Preface 1 & The Zowey Incident

Preface 1:

A warning must be given that these files were collect through illegal means and are not to be released to the public. Violation of this security point will be dealt with direct fatality to the one infracting this level of secrecy. These were and have been collected by the management team of “Duster’s Pub” referred to as “The Rats” from this point on. The man known as Kestrel George Wrightman is one of our kin, even if he is a feline. Within the military files we acquired, he received the code name of “Kitty” which we use lovingly in all the differing clans and groupings of animathropes in and around the city of London, U.K. I am sure it is also being used by other external groups he has assisted for so many years with the some jovial respect we use this nickname for him.

I must added the fact that due to errors during transforming these many documents into a digital version that the order of events has been confused. All attempts by myself, Shagrit, or my mate, Minerva, have failed to correct the files being reorganized in a none chronological order of the events our Kitty took part in. We have come to the conclusions that this error is caused by an external source we cannot track nor stop. This is neither military nor human intervention as we have come to accept the electronic entity that seems to exist and modify the order for a purpose we cannot fathom, as of yet.

Though the order is a disarray, they are still complete and fully describe the events that took place. Many will question why we, The Rats, have taken this duty. My answer to you is that Kitty is not a normal animathrope but something new and very special. This goes beyond the rareness of his breed being now the only were-panther of the Felithrope type in existence but his personality that is opposite to all those of his kind that came before him. He is truly the most unique being that has, and will ever, exist in our world. Through these reports that are, at time, simplified but not embellished, you will understand why this man is a hero to the world no matter your breed or race.

Shagrit Sr and Duster Jr

Mission Log (26-03-1994):

The Zowey Incident:

The call to the team from frantic parents was at first ignored but for some reason our commander decided to visit her in the hospital with his first officer, Shea Coldcheck (me). I wasn’t thinking it was anything our specialized team should be looking into but our understanding handler, Leigh Holstein, had easily agreed to allow Kestrel and myself to investigate but had given us the time limit of a week. What we eventually discovered did fall under our domain even if it was both an oddity and rare event.

“Can you try explaining again why this got your interest?” I stated. We stood outside a hospital where we would be meeting the parents of a child that had slipped into a sudden unexplained coma.

“Just a hunch or my instincts making my whiskers tingle.” he replied under his breath to me. I was in my casual military fatigues while he wore civilian clothing making him look very unprofessional. He preferred this look than his military uniforms he sometimes was forced to wear.

Her parents noticed me easily considering I towered over most of the scattered handful of people walking in this area. I pointed them out receiving a nod before we moved in their direction at a casual pace. Their face brighten upon our approach but turned confused by Kestrel dress and non-military attitude.

“You requested for an investigation upon your daughter, correct?” he stated. His words held a purring he often used to keep people calm when dealing with them. This small action of his background purring had never failed to have contacts calm but confused when normal humans. The team, to my knowledge, had become accustomed to this and wasn’t affected by it unless he targeted it at them specifically.

“Yes, since nothing medical, environmental, or psychological can explain her coma.” the mother stated with tear filled eyes. I took a moment to examine both of them closely to note anything I found odd about them.

The mother had tears in her eyes, pale faced, frantically trembling, and, from my observation, ready to collapse from exhaustion. The father stood stiff, eyes darting around, and nervously held an arm around his wife. He wasn’t appeared as worried as his wife about their daughter but worried about being seen with military personnel publicly. I hadn’t reviewed the background report on them nor their daughter since it was barely a one page file on each of them. I would need to find a better background report seeing his abnormal reaction towards meeting with us.

“We will look into it but have only a limit time to spend on this incident.” Kestrel had replied. The father’s eyes went from him and up to me. It hit me each time I had to remind myself that my commander was technically short at 173 cm (5’8”) compared to my 188 cm (6’2”).

“Thank you but is this escort needed?” the father asked quietly.

“My first officer wouldn’t let me investigate anything alone.” he replied. The purr had turned into more of a growl as he eyed the man hard. His body had stiffened at the man’s comment showing he was taking this very seriously. “Protocols dictates two-man teams when investigating something that could be potentially dangerous.” he added with a harder edge. Hearing him quote protocols had me holding back a laugh. He ignored protocols as often as he could and expected his team to do the same when needed. As for the two-man team idea, it was something he put forth to give us direct backup from the first mission he had commanded.

“Please do what you can to help our daughter.” the mother cried. Kestrel’s shoulder slumped at her words as if a great weight had been placed upon his shoulders by her request. It is not a rare occurrence when asked directly for help he reacted this way which lead to him going all out to help. The earpiece in my ear suddenly buzzed and the feint whispered “help” was heard in the static. Kestrel and myself stiffened, and for a moment, I feared he would take on his other form but he stayed human.

“Let us have a look at her.” he replied. The purr had returned but his words held an edge showing he had heard the same whisper on his earpiece. We followed the parents inside but something had me stayed a half step behind Kestrel while my eyes remained on the father. Something in his behaviour had me doubting he wanted help of any kind on this matter especially not from military personnel.

“Our Zowey was always a smart child.” the mother was saying. “Most electronics work easily for her like she understands them without knowing what the device was.” she continued. The father step faltered for a half step but he corrected his pace too quickly.

“Some people are amazing and learn very fast about electronic devices.” Kestrel returned calmly. The hint of a smile on his face told me who he was speaking about even if I hadn’t had a chance to meet the were-rat Shagrit yet. “One of my old friends can do things with these new computers that I can’t even start to understand.” he added. We were nearing the girl’s hospital room when the second warning went off.

As the father moved ahead to open the door, every room alarm on the floor went off at the same moment. We froze in the hallway, tense as our military training kick in fully. We didn’t need to speak, as I dashed back towards the nursing desk and elevators, Kestrel moved towards the stairwell to secure it. The floor was between us as the father turned around looking from me to Kestrel with a pale face and scared eyes. The mother had only moved to the side of her daughter’s covering her ears while tears rolled down her cheeks.

“What just happened guys?” Haunting’s voice was in my ear as well as Kestrel’s. “Your channel went live then all we heard was alarms before I could even reply.” she added quickly and nervously.

“We didn’t activate the coms to base, Haunting.” I stated in the mic.

“We did have a radio glitch just outside the hospital.” I heard Kestrel. Hearing his voice whispering from the other end of the hallway and over the radio had me confused. Our earpieces were only suppose to transmit from me to him but not be able to reach home base across the Canadian border from the Southern States. “And how are we reaching you, Haunting?” I heard him state in a quiet voice in the earpiece only. He had the same thought I just had showing this as more than a simple coma case.

“From what I’m seeing, your channel is bouncing off every relay satellite and transmission tower siting between us in Ontario.” Haunting reported after a moment of silence. “Signal is going all over the place as well.” she continued. I could hear her confusion and worry in her voice. “Suggesting radio silence until I can track down why this is happening, sir.” she added.

“Agreed!” Kestrel snapped back. “Shea, take your earpiece off, and put one of your gifts in your ear instead.” he whispered to me. I slipped the earpiece from my ear to replace it with a device that looked more like a hearing aid than the close range private radio. A gift from Shagrit who had sent a pair for each of the core command team.

“Check, sir.” I interjected once it was in place.

“This is definitely something up our teams alleyway but what are we facing?” he purred back to me.

“Nothing we have on file can affect radios or make every room alarm go off.” I replied very quietly. My eyes had stayed on the father. “From what I’ve seen, I think Zowey’s dad knows something his wife doesn’t.” I added. I moved at him knowing that Kestrel was doing the same while the alarms went quiet. The mother still cried silently with her hands over her ears but had slid to her knees with the wall at her back. I reached her first motioning her that it was safe to uncover her ears. Kestrel was by the father as I help the mother stand and keep her on her feet.

“Stay with her and their daughter while I have a chat with the man of the family.” Kestrel told me. It was his gentle way to give orders when in teams. Calm, casual, and never forced, this was his way with the team unless we were about to walk into Hell. Then he would growl in such a way we couldn’t disobey his words which was why we liked following him and knew when we were facing real trouble. “Let’s take a walk to talk more privately, mister?” he stated to the man. It was at this point that we hadn’t been given their names at all. Their name was also missing from the request except for the name Zowey. I guided the mother into the room as she looked distraught but slowly recovering. I could hear their words through my new earpiece.

“Charles Cambridge, and Zowey is my step-daughter.” the man answered in a near whisper. “Her mother was pregnant when we meet and married so Zowey was never told.” he explained more hesitantly. “I do love her as a daughter but she’s done things that my wife, her mother, doesn’t know about.” he concluded. I could hear their footsteps through this new device.

“What do you mean by doing things?” Kestrel responded with his typical purr present in his voice. “And would it lead to her going into a coma?” he added.

“She more than good with electronics but I have seen her activating a television set without touching it or using one of those remote controls.” he replied slowly. “I haven’t said anything about this to her mother, Emilia, since she adores her bright little star of a daughter.” he admitted.

“Sounds like an electromagnetic control.” Kestrel whispered under his breath to me. “Please, tell me what else you’ve seen her do?” he stated louder. By this time I had the mother sitting in a chair while I stood looking at this girl. She looked so small, a pinked skinned and blond haired porcelain doll of a girl.

“How old is she?” I asked her mother.

“She had just turned fourteen the day before we found her face down in the living room unconscious.” she answered shakily. “Why did he want to talk to Charles alone?” she asked. I saw how she wrung her hands nervously while asking.

“It is typical to hold separate interviews to discover all the information while on a case.” I told her. I move to crouch by her and hold her hand while gently smiling at her. “Anything specifically happened during the day before Zowey collapsed into this coma?” I continued. “Any complaints of feeling ill, migraines, or anything else that was out of normal for her?” I added.

“She fixed a problem I was having on the house computer without touching it.” Charles continued quietly. “She whispered to it and suddenly the error disappeared and never came back.” he reported easier. I was listening to their conversation over my earpiece while having my own discussion with Emilia without divulging what I was doing.

“Nothing truly odd.” her mother said slowly. “I know she had something on her mind but she wasn’t ready to talk to me about it.” she added.

“That’s much better than my old friend could do.” Kestrel admitted to Charles.

“She a really great girl with straight A’s in all her classes.” her father admitted. “But if she can do that to the house computer, could she have...” he started saying but stopped dead. A purring chuckle responded to his worries.

“No, since I believe she is smart enough to not need to mess with her grades.” Kestrel added with his chuckle.

“And what was Zowey doing right before she fell in to this coma?” I asked the mother.

“She was watching television, one of those new programs with science-fiction adventure.” she returned. “I can’t remember the name but it is supposedly very flashy with explosions and blinking lights.”

“Has she been tested for epilepsy?” I stated.

“Was she drawn to electronics and the science behind it?” Kestrel asked a moment after me.

“No epilepsy in either of our families.” she retorted bluntly.

“Yes, and we had been planning to get her her own computer with all the bells and whistles.” Charles answered. I took a deep breath preparing to reveal a small part of what I knew.

“What about her real father?” I whisper to Emilia. Her eyes went wide as her body trembled. “She does need to know but that can come later, right?” I told her quietly. I couldn’t have known that she, Zowey was listening and had already known about Charles not being her biological father.

“Charles is more a father to her than that monstrous rapist.” Emilia hissed at me. “And I will go to my grave keeping that dark truth from her.” she concluded harshly. I smiled and nodded to her.

“Did Emilia speak about Zowey’s biological father before?” Kestrel asked seeing what I was hunting for. We do work well together when on missions.

“So you can’t be sure he didn’t have epilepsy which she might have, correct?” I continued ignoring her outburst. I was leading her back to what I was trying to learn from her. She shrugged back at me.

“He will never hurt anyone again.” Charles stated bluntly. “He was arrested, charged, and executed for what he did to her.” he revealed coldly direct.

“It’s not something we will ever know.” she told me. “He’s dead, buried, and already burning in Hell.” she reported.

“I understand.” Kestrel purred. “What about the last moment before Zowey collapsed?” he continued.

“The coma could be simply a severe epileptic seizure or something else that happened during her watching the television.” I replied softly and slowly.

“She was just watching one of those Power something shows giggling then she went silent so I went to check on her and found her face down unresponsive.” he revealed. “Nothing before showed that anything could be wrong with her.” he added.

“That show has a lot of flashing lights and explosions, yes?” Kestrel returned.

“Yes, but would that cause a coma?” he retorted in disbelief.

“Only if she has epilepsy.” Kestrel returned.

“Not possible since I did a full medical background check on that man.” he reported easily.

“How did you and Charles meet?” I directed at Emilia.

“And how did you pull the strings to get that done?” Kestrel followed to Charles.

“He was the police officer that arrested and help me face him in court.” she replied with a shy smile. “I feel for him the moment he told me he had that monster in a jail ready to pay for everything he’s ever done.”

“I was the arresting officer that jailed that filth.” he answered. “And that’s also how me and Emilia first meet.”

“I can understand falling for a heroic figure.” I returned. It was a way to keep her talking and relaxed. I must have acted too well since she cooed at me.

“He is cute but the size difference is a little shocking.” she stated. My smile faded into a confused and shocked look. “Your commander, silly woman.” she clarified. I laughed it off.

“It against the rules to be in a relationship with one’s commander, ma’am.” I retorted. She giggled at me shaking her head unconvinced.

“The moment when two hearts click together is sometimes at the oddest moments.” Kestrel returned. I heard his laughter purring over the line into my ear.

“Never let the rules stop you from going after what your heart wants.” she told me. I just shook my head at her as Kestrel's laughter filled the room as they entered.

“Epilepsy is out, and it wasn’t the show that did it.” Kestrel told me directly.

“And I doubt the doctors would have missed a parasite or medical reason.” I stated back. The two parents remained silent watching us. “Do you know anything mystical that could have caused this?” I continued. He shook his head while scratching at his chin. His purring was a rumbling whisper as he thought. “Don’t over think about it.” I added out of nothing.

“She does have a mystic ability which might be what caused this.” he stated calmly. “But it’s not something I’ve dealt with before.” he added. He was still purring and scratching at his chin pensively.

“Sorceress abilities like your former Major Verill or Meredith?” I pushed. It could be similar type of power those two former partners in his life and he’s overlooking it.

“Not exactly since it’s purely an electromagnetic connection to electronic and possibly electric devices.” he returned. I saw the confusion on Emilia’s face at our comments.

“Zowey can do things which I’ve haven’t talk to you about since she is our daughter.” Charles told her quietly. “It’s nothing bad or troubling, just odd, my Emilia.” he added in a near whisper.

“Repairing computers by talking to them.” Kestrel explained.

“Activating television sets.” I remarked. “Powerful, yes, but not something truly dangerous.” I added with a shrug.

“It does explain the issues with our normal radios.” he commented.

“Reaching out while unconscious to ask for our help.” I surmised. He nodded to me before I noticed his eyes moving over the medical devices in the room, at the girl on the bed, and back to my eyes. “She not unconscious, is she?” I added suddenly. The corner of Kestrel mouth rose in a half smile.

“If she didn’t realize what she was doing, she might have reach out too far from her body, and gotten trapped outside of it.” he nearly whispered to me through my earpiece. He was hiding this possibility from her parents since we couldn’t exactly fix this problem. Static followed before we heard a giggle in our earpiece. “And she can adapt to new devices quickly.” he stated out loud.

“Could Shagrit find a way of pulling her out with his computer knowledge?” I returned. Static giggles sounded again but not just in our ears. The intercom speaker in the roof released the same static giggle of a young girl that I had to believe was Zowey. “Zowey isn’t in agreement to that it seems.” I commented. The parents’ faces looked both shocked and confused at me.

“Get my mobile computer, please?” Kestrel said in that calm purring voice.

“What do you have in mind?” I asked.

“A little test that might prove we are right about Zowey.” he replied smiling. I could see his feline teeth as he smiled at me.

“As long you hide those pretty teeth of your, sir.” I returned giving him a salute. He looked stunned for a second before I noticed him run his tongue over his teeth. Realization had him blushing back. “I’ll be back within a few minutes with your slab of a devices.” I added before leaving the room. My earpiece static cleared making me think Zowey was responding to our plan with patience and not disruptions.

“You should try talking to us Zowey.” I stated in the mic of my earpiece. “Kestrel can pull off some really amazing things out of nothingness.” I told her. I could hear him purring from his mic. “And it would just be us two hearing you.” I concluded. Only Kestrel’s purring answered me. I retrieve the oversized briefcase which was his portable computer. It was one of his older ones but it was more powerful than most available to the general public. Shagrit would send him a new one every two to three years this one being heavier and much bigger than the new one that he had left at home. The static returned as I reentered the hospital and grew until I reached her room.

“It shouldn’t be too complicated for her to understand and interact with.” Kestrel commented as he used the rolling table to setup his computer. “Shagrit been talking about a new model he’s working on that will revolutionize our team.” he continued half to me and half to himself. Once the power button was pressed, the static died instantly while files flashed and moved on the screen. “She’s agreeable with this little test.” he added. I motioned her parents forward to look at the screen of this machine that probably surpassed the one Charles planned to buy for his daughter. Words appeared on the screen in a quick burst.

“I’m here and this machine is comfy.” it wrote on the screen in a note page program.

“Wouldn’t your own body be more comfy.” Kestrel stated with a hint of a purring chuckle at the back of his throat.

“I can’t, I’ve been trying since it happened but it’s like I’m too large for my body now.” she replied on the screen. I saw the raised eyebrow and tilt of Kestrel’s head as he read her words. “No more calling yourself my step dad, you are my one and only dad.” appeared on the screen. “What does this do?” she added in the window on the screen.

“What are you talking about?” Kestrel asked. A blue icon flashed at the bottom of the screen. “Don’t move into that it’s...” he started saying but it was already too late. The icon turned green and she was now able to access the military network and from that the world wide web. “... the internet portal.” he concluded. Nothing appeared in the text box. “I think she just transferred herself into the cyberspace web network.” he growled under his breath.

“How was it possible for it to connect to that?” I asked haltingly.

“The same way she connected our first set of earpieces to home base, Shea.” he replied quietly.

“What just happened?” Charles asked. His wife face had turned pale at our worried words. “What did you let her do?” he challenged Kestrel directly.

“She activated something she should have not been able to do.” I answered. I could hear the deep throated growl in Kestrel as he realized this should have been something he knew could happen. “She a very curious person so she went where she can learn everything.” I continued trying to remain calm. My voice still held a trembling pitch shift no matter my attempts to present calmness to the parents. A beep came from the computer and a message appeared in the box.

“More space, more ideas, I stay!” flashed on the screen before another louder beep sounded. The screen went black and the computer stopped working. Kestrel hit the power button but nothing happened. He hit keys, tried the power button another few times, and checked the connections to the power source all in vain, the computer was now a brick of electronic components that wouldn’t power up at all.

“Is she gone?” Emilia asked shakily. Her eyes had moved from the computer to the body on the bed.

“You mean she’s in the computer or what?” Charles ask. The edge of anger was clear in his voice.

“She moved to the only body that she could now fit into because of how much her being expanded from the information she had acquired.” a hollow voice came from Kestrel. I froze since his lips hadn’t moved when he supposedly spoke.

This was not the first time he had done this and he would state he never spoke those words this time as well. Something else had spoken through him but I don’t know what it is. My instincts didn’t fear this being since it wasn’t showing negative actions nor controlling Kestrel’s body or thoughts. Comments when needed that seemed slightly above what my commander normally showed verbally. The only physical sign had been a quick flash from his eyes making them look like orbs of liquid blackness for a fraction of a second. It was easy to overlook this minor change because of how quickly it passed. I have reported this but no direct action was being taken by our handler Leigh about it as long as it didn’t affect the team negatively.

I looked from Charles to Emilia and back. He had spotted it but seemed to be calmed by it for some reason. Emilia hadn’t looked away from her daughter’s body on the bed. The monitors in the room still showed her body was alive but I think she understood that her daughter wasn’t there anymore. We had blundered into something we still only vaguely understood. It was like we witness the birth of a new life form or a different evolution path for humanity within a new world. Kestrel had continued trying to reactivate his computer in vain seemingly not realizing the words his body spoke without him.

“Shagrit will have my tail for this.” he muttered under his breath. He unplugged it, coiled the cord, and placed it in the spot within the case for it before shutting and clasping the latches closed on his dead computer. “I am sure how best to explain what happened to you.” he stated in a quiet voice. No purring or other cattish noises came with his words showing his distress at this outcome. “Zowey stepped out of her body into the electronic medium in this world.” he told them. It was a simpler explanation than what was going through my mind after witnessing all that happened.

“But she’s alive, yes?” Emilia breathed out. “All the machine connected to her shows she still alive.” she added louder in the room. The gentle beeps of the petite fourteen year old girl’s life sounded softly in the room that had become silent now.

“Alive but not in her body anymore.” Kestrel admitted. His eyes avoided them and I knew he felt responsible for this happening. “She’s alive but no longer has a human form and her body is an empty shell even if it still lives without her.” he continued hesitantly or pensively. I wasn’t sure at that moment if he was just putting everything in place in his mind or just didn’t want to reveal the outcome of his mistake.

“What should be done with her body since it’s still alive?” Charles asked. I noticed how his eyes had stayed on Kestrel waiting to see that flash of liquid black eyes again. “Is there a danger of something else taking her body since she vacated it?” he added. He fully understood the situation and wanted the best for his daughter’s living corpse.

“We can keep her body safely until she can come back to it.” Emilia snapped back quickly.

“Our organization can make arrangement for a safe and private place for her body to be monitor.” I interjected before Kestrel could speak. “You will be allowed to visit but this way you will know nothing bad has happened to her body.” I continued quickly. Kestrel smiled sadly and nodded his agreement to this plan. “We understand the dangers of this situation and accept to assist since we cannot solve it presently.” I concluded more directly to the father.

“She’ll be safer with professionals keeping tabs on her, dear.” Charles stated to his wife. She brushed away her tears with on hand while her other hand squeezes their daughter’s hand.

“And we can visit her when we want to, yes?” Emilia replied quietly.

“I can assure I will make that possible.”Kestrel stated to them. The purr was back and his eyes had that brightness of his confident self again. I changed ear pieces to check if I could connect to home base but that line was gone now.

“We will have to call it in but, yes, all that is easy to arrange.” I told them. We shook hands with them and headed alone to the doors. “Once they hear what happened they will want her empty body become a secret.” I whispered to Kestrel.

“It for the best since I doubt this is something that will repeat itself.” he returned. As we reached the car, he turned to face me. “I want to let Shagrit know about this so he can maybe keep tabs of her.” he told me. “And that has to be kept secret as well, understand?” he added. I saluted him.

“No one above Leigh will know about that since we both know she’ll find out, eventually.” I reminded him gently. He chuckled at this. “She won’t talk about it to anyone that can’t help Zowey directly and stay quiet.” I added.

“Better to keep our handler in the loop so she can help us bend rules.” he agreed. “She did us right with the half breed boy so I trust her doing the same in this case.” he continued. “She’s all in when protecting the innocent no matter what they are.” he added. And with this, we were returning to base to iron out all the details. Little did we know that Zowey wasn’t done interfering with us and Kestrel as she did make appearances during some of our other missions.

Signed: Master Sergeant Shea Coldcheck