Edward Mancer leaned back at his desk, feet kicked up on a ‘spare’ computer case. His position as a mid-level marketing executive at Earth Genomics could afford him an actual footstool, but he liked using the computer case for another reason: it was a good place to stash some of the archive files from Project Hybreed for ‘personal research.’

Many of his clients were non-humans interested in the relative malleability of the human genome as it related to the possibility of interspecies procreation. The bulk of that sort of client were scientists of one stripe or another, interested in theoretical exercises, sterile lab environments, and tubes or vials of one sort or another, with a leavening of bureaucrats acting on behalf of a governmental health organization.

There were a small subset of clients that were not interested in humans due to the various qualities of the human genome. They were interested in the willingness of some humans to try just about anything in the bedroom. Project Hybreed drew a lot of those sort of humans. It was up to Edward Mancer, or more accurately his staff (most of the time), to pair human contractors with clients.

Edward had to fight back a smirk as he considered the implications of his position in that light. Irrespective of his official title, he was in effect Project Hybreed’s pimp, getting paid by both the humans contractors and the non-human clients to organise all of the medical, background, and medical background checks. The ones for STDs, both of human and non-human origin were expected by all involved, but the ones on capacity, lubrication, orgasmic potential, endurance, and a few others still bounced people, contractor and client, from time to time. And of course, Project Hybreed did offer discreet facilities, for the appropriate fee.

Edward flicked through a few memos on his official workstation while he waited for one of his clients to show up for a meeting. A few of his staff knew his tastes and kinks and they all had their own personal ones, most of which were part of their official employee files. He tapped on a memo from one of his contractors.

Got another hot file for you E.M. A Hextaur dom and three subs, cock worship with extra teasing and splatter. Consent forms (recording inc. ofc!) and the all-angle trivid. Folder H1D_T3S_11_11_4381 in the usual place. Not your usual fodder, I know, but R.W. wanted a copy next time I got ahold of this client, and I lost her contact info. Would you mind forwarding it to her for me? Thanks!

B.Z.

Edward had to roll his eyes. ‘Breezy’ was a notorious flake when it came to her contacts folder, but she was a good contractor, and he did owe her one for that sarai oil pit trivid. He tapped out a reply to Breezy, included ‘R.W.’s contact information, and checked the clock. His twelve-thirty clients were late for their meeting, but he wouldn’t be surprised if the medical checks were throwing them for a loop, given that they were first time users of Project Hybreed’s services. He started to pull up another memo when his communicator buzzed. The caller ID was his secretary, so Edwards hit accept. “Edward here, go ahead Nancy.”

“Sorry to bother you mr. Mancer, thought you’d want to know that the twelve-thirty meeting just got canceled. One of the prospective clients tripped a background check alert.”

“Oh? Which one Nancy? I had thought that the Galoteans were on the up-and-up.”

“Slaver, if you can believe it. InterGal Police already nabbed it, and filed the paperwork to pay for trashing one of the waiting rooms with cryolator discharge.”

“Thanks for telling me, but why the call and not a memo? Did something come up?”

“Of a sort. I could move your fourteen hundred meeting up to fill the space, but it's the arachinaye maiden and I thought you could use a heads up.”

“Drider. Great. Is the thirteen hundred appointment spot still clear?”

“Yes mr. Mancer, it is. Would you prefer the maiden came then?”

“No, better to get it over with if she can come at twelve-thirty, before I get the heebie-jeebies too bad.”

“I’ll buy you a few minutes while I call her over.”

“Thanks Nancy.” Edward pulled open a desk drawer and eyed the flask it contained before closing the drawer again. ‘Liquid Courage’ would be nice about now, but a clear head would be better.

Shortly there was a respectful tap tap tap on Edwards door. Edward gave a quick shudder, then made damn sure that nothing inappropriate was visible on his desktop, checked his notes on the client, and fixed his professional smile in place. “Come on in lady Theridiidae!”

The door eased open and the arachinaye maiden tip-clawed her way in, “thank you for seeing me mr. Mancer. The services of Project Hybreed, and your division in particular, came highly recommended by a mutual friend.”

“Oh? I hadn’t realised that my name or reputation had spread that far.”

“She did say that she hadn’t met you in person, though she would like to. Instead, she said you might recall her as the sarai with the long tongue and blue bush, whatever that means.

Edward nearly flushed crimson. He knew exactly who lady Theridiidae was talking about: one of the sarai in the oil pit trivid. “Oh? OH! Yes, I do recall her. I’ll be sure to send her a note later, thank you for reminding me. Now, what can I help you with today?”

Lady Theridiidae folded her eight legs neatly underneath herself, perching her abdomen on one of the backless chairs in front of Edward’s desk. “Well, as your medical people have no doubt informed you, I am still technically a maiden, and I would rather lose my maidenhood with a human than with one of my own kind. Silly sounding, I know, but there are things soft fingers can do that citin and claw cannot.”

Edward scratched his chin in a blatant ‘I’m thinking’ gesture. In reality it was to buy him time to study lady Theridiidae. Now that her lower abdomen (and all six of her eight legs) were out of sight behind the desk, she looked rather nice. Black chitin-skin, offset by a white-silk dress of sorts. Probably spun form hew own silk, if tradition held. “I think I have a few contractors on file that may suit your needs. Let’s see if we can narrow it down some. Male, female, both, neither?”

“Female, please, though one with an extra bit instead of a toy for the act itself would be appreciated.”

“Xenophilia is a given, but are there any other kinks that I should consider? Ovioposition, bondage, breeding, something else...?”

Lady Theridiidae’s skin went several shades of purple, “no, just experience and tenderness. And discretion, of course.”

“The last is a given for Project Hybreed. I have a few contractors in mind, but I’ll need to double-check the files for ladies with an extra bit. Would you mind leaving some contact information with my secretary so I can forward you their information?”

“Not at all. And thank you mr. Mancer.”

“My pleasure lady Theridiidae.”

She tip-clawed out the door and Edward let out a huge sigh of relief.

Nancy Collins watched the beautiful lady Theridiidae tip-claw back out of mr. Mancer’s office and close the door. She made sure that her personal (non-company) noise canceling device was on, muting the microphone she knew was attached to the camera in the corner. “No firm commitment huh? My apologies lady Theridiidae.”

“Oh please Nancy, he *did* blush when I mentioned the sarai lady. And I could tell he was put off by the legs, most humans are.”

“Not all of us, I assure you. Did you want to leave contact information in case we do find a match for you?”

“Yes, but I don’t expect one. Not many human women have the extra bit I’d really like.”

Nancy’s ‘extra bit’ nearly thumped against the bottom of the desk. She had hoped, but had not dared to voice her hope, “oh? I know there is at least one on file with a preference for arachinaye.”

“Oh? Who? Or do you not give out names?”

“Well… I’m not supposed to give out other people’s information like that, but I think I can get you her number.”

“Ohho? When do you get off work?”

“Not for a few hours yet, unfortunately. Here, fill this out for the official paperwork please, I’ll add my number to the back of the business card. You’re staying at the Casablanca hotel?”

“Yes, but I’m sure the rooms are bugged, either by the hotel or by one of the janitors, and I want my first time to be a little more private, y’know?”

“Hmm, I think I know a place…”

“Yours?”

“Why not? So long as it’s after working hours…”

“Hmm, and you think you’ve got the ‘tool’ to do the job?”

“Lady Theridiidae, if there wasn’t a camera in the corner, I’d come out from behind this desk and prove I’ve got the tool for the job. As it is, I’ll be having to deal with a hard issue for the rest of the day.”

“Oh my. Pass me your address with your number, and I’ll see about meeting you after work. I’ll need to re-spin this dress into something a bit more… revealing for you.”

“Done and done. Here you go lady Theridiidae, and I’ll be seeing you later.”

Edward Mancer leaned back with a satisfied smile on his face. He didn’t have any contractors available that would fit lady Theridiidae’s needs, but he did have a good staff and a few of them needed relief every now and again. The microphone was out (again) and he’d have to call IT to fix it (again), but both he and his contact in IT knew about Nancy’s noise canceler, so it wouldn’t be a problem. He wrote up a memo giving Nancy the next week off, and scheduled it to be dropped into her inbox just before she left at the end of the day.

Nancy noted the extra-wide door of the car outside her house, and the little spider-icon on the license plate that indicated that it was a arachinaye-pattern vehicle, with all of the internal differences that implied. She tapped on the hood, and grinned when the window slid open to reveal lady Theridiidae wearing a dark robe-coat affair. “Come on in, no need to stay outside. The neighbors either won’t notice or won’t care.”

“Oh? It’s not even dinner time yet, how did you get out so early?

“Mr. Mancer let me go early, something about the camera in my office malfunctioning again. It's a dance we play, we both know about my noise canceller, but regulations require him to note and report equipment failure. It’ll be fixed by tomorrow anyway. I did stop to pick up some steak, and a few other things that a bit of research told me were safe for arachinaye to eat. No need for there to be another Syrup Incident again.”

“Dinner and a date? How romantic of you.”

“What, why not? It’s not often that I get to meet the arachinaye of my dreams and she happens to not mind my body at all…”

“Not exactly true, but I can’t decide between human men and women, so why not both? We arachinaye only have one gender, so…”

“Come on in, you can help me chop vegetables while we talk biology, then we can explore it later.”