Welcome to Almusilaa

Chapter Eighteen

The next day we got a surprise delivered to our door.

"To Charlotte Miller, Lauren Summer, Ashley Sanders, Cooper Bennet, Grace..." Lauren read out loud as she held the small stiff piece of cardboard in her hand. "You have been cordially invited to the Annual Gala held in Central Park. The dress code is semi-formal, no jeans, t-shirts, weapons or tunics permitted. Please respond promtly. Signed, The Almusilaa Council." Lauren finished as she looked up at us. "Fancy." She deadpanned.

"Semi-formal? I don't even know what I'm supposed to wear." Charlie paused before looking at me. "The dress code doesn't apply to you guys does it? Surely not..." she trailed off. Lauren paused before looking over the invitation again.

"Those with animal attributes will need to dress appropriately. No nudity is permitted." She read out. "Are you shitting me?" Lauren asked.

Oh god, finding semi-formal wear is hard enough when you're human, but when you're a cat...

I must have made a noise because Lauren looked at me. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can scrounge up a tutu for." She said while smirking. I glared at her.

"How are we supposed to pay for this? Dresses aren't exactly cheap." Charlie fretted.

"I'm sure that if Nojik wants us to attend he can think of something." Lauren said but she still had a slight frown.

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"Oh, I didn't think they would invite you. How lovely, I'll have someone to talk to besides council members." Abigail said as she looked over the invitation to the gala.

"Yeah, I still can't get over the fact that they're making us dress up though." Grace said.

"Do you all have clothes to wear?" Abigail asked. Our silence answered for us.

"Charlie, how about you use your lunch break and head over to Sarah's shop." Abigail said before she grabbed a sticky note and began writing something down.

"Here's the address." Abigail said before handing the bright pink sticky note to Charlie. I got up. After a few hours of watching Charlie and Abigail messing with their prototype I was ready to do something, even something as dreaded as shopping.

Charlie and Abigail were having great success. Right now they were figuring which materials worked best for this device they were working on. They had a few of the prototypes scattered on the table.

They weren't the only ones to have success. Because of Mrs. Suffrage and Lauren, three more large tanks were lined against the wall, each with their new occupants. The process had been fascinating, watching the clay turn to flesh, skin and bone.

The new bodies were indistinguishable from the home grown versions. I had touched one and the flesh had given way like real flesh, well, because it was.

Now the bodies waited in the tanks, frozen to keep them in pristine condition while we waited on the test results.

I got up and stretched. I was ready to get this over and done with. Like ripping a band-aid off, it was better when you got it over with quickly rather then drawing it out.

It was only a short walk to the shop from the council building, but that wasn't a surprise since the council building was in the heart of the city.

The store was bustling when we arrived. They were obviously busy ahead of the gala. Charlie held open the door for us.

"Ah, yes, that's better. A more fitted suit shows off your build better." A small woman said as she watched a very tall and lean man examine himself in the mirror. He looked a little familiar, though I couldn't place him. A small group of people watched the man. They appeared to be some sort of entourage.