Chapter 212: Interlude 48 – Off The Record

=::= Cassandra's PoV =::=

"This looks like a good spot," Kaylee commented as she gestured towards a picnic table. "Want to wait here?"

I nodded, "Yeah this works."

The two of us sat down next to each other as we looked around the park. We were at the north end, near a thick line of trees that stretched along from the north-west corner down towards the south-east. There were some baseball diamonds and even tennis courts to the south of us, but nobody was using them at the moment. And if anyone did show up and start playing while we were there, the activity would be far enough away that they probably wouldn't interfere with our meeting.

"Do you think they'll be on time?" the small kitsune asked, as her tails slowly swayed from side to side behind her.

I nodded again, "Probably. They seemed pretty interested, especially after I sent them that clip of Nahuel talking about the council's history."

Kaylee grinned as her tails twitched, "Those body-cams were a good idea. I'm glad you got a replacement for yesterday's field trip."

"Except I thought that would be a lot more exciting," she added with a frown. "Not that it wasn't fun, and there was some excitement at the beginning? But after that it got kind of boring."

Yesterday was Monday and the two of us skipped school and visited the council instead. We spent a few hours exploring the big renaissance mansion they used as their headquarters, then I was up most of the night reviewing all the data we'd copied and the video captured by our body-cams. I needed to figure out what was suitable for public release, what we'd share with the rest of Club Luna, and what would remain private.

Now it was Tuesday afternoon, nearly half past four back home, or half past three here. Kaylee and Cass and I were all back at school today, but once classes were over we teleported into a park in a suburb just north of Chicago. I'd arranged a meeting, so I could hand over the data I wanted released to the public.

"Here they come," Kaylee suddenly whispered. Her tails twitched around in irritation as she frowned, "And of course they're recording everything. Didn't you tell them you didn't want us on camera?"

"I did," I responded as I looked over at the three figures approaching us across one of the baseball diamonds. And to be fair they weren't actually pointing cameras at us yet. The camera girl was mainly just recording her two companions as they made their way through the park.

The petite busty catgirl on the left probably stood no more than five feet tall. Her hair was colourful, random streaks of black white brown and orange, and trimmed in a cute pixie cut. Her feline ears had matching calico colours, as did her long sleek tail. She had a cute rounded face with a little button nose, and she didn't appear to have any make-up on her fair skin. She was dressed in blue jeans and a tight green hoodie that did nothing to hide her curves, and had running shoes on her feet.

The catgirl on the right was tall and slim, standing at least five-foot-ten. Her long silky smooth black hair hung part-way down her back, and ontop of her head were two black tufted feline ears. Her tail was black too, with long floofy fur. She had a sultry, almost exotic look to her, that was enhanced by her tanned olive complexion and her dark eyes. She appeared to be wearing make-up as well, some eye-shadow eye-liner and dark lipstick all helped to make her look even more alluring. Her clothes were a little more stylish too, she wore tight black slacks and a sleek black autumn jacket. And the black ankle-boots on her feet probably contributed an inch or two to her height.

A little ways off to the side was their human camera girl. At about five-foot-five she was right in between the two catgirls in terms of height. Her short red hair was kind of messy, and her fair skin carried a light dusting of freckles across her cheeks. The only make-up I could see was some red lipstick, and she was wearing a cute pair of glasses. She was dressed more like the shorter catgirl, in blue jeans, sneakers, and an over-sized grey hoodie. Finally she had a small purple camera bag hanging from one shoulder.

As we watched the three of them I mentioned softly, "I also told them if we did happen to appear on camera that we'd be blurred out. So don't be upset if they try and get pictures of us after all."

"Ok," Kaylee nodded.

It was only another couple seconds before they reached us. The cute redhead stood a few meters off to the side and was holding her camera mostly aimed towards the catgirls, but if she was using a wide-angle lens then both Kaylee and I would be in that shot as well.

The shorter catgirl with the calico colours asked us, "Which of you is Kid Chaos?"

"That would be me," I replied. I slipped an arm around Kaylee's shoulders as I added, "And this is my girlfriend, but we won't be mentioning our real names."

Then I nodded towards their camera girl as I continued, "And like I told you in my email, we don't want to appear on camera. Or if we do, our images will be blurred out."

The taller catgirl with the long black hair nodded, "Understood and agreed. Bailey knows her stuff, she'll be careful with the camera angles. And she can blur the images in post if necessary."

At that point the redhead looked up from her camera and stated with a grimace, "I have no idea how they're doing it, but the two of them are already blurred out. Like I mean it's happening in real-time, the two of them are blurry? It should be impossible."

That actually put a smile on the calico catgirl's face, while her tail swished back and forth behind her.

"Amazing," she said as she moved forward and took a seat at the picnic table across from me.

The tall ravenette catgirl sat down facing Kaylee and asked, "I have a question about obscuring your images? We've got footage we grabbed off social media of you two at a car accident from late last week. Can we use that unblurred, seeing as it's already out there on the internet?"

I replied smoothly, "Not if you plan on linking it to us or this meeting."

Both catgirls seemed disappointed at that, their ears and tails all drooped a bit, but neither of them tried to argue.

Then the shorter calico perked up again, ears and tail standing up as she began talking. "So I'm sure you already know who we are, but my name is Callie Wilson."

The taller one took over, as her own ears perked up as well. "And I'm Serenity Varela. And we're here for Really Strange Stuff."

By that point it was obvious they weren't introducing themselves to me and Kaylee, they were doing their bit for the camera. Callie turned to face their camera girl and announced with a wide smile, "We've come to Willow Park in Northfield Illinois to meet with none other than Kid Chaos herself!"

"That's right Callie," Serenity took over, "Kid Chaos is the mysterious and elusive source of those enchanted plushies that transformed the two of us during our October live stream. She and her girlfriend are here right now, for an exclusive interview."

Bailey shifted her camera angle slightly so Kaylee and I were definitely in the shot again, but like she already observed our images were being blurred in real-time.

Meanwhile the calico catgirl continued, "One of the terms of the interview was that our guests' identities would be protected, so unfortunately we can't share what they really look like. And we won't be using their real names either. But I have a feeling we're still in for a heck of a show here folks."

"Except that we never actually agreed to an interview," I pointed out. "We wanted to meet in person to talk about an exclusive story for your show."

Callie gave me a hopeful smile while her ears pointed forward and her tail stood up straight behind her, "Aww c'mon Kid Chaos, you can't come all this way to meet us in person and not expect us to want to do an interview!"

I was still reluctant, and they could obviously see that in my expression.

Then Serenity tilted her head slightly and asked, "How about we just talk about this exclusive story then? But with the camera rolling, so we get some behind-the-scenes footage?"

I sighed, "Fine. Just be aware, if my girlfriend and I feel like you're pushing our boundaries we will cut this short."

"Agreed," Callie stated with another wide smile as her ears and tail stood straight up again. "So tell us about this exclusive story."

Serenity added, "What sort of Really Strange Stuff have you got for us?"

"You've both seen that clip I emailed you on Sunday?" I asked.

The calico catgirl nodded as her tail twitched around, "We sure have. And honestly we're pretty excited about it. I hope you've got more where that came from?"

"A lot more," I replied. "Yesterday my girlfriend and I visited the council's headquarters. We made sure to record our experiences there, and we also collected some information that I'm going to share with you, so you can disseminate it to your viewers and the public at large."

Serenity looked over at the camera and with her ears folded back and her tail down she stated, "The 'Council' is apparently some sort of secret society, sworn to keep magic and the supernatural hidden from the general public. These people have pretty much the exact opposite mission statement compared to what we do here at Really Strange Stuff."

While the tall ravenette catgirl was talking I reached into my hoodie pocket then pulled out a portable solid state backup drive.

You are reading story Club Luna at novel35.com

I placed it on the picnic table in front of the two podcasters and told them, "I'm sure you'll find plenty of interesting information on here, including records and archives from their database. There's also lots of video that you're welcome to use on your show, including a couple confessions from some of the council's board of directors."

That put another big smile on Callie's face, the calico's tail was swishing around wildly behind her. Meanwhile Serenity was a bit more reserved, although her ears and tail showed she was definitely excited. She managed to keep a level tone as she asked, "Was this obtained legally? Or did you hack their computers or something?"

"We didn't hack anything," I responded calmly. "As I said, my girlfriend and I visited them in person yesterday. They stood by and watched as we accessed their records and transferred all the data we wanted. They even provided me with passwords and PIN numbers where required."

Needless to say I didn't bother to mention that the PINs and passwords weren't provided willingly, or even knowingly. All that information came from reading the minds of various council staff. On the other hand their security chief was there with us the whole time, and he did instruct people not to resist us or try and stop us.

The calico continued to grin as she stated, "Awesome. So where abouts is their headquarters? Anywhere near here?"

"No," I shook my head. "The address is included in the data on that drive, but basically it's about thirty kilometres east of Madrid."

Kaylee chimed in, "It's actually a pretty nice place. The council's headquarters is in an old renaissance mansion, and the local area was nice too."

"Too bad it's so far away," I added with a smile. "I have a feeling that property will be coming on the market soon, along with several other pieces of choice real estate in their possession."

The catgirls exchanged a surprised look, then Serenity asked "You were in Spain yesterday? I'm guessing you took an overnight flight from Madrid to O'Hare to meet with us here today? How long are you going to be in town?"

"Can we get you on a live stream?" Callie added with a hopeful smile. "Later tonight, or tomorrow maybe?"

I shook my head again, "Sorry but no. As soon as we're finished here we'll be heading back home again."

Serenity asked, "Can we offer you a drive to the airport then?"

"We're not flying," I stated. "And it feels like the conversation has veered off topic, so I think perhaps it's time my girlfriend and I got going."

As I stood up I gestured towards the backup drive on the picnic table, "You should find everything you need on there, but if you have any questions just email me or send me a private message."

Kaylee got to her feet as well, while her tails twitched around in irritation. Meanwhile the two podcasters seemed almost panicked that I was ending the meeting so soon. Both of them had their ears back and their tails were twitching around excitedly.

"Wait!" Callie exclaimed. "Can you at least tell us who you are? Or what you are? How are you able to do all this stuff? And why do you do it? The enchanted plushies, this council business, what we saw you do at that car accident?"

I sighed, then glanced over at Bailey who was still pointing her camera at the four of us. I looked back at the catgirls again and said, "Off the record. Stop filming, and cut the audio recording too."

The two cohosts exchanged another look, this time their ears and tails were all drooping. Then Callie made a 'kill' gesture to their camera girl, who stopped videoing the scene and lowered her camera. After that the calico catgirl pulled an audio recorder from her hoodie pocket and turned it off.

"How'd you know I was recording audio separately?" she asked, after the device was switched off.

"I took a look inside your minds," I answered calmly. "All three of you, to make sure there weren't any hidden cameras or other recording devices. As for what I am..."

At that point I let just enough of my divinity out that they could all feel it. The two catgirls' ears folded back and their tails puffed out as they tucked down between their legs, while all three of the RSS crew stared at me with wide eyes.

"I am the goddess of chaos," I stated calmly. "I'm not ready to go public with my identity or motivations yet, which is why this is off the record."

I continued, "My goal is to spread chaos and stir things up, but I generally avoid harming people. I prefer to make people happy. I'm also a supporter of queer people in general and trans folks specifically, which is why I mostly distribute those plush toys through trans spaces online."

"The council wanted to stop me," I added with a frown. "I gave them a chance to walk away, and instead they tried to kill my friends and family. That 'accident' last Friday was one of their schemes. So I shut them down, and now I want you to expose them to the world."

Once I was done I pulled that sliver of divinity back inside again, but the RSS crew continued to stare at me in shock or awe for another half minute or so. In the end it was the camera girl who responded first.

Bailey gulped as she mumbled, "A real live goddess... Wow."

"Holy hell," Callie finally stated. "That's amazing."

Serenity asked my girlfriend, "Are you a goddess too?"

"Nah," Kaylee replied with a grin. "I'm actually a demon."

As soon as my girlfriend said it the whole RSS crew suddenly looked scared of her.

I told them, "Don't worry, she isn't going to hurt you. I can't vouch for every demon in the world, but all the ones I've met have been good people. I promise, their dangerous reputation is entirely undeserved."

"Kid Chaos is right," the little demonic kitsune agreed. Then her tails swished around and a mischievous grin settled on her face as she added, "Gods and angels are the ones you really need to watch out for."

It was clear from their expressions that the three mortals really had no idea how to respond to any of that. They all sort of glanced back and forth at each other as if wondering what to say or how to react.

This time it was Callie who spoke up. She looked at me and almost pleaded, "Are you sure we can't use any of this? Can we please get a proper interview with you two? This is amazing stuff, it's better than gold! Honestly I'd do almost anything to get a real live goddess and demon on our show!"

I rolled my eyes and pointed out, "That is exactly the sort of thoughtless comment that unscrupulous supernaturals would use against you."

The calico catgirl blushed and cringed, "Sorry. It's just an opportunity I can't pass up."

Before I could turn her down it occured to me how Sasha and I could potentially use the RSS team. Having some media-savvy people on our side would certainly help when the time came.

So I told Callie, "Not today. I'm not prepared to go public yet, but when I'm ready I'll contact the three of you and we can arrange an interview."

The shorter catgirl's eyes lit up while her tail and ears all pointed upwards in excitement.

"Oh wow," Serenity commented quietly as something just occured to her. Her eyes widened as she looked at me, "You're a goddess, and you're also one of our RSS subscribers. We've literally got divine backing!"

That almost made me smile. Instead I commented calmly, "Perhaps we can make that arrangement a little more meaningful in the future. But for now I think it's time my girlfriend and I headed home."

"How?" Bailey asked. "You said you're not flying, will it be something magical? And can I record it?"

I sighed, "Fine, but we'll be blurred out again."

The camera girl scrambled to start videoing again as she quickly got Kaylee and I in frame. Then the two of us teleported ourselves home, in front of the two podcaster catgirls and their human girlfriend.