"Yes! This should put me at the top!" A distinguished, older looking tiger said with a glint of triumph in his eyes.
His nervous inventor, Mel Bansoft, stood next to his boss, pleased his new invention was being so well received. He was relieved that something he invented was finally going to see a profit. Everything else their section had turned out had come out second best against the mega-giant Khan Industries. This invention should put them in the lead at last. At least he truly hoped so.
"I want a prototype made immediately." Sultan of Miniverse Corporation told his employee.
"Yes sir! We're about seventy percent complete on that." Bansoft said quickly.
"Good! Then I'll let you get to it. Let me know immediately when it is ready for presentation but make it soon!" He warned as he stalked out of the lab.
Bansoft sighed and went to the lab where the others were waiting nervously.
They looked up when he walked in. "He loved it and said to produce the prototype asap." Bansoft said briskly.
There were some worried frowns but no one argued as they returned to the work at hand.
Some two weeks later, Sultan made his grand announcement of Miniverse's most advanced microscope ever invented. It was so powerful, they could actually detect viruses under it. His company received huge orders for it within a month of its unveiling.
Khan was seething when he saw the announcement in Inventor's Weekly.
"I can't believe that weasel has finally managed to leap ahead of me. I've been far too occupied with my mate and kits." He grumbled in annoyance but then his face softened. 'But as distractions go my mate is a magnificent one and my beautiful triplets are a joy to my heart,'he thought warmly. He sighed. There was nothing for it but to go down to his labs and see exactly what they had going on and if there was anything that could top Sultan's coup.
He was in an irritable mood when he finally went home that evening. He tried not to stay too late at the office since his mate had a tendency to be caught up in crime fighting at all hours. The kits needed at least one of their parents at hand in the evenings.
As he stepped into the apartment, he was assaulted by his seven year old triplets.
"Papa, papa!" His daughter chirped excitedly.
Khan smiled warmly and after handing off his briefcase to the butler he leaned down and swept Kiara into his arms.
"And how is my beauty this evening? Have a good day at school?" He asked as he carried her to the couch followed closely by her brothers.
He sat down with her in his lap and the males sat on either side of him.
"Oh yes, papa! We read a neat story, played a new game and learned about your home, Cape Suzette." She said excitedly.
"That wasn't the best part though, daddy." Casimir cut in. "The projector went wacko toward the end of the movie we saw on eco...econ..." He frowned unable to think of the word.
"Economics!" Gaspar said with a superior smirk.
"Yeah! Anyway, the movie was booooring but the jerking and flipping of the film was funny." Casimir chortled.
Shere could only chuckle at that observation.
"But the most exciting thing that happened today was the fire drill. We got to march outside. Our class lined up the fastest." Kiara said proudly.
"That's wonderful, Kiara. I'm proud of you all." Shere said warmly giving her an extra hug.
"Yeah, that was pretty cool but I think the accident was more interesting," Casimir said, trying to one up his sister.
Shere frowned. "What accident?"
"The one while we were standing outside. Two cars went boom...smacked into each other!" Casimir said, smacking his two fists together.
"No one was hurt, though," Kiara was quick to say, not liking that to happen to anyone.
"That's good. Anything else happen?" Shere asked, carefully, a feeling of alarm rising within him.
The three looked at each other and shrugged.
"Well, after the accident, some people came pushing through our lines shoving Kiara and me from our group but our teacher was nearby and quickly pulled us back in line then we were told to go back inside," Gaspar ventured cautiously, when he noted his daddy was still waiting for an answer.
Shere felt a chill run down his back. "Did any of these 'people' try to grab you?"
Kiara's face scrunched up in annoyance. "Well, I don't think they meant to, but one of those pushy people did grab my arm but Gaspar was holding onto me and pulling back so the person let me go and walked across the street away from us."
"Ah, I see. Well it seems you had a very eventful day. If I'm not mistaken, I smell dinner," Shere said turning the subject away.
The kittens cheered at that. Kiara jumped down from her father's lap and grabbed his paw to tug him to the dining room. Her brothers had already run ahead of them.
Later that evening when the kittens were in bed, Shere brought up the incident at the school to his mate, Ulysses, who had finally gotten home less than an hour before. Feral was stripping off his clothes as he listened but froze in the act of removing his pants to turn his head and stare at Shere in angry shock.
"What?"
Shere's face was grim, "That was my reaction though I didn't let onto the kits that what they said had upset me. Kiara was annoyed but forgiving of the individual who had tried to pull her away. Fortunately, Gaspar had a tight hold on his sister and that made the fool let go. The kits weren't afraid at any time, thankfully. They didn't realize the danger. I, however, was feeling residual shock at just how close our two kittens came to being kidnaped. The accident was obviously a distraction! I intend to have a word with the school and find out why our kittens were without their guards."
Feral felt a sudden rush of fury. 'How dare someone try to take his kitten again? Once had been way too many already,' he thought angrily, remembering the time the Metallikats had taken these very same kittens before. He would not allow it to happen again.
"I just wish we could tag our kittens somehow in case they are snatched. No matter how much we guard them, there are those who might succeed in taking them from us. I couldn't bear for that to happen again," he hissed bitterly, throwing his pants rather violently into the laundry basket. He didn't see the sudden look of excitement on his mate's face until he turned around.
Frowning, he asked, "what the heck is wrong with you?"
"I've just had an incredible idea and I have you to thank you for it!" Shere said excitedly.
"Huh?"
"We have transponders on our planes, tracking devices we use to find things, why not something similar to attach to our kittens. Then we'll know where they are at any time. Also, I could have my R & D section figure out some kind of defense device a kitten could use to ward off an attacker that's still safe for them to have since kittens being kittens could use them in play accidentally and we don't want them harmed to badly using it." Shere's mind was awhirl with ideas and couldn't wait to see his inventors in the morning. This would put him back on top!
"Kat's Alive! Why the heck didn't I think of that?" Feral chastised himself. Shaking his head, he climbed into bed and was immediately set upon by his still excited mate. "Whoa!"
"Thank you, love!" Shere murred hotly, giving Ulysses a hard, intense kiss.
When he could catch his breath, Feral blinked at Shere in bemusement. "Maybe I should come up with ideas more often if that's the reaction I'm going to get," he smirked.
Shere chuckled then moved suddenly to cover his mate. "Perhaps you should," he growled heatedly and proceeded to make his mate writhe and cry out excitedly for the next hour.
More than six months later, Shere Khan unveiled the newest device in personal security...the Zoac GPS. The device would be attached to the person's fur in some out of the way spot and was the size of a dime. It would send out a continuous signal that would tell the one with the locator device keyed to it, where the person was at all times.
It went on the market as a way to protect kittens but also for very important dignitaries. Along with that invention, Shere also put out the first Kitten Defense Weapon. It was a small flashlight device worn around their neck on a springy cord. The device sprayed out pepper spray.
Both devices were a hit on the market and quickly surpassed Miniverse Corporation's new lense putting Khan Industries back on top.