Amy prepares to defend her
doctoral dissertation in
Applied Physics: a machine capable of harnessing the
Earth's rotation and magnetic field to produce energy.
Nibbler confronts
Leela, displeased with her treatment of him as a pet and desiring to be treated as a crewmember. At Amy's defense her proposal is rejected, mostly due to Professor Katz' pet
cat, who distracts her and stimulates her
allergy to cats. The crew return to Planet Express, unknowingly accompanied by the cat. The crew—with the exception of Amy, who remains resentful, and Nibbler, who is jealous of Leela's affection for the cat—finds the cat endearing. Amy and Nibbler become suspicious, rationalizing that no creature could behave so cute without an ulterior motive. They discover that Professor Katz was a puppet controlled by his cat, Katz, the entire time, who is part of an alien race of talking cats that invaded Earth during 3500 BC in
ancient Egypt. The space cats' home planet,
Thuban 9, began losing its rotation, and they discovered that Earth had the correct orientation and magnetic field to harness its rotational energy. They built the
Great Pyramid of Giza—an energy transfer antenna—and planned to send Earth's energy to
Thuban 9, but became distracted by their
worship by the Egyptians, forgetting their technology over the centuries. Amy's thesis provided the cats with their lost technology, allowing them to begin again. Katz and his colleagues place the crew under their influence with "hyper-cuteness", forcing them to build Amy's invention. Imprisoned by the space cats, Amy and Nibbler watch helplessly as the device stops the Earth. Katz transfers the stored rotational energy to Thuban 9 and departs, leaving the Earth in disarray and freeing the crew from their hypnosis. Earth begins burning on its sun-exposed face while the opposite face freezes. The crew attempt to reverse the machine and restore Earth's rotation, but find it can only turn in one direction. Lamenting that her invention doomed Earth, Amy realizes that by continuing to turn it, they can restart the Earth's rotation, albeit in the opposite direction. The plan works and the machine reclaims Earth's rotational energy from Thuban 9, now spinning in the opposite direction. In recognition of her achievement, Amy receives her doctorate, now "Doctor Wong". She remains with Planet Express because the job market is poor while Nibbler reconciles with Leela, appreciating that she cares for him. ==Production==