Maybe We Should Have Rescheduled

Chloe was having a busy day.

In the morning, she had an appointment to magically change her sex.The process took a lot out of her, which was unusual according to the person she had doing this to her, but all in all she felt it was worth it. Her body was finally the way she wanted.

Now came lunch time. She was meeting up with Cylthic for their monthly-ish discussion about his cult. She wanted to keep a close eye on it, just so she could know when to stop reaping the benefits of their relationship and viciously crush his whole operation underfoot.

Chloe had arrived early to the small cafe where they would be having their discussion. She was sitting at a table for two in full view of the restaurant's entrance. She had her food already by the time Cylthic got there. Tomato soup, caesar salad, iced latte, and a muffin, each of which was partially consumed. She'd give him a friendly wave as he walked in the door. It would have been harder to pretend she was his friend on an empty stomach.

@Arcadia

"Aren't they one and the same?" Chloe joked. When you're in the business of ending the world, your good news is everyone else's bad news and vice-versa.

She ate a spoonful of soup, observing him. He never seemed happy at these meetings. He could at least try to act pleasant. The boy had absolutely no charisma. If he didn't have that crutch of a mind control power, she thought, he might just be worthless as a cult leader.

But she didn't know the full extent of his powers. She even had to go to hell to talk to her father about Cylthic and his father, just to make sure they couldn't hear. This was not someone to take too lightly.

"Let's hear the good news," she said.

"I'm honored that you think so highly of me," she smirked. "But I have other obligations."

Chloe chewed on a crouton, thinking. Becoming his high priestess would be a great opportunity if she wanted to destroy him, but it was probably too risky. A high priestess probably needed to be enthralled by his power, then possibly subjected to some even more terrible sort of corruption.

She'd pass.

"So, tell me more about those other 'little projects.' Anything your landlords would need to know about?" She was talking about her father and herself. "We don't want any legal trouble if we can avoid it."

Chloe was silent for a moment. She had stopped eating. All the pretense and niceties had evaporated from her, and she stared at him intensely.

"They're all consenting to go through these things, right? I'm assuming these are people in your organization, not randos you're grabbing off the street. And you're sticking to the ones without many family ties or outside obligations for your selection. Right?"

Chloe could only imagine the utility of these experiments, but the risks involved for his organization and herself were considerable.

Chloe's intensity gave way to a deliberate disinterest. "Okay, then," Chloe said with a shrug. "I just didn't know you well enough to assume you were competent. No offense."

She took a sip of iced latte. "Do you want anything while we're here? I'm paying."