They started with fifteen cats. They were the finest, whitest, softest, cutest cats you can ever imagine. They would purr when stroked liked the sweet purring of a stroked cat. Except with extra cuteness that could only come from the finest breeds. Each one was hand-picked from various homes after a lengthy selection process. The Feline Resources Department visited around three hundred homes. They found only fifteen because the rest were an abomination to the word Cat. They were neither cute nor soft. I mean, what sort of a cat is neither cute nor soft? They were rejected immediately. The remaining fifteen were perfect - for work.
Most hamsters were shocked to find cats at their office. After all, it was an office of hamsters. Every hamster had their own personal cage-icle and wheel. The perks were also good. The company had provided free flax seed machines at every floor. The cage farms were massive, sprawling and impressive structures. One had been designed like a inverted pyramid with the upper cages almost defying the laws of physics. One had a gigantic blue gel-filled sphere in the middle. Nobody knew what the sphere meant. Many thought it was aesthetically pleasing, while many also thought that it was a bloody waste of space.
The older be-speckled hamsters raised an eyebrow when the new joinees cat-walked into the aisle. Could this be the end, they wondered. There is only so much that their tiny arthritis-ridden legs can run. Besides they weren’t getting any thinner with all the free flax and junk food. There is only so much that a wheel can carry. Some even did a mental math of the remaining instalments to their pension funds.
The group was led by a particularly slender and attractive cat. She halted outside the Animal Resource Head’s door. The head, an elderly hamster motioned her inside. She smiled demurely as she confidently walked into his cabin accompanied by the rest of the clowder. The discussion lasted for about an hour.
Finally, the leader exchanged pleasantaries and stepped out of the room with the dossier for their first assignment. With an expression of disbelief she opened the file and read their objective:
PRODUCE 15 HAMSTERS IN ONE MONTH
