Chapter 3 · Continued
Learning
Cam stood alone in the bedroom, facing the unmade bed. Pillows lay on the floor, and the blankets were pulled back and crumpled.
OBJECTIVE: MAKE THE BED.
He stepped forward, lifted one pillow, turned it, and placed it precisely in the center at the head of the bed. The second followed, perfectly aligned and symmetrical.
“…Acceptable.”
Cam reached for the blanket.
It moved.
He paused and looked down.
The blanket shifted again, a small ripple traveling beneath the fabric.
Unaccounted motion.
Cam slowly lifted the edge.
Seymour exploded from underneath—a blur of fur and attitude. He shot across the mattress, skidded, turned sharply, and dove back beneath the covers.
The blanket rose and writhed as though alive.
Cam froze.
Processing.
“There is an active variable.”
The blanket twitched again.
Cam watched, calculated, and waited. When the movement finally stopped, he reached forward, pulled up the blanket, and smoothed it down.
One pass.
Two.
The surface flattened.
Then it bulged.
Seymour launched himself from beneath the blanket, his claws catching the fabric and his back arched in full dramatic glory. He landed, spun around, and attacked the moving fold Cam had just created.
Cam immediately withdrew his hand.
Recalibrating.
The blanket shifted again.
Unstable.
Unpredictable.
After standing motionless for a moment, Cam reached down and lifted the entire blanket in one controlled motion.
Seymour dangled briefly inside it, suspended and still.
They stared at one another.
Seymour blinked slowly.
Then he twisted, dropped free, and hit the mattress running.
Cam released the blanket and adjusted his strategy.
He waited.
Thirty seconds passed without movement.
Cam nodded once, spread the blanket again, and carefully smoothed it down.
It held.
Flat. Controlled.
He began tucking one side beneath the mattress.
The blanket surged again.
Seymour shot from beneath it like a torpedo.
Cam stopped in mid-motion and looked down. “…Variable is noncompliant.”
Seymour pounced on the hanging edge, latched onto it, and kicked violently with his back feet.
Cam held the blanket steady. “…This is counterproductive.”
Seymour growled softly.
Not angry.
Committed.
Cam processed the situation, then slowly lowered himself onto one knee. He brought his face closer to the moving shape beneath the blanket and observed it.
Seymour froze. Only his tail moved, sweeping back and forth beneath the fabric.
Cam extended one finger and lightly touched the blanket.
Seymour struck.
Fast. Precise.
His claws caught the fabric exactly where Cam’s finger had been.
Cam pulled back his hand. “…Engagement detected.”
He considered that, then adjusted his approach.
Cam grasped a loose corner of the blanket and moved it just enough to create motion.