Earth Cat Zero: Last Cat Meowing

by Gary Starta

  A chirp of a bird startled and angered Jim. “What do you want now? You do have a full feeder of seed, don’t you?”

  “Sometimes” – the bird chirped in English – “we need to live more than just survive.”

  “Okay. Okay.” The man’s upper lip curled into a snarl, angered he was even conversing with his prisoner. “I promised you no harm. I would think you would be happy to become the first bird in space. Isn’t that ‘living’?” The man’s words echoed down the hall to where the bird was caged.

  “I also prefer good company.” The bird’s chirping resonated off the stark walls of the station.

  “Hmm.” The man placed a finger on his chin and scowled in defiance. “What if I told you that I could move mountains for you? Or maybe even…” He laughed in a soft lilt to himself, happy to keep his enigmatic plan limited to a need-to-know basis. He hadn’t even shared it with the woman named Sherry or Carly, or whatever her name was. She had been a great help though, whatever her name. She had proved there was some connection between the doctor and the cat, via element. And now if DNA samples proved conclusive, he just might have the cosmic recipe required to hatch his plan. But Jim – already accustomed to masking truths – was well aware appearances could be deceiving just as expectations could be soul crushing – if not nurtured properly. What kind of nurture might I require? Well, maybe a backup plan…

  Jim scoffed as the bird continued to rankle his last ounces of patience and decorum. He smiled with a sick grin, satisfied he had the will to keep his last thoughts to himself. Sorry, maybe I lied birdie. Maybe you’ll become a necessary sacrifice to our human quest to evolve after all.

  The doctor waved a dismissive hand as he rode the elevator downward to the rink with Miranda and Earth Cat Zero to meet the homeless man.

  “I wouldn’t be able to sleep right now anyway. My mind is buzzing!” The doctor fueled by excitement and caffeine squeezed a hand about Earth Cat’s head. “You are so cute!”

  Miranda bit at her lower lip in consideration. Giddiness is all well and good until someone loses an eye. She recalled a silly conversation between herself and Leesa involving that very line. Every time Miranda and Leesa experienced the highs of excitement – usually generated from talk about cute boys – they would continue to advance their thoughts until actions were taken. Some late nights texts to more than a few hotties were still part of her regrets. She wondered what those boys would say now, however. Even Felicity Mandabelle’s teen son believed she was too cool for school. Miranda concluded that it’s not always dangerous to let thoughts run wild, especially when they might save some cats. And maybe – just maybe – meeting a homeless man on a professional skating rink might result in blooming roses instead of wilted lilies. Life is chance. Science is chance…

  Miranda continued thinking in terms of physics. Up and down spins. Flavors. Colors. Destiny seemed chance, random at times. The universe didn’t seem to rely on one set of outcomes. Who was she to judge? She swung the black duffel bag back and forth, almost carefree, deciding she’d let the universe decide some of her fate, letting some of the pressure roll off her shoulders. That was until she spied the man strolling toward them; he was just about to enter the confines of the rink. His brown coat reminded Miranda of dirt. Well, soil is natural. Isn’t that a good thing? People like it when others are ‘down to earth’. She attempted a smile for the man, but it felt weak and disingenuous. It was as if her logical brain wasn’t going to buy another platitude from her rambling mind. Neon signs flashed in her mind. Sale Over. Sold Out. We’re Closed. The imagery initiated a facetious laugh. Earth Cat Zero yawned and pawed at her mouth, possibly hoping to catch a buzz of her leftover energy.

  “I can see you are already not taking me or my idea seriously.” The man bowed. “I’m Vince Marino and I remain grateful for your financial assistance.”

  “Oh.” Miranda clasped a hand over her heart. “Please, I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to disrespect you. It’s just that the doctor and I are kind of delirious from working on ideas all day.”

  Brands nodded. “I am sorry if I appear rude as well. I just wanted to choose a public place.” Miranda gazed at the arena. The doctor is smart not to let him know we work here.

  The man countered. “Oh, no problem. I wonder what strings you had to pull to get in here.”

  “Well, I apologize.” The doctor bowed to deflect the question. “It’s public, but it’s also frigid.”

  “I am glad for even a few minutes in an air-conditioned environment.”

  “Well, if you appreciate cool temperatures, why don’t we take a stroll on the ice?”

  While Brands and Miranda laced up their skates, Earth Cat Zero preened on his leash, apparently mesmerized with his blue and green imagery reflected in the ice. “Sorry, we didn’t think to bring skates for you.” Miranda apologized to break some uncomfortable silence.

  “Oh, I’m good just to shuffle around.”

  “I’m glad to hear that.” Brands added. “I hope you weren’t expecting anyone to walk on water.”

  The man laughed and raised arms in defense. “Oh. Wait a minute. I am not expecting miracles from Earth Cat Zero. We – I – would just like the cat to share his special existence with the planet.”

  “I thought he already was.” Brands sniffed. Miranda wasn’t certain it was the cold air from the rink or the hot air from the man that was bothering the doctor.

  “I should be more specific. I meant to say: especially during his time here.”

  “Oh.” Brands sniffed again. “You see Earth Cat Zero as some sort of savior with a limited shelf life. I understand, I do.” Brands nodded his head in an overwrought gesture of agreement.

  “Actually.” The man laughed and clasped hands. “I would hope that Earth Cat Zero’s very out-of-the-box existence will teach us all that boundaries are traps. Maybe even prisons.”

  “Who has influenced you?” Miranda asked, hoping to distinguish the embers of anger roiling in the doctor’s unfed stomach. “Anyone we know?”

  Vince raised an index finger. “Deepak Chopra to name one. He believes that when we label things or set definitions, we force ourselves to live in limited constructs. I think Earth Cat Zero is a living example of how we shouldn’t claim to know everything. When we do, we seem to only perpetuate ignorance, misunderstandings and hatred. A baby experiences bliss with first experiences, when they are without vocabulary. It’s pure happiness without need of definition.”

  Brands weaved a circle around the man. “I guess I can concur with that assessment.” Miranda noticed the doctor was speaking in clipped tones. Earth Cat Zero wended his way onto Miranda’s shoulder with tongue protruded, noncommittal to any of the man’s ideas.

  “If Earth Cat Zero should cooperate, what’s in it for you, Vince?” The doctor skidded to a stop right in front of the man’s nose, a plume of ice danced cloudlike above his skates.

  “Peaceful coexistence.” Vince’s head drooped. “I had things. I lost them. I know the value of what is really important in life. People. Not just my own selfish needs either but the planet’s needs.”

  “Well. I don’t know. I think we need some definitions to learn and understand, at least from a scientist’s standpoint. But maybe Earth Cat Zero might feel differently. As they say in the sports world, the ball is in your court, Earth Cat. It is your decision to make.”

  Miranda raised a hand. “I would like to ask how you envision Earth Cat Zero as a spiritualist? I can’t put him at any further risk than he’s already facing. I mean, it seems there are always dissenters when it comes to religion or an organized belief system.” Brands smiled in response. “Now that’s some good critical thinking, Miranda.”

  Vince answered with head bowed and hands stuffed in his coat’s pockets. “Like you said, that’s Earth Cat’s call. I envisioned him as the embodiment of a tangible animal spirit guide. The bottom line is that this planet needs unification. It also needs to accept changes with
that unification.”

  Earth Cat Zero gazed at the man for a moment with tongue protruded. “If I can guide us as a cat – not a human opportunist - I may consider the offer. But speaking in human idioms you might better understand, I would request to sleep on the matter.” Earth Cat Zero imitated a bow.

  Vince returned the gesture.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Miranda yawned and stretched on her purple bed awaking Earth Cat Zero who mirrored the gesture perfectly with paws fully extended and jaw wide open. The teen daydreamed it could have been any normal summer day spent lazing around the house with her beloved pet. But this is not my Joule. I’ve just been mirroring my old life -with substitutes. The realization hit hard. She was not only away from her mother but away from her Long Island home. Is this what I’ve gotten used to already? Replacements for my old life?

  Shuffling her way to the kitchen in slippers, Brands met her halfway to her destination with a glass of his infamous purple goo. She took the glass while spying it suspiciously with squinty eyes. “I can’t believe I’m getting used to this.” She gulped it reluctantly and called for Earth Cat Zero to come and eat his salmon breakfast. Her eyelids still felt glued together and her pajamas hung like a drape about her. She pointed toward the bath. “I need to get refreshed.” Earth Cat Zero ate greedily without emitting a single mew or syllable.

  “Good. You are both occupied.” The doctor rocked on heels and rubbed palms together. “I will summon the Rat’s Deck.” The doctor using voice command converted the bedroom into his lab where he scampered to the corner to activate his beam-operated photoelectric sensor machine. “Let’s see if we are communicating.” Earth Cat Zero momentarily lifted his head from his bowl before resuming his meal. It was as if the cat was disappointed at himself for thinking the doctor was talking to him.

  A blinking green light indicated an incoming transmission. With shaking hands, the doctor prompted a few commands to transfer the data to his watch. The message was short: “I am excited to have coffee with you, Doctor. How about we meet at Big Shoulders on West Chicago in one hour?” The doctor seemed taken aback for a moment, his shoulders drooped. Shouldn’t such a breakthrough in quantum communication call for a more meaningful exchange? He dug into his pocket to retrieve his cell to confirm the meeting via text. Brands gasped when he began responding to the meeting as a date. He deleted the word while scolding himself and reflecting on the fact that quantum communication would have no recall options. I’ve got to be more careful. Brands imagined Uncle Claude reprimanding him.

  Brands rolled his shoulder blades to deflect the unwanted negative energies. This is a breakthrough. Get your head back in the game, Brands. Miranda found the doctor a few moments later pondering with hand cupped around his chin. “Everything okay, Doctor?”

  “Hmm. Yes. We can communicate wirelessly via a quantum loop, Miranda. It’s another big piece of tech we can add to Earth Cat Zero’s ever-growing arsenal.”

  “Uh. Great.” Miranda tilted her head to observe the feline eating. She whispered to Brands. “You mean it’s another failsafe.”

  “Yes, I suppose if we were playing Monopoly, it might be similar to a ‘get out of jail free’ card.”

  “That’s just it. I don’t want to be playing someone else’s game. There are getting to be too many players on our board now.”

  “Oh. Are you referring to Felicity?”

  Miranda nodded. “She may be the real deal, but what are her motivations?”

  “I would say they are noble. She must have stayed up all night working, Miranda.”

  “I do get a good vibe from her. But still, what about the man who threatened my mother - Felicity’s imposter - or any number of people working for the DOE and DOD? It’s likely a large percentage of their motivations are for pure technological gain.”

  “Don’t be so glum. We are making strides. We can still beat them to the punch and then we’ll control the puck, so to speak.”

  “We can only hope. Maybe we’ll get an empty net. Is that the correct hockey analogy?”

  The doctor laughed. “Anything is possible in the quantum world. We are beginning to prove that larger objects, bigger than macroscopic entities, can survive in our world. I will concede that this is due to a bit of tweaking here and there. But it’s true, nonetheless.”

  “You’re going to have to tweak again, aren’t you, Doctor?”

  “Yes, if we want to pull the wave version of Earth Cat Zero from the collider. I believe so.”

  “I am not sure I’m going to like where this is going.”

  “Well, it will be all about destination, Miranda. Come, we can discuss on our way for coffee. We’re meeting Felicity.”

  “Mm. I love to inhale the fresh air. Invigorates the senses, which in turn, invigorates the mind.” Earth Cat Zero, walking on his leash, stuck out his tongue in response to Brands’s declaration. “Doctor, you use the term ‘fresh’ pretty loosely.”

  “Earth Cat, the winds from the lake cleanse and purify. It’s nature’s natural detox system.”

  “I am need of detox then.” The cat mewed before speaking English again. “I feel a burden, something I need to unleash from my soul – if that’s the correct human analogy.”

  Miranda grinned. “It is, Earth Cat.” The teen directed her beaming smile toward the doctor. “Do you hear what he’s saying? Earth Cat Zero has a soul!”

  The doctor felt his shoulders stiffen. Nothing like adding another pile of guilt onto my conscience. Brands wasn’t just experimenting on a bird this time. Earth Cat Zero, thanks to neural enhancements, now had a human contribution.

  “Doctor, you seem very distracted. Not so comforting at a time like this.” Miranda directed an angry gaze at the doctor and then down at Earth Cat.

  “Earth Cat, don’t you worry. We’re going to use science to make everything all right.” The doctor tried to sound convincing.

  Miranda whisper screamed. “Please don’t promise more than you can deliver.”

  “I heard that.” Earth Cat Zero paused to turn his head. “I am ready to accept my fate. Be it here…or…”

  The doctor’s heart clenched as if in a vice. He stuttered, unable to produce words. He didn’t fail to see a tear well in Miranda’s eye.

  “Uh.” The doctor cleared his throat. “Getting back to imagery. I think my uncle gave me a quite a few key bits of information during the last acceleration.”

  “You mean the mindshare of information between you and Earth Cat?”

  “Yes. But in a way, it was as if my uncle was pulling specific bits of data which would apply to our situation. Clues, if you will.”

  “But how?” Miranda paused to wipe a tear. “Don’t tell me. Quantum entanglement.”

  The doctor continued. “I just need to make sense of those clues. Let’s see. There was a recipe for making the perfect piece of toast, a way to stop ice and snow from forming and…and an oscillation – which would be the Solfeggio Frequency in our case.”

  “Wait.” Miranda scoffed. “How is toast going to solve anything?”

  “Hmm. I think it’s about temperature. Let’s see. My idea is to harness the wave version of Earth Cat Zero. We will need to manipulate atoms to do it. Making them hot, and keeping them hot, will prevent the wave field from stabilizing – at least in a specific space – so it might be possible…” The doctor appeared to be counting on his fingers in silence.

  “Doctor, look, there’s Felicity.” Miranda waved at the smiling woman.

  Earth Cat Zero tugged on his leash. “I’m in need of some real cream.”

  “Food for the soul, Earth Cat?” Miranda asked facetiously. The cat did not acknowledge her, continuing in a trot to the coffee shop. Once he reached Felicity, the cat leapt into the scientist’s arms, completely pulling the leash out of Miranda’s hands. The teen gasped while Felicity waved a dismissive hand. “Oh!” Felicity exclaimed. “I do love you too, Earth Cat Zero. But we better be safe tha
n sorry.” She returned the cat to Miranda’s anxious arms. Miranda whispered in the feline’s ear. “Don’t ever do that again.”

  Earth Cat Zero appeared to frown. “We’re going to have to cut my tether sooner or later.”

  Miranda’s face crumpled and the doctor threw an arm around her shoulder. “Come, let’s get some nutrition. We’ll all feel better.”

  “Spoken like a parent.” Felicity nodded once out of Miranda’s view. “I’m impressed.” The doctor’s face blushed. “I’m glad my leash system accepted your DNA signature. If not, it would have resulted in a nasty shock.”

  Once seated, the human trio ordered vanilla lattes with prune Danish. The waiter nodded toward Earth Cat Zero. “I’ll have a saucer of cream.” The waiter beamed and pulled out his phone. “Do you mind? My daughters will love this.” He snapped a few photos without waiting for consent.

  Miranda stroked the cat’s back. “See, Earth Cat. Everyone is behind you. Everything is going to be okay.” The teen offered a knowing glance toward Brands.

  “I think so too.” The doctor sipped water. “Felicity, I am very impressed with you too.”

  Felicity feigned surprise, placing a hand over her heart and batting eyelids.

  The doctor laughed, acknowledging her playfulness. “I simply meant you must have been up all night, working on the quantum loop.” The doctor didn’t fail to notice Miranda’s inquisitive glance.

  “You’ll just have to show me how to create a relay, so we can have two-way communication.”

  “It’s simple once you understand the dynamics of microresonater-based dual- comb spectroscopy.”

  “Ah, I just knew a beam splitter was involved.” The doctor turned to Miranda. “In layman’s terms, only a single photon is needed to carry the information. In effect, I suspect Felicity worked with a single-frequency radiation mode via parametric down conversion. Am I right, Felicity?”

  “Don’t worry, Miranda. A basic introduction is all you’ll need to understand these concepts. It’s the manipulation of these concepts that’ll keep you dependent on caffeine. But in truth, I had a lot of help from my colleagues at Argonne. Science isn’t a solitary pursuit.”