by Eric Vall
“Will it be as pretty?” the cat-girl inquired down at me with squinted eyes.
“Of course!” I grinned as I lifted my arms into the air and reached for her.
The cat-girl giggled and then launched herself full force off the top of the cabinet. The ash-blonde slammed into me and the whole room tilted for a second as my feet twisted underneath me.
“Shit!” I gasped as I curled my right arm around her back.
The two of us stumbled backward, but I managed to regain my balance and hold her tightly to my chest. I sighed softly into her hair and attempted to calm the pounding of my heart as my arm brushed the soft curve of her breasts and ass.
“Wasn’t that fun?” The blonde exploded into a fit of giggles.
“You’re going to give me a heart attack if you keep doing things like this,” I whispered.
“I don’t care what your heart attacks, Charles, as long as your heart belongs to me.” The blonde snuggled into my neck, and I swallowed hard.
“Why is she in love with you of all people?” A.B. questioned.
“What’s so wrong with me?” I snorted as I turned back toward the much smaller blood-testing apparatus.
I had to admit, I thought the same thing. Why did the feline already have an affinity for me? We’d known each other for barely half an hour and she was already proclaiming her love for me. Even though our society’s views on men were skewed, I knew that this wasn’t normal for a female. There had to be a logical reason for it and I wondered if something in the creation process made her love me from her conception.
A low buzz broke me away from my clouded thoughts, so I focused on the thin strip of creme-colored paper coming out of the small machine’s side. As soon as the machine had finished printing the data, I grabbed the still warm paper and read the complicated symbols. My brow furrowed and I blinked as I tried to comprehend what I’d just read.
“What is it?” A.B. inquired from across the room. “I am ready and prepared to take more notes, Charlie.”
“It’s strange?” I murmured as I ripped the paper away from the machine and read it in its entirety for the second time. “The device detected two blood types…one of them that’s already been inputted once before.”
“Mine?” A.B. questioned. “When you first built the machine, you used your blood first, and then extracted what was left of mine from my brain stem. Which was painful, by the way, I should get some type of special treatment for that, you know? I was patient and didn’t even wriggle around when you inserted the needle--”
“No,” I said. “It’s mine.”
“Yours?” he asked. “Huh, that’s kinda weird. How did your--”
“But it barely registered,” I cut him off as I tapped the paper. “The second blood sample is so small, it’s almost insignificant.”
“So, what does it mean?” A.B. asked.
“What does it mean?” I echoed, and then I slapped the paper down on the counter, turned, and gazed over at the copper metal of the machine’s outer shell.
Why had the experiment worked this time? Was the cat-girl somehow infused with my blood? If so, then how? How had the teeniest amount of my DNA become a part of hers? There had to be a logical reason why this happened. All the variables for the experiment were different from any other time I’d tried them, why had they worked this time? Was it the third compartment? Was it the use of the female prisoner? The cat? My blood, however it had gotten into the machine?
I stepped across the room, stood in front of the monstrous apparatus, and moved my eyes over every inch of it as if the reason why it worked this time would appear before my very eyes. The door to the glass bell jar of compartment A sat open on its hinges, and I shook my head, no that wasn’t it.
I stared over at compartment B, where the dried ashes of the prisoner still laid on the cold ground. Maybe she was the reason? I sighed and stepped toward the largest and newest compartment.
Then my eyes snapped open, and my left hand instinctively clutched my right.
The pain was still there but not as vivid and alive as when I’d first caught the thin flesh of my pointer finger and thumb between the two doors. There was dried blood clearly smeared across the seam, and I opened both of the doors in one swift movement so I could look inside. My eyes widened as I examined the door lock and then the floor just below it. The droplets of my own blood weren’t large, in fact, they were so small I wasn’t sure how I saw them in the first place, but yes… clearly, I’d gotten my blood inside of the third compartment.
“The cat, the female prisoner, and…” I trailed off as I rubbed my temples and thought hard about the differing variables. “My blood… what could it have been?”
I paced the room with my head in my hands as I wracked my brain for any type of different combination of the variables in the experiment. Could it be replicated with or without the cat? Without the female prisoner? Was that why all of my other tests failed; because I used male prisoners? Was it because females were the only living creatures able to wield magical powers? Was it my blood? What made my blood so special? Or was it a combination of two out of the three or just one of them?
I didn’t realize I was asking all of these questions aloud until I turned and saw the expression on the cat-girl’s face, even A.B. looked a little shocked despite his lack of facial features. I breathed a heavy sigh and rubbed my eyes with both hands as I tried to puzzle it all out in my head.
“Charles,” A.B. cautiously started, and I leveled my eyes at his form in the neon green liquid. “Maybe you’re overthinking this?”
“How so?” I snapped as I ran my hands through my thick, black hair and slumped back onto my stool. “How can I know what to try if there are so many things to add to it?”
“I’m just saying, maybe it’s simpler than you think.” The brain uttered in a calm tone, and my brow furrowed.
“What do you mean?” I inquired as I spun on the stool to face him. “How could any of this be simple, A.B?”
“What if all four of the things were what made the difference?” A.B. questioned. “It’s not just one of them that’s needed for the experiment to work, but all of them. The cat, the female, the third compartment, and the blood. Nothing’s worked so far, and now, with four variables changed, we finally got results? That has to be something.”
“Then…we need to replicate the experiment,” I stated as I stood from the chair and pounded my closed fist into my open, right palm. “I want… no, I need to know how this works before I create the soldiers for the Duchess. It isn’t science if it can’t be duplicated.”
“W-wait, C-Charles?” the cat-girl whimpered as she rushed forward and grabbed me by the forearm. “Does this mean you’re going to create more women like me? More cat-girls?”
“I believe so,” I nodded with furrowed brows. “Why? What’s the matter?”
The feline shifted from foot to foot as she pressed her body into mine and pushed out her bottom lip. I’d seen this look before, though it’d never been aimed directly at me. She was clearly pouting about something, and I had to say, I didn’t mind the way she looked while doing it.
“I…well, I want to be the only cat-girl…” the feline sniffed as she batted her long lashes at me.
I had to stifle a chuckle as she silently pleaded with me with her luminous blue eyes. Her hands held tightly onto me, and I was more than aware that she was still nude under the tight labcoat. I sighed as a small smile spread over my lips, and I reached out for her. I ran my fingers through her feather-soft hair, and the feline leaned into the contact with a soft purr.
“Sure,” I murmured as I took in all of her gorgeous features. “You’ll be my one and only cat-girl. We’ll find some other type of animal to use, but yeah, you’ll be the only feline in the house.”
“Oh, the calamity” A.B. cried pathetically. “That means I’ll never get a pet cat!”
“But first, we have to give you a proper name,” I nodded decisively, and then glanced at her naked
body pressed into mine. “And some clothes…definitely clothes first.”
Chapter Four
“Alright,” I breathed a sigh of relief as I sat back on my haunches and surveyed my work. “How does it feel? Better?”
The cat-girl twisted her head and frowned as she tugged at the tight-fitting fabric. She pursed her lips and shook her head as her oceanic blue eyes met mine.
“No,” she snapped as she threw her hands down at her sides. “I hate it, I can barely move. Why can’t I just be naked?”
“Because it will be upsetting to people,” I explained.
“But it isn’t upsetting to you,” she purred as she wiggled her eyebrows at me. “I see the way you look at me, Charles.”
“Oh, stop it,” I chuckled as I offered her my hands and helped her hop off of the examination table. “You must wear clothes when walking around the manor. This is fine. I cut the thighs enough so that it’s easier for you to maneuver around in, especially if you’re going to be climbing on top of cabinets from now on.”
I took a few steps back as the feline turned and examined herself in the reflection of the copper paneling. The outfit I’d hastily constructed for her wasn’t much, but she filled it out perfectly. Since the cat-girl was a bit shorter than me, I’d used one of my rarely worn smocks, cut it into pieces in the shape of something like a leotard, and had roughly sewn it together while the female hung over my shoulder.
The neckline of the soft, dark brown fabric came down low between her breasts and stretched almost all the way to her belly button. Long cords from the smock’s ties were threaded through the fabric across her stomach to create something like a staggered ladder. The hips of the leotard came up high and exposed most of her lean, smooth thighs. I’d cut out a small hole at the back, and as she slipped into it, I helped her pull her long silky tail through. The feeling of her tail’s fur as it brushed against my fingertips sent pleasant shivers up and down my spine that I tried to ignore.
The blonde-cat-girl turned this way and that as she examined the outfit, and then she made eye contact with me through the reflection. She seemed to think for a moment and then placed her closed fists on her hips.
“Charles Rayburn, do you want my honest opinion?” the cat-girl questioned as she cocked her hip.
“I wouldn’t ask for anything less.” I grinned as I waited for her response.
“If you like it,” she started and then turned to face me fully with the widest grin. “Then I will like it too! You made it for me, and that is something very special, a handmade gift from my darling Charles! I’d prefer to be naked around you all the time, but this does look very… what is the word?”
“Uhhh, attractive?” I guessed.
“Yes! Thank you so very much.”
“Hey, now,” A.B. whined, and I glanced over at him as a wicked smile spread over my lips. “It was my idea to use the smock in the first place and to make her something like a jumpsuit so she could move around easily, where’s my thank you?”
“You’re so needy, A.B.,” I snickered, and then I turned back toward the cat-girl as she plucked at the plunging neckline of her new outfit. “The brain over there would also like a thank you.”
“The brain?” the ash-blonde questioned as she leaned out from behind me and stared at the grey matter floating in the neon green liquid. “What is a… brain, Charles?”
Since she’d appeared, it became clear to me that I’d have to teach a lot of things to the cat-girl. It wasn’t as if she were a toddler or small child, she knew some things already, but a lot of things I considered arbitrary, she didn’t understand and needed them explained to her. Each time she asked a question, I’d explain it to her with as much detail as I could, and I quickly learned that I liked teaching her new things. Every time the feline-woman learned something new, her wide oceanic eyes would sparkle excitedly, and I wanted nothing more than to show her more of my world.
“Formally introduce us!” A.B. shouted, and I winced against the harsh sound.
“A brain is an organ housed within the bone structure of our skulls,” I explained as I brought her closer to A.B.’s jar. “It is the most complex organ in our entire bodies, it exerts control over our nervous system and other organs, conscious decision, mobility, and so much more than I can explain in a matter of minutes. All living creatures have brains, except for a select few like the cnidarians and echinoderms.”
The cat-girl’s eyes widened, and she blinked rapidly as if she were trying to process all the words I’d just spoken. Then she stared at me for a few seconds and then looked back at A.B.’s hovering form.
“Stop with the scientific jargon, Charles, you’re confusing the poor thing.” A.B. chuckled, and I nodded with a soft sigh.
“But anyway,” I stated through a small smile as I gestured toward the suspended brain. “This is A.B. Norman, A.B., just for short.”
“And he is… a brain?” the beautiful cat-girl asked as her right ear twitched twice.
“Correct,” I nodded excitedly, but the girl watched me with wide, horrified eyes. “A.B. is a wonderful specimen I collected from the back of a decrepit curio shop. He desperately called out to me, and I had to bring him home after that, kind of like a stray kitten on the street, meowing for food.”
“Excuse me?” A.B. shrieked as his entire bumpy form vibrated with indignation. “I’m not some stray cat, Charles! I am the epitome of the miracle of human life, I am the cortex of Homosapien thought, how dare you insult the creator of all emotion and human consciousness?”
My lips pressed into a hard line as my eyes squinted down at the obviously agitated brain.
“Yes, yes, A.B.,” I uttered sarcastically. “The brain is the most important organ in the body, but that doesn’t mean that you specifically are all those things.”
“But Charles,” the cat-girl breathed as she took a tentative step closer to A.B.’s wheeled cart. “You said that the brain is housed within the skull, so where is his skull? His head? His face? His whole body? Is it missing? Is there a body out there wandering around out there without its brain?”
I couldn’t help but let my head roll back as the laughter bubbled up my throat. Then I shook my head as I ruffled the blonde’s soft, silky hair, and she giggled despite herself.
“No, the body can’t live without its brain,” I grinned down at her as I stroked her round cheek absentmindedly. “So, no, there’s no brainless body wandering around in search of A.B.”
“Then how did he come to be?” the cat-girl asked as she bent her knees and leaned in close to the glass of the brain’s container. “Do you know?”
“Actually, I don’t,” I shrugged as I stared down affectionately at the two of them. “I simply bought A.B. because he could talk. I don’t know where he came from, or who he was before. I know absolutely nothing about him, and he can’t remember anything about his past life as much as I’ve tried to probe him for information.”
“I’m an international brain of mystery!” A.B. smugly exclaimed, and I covered my eyes with a loud snort of laughter. “No one knows who I am, no one knows where I came from, and when you need me, I vanish off into the night! I’m telling you, Charles, the ladies love it, you could learn a lot from me.”
“Then how do you know his name is A.B.?” the blonde asked as she glanced at me over her shoulder. “Did you name him, or did he come with it?”
“Nah,” I shook my head as I pointed toward the worn tape on his glass jar. “He came with it, so I just accepted it.”
“Abraham Benjamin Norman,” A.B. proudly spouted off, and my eyes nearly bulged from their sockets.
“You bastard,” I snorted with laughter as I grabbed the edges of his cart and shook it. “You knew your full name this entire time?”
“Everyone knows their name!” the brain protested as he rocked back and forth precariously within the container. “What did you think the A.B. stood for, then?”
“Abnormal, an abnormal brain!” I cried as I threw my hands into t
he air. “A.B. Norman? It’s written right there on the label!”
“Now that’s just insulting,” A.B. cried. “I’m offended you would think such a thing!”
“I’m not the one who wrote the damn label!” I groaned as I rolled my head back against my shoulders. “Whoever had you before wrote it, not me.”
“Why does it matter either way?” the woman-feline asked, and both A.B. and I swiveled to stare at her in confusion. “A.B. is still a nice name, even if it stands for Abnormal or Abraham.”
“That reminds me,” I said as I tentatively stepped closer to her and rested a hand against her shoulder. “I thought I was the only one who could hear A.B., but you can as well?”
“Yep!” the cat-girl giggled as she grinned excitedly.
“How?” A.B. questioned loudly from behind me, and I cupped my chin with my fingers as I thought.
“I think it’s possible because of my blood,” I informed both of them, and the feline nodded along knowingly. “No one else seems to be able to hear A.B. except for me, I don’t know the reasoning behind it, but because my blood was included in the experiment, that’s the reason she can hear you, too.”
“Sounds plausible,” The brain agreed as he warbled in his green goo. “Now, Charles, introduce us properly!”
“Uhm, alright,” I shook my head as I wrapped an arm around the feline’s shoulders and brought her forward again for the second time. “Madam, I would like to introduce you to my dear friend, A.B. Norman. A.B., this is the lovely…uh, this is…”
“Hi!” the feline grinned as she confidently strode forward and leaned in close to the glass container. “My name’s Val!”
“What?” A.B. squeaked as he shifted toward me.
“Val?” I nearly shouted as I stood bolt upright. “Where in the hell did you get that name?”
“Oh!” the feline grinned as she skipped away from A.B. and crossed the room. “I saw it on this double-ended metal thingie.”
The cat-girl bent over one of my many tool-boxes and pulled out a particularly new wrench. She hurried back over, held it out to me in one hand, and pointed toward the embossed letters in the metal.