THE MOMENT
"Can I help you?" Anna stopped as soon as she entered the living room. She prided herself on being quick-minded, as well as fearless; and, she was aware of two facts. She lived alone, by choice, and she had no pets. Despite both of those, a blood-red cat sat on her leather couch staring right at her as soon as she entered. Its fur was an unnatural color, and a white patch of fur atop its head resembled a skull. Anna deduced that it was not an ordinary cat. She lived on the top floor penthouse of one of her own, 'no pets allowed' hotels. After her question, she moved to the bar. She poured herself a drink while her attention remained on the red cat. She fully expected an answer.
Anna was not a heavy drinker by any means; but, she'd completed the deal of a lifetime. She was already one of the wealthiest billionaires on Earth that morning. After the paperwork went through, she would be the absolute wealthiest. She finally felt herself in a position to unwind after several months of hard work. She tried to always be cool and in control. Maybe it was a side effect of relaxing too soon; but, two things surprised her at once. She was not ready for the shock of being caught off guard and dropped her drink as a result.
"What's your favorite number?" The cat asked. She had a soft, feminine voice that Anna wouldn't have expected from a cat. She assumed the cat could talk; but, she did not anticipate the odd question. Nor her own instant answer.
"12!" Anna responded. Her confusion at the unplanned response caused her grip on the glass to relax just enough. Her answer was punctuated by glass shattering on her marble floor. She ignored that and recovered quickly; she crunched over the shards to approach the couch. "Why?" she asked. There was no reason to let the cat know she didn't want to give out that information. But, for the life of her, she couldn't remember deciding on a favorite number at any point.
"After your current deal goes through, this Earth will be considered yours. There are a few things you should be aware of when that happens," the cat replied. Anna remained standing and crossed her arms as she stared down at the cat.
"Elaborate," she said. It was one of the few phrases she found useful. She could ask for, nay demand, more information without admitting she didn't know anything. Did the cat say 'this Earth'?
"This multiverse is filled with billions of alternate Earths, as well as those of us that can travel between them freely," the cat said. It remained perched on her couch, looking up at her as it explained. "Along with the countless nobodies born, each Earth also occasionally produces someone known as a 'Unique Soul'. That's you," she said. Anna nodded curtly; but, she remained quiet. She easily managed the flood of thoughts and questions filling her mind; but, she had no reason to say anything yet. The cat still seemed to have more to say.
"Any given Earth initially belongs to all its people. The leaders voted in by the populace, the U.N. for example, are granted a sort of claim to the Earth. With this claim, they can choose to sell it or trade it, and even accept other Earths into their claim. However, once a Unique Soul is born on an Earth, they automatically earn the right to that claim."
"I'm listening," Anna nodded. She assumed the cat was there to make her an offer. She learned long ago that just because an assumption was made did not mean she needed to voice it. A small part of her wondered if she needed to put in all the work she did; but, she quickly crushed that thought. She would not regret her drive to be the best.
"There's a tier system in place, some Unique Souls are ranked higher than others. And, the claim always, initially, goes to the most powerful Unique. That's not you, there are other Unique Souls on this Earth," the cat said. She paused for a moment as if expecting a reaction; but, Anna gave her none.
"Although, it turns out that a majority of the assets you just purchased belong to the Unique Soul that currently owns this Earth. They're unaware of their own power and as a result, sold it to you. It has nothing to do with the assets themselves; but, more of the fact that they sold out their entire corporation to you with a written contract. Contracts are everything in the multiverse."
"Why tell me and not him?" Anna asked. She felt it was a relatively safe question. She was asking about something that she couldn't be expected to know. And, she was smart enough to realize that if the cat did speak to the tech genius she bought out; he wouldn't have sold her the company.
"He didn't have the same drive that you do," the cat replied. "I admire that, and I don't want to see you making any mistakes; they could be fatal," the cat said.
"The fact that you essentially 'bought' the Earth means that as soon as it goes through, you'll likely start to receive visitors. Others from alternate realities looking to buy you out, or maybe even sell you an Earth or two."
"I see," Anna nodded.
"No, you don't," the cat seemed to have a smile in her voice as she shook her head. "They're all traps," she said. "or, cons, more specifically. The multiverse is already owned by Sharp Development; a corporation owned by my boss, Dana Sharp. She takes a dim view of anyone else owning too many Earths."
"What number does Ms. Sharp consider to be too many?" Anna asked. It was at that moment that Anna realized a cat could shrug. Though, she wondered if all cats could do that, or if it was just the special one that could talk.
"It varies per person. For someone like you... one is already pushing your luck." Anna nodded; she was used to people feeling threatened by her. She gave a passing thought to conceding and promising to stay on her own Earth. But, now that she knew there was more out there, she could never stay put. Anna didn't reply; she made the cat break the silence after a few moments.
"The other option is why I'm actually here," the cat said. As she spoke, a horizontal black hole appeared above the couch next to the cat. Then, the holes sunk down through the couch and disappeared. Once it was gone, a crisp white suit lay on the couch with a red logo visible on the front. "You're welcome to join Sharp Development; you get to keep this Earth, and you'd be free to claim others, in the name of our company," she said.
"How exactly do I benefit? I'm about to own this Earth already." Anna asked. And, for the third time that night, she was surprised. Her opulent living room and floor-to-ceiling windows were gone in the blink of an eye. She didn't see it happen and she had no idea how she got there. She was suddenly in a small room with shiny, black obsidian walls and few, high, narrow windows. Orange-red light could be seen flickering out through the windows as intense heat and the distinct smell of sulfur came in. As she tried to calmly take in her new environment, she spotted the red cat perched on one of the high windows looking down at her.
"You get to go home."