The Tongue Of Cats

Prologue

It was finished.

After years of construction, it was finally finished.

The magnificent machine stood in all its glory.

"Now, to test it," said the Twoleg in the lab coat. "Put those headphones on me and that cat."

The assistant grabbed the headphones, hesitating next to his employer. "Are you sure, Dr. Gatito?"

"Yes!" snapped the scientist. "Now place those headphones."

The headphones were placed. The Twoleg took a deep breath. "Hello?"

The cat looked at him curiously. "Hello. You speak cat?"

The scientist barely held in his cry of success. "No, I don't. Those headphones on your head are translating the sound."

The cat looked even more confused. "What? Headphones? Translate?"

The Dr. Gatito sighed. "Never mind. What's your name?"

The cat flicked his tail. "My housefolk call me Kestrel."

"Well, Kestrel, you have a very important task. I want you to go to the wild cats and tell them about the headphones." He stopped, a new idea dawning on him. "Better yet, tell them to pick them up at the logging mill and explain what they do."

"Logging mill?"

"Where the trees are cut down," continued the scientist impatiently.

"Oh," Kestrel said, nodding his head. "I think the Clans call it Treecut place. I've been there once."

Dr. Gatito was almost exploding with excitement. Finally, the humans could speak with the feral cats!

Accidentally dropping his notes in the recycling bin, he punched in a number on his phone. "Yes. The experiment was a success! We need a thousand of those headphones at Chelford Mill. Yes, right away!"

Dr. Gatito slammed the phone down on the table triumphantly, not bothering to retrieve his notes from the recycling bin. No need for his sketches of the machine anymore. It was done and it worked.

A new era for the cats and humans had begun.

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