I turned my coworker into a cat. AITA?
I live in an insular community so I'm hoping I can get some outside opinions on what was, in my mind, an unfortunate accident. I (75M) work at a high school that allows me to do research in very specialized technology when I am not teaching. A few months ago, my coworker (32F) and I were talking about our respective fields (she works in security, not technology) while she was bringing home her escaped cat. She made an offhand comment about how her job would be much easier if she could do the same things as her cat (see in the dark, heightened hearing, etc.). As a scientist I took this as a challenge, and actually developed a machine that would transfer certain abilities from the cat to its owner. The preliminary tests on animals were promising and everything seemed to be in order, but of course I disclosed ahead of time that, as with all experimental technology, we couldn't predict every outcome. Little did I know! Rather than transferring cat-like abilities, I regret to say that I actually transferred my coworker's mind into the body of her cat (and vice versa). Of course this was an accident and I would never have done it had I known. Still, I think everyone is taking the news very badly. My coworker wants to kill me, our mutual boss is furious, and everyone else in the school is giving me something of a cold shoulder right now. I understand how this is disappointing, but I fully intend to reverse the procedure in no time. It just seems like everyone could do with a little sympathy for me--after all, I'm the one who has to figure out what went wrong. So, I put it to you. Is everything as it seems, and this is tragic accident, or AITA?
