General Heroud stood inside one of the library rooms on the second floor looking out the window toward the city he loved, the city with its population in the millions and one of the largest cities in Europe. The capital of the nation he loved and served.
"Infested with an American's attempt at playing God," Heroud grumbled to himself (obviously in French).
"We have easy access to various tranquilizer darts, general," a colonel reported to him, "the only thing we need is time to create more of the formula that will overcome the unbridled lust in so many of these Kats."
"And what of those that are attacking our soldiers and policemen?" General Heroud asked back, "I'd rather have them being mindless sex maniacs. They're more prone to making a mistake that way and easier for us to deal with. Give them their minds back and they become far more dangerous... the reports we've received on when we've killed them has only been when we've gotten a round through a major artery and they bleed to death..."
The colonel sighed heavily. The reports of killed human police officers were true and several of the dead Kats had been armed with weapons that combined with their physical abilities would make them even more dangerous. That was why the army had used lethal force in establishing the quarantine. An aggressive Chakat with all the abilities the scientists said they had was extremely dangerous. It made the stories of the Beast of Gévaudan seem like a bedtime story. Thankfully, despite having the organs to survive what might be fatal hits in humans, the army had proved that these Kats were not "Wolverine" fast healers. A wound that cut a major artery or vein would still bleed out uncontrolled if nothing was done. It might take a Kat longer to bleed to death due to their larger size and thus having more blood, but they would still bleed to death, and that was the fate of those that had been aggressive toward the army or the police.
"I would agree that we should kill those Kats, General," the colonel acknowledged, "but perhaps we should give them their minds back so that we can find out which Kats are merely victims of the virus and which are part of the aggressive group that has started this. After all... the young Bourbon de Moltitier seems to be in her right mind and isn't supporting those who attacked us."
General Heroud only sighed, but said nothing for a few moments. Eventually he conceded the point.
"Very well," General Heroud spoke slowly, "Once we have enough of the tranquilizer darts to issue we may begin going in and using them and seeing who are supporters of the Republic and who are supporting the lunatic... but should our troops be attacked..."
"Lethal force is still to be used," the colonel nodded, "of course sir."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mikkie, Danna, and Flake all followed Alexis as shi lead them upstairs and toward the private bedrooms.
"I can't believe you used to live here!" Mikkie commented, "Everything looks so fancy! I'm afraid I'll accidentally bop something with my tail!"
"It was a while ago," Alexis answered, "and just don't sway your tail and you'll be fine."
"Was that a joke?" Mikkie asked.
"Maybe," Alexis replied with a playful smirk on her muzzle.
"So where will we be staying?" Danna asked as they walked along.
"We're going to have to share a couple of rooms since the American Kats are all mated to each other and have infants," Alexis answered, "You don't mind?"
"Of course not," Danna answered, "I got all sorts of ideas that I want to work on..."
"This isn't sex is it?" Flake asked.
"No sex in my mother's house!" Alexis said firmly, "Remember what Jess and the others told us... our penises will erupt even without direct stimulation if we are actually mating."
"Flake and I experienced that already," Mikkie said nervously, "Sorry about you guys' apartment."
"It's okay," Alexis answered, "you two weren't in your right minds at the time."
"Anyway... I'm not talking about sex, I'm talking about fashion!" Danna declared.
"How did you know that leather wouldn't irritate our fur?" Mikkie wondered.
"Well tanned leather won't," Danna answered, relishing in hir work as a fashion designer, "see, fur is like hair, except unlike hair, it'll grow to a certain length and then fall out. It may mean at some point we'll get to experience what shedding feels like."
"Joy," Flake grumbled.
"Anyway, a lot of cloth fibers, be they plant or animal fur/hair/wool based are woven together," Danna explained, "the weave of the cloth or material will then catch individual strands of fur or groups of it and either trap it or bend it awkwardly so that the fur beds back onto our skin underneath... which produces the itching sensation. Think of it like wearing a stocking cap in winter time..."
"They aren't fashionable, are they?" Mikkie asked curiously.
"Among most of them? Oh no," Danna answered, "but it is an example... anyway, well tanned leather, being the skin... or various silks... won't irritate fur as much because there is much less for our fur to get caught on. It may itch a little because it's still holding our fur down, but not as much as woven cotton or wool."
"So you're going to go into business as a fashion designer for Chakats?" Alexis asked.
"And Skunkats too," Danna answered with a lick on Alexis's cheek, "can't have our favorite Royal parading hirself naked."
"Please don't get into anything too fancy," Alexis said slowly, as they finally reached two sets of bedroom doors. Shi padded up to one and opened it and gestured for Mikkie and Danna to go in, "This room is for you two. Don't experiment with fashion too late into the night. We might have to do some crowd control when they start moving some of the people not yet infected here."
Mikkie and Danna nodded and went in. Alexis then lead Flake to the next door.
"This room will be ours," Alexis answered.
"How many beds are in it?" Flake asked.
"Only one... but it should be big enough for the both of us," Alexis answered, and then pulled Flake into a firm hug, "Which should be good... because I love you... and when all of this quiets down... I'd like you to be my mate."
Flake only gave a happy squeal.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Justin Cain, meanwhile, finally got a chance to meet up with his other daughter and the ones he assumed they had taken as mates. Each of them carried an infant Chakat in hir arms, and Nikole and not only an infant Chakat but an infant Foxkat as well. It gave him a feeling that his time in France had made him too different from his children. They had gone and started families of their own. He tried to stop it, but he could help but shed a few tears of joy for his daughter's happiness.
"You okay, dad?" Sally asked as shi came and sat beside Jess.
In that he could see obvious differences between his two daughters. Both Jess and Sally looked very feminine, but Sally was physically larger than Jess, and it all seemed to be muscle mass from what he could tell. Sally's fur was much shorter, hir ears were rounded, hir eyes were a greenish-gold, and hir muzzle more rounded. Sally carried the features of a panther, and judging by the lack of overdeveloped musculature, Justin Cain guessed a leopard, specifically (since both Leopards and Jaguars could be entirely black). Jess was fluffier than her sister, hir ears were enormous, and while hir muzzle was pointed like any canine's it was relatively short in comparison to other fox species. Nikole handed Foxy over to Jess as she sat on the other side of Jess from Sally.
"You've both grown up so much since I last saw you," Justin answered, "I'm sorry but it's just parental pride. I'm sure you'll feel it too... what am I saying... you both probably feel it now."
Sally and Jess glanced to each other and agreed.
"I'm sorry, but with all the activity, I'm afraid I didn't get introductions for your friends here..." Justin said as he looked first to the long haired Cheetah-like Chakat.
"Nikole and I aren't friends of your soughters," Charlie answered, "We are more than that. We are their mates. I am the mother of one of your grandchildren and the father of the other..."
"As am I," Nikole added.
"And you love them?" Justin asked, feeling the protective urging of any father.
"To the ends of the earth," Charlie and Nikole said together.
Sally and Jess both purred in response and the declaration of love from their mates.
"This is my mate, Charlie, father of my soughter Janice and mother of my other soughter Pinkie," Sally motioned to the cheetah-like Chakat.
Justin looked to the two infants in their respective mother's arms. It took him a little bit to remember that all these Kats were hermaphrodites and no truly discernible gender. Sally held one that looked like a small long haired Cheetah Chakat, though to a great extent, even with its little taur body it looked like a ball of fluff. The only difference was that unlike the round dot of a cheetah, the infant's spots were more like a Leopard's rosettes. Charlie held a small pink infant that also looked like a ball of fluff, but was a bright pink with white spots that were a dot like a Cheetahs, but had a black rosette around them, like a Leopard's.
"And this is my mate, Nikole," Jess continued, "father of my soughter Foxy and mother to my other soughter Silky."
Jess and Nikole's infants also looked like balls of fluff, but Foxy clearly had hir mother's ears and muzzle and hir father's tail and Silky had hir father's tail.
Justin found all four approaching him closely to allow him to reach out toward his grandchildren. He slowly did so, caressing the head of each infant. They looked at him with bright eyes, sniffed at something and then purred. He also felt a couple of affectionate licks.
"How old are they?" Justin asked as his hand softly rubbed Silky's head, whose fur was silky soft.
"Two and a half weeks," Charlie and Sally said.
"Give or take a day or two," Jess added, "Charlie and Sally had a day to get started with starting their family on Nikole and I.
"So you're all..."
"We're all still breast feeding, yes," Nikole answered, "but they also like cow's milk too."
"Ours will also mew when they want to go to the bathroom," Sally spoke up, "or rather, when they're getting ready to go, so if you hear them mew... best to get them to a bathroom before you have a mess."
"Mine yips," Jess commented.
"Silky will mew too," Nikole added.
"Thank you for the tips," Justin answered, "though I'd think you'd best get some sleep. There will be a lot to do... for all of us."