Of Cats and Men

[GrnRaptor]

// Private RP. No comments.

Alan Polstari, Captain in the Liberty Navy, opened the door to his apartment slowly and stepped through, the lights turning on in a low setting in response. Carrying a small bag of groceries he made his way to the kitchen area as the door shut quietly behind him. The apartment was rather sparsely decorated at the moment, leaving few obstacles from the hall through to the main living room and the adjacent kitchen/dining area to obstruct his path. Setting the bag down on the counter, he made his way to porch entrance behind the dining room and looked through to the world outside. Situated several miles outside of Fort Bragg on Planet Manhattan, he had a fair view of the base on the right and the expansive skyline of the major metropolis on his left. After taking a few minutes to enjoy the view as the sun set behind the skyline, he turned and made his way back to the dining counter and rummaged through until he found the item he was looking for. The can was small, round, and fairly flat, but it contained a substance he knew would be crucial for the activity ahead of him this night.

Alan made his way over to one of the few pieces of furniture in the apartment, a couch with a modern looking coffee table before it. The coffee table was one of the newer models that came with inbuilt holo projection capabilities, the fastest modern processing unit, and a wi-fi unit that made use of the latest protocols; none of which he'd been able to use to date. It was kind of hard when you had an obstacle on the table that interferred with whatever would have been projected, and though the table was perfectly capable of displaying two-dimensional information, Alan didn't want to disturb the object on the table. He opened the can instead and set it on the surface, leaning back on the comfortable couch and waiting for the aroma to do its job.

The young Captain didn't have to wait long before the object before him began to stir. Blinking its eyes and stretching its legs, the creature sat up and stared at Alan, taking a few moments to get the sleep out of its eyes.

"Miaou? Miaou miiiaou miaaaoou," uttered the feline before him.

"Hello? Oh, hello Monsieur Captain Polstari!" uttered an electronic device on wheels situated the other side of the coffee table.

"Hello Merlin," Alan responded. "Have a good nap? I brought you a treat today," he said, gesturing to the open can.

"Miaou!" vocalized the feline as he made his way to the can. "Merci! Merci!" translated the rolling life support and translation unit.

Polstari took the few minutes the cat spent eating the fish product from the can to wonder how exactly he'd come to this. Thinking back on it Alan supposed that it was only the natural outcome of meeting a Gallic Royal Navy Gunboat, on the brink of falling apart in Liberty Space, piloted by a cat. That the creature was looking to emigrate from Gallia to Liberty was a given. That the feline would end up being his ward, so to speak, was probably his own fault. Alan didn't regret helping, but he couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if any other member of the Navy had run across him first. 'Probably be a frozen furball in space somewhere,' he thought. He shook his thoughts off as the electronic voice began to speak again.

"You look like you have something on your mind, Monsieur Captain. Would you care to share what that is?"

"Well, I suppose we have a few things to talk about," Alan said as he straightened up in his seat. He watched as Merlin took a sitting position on the table opposite him. "You remember how you asked for my help in contacting the Citizenship Office to get you setup here in Liberty?"

"Yes, I remember. Has there been any word on that front?"

"A bit. Barring all the odd looks I've received asking citizenship for a cat, no offense-"

"None taken."

"-I've managed to determine that we need a statement of purpose for your desire to join Liberty society, as well as a history explaining why you qualify for any sort of political asylum."

"So a life story then, oui?"

"Pretty much," Alan said as he pulled a small device out of a breast pocket. "I've got a recorder here that I'll be using to help me keep notes. I'll summarize in a document, minus anything we need to redact for security purposes, and you'll put- well, you'll put your pawprint to it to affirm its validity."

"I understand. Where do I start?"

"How about at the beginning? That's a very good place to start," Alan said and put the device on the table next to Merlin. He pushed the record button and a small red light came on to indicate it was serving its purpose. He sat back in seat and made ready to hear the tale of Merlin.

---

[Miaou]

Merlin pulled back his ears at the device on the table, but seeing as it was going to be helpful to his goals, he sat back in a normal position. He licked his paw while thinking how to go about this. ‘My whole life story?’,’ he thought. It wasn't actually that long, though much happened in it. His robotic translation unit sat beside him on the table, and he nudged next to it, popping out a small connection link. It expanded, bent, and burrowed itself into Merlin’s fur, connecting to a data port hidden under his tuffs of fur.

“There,” the digital translation announced, “I’ve connected myself to my little companion here. While connected, I won’t be able to do much so please don’t try anything.” Merlin lowered his head once the words were broadcasted out. “Not that I would expect you to…”

Merlin lifted his head and looked at the recording machine. While devices like those kept him alive, he loathed them as they always end up failing on him one way or another.

“Well, it started off on New Paris…”

New Paris is a grand city. Massive city-hives, factories that covered small continents, chains of moving vessels taking people and goods here and there, enough gold to make my litter twinkle with magic that no poop of mine could ever do. The people were generally nice, the smells wonderful and the food excellent. The best part was I was treated as royalty. I was Sire Merlin of Rouillac, one of the few trusted to be around those of his King’s blood and guardian of their lives. I was to watch them while they slept or while they ate, though mostly I watch children when they played.

I’m going to have to state at this point that I was not the same Merlin you see now. This was before I was… enhanced. Before I became what I am now. I was three years of birth, standard, 21 in cat years. I’m not going to lie; it was generally a joke when I was given my title. I was a companion to the dear Miss DeMatha, a young bright girl who simply loved me. We had splendid times together, running about the courtyards near the King’s palace, stealing bites of food from the kitchens, watching the laser jousts tourneys, stoning the rapists and murderers. It was wonderful.

Now Miss DeMatha was of noble birth, one of the many cousins of the King and as such was a part of the Royal Family. I was the only living thing allowed near her or allowed to sleep in the same room, not counting other family members of course. I later figured out, as at the time I could hardly remember my own name, I was told to guard her with my life. Now of course I was just a simple cat at the time that was completely ignoring the human above me telling me these orders while purring my heart out, but it was something that started a chain of events later on. The person who told me that was Miss DeMatha’s mother. She loved her daughter so and seeing as I gave the little Miss happiness, Lady DeMatha loved me as well.

Things were good. I was loved, groomed, fed. Though, everything changed when the palace was raided. Now the palace is quite large and where we were was more towards the outskirts. When the raid happened, caused by some Council extremist or Maquis, it was on the other side of the palace so we had nothing to fear. We were still told to go to our personal rooms to wait this out, so I walked with the Miss as I normally did. I had no clue what was going on at the time so I didn’t notice how extreme things might be somewhere else.

I spotted a little crack in the wall while passing one of the many halls of our living quarters. Taking interest, I watched it as we walked past it, and saw something flash out of the crack. It was a mouse! A fat gray mouse just decided to waddle out of its home and into my lap. I reacted at once, charging the poor thing. I pounced, overshooting the juicy meal, and hit the wall. The Miss started calling for me, but the mouse is too much to resist. I follow it as it speeds down the corridor, taking a left turn leading towards one of the exits. That’s when things went horribly bad.

At this point, Merlin drops his ears and looks down, not wanting to continue but fears he must.

The little Miss followed me as I chased that plump mouse down a hallway or more until we got to the exit. The rat was ramming itself into the doorway, and I took the time to stalk up, gloating-like. Miss DeMatha, well out of breath, rounded the corner to see me creeping up on the mouse. I believe she smiled at this point, but it was soon removed.

I was almost upon the mouse, not 10 meters away. I was getting ready to pounce, it still ramming itself into the exit door when the door opened.

The mouse stopped moving completely and a man walked in. He was in a dirty suit, face covered in a mask that resembled a rat. His hands were gloved in black and he held a gun that resembled a rodent in one of them.

I stood with my back arched high, fur on end, and hissed. Looking back, my Miss was pale and scared. I found this somehow horrifying, so clearly this rat man is causing distress onto her. I hiss once more then charge the man. I go straight for the thigh, biting and scratching him as best as I could. Clearly not expecting this, the rat man actually squeaks and falls over…

At this point, Merlin looks at the Captain before him. “I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to skip this part. Some things I have to keep for myself, and it isn’t actually that important. I’ll summarize though.”

Merlin lifts his ears and continues.

To put it simply, it ended up the raiders were fleeing and ran right into us. While I attacked him I was… injured. I began to bleed quite a lot until the guards showed up and took the… raider away.

I could hardly move, so I was picked up by someone and given to the Miss. She cried over me during the night, and the next day I was pronounced dead.

---

Characters & Stories

[Miaou]

Merlin closed his eyes looking back on the experience. It did not seem like a pleasant one, as a hint of pain could be seen in his face. Opening his eyes back up, he twitched his whiskers a bit. “The next bit is something worth recording, I guess.”

I was dead for all of four months. At least, legally dead. I was rushed to a hospital after the raid, my Miss crying over my lifeless form. At least that’s what I was told. I was a dead alley cat, what can I say?

Lady DeMatha instantly poured money to do something. The little Miss was heartbroken and stopped eating during this time. I... I don’t know what happened to her after that. That’s all I know. Only overhearing conversations let me put two and two together to know she wasn't going to be around anymore. The Miss wasn't spoken about, and I only dared bringing her up once, and that was a terrible idea.

Many tests were done. I was subjected to x-ray scans, cat scans, (no pun intended), and even put on life support. Apparently they were just kitten around when they did this to humor Lady DeMatha as she was really pouring in the credits.

Merlin’s eyes show a twinkle of fun for a second, then quickly blinks it away.

A organization approached Lady DeMatha with the request to use me for a test. She wasn't informed what it was for exactly, but she agreed at the time. I was transferred to some lab on Planet Nevers, though I furrget the exact location. Anyways, the agreement between them and DeMatha was I was to walk again. And I did walk. I appeared as alive as those little fish shaped cracker snacks. I also looked the part, flaky and all.

I was basically a taxidermied moving statue which horrified the Little Miss. Now, I won’t be lion to you. I wasn't just being re-purposed as a stuffed cat. I was being loaded with defensive mechanisms to help defend my Miss in case another raid happened. The Lady requested this... feature to be added so her daughter could be safe. Well, as it ends up Miss DeMatha didn't believe I was using another one of my nine lives and demanded I be put to rest properly.

Lady DeMatha did not like this. Even though her love for the Miss was the most powerful thing in the worlds, her second was credits which she held closer to her than the whiskers on my nose. She already dumped too much into me, so she decided I was to become more than I ever was before. She used more money to request myself to be enhanced to become more life-like. The organization agreed and began planning for my enhancements. They began to install components that increased my motor functions and made look a tad more alive. At this stage, the scientist and engineers found that my body was actually not deteriorating at all. It was in purrfect condition. This baffled them, and for a while they believed it to be the chemicals used to preserve my body after I died. It ends up this was not the case.

I was deemed some sort of miracle of life.

---

Characters & Stories

[Miaou]

Scientists began to study my body heavily. They even fished out my organs from storage and found them ready to be placed back in. I did lose a few organs when the raid happened though. Half of heart was gone and my lungs did not exist. My tail was also torn off at some point. When, I cannot tail.

Merlin then looks behind him and wiggles his tail. It looks like any normal tail a cat might have until he lifts up off the table and drops it back down. A heavy “thunk” resonates through the table to show it’s heavier than it should be. He looks back and gives a shy tinkle of an eye before continuing.

My heart had one of the walls torn open, leaving only two working chambers left. Oddly enough, when they hooked it up to some odd testing machine, it was still trying to run though it was doing a clawful job of it. They found this true with all of my organs and even my actual body. The robotic components were quickly torn out of my body and careful reconstruction of my original body started. Organs, bones, and what little muscle and tissue they had left was used to put me back to what I was before. My heart was repaired and a M.R.D. (Mechanical Respiratory Device) was inserted to replace my missing lungs. They had to replace a lot of my bone structure and tissue with robotic and prosthetic parts. Of course, this was mostly paid for by Lady DeMatha still, but someone else took interest in this project.

The reconstruction of my being took about four years. A lot of innovations happened when trying to make parts for me, science changing discoveries in biology. I became a sort of sandbox due to my bodies ability to continue working, even after death, and a paws occurred when discoveries were more important than bringing me back. At a point, a decision was made to... turn me on. I was connected to I’m not sure how many systems, but the switches were flipped and I was alive.

Though... It wasn’t me. My body lived on, but myself? I was a monster.

Merlin lays down and closes his eyes. He gives a long sigh and continues.

I was never told of this happening. I saw it. When my eyes connected with my brain again, I could see. Something went wrong somewhere, and I couldn’t control myself. Someone else was. It was...

Merlin stops talking for around five minutes. His face shows sadness and mourning. After the awkward pause he starts again, though picks up at a different point.

I was eventually reconnected with my body by some strange man. I don’t know who it was, but he was tall and looked extremely worried. I was alone with him in a the lab I was being kept at. He was sad and kept looking at the door. He pet me. It was the first time someone has done that in over six years. He never said anything about what was going on, but he jumped to getting me working again. I was able to walk and control most of my body quickly enough for him to explain to me I was to leave.

I didn’t understand. I was scared myself. I knew I wasn’t what I was originally supposed to be. Something was wrong, something was off...

Merlin falls silent once again.

---

Characters & Stories

[Miaou]

I was smuggled out in a milk box. The man ushered me in it so I could go without being seen. I was hesitant at first but agreed once I smelt the truth on him. I could also smell the stench of fear and worry. The box itself was barely large enough to fit me, though it was lined with a white towel around the sides and bottom. I wasn’t sure it it was more for my benefit or to keep my knocking around to keep the trip a tad more silent. I allowed him to lift me up and place me inside.

He carried me by both arms. I couldn’t see outside the box, and everything was quiet. I had the feeling it was well past the day cycle of wherever I was. I heard multiple doors opening and closing, air vents whining and the laughter of some people. The man paused and held his breath when he hear the other voices, but they quickly faded. He began to mumble about how ‘they’ shouldn’t be allowed to continue and the sort. I didn’t know who ‘they’ were, and I didn’t dare bring it up.

That’s when it hit me. I wasn’t acting normally. I was thinking differently than before. I could actually think. I could understand and react, read situations and respond. This puzzlement of mine led me to forget most of the traveling. I was too busy enjoying the ability to think.

Once we entered some larger chamber, the man stopped. Footsteps approached and I could hear voices. The box muffed the conversation too much for me to understand, though it seems this other person wanted to know what was going on. The man that was carrying me explain something about working on his project, and was let past. After about a minute of walking, he gave a loud sigh and whispered into the box, “That was close. We will be to where we need to go soon, I’ll explain more then.”

He never had the chance to.

The man opened the box from the top and allowed me to look. We were in a large hangar. Cranes and lifts were dangling from the ceiling along with chains and pipes. There was a catwalk on one side and the gates to the other. There were four ships in the hangar. I now understand their designs. A Caracal, A Lynx, and two Eagles. They were suited up with highly advance modules, but I never got a closer look. We walked by them all one by one till we reached the far end and entered an elevator that took us down. The doors whined open to reveal a hallway leading to a larger ship, A Perilous. The hallway was lined in viewports giving a glimpse of the ship itself. Heavy life support modules were added along with some long range scanning systems. The man began to calm down once he saw the ship and started his walk down the hallway.

About halfway down, he turns. The elevator was being called up to the hangar we were just in. His eyes were glazed in fear, and he began to run towards the ship. As we approach the boarding line to the ship, the elevator opens. Sirens can be heard through the elevator shaft now that the doors were open, and a team of security guards were moving quickly towards us. The man holding me placed the box down on the floor and begins typing into a module next to a door. Given I was on the ground, I attempted to hop out of the box only to trip on the edge. I was heavier that I should of been, causing me to not have any sense of balance. I aligned myself to stand up and shuffed out of the box. I found my legs stiff and barely responsive. By the time I was out, the door was opened and I was ushered in. Down the hall, the men rushing towards us were getting close enough to see us. They were armed.

My fellow man pointed towards the control deck and started the launch process from the side entrance where we entered. As the doors began to close, the armed men outside shouted for us to stop our actions and submit to their control. I paused for a second, but the man yelled and pointed for me to get to the bridge. The men outside weren’t going to let us get away easy. The scopes were lifted up to find the range and shots rained through the gap in the closing door. I was about to round the corner when a shot ricocheted off the back wall inside the ship and hit the poor man before he was able to move out of the doorway. The guards corrected their aim and fired again, hitting two or three more times. Scared for my life, I paused for a dreadfully long moment. I couldn’t tell if I was to help him or if I even could. I stepped towards him as he laid on the floor and he shouted for me to go to the bridge. He lifted himself up as the door finally closed. I was running to the bridge and didn’t stop to see his actual condition.

Once I wandered onto the bridge, I noticed it looked a bit odd. A single chair was surrounded by more consoles than he could count, wires worming outwards to connect to other stations normally stationed by other crew members. Large power cables flowed to the sides of the chair into large energy storage units, the other end of the cables connected to some extremely high powered generators somewhere else in the ship. I took in the sight when the ship suddenly lurched sideways. Still unsure of my feet, I fell sideways onto the cold metal deck. After gathering myself, I noticed one of the consoles was flashing. I didn’t know how to read, but it looked like something awry was going on. I stepped up towards the chair and jumped up to grab the sides, hoisting myself up. Right as I was doing so, the man who helped me escape stumbles into the deck, holding his shoulder. Blood trails backwards and...

Merlin pauses and shakes his head sadly.

He limps towards me and places his hand on my head slowly, petting me. He drops to his knees to be level with me and grabs a small wire hanging off the chair. He holds me tight with the hand he is petting me with and swiftly burrows the wire under my fur. I hear a click and begin to panic and try to move away, but he holds me in the spot. Once I calm down, I begin to understand what he just did.

The cable is a uplink to the database on the ship, stored in one of the cargo bays. Using some technology that I still do not understand, it allowed the information to flow into my head, as if I was uploading it. It was a update of sorts, and I almost instantly understood what was happening. The place I was being held was some top notch research station hidden deep within Gallic space. The man who helped me escape was doing just that. It seems I was a key to something, something dangerous though I can’t tell what.

I look towards the displays again and notice I can read them. Amazed, I look at one to the next. Our ship was disengaged from the mooring ports on the station and drifting away. The man reaches for a input pad and hits a few buttons. The ship lurches again, and the displays read that we entered cruise. The autopilot begins to plot points and kicks on. The destination was a mystery to me, but I now know it to be Liberty.

The man... Passed. He risked everything for me, and I did not even know his name. Why he decided to help me I will never know. I sent his body towards a sun we passed on the way a few days after his death.

I was alone. I did not know what to do, but the databanks kicked in after we were safely away from the station. The databanks taught me much, such as how to read and write, at least in thought. It informed me and taught me as if I was growing up as if I was growing up as a human offspring, teaching me some history and mechanical skills. I looked into the system that was designed, at it was made specifically for me it seemed. It was literally dumping information into my mind, though it was limited as to how much it could send to me at a time.

Two standard days after my escape from the research station, I began to feel weak. I looked through the database feeding me information as to what to do, and it instructed me to connected the power links from the two storage units on the sides of the chair. After doing so, I noticed I started to feel better. I was, and am, a living battery.

I would like to state at this point I don’t understand the technology that made this happen. I hardly believe what happened. The ship continued to move towards it’s preset destination. Everything was preset. What I was to be informed of at what time, the location of where I was going, the systems keeping me alive.

By the time I entered Liberty space, I was as you see me now. I believe I have about the same intelligence of an average human, though maybe more in some areas. I have the ability to fly the Perilous from that chair using the data feed cable. And well... That’s when I bumped into you.

Merlin looks at Polsatri in the eyes.

"And well, that’s the story. A bit anti-climatic and sad, but that’s my life. Sorry if my thoughts were a little confusing. It’s hard to bring back all that happened before."

He lowers his ears.

"And now, I have a request of you. Don’t sell me out please. Don’t turn me over to whatever science team Liberty has. I don’t think I could go through it again."

---

Characters & Stories

[GrnRaptor]

Alan leaned back into his couch as Merlin wound down his tale. The story he had heard was incredible, and were it not for the fact that Merlin had in fact relayed it to him in person, not to believed. It was tale worthy of the Holo-tainment Devices that had begun filtering their way from the very same Gallia Merlin had fled from.

It was plain to the young Captain of the Navy that Merlin was earnest in his desire to stay in Liberty, and that the though of being dissected and experimented on was a horrifying prospect. Alan certainly had no wish to cause further harm to the furball, but he was almost as certain that the Liberty Security Force and other branches of military science would love nothing more than to find what made Merlin work. Any piece of Gallic technology that could be taken apart and looked as was; from recovered weapons, civilian entertainment and industrial products, and fuel samples, anything and everything was being investigated. The difference with Merlin was that he was a living, breathing entity with a mind wholly his own.

Alan frowned a bit as he looked at the feline on his coffee table, his heavy tail swishing back and forth slowly across the glass as he stared back. The utilitarian in Polstari argued strongly for simply turning the cat over to whatever Research and Development project would take him. Any edge that could be brought to bear against the oppressive military might that Gallia possessed would behoove the war effort immensely, and recreating automated animal warriors who could be used in place of Libertonian military personnel would be a huge boon. The part of Polstari that stood up for the bullied in school, who joined the Liberty Navy to uphold the value of individual against the oppressor, spoke more profoundly however. To turn over an intelligent being seeking refuge into an experiment would be to betray the very purpose for which he joined, and would make himself, and the Republic, no better than the beings and government from which Merlin had fled. No, Merlin deserved better than to be another experiment.

Leaning forward, Alan looked into Merlin's eyes and spoke. "Well, that's quite the tale you have there. I don't even know that I can process it all, to be honest. However, I think I might be able to help."

Alan could see the twinge of hope in Merlin's eyes, and took a moment to compose himself before continuing.

"Now, I can't completely guarantee that you won't have to submit to some type of inspection or examination-"

Merlin visibly winces a bit at this.

"However, I think I can guarantee that you won't be the subject of an off the books black listed project. What we need to do is to present you- well, as you. A being with thought and emotion and a desire to exist. Your story will go a long way to making this happen, and I think my testimonial to the time we've spent together will cement that. You may be required to do some work for the Republic, depending on what the immigration and security boards determine, but I think we're on the right path. You think you can work with that?" Alan finished.

Merlin sits still on the table, a clearly contemplative look in his eyes as he evaluates the young Captain's words.

"Miaou. Miiiaouu Miaaaoou," the feline intones softly.

"Yes. Yes I can," the translator rings out.

"I'm glad then, Merlin," Alan says as he picks up the empty fish can and stands up. "I'll address it first thing in the morning then."

Merlin merely purrs happily, his tail swishing litely across the table in response.

---

[GrnRaptor]

The door slid open with barely a sound as Captain Polstari entered his office at Fort Bragg, holding one of the popular cold carbonated caffeine beverages favored by active duty flight officers in one hand and a datapad with several important files in the other. The lights activated immediately, illuminating the office with a harsh white hue that made sleeping on the job difficult at best. Setting the datapad directly on holo-desk and the can on a coaster, Alan took his seat and activated the desk.

The holo-projected information suite booted up immediately, requiring the Captain to go through several layers of authentication of both bio-metric and standard security protocols before it granted access to its features. Completing these steps with a swiftness born of familiarity, it was less than a minute before Alan had full access to all of his files and programs. A message flashed across the projection reminding him that a meeting was scheduled in an hour to review progress on Project Meow. Acknowledging and dismissing the reminder with a gesture, the young Captain sat back in his seat and took a sip from his beverage while he comtemplated his next action.

Looking briefly at the datapad laying on his desk, he took a deep breathe and adjusted his seat to better suit his next action. Bringing up the communication program, he initiated a new message. Within seconds he was busy typing away on the touch sensitive keyboard that had lit up on the glass of his desk.

Completing the message with time to spare before his meeting, he connected his desk via wireless protocol to the datapad and transferred the files it contained over, and attached them to the message. Satisfied that everything was in order, Alan gestured with his hand and the message departed at lightspeed to its intended recipient.

*** START COMMUNICATION ***

TO: Boris Livingstone, Secretary of State for Internal Affairs
FROM: Captain Alan Polstari, Liberty Navy, 1st Fleet
SUBJECT: Particular Immigration Request
ENCRYPTION: Medium
PRIORITY: Medium

Greetings Secretary Livingstone,

I write to you today to request your assistance in a matter I believe requires your particular attention to resolve.

Some weeks ago units of our 1st Fleet, myself included, encountered a nearly derelict gunboat class vessel of Gallic Naval origin in the New York system. Our response was swift, and we contained the situation with little incident. However, instead of a Royal Navy crew, there was a single individual aboard the vessel. This individual had fled from Gallia with the intention of immigrating to Liberty in the only vessel he was able to obtain. We impounded the vessel and took the individual into protective custody. There are several complications to the matter, however.

First off, the individual in question, known as Merlin, requires specialized equipment found only aboard this vessel in order to live. Our engineers are currently pouring over the vessel now to see if we might be able to transfer the equipment to a more suitable vessel in the near future. Reports on that can be sent on a separate channel.

More importantly however is that Merlin himself has run into several blocks in the immigration process due to his particular condition. As immigration falls under the realm of Internal Affairs, I thought it best to request your assistance. I am including a debriefing of Merlin conducted by myself that explains his present predicament. Visuals of Merlin, as well as affidavits by Libertonian Naval personnel to the veracity of several technical claims are also included.

I understand that this situation is unusual, and may even appear to be a false message given the attached contents. I am attaching my bio-metric signature to verify the veracity of this communication, and the reality of its implications.

I understand that it may take some time to evaluate this request, but fully trust that you will find everything in order and that you will find this a worthy cause to intercede upon.

Sincerely,

Captain Alan Polstari, Liberty Navy, 1st Fleet

*Attached Audio: Open (Y/N)
*Attached Visual: Open (Y/N)
*Attached Affidavits: Open (Y/N)
*Bio-Metric Signature Authenication Code Verified: Captain Alan Polstari, Liberty Navy, 1st Fleet

*** END COMMUNICATION ***

---

[The Republic Of Liberty]

Captain Polstari;

It is quite the unusual circumstance you present to us. There have been several rumors circulating the Office of Immigration with respect someone attempting to pass a feline as an individual looking for refuge. I had thought them nothing more than poor attempts at humor, but it seems that is not the case. Your testimony and submitted evidence has been validated by our staff, and we must deal with the request as presented.

We hereby grant asylum to the individual known as Merlin. While Liberty Law does not currently permit recognition of non-human entities as citizens, we can and do confer legal entity status to Merlin with all the rights, liberties, and responsibilities that entails.

It is understood that all necessary equipment will be transferred to a vessel that is both lawful and capable of supporting the required systems for his well being.

- Boris Livingstone, Secretary of State for Internal Affairs.

---