“Bootlegged Bliss — Who Spiked the Night?”

 Live from the Basement Club with Raine Solara

Every Thursday, the Basement Club hosts the Happy Dance, a wild ritual of glitter, groove, and gallons of strangely labeled liquor with names like:

• "Comet Kahlúa"

• "Moai Mojito"

• "Quantum Rye"

• And the infamous “Catnip Cognac” (marked “Not For Non-Felines”)

The stash is kept behind a Moai-faced fridge in the back room — enchanted, theoretically secure.

Last Thursday, the entire stock vanished.
Not a drop left. Not even the backup bag of party punch concentrate hidden inside the taxidermied otter.

How did they get the news van in here?

Casey and Rachel were the first to notice, then the first to sound the alarm... and then, very quickly, the first to point paws:
“It was the cats. The alien ones. We saw them. Slurping the Comet Kahlúa through their headsets.” — Casey
“Yeah. And one of them tried to trade me a glowing beetle in exchange for the Moai Mojito.” — Rachel

1. Security footage mysteriously looped for a 33-minute window.
(Dr. Parallax says this was caused by “a soft temporal bend,” which is suspiciously vague.)
2. Casey’s glitter boots had sticky residue that matches the Moai Mojito spill pattern.
(She claims it was just “star syrup from the dance floor.”)
3. Rachel’s earrings were filled with an unknown amber liquid, later tested and confirmed to be Catnip Cognac.
(She insists they were “just decorative.”)

The Basement Club, 3:33 a.m.

The Cat Aliens' Response:

Through their translator orb (glowing, humming, levitating):

🛸 “We do not consume terrestrial liquor. We uploaded its flavor. The theft is beneath us — and beside us — and also a little behind us. Please move.”

One of them purred in binary: 0111-SUS-1011

Raine: “Someone’s lying. Someone’s drunk. Someone’s dancing too hard. But in the Retreat, sometimes those are the same thing. Back to you, ghosts.”

Should we give Casey and Rachel a chance to plead their case? Maybe in an improvised dance trial judged by the Moai?

The Happy Dance? It’s not just a celebration — it’s a trigger. A rhythmic signal.

Casey (whispering):
"Time to grease the quantum furballs."
Rachel (laughing):
"Make it purr, baby."

They pour the shots for the cats.

There might be hidden secrets at the cemetery. It is said Anjelikka has buried her ex-lovers there.