Working Cats

DESIGNATION: A-83

THREAT LEVEL: PEPPERMINT

 
"Mew"   "You want to buy how much milk, sir?"
— Confused cashier
  A-83 is a species of humanoid creatures that live regular human lives. They go about this as any average human would, integrating into human society across the globe by seamlessly learning and adopting human cultures and mannerisms. Or, so it would seem. In reality, every instance of A-83 is not a humanoid, rather, they are a kindle of kittens snuggly fit into an overcoat. Despite lacking both pants and a hat— something that under normal circumstances would clearly give away their disguise— they are almost always seen as normal humans.
A-83 Kitten Overcoat Portrait_web.png
 

Anomaly Description

Instances of A-83 appear to most as a regular human. Their features— from their face and hair, to their skin color and height— will always be those of someone wholly unremarkable. Witnesses will not even notice their lack of legwear, and accept them as normal. Their overcoats are similarly unremarkable, often ranging from tan to black in tone. Beneath these, 50-80 kittens clutch one another in various contorted positions in order to create the vague shape of a human— replete with arms, legs, and a single kitten acting as the head.   Somehow the kindle is able to stick together in this form for extended periods of time— in fact, no one has witnessed an instance of A-83 decoupling itself. Even without their overcoat, instances will attempt to maintain their human disguise. Their anomalous propeties were first discovered in 2005 after an ACF researcher saved an instance of A-83 who they thought was drowning— but was actually flailing in a 3-inch puddle. In their panic, the anomaly had managed to lose their overcoat— dispelling their disguise.    

Anomaly Containment Procedures

All instances of A-83 must be kept in a smooth-walled cell— as any bars, vents, or other holes will allow them to easily escape. It is advised to supply them with yarn or cat toys in order to keep them occupied. Twice a day, they must be fed with a saucer of milk. If possible, remove the instance's overcoat before containment. This must be done in order to ensure that we do not accidentally imprison civilians.  
"I told you, I'm not a bunch of kittens in an overcoat!"   "Hm. That's exactly what a bunch of kittens in an overcoat would say."
— An unfortunate mistake
 

Logs for A-83

Incident #83-3
Date: 2007/10/29
Location: Research station ███████
Personnel involved: █████ ████████████, referred to below as "P1"
  Video log #83-3
  -P1: Hey, Doc, you mind looking at this anomaly?   -A-83: Mew.   -P1: Great! Knew I could count on you, this one's pretty simple from what we've observed— it's a dog that teleports to an unknown location whenever it encounters a cat. Took us quite a while to catch, somehow.   -P1 places the container with A-████ in front of A-83.   -A-83 leans in towards the container.   -With a flash, A-████ disappears.   -P1: How?! That took 3 months to catch!   -P1 grapples with A-83, removing their overcoat enough in the process to dispell their disguise.   Note: This instance of A-83 was contained shortly after this incident.
  -End Log-

Comments

Author's Notes

Feedback is very much welcome! Whether on the content, or the formatting! Please, point out typos if you spot any!


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Jul 3, 2021 21:20 by Amélie I. S. Debruyne

Amazing article! I love the bunch of kittens in an overcoat and the kitties just wanting to sun themselves, get milk and play with yarn XD   But why are those bad people bothering them and trying to catch them when the kittens are making themselves useful to society, holding a job and everything??? :(

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Jul 3, 2021 21:53 by Grace Gittel Lewis

Thank you!   The ACF's purpose is to secure society from the supernatural, even the good supernatural.

Jul 3, 2021 21:55 by Jan Kaltenecker

This is such a well-rounded article. Just long enough, very entertaining and stunning to look at! Outstanding work!

"Thunder rolled. It got a 6." — Guards, Guards by Sir Terry Pratchett
Island-Inquest awaits!
Jul 3, 2021 22:04 by Grace Gittel Lewis
Jul 3, 2021 23:39 by JRR Jara

Amazing!!! The art, layout and content ARE great, I want to meet an A-83 :)

Creator of Hanzelot and many more.
Jul 4, 2021 00:25 by Grace Gittel Lewis

Maybe you already have! You wouldn't know!

Jul 4, 2021 13:04 by Kaleidechse

Mew!

That is a really clever interpretation of working animal! Hehe, I see why there would be problems with containing innocent civilians. I wonder what became of the company that invested everything in yarn?


Creator of the Kaleidoscope System and the planet Miragia.
Jul 4, 2021 19:44 by Grace Gittel Lewis

Thank you!   As for the company? They're strung out right now.

Jul 6, 2021 05:04 by Wendy Vlemings (Rynn19)

The mere idea of all these kittens clinging together in an overcoat makes me laugh. Wonderful take on this prompt. Mew!

Author of Ealdwyll, a fantasy world full of mystery.
Jul 6, 2021 15:15 by Dani

50-80 kittens hahahahahhahahahahaha this is just a magical mental picture. <3


You are doing a great job! Keep creating; I believe in you!
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Now with serialized fiction on Ream!!
Jul 6, 2021 22:12 by Dr Emily Vair-Turnbull

SO MANY KITTENS. Mew!   I love this. The image of one flailing in a puddle made me laugh. Great article, Timepool!

Emy x
Explore Etrea
Jul 7, 2021 07:10

As usual with APRA: This is ridiculous! Ridiculously funny! I love it <3   I do have a question: on the one hand, we are told that no one has seen them disassociate, on the other, there is this "bars, vents, or other holes will allow them to easily escape". So how come scientists have not put bars/vents/whatever in a controlled setting to observe them doing so?   That log story by the way really cracked me up.

Aug 17, 2021 23:50 by Grace Gittel Lewis

Oh they have done so! Cats are liquid, don't you know? Even when in vague-human-shape they retain this property!

Jul 9, 2021 15:35 by R. Dylon Elder

I loved this. I always love your articles. I think it's a delightfully weird, adorable, but definitely unsettling thing. I mean that's alot of kittens.   A couple of questions I had when reading: do the kittens age? Do they become cats and disperse, an explosion of strays perhaps? Does this effect their disguise?   How does this anomaly form? Do kittens just converge or does it start out this way?   Is the overcoat what truely matters here? Since removing it dispels the disguise, one could infer that it is the source of it. Maybe the kittens are a ruse, an adorable red herring. Lol   I imagine the anomaly hasn't been studied enough for many of for the questions to be answered. They're hard enough just to catch lol   Well done as always. Sorry it took so long to get to it

Aug 17, 2021 23:53 by Grace Gittel Lewis

Thank you! I'd say that they do age, yes, and appear as older humans as they do so. They continue to remain disguised, however.   It is unknown how they form, no one has observed their creation yet.   Perhaps the coat is the true anomaly— or there are two anomalies here with a symbiotic relationship.   But yes there is much studying to be done to find the answers!   And sorry it took so long to respond here haha! No worries— I took my time getting to your articles, after all.

Jul 13, 2021 03:02 by Stormbril

This is hilarious and fantastic xD I love that even without the overcoat, they still try to maintain the disguise.

Dec 11, 2021 23:18

Ah, so this world’s basically just SCP Foundation. In any case, this is adorable and I’m glad I ran into it.

Dec 15, 2021 00:27 by Grace Gittel Lewis

Not quite 1:1 with the SCP Foundation, but it is definitely a parody of it, yes! Thank you!

Feb 24, 2023 02:05 by jyliet of the house

"Threat level: peppermint" is going to end up being a household phrase. How silly!   "This must be done in order to ensure that we do not accidentally imprison civilians." "An unfortunate mistake"! But easily remedied with a simple saucer of milk and overcoat.   LOVE that disappearing dog!

Apr 1, 2023 09:52 by Grace Gittel Lewis

All the APRA threat levels are fun haha. In order it's peppermint < gum wrapper < rust < dirty sock. Thank you!

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