Chapter 49: Rock Bottom
July 2414
Why is she still looking at me?
Kirina often spoke to herself, inside her own head, but since establishing her makeshift feline collective she was doing it constantly. If only to drown out the creatures’ stray thoughts. Outwardly, she seemed distant, distracted, and others were starting to notice. Aurelia and Ahnar were worried, but this would be too strange to explain. The Betazoid Counselor could tell that something had changed as well, though she herself was too introverted to discuss it unsolicited. And then there was Divan. Divan Mandukar.
Where did she even come from? Kirina thought. She knew the story: some sort of transporter incident had duplicated Davin Mandukar, resulting in an anatomically female version, now going by ‘Divan’. This explanation never sat right with Kirina, however. There was more to it. … and why is she staring at me?
Another few moments passed, until it dawned on Kirina that she must look rather odd, sitting alone, silently, on the floor by the fire. Mumbling to herself. As she looked down, she realized that her hands had been idly toying with a frayed edge of the rug. Oh, she thought again, I guess it’s because I’m acting weird again. She smiled, a bit awkwardly at Divan, before standing and quickly heading for the exit.
“Input failure.”
Kirina stopped in her tracks, and looked around. Had she heard that aloud?
Some officers were playing poker nearby, while a few others conversed near the fireplace. Divan was with them, and for a brief moment, the two made eye contact. Kirina shook it off, though. Too far away. They were all too far away to have been the source of the voice.
// INPUT FAILURE //
There it was again. Clearer now, but only for her to hear. The notification droned out the feline background noise. The link was failing. This wasn’t the first time, so Kirina knew what to do.
I need to find more cats.