Credit the Cat

Fire bursts overhead and cheers erupt. I dart under a bush, my sleek black fur providing perfect camouflage for this moonless night. Nan follows at her stealthy but cautious human pace. She, too, is all in black with a hood covering her red-brown hair. We steadily make our way up the hill, dodging from tree to tree until we reach Babbage Hall. Below us along the misty lake, the Eagle Boys whistle and stomp as the fireworks show continues and Sousa marches blare.

“Satin, here!” Nan hisses and beckons to me.

As any self-respecting cat would do in my place, I ignore her. However, I find it imperative to add that I am no ordinary cat. I am a K-Kat Bot with a very special mission: to help my group of humans evade the take-over of the vicious Eagle Boys. This anti-science, anti-technology militia group has overthrown local government in the northern part of our Midwestern state and has set their sights on ridding the area of “do-nothing intellectuals.” University buildings have been sacked and burned. Academics and researchers have fled in fear of being kidnapped and imprisoned. Violence like this is erupting around the nation. Weakened state and federal governments have decried the Eagle Boys’ actions but have made no concrete move to intervene. They, shockingly, look the other way.

Nan is calling me again. Although she is, unfortunately, human, I consider her my sister and sense a warming of my circuits when she picks me up. Despite her young age, Nan is an expert in cybersecurity with an uncanny knack for breaking codes and solving riddles. It’s hard for me to admit, but her stealthy surveillance techniques are almost as good as mine. She had been working for a federal government agency until an urgent cry for help came from home.

Her parents, Carr Drieu and Hannah Green, are my creators as well. They are AI engineers here at the Lovelace Institute and have been holed up in their subterranean labs in Turing Hall. I have been instrumental in carrying messages and picking up intel for the researchers here who are isolated in hiding. After all, who would suspect a nice little cat? The Eagle Boys, despite their disdain for technology, have learned how to intercept and jam networks. Luckily, they have yet to discover the hidden labs under the old-fashioned puddingstone buildings built over a hundred years ago. So, I continue to ignore Nan and proceed with my mission, wriggling into the A/C duct next to the building.

My journey takes me on a descending route to another basement lab. I nose my way through a panel and jump to the floor. Two humans are bent over a monitor. I pause to brush the dust off my whiskers (vital for spatial maneuvering in the dark) and quickly lick the tip of my tail (an excellent pseudo antenna). I meow at them in a forthright manner to get their attention.

“Satin!”

The blonde human is called Beth. She scoops me up and cuddles me. She is what I call a “Pillow Human” with many comfortable spots on her body. She has expressed dismay over her form, calling herself “fat.” I heartily disagree with her and perform the preprogrammed purring sound to let her know of my approval.

“What news do you have for us, Satin?”

The dark-haired human is called Jorge. They are keenly observant in an almost cat-like way. Although they are not as physically demonstrative as Beth, they seem to value my vital messenger role and, in the past, have even tried to give me a dried herb referred to as “nip” to induce a response of pleasure from me. I dutifully roll in it and feign rapture to spare their feelings. (I learned this trick from my predecessor K-Kat Bots, the colorful but dim Taffeta and Crinoline, who, with their ludicrous names, have now “crossed the Rainbow Bridge” and become AI spare parts.)

Beth picks me up and places me on a glass-topped scanner. An image appears of Nan next to the loading dock of Babbage Hall.

“Okay! Nan is here. Let’s go!”

Beth and Jorge grab backpacks and we cautiously head upstairs to the loading dock. Nan is nervously twisting the heart-shaped locket around her neck but lets out a sigh of relief when she sees us.

“My parents programmed the fireworks over the lake to go on for about a half hour. Then, the fireworks will set off the bombs. We just have a little time left before the Eagle Boys in this region either will be destroyed or have their forces drastically weakened. My parents' lab is the most secure place we can be right now.”

With me in the lead, our group of four makes our way down the hill toward Turing Hall as the fireworks explode overhead. Suddenly, my senses pick up a human. A figure leaps out and stands in front of us, pointing a sapphire-burst laser rifle. A quick flash of fireworks from above reveals a tall young man with deep brown eyes.

“Jed!”

Nan gasps and tries to run forward but Jorge grabs her arm and pulls her back. Jed Jenson is a former research engineer who was denied tenure at this university and subsequently joined the military. He and Nan had been engaged until Jed had simply disappeared a few months before all the trouble broke out. He often tried to grudgingly interact with me, but I could sense that he was more attracted to the canine persuasion. So, when he tried to pet me, I took great delight in scratching him with gusto.

“Nan! I thought you had all left.” I can sense Jed’s focus faltering and the arm holding the rifle wavers.

“Jed,” Nan is struggling to keep her voice calm. “Please let us get back to my parents.”

I sense other humans moving on the path farther below and let out a growl. Jed hears them, too, and lifts the rifle back up.

“Come on, Jed. Just let us go. Do the right thing, man!” Jorge takes a step toward their former lab partner.

“The ‘right thing!’ What do you know about what’s right, always hiding in your little labs!”

Jed points the rifle at Jorge. I hear the safety release. I can sense by Jed’s increased heartrate and body temperature that he will fire. I leap at him and dig my cyber claws into his eyes. My powerful fangs puncture his jugular. Blood spurts everywhere. Unfortunately, Jed still has enough energy to wildly fire.

There is a stifled cry and I turn to see Nan leaning into Beth’s arms. I leave Jed’s crumpled body and, for a moment, am truly irritated that my fur is stained by this stupid human’s blood. Then, remembering my programmed concepts of love and loyalty, I streak over to Nan, rubbing against her legs and sending sparks of healing energy into her body. As I do this, I can see a soft blue glow surround her.

“We need to get out of here. Nan, can you move?” Jorge is acutely aware of the danger as we can still hear voices down the hill.

Nan nods. I streak ahead and the three others stumble along behind me. We are nearing Turing Hall as the fireworks display begins to slow and the bombs begin to ignite. As we burst into the main lab, Carr and Hannah rush to meet us.

“Nan is hurt!” Beth is hugging Nan closely.

Jorge quickly describes the violent encounter. They struggle to keep the intense anger out of their voice.

“We need to get Nan into the other lab,” Hannah says urgently.

Carr, Jorge and Beth carry Nan into the second lab. Hannah pulls out an exam table from a drawer marked “B” and motions them to place her there. I trail along behind and am intrigued not only to see the blue glow around Nan increasing but to hear an insistent low-pitched sound coming from her. I jump up on the table next to her.

“Satin! Get down!” Beth moves to grab me.

“No, Beth!” Carr says. “It’s okay. Satin knows what she’s doing.”

I curl up next to Nan and begin to purr, slowly kneading my paws into her side. As I do, both the blue glow and the low humming begin to slow and finally stop. Although surprised, I finally understand what is happening.

Hannah leans down and gently kisses Nan’s forehead. She straightens up and turns to Carr.

“She’s gone.”

Carr nods and they embrace. Beth cries softly and Jorge half-heartedly kicks the wheels of a nearby cart.

Hannah reaches around Nan’s neck and unlatches the heart-shaped locket. I can see that one side has “Nan” written on it and the other has a “B” on it. She opens the lock and takes out a tiny microchip. Then, Hannah carefully replaces the locket around Nan’s neck. As I jump off the table, she and Carr gently slide the exam table into its drawer.

The group stands in grief, hearing the muffled sounds and feeling the jarring vibrations of the bombs going off. All of us are hoping that this will mean the end of the Eagle Boys’ coup.

Carr clears his throat.

“I know this will be shocking to some of you and if it weren’t for our current urgent circumstances, I wouldn’t be doing this. However, although this is a sad occasion, it is also a time for us to look forward to a new beginning.”

He and Hannah walk over to the drawer marked “C” and slide it open. A sheet-covered mound rests on the table. Hannah gently pulls off the sheets revealing a young woman with titian hair.

“Nan?!” Beth gasps.

The titian-haired woman has a heart-shaped locket around her neck. I jump up onto the table and can see that this locket also has “Nan” on it. Hannah carefully inserts the microchip into it. The young woman opens her eyes and sits up.

“Welcome!” Hannah hugs her.

Carr comes and stands beside them.

“Yes, welcome to the world, Nan C. Drieu!”

Hannah frowns. “Couldn’t she have my last name this time? Nan C. Green?”

The young woman turns to me and smiles.

“Hello, Satin!”

I rub up against her and purr.