wanted to be ahead of any possible backlash.

“To add to that, you may be from different branches, while it may be advocating action when unknowns are in play. You two are idols, that in itself makes you battle buddies, so you cover your other half no matter where and when, as is needed. Now as Miss Murcia has final say, as the person who directs training requirements, there are rare instances where my authority passes hers on certain matters.” Talos looked between the two after the general made her presence known, but focused on Nicole as she gave her explanation. “So in line with that, I’m mandating that an addendum be to the trainings, with classes on matters such as these when dealing with battle buddies of different species which your whole troupe is going to attend as the schedule allows”, he clarified to them as he went about explaining his proposed action.

He had of course spoken with the general about it prior, and it was involving more then a few proposed changes between them. “This other proposal is less of an official one, but one made from a mental health standpoint. Now as neither of you are students here at the academy, yet, I can’t officially make it an order as it also goes beyond just here. But I suggest that you help Marel, and this goes for the others of the troupe and to anyone else among them going through issues. Get her some friends, take her to gatherings, let her build social experience. I have to be honest about that… well I kinda heard most of the conversation after she calmed down yesterday.”

"That was part of what myself and Master Sergeant Yorinton were doing, taking her to the..." She glanced at Murica who smiled.

"Underground rave. We're aware of it. It's an open secret." The General said, making it clear that it was indeed something allowed to happen with only minor oversight from the leadership of the NDC.

"Very well Ma'am. Underground rave. Let her join in some dancing, have a few drinks to loosen up a bit, just... be one of us. But, it... went very much not like we thought it would." Nicole finished.

"And we're saying, Lefttenant Colonel, that you should keep it up. From what Mister Pine here told me, what you did has probably gotten more emotion out of Marel than anything the health professionals have managed since she was brought out of coma." The General remarked.

"Yes Ma'am." Nicole said, still feeling like she was walking on hot coals right now.

“Actually, maybe more personal, or events focused on getting together with smaller groups where she can absorb more. Raves are fun, but it's not something people go to talk to, or get to know each other.” Well not in the way that mattered more here, much like how Linda attended them for. With a small sigh and a rub of the back of his neck, he wasn’t exactly worried about keeping up the professional look, “This might sound odd, but giving her more reasons to be naturally happy, and live. Will help her in the long run, so the more people you all can help her connect with, the better. That being said, none of this is being recorded, and I am not going to say anything about the conversation at the time”, Talos added, wanting to hammer in how serious the suggestion was but also be clear that it wasn’t entirely an order either.

“Feeling I’ve gone on long enough, I’ll hand things to the general to put in her thoughts now as well.”

"Other than the new training getting slotted into your schedules, there's not much I can add on my part. I'm already due to speak to the Master Sergeant anyways for an entirely different matter, so I'll just give her the short version of this discussion to mull over as well." Murcia said, standing up to her full height with a stretch of her arms. "Just be careful, understand?" She said, getting a nod from Nicole.

"As for you Captain, yes, we didn't forget about you, but this was more for the Leftenant Colonel's sake, but do try and be more willing to talk with the other Idols. They can't really help you if they don't know or understand." She said, giving a smile and putting a hand on Marel's shoulder. "Don't give your classes too much grief now Talos. Oh, and be sure to present your proposed new training program to better provide cross-unit support for similar situations on my desk by Friday. I'll review it and send my thoughts when I get it." she said, waving as she walked out of the office.

Marel just watched her go at first, wondering if she should ask if that included the suicidal ones, but thought better of it. “Well it’s not happening behind my back, but still feels awkward to be sitting in on a conversation essentially about me”, the chimera stated instead, noting aloud how weird this all felt. Maybe she wasn’t one to be the center of attention if she could help it, but why did she enjoy being on stage then, was it just the context?

“Well with that, we’ve said most of our pieces we had to. So how about we sit and chat, or you can ask any questions you might have instead”, the man asked, turning things back to just the three of them with the general gone. “Also I should probably explain why I was there now that I think about it. I actually help run the raves, given my wife DJs there frequently.”

“Is that why you dressed like one of those really old depictions of social rebels, minus the mohawk thankfully”, Marel asked a bit bluntly with a snicker, unapologetic for calling the man out.

Nicole shook her head. "Nothing from me Sir. I'm, honestly not sure what to discuss at this point." She admitted, though had to fight to keep from snickering at Marel calling out his choice of attire. She didn't think she'd mention his comment about their own while at the rave. She wasn't sure if he was just being polite or had been legitimately complimenting them.

“Someone has to paint all those neon decorations they have sprayed about, and I’ve done work on some of your ads and banners I’ll have you know.” Talos said this proudly, trying to avoid outright defending the look he went with for the raves. “Besides, you try breathing in nano paint, shit tastes horrible so of course I wear a gas mask”, the headmaster added with a small amount of faux hurt.

“Ah so you instead wanted to breathe us in, yeah I didn’t forget that… flirt I think it was?” Marel chimed in, thinking that was the right word for what he said counted as. “Much to your disappointment, I’d doubt it would fly here if I started attending”, she added toyingly.

Nicole blinked in surprise and smiled as she looked over at Marel. "Well, someone had to say it. Though, I did my turn here at the Academy. It's how I got my commission after all. I'm still surprised Professor Heinrich went Vaigarian after I'd left. Just never found time to swing back around to tease him about it." She said, smiling.

“Yes, well, he wanted children with one of his wives who couldn’t outside of her species. So my nephew decided to get a species change, I guess the crown prince is at least making headway bridging us and the locals…. I guess?” Talos wasn’t going to pretend to understand everything, or that there was much more to it, then wanting to have babies naturally with their spouses. “Well, it's funny you should say that, as you still might be able to. Someone should probably accompany Marel for classes as support if nothing else”, he said with a sly chuckle.

“Oh no, two men to hit on us and try to take us home, bet Linda would be jealous to be missing out on the opportunity”, Marel giggled, not feeling sorry about giving Linda a due poke despite not being present. Something that got a sigh from the headmaster, and a shake of the head.

“As open as I am with such things, I tend to ask first, and so does he despite being similar. Also yes, I’m very aware of Linda, because of her time here, and… having experience”, came the headmaster's brief rebuttal.

"I'm not sure I follow sir. And I'm not sure I want to follow." Nicole said, mostly in response to his comment about Linda. "But you said Professor Heinrich changed to be able to be with, '*one*' of his wives? I admit to being surprised to hear he's the sort to go for the harem type."

Talos gave a bout of hearty laughter in reply, “Yeah said wife he got the change, as I understand, kind of started that. Now he has… 7.. Or 8 wives? For a teacher, he seems to get around.”

“Wow, so teachers are what people call babe magnets, so does that mean you get girls a lot too?” Marel asked maybe a little too pointedly, her curiosity getting the better of her then…. Right, she didn’t have common sense yet.

“I’m starting to get the feeling you’re learning the wrong things from all this.” With the roll of his eyes, he added reluctantly, “Only the two, but we have a thing.. Nevermind actually.”

Nicole soon started counting on her fingers and referencing her Geist for something... "Wait, isn't it the middle of the Vaigarin heat cycle? I remember the notice about Sanguine Queen being unavailable most of this month because of it." Nicole mused aloud. "I get the feeling he's probably gonna be pretty busy..." She mentioned, chuckling. "I doubt the wife in question will be satisfied so easily. Gods help him if he has more than one." SHe joked, not catching the look from Talos as she said that last part.

When her gaze likely returned his way, his only reply was to hold up three fingers, “Her, the elder of his scale family, and another who’s a bit of a weeb.”

“Are any of them fluffy like Linda?” Marel loved floof, usually having to be pulled back from petting passing genemods, or stroking tails.

“A couple yeah”, Talos answered a little awkwardly.

"Oh... Oh gods." Nicole whispered, putting her face in her hands. "I, didn't realize. Hopefully he's getting enough fluids, because I think the last time I witnessed a heat wave the guys were subjected to left them dehydrated as hell...."

“I’m uh… sure he’s fine, just don’t be surprised if he skips work for a day or something”, was all he said on that topic. Though before he would say something else, Marel decided to interject her own two cents.

“Oh don’t worry Nicole, I read that Vaigarin hold hundreds of gallons of the various fluids found inside us. So he has as much blood, sweat, and cum as a city reservoir has water”, she said straight faced and all serious. Poor girl wasn’t aware just how much more awkward her odd fact statements made the current conversation.

“I… really didn’t need to know that, thanks anyways Marel”, Talos grumbled, finding the statement to make him feel perhaps a slight bit inadequate at what it meant.

"How... How about we talk about something else huh? I'm not sure I'm too much more keen to talk about that kind of thing... Linda probably would, but I'm not exactly eager to get into sex talk right now." Nicole said, shivering slightly at the turn of events this topic had gotten.

“You said you like fluffy things right Marel”, Talos asked. Which was met with an ecstatic “yeah!” from the idol. “Maybe you could get a pet? Like a dog or something, or something similar, to help as a stress relief and companion at home? Surely Nicole or the others could help you.”

“Oh I thought you were gonna say something about plushies, but I have a bunch of those, even some of those ones of Linda. But yeah, a fluffy pet sounds like a great idea, then they can hug me back”, she chimed back, fully interested in the idea.

"We're not getting her a cat." Nicole said flatley. "Maybe a big dog. Something that can keep up with her. Potentially augmented to better keep up with her?" It was about the only thing she could think of that would work well as a pet for Marel. And have enough energy to keep pace with the hyperactive Chimera.

“What about one of those big wolves that you see walking around the cities all the time”, Marel asked, thinking to the creatures in question who happen to just about fit that bill. “Do they offer those as pets somehow? Or would there be a way to tame one, I never gave them much thought other then petting when they passed by.”

“Oh those, yeah I’m sure that can be arranged”, Talos answered thoughtfully, thinking of the direwolf-like wolf breed they cloned to patrol the streets for pests. They were smarter then the average hound, and made fairly safe around crowds and people in general. They might work for that actually.

"Sounds like we got ourselves a winner for Marel's new pet." Nicole said, smiling. Seemed like this discussion was going well enough, all things considered. Just a matter of finalizing things.

“I’ll have someone make arrangements, you get the fun part of helping her get anything else for it. Now, I think I’ve taken up your time long enough, and I do have appointments soon so off you go”, Talos stated as things seemed to be handled now, and happy with the turnout of today’s meeting.

“Come on Nicole, we need to go to the pet shop!” Marel grabbed Nicole’s hand before basically dragging her along on the way out, and not seeming to let go as they skipped them out. It probably looked odd to passersby as the two women left hand in hand, whether Nicole had been willing or not to have her hand held. “I’m gonna get a puppy”, the idol cooed in a sing-song voice as they went on their way.