Of Cats and Men

[GrnRaptor]

// Private RP. No comments.

Alan Polstari, Captain in the Liberty Navy, opened the door to his apartment slowly and stepped through, the lights turning on in a low setting in response. Carrying a small bag of groceries he made his way to the kitchen area as the door shut quietly behind him. The apartment was rather sparsely decorated at the moment, leaving few obstacles from the hall through to the main living room and the adjacent kitchen/dining area to obstruct his path. Setting the bag down on the counter, he made his way to porch entrance behind the dining room and looked through to the world outside. Situated several miles outside of Fort Bragg on Planet Manhattan, he had a fair view of the base on the right and the expansive skyline of the major metropolis on his left. After taking a few minutes to enjoy the view as the sun set behind the skyline, he turned and made his way back to the dining counter and rummaged through until he found the item he was looking for. The can was small, round, and fairly flat, but it contained a substance he knew would be crucial for the activity ahead of him this night.

Alan made his way over to one of the few pieces of furniture in the apartment, a couch with a modern looking coffee table before it. The coffee table was one of the newer models that came with inbuilt holo projection capabilities, the fastest modern processing unit, and a wi-fi unit that made use of the latest protocols; none of which he'd been able to use to date. It was kind of hard when you had an obstacle on the table that interferred with whatever would have been projected, and though the table was perfectly capable of displaying two-dimensional information, Alan didn't want to disturb the object on the table. He opened the can instead and set it on the surface, leaning back on the comfortable couch and waiting for the aroma to do its job.

The young Captain didn't have to wait long before the object before him began to stir. Blinking its eyes and stretching its legs, the creature sat up and stared at Alan, taking a few moments to get the sleep out of its eyes.

"Miaou? Miaou miiiaou miaaaoou," uttered the feline before him.

"Hello? Oh, hello Monsieur Captain Polstari!" uttered an electronic device on wheels situated the other side of the coffee table.

"Hello Merlin," Alan responded. "Have a good nap? I brought you a treat today," he said, gesturing to the open can.

"Miaou!" vocalized the feline as he made his way to the can. "Merci! Merci!" translated the rolling life support and translation unit.

Polstari took the few minutes the cat spent eating the fish product from the can to wonder how exactly he'd come to this. Thinking back on it Alan supposed that it was only the natural outcome of meeting a Gallic Royal Navy Gunboat, on the brink of falling apart in Liberty Space, piloted by a cat. That the creature was looking to emigrate from Gallia to Liberty was a given. That the feline would end up being his ward, so to speak, was probably his own fault. Alan didn't regret helping, but he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if any other member of the Navy had run across him first. 'Probably be a frozen furball in space somewhere,' he thought. He shook his thoughts off as the electronic voice began to speak again.

"You look like you have something on your mind, Monsieur Captain. Would you care to share what that is?"

"Well, I suppose we have a few things to talk about," Alan said as he straightened up in his seat. He watched as Merlin took a sitting position on the table opposite him. "You remember how you asked for my help in contacting the Citizenship Office to get you setup here in Liberty?"

"Yes, I remember. Has there been any word on that front?"

"A bit. Barring all the odd looks I've received asking citizenship for a cat, no offense-"

"None taken."

"-I've managed to determine that we need a statement of purpose for your desire to join Liberty society, as well as a history explaining why you qualify for any sort of political asylum."

"So a life story then, oui?"

"Pretty much," Alan said as he pulled a small device out of a breast pocket. "I've got a recorder here that I'll be using to help me keep notes. I'll summarize in a document, minus anything we need to redact for security purposes, and you'll put- well, you'll put your pawprint to it to affirm its validity."

"I understand. Where do I start?"

"How about at the beginning? That's a very good place to start," Alan said and put the device on the table next to Merlin. He pushed the record button and a small red light came on to indicate it was serving its purpose. He sat back in seat and made ready to hear the tale of Merlin.

---