"So... you're content to be a Kat for the rest of your life?" Sammy asked to her sither as they began their slow walk back to the zoo.
They didn't quite know what Jess had figured by testing hir blood on hir pet fox and were going to get the blood samples to see if there was something to see animals had any blood type that was immune to virus. It was in a sense a response to the fact that they didn't know enough about how animals were being affected.
"It's not like any of us can go back," Mikkie said slowly, "Once we became Kats... there was no going back. It's no use wishing to be what cannot be done."
"And it's not like being a Kat is a bad thing," Danna added, "we're all loving mates and can feel it that we're going to be around for a long time..."
"But you were all girls..." Sammy spoke.
"And now we also have nice big penises," Alexis commented with a smile, "perfect with which to mate with our mates and sire our own children."
"Which you two decided to do," Mikkie gave a giggle and swatted at Alexis with hir tail.
"But it's all so different... doesn't it feel odd to you?" Sammy asked, "It'd feel odd to me if I suddenly had a penis between my legs..."
The four Kats looked to each other and then sighed heavily.
"I suppose it was odd when we first became Kats," Mikkie said slowly and sounding very serious, "but that was six years ago in the Paris outbreak. We've had six years to adjust..."
"And I'd think we could even feel the instinctual and mental changes that resulted from the transformation pretty quickly after our transformations," Alexis added, "I can remember feeling quite fine with people becoming Kats so long as they had made the choice to do so... and I think that goes for all of us... being a Kat makes us happy, being with our mates makes us happy, and we feel the drive to make our friends, mates, and family's happy... When... when my mother became a Kat, completely by accident, hir lover chose to become a Kat to show he loved hir. His daughters, Sally and Jess probably didn't want him to become a hir at the time, but they did accept his choice and he became my mother's mate... And the fact that hir transformation went willingly and went to make my mother happy... it was..."
"Beautiful?" Flake commented.
Alexis nodded.
"I don't think I could ever adapt," Sammy said slowly, "it'd all be too weird."
"You could," Mikkie said softly and seriously, and pulled Sammy into a hug from the side, "we won't force it on you, as you've said you don't want to be a Kat... and it's also why I injected you with the Justin Vaccine when Danna and I found you... no Kat can infect you. You'd need to order specially created serum if you ever decide to become a Kat, but that will be your choice."
"Thank you," Sammy said weakly, feeling safer at the report that she wouldn't be becoming a Kat anytime soon.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Getting the blood samples proved to be rather easy, as the zoo's staff had been contacted by General Lawrence while the five of them were walking back to the zoo. Unknown to Sammy, with the Justin Vaccine now in her system she actually began to vaccinate the humans that were there and her sither and hir friends issued the Foxkat Vaccine to the Kats that numbered among the zoo's workers. Like the other Kats in Sydney, these zoo workers took it willingly and even asked for it. They eventually made their way back to the Sydney Opera House and found only General Lawrence waiting for them. This came as a bit of a surprise.
"Where did everyone go?" Flake asked, "Where is my aunt?"
"It appears that the Sydney outbreak was a distraction," General Lawrence told hir, "whoever has been running these outbreaks didn't want you to be where the real outbreak begins."
"A distraction?!" Sammy came forward, "We went into all this for a distraction?"
"The person behind this appears to be quite clever," General Lawrence answered, "and even if it IS a distraction... there is a lot of work that still needs to be done here."
"Meaning...?" Danna wondered.
"We need to find the shop that was used to first distribute the Chakat Virus here," General Lawrence answered, "and we need to get some information from those that bought the Serum in Japan if they had had any contact with the one who is running things... or at least might be..."
General Lawrence then turned to Sammy.
"Miss... I will ask that you work my men and with the police in the hunt," General Lawrence spoke, "You do have some knowledge of security measures and some weapons training and right now, even with Kats here ASKING for the vaccine, we're over tasked."
"I can do what I can," Sammy answered, "what about my sister?"
General Lawrence turned to the two Skunkats and two Chakats, "General Heroud wants you four to go to Japan. If we can get a description of the man behind all of this... we might be able find the guy."
"Okay," Alexis answered.
"It might even give us the chance to become mothers," Danna said to Mikkie, "The Kats there supposedly have set up "sex shops" where we can go and love and love and love without frightening anyone without risk of our fluids changing animals."
Mikkie smiled at that, which Sammy noticed.
"Mikkie! You're supposed to be helping!" Sammy said urgently.
"Sorry," Mikkie said sheepishly, "as a Kat... being a mom has actually been very much on my mind... it's almost like it's the only thing I want to be. To feel my womb swell up with a baby... to give birth to hir... to love hir and raise hir to be a good Kat and make hir happy."
"Every Kat feels that," Flake admitted, "Its why Alexis and I mated when we couldn't find anything... it's why Jess, Nikole, Maurice, and Charlie are back in Janace are pregnant again... it's why Alexis's mother and Sally and Jess's father have in the past six years had four kids of their own and both are presently pregnant as well, though they're only four months along right now."
"Just try to keep your focus," General Lawrence said slowly, "we all have a lot of work to do."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile Midnight and Talia began to walk back toward the base that the UN was using to try and quarantine Cairo. Talia patiently listened as Midnight further explained what shi had been told on the Cairo outbreak and the existence of the various vaccines that had been created to try and contain the Chakat Virus. The outbreak in Cairo had begun with the explosion of a strange bomb that spread a gas throughout Tahrir Square. The people there had been protesting governmental policies related to minority groups or Egypt's relations with the US or Israel. The protests, however, mattered little. People turned into various Kats and then either stormed into the government offices, began rapidly mated with each other, or went out into the rest of the city. More people in Egypt had gotten the Justin Vaccine than in Australia, due to greater contact with Europe, both in terms of politics and geography.
"It seems my blood has created more of a curse than a blessing," Talia said slowly, "this outbreak may have gone beyond Cairo already..."
"The UN guys and the Egyptian army and police officers have made the suggestion that some of that has happened... but the Egyptians have also said they've killed those that dared move toward the edge of Cairo," Midnight said nervously, "Remembering what happened in Paris... I haven't had much interest in going to look at dead bodies."
Talia only looked to the young Wolfkat. Shi was young and yet also seemed smart. It seemed unfair to the gurl to make hir face some lunatic's schemes, schemes that Talia felt circled back to hir own immortality.
"I will do my best to assist you in fighting this outbreak, and hopefully it has not spread beyond Cairo," Talia promised Midnight.
When they finally arrived at the base, they noticed a new plane having just landed at the airstrip that had been hastily built there. Midnight then looked out see hir family talking with a UN officer. Shi immediately broke into a run, leaving Talia to race behind.
"Mom! Mom! Mom!" Midnight called and practically leaped into Sally's arms as shi arrived. Midnight then began licking Sally's face to show hir love for hir adoptive mother.
Sally only hugged hir back, "I'm only glad that you're safe. You didn't go into the city, did you?"
"No," Midnight answered, "that real work wasn't scheduled until tomorrow... so I walked out to the Giza Plateau and I found Talia... the first Chakat."
The newly arrived Kats looked over to see the Sphinx who had followed Midnight.
"I am not a Chakat," Talia answered, "but it would appear that your modern science has made you my children."
Snowy came forward slowly to Talia. Like a Chakat, Talia had a human-like torso rising from cat's body, which seemed to be based on the African Lion, which was somewhat understandable. There were actually several lion-based Chakats out there. Talia even had the head of a lion with amber colored eyes and her whole body covered in golden fur. Talia had the mixed male and female scents that made it clear that shi was a shi. The only thing that marked Talia as different from the Kats were the massive eagle-like wings on the back of hir taur body. Even folded up, they seemed to cover hir entire taur back. Hir cloths were a little odd, as it resembled the clothing worn by the Ancient Egyptians of their New Kingdom period (which was when Tutankhamun ruled) which contrasted heavily with the modern western wear or the more Arabic style of dress the people of Egypt, one of the world's leading Islamic countries, wore.
"You will help us?" Snowy asked.
"I will always help and protect my children," Talia answered, "and I will also deal with those who steal from me and misuse my power most severely."