Calico Burana: ch.1 - A Cat and a Fox
#1 of Calico Burana
I started writing a novel based on an idea I had for a few years. It'll be a long and bumpy ride but I hope you'll enjoy!
Troika found it strangely soothing to immerse himself in the cacophony of the factory.
Maybe it was the consistent beating of the machines that worked 24/7. Like the heart of a gargantuan beast. Seemingly moving on its own accord, the beast got the products made while Troika dutifully performed routine health checks to make sure they weren't sick.
Built in a rural town of Lagarra, California, shortly after the end of the war some seventy or so years ago, the factory had a long checklist of potential problems which the Siberian calico cat needed to look out for. But he got used to it after working at the job for a few years--five, to be exact.
"You're healthy as ever, old fella," Troika murmured, checking off the last box on his list. "Keep at it for a few more years and I promise I'll persuade the manager to upgrade your oil to the premium brand fit for kings!"
The factory--aptly named "Nutz-en-Boltz Assemblies, Inc."--specialized in making bolt nuts. To be exact, it made the extra sturdy ones that would be used in girders and trusses of structures such as bridges and buildings to hold the entire thing together.
Every day, Troika would observe thousands of pounds of wire arrive in coils and get pulled through the machines. The machines would pull the wire through a die to straighten it. Afterwards, the straightened wire was cut into small segments, hammered into the shape of bolt nuts, and heat-treated to be strengthened for fracture resistance. Then came the quality assurance, where random bolt nuts from each batch were individually tested to see if they could handle the amount of force exerted onto them. If they did, the entire batch would be packaged for shipment to the clients.
The calico cat had experience in handling all processes of manufacturing, and he could state with confidence that there was nothing about the machines that he didn't know. All components of the machines were extensions of his own body, perfectly synchronized with each other and never resting unless a problem was detected.
And he knew when such problems arose. His hazel eyes could catch any lagging in the machinery. His ears could catch any small pitch change in the sounds made by the machinery as it operated. And his nose could catch the slightest hint of burning or leaking chemical to alert everyone in the building to evacuate.
But most importantly, his sixth sense could tell when the machines weren't at their optimal condition. Like a mother knowing when her child was ill, he could tell when the efficiency dropped in production. Usually, such drop in efficiency was an indicator for a machine failure to follow in the subsequent hours, if not days.
Troika entered the office area which was separated by a thick wall from the rest of the factory. Thanks to the wall, the office area was almost completely soundproof. He saw his chief, a middle-aged red panda named Sam, sitting at his desk and typing away on the computer.
"Sam," the cat called to the red panda. He placed his checklist in the bin next to the door. "I'm clocking out."
"Yes, Troika," Sam replied, looking up from the computer screen. "Thanks. Have a nice weekend."
"You too." He waved his paw as he closed the door behind him.
Exiting the office, the cat headed toward his car. On his way there, he could feel heat of the sun scorching his mostly snow-white fur. Aside from the white fur, a patch of orangish brown around his right eye covered his right ear and a patch of black covered his left ear. He always kept his fur trimmed short in the unforgiving Californian climate, so most folks couldn't tell that he was a Siberian.
The weather outside was blistering, but it was still cooler than inside the factory, where temperature often reached one-hundred-plus degrees Fahrenheit. As a preventative measure to minimize risk of heat stroke, the company enforced a strict policy to take a ten-minute break in the air-conditioned lounge or cafeteria for every fifty minutes worked inside the factory.
As the cat fidgeted with his car key for a few seconds to get the doors unlocked, a voice called from behind: "Yo, Troy!"
Troika turned around. "Hey, Cas."
Casper, a red fox two years older than Troika, walked toward him from behind, holding an empty lunchbox in his paw.
"I'm so hyped for this weekend," Cas said, his golden eyes twinkling with excitement. "Are you?"
"Yeah, for sure." Troika smiled back.
The two had planned their shifts far in advance to make sure they could attend Star Rock Festival, simply called "Rock Fest" or just "the Fest" by those familiar with it, at Horseshoe Grove, a town located close to Las Vegas. The festival was mainly a place for rock bands in the indie music scene to show off their skills and gain traction and possibly more fans, as well as a chance to make a break in the cutthroat music industry.
The event had already started on Thursday--which was yesterday--lasting until Sunday night. The two planned to attend on Saturday, when the biggest bands were playing, and then come home Sunday afternoon after spending a night at a motel in Horseshoe Grove.
It was Cas who suggested that they attend the Fest. Troika wasn't overly enthusiastic about rock music in general, save for a few bands he knew from a decade before. But based on past experience, he knew that any weekend spent with this colleague and friend would be time well spent. Cas was one of the most outgoing individuals Troika had ever met, and the red fox never failed to amuse him during their outings together.
"Hey, why don't we go out and grab dinner? I'm starving." Cas rubbed his stomach.
"Sure." Troika shot Cas a playful look. "Let me guess... Lardy's?"
"Where else?" the red fox said gleefully.
Lardy's was Cas's favorite burger joint, and for as long as Troika knew him, the fox was obsessed with their chocolate milkshake. So obsessed was the fox that he seemed incapable of spending a week without having a glass of it. From all the sugar intake, Troika was amazed how Cas was still able to maintain his athletic build, complete with a six pack. Seeing how fit Cas was, the cat wouldn't be surprised if he was told that the fox used to be a professional athlete before coming to Nutz-en-Boltz.
There was a Lardy's located in a shopping plaza a short drive from the factory. The two went there to have dinner and discuss plans for the following day.
Once food was ordered, Cas took out a list of bands and their scheduled performance times which he had printed from the festival's website. Troika knew only a few of the names on the list, consisting mainly of up-and-coming newbie bands with a sprinkle of celebrities added in for publicity.
Then, a familiar name caught Troika's attention. The name was written in pencil in Cas's barely legible writing--which Troika was used to seeing when he used to supervise Cas the year before--and there was an arrow drawn to the name of another band on the list.
"Wait... Does it say Deathbed?" he asked, pointing at the penciled name.
"You read it right, bud. The one and only."
The calico cat's brows shot up. "No way! Didn't they say they weren't doing any live concert for a while?"
His mind raced back to the news coverage of the incident from a few months ago in which a manic fan brought a smoke bomb and caused chaos in the stadium during a show that was part of the band's ten-year anniversary tour. Fortunately, it was the last show of the tour, so no subsequent show had to be cancelled as a result of this incident. However, as a result of this incident, the band members later announced through social media that they will not hold another live concert for the foreseeable future. No further announcement was officially released since.
Cas nodded. "Based on what I heard at this private forum I go to, Thanatos is a close friend of the guitarist in a newly-formed indie band called You Only Live Nine Times. Apparently, this guitarist asked him to make a surprise guest appearance for the indie band during their performance."
Thanatos was an arctic fox who was the lead singer as well as the de facto face of Deathbed. And Troika learned that You Only Live Nine Times was an all-cats band who had just emerged onto the indie scene a few months ago. In other words, they were at the two opposing ends of the fame spectrum.
The cat lowered one of his brows doubtfully. "How reliable is this info? Are you sure about it? I mean, even if Thanatos himself agreed to attend, the other members of Deathbed won't likely perform with him, unless that newbie happened to have a load of cash to spare."
"I think it's just Thanatos coming to their performance, alone. But I'm as sure as I am about my love for Lardy's triple-fudge chocolate milkshake, I swear," Cas said as he raised his paw beside him and placed his other paw on his chest. Troika could almost see a halo appearing above his friend's head.
When the ordered food arrived at the table, and once his eyes landed on the steaming hamburger on a plate and surrounded by fries, Troika realized how hungry he really was. He took a huge bite of the hamburger and could feel his taste buds exciting over the flavor of meat juice.
"This is so good," he said after swallowing his first bite. Cas, whose long snout was also filled with the hot dog he had ordered, nodded in response. It only took them fifteen minutes to clear their plates.
After the plates were carried away by the waiter, Troika took out his credit card to make the payment but was hampered by Cas who interrupted, "No, I'll pay for the dinner, Troy." When Troika protested, he added, "After all, tomorrow is a very special day for both of us. It's going to be the best day of my life so far!"
"OK," Troika sighed as he finally gave in and let the fox pay. "But I'll treat you to lunch tomorrow, sound fair?"
Cas replied with a huge grin that showed all his teeth: "Deal!"
The two then left the diner and headed back home separately in their cars. After they left, a snow leopard who sat in a booth next to them took out his smartphone and dialed a number. A couple of rings later, the call was connected, and he opened his mouth.
"Zio, he's heading to Star Rock Festival tomorrow."
After a few seconds of listening to the voice from the other end, he grinned.
"Of course. I won't let him out of my sight."