Utterly Mad

Catnip took her project and hid it in one of the cartons along with the stripped down parts and her improvised tools, and waited. She could finish it but in her secret mind, that place where all truth hides from our waking minds, she knew nothing she made would save her from the fate that lay ahead if she stayed in this place. In her head, Catnip went over the plan. The guards would come in, single file, and then line up. Chief Braison would come in last and he would have her remote. The plan was nothing if she couldn't get that little device. She'd take the remote by force as quickly as possible, hit them hard and fast and then flee. It's what she was made for. The sound of the keys in the door seemed to jingle and click at the lock for ages before one loud click, and the door swung open on stiff hinges.

The first part of her plan went off without much of a hitch. Once the detail sent to take her back to the main room was in the room, she hit King's chief of security in a rush that bowled him over. A difficult feat considering his weight and low center of gravity, compounded by his trying to grab her tail. The guards shouted at her, called her names, tried to seize her, but when Braison reached for the controller to her collar he came up with nothing. It was the second part of the plan that went sideways. By means of a simple mistake, perhaps brought on by panic, Catnip went left instead of right. Instead of hitting the stairs and fleeing through King's Court and into the streets beyond, she found herself diving into the deep dark of Pricetowns underground.