The cat's existence is ... open to interpretation.
To date, on Reddit, the forums, Q&A live streams, and Twitter, the Jmods/devs have had a constant reply: "what cat?"
Their behavior is consistent, which in itself is unusual. Usually, devs will blab or state something outright. The devs have finally been tight lipped on a piece of content, Xau-Tak, and by extension, this cat.
On 1 hand, you could take the developers' response in line as the cat doesn't actually exist (yes yes, they coded it, so it does exist ... ) but it only appears to the player character.
In comparison to say Bob the Cat or most other NPCs, this cat is a little like the effects of the Hallucinogenic Perk in Invention .... you're just seeing something.
In canon, Xau-Tak does have a mind warping effecting. Towards the end of the quest, you're dealing with what is the epicenter of Xau-Tak's influence. So it is possible that the cat ... really isn't there ... it's just something in the player character's head coming out.
Plus, the player character, by that point in the quest series has had:
multiple blows to the head
exposure to lots of alcohol, especially brain death 'rum'
been gassed
forced to interrogate people
repeated exposure to underwater diving
imprisoned
worked with seagulls
I'm sure something is starting to give in your psyche.
It is quite possible that the cat is linked to Xau-Tak and the player character.
Sadly, we will only find out once devs start releasing more Xau-Tak content.
28-Dec-2018 16:42:07
