The trip was uneventful. Alex guessed that these drones were sweeping the area for all life. Houses had been collapsed, wood and other organics destroyed and only stone left. She hoped plant life would grow back, there was already so little vegetation left.

As night fell, Alex fell into a cat nap. She dreamed of hunting mice and swatting colorful lasers. Eventually, her dreams settled and she recalled the first night the apocalypse happened.

Good afternoon Ms. Bryers.

Alex Stared. In front of her was a screen. Well, more words than a screen, but it looked like the text she read on computers. She decided she was finally going crazy. All these years alone with her pets had broken her mind.

As you know, your world has been merged with the greater Allworld. I am one of many systems dedicated to managing the Allworld and I have found you compatible with a class.

A class? Like going to school? Alex wanted to refuse right there, she had spent enough time at schools already and she was quite enjoying her summer break away from those little shit middle schoolers. Why she had ever decided to accept a middle school teaching position was beyond her, those monsters were by far the worst of any age group.

You have been found compatible with the pet trainer class and as such will be given benefits and skills to match said experience.

Alex blinked. She really was going crazy. Her brain was telling her to go take pet training classes. She decided to lay down, maybe a good rest would help.

Walking over to her bedroom, Alex opened the door and shooed away Butterwhiskers, Sir Purrsalot, and Kit. Those three were always lounging on her bed. They'd come back after she got in, but if she didn't push them off they growled at her. Taking off her glasses, Alex got into bed and closed her eyes.

Those words were still there. Now with a little yes or no checkbox under them. Alex ignored it. It wasn't good to interact with hallucinations, at least she thought so. It wasn't long before her three cats from before leaped onto the bed and curled up with her.

Recalculating…

Congratulations, due to your focus on training cats (and the perceptions of your peers) you have been granted a class upgrade. Lord of Cats. Do you accept?

Alex grunted. The words would not go away, and now she felt they were insulting her. Yes, she had a lot of cats, fifteen to be exact. Though she really only had five that lived with her. The other ten were strays that she fed. To be honest, there were probably more than ten cats but she stopped counting after they started to fill her small porch.

The words were still there, annoyingly so. Exasperated, Alex finally gave a mental okay just to get rid of the box.

As she did, her world changed. A new box opened up in her vision, reminding her of the report cards she handed out to students.

Pawssance D Elast-hissity C+ Clawt B Know-Meow A Fursight A+ Purrsonality D-

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Are these, puns?" Alex said aloud. Apparently her delusions had a terrible sense of humor. Well, not terrible. It was better than the "anti-jokes" her students made, or those "jokes" that made absolutely no sense. Each word looked blue and was underlined, like the links she clicked on a computer. Mentally, she tried clicking on Pawssance.

Another screen, like a pop-up, appeared.

Pawssance, how hard you can smack someone with a paw.

She noticed it was low. Which, made sense, really. Alex wasn't the type to leave her house. Any exercise she got was from the cats. She clicked on the next link, and then all the ones after.

Elast-hissity, how well you can stretch out after a good nap.

Clawt, how well you can get swiped at by other cats.

Know-meow, how many cat facts you know.

Fursight, how well you can use those cat facts every day.

Purrsonality, how well you can get others to listen.

Alex assumed these were grades on her physical and mental traits. She had a D in pawssance, C+ in elast-hissity, B in Clawt, an A in Know-meow, an A+ in Fursight, and a D- in purrsonality. She was a little offended that her purrsonality grade was so low. She wasn't that bad at getting people to listen.

"Alpha, are you awake?" A voice interrupted Alex's thoughts. She started. No one else was in the house with her.

"Alpha, I'm hungry!" The voice spoke again. Alex turned, Jim-Jam had walked into her bedroom. The small cat opened his mouth and meowed, which came out saying, "Alpha feed me!"

Alex's eyes widened. She could understand him. Oh god, she was crazy. Oh god, she couldn't teach like this could she? She couldn't hold a job thinking she understood cats! She--

A phone ring interrupted Alex's thoughts. Not her cell phone, a landline. It had been a part of a cable bundle, one of those outdated systems tacked onto her internet and tv. And now it was ringing.

Hesitantly, Alex picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Alex? Oh thank god, the landlines still work." A distressed voice said. It was Mr. Curly the principle.

"Mr. Curly, are you okay?" Alex asked.

"Jesus, Ms. Bryers haven't you seen?" Mr. Curly explained.

"Seen what? I've mostly been in bed all morning. That and taking care of my cats." She answered.

"Leave it to you to not know I guess. Look, the world's gone to shit. Some sort of alien invasion happened. Some of them call themselves gods and give powers. Monsters are roaming around and attacking anything they can. We've been trying to get ahold of everyone we can. We're using the school and the local factory as safe areas. The police and volunteers with guns have all set up a sort of militia. If you think you can, head to one of the safe areas we'll all be better off together. I gotta try and get ahold of the others, stay safe." Alex heard a click as Mr. Curly hung up.

She stood in silence for a bit. The world had been invaded? There were monsters? She… wasn't crazy? She wasn't crazy! Wait! That meant she could understand Jim-Jam!

As if on cue, the cat walked through Alex's legs, meowing. "Alpha, where's food?" She heard.

"Aw Jim-Jam sweety I'll fix you up something real quick okay?" She replied.

"'Kay Alpha." She heard.

In a rush, Alex opened the cupboard where she kept various cat food. Grabbing the snacks, it wasn't meal time just yet, she took out a couple of fish-shaped pork snacks. Why the company decided to make a pork flavored snack fish shaped she didn't know. But she was getting distracted.

Her mind turned back to the report card in her head. She noticed now there was more text now.

Allocating Talents

Cat Facts - Gain Instinctual knowledge of all cats. Reply cancel to cancel.

Catalogue - buy cats! Or cat powers! Purrfect for you.

"I suspect I'll be very tired of puns soon." Alex muttered.

At that moment a cat darted into the room, it was one of the strays that lived around the area.

"Alpha! Wake up!" It mewled.

"Alpha! Wake up!" Jim-Jam replied.

"Alpha!" The cat on the pet food called.

Right, Alex was dreaming. And now that she knew this, her eyes opened. Kit was sitting on the air right in her face.

"Alpha. Found one. Can we hunt?" Kit asked.

Alex blinked, trying to remember. Hunt. Right, they were hunting those nanomachine drones. Kit found one then.

"Alright, lets hunt." She said. She felt her mouth smiling, cat instincts and the thrill of the hunt taking over. Cat and owner crouched, making sure to stay quiet as they moved. Alex's nose twitched as she followed the scent trail. It smelled strange, like musk and metal. But that made it easier to track.

Alex and her paw patrol marched on, making sure to stay alert. It was why she noticed the naked man walking towards her, away in the opposite direction of the scent trail.

"Jim-Jam, stop." She whispered.

"'Kay." The Palug said.

Alex tried to see if the man was a monster. Except, she couldn't smell him. "Kit do you know if that man ahead is prey?" She asked.

Kit blinked next to her, claws outstretched in a yawn. "What man? I smell no one?"

Alex looked to Jim-Jam, who confirmed her fears. She couldn't track this person. That meant the system couldn't see him, so he was either someone insanely powerful or a monster she couldn't contend with. Either option was bad.

What was she going to do? She couldn't run. Could Butterwhiskers even use her powers on this person? She'd never come across this. She could always track a person, her cat and mouse skill had never let her down. Why was this happening, who could be that strong?

Alex was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice how close the man was until Jim-Jam growled. She panicked, he was only a bit aways now.

"Stop right there!" She yelled.