Adult warning due to the mentioning of things that are not seen unless one is naked...
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The train ride from Venice to Rome was quiet. There were other airports that Charlie, Sally, Jess, Nikole, Snowy, and Maurice could have taken, but they found the route they took less crowded and to get a little bit of sight-seeing in the Italian Apennines Mountains. After all, it had been reported that the attacker had been caught and the Kats were contained in Vatican City. Rome was also quarantined in case it had spread further. They had plenty of syringes of the Foxkat Vaccine, which thankfully still got a lust filled Kat through that phase and got their minds back. That was about the best they could hope for. The natural changes in the virus had rendered the use of the Justin Vaccine nearly useless. They had plenty of syringes of the Justin Vaccine, and it might work for a little while, but a permanent effect was no longer working. It's why they were trying to figure a way to get the "Dead" Vaccine ready.
But for the moment, they had to do what they could to contain and prevent the virus from spreading until a stronger vaccine, the "Dead" Vaccine, would be ready. They were greeted by an Italian officer who represented an Italian law enforcement agency that was equivalent to the FBI in the US. The meeting was actually in the city of Viterbo north of Rome, which was considered clear.
"You are here to help contain things?" he asked in fairly shaky English, but he managed.
"To do the best we can," Jess nodded, "and to help coordinate things... what's been going on?"
"The Pope was delivering an outdoor mass in Vatican City when a man tossed a gas grenade, and a big one... the size of a basketball into the air," the officer answered, "he then ran. He was caught by an off duty police officer, who to the attacker's great surprise had already become a Kat. Shi was a Dogkat and brought the attacker to us and helped coordinate the containing of Vatican City and the Holy See."
"Well, that is good," Jess commented, "Do we know who all has been infected?"
"Nearly everyone that attended the mass," the Italian officer answered, "Since the Pope and the Bishops and Cardinals in the Vatican have all previously received the Justin Vaccine, they were evacuated... but that didn't help the common people who weren't."
"We'll need blood samples from them," Snowy said quickly, "The virus has mutated, NATURALLY mutated and the Justin Vaccine is no longer effective. It may delay transformation, and can obviously be taken more than once to keep pushing the time to transform back if infected... but thanks to the mutation, it is no longer what we thought it was."
"So what good is it then if it doesn't work?" the Italian officer grumbled.
"It still works," Maurice spoke, "Just not as well. We're here to help get at least the infrastructure in place to allow anyone that hasn't transformed yet to get things in line to try and prevent the transformation... and the initial shot will be free. Chakat Industries will administer that shot at its own expense."
"And what about when you perfect the vaccine?" the Italian officer wondered.
"We'll try to keep that price low... though strangely... some may not decide to take it again and may let the transformation come," Snowy said slowly, "A good many people have seemingly taken the Justin Vaccine to not become Kats and then later taken a personalized dose of the Serum to become Kats."
"Why do you suppose that is?" the Italian officer asked sounding extremely curious.
"Mostly fear of the lust phase of the Virus," Snowy sighed, "They don't want to be raped or forcefully infected or lose control of themselves and take the Vaccine to prevent that... Then they learn that a Kat with hir mind under control isn't so bad and they get to know or learn about Kats a bit more and feel more confident with it... at least that was the case for my sither. Shi didn't want to be infected in Houston and then after being reunited with me and hir soughter, who became a Kat in the Paris Outbreak twelve years ago, shi got used to it and couldn't bare to be away from hir family. Shi came back to Janace..."
"And last year shi took my sither as hir mate and became a Chakat to be with hir in every way," Maurice finished.
The Italian officer shrugged, "Okay then. I trust you have enough of the Foxkat Vaccine to at least get those in the Vatican back in their right minds?"
The gathered Kats nodded.
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Following their meeting the six Kats made their way to a modest sized hotel. It stood in two stories and generally played the tourist trap that Rome generally was. They all looked up at it. It looked nice enough and was well kept, though there was some almost teasing looks glanced toward Snowy and Maurice. Since their tails covered their posteriors and their female reproductive organs and their rear legs concealed their sheaths, and since Charlie, Nikole, and Maurice had relatively long fur, this was even easier, they only wore a vest or shirt, which was made from Danna and Mikkie's specially made cloth. The comment that Maurice had been in touch with hir father who had suggested Snowy get hir nipples pierced created both chuckles and puzzlement.
"Okay, if you all can quit giggling," Maurice commented, "let's go in."
They nodded and made their way in. They found a rather ornate lobby with a lone man running the front desk. He looked fairly old, like he was in his fifties or sixties, but was rather healthy. He looked to them and spoke in a friendly voice.
"Benvenuto, belle Kats. Benvenuti all'Hotel Buona Fortuna. Volete una stanza o due?"
"Easy with the selling, Dad," Maurice said slowly, "we have reservations."
The man blinked, "Maurice... my son..."
"Soughter," Maurice corrected, "how are you?"
"I'm well," Mr. Chakat answered, "Still very lucky and doing well."
He then came around and approached Maurice and then hugged hir.
"You look so young..." Mr. Chakat commented.
Maurice sighed and nodded. That had been a side effect of the transformation. Shi, Snowy, Nikole, Justin, Francine had all been in their forties at the youngest when they became Kats. Now, twelve years later they were all over fifty, but when they became Kats their apparent ages made them look like they were in their early twenties. In the space of the twelve years since their transformation, Maurice, Snowy, Nikole, Justin, and Francine had only aged a year. It was a strange mix, since Luna, Midnight, and Diamond (Charlie and Sally's adopted soughters), Janice, Pinkie, Fluffy, and Mary (Charlie and Sally's biological soughters), Reca (the Jackkat that was born to Sally due to hir being raped in Egypt during the Cairo outbreak), Silky, Foxy, Heather, and Shasta (Jess and Nikole's soughters), Snowflake, Alpha, and Centuri (Maurice and Snowy's soughters), Marta and Marka (Luna and Lia's biological soughters), Mardi, Baton, and Parish (Luna and Lia's adopted soughters), Anna (Raul and Maria Herroud's daughter, who was actually a taur, not a Kat. Like her father, she had one gender, which happened to be female), Trenta, Maras, Sinasta, Missa, Rissa, Jissa, and Kiran (Ryles and Casey's soughters), Tris and Sirt (Danna and Mikkie's soughters), and Tres and Sert (Alexis and Flake's soughters) aged at the same rate humans did, though Luna and Midnight's aging seemed to stop once they turned eighteen. Maurice, Snowy, and Jess had all agreed that Kats would be very long lived beings, but they couldn't fully picture as to why their children aged "normally" until eighteen or why Sammy and Gloria's eggs hadn't hatched.
"A plus for being a Kat, I suppose," Maurice said with a soft smile, "It's good to see you, father."
"It is," Mr. Chakat nodded and then looked to Snowy, "You get hir chain?"
That set off a fit of giggles from Nikole, Jess, Charlie, and Sally while Maurice gave a groan.
"Father... no... and now is not the time for that," Maurice commented.
"You're here to deal with the outbreak in the Vatican?" Mr. Chakat asked.
"Yes," Maurice answered, "We'll be going in to vaccinate the Kats and get samples first thing tomorrow morning... though we gave your hotel number to the authorities in case they do something that requires a more immediate response."
"According to the news, they seem to simply be having sex in St. Peter's Square," Mr. Chakat told them, "Like they haven't even gone into the buildings. It's like they really like sex..."
"We Kats generally do like that," Jess said with a chuckle, "The issue is that those under the virus's lust phase don't care if someone else doesn't want it and may not even remember that they may not have wanted to become a Kat. It's why we've been working on Vaccines since the Fee City Outbreak more than twelve years ago."
Maurice then turned to Jess, "And you are Jessica Cain?"
"Jessica Wise," Jessica answered, "I took my mate's name." Shi then gestured to Nikole, "This is my mate Nikole."
"And you both look very beautiful," Mr. Chakat complemented them.
Maurice then gestured to Sally and Charlie.
"These are Charlie and Sally Wise," Maurice introduced them, "Charlie is Nikole's soughter and Sally is Jess's sither."
"But given how our physical ages are now the same, roughly, we have all become sithers of sorts," Charlie commented, and held Sally to hir.
"Well, you are all welcome here while dealing with the outbreak," Mr. Chakat said with a smile.