Kiru carefully docked the truck. The inspection for today was over, and they had just been to the clinic. The Iniri there had been ecstatic to see the little girl she had been so worried over. That poor girl was practically first to be given a full assessment, followed by a lengthy brainwashing session. Kiru had been allowed to observe but mainly because Qelu brought her along, and wanted her nearby. Although Kiru couldn’t help but think about the fact that she was going to be away from her mother, and sisters for years. Something that didn’t sit right with her. Not that the Iniri would understand why that bothered her. 

Now, however, the inspection, and the brief stay at the clinic was over. They had also stopped by a storage facility to drop off the boxes the truck had been loaded with. Qelu didn’t tell her much about what they were going to do with the stuff, but she didn’t need to be told. She already knew a bit about what would happen, and what Qelu did say merely lined up with what she had already heard from May.

Stepping out of the truck, she helped Qelu out. She gave Qelu a smile, and asked, “Shall I escort you home?”

Qelu shook her head. “Actually I would like to come with you to your place. I want to see where you live!”

She seemed a little excited about the idea. Kiru worriedly sent a message back to her cell. Megumi however was the one to send a reply. That won’t be too much of a problem. In fact it would work out nicely for us. Especially if you get her to stay the night. Just be aware Qei also has a guest.

Kiru sighed, that sounded worrisome to her, but Megumi said it would be okay. Given that Megumi was some super-advanced artificial intelligence, Kiru figured she might be right about that. Out of curiosity, she asked her about why she wanted Qelu to stay. To which Megumi replied, I have a shuttle outfitted with a full field laboratory. We can take Qelu up to it, and examine her. I can wipe her memory of the event after I am done. As far as she is concerned it will be a simple enjoyable sleepover at your place.

That made a certain amount of sense. Kiru nodded, “Alright. I’ll show you the way. Just I don’t live alone, and I would prefer it if you don’t do anything weird with my sisters.”

Qelu chuckled, “Let's get going then. I just have to meet your sisters!”

Kiru sighed and led the way. They weren’t too far from her home. So it was not a long walk back to the apartment. On the way she shared some idle banter with Qelu.

As she had thought, it didn’t take long to reach the apartment, and there was little in the way of distractions given the hour. With fewer Iniri around, leading poor young girls off to new lives. Not many couriers could be seen running around either. Unlike many larger cities, the capital actually quieted down during the night. Kiru idly recalled it wasn’t always like that, but perhaps the Iniri had something to do with that.

Thoughts on that didn’t stay with her long, as they entered the apartment. Where they found both Qei, and May relaxing nude in their seats, while another Iniri was facing them. May noted them first, “Hey, Kiru! Welcome back!” The look on May’s face didn’t escape Kiru’s notice. She knew she would be answering questions later. She did not look forward to it. Although from the looks of things, it seemed she wasn’t alone. Remembering an earlier text, she had a feeling that the other Iniri was the source of Qei’s call for help.

The Iniri girl turned to face the door, then gave Qei a look, her face smiling, “So, this is the person who had you so worried, isn’t it! Why didn’t you tell me that it was your sister that had you worried?”

Qei turned red a little and looked away. She said nothing though. While the Iniri girl stood up, and then glanced at Qelu. She smiled, “I’m Zalla, and you two are?”

They kept it short and gave only their names. Zalla giggled, “I’m not here to take your pet from you, if that is what has you worried. In fact I was just about to leave anyway.”

She turned, looking right at Qei and said, “I’ll be back tomorrow. We can continue our discussion then. In the meantime, I suspect that you and your sister have some catching up to do.”

Zalla slipped past them, and out the door. As soon as the door shut, Qelu seemed to relax. Kiru felt some tension leave the room, and realized that everyone had been tense around Zalla. Including her new ‘boss.’ What followed however was an awkward silence as nobody quite knew what to say.

Finally May broke the ice. “So I take it the reason we didn’t see you last night is the young, uh, lady next to you. Right?”

Kiru sighed. She couldn’t avoid telling them that story much longer now could she. Especially not after bringing Qelu home. She made for a seat and slumped down, “Yes. Meet Qelu, my new uh, ‘boss...’

Before she knew it, Kiru was telling the story of how Qelu came across her during her shift at the diner, and what happened. She tried to hide how she felt about everything that happened. The others seemed to pick up on it though. Thankfully they weren’t teasing her about agreeing to a job that required being naked, yet. She knew they were going to do that eventually.

Qelu took the time they were talking to explore the apartment, and respectfully let them catch up. Although the moment they were done, she spoke up, “Rather, um, sparse place you three have. Kiru did say you arrived recently, but I thought you might have personalized it more.”

Kiru sighed, “We didn’t have a lot to bring with us.”

Qei nodded. While May interjected, “What we couldn’t take is being held in storage. We were waiting until we all had jobs to call for it.”

“I see.” She looked between them, and then inquired about their jobs.

Qelu shook her head with a wry grin. “You three aren’t very good at the whole job hunting thing now, are you? I know for a fact that there are plenty of better jobs in the city.” Then she focused on May, “And how the hell are you jobless? Both of your sisters at least got one.”

May with a wry look said, “I’m still weighing my options.”

Qelu replied, “Well maybe I can help! Even better I know jobs that won’t require stupid clothes.”

May chuckled, “Um, thanks for the offer. I think I can manage on my own.”

Qelu stared at her face for a moment or two, then replied, “suit yourself, but if you change your mind you will know where to find me.” Then she looked at Kiru, “So which room is yours?”

Kiru silently messaged the others, and then smiled, “I’ll show you.”

Qelu looked around the room. Her gaze then noted the weapon Kiru had left sitting on the desk. She frowned, “Why do you have a plasma pistol?”

She replied quickly, “It was my service weapon. I’d tried being in the military, but it didn’t work out.”

Qelu’s expression changed, and she with a very worried sounding tone asked, “You were in the military? By any chance were you an officer?”

Kiru lied, “I left as an ensign, why sound so worried?”

Qelu sighed with clear relief. “That is good, for a moment there, I thought you might have been sterilized.”

That statement piqued her interest. Kiru had been wondering why she had previously been sterilized. Megumi had corrected that, but she wondered why that was the case. She asked.

Qelu shifted her tentacles in an approximation of a shrug. “I don’t really know. All I know is that higher-ranking officers are sterilized. They never told me why.”

“Why not?”

Qelu walked over to the bed, and replied, “Honestly, because officers don’t frequent the areas I am supposed to keep an eye on. Most of them stick near the base. Although some do occasionally come out this way to visit family. In fact, that plays into how I found out about the whole sterilizing officers thing. Last year, I came across an officer visiting her family during an inspection.”

Kiru frowned, “That is strange. Any idea why?”

Qelu did the shrugging thing again. As she settled onto the bed. “Honestly, no. I don’t know why they are doing it. Anyway, can we talk about something else? I don’t like thinking about those poor women.”

Kiru nodded, “We can. Would you like to stay the night? I don’t have much, but I think we can make it a fun stay.”

Qelu smiled, “YES!”

Apparently getting her to stay was actually going to be easier than she had thought. She quickly set aside the questions raised by the recent conversation, and focused on entertaining her guest. While she was also updating Megumi on her progress, who told her that a shuttle would be there in an hour. That meant she only had to entertain her for an hour, and she thought of something. She had some cards in her bag, and she felt that a card game might be fun.

“How about a card game while we wait for dinner? By now Qei has started cooking, and she will let us know when it is done.”

Qelu nodded, “Sounds fun!

Kiru went ahead and pulled out the cards. She had not brought any of the games Megumi had introduced her to, but instead had the ship print her a copy of a basic Neku card deck. The kind she grew up with. She figured it would raise fewer questions if anyone saw it. Now she was glad she did. As it also opened up some options right here. As she pulled them out of her bag, she was careful not to let Qelu see the harder-to-explain items, like the grenades. The gun had been one thing, but explaining why she had a bag full of grenades would not have been as easy. Especially since she brought those thinking she might need one to stun a room. In the end, it turned out that her most useful tool for capturing an Iniri specimen for Megumi was neither the pistol nor the grenades she had thought she would need. No, it turned out to be a simple deck of cards. Who would have guessed? Certainly not her.

Showing Qelu her deck she asked, “So what game do you want to play?”