Chapter 29.
Lucie spat out a mouthful of her lion’s mane matcha latte. Raphael’s hand flew to his chest, and Joey’s eyes widened.
Zafyra eyed the two empty chairs – one next to me, the other at the head of the table – before lowering herself into the chair beside me.
My entire body tensed in her proximity. I lowered my gaze, trying not to breathe in the scent of fresh moss and truffle – a scent that somehow seemed even more intense today.
The newcomer didn’t sit. He rubbed his exposed arms, his finger pausing at what looked like a slight bump just below the edge of his sleeve – barely noticeable. Apart from his messy bunch of dark hair, green at the edges, he looked unassuming – skinny, pale, posture slightly slouching.
“No offense, but why should we trust you?” Joey snarled, not taking his narrowed eyes off Zafyra. “How am I supposed to believe you didn’t just pick a random man from the streets to throw us off our trail?”
The guy jumped slightly. “Yeah, he’s right.” He nervously glanced at Zafyra. “They don’t believe us, so maybe this is a bad idea, and I should just—”
“Sit. Down,” Zafyra spoke through gritted teeth. Her voice was soft, but the command in it sent a shiver through me – and to him as well. She snapped her fingers and pointed to the empty chair at the table’s head. My eyes followed the movements like a magnet. “Don’t forget our deal, Sybrand.”
“Deal?” Raphael muttered quietly, his brows furrowing. “That does not sound good.”
Sybrand flinched. He hesitated. We all held our breaths.
Then, with a sigh, he sank down into the chair.
Joey cleared his throat, still not taking his glare off Zafyra. “Just making sure. You’re not going to strangle me today?”
Zafyra hesitated. She tilted her head, looking to me as if this was a decision she needed to consult me for – but I deliberately kept my gaze focused on the kombucha.
The blend of reishi and blue pea flower was supposed to soothe my nerves, but no amount of organic blend could calm the storm her presence stirred inside me.
“Morgan says your interest in her is strictly platonic, so I believe her,” she said finally – her fingernails lightly digging into her leg. My gaze followed their movements with fascination. “Further assassination attempts shouldn’t be necessary.”
“Oh, wow.” Joey raised his eyebrows. “Weird way to apologize, but how generous of you to allow Morgan to have friends.”
I fixed my eyes back on my drink like my life depended on it.
I hated the concern in Joey’s eyes – like Zafyra was someone to protect me from.
As if he doubted my ability to make my own decisions, like everyone around me had when I was young.
Even more, I hated how it made me doubt myself.
Was Zafyra proof of my poor life choices?
What was the point of all this therapy if I still fell for a woman like her?
“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to wrap my head around all this.” Elyssa quietly cleared her throat, casting another nervous glance at Zafyra. “Where did you even find this guy?”
“Not hard to find if you know where to look.” Zafyra reached out to snatch Lucie’s drink out of her hand and take a big sip before putting it back.
Lucie’s jaw dropped, and she glared as if she were about to say something about it before tightly pressing her lips together.
“While you all were going back and forth about the next steps, I was searching the city’s unified OS that I still have access to, as well as your wristware.
” She leaned back in her chair, slowly crossing her legs.
She caught me staring and winked, much to my horror.
“So I spent the past few days doing my research, then waited until you were all about to meet up before giving Morgan the heads-up.” She pursed her lips, zoning out for a moment.
“Breaking through Somanode’s encrypted communication channels was the biggest roadblock, but unfortunately for them, I do like a challenge. ”
“Wait a second.” I tightened my grip on the armrests, mentally making a note to further encrypt my devices. “You can still just… ehm, hang out on the network? Like, as we’re speaking?”
“Well, not fully.” Zafyra frowned, a hint of insecurity flashing across her otherwise so self-assured face.
“Not the way I could before obtaining this body. Those are some… unforeseen consequences. Right now, I can only do it when my body is laid down and resting – but my time for research is limited, since I also need to charge and feed this body.” She snorted, as if the very thought of having to charge and feed herself irritated her beyond words.
I blinked slowly, my stomach churning uncomfortably. “Are you saying you’ve spent every waking moment in the past few days trying to solve our problem?”
Now she turned to look at me. I forced myself not to avert my gaze.
“You told me to find some interests of my own,” she said quietly, her obsidian eyes unreadable. “You were mad at me, so I thought… if I could help you guys, maybe you would…” Her voice trailed off.
“Not like this!” I threw up my hands in a sudden outburst of confusing emotions. “How is this an interest of your own if your whole goal was to get me to hang out with you again?”
“Ladies, can we keep it civilized, please?” Raphael coughed softly, demonstratively gesturing around the terrace.
Shame heated my cheeks when I noticed a few glances in our direction before they turned back to their own tables.
He gave a nod to Sybrand. “Sybrand, is it? Well, you’re here now, so I’m sure you have a lot to tell us. ”
“Well, I, euhm, actually can’t say too much. I already told miss—Zafyra.” Sybrand’s hands were shaking when he reached for the water can in the middle of the table to pour himself a large glass. “I—euhm—the policy on company discretion prohibits me from—”
“Sybrand,” Zafyra snapped, her voice so sharp, it made the poor guy flinch. “To hell with the company policy. You will answer our questions one by one. Won’t you?”
Her eyes narrowed dangerously, sending a traitorous thrill through me. My brain immediately drifted off to fantasize, her glaring at me like that while she commanded me to…
Sybrand’s eyes widened. He nodded frantically, his hand darting to the bump in his arm again.
Zafyra smiled sweetly, eyes flickering to me. “All yours, darlings.”
I gripped the armrests so tightly, my knuckles turned white. Why did the nickname bother me so much? Darling – she was only allowed to call me that.
“Hey.” Elyssa frowned, her concerned eyes flickering to Sybrand. “He doesn’t have to do anything he’s not comfortable with.”
“Oh, he does,” Zafyra answered smoothly, her fingers making small circles on the armrests. Imagine her teasing my thighs with those fingers. I swallowed hard, forcing myself to look away.
“Alright, so, Sybrand. Can you tell us a bit about Somanode?” Raphael straightened his tie – he spoke faster than usual, as if he wanted to get this over with before one of the bombs around this table would inevitably explode.
“So, from my understanding, Qonexis is not the company that produces the beans – they produce the chatbots…” He gestured to himself, Zafyra and Lucie, “…which are, in turn, used to sell the beans Somanode produces. Is that correct?”
We all turned to look at Sybrand, who was now sweating visibly.
“Yes,” he said weakly, eyes scanning the greenhouse as if he feared his supervisors were watching.
“Qonexis is one of our affiliate partners. They get a commission for every bean they sell, and, well…” A slight smirk played around his lips.
“Since some middle-class customers consume multiple beans per week, the wealthy even multiple per day, that’s a lot of cash for us. ”
My sympathy for him slipped away with every smug word.
I glanced around the table. Joey clenched his teeth as if it took all his restraint not to punch someone – Zafyra or Sybrand, maybe both.
Elyssa covered her mouth in horror. Even Lucie and Raphael started to look uncomfortable, exchanging a glance as if they only now realized the full extent of what they’d been used for.
Zafyra, of course, was calmness itself. I froze when her leg brushed against mine – too briefly for me to call her out on it, too long to be accidental. “Continue,” she purred.
Sybrand hesitated.
Raphael sat up straighter. “One of the affiliate partners, you say?”
“Yes.” Sybrand flinched slightly. He squeezed his eyes shut as if expecting someone to lash out at him.
When nothing happened, he blew out air and turned his grey eyes back to Raphael.
“Yes,” he repeated. “Qonexis was founded by a bunch of smart guys starting a business from their homes.” His eyes narrowed slightly as he danced the fine line between saying enough but not too much.
“Supposedly, three ex MuseQ employees, to be more precise. Frustrated with the limitations of AI laws, they left MuseQ after various disagreements with management – but not before stealing their code used to build the bots, and taking it underground to start their own business, free from those pesky laws that limited their income stream.” He paused, caution flickering in his eyes.
“Without government monitoring, they can make their bots more realistic, more human-like, more… sexually and emotionally free.”
“You mean, free for the humans,” Lucie snapped.
Her unexpected sharpness startled all of us as she glared at Sybrand through squinted eyes.
“MuseQ automatically flags interactions that imply consent violation or abuse – or worse, fantasies about minors – but not Qonexis. Humans can be sick, did you know that? If monsters want to live out their sick fantasies on their bots…” She sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re doing nothing to prevent that.”
Sybrand froze slightly. He glanced around the table as if looking for support, but found none, only hostility.