Before Pavela could recover from the shock of a mont ago, she saw another cat walk out from the crack in the door.
It was a black cat.
Its build was slightly larger than that of the white cat, its fur a pure black that shimred with a silk-like luster under the pale blue light.
On its head, it wore an exquisite ladies' hat made of deep purple velvet, decorated with a small white feather on the brim.
The black cat walked up to the white cat and stopped.
Then it turned its head to look at the white cat.
"ow! ow!"
The black cat's voice was sharp, carrying a clear note of reproach.
The white cat's ears imdiately drooped.
"ow..."
Its voice was very small and aggrieved.
"ow, ow, ow!"
The black cat's tone beca even sterner, and it flicked its tail in the air as if emphasizing so key point.
The white cat lowered its head, the brim of its top hat almost covering its entire face.
"ow..."
It owed softly again, as if apologizing.
The black cat stared at it for a few seconds, then nodded in satisfaction.
"ow."
The tone of this "ow" was significantly softer.
Then the black cat turned around to face Pavela.
It raised its right front paw, placed it against its chest, bowed slightly, and perford a very standard, aristocratic human bow.
The movent was fluid and elegant, completely unlike anything a cat should be able to do.
Pavela was stunned.
She blinked.
She blinked again.
Then she turned her head to look at Margaret.
Margaret's expression remained calm, as if everything happening before her was the most normal part of daily life.
She bowed slightly, returning the greeting to the black cat.
"Thank you for coming to greet us personally, Ms. Etina."
Margaret said,
"The noise from opening the door just now was rely a minor oversight; we will not take it to heart."
The black cat—that is, Ms. Etina—owed twice more.
"ow, ow."
The tone sounded like it was saying, "That's good."
Then it turned around and gently tapped the white cat on the head with the tip of its tail.
"Ha!"
The white cat jumped up imdiately, its top hat nearly falling off.
It hurriedly steadied the hat with its paw, then followed behind Ms. Etina as they walked into the door.
Ms. Etina walked a few steps, then turned back to glance at Pavela and Margaret.
"ow."
The aning of this "ow" was clear: Follow .
Pavela stood where she was, not moving.
Her brain was struggling to process everything that had just happened.
Cats.
Cats wearing hats.
Cats that could bow.
Cats that could express complex anings using "ows" with different tones.
And a cat nad "Ms. Etina."
Had she not woken up yet today?
Or was she hallucinating from sothing she ate?
Or perhaps—
She was actually still lying on the hospital bed in the infirmary, and all of this was a dream caused by a fever?
She turned to look at Margaret.
"I..."
Her voice was a bit dry,
"You slept very well today," Margaret said.
"Then..."
"You only had bread and milk this morning."
"..."
Pavela was silent for a few seconds.
"So this is real?"
"Yes," Margaret said.
"This is real."
"Welco to Dr. Lovelace's Seventh Division."
She stepped into the door.
Pavela took a deep breath and followed.
The world behind the door was even more absurd.
It was a huge, open space.
The ceiling was still too high to see the top, but the walls were no longer cold stone, instead painted a warm beige.
Everywhere were those pale blue arc lamps, illuminating the entire space like daylight.
The floor was no longer smooth marble but covered with thick, deep red carpet that felt soft underfoot.
But what truly shocked Pavela was not the decor.
It was the "staff" here.
They were all cats.
Cats were everywhere.
Pavela saw an orange cat wearing a small lab coat, standing in front of a workbench, holding down a blueprint with one front paw while drawing sothing on it with a pencil in the other.
Standing next to it was a black-and-white cat, also wearing a lab coat, carefully examining a detail on the blueprint with a magnifying glass.
The two cats exchanged a few sounds from ti to ti.
"ow?"
"ow, ow."
"ow!"
"ow, ow, ow."
Then the orange cat drew a few more strokes on the blueprint, and the black-and-white cat nodded in satisfaction.
Pavela's gaze continued to move.
She saw more cats.
A gray cat, wearing goggles, was operating a small steam drill.
The drill's control lever had been modified into a shape suitable for a cat's paw to grip.
The gray cat skillfully pulled the lever, and the drill bit bored a precise hole into a tal plate.
Another white cat was standing on a ladder, twisting a huge valve with its paws.
The valve was heavy, and the white cat used a lot of strength to twist it open, after which a plu of white steam sprayed out from the pipe.
The white cat jumped off the ladder, patted its paws, and owed with satisfaction.
There was also a calico cat sitting on a high stool in front of a complex instrunt.
The instrunt had many dials and needles, and the calico cat was gently turning one of the knobs with its paw, its eyes fixed intently on the movent of the needle.
Pavela noticed that the facilities throughout the space had undergone special modifications.
The height of the workbenches had been lowered, to about half that of a normal workbench.
The chairs had been turned into high stools to make it easy for the cats to jump up and down.
The door handles were long, so the cats could hook them with their paws and pull them open.
Even the stairs had been modified—each step was only about ten centiters high but thirty centiters wide, making it easy for the cats to walk up and down.
The walls were also fitted with many small platforms and planks, like a "highway" prepared for the cats.
Pavela saw a black cat jump from one platform to another, then jump along the wall all the way to a vent near the ceiling and crawl inside.
Along the way, she saw even more cats.
So cats were working, so were resting, and so were communicating with each other.
A few cats also noticed Margaret, stopped what they were doing, and greeted her.
"ow~"
"ow! ow!"
"ow."
Margaret responded to each one.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Leonardo."
"Yes, I'm here again, Ms. Florence."
"How is your new project coming along, Sesti?"
Listening to these conversations, Pavela felt her worldview collapsing at a very rapid speed.
And the way those cats looked at Pavela—
Pavela could feel it.
That was not the look one gives a "human."
It was the look # Nоvеlight # one gives a "fellow creature."
Their gazes were filled with curiosity.
So cats even stopped working and followed behind her, whispering to each other.
Pavela could clearly hear the owing coming from behind her.
"ow, ow?"
"ow~"
"ow, ow, ow!"
"ow..."
She didn't know what they were saying.
But she could feel those gazes.
It was like looking at a cute little animal that needed to be studied.
Pavela's back began to prickle.
She quickened her pace, following closely behind Margaret.
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