🎆 Duty officer dropped out on New Year's Eve - monitoring was taken over by neighbors' cat

🎆 Duty officer dropped out on New Year's Eve - monitoring was taken over by neighbors' cat

December 31, 10:47 pm. There was relative calm at the Stružka Dolna wastewater treatment plant. The noise of sludge, the steady clicks of pumps and the lights on the SCADA panel blinking like Christmas decorations from the market.

On duty was Marian - a distinguished operator, a legend of the plant, a man who knew every pipe better than his own PIN. He had just finished his third coffee and was watching the flow lines arrange themselves in festive patterns on the monitoring system screen. Everything was in play.

"Only three more hours and it will be possible to officially say that we survived 2024 without blowing up the pumping station. What more do you want?"

🥂 23:12 - a moment of inattention

Marian toasted with a non-alcoholic Piccolo (premium version - white currant flavor), tapped the plastic cup against the SCADA monitor and... decided to sit down "for a while". The armchair was old and dilapidated, but engaging like quicksand. Gravity won out.

😴 23:14 - furry agent takes control

Outside appeared Purr - the cat of the neighbors of the "Zephyr" ROD plots. Known in the neighborhood for his ability to get anywhere warm and purr something. He knew the code to the gate. To be more specific: he knew where to sit for the sensor to respond.

The door of the duty station opened silently. Marian was asleep. SCADA was watching. Purr... moved into action.

🧠 23:23 - AI? No, CAT

The cat jumped up on the desk, sniffed the mouse, dragged itself around and laid its tail on the keyboard. Camera No. 4 zoomed in on the rotor. Surveillance recorded "operator activity."

Purr walked around the touch panel, turned on the odor sensor test and adjusted the brightness parameters so that the digester looked like a scene from a horror movie.

- Meow," he said, pleased with the artistic effect.

🚨 23:45 - controlled chaos

• Camera 2: zoom in on the empty filter bag,
• Camera 7: Fisheye effect and 180° rotation,
• Camera 9: close-up of paw prints on the windowsill.

The SCADA system triggered a test of the evacuation procedure. The alarm gave a silent signal: "Operator active. Do not intervene."

Marian... continued to snore. Purr... dragged on the LTE modem.

🎇 00:00 - New Year, New Inspector

Marian awoke. He looked at his watch, corrected his cap and turned off the random message:

"Note: audit mode enabled. Animal monitoring: active."

He looked at the cat. The cat looked at him. A silent agreement was born:

- You didn't see anything. I didn't say anything.

🧾 01:14 a.m. - morning report

A brief note appeared in the event notebook:

New Year's Eve quiet. The monitoring was working. Activity on schedule. Facility secured.

And underneath, someone added: "Cat food supplemented."

🐾 Epilogue: cats who watch

In January, Purr received an RFID tag (mounted in his collar) and access to the A1 zone. A new role has appeared on the treatment plant's graphics:

Custom case assistant

The cat didn't say anything. He just kept coming back. Whenever Marian was on call.

Wastewater Tales - Because true stories don't always stink. But they often meow.

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