Maddie's Curse

Vera sits at her white desk in her private quarters, scrolling down the Town's structured newsletter for the week on her vertical monitor. Vera's adjusted report concerning her last assignment is at the top and has been provided by Town's editorial group the headline "Maddie's Curse."

She bites again into her cold cut sandwich. Her doorbell rings multiple times in quick succession, and Vera is quick to open the door before it proceeds any longer.

"Hey, Maddie. Have you been still enjoying your stay? Do you have any more questions for me than last time?"

"Oh yeah, it's been great. I've been loving my stay so far! Don't ask why people keep entering my suite as humans and leaving as catpeople, okay? Especially the cute ones."

Maddie is wearing a pair of new jeans and a hoodie with the Town logo on it; a major improvement over her old, worn clothes. She still has her old red scarf, although it's been freshly washed.

"So how do I power my microwave here? I've been eating the breakfast sandwiches cold and it's really hard to chew on them."

"You're transforming people willingly?"

Vera sighs. She steps outside into the long, pearly corridor, and the door auto-locks.

"I hope our Culinary Department was approved for an additional order of frog legs. I unfortunately can believe that the residents here are bored enough that they would prefer to alter their physiology for their own quick amusement... Have they been treating you appropriately in Scientific Research?"

She pinches the bridge of her nose.

"Maddie, you're intended to press the power button. Does your microwave not function correctly?"

"Well... I'm just worried about the wiring is all. I almost caught fire when I messed up the wiring of my old microwave, and I don't trust the way they've set it up here. It just disappears into the wall? What happens to the batteries?"

Maddie looks a window admiring the rolling waves of the ocean below.

"Yeah, they've been treating me okay. Taking a lot of pictures, couple of samples of my fur, and I even had one of the researches volunteer to collect some of my "fluids" for "research purposes" after the testing. She's a cutie. I like it here."

"Nothing. Nothing happens to the batteries, Maddie. You should consider applying for some of the freely available courses offered through Town's Education Department."

She steps beside Maddie and rubs her eyes.

"Thank you for volunteering. I've just been awaiting my next assignment, meanwhile. Unfortunately, however, my clinician ordered to my department that I be held here at least another week."

"Well, you do act a bit crazy. I also really don't think 'clinician' is a word. Crazy world we live in where I'm the more rational and reasonable person between the two of us, huh?"

Maddie reaches into a bag she's been carrying and pulls out a chicken drumstick, which she begins to eat with no regard for the fact that she's in the middle of a spotless hallway.

"Oh yeah I got this from one of the eateries here. Want some?"

"How do I 'act crazy?' And clinician is a word. I'm certainly more rational than you. I was already eating something in my room, but thank you."

She takes her tablet from her sash and taps on it for several seconds like a metronome. She stares at a page she made earlier today, and she tilts her head.

"Am I behaving strangely? Is there an example you would point to? It's possible that I'm not aware of what you're speaking on and it may be a lingering effect of having been a cat and human hybrid for weeks..."

"Well, I don't see how you could possibly sit in a desk like that all day. Isn't it pretty normal to get the urge to sprint around in circles after more than like 10 minutes of sitting down?"

Maddie finishes her drumstick and then expertly tosses it into a wastebasket on the other side of the hall.

"I'm just teasing you. This is probably how you acted before I bit you. Are you busy today?"

"Truthfully, I don't enjoy sitting at my desk. That's one reason I want to attend to my next assignment already. I just feel stifled otherwise."

She types something small and shakes her head.

"No, I have nothing scheduled. I also confirmed with Town AI that it's unlikely I will be placed for an emergency assignment these next few days. Perhaps I'll skim through some old notes for revision. Maybe I'll just sleep."

"Who's town AI? Are they cute?"

Maddie seems genuinely curious, and it appears that she doesn't know what 'AI' means.

"I feel like there's nothing to do around here. Like they just give me the food; I don't need to steal it or anything. Feels too easy, I guess."

"No—it's a groundbreaking supercomputer that also demonstrates some characteristics of human-like thinking. You can speak with it on any monitor here. I'm not sure it likes me... Have you attended the Entertainment District yet? You may enjoy the Virtual Reality Pavilion or the dance club. You could join a recreational club, perhaps. I understand you wouldn't enjoy our library yet."

She hardly can mention this branch of Town's layout without yawning.

"Additionally, you could volunteer for a job."

Maddie turns to a monitor in the corner of the hallway, and shouts at it.

"Hey Town AI! Are you cute? Vera says you aren't! Also where's the entertainment district, I'm bored!"

Vera's tablet beeps with a two-tone notification. She sighs.

"It says that it's up to your discretion but that many have claimed it is. It also says the district is up the elevator and then 'where the tallest buildings of Town are located.' I suppose it knows you wouldn't read the sidewalk signs. Enjoy yourself, Maddie."

"Did you still want to see that movie, by the way? We can go down to the entertainment district together! It'll be fun!"

Maddie grabs Vera by the sleeve and starts practically dragging her along with her.

"You get to pick the movie I trust your judgement. You know, I never get to watch any movies. It's too hard to sneak into a theater and I don't have a phone. Does Town provide phones?"

"I never go there, Maddie—okay, could you please let go of me? Maddie?"

She groans and pulls back on the excited catgirl, but she fails to hold her ground despite her training. Eventually, she concedes and walks with her. She was leaning towards sleeping otherwise, anyway.

"I was in an altered state when I promised to watch a movie with you; however, I suppose I could maintain my promise anyway. Especially if it means you will stop grabbing me like that. We can also get you a Town-issued phone on the way to the theater..."

They take the elevator and then walk toward Town's perimeter of services.

--------------------

They arrive at the Entertainment District, where Maddie is still dragging Vera around.

"Where's the theater? I can't read the signs so you're going to have to point it out to me."

She stops at a vending machine that has absolutely no cost for any of its snacks; a luxury that Town residents enjoy. Despite this, she still opens a panel on the side and fiddles with some wires, causing four bags of chips to drop out. She snatches them up and opens one and starts munching.

"Want some? I love looting vending machines like that. So much fun watching them all drop out of the box!"

Some of Town's passing pedestrians take notice of the vandalism and refer on their personal devices for security services, although it's only met with one electrician being scheduled for the machine in thirty minutes. Others wave at Maddie excitedly, including one of the scientists she transformed into a catgirl. Vera, of course, presses her fingers into her forehead.

"I suspect your skills would be better used elsewhere. Please don't get yourself in trouble with our authorities, okay? The theater is this building."

She takes one of the bags from the vending machine open compartment and then walks toward a particularly boxy building with white flare lights lining the entrance stairway. The lobby is dim and with a deep red carpet, a surprisingly familiar appearance in this futuristic society, and Vera pans down a monitor's page on the wall.

"A private showing would allow us to choose almost any film we want."

"Oohh how romantic with just the two of us!"

Maddie gives Vera a shit-eating grin and looks at the panel intently as if she can read the movie titles.

"Just pick one that sounds neat I don't care really."

Maddie wanders around the lobby and then waves at a researcher passing by the glass doors of the building.

"You're ridiculous. Okay, this feature titled 'Steel Vendetta' is rated highly by oversea critics and our own critics. Perhaps you like swords."

She chooses it without further prompt from Maddie, though, and leads her into one of the several rooms further inside with a green indicator light over the entrance. When the door closes behind them, it locks, of course. She confirms the movie to begin on a small panel and then sits with Maddie in the second-to-front row. And Vera reclines the back of her seat.

"I'm surprised you wanted to do this activity with me," She admits suddenly.

"Well, I'm bored and wanted something to do. I also kind of wanted to get to know you a little better because you weren't really yourself for most of the time I've known you."

She opens another bag of chip, offering a couple to Vera.

"I bet we'll finish all of these before the movie even starts!"

Vera takes from Maddie's offering of chips and nods. The ambient light of the room dims to twilight, and the film then frames a thundering rainstorm over an Eastern village.

"I think I understand. I wanted something to do today too, potentially. Hopefully this is entertaining, then?"

She places three fingers and her thumb on her cheek, and her focus narrows onto the sword in the center of the next shot. Its wielder is a bruised silhouette in the dark, some stoic man.

"What would you wish to learn about me?"

"Hm. About you... well, I'm actually kind of curious how long you've been in Town. Some of the people I've met here have been here their whole lives. Have you?"

Maddie watches the film as the sword cleaves down in a dramatic shot, cutting at another man. Seemingly nothing happens for a moment, and then the man collapses to one knee and then falls down dead.

"Oh damn that guy got owned. Pretty neat movie!"

"I was born here, yes. My mother and father, however, originated from the United Kingdom. They also moved away from here a long time ago."

She pauses, allowing a bystander in the movie to cry out from fear and awe. She touches her own shoulder and grimaces, watching the blood ooze from the corpse.

"I like it too."

Maddie crunches on her snacks happily, not taking notice of Vera's reaction to the visceral scene.

"You know, I don't actually think I've ever seen someone die in the city. I've seen car accidents and even stabbings ay night but everyone always walked away. Movies are weird."

Vera often considers movies as a form of cheap escapism. Instead of tackling the real world, someone could instead lounge in a lonely room and drain two hours on something they wouldn't remember next year.

Rather than explaining that, though, she says, "I also haven't witnessed anyone die in front of me, Maddie. I'm ordered to conceal carry a pistol on some assignments, however, for my self-defense. Town AI seems to believe I will need it sometime."

"Woah. Did you have it when you went on the assignment to find me? That's kind of menacing."

Maddie continues the movie, where the man from earlier stands on a swaying rope bridge over a foggy cavern. A band of soldiers are chasing him, lining up one at a time. It's rather comedic for such a serious movie.

"I didn't."

She wouldn't have taken the shot, anyway. The swordsman is impossible to approach, even in these close quarters. The bodies slip off the bridge with the fluency of each swipe.

"Please, however, don't be concerned. My training to be a field researcher was designed to keep everyone safe. I will be fine."

The movie ends with the swordsman at the peak of a mountain, dueling against his brother in a bittersweet clash of blades and ideals.

"Neat movie. Movies are neat. We should do this again sometime!"

Maddie stands up, stretching after two hours of sitting.

"I don't think I've sat still like that for hours like that in years. Apart from sleeping of course."

The lights dial back on. Vera picks up their discarded bags of chips.

"I suppose we could watch movies again later. I would imagine more days like this will arrive after my next assignments."

She walks with Maddie out of the building. Sunlight still reaches through the glass dome, and the vending machine Maddie tampered earlier dispenses a nougat bar for a child with yellow hair.

--------------------

A banner reaches from one corner of the ceiling to another with the pastel-colored proclamation, "All Catboys, Catgirls, etc Welcome!"

Vera rubs the ridge of her forehead and scoffs.

"Who made this, Maddie? It's not particularly politically correct."

Fifteen Town residents consisting of primarily young adults chat and purr around the room. Lunda from the Education Department is toying with a ball of yarn. Vera Hanley is the only one who isn't a cat person. She drinks from a complementary glass of seltzer water.

"Congratulations on securing public interest for your recreational club."

"What does 'politically correct' even mean? It's the catpeople club, of course it's for catpeople."

She pounces at a bottle someone throws her way, rolling and quickly jumping to her feet before popping it open and sipping. She strides over to a catboy with purple hair, probably around her age. He's quite feminine, wearing a skirt and striped thigh-highs.

"Hey Sen! Great work with the banners. Vera had issues with it which means it probably is perfect! How's the party been so far?"

Sen smiles and looks up at the banner.

"Yeah I had to ask one of the enbies how to go about inclusivity on the sign or whatever and they said the 'etc' was fine. Glad you like it, stayed up 'til 3 AM making it. Hi Vera, honestly surprised to see you here considering what happened. Not interested in round two, are you?"

"Sen, your circadian rhythm may be suffering with that sleep schedule."

She rolls her eyes.

"No, no round two. Maddie simply insisted that I make an appearance for the first meeting, and I do suppose I'm a component of why this club even exists at all. Maybe I'll have interesting notes to make from today. Oh—Lucy, not you too."

Lucy smirks and waves at everyone as she enters the communal space although many are too distracted to reciprocate. She's in a sportier getup today: white sneakers, shorts, and short-sleeves. And she's boasting cat features of her own. Her cat ears have some fuzz blending to her genetically-engineered light blue hair color, her tail is also this blue, and her earrings are cat bells so small that they barely sound when they ring.

She sits nearby Maddie and Sen with her legs fanned.

"Hi, Vera. I had to try it, don't act like that. Maddie's a sweetheart, so that helps. So, how do I look? The ears JUST came in. Do they look kind of small to anyone else? I like how Sen's turned out, wow."

She licks her wrist.

Maddie pats Lucy on top of the head, right between the ears.

"Nah, your ears are adorable! Just the right size. Your earrings are super cute by the way. I never got to wear earrings much, actually. Jewelry stores are kind of high security."

Maddie chugs her drink, then chucks the bottle across the room so it bounces off the wall and into a bin.

"I'm glad you and Sen are enjoying this, hehe. I can't say I don't enjoy biting people from time to time."

She leans against Sen and snuggles against him a bit, giving him a knowing smile.

"You're so sweet, god. Thank you Maddie! You could borrow some of mine sometime, if you want? I seriously can't believe you lived all alone like that for so long, speaking of that."

She plants her chin on her knuckles, and she faces Vera and raises her eyebrows.

"I honestly was starting to think this lady didn't have a heart."

The comment startles Vera from her encroaching boredom. She finishes her cup, and some of the fizzy water drizzles from her lip.

"What?—Of course I have a heart. For what reasoning did you believe I chose to work in the Field Research Department?"

"Wasn't it because you were bored here?"

Maddie chimes in, clearly enjoying the way that Lucy is bothering Vera.

"I think she did it so she could meet cute catgirls. That was why you let me bite you, right? You think I'm cute don't you. Come to think of it... want me to bite you again? It would be realllyyy funny to see you like that again. I think my favorite part of the curse was when you forgot how to read."

Sen gives Maddie a confused look.

"Wait, Vera forgot how to read when she got cursed? I haven't had any issues with that at all. Been able to get plenty of work done despite the urge to nap, actually. Pretty good so far."

Sure enough, there's no typos or anything on the banner Sen made recently.

She covers her face with her hand and groans.

"She's absurd, isn't she? No, Maddie, I did not permit you to do anything. You essentially ambushed me!"

A smile sneaks past her fingers, however, that catgirl's limitless absurdity chipping away at her day-to-day composure after all.

"The Scientific Research Department has been discovering odd psychological results on some of the participants to your curse. I had no control over my own symptoms... Anyway, you'd need a much better reason than it being funny to expect me to agree to that on my own accord."

Lucy stands up and scratches behind Maddie's right ear.

She whispers, "Hey, I owe you big time if you go bite her right now again. I literally have to see Vera like that."

Sen looks at Maddie, then at Vera and then back to Maddie, who has dropped into a low crouch. Seeing the mischievous glint in her eyes, he starts to step forward.

"Wait, Maddie, sto-"

He is cut off by the catgirl pouncing at Vera, so fast she's just a blur as she knocks the other woman to the ground.

"-p that... she doesn't seem to want round two... oh, how can I stop you. How could anyone stop you?"

Vera yelps on impact and then swears. Not again.