Well all know those pets. The ones that, no matter what you do, they cling to you like barnacles to a ship's hull. Cats, especially, can get like that when they get attached. In a station where they tend to send bad-luckers and people they deem "undesirable", a little ray of hope and comfort comes in the case of a ship. In the hold, several strays that had been using the hold as their hideout manage to wander on board. And now these bad-luckers find themselves with at least a dozen cats to care for. Except every single one of these cats could easily be nicknamed "Mr. / Ms. Clingy". Because these cats are absolutely insatiable for attention. -- Anon Guest
[AN: There's been some speculation about this prompt being related to this thing but bad-luckers end up in places where they can't cause harm. Transit Station Eighty-Six is where the UFTP store the chronic goldbricks. Completely different area]
Project Clover is a very special place. In recognising the Luck Gene, the Galactic Alliance had to find all those unfortunate individuals whose luck only ran one way - bad. It is a series of artificial Havenworlds where all comets and asteroids have been scoured from the solar system. The weather is balmy and pleasant. The plants are one hundred percent non-toxic. Everything there is soft. Every precaution has been taken to make sure the residents cannot come to life-threatening accidents. Even with the best of precautions, the planets held by Project Clover have the best ERTs[1] and infrastructure in Galactic space.
They certainly had some of the best Mediks. Just because the bad-luckers found themselves in the most interesting mishaps known to cogniscent life didn't mean they deserved it. The fact that they kept everything mostly-harmless didn't prevent bad luck. It just softened it to theoretically tolerable levels. Everything within a bad-lucker hostel world was purposely kept that way. At least until one rogue Deregger vessel tried to run what they thought was a trade embargo and push their merchandise on the residents.
A Deregger vessel that was infested with cats. Not the gene-controlled Skitties, but regular, everyday, Deathworlder domesticated felines. They crept out from the hold after the crash[2] and scurried away into the night. Long absent even as the ERT's came to run damage control. Cats know a good thing when they see it, and a Deregger vessel is definitely not that. By the time the Deregger was detained and the inherent chaos rounded up in the safety zone, many of the cats were untraceable.
Blucker[3] Hurrin woke up to a new cat. It was small, entirely black, and had startlingly golden eyes. It was sitting on his bedside table as if politely waiting for Hurrin to wake up and get on with the important things. Such as looking after a ridiculously small kitten. The instant Hurrin opened his eyes, the kitten squeaked out a 'mrrrp' noise, leaped onto the bed, and started purring like the Spruce Goose on takeoff. A combination of gleeful head-rubs, kitty biscuits, and grooming got Hurrin both up and holding the kitten close to his chest.
"Uh. Hey Service?"
The household AI blooped into awareness. "Please state your need."
"Did admin decide that I needed a pet?" In his arms, the ridiculously tiny kitten meowed piteously. "Also, can you get me everything I need to look after this little creature?"
"Working," said Service, playing a pleasant hold signal as Hurrin began the daily morning rituals. The kitten clung to his shirt and found his shoulders to be a decent perch to supervise. And purr in his ear. Halfway through brushing his teeth, Service chimed a friendly tone. "Long search complete. No results for 'Did admin decide that I needed a pet'. I have found several thousand entries on proper pet care. Which subcategory would you like?"
"Cats," said Hurrin. "How to look after a new kitten."
"Sensors detect a new lifeform inside your residence. Species, Felis Cattus. Would you like to add an order for cat food to your breakfast request?"
"Kitten food," Hurrin smirked, scratching his new cat just where the little creature liked it. Good old Service. Slow and stupid, just the way he liked his AI's. "I have a baby cat."
"Would you like me to fabricate some essentials?" asked Service.
"Oh yes. All the essentials. Thank you." He tried to put the kitten down on the floor so he could safely carry the incoming stuff to a big counter, but the little creature started wailing like their world was ending. The kitten stopped howling once placed properly back on Hurrin's shoulder.
There was a lot of learning, that day. Sootsprite the mystery kitten only seemed to acknowledge Hurrin's face and hands as their new best friend and got very upset when they were out of sight. Upon installation of the autocleaning litter tray, they made use of it as if they were in a hurry to get back to their one and only Human friend.
The good news was that Sootsprite would eagerly settle on Hurrin's chest or lap when he was stationary. They would even curl up and go to sleep on him. Meals had to be delivered on a shelf or countertop near where Hurrin settled for his meals, or Sootsprite would consider themself cruelly abandoned in the cold, oh the deprivation, oh the inhumanity, etcetera.
Well, he didn't have to worry about accidentally stepping on or sitting on this cat. They came with a pre-installed need to be close to his face.
Hurrin fell asleep that evening with very loud purring in his ear.
He was just the first to gain the notice of Project Clover admin. There were, perhaps, a dozen or so Bluckers who found themselves shocked and pleased to have a new cat. There was chatter on the Project Clover friendnets about the new kittens and cats who just... turned up and decided to love them.
Every single feline seemingly made the decision that this Human was their Human and they would rather die than be without them. It was as if they all had an over-the-horizon radar for people who needed company and anxiety at the same time and put themselves where they fit like a jigsaw piece. They were going to love and be loved, damn it, and do so enthusiastically.
Admin spent months trying to figure out how cats, with all their pointy ends and hunting instincts, managed to get onto a world designed to be safe... and then they noticed the benefits. The Bluckers with cats were far less anxious. They were far more purposely cautious. They had a degree of mental healing because the cats were dependent on them.
Realising what this could do for other Bluckers, they ceased efforts to control the wild cats still on the planet, but focused instead on matching other Bluckers with the cats they captured and then - when supplies were running a bit dry - bred.
Of course, the Bluckers got cat scratches that were a little more severe than average, but they didn't seem to mind. The cats were universally better for them than not.
This may actually be the first incident of a Deregger accidentally doing a good thing.
[1] Emergency Response Teams. They pride themselves in being able to get to the site of a disaster before the disaster has finished unfolding. They are hyper prepared for any eventuality.
[2] This is what can be expected when one is invading a Bad Lucker planet.
[3] Blucker - Bad Lucker. Humans like to keep things brief and vaguely comprehensible.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / Malsveta]
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