The Adventure of the Cats' Peril
by Kevin L. O'Brien
After a snowstorm, Eile and Sunny find a cat nearly frozen to death. They take it to the vet, who finds an identity chip with an address. It turns out to be an abandoned factory, but they go in to try to find the owner. That's when they encounter the robots, which take them captive and present them to their mad scientist creator. This is a short novella, with a Preface and Story Excerpts.Eile and Sunny met three weeks ago, fell in love, and decided to move in together. Each morning Sunny makes them breakfast, and then they spend the day together having adventures. One morning, after a bad snowstorm, Eile finds a stray cat outside their front door while fetching the paper, buried in snow and nearly frozen to death. She and Sunny warm it until it awakens, then take it to a nearby vet. While examining it, the vet discovers an identity chip under the skin. When she scans it, she finds an address, but no name.Intrigued, the Girls go to find the owner, but the address leads them to an abandoned factory complex. They go inside and are captured by robots, which take them to their mad scientist creator, Dr. Mabuse. She demands the return of the cat for an experiment, otherwise she will use them in one of her other projects. She sends Sunny to retrieve it, holding Eile as hostage.Sunny must return in an hour. If she fails, or if she tries to get help, Mabuse will use Eile as part of a particularly nasty experiment. And yet, the cat will almost certainly die if Mabuse gets her hands on it. Can Team Girl save themselves and the cat, or will Mabuse go back on her word? And why does the vet insist on coming along?