The Mosaic Cat is a rare breed. Not so much a breed, actually, as a genetic mutation. This particular type of cat has patches of different coloured fur all over its body – seemingly at random. The Mosaic Cat does not know what it is.
It goes to the tuxedo cats, they hiss and claw at the creature – it retreats. It approaches a gaggle of tabbies preening in the sun, they scatter in fear and mistrust. It tries to befriend a Golden Retriever as a last resort, but the animal pines and backs away.
The Mosaic Cat is an original, almost unique. You could go your entire life without seeing one. That would be just fine, for the Mosaic Cat.
Over the course of its life, the Mosaic Cat becomes bitter. It skulks in shadows and feeds at night on plump mice. In the darkness it’s the same as any other feline – a pair of crystal eyes gleaming at the back of a barn, or a fleeting shape in the peripheral vision as it skitters beneath a VW Beetle.
Asteron issued a directive for the selective breeding of Mosaic Cats as a distraction tactic. This was decades ago. Nobody was successful and the task remained in ‘Incomplete’ status. The best anyone could do was mildly telepathic rats.
The mildly telepathic rats knew what they were.