Anti-antithesis

Company get-togethers are one of two things, yet they always devolve into the same ending. Either it's a way for the higher ups to threaten their underlings while sucking their own dicks and praising each other, or their smaller affairs with actually close teams celebrating a milestone.

They all end up with everyone shit faced and hating everyone in the room. And don't get me started on corporate family gatherings. At least three assassins are hired by the end of those.

-Vanguard Red Menace during a mukbang stream.

Harmony

Getting picked up in an armored limousine was a lovely experience, as it gave me time to go over everyone's dress once more, not to mention how comfortable the vehicle itself was. We were about to meet our colleagues in arms and our boss’s family, after all. First impressions were important.

Bubie was wearing a black tux, of course. She said she couldn't stand wearing a skirt, but I had to admit, she looked dashing. Penny was still in her turtle neck sweater and skirt, and I couldn't do anything to persuade her otherwise, nor would I want to, as it was a chore to get her here to begin with. She did let me comb and braid her very frizzy ginger hair, though.

Desiree and I wore matching mermaid style dresses, hers in light green, mine in dark green, with matching emerald accessories. I was letting my hair grow out some, while Desiree was able to start making cornrows with hers. We tried to do it ourselves, but gave up after the third rubber band snapped into her head. Adie took over from there, and they looked really good now.

And Daliah wore something modest, at least for her. Long, bicep length red gloves, a shimmering red halter style dress with a modest V, and a thin red veil covering her eyes. She looked extremely amused by something, but none of us chose to ask.

Entering Saint Wa- Victor's home was an experience. The garage was filled with a mixture of smaller, personal vehicles, as well as fifteen heavily armed blue shuttles. Bubie whistled at them as we walked past. Entering his home proper was a treat, however.

Plants covered the room, with flower bushes and trees creating a space more akin to a private garden rather than a living room. The smell of cooked meats and baked goods filled the air, and I saw all of the synthetic commanders milling about with a few human ones.

Strangely, only one of the synthetic ones, Rogal I think, was still in his normal power armor. Everyone else was in semi-formal attire of blacks and blues and had started to mingle.

Mr.Optics was waiting for us, it seemed, as he was right next to the door as we entered. He smiled brightly, yet a small blush formed as he saw us. “Good evening, ladies.” He said. “And thank you for accepting Babushka's invitation for this gathering.”

Desiree giggled at Mr.Optics’ attempt to sound professional while I simply smiled. “Thank you for your hospitality, Mr.Optics.”

I saw his face scrunch up in the exact same way Saint Victor's had when I addressed him. “Don't call me by my last name.” He said with a heavy tone. “It would be for the best if you never use that name here.”

His tone caught all of us off guard, and it must have shone, since he exhaled heavily. “Sorry. It's a sore subject, but we have to keep the last names for legal reasons, and a more personal one. Just refer to me and my siblings by our first names. You can add the mister or miss part if you want, but… don't use that name.”

His face had fallen, expressing a deep sorrow about something I had no knowledge of. Desiree stepped up to him and gave him a hug, which caused him to stiffen, not expecting the display of sympathy. It took a few seconds before he relaxed into her hug. When Desiree pulled back, I could see Mr.Cody's eyes were slightly red, but he smiled softly.

He cleared his throat. “Hmm. Let's head in, then.” He smirked. “Cari is making Vic do an opening speech.”

We joined the others, taking a seat at a table near their kitchen. I took a quick glance inside and saw a bunch of mannequins like Adie, though without holo faces.

Before I could get a grasp on who was here, the lights dimmed as a spotlight shined on our host. He was in the same thing from his press conference, but without the barrett. To his left was Ms.Mikosano in a striking long sleeve, light purple backless dress. She was smiling, not a polite smile, but one similar to how I felt when I teased Penny.

I saw him mumble something shortly before his voice sounded from some hidden speakers in the area. “Evening, everyone. Ah, thanks for coming to this.. company dinner.” his face contorted slightly at that, causing a round of chuckles from everyone. “This was an impromptu thing that Baba Yaga sprung on us, yet knowing her, she had this planned for a few days. But I digress. With us here today are the Company Commanders from the Monster Box PMC, representatives from The Niltmore, The Lower Six, and their Customer Support Department, as well as my family. I hope that by the end of the night, while I don't expect us to be the staunchest of allies who would take a bullet for each other, I do hope that a sense of comradery settles amongst us.”

A small silence filled the air before Ms.Mikosano giggled slightly. “Well said, love. Though, you did forget the most crucial part of an opening speech for an event like this.” She turned towards Babushka. “Could you please roll out the food, Babushka? The smells have been driving me crazy since noon.”

After another round of laughter, table after table of food started rolling out from the kitchen. Roasts, mini burgers, pastas, soups, various muffins and cakes, I was shocked by the sheer variety of foods, as well as the quantity. This amount of food looked similar to what Adie cooked when we had sixty or more over, not thirty. I could see a few others also looking shocked, but three of the people from the PMC looked excited as they made their way quickly to the tables. Bubie joined them as well.

I simply giggled as the rest of us started to mingle and grab plates. I had intended to go and talk with the extremely tired looking woman, but the moment I took a bite of the pasta, my body made it known that that plan was delayed as a hunger enveloped me.

I remembered going for my third plate when I saw most everyone else doing the same. And I could not blame them, as the food was addictively good.

By time the hunger had subsided, I noticed a notification on my augs.

[Babushka to all: The food has been designed to accelerate the growth of everyone present, whether that means the viral editing, healing old wounds, or adapting to new cyberware.]

I chuckled as I saw a few embarrassed faces here or there, but I also didn't feel bloated, so I guess my virals needed the extra boost.

Like an unheard bell, a majority of the guests stood up and moved to mingle with each other. I moved to the tired woman, but I saw she was fully unconscious, with a mannequin arriving to carry her to a resting room.

I changed targets to the otherworldly beauty and the dragon person, while Penny was doing her best to act as my shadow. It didn't work, her tits were wider than I was.

The conversation was enlightening, to say the least. The woman, Outsider, was basically Victor's secretary and eyes, doing what she could to help him. She was proud of the fact that she was able to sway his goals in Japan from annihilating a family to diplomacy. A very concerning statement that I did not follow up on.

However, since he didn't do a lot of public activities, she had relegated herself to assisting Mr.Roger and his current project, Real Dreams. That was a lot of information to process, though the thought of going to Japan for a trip with the girls did sound lovely.

Outsider smiled at me as I was wistfully thinking of a vacation while drinking my whisky sour. “It would be simple to allow you to join us.”

That caught me off guard. “What do you mean?” I asked skeptically. “While the work I do might not be critical, the others have to be there to do things. I can't take the entire hotel to Japan on a whim…” Her gaze made me doubt that.

“Considering the trip is in two months, it would be a simple matter to make temporary engrams of your employees and upload them to-”

The dragon, Bahamut, raised his hand. “Outsider, not everyone would be amenable to such a procedure.” He turned to me as I felt my panic attack that was raising slowed. I could feel Penny press into my side as well.

“Yeah, I don't think anyone at the hotel would be up to anything involving the brain.” I said slowly, feeling Penny nod into my shoulder

“An understandable concern.” Bahamut noted. “If it is a few of you, however, we could simply have a few mannequins carry screens for you to interact through. No new implants, simply a very secure connection and your augs.”

That did sound better. And doable, even. We spent some time discussing how many could go, the logistics of the time away, Penny even worked up the nerve, or got tipsy enough, to ask about an extended, shared bedroom for the trip over.

The rest of the night was pleasant, as well. I got to speak with Morrigan and thank her for her wonderful designs, which caused her to laugh in pride. Bubie had fun with the other military types, she even got to arm wrestle Leman. She lost, but she had a blast.

Daliah had, at some point, ended up hooked around Mr. Roger's arm, which I was not surprised about. Another of Mr.Cody's family members, a woman named Jill, had attempted to flirt with Penny, which went well, even! Well, not her words, she was atrocious at trying to be suave, but it was doing something for Penny.

She was a bit tipsy, Penny was as well, they were both staring intensely at each other. I was even about to encourage them to have fun! But then Penny said she would only be interested if she could have me and Desiree join, and that seemed to… scare Jill?

She mumbled about how that was too many people at once, which caused Penny to retreat behind me again. I just sighed, heavily, as Ms.Jill ran away. Like, full on near sprinted out of the hall. I saw a few eyes glance over, but no one moved to do anything, so I turned around and hugged Penny. “Girl, you were both obviously into each other. And it was obvious that she was so inexperienced. You heard her flirt. It was terrible.”

Penny nodded into my chest, giggling. “I know, but… I don't know if I could fall asleep without at least two others there.”

I rolled my eyes at her as I placed my hands on her shoulders, man handling her until I could look her in her eyes. “Bitch, you and I both know you're afraid to scare her off. Damn wolf in sheep's clothing. Plus, it's a work party! It's not like anyone but Daliah is looking to form life long bonds.”

She blushed super hard as she ducked her face into her turtle neck. I chuckled as I waved over Morrigan, who skipped over smiling. “And what can I do for you, Harmony?”

I shoved Penny towards her. “Mind taking this one to Ms.Jill? She's nervous and scared her off, but I know we shouldn't allow things to end like this. For Ms.Jill's sake, at least.”

Morrigan's smile widened. “Of course! She's in my lab right now, which isn't a place for those activities.” She wiggled her eyebrows at us, causing me to snort a laugh. “So, I'll do you one better. Jill wants to go over some things, so we do that. I get her a bit more drunk, and Penny here swoops in and escorts her to her room.”

Penny moved to protest, but I just placed a kiss on her lips, shutting her up. I gave a thumbs up to Morrigan, who cackled as she dragged Penny away.

The rest of the night went well, and as Desiree and I retired in a guest room, with Daliah and Bubie having found other partners to sleep with, I relished in the fact that I don't have to have sex tonight, as we were both too tired to try.

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