9:30 PM
On a Thursday
Hong Kong
"I'm telling you man, that's totally how the cat got in there. And if he made the decision to go into your walls, then he'll make the decision to get out himself."
Mako and Raleigh glanced at each other in confusion. They had called the man over thinking it was Newt, but as much as the man looked and sounded like the doctor, he clearly wasn't who they had been looking for. Unfortunately, they realized this too late, and they had been stuck listening to him talk about cats for ten minutes now. "Listen, I, I don't think that's how cats behave-"
"Dude, you don't know shit about cats. Alright. If you really want that cat out of there right now, here's what we'll do. We get another cat-"
"I'm pretty sure Reed's the only cat here."
"Oh don't worry about that. I got followed here by like ten of them. They're probably still waiting for me outside. Anyway, what we'll do is take a second cat, tie some string on it and-"
"Charlie? What the hell are you doing here man?" A nearly identical voice rang out from behind them, and Raleigh and Mako let out twin sighs of relief when they saw the bright tattoos and thick glasses they'd come to associate with Newt Geiszler.
"Oh hey little bro. Got a call from some dude, Harkin, Hank, something like that. Said he's rounding up some kind of reunion for all you nerds down here. So…"
"Is mom with you? How is she?"
"Oh, Mom's fine. She wouldn't make the trip over here though. Doesn't want Mac's mom at the house alone, not after what happened last time with the curtains. Plus she's been like, crazy busy trying to make sure we don't die." Mako raised an eyebrow at that.
"Mom's living with Mrs. Mac? I thought she was living with Uncle Jack." Both men let out an identical deep shudder at the name. Raleigh looked at Mako again, this time for an explanation, but she looked equally perplexed.
"No thank god he's gone. He won't stop calling me though. He asked me about his hands again, and I'm like, dude, it's not your hands that creep me out, it's-"
Newt cut him off there, loudly changing the subject. "So uh what's the situation here?" Mako started to explain, but Charlie spoke over her.
"They lost their cat. Pretty sure it's in the wall." As if on cue, a tiny meow could be heard directly behind them.
"Oh, cat in the wall, eh? We know this game." Newt gestured between himself and his twin. "So what's our point of entry?"
"That's the thing, dude. They can't find one."
"You know what, it probably just flattened itself out and slipped between a seam in the wall."
Charlie high fived his twin. "Dude, that's exactly what I've been saying this whole time."
Raleigh leaned over to whisper to Mako. "Did you know there were two of them?" She shook her head. Raleigh sighed, "Looks like animal obsessions run in the family. Can't wait until Dr. Gotlieb finds out about them." Mako snorted, but a dual glare from the men in front of her silenced any further laughter.
"Cats are serious business man. They operate on their own rules, not nature's. You guys with still us?"
They sighed again before nodding. It looked like there were in for a long night.
