Tippy was the first Neko I'd ever given the Persian options to, and I wasn't disappointed. Her white hair was now so fluffy. Just like her ears and incredibly thick white tail.
Her skin was also several shades lighter, as it better suited her new fur.
Her eyes, pale grey, were her choice.
Blinking rapidly, she stared up at her cousin and a slow smile started to creep across her gorgeous face. I was a bit surprised myself. She hadn't yet thrown up. Normally, Nekos throw up after teleporting out of the Neko Customization Workshop.
I put it down to the odd circumstance of her having a possible concussion before going in. Maybe it balanced out.
"You… You were right…" She breathed her words softly at first, then sprang from the sofa and bounced on her feet with the energy of a bunny. "Licorice, you were so right! I feel amazing! My tummy feels so light and bubbly! My heart feels lighter than air! I haven't got a care in the whole world! Master! Master! I feel so amazing, Master! Am I pretty? Am I pretty, Master? Tell me I'm pretty!"
I snatched her by her cheeks, pulling her in close to give her a great big hug. "You're the prettiest Neko I've ever seen right now."
"What about me?" Licorice asked, sounding shocked at my declaration.
"Why, Licorice," I turned to her. "Now I'm looking at you, you're the prettiest Neko I've ever seen right now, too."
"That sounds a little bit cheesy," Skye yawned, padding into the room. She wore a tshirt with a unicorn on it and a pair of yellow underwear. She plucked at the tshirt. "It's a little small, but the only one I could find."
"It's Jenny's," Licorice said. "Susan's sister. She's into cute things."
"I like her already," I said.
"You'll love her a lot," Tippy said. Then let out an excited squeal. "Can we go free her now? Like, right now?"
"Where is she?"
"She's in Boston. She's studying to be a doctor. She'll hate it. I know she will. When she was little, she wanted to be an astronaut."
"We'll free her later, then. We're actually going to LA first."
"LA? I've never been there! That's where Hollywood is!" She grabbed Licorice by both hands and let out a squee of excitement. "We're going to see celebrities! Oh my god, Licorice! What am I going to wear?"
Shadowpaw finally returned, carrying a pair of dark blue jeans. "I don't think these will fit," she announced, handing them to me. "But they're all I can find."
"They're my dad's," Tippy giggled. "He's a lot bigger than you, Master."
I glanced at her, frowning, as I realised what had felt different since returning to Earth. "Master," I repeated. "That's right. I put a stop to that on Neyteria a long time ago. Let's not start it up here, or everyone will get confused."
"What?"
"Master," I announced. "I don't want to be called that. I'm not your master. I'm your Nekomancer. A humble, yet rewarding position. My name is Bexley. Or Bex if you can't handle the whole thing."
"I think we all handled the whole thing fairly well," Shadowpaw snickered. Then looked disappointed in herself. "Or at least, we tried…"
As Licorice and Skye giggled, Tippy frowned in irritation. "What? But I didn't get to handle it, Master!"
"Bexley."
"Bexley. I didn't get to handle it at all." She leered at my midriff. "Can I handle it now? Please? I should be able to. It's only fair, isn't it?"
"Soon," I promised. "Right now, I think we need to eat and get out of here before someone else comes along. We need to get out of the state and into California as soon as possible."
"But-"
"Trust me, Tippy," I soothed, patting her head. "There will be plenty of time for fornication as we go. We are going to California, after all. And that's the fornication capital of the world, isn't it?"
She wasn't quite convinced, but she was new. She was also, I noticed, very energetic. She bounced around the kitchen while Licorice cooked, seemingly full of beans. Some Nekos are like that when they're first transformed. Most of them lose that energy quickly.
I call it their kitten phase.
I wondered what she would be like in the long term.
I'd given her a mage class but warned her not to try any spells just yet. She'd need a wand first. Without a wand, a mage's magic could be unpredictable as her spells would be more affected by random effects.
She'd taken this news rather easily. "Just like Harry Potter?"
I'd patted her and given her a hug. "Just like that, yes."
Licorice, as it turned out, wasn't the best chef. She was, however, enthusiastic and tried hard. That was enough to earn her more than a few compliments.
Nekos are like that. They value hard work and the intention behind the result more than the result itself. If something went wrong, it was easier to judge another Neko by what they'd tried to do, rather than what they'd failed to do.
This is another reason I much preferred the company of Nekos over normal humans. In fact, I was fairly sure I could never go back to being friends with humans. Humans were too sneaky. Too selfish. And far too greedy.
Unlike Nekos. Even the greediest Neko liked to share.
After breakfast, we checked the television for news. Tippy explained she'd come all the out way to the cabin because she wanted to see if Licorice was there. She didn't think she would be, so she hadn't called anyone. But, given she lived in a nearby town, she hadn't thought it wouldn't hurt to check.
The news didn't look like much had changed.
Politicians were still pointing fingers. Even the President had gotten involved and was promising overhauls of the legal system. The Governor was talking about reintroducing death penalties provided he was voted in for an extra term.
Everyone was looking out for themselves while pretending to look out for others.
Nothing new there.
My old face was on every channel. The photo they used was my mugshot. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. It made me feel like a criminal.
But I wasn't. I was a freedom fighter. Freedom for the Nekos! Huzzah!
The narrative also kept shifting. Sometimes we were a criminal gang dealing drugs. Other times I was a psychopathic killing machine who'd abducted three innocent girls at gunpoint. Some claimed we crashed the helicopter out into the ocean as part of a morbidly romantic suicide pact.
Then there were theories we belonged to a deranged religious sex cult.
Others thought we were Muslim. Others said Satanists.
No one said Christian, though. That was funny.
Darla was interviewed. She said I worked hard but wasn't very sociable. I was a loner, she said. A little strange. Martin, one of the guys who worked out back unpacking the books and stickering them before they went out to be shelved, was also interviewed. He said I was mostly cool and everyone liked me.
My Nekos liked hearing that.
Then there were the army of criminal psychologists giving their theories on my personality. Some channels showed maps of the helicopter's maximum flight range to show the current search area.
It covered most of the state.
Roads all over the place were still blocked. People stuck in traffic cursed my name.
Two kids were interviewed. They said they missed their mom.
"Aww," I said, moved by their sad looks. "Traffic must be really bad if moms can't get home."
"They're making it worse with all the roadblocks," Shadowpaw sighed. "Lots of people slept in their car last night."
"Wow," Licorice said, eyes glued to the screen. "All the highways are monitored. Are you sure we can get to California through this, Bexley? Maybe we should wait."
"It's easier to escape through chaos," I said, impressed by the thought given my absent Wisdom stat. "We'll be fine. I look nothing like that picture anymore. I even have naturally blonde hair now."
"You look like a surfer dude," Shadowpaw mused.
"I tried."
"All we need to do is dress like we're going on a beach holiday, then," she said. "Cops will be getting tired searching every car. We'll probably slip right through if we're lucky."
"Yeah. We'll head into town and do a bit of shopping to make sure we look the part. A town this close to the lake should have some outdoorsy fashion places, right?"
"Shopping?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"They're kind of expensive out here," Tippy winced. "I, umm, don't have much money..."
"I left my purse in my briefcase," Licorice moaned.
"I got twenty bucks in my account," Shadowclow announced, scratching her ear.
"Don't look at me," Skye shrugged. "I didn't get paid that much. My money mostly went straight out on rent. And bills. I had so many bills."
"Relax," I told everyone. "You're forgetting the System. Shadowpaw, you're a rogue. You can do rogue things."
"Rogue things?"
"Yes. You know. Like stealthy things. Trust me, no one will know you were there. Get everyone's sizes and just get what we need."
"That's stealing."
"No one will know."
"Are you sure?"
"Trust me."
"Okay…"
She didn't look convinced, but I knew it would all work out. Her stealth skills, even at low levels, would ensure if she didn't want to be seen, she wouldn't be.
Someone would need to possess a higher level of observation skills to see her when she was stealthed and, given the System hadn't yet rolled out to anyone else, I felt we were fairly safe.
Although, I wasn't quite sure how cameras would work…
"Hey, Tippy, do you still have your phone? Can we try something?"
A few minutes later and, much to everyone's shock, we discovered that when Shadowpaw concentrated really hard on being unseen, even Tippy's phone couldn't record her presence.
"There you go," I said. "Everything will be fine. Licorice, can you make a list of things we'll need, please? Make sure to include hoodies to hide your ears. And some long shirts or dresses to hide your tails. I'll show you a few tricks the Nekos on Neytaria used. Tippy, you'll need to leave your phone here so no one can follow you with it. We'll get some new ones when we get to Cali. Shadowpaw, let's also lose the guns. It'd be best if we don't have any when we're searched along the way."
"Good idea."
Skye looked nervous. "You really think we'll be searched?"
"Of course. There's too many traffic stops. But, we just act like goofy kids going on a holiday, and they'll let us through."
"Alright."
Tippy raised a hand to speak. "Can I get a beanie instead of a hoodie?"
"I just want new underwear," Licorice sighed. "I don't have a bra which fits."
"Poor you," Shadowpaw growled. "That sounds awful."
Licorice looked down, giving her boobs a gentle lift with her fingers. "Although, now I think about it, they don't feel as heavy. It's weird. And they feel so perky for their size…"
Shadowpaw rolled her eyes.
"I want snacks," Skye said.
The other Nekos mewed their agreement.
I let them talk about Neko things as I pulled on the overlarge pants. They were really big. So big I could have fit three of me in them. I felt like Bruce Banner trying to put on the Hulk's pants.
Which only made me sigh as I realised I needed Aetherite.
I didn't expect to find any in the small town nearby. But it would be nice if we did. I really needed to get another point or two into Strength.
I found a shirt. I put it on.
Then I led the Neko's outside to where Tippy's cherry red SUV waited.
"Can I drive?" Skye asked, her fingers twitching along with her nose.
"Sure," Tippy said, tossing her the keys. "If you want to."
"I want to."
The SUV coughed into life and carried us on our way. Which was how we proved the television was sort of right about us being criminals as we engaged in what might have been called a crime spree.
A little less than a few hours later, we were leaving the small town of Bonneville and cruising towards California. Nekos happily munched on crisps and chocolate bars inbetween belly rubs and headpats.
Our happiness wouldn't last long on the highway.
We'd only gone a few miles out when we encountered the first traffic stop.