It was a wonder something so big could simply hang in the air completely undetected. Imagine that someone took a city, made it into a great big metal bowl then tossed it up into the air where it defied all laws of physics by remaining in place above the clouds, then imagine that nobody happened to see it. Not a person wondering if it was going to rain later on, not a single person that happened to casually look up at the sky, not someone miles away looking out of their window at the horizon. Completely baffling that such a thing could happen, which spoke of really quite amazingly advanced technology. Some form of long-range camouflage possibly, intended to keep a person from seeing it from miles away? A perception filter of some sort, preventing people from even noticing there was anything weird going on? Remarkable, and if they could work out what it did then it might reveal quite a lot about what they would expect on the inside, and perhaps a manner in which they could defeat these creatures before they did whatever it was they were trying to do.
These were the thoughts Kumitada <i>would</i> have been having were his thoughts not entirely consisting of fevered and nightmarish thoughts about what might happen if, at the velocity they were travelling, a bird happened to cross their path or the contraption ran out of fuel. They say that fear comes from ignorance, but the truth is that it comes from knowing just about enough to let your imagination fill in the rest.
“When are we landing?” Kumitada asked, clinging quite tightly to the pilot’s body. Yukiko, said pilot, seemed far too relaxed for his personal comfort. “Haven’t we already performed enough reconnaissance? I think they might’ve seen us by now!”
“Huh?” Yukiko sighed. “What’s wrong? Not enjoying the scenic route?”
“Not especially!”
“Hmph!” Yukiko sniffed. “Spoilsport. Coming down for a landing, but I do have one question.”
Tremendous dread gripped his already terrified heart. Someone else might have dropped dead where he sat, but Kumitada was made of sterner stuff. Even so. He unconsciously gripped Yukiko a little bit tighter for security, which prompted an unnoticed contented sigh from her lips.
“What is the question?” he asked, knowing he would regret the answer.
“You see those guards down there?”
“The women in the rather tight-fitting leopard-print leotards, claws longer than their fingers, crawling around on all fours like they’re ready to pounce. Yes. I see them. I was rather wondering what you were going to suggest we do to get past them and that was your question, wasn’t it?”
She turned to give him a slightly apologetic smile over her shoulder that prompted little more than a twitchy response from him. Right. They had lost the catnip. Those women looked like they could outrun a train, tackle it to the ground, wrestle it to life and then wrestle it to death again. Their senses were almost certainly heightened to maximise their effectiveness as security guards, ensuring that a stealthy strategy would absolutely not work. Unless you counted victory as ‘being cut to ribbons almost immediately’. Which Kumitada, by the way, did not. There wasn’t really any angle he could think of. They were probably being directly controlled by the aliens, so talking their way in wasn’t likely to work.
“I don’t know!” Kumitada replied. “Why didn’t you think of that before we took off? I mean, it’s not like we could just waltz in!”
<hr>
There were five of them on patrol at any given time. It was a good life. Better than the old life. Old life was boring. Spent most of time staring at bright glowing rectangles, or travelling between them using any of a variety of methods. This way of living was better. They had a clear purpose. Strong. Healthy. Good food. Pick of potential mates, and plenty of opportunities to mate between shifts.
They all heard the arrival. Of course they did. It had been circling home for half an hour already, and they had been waiting for it to land. Once it did they would see if it was intruders, and if it was then they would be torn apart. Remains taken to leader. As instructed, craft was surrounded as it landed. Sniff air. Smelled like intruders! This would be fun!
There were two of them. Weak, not fast. They would try to run and they would be chased. They would try to hide and they would be caught. They would -
Clasp their hands together, press their bodies against one another and then rotate around in a circle to a steady beat of three. Around and around they went, gradually getting closer and closer to the entrance.
“Shouldn’t we stop them?” she hissed to one of the other guards.
“No, no!” the other guard hissed back. “I want to see where they go with this.”
Where they went with it was to continue swirling around gracefully until they reached the entrance, split apart and gave a bow while still holding hands. The female smashed her free fist against the door controls, and suddenly all five guards were locked outside. Four of them were applauding. She was clutching her face with her palms, which was right around the time she remembered two rather important things: The first, she had an automatic enhanced healing process that was actually rather painful. The second, she had razor sharp claws on the ends of her fingers.
<hr>
“That absolutely should not have worked,” Kumitada said for the third time in a minute. “I mean, they just let us in without - That absolutely should not have worked! And why are you still holding my hand?”
“To keep us from getting separated,” Yukiko said just a little too quickly. Kumitada nodded, understanding completely. Of course she was nervous. He was as well. There was quite a lot on the line. It’s not like in the movies where you’re thwarting an evil alien mind-controlling plot to take over the world (or… something). It’s the kind of stress you just can’t prepare for. Even someone as confident and professional as Yukiko needed a little reassurance.
“Nyaaaaaaaa!” echoed throughout the hall, leaving Kumitada feeling as though it might be the last sound he ever heard. “Intrrruderrrs!” a voice hissed, immediately proving him wrong. “Turrrn back now! Leave my terrrrritorrrry!”
<hr>
In a dark room, there was a wall covered in monitors with a large, ominous chair seated in front of them. The occupant of this chair chuckled deeply, knowing the humans would ignore the threat. It was in their nature, and before long they would succumb to the traps in spite of the warning. The alternative was to permit their plans to advance, so either way they would win!
This mystery unseen boss tapped a button on the side of the chair, and the monitors in front of them changed to show the multitude of traps laid between here and there. Which of them would they fall into? Tapping again turned all the monitors towards a single image, each screen showing just a portion of the greater whole. Would it be this first one? Deadly electricity sparked through this instrument. They wouldn’t be able to resist. Look at it. The way it was sitting there, begging to be scratched. An upright scratching post with enough electricity to cook ten humans! The instant they went to sharpen their claws in anticipation of the hunt ahead, that would be the instant they died! Another button tapped, and the image changed again.
The next room was even more devious, and made this boss character twitch in their seat. The room of madness. None that entered could pass with their sanity intact, or without exhausting themselves to the point of collapse. A series of bright lights rapidly moving across the wall and floor. No matter how they pawed or pounced or leaped or hissed, the lights would persist in escaping to torment them more and more! And if they survived that? The next room had enough catnip to drown in!
“Hsss! And that’s only the beginning!” the boss hissed/laughed. “One by one, these traps will sap their minds and bodies, leaving them as vulnerable as a mouse! Nothing can stop our plans!”
“You’re right! Nothing can stop our plans. Us humans won’t know what hit us!”
“Quite so!” the boss hissed/laughed. “They are a truly foolish lot. So easily led around by cuteness. No hunting instinct! Almost no instinct at all!”
“That’s right. We’re complete fools. We’ll never see your plan coming, even if you said it out loud just now.”
The boss opened their mouth to brag about the plan, then stopped and scowled. That additional voice… The guards outside were not allowed in this chamber. It was supposed to be sealed from the inside! The chair turned and the boss gawped at the sight of the human female tugging on the male, who was stuck in the ventilation shaft.
“But that’s impossible!” the boss coughed up a hairball in frustration at the intrusion. “The ventilation system is wired with lasers pointing against the shiny metal walls! How did you get through?!”
“Well, the lasers aren’t attached to any alarms,” the female replied. “We could tell because they were zipping about erratically.”
“And since we could - Oof! - Look at them without going blind, they couldn’t actually hurt us. You designed traps for cats instead of humans and - Ah!”
The male was yanked out of the ventilation shaft and landed atop the female in what the boss recognised as a crude mating position. Fortunately, the male realised the mortal danger they were in and ignored the mating impulse (though the female was quite clearly willing) and instead scrambled to his feet, quickly and sharply pulling the female up as well. Though it wasn’t difficult to see that she could have easily done so herself had she so desired.
“So you’re the boss of this entire operation,” the male said, straightening his hair. “We have come to stop your cruelty, and -”
“Aw, look at the kitty!” the female cooed, picking the boss up and, annoyingly, twirling him around her head. “Did the mean old human frighten you?”
“Really now?” the male sighed. “The cliche image of the villain with a cat in its lap, lovingly stroking it… I was expecting something a little more -”
“Unhand me, human!” the boss hissed, scratching at the female and leaping back onto his perch atop his host’s head. “Don’t think that I lack the awareness to see the syringe you were trying to stick in my neck! I’m not a complete idiot, you know!” There was something annoying about the way they were looking at him when he said that last part, but! “No matter! You can’t stop me now! You don’t even know what I’m -”
“Trying to cover up the fact that you mistook cats for the dominant species,” the female rudely interrupted. “That <i>is</i> why you adopted this form. Right?”
“Of course!” the male uselessly added, pounding his fist into his open palm in a clear show of aggression. “That would explain why they were brainwashing people and why the human-looking aliens adopt feline physical and behavioural properties! We need to find the source of the hypnosis, and then -”
“And then what?!” the boss mocked. “You would dare interfere in technology beyond your understanding that influences human minds? You don’t know the effects it will cause!”
“The alternative is doing nothing.”
“Then the alternative is more intelligent!”
“As if we’re going to let you -”
The female suddenly thrust her hand out and placed a finger on the male’s lips, sending him silent in a moment. She ran a finger on the other hand around her headwear and scowled. “Something isn’t right here,” she said. “Aha! I knew it! You’re trying to keep us talking while your kitty guards corner Hanae!”
“Hang on,” the male said, barely deigning to hide his surprise. No wonder these humans were such lousy hunters and easy prey! They could barely conceal their emotions. “Hanae? But isn’t she back at the office?”
“Actually, I figured out a while back that she was on board the spaceship, and -”
The boss allowed himself a quick smirk when the door came open and two of his sexy kitty guards strode in flanking a blindfolded, gagged and restrained human female. The boss smirked. Just as he had tried to warn them. There really was nothing they could do to stop him!
- The alien boss initiates the final stage of his “true” master plan!
- Hanae’s capture is all part of a sneaky ploy.
- It’s not Hanae that was grabbed, but Zoe.
- Meanwhile, Zoe is able to escape and explores the ship.
- Something else
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