It was a Wednesday afternoon at the College of the Stars, which Xavier remembered because he had stopped for a pea and ham soup for lunch and he always had pea and ham soup for lunch on a Wednesday. Neither of them could remember whether the experiment had been Ryan’s or Xavi’s idea but Xavi was adamant that since Ryan had actually been the one to conduct it, it was most definitely Ryan’s fault. The most difficult part had been getting the porter’s cat to go into the box in the first place. Cats were surprisingly slippery creatures, not want to sit still inside boxes, and also as it transpired fairly pointly at times. Eventually they had the bright idea to lure it with some dried meats. Once the cat was in position the rest seemed like it would be fairly straightforward. Three mana crystals, a loud explosion and a box that was now seeping blood and singed fur later they weren’t so sure anymore.

“Should we check to see if it’s alive?” said Xavi.
“I’m pretty sure that the cat couldn’t have survived that,” replied Ryan.
“I heard it go ‘mew’.”
“Pretty sure you must have imagined it.”

Meow.

“There!” exclaimed Xavi triumphantly, “You heard it too!”
“I heard something… Say, Xavi, did that sound like a normal meow to you?”
“Meow is the noise kitties are supposed to go.”
“Yes, but I can’t shake the feeling there was something otherworldly about that mew.”

Meow.

“Look,” said Ryan, “I’m just going to have a look inside one of the cracks in the lid.”

Ryan gingerly crept over to the box and peered through one of the fractures his magic had made in the lid.

“You know what,” he said, “I don’t think we want to open this box.”
“Is the kitty alive?”
“Depends what you mean by alive.”
“What are we going to do with it then?”
“I don’t know… I guess throw it in the river?”

The pair watched from the bridge as the box containing the former feline slowly drifted away with the current, eventually becoming no more than a speck in the distance. Probably it would eventually make its way out to sea, hopefully never to be found again.

“What if someone finds the kitty?” said Xavi.
“Let’s just hope they don’t,” replied Ryan, “Come on, let’s get back to the dorm.”