Stray Cat Strut Chapter Thirty - Cat Nap Mishap

Chapter Thirty - Cat Nap Mishap

I heard that she did it because the mayor said sothing about her girlfriend.

--Sam-I-Yam, gossip forums, 2057

***

I woke up because of a buzz in my head. A call over my augs.

Groaning, I turned in bed and tried to ignore it, but the call rang again, and I snapped my eyes open. I was in my room, covered by thick blankets. The room itself was cold, a fan on sweeping cool air over anything not bundled up. Lucy was next to , breathing slowly and evenly.

I blinked a few tis, then took in the ti. Two fifty-six, in the AM.

I shifted to the edge of the bed, then sat there for a mont as I processed things. Why? I asked. I wasnt coherent enough to make that any more specific.

The origin of the call suggests that its important enough to be let through. Im sorry for waking you up.

I groaned, then stood up, turned, and fixed the blankets around Lucy. Id left a gap open, and I didnt want her to get cold. She grabbed the blankets in her sleep and curled up tighter around them.

Hello? I muttered as I answered the call.

Cat? a familiar voice asked. It took a mont to place it though. See-Three, the cyborg chick in charge of the prosthetics place. Wed sent over the first shipnt just yesterday. Or Lucy did, in any case. She was taking care of all of that stuff for .

Yeah, thats , I said as I padded across the room towards the washroom. If I was gonna be up anyway, I might as well take a piss.

Soone broke into our place, See-Three said.

I paused by the entrance to the washroom. Are they still alive? I asked.

Yes? We didnt have anyone staying there overnight. That was probably a mistake. I got a turret thing from... I think its your girlfriend? Wife? But we just got it, it wasnt installed yet.

Okay, I said. Do we know who it is?

Im talking to soone right now. I think its just so local punks. I dont think its the gang that runs the floor were on, but the one two floors down. I dont know anyone well enough to ask, and the clinic doesnt exactly have a lot of loyal custors yet, See-Three said. She sounded pissed, and tired.

I sighed. Ill call you back in ten minutes, I said. Are you at the clinic?

I am.

Alright, stick around there. Stay safe. Ill co over. Try to get, like, an inventory of what was taken.

Okay, thanks, Catherine.

We hung up, and I went and did what I needed to do, which included splashing cold water against my face to wake up properly.

Im going to need a few things, I said.

Certainly. I imagine one of them is sothing to wake up?

Yeah. Hit up with that alien caffeine. Or... whats stronger than caffeine for waking up?

I have several options ranging from thamphetamine to cocaine, but for what youre looking for, Id suggest a cheaper, less harmful alternative. For a point I can get you a cup of hot coffee-like substance laced with a well-asured cocktail of neurostimulants. Its not chemically addictive, and tastes too bad to be addictive otherwise. Its a tier zero item.

Fuck it, sure, I said. Made sense that sothing like that would be available to any samurai without a catalogue. It seed like a basic necessity.

My toilet paper was also tier zero stuff after Lucy forgot to restock, and I wasnt sure Id ever be able to go back to the normal stuff.

A cup appeared by the edge of the sink, just a little styrofoam cup with a plastic lid... that had a pair of cat ears and whose mouth was shaped vaguely like a cats.

I rolled my eyes as I took a long pull from it, then almost spat it all out. It was rank. Like coffee that had been left to boil for way too long, and it was grainy too. This is awful! I hissed.

The disgust you are currently feeling is the best way to counter any habit-forming. Its not chemically addictive, and now its too distasteful for soone to voluntarily want to drink any in excess. I think its quite clever, actually. Like spritzing a cat in the face with water.

Dont you fucking dare, I warned as I forced myself to take another sip. The effects were pretty obvious, I felt a tingle race up my spine and it felt like the hazy cloud of sleepiness I was feeling just lted away. Whats my point total sitting at?

Current Points: 33,571

A bit higher than yesterday, and at a decent number.

Okay... you rember that outfit from Audrey, uh, Emoscythe? I think I want to give it a go. We might need to intimidate people, and I might be caught on cara doing samurai shit. Its as good a ti as any for an image change.

I was expecting this to co up. You already have a decent undersuit. To bring the look together, youre mostly just missing a jacket and so utility equipnt, notably belts and pouches.

Yeah, I said. But I want sothing better than what I had before. I an, weather-and-fire proof, better invisibility. If Im going to upgrade my looks I might as well go all the way, you know?

Understood, give a fraction of a millionth of a second to work that out.

It took you longer to say that than it did to do the work, didnt it? I asked.

Yes. How does nine hundred points for a suit sound? It would contain all the equipnt and gear you usually carry, with a small jump pack mounted to the back and ankles for added mobility, a pierce-resistant full-spectrum camouflage weave, and kinetic absorption plates in strategic locations. It isnt a full exoskeleton, but its about as close as you can co, and its still compact enough to fit within your armour and ch.

Got room for so of those shoulder guns? I like those. There should be plenty of pockets and such for grenades already, and room to holster my sword and sidearm.

That can be arranged, of course. Call it one thousand-two hundred for a full set?

I glanced at myself in the mirror, just in one of Lucys oversized T-shirts. Yeah, sure, I said.

A box appeared on the counter with a thump, close enough to our toothbrush cup to make it rattle. I started getting dressed.

It was actually tricky, the outfit didnt just go on like a coat, it had its own pants kinda built into it that I had to squeeze into first, then I had to contract my arms a little to fit the top part on. It was built more like a jumpsuit than normal clothes, but without the usual puffy formlessness of a normal jumpsuit.

I dont think anyone else would be able to comfortably wear this one. I shrugged it on in the end, then looked in the mirror again while zipping up the front.

I looked like... a ninja bounty-hunter.

Alright. I suppose thats the kind of look I was aiming for. It was badass, but it was also pretty much exactly as Emoscythe had designed it.

Alright, I said.

Youll want to retrieve your weapons before you leave. Theres a sleeve for your Void Terminus, and a holster for your Trench Maker.

Mhm, I mumbled as I left the washroom while checking my remaining points.

Current Points: 32,371

More than enough to cause so mischief.

Cat? Lucy mumbled from the bed.

Ill be back in a bit, I said. Just gotta take care of sothing.

Lucys head fell back down, and I suspected that she was too out of it to make any sort of sensible reply.

I went and found my boots in the corner, then while stumbling into them I grabbed my favourite handgun, checked to make sure it was full, frowned as I realised it was missing one round, and then I realised I didnt care that much about one round before I tucked it in place.

The coat had a flap at the back and a magnetised harness that let wear my smaller bullpup-style Laser Pointer at the small of my back, where the coat would cover it entirely. Then the sword went into a long, flaccid sheath hanging from my other side. It was a snug fit, and I tried to be mature about the way it hung there.

I was ready for war. A small war, but war all the sa.

The last thing I did was grab my helt on the way through the main part of the house. I fitted it on just as I walked outside and started for my bike.

It was just past three in the morning, and soone, sowhere, was going to regret waking up.

***