Chapter Two; To Achieve Your Dreams Nikkitrina Feral 1995 **************************************************** For three years, Nikki planned for her move into civilized life. She formulated night and day, going to public libraries to read up on encyclopedias. When she finished them, she read things that interested her, or things she needed to read in order to successfully operate her plan. She read about computers, hospitals, law enforcement, colleges, schools, and most of all, dictionaries. She knew as much as a college grad, even more, when the third year rolled around. That was exactly how she planned it. During her time on the streets, she got chances to clean herself off, and discovered that she was actually pure white, with shiny jet-black hair. She was also maturing. Hints of gold started appearing on her paws, her chest and down her long tail. When she turned eleven, her gold coloration was complete. She had stripes on her chest, her tail and her arms; and her paws, ears and tear marks were gold. She also became less lanky, and more filled out. Anyone from the orphanage would never be able to guess it was her. She also came up with a new name for herself. Nikkitrina, a spin off on Nikki. With her ID changed in her mind, she had to change it for real. She had no time for school, so she decided to pretend that she had gone to school. She was too young for a job, so she pretended she was 26. She had no Degrees or Majors, so she made some fake ones. She became an expert at secrecy. She could sneak in and out of any building with ease, and use whatever was in that building for her own purposes. For example, she found a printing shop. They printed Majors and Degrees for the three local colleges, (which just happened to be the ones Nikki 'went' to), so she booted up the computers after dark, and made her own. Now she was ready. The final strike was all she required. She had to get into a small hospital, and make herself a birth certificate, and personal information. She had the perfect hospital in her sights. It was a small, locally owned hole in the wall that operated only 18 hours a day. Its expertise was kitten birth, therefore it had a link into the files Nikki needed to get to. They no doubt had it under a password, but cameras were a stretch. It was too small to have something like that, and it even had to 'rent' enforcers as guards, because it couldn't afford to hire one itself. When Nikki went in through the air ducts to survey the situation one night, she found that she was correct. No cameras, and one guard, who made one hour rounds. Nikki decided to stay and carry out her operation the following day and night. She curled up in the duct, and waited till morning. **************************************************** Morning came loud and angry. A new born kitten screamed and wailed, its high pitched voice echoing through the building. 'This is it,' Nikki thought excitedly, 'Now all I have to do is watch and try and figure out what the password is.' A nurse came in and sat at the computer. She quickly typed in six keys, which made a squeaky sound when she hit them. Nikki watched as she made a new file for the certificate, and printed it out for the parents. When she left and closed the door behind her, Nikki jumped down, out of the duct, to find the squeaky keys. She tested a letter, dull thud sound. She tried a number on the pad, dull thud. She tried a number on the strip above the letters, squeak. Nikki smiled. 'Six numbers or symbols, now, which ones?' she made a mental note. She crawled back into the duct at an angle so she could see the keyboard. Just in time, another nurse came in as Nikki was getting comfortable. Nikki watched her sit at the computer. The first thing she typed was two. No shift, so it was the number two. After a few more nurses came in, Nikki saw the next number was five, then eleven, which was two numbers. Nikki thought it over for a second. '2,5,11...Of course! Every other prime! How stupid, I could have come up with that myself without all this silly spying. 251117. That's the code.' **************************************************** Finally the hospital closed and the guard went around and locked all of the doors. Nikki jumped down from the duct. She had one hour to get it all done. She booted up the computer and made a new file. 'Name: Nikkitrina, Current Age: 26, Birthdate: 2/17/69,Weight: 1 lb 8oz' Nikki went on changing all of her past. She finished with 20 minutes to spare. She left the Hospital through the vent ducts and headed towards a clothing store. She needed something nice to wear for her interview tomorrow. **************************************************** "Hello?" Commander Feral's voice buzzed through the phone. Nikki listened, and could tell he was not in a good mood. She was standing decked in her new finery at a phone booth not far from the old Enforcer Building, the phone to her ear. "Hello, Commander Feral?" Nikki asked, even though she knew it was him. "Yes, what do you want?" his voice giving hint to his dwindling patience. "You know of me I'm sure, I'm Nikkitrina. Enforcer Academy's Highest Honor Graduating Student. Then again, you might not know of me, I tend to keep to myself," Nikki calmly laid it on thick. "Go on, what do you want," a slightly more interested Feral insisted. "I heard that you have an opening in the MechSquad. I was wondering if I could apply for that job?" "Commander of the MechSquad? You want to be a Commander?" "Yes, that is what I said." "You're going to have to talk to some of my superiors too." "I know, but I was told that I had to talk to you first." "Fine, what time is good for you?" "Any time today. I'm busy the rest of the week." "Lunch, at Merimals. Is one ok?" "That's just perfect Commander. See you at one." The phone clicked. Nikki smiled a smile of pure triumph and put the phone back on the hook. Nothing could spoil her mood now. "Off to Merimals to meet my destiny!" Nikki skipped down the street at the fastest pace her new high heels would allow. **************************************************** Nikki sat at her table in Merimals, anxiously watching the clock on the other side of the restaurant. At one o' clock, she began to watch the door. Finally, a TALL tom-kat in a grey coat with the enforcer emblim on the shoulder walked in the door way, a tall dark haired female enforcer following him. 'That has got to be the Commander,' Nikki thought. She waved at him and stood up. The Commander spotted her and walked over. "I suppose you are Nikkitrina," he held his paw out. He looked her over quickly, taking in her slightly strange appearance, and tight black dress. "And you are Commander Feral, nice to meet you," Nikki responded, taking his huge paw and giving it one firm shake, "Who's this?" Nikki pointed to the tall she-kat. "I'm Lieutenant Felina Feral," Felina met eyes with Nikki. "Felina is my niece," Commander Feral added as he took his seat. Nikki followed suit, and not long after, a waiter introduced himself. After they ordered, Feral started the conversation. "What do you have in your folder there," he pointed to a green folder on the floor, "Your Majors I hope." "Yes sir I have them with me," Nikki leaned over and picked the folder up, and handed it across the table to the Commander. He opened it up and scanned it quickly. "Impressive, Nikkitrina," he complemented her, but he noticed something strange, "None of these have a last name for you on them, and you never mentioned one. Why not?" "I'm an orphan, technically. I did have a home, but I'm selling it now that I'm going to be an Enforcer. It's just no one adopted me. My parents did leave me a good bit of money, although I preferred not to keep the name. I simply forget it now, and that's how I planned it." The food arrived, and silence prevailed as the three ate. After they finished, Feral handed Nikki an address on a sheet of paper. "This is where you go to sign up for the tests. To become a MechCommander, you have to compete against every other kat on the squad. Keep in mind that you are starting late and more than half of the squad will easily be able to beat you. The simulators at Enforcer Academy are nothing like the real thing, so you can basically drop everything you learned up to this point." Nikki nodded and took the paper. "Oh, and whatever was on your schedule for the next three months will have to be dropped. You need to start tomorrow, it's the last day for sign up." "That's OK, there's nothing going on. My time being full was just an excuse, I didn't feel like waiting any longer." Feral smiled as Nikki left. He was beginning to like her already. "Felina, the penthouse apartment has three bedrooms right?" he asked his niece. "No, it has four," she responded. "Even better. I want you to offer her to stay with you there." "That's fine with me." Felina had a few questions for Nikki anyway. **************************************************** "Hey Nikkitrina!" Felina hollered down the street at the departing she-kat. Nikki stopped and turned around. Felina caught up with her. "You going back to that house your selling?" she asked. "No, I was going to this address," she pointed to the sheet the Commander had given her. "Well it's not open today. I have to go there tomorrow for the tests, we can go together. If you go get everything you need, you can move in with me. I live in the penthouse on top of the old Enforcer Quarters building, it used to be Enforcer Headquarters. It used to be my Uncle's, but he gave it to me when he moved into the new HQ," Felina explained, pointing to the skyline and a large building with a runway sticking out of its side. Next door was a smaller building with a helicopter pad. "We got jets so we needed a runway," Felina smiled as Nikki surveyed the two buildings, nodding. "Ok, I'll meet you at the steps in one hour, I have very little material possessions," Nikki turned away and began to walk down the street again. **************************************************** Behind her stack of bricks, Nikki packed up her meager pile of clothes, and her even smaller stack of books. With it all tied into a nice bundle and placed in a small duffel bag, Nikki got to her feet and said good bye to the place which had been her home for the past three years. She was finally moving on, but it was still hard to say good bye. **************************************************** Felina waited patiently on the steps of the Enforcer Quarters Building. Finally, just as Nikki had said, she appeared one hour later. Together they walked through the lobby and towards the elevator. Kats stopped what they were doing and watched the strange little she-kat trot behind the larger one. When the pair entered the elevator, the lobby returned to normal. When the elevator car finally stopped, and the doors opened, Nikki and Felina stepped into a small hallway with two doors. Felina pointed at the far doors. "That's the stairs. They have a lock, and only I have the key. We could also prevent the elevator from coming up here with that switch," Felina pointed back at the elevator and a small switch next to it, under lock, "Only I have the key for that too." Felina began to walk to the other door. "And this is out home," she took out a bundle of keys, selected one, and put it in the key slot. The lock clicked when she turned it and a slot opened. She took out a card from another pocket, and placed the keys back. She then swiped the card through the slot and the door opened. They walked in, and Felina closed the door. It clicked, automatically locking. "You can stick your stuff there for now," Felina pointed to a small chair, "Now let's go on a small tour." Felina led Nikki around the right half apartment, flipping on lights as she went. The whole mood of things seemed to have a sense of homeliness to it, and Nikki finally felt like she belonged. They eventually got back to the place they started at, and Felina led Nikki down the hall to the immediate left. Even without the added hall, the apartment was the size of a middle class home. "Now the first thing you'll see here is the computer room slash guest room to your right," Felina did a Vanna White impression in front of the door, "No, your not sleeping here, this is where we play on the computer. And the next stop is one of the bathrooms, to your left. Opposite it, in the corner here," Felina pointed once more, "is where you will be sleeping. The next room on the right is another guestroom, and at the end of the hall is my room. Any questions?" Nikki shook her head and set to exploring her new home by herself. "I have to go on afternoon duty at three o'clock. I'll be back by nine. Make yourself comfortable, eat, sleep, take a shower, you know. Bye." Felina waved as she snatched up her equipment and swept out of the door. Nikki waved absent-mindedly back and continued her inspection of her room. By eight, she was satisfied with the arrangement, and got dressed for bed. **************************************************** When Felina got home, the first thing she did, was check on Nikki. Like she suspected, she found her in bed. "Well, little girl, you have some explaining to do, and so do I. I'll let you sleep though. You can explain on the way to the Mech Registration building." Felina left the room silently and cracked the door. She walked to her own room and setteled in for bed. **************************************************** **************************************************** --====================987654321_0==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" --====================987654321_0==_-- Reply Reply All Forward Delete Previous Next Close [A Tip From Hotmail.] Click here for more information. ---------------------------------------------------------------- © 1996-1998 Hotmail. All Rights Reserved.