"Compu… ehh… Cortana, can you show me the way to Nina?"
The voice in Julia's head snickered for a moment.
"Well trained by all these stupid voice recognition system, right?" Cortana asked. "You know, you can easily ask me a direct question… no need to ask me what I could do."
Julia laughed.
"Sorry, voice recognition became really good, but when you would have used a smartphone for nearly a decade you would also ask questions like this!"
"Yes, maybe… on the other side the Fen smartphones were already quite clever years ago" Cortana said, "but you really tempted me just to say yes and wait how you react."
A number of green floating blobs appeared in Julia's field of vision, marking a way around the next corner.
"Nina has switched of her public position marker, but I know where you might find her most days at this time. Just follow the markers and see if you can find her!"
"Thank you, I will try" Julia replied and began following the virtual waypoints. "I really have to ask them if we can keep some of the equipment."
After a short walk and two changes of the direction of gravity her green breadcrumbs ended in front of a door with the a 'Kindergarten' floating in front of it.
'A place where they send silly catgirls' Julia wondered and stepped towards the door, which quietly opened to let her in.
The room behind the door was padded with a thick soft carpet, a few boots and sandals were standing right next to the door. A number of toys were laying all over the free space. A small group of catgirls were sitting on a large couch and an armchair. A passage in the back lead to another room, color marked as a zero-g transition.
"Excuse me, I am looking for" Julia started as she noticed something else behind the catgirls.
At first she thought it was another catgirl sleeping on the couch, but the fluffy shape was far too diverse in color… it was a group of catgirls, just much smaller… children? Kittens?
"Shh…" one of the adult catgirls replied quickly, "they just have fallen asleep!"
Julia was still looking at the kittens as one of the kittens lifted her and, yawned and looked around. The catgirls behind them rolled with their eyes and sighed.
The little kitten finally looked at Julia with large blue eyes, her ears twitched and she tried to stand up, only to fall back onto the couch.
"Ahh, Mikaja… our little precious trouble maker" the catgirl on the left said and grinned. "You wouldn't believe how often we had to look for her because we left her out of sight for a second!"
Mikaja was already climbing down from the couch, falling onto the padded carpet and turned her head again to Julia. On all fours she began to move to the human student, her tail wagging slowly back and forth.
"Ohh… I met any children on the station" Julia whispered, keeping her eyes on Mikaja. "Hmm... didn't they say you all were humans in the past and that there are no catboys here?"
"Oh, these are the first ones that were born here at Nostromo, just nine months ago. But there is also a group of kittens at Jenga, they should be one and a half year old" the catgirl replied with a smile. "This here is one of our Kindergarten groups… they are really wonderful, don't you think so?"
Julia was about to answer but Mikaja had reached her and was pulling herself upright with the help of Julia's leg. The kitten meowed loudly and looked up to Julia.
"UP!" the kitten demanded, stretching her furred arms in the air. "UP!"
"I think thats the second word most of them learned" the catgirl said and chuckled. "First Mama and then Up!"
Julia reached down and picked Mikaja up on her arms.
"You are Mikaja?" she said with a smile, "You are really a cute one."
But Mikaja was busy taking a closer look at Julia. The kitten carefully touched Julia's nose and cheeks, then reached for her ears. Finally she looked back to the two catgirls, visibly confused by something.
"I forgot you might be the first human she meets in her life" the catgirl said, "don't worry they are all really nice kids… most of the times."
"So you are a really nice one, right?" Julia asked the kitten and stroke slowly with her hand over the kittens head. "I am Julia, nice to meet you!"
Within moments Mikaja lost her confusion and pressed her head against Julia's neck. Julia could her a low purring coming from the kitten.
"I think we are lucky… please just keep her on your arms for a while so she can sleep in, can you?" the catgirl asked Julia. "If you put her down she will most likely start crying and wake up the rest of them."
"I had planned to look for Nina, I wanted to ask her a few questions before we all meet at the accelerator in a few hours!"
"That is no problem, just send them a message that you are here… no plan survives contact with the Kittens!"
**********************
Bonus points for recognizing this Kitten.
The voice in Julia's head snickered for a moment.
"Well trained by all these stupid voice recognition system, right?" Cortana asked. "You know, you can easily ask me a direct question… no need to ask me what I could do."
Julia laughed.
"Sorry, voice recognition became really good, but when you would have used a smartphone for nearly a decade you would also ask questions like this!"
"Yes, maybe… on the other side the Fen smartphones were already quite clever years ago" Cortana said, "but you really tempted me just to say yes and wait how you react."
A number of green floating blobs appeared in Julia's field of vision, marking a way around the next corner.
"Nina has switched of her public position marker, but I know where you might find her most days at this time. Just follow the markers and see if you can find her!"
"Thank you, I will try" Julia replied and began following the virtual waypoints. "I really have to ask them if we can keep some of the equipment."
After a short walk and two changes of the direction of gravity her green breadcrumbs ended in front of a door with the a 'Kindergarten' floating in front of it.
'A place where they send silly catgirls' Julia wondered and stepped towards the door, which quietly opened to let her in.
The room behind the door was padded with a thick soft carpet, a few boots and sandals were standing right next to the door. A number of toys were laying all over the free space. A small group of catgirls were sitting on a large couch and an armchair. A passage in the back lead to another room, color marked as a zero-g transition.
"Excuse me, I am looking for" Julia started as she noticed something else behind the catgirls.
At first she thought it was another catgirl sleeping on the couch, but the fluffy shape was far too diverse in color… it was a group of catgirls, just much smaller… children? Kittens?
"Shh…" one of the adult catgirls replied quickly, "they just have fallen asleep!"
Julia was still looking at the kittens as one of the kittens lifted her and, yawned and looked around. The catgirls behind them rolled with their eyes and sighed.
The little kitten finally looked at Julia with large blue eyes, her ears twitched and she tried to stand up, only to fall back onto the couch.
"Ahh, Mikaja… our little precious trouble maker" the catgirl on the left said and grinned. "You wouldn't believe how often we had to look for her because we left her out of sight for a second!"
Mikaja was already climbing down from the couch, falling onto the padded carpet and turned her head again to Julia. On all fours she began to move to the human student, her tail wagging slowly back and forth.
"Ohh… I met any children on the station" Julia whispered, keeping her eyes on Mikaja. "Hmm... didn't they say you all were humans in the past and that there are no catboys here?"
"Oh, these are the first ones that were born here at Nostromo, just nine months ago. But there is also a group of kittens at Jenga, they should be one and a half year old" the catgirl replied with a smile. "This here is one of our Kindergarten groups… they are really wonderful, don't you think so?"
Julia was about to answer but Mikaja had reached her and was pulling herself upright with the help of Julia's leg. The kitten meowed loudly and looked up to Julia.
"UP!" the kitten demanded, stretching her furred arms in the air. "UP!"
"I think thats the second word most of them learned" the catgirl said and chuckled. "First Mama and then Up!"
Julia reached down and picked Mikaja up on her arms.
"You are Mikaja?" she said with a smile, "You are really a cute one."
But Mikaja was busy taking a closer look at Julia. The kitten carefully touched Julia's nose and cheeks, then reached for her ears. Finally she looked back to the two catgirls, visibly confused by something.
"I forgot you might be the first human she meets in her life" the catgirl said, "don't worry they are all really nice kids… most of the times."
"So you are a really nice one, right?" Julia asked the kitten and stroke slowly with her hand over the kittens head. "I am Julia, nice to meet you!"
Within moments Mikaja lost her confusion and pressed her head against Julia's neck. Julia could her a low purring coming from the kitten.
"I think we are lucky… please just keep her on your arms for a while so she can sleep in, can you?" the catgirl asked Julia. "If you put her down she will most likely start crying and wake up the rest of them."
"I had planned to look for Nina, I wanted to ask her a few questions before we all meet at the accelerator in a few hours!"
"That is no problem, just send them a message that you are here… no plan survives contact with the Kittens!"
**********************
Bonus points for recognizing this Kitten.