The Recycler

The Recycler is the fourth chapter of The Two Cats and was published on April 6, 2019.

The Recycler is the first chapter to take a break from the drama of the first three chapters, and focuses on Mariko's attempt to recycle in order to obtain some sort of income. Meanwhile, Expi tries to contact her dad again after not seeing her for all these years.

Furmart
Expi and Mariko decide to go out to Furmart, likely following discussing their "day out" in The Journal. As Expi decides to pick up a few DVDs, Mariko decides to pick up a figure of one of the characters of her favorite game Overwatch. While Mariko thinks she has enough to cover the cost, she winds up a dollar short, causing her to get into an argument with the cashier. Before things get too heated, Expi steps in and just pays the extra dollar. On their way back, Expi talks to Mariko and tells her she can't always bail her out like that, and she should try getting a job, but Mariko replies stating that her previous attempts had failed.

Recycling
As Expi cleans up the area around the TV, she gets the idea to introduce Mariko to recycling in order to get money. Mariko decides to go to Furmart to do the recycling, and gets some money out of it before returning home. This leads to Mariko going around their apartment building and asking for their recycles to add to her load, before deciding to leave the recycling bin outside so that animals passing by would recycle. However, just as she's about to take the bin the next day, a garbage truck takes the bin mistaking it for trash. She goes out to the dump and spends the day picking up cans she finds around. The next day, she steals a bag of cans from one of her neighbors, leading Expi to get yelled at and Mariko feeling bad for what she had done. She decides to "quit" recycling, even as Expi tempts her again. A little while later, Mariko decides to get back the recycling bin and go back to her job.

Expi and her Father
This chapter contains a subplot of Expi trying to contact her father through different forms of social media. She finally finds a profile that matches his, and leaves him a message, hoping that he replies back.

Trivia

 * "Thomy Cola" and "Joony Cola" are mentioned frequently in this chapter, and are references to ROBLOX models created by ExpitheCat and his friend ChromeAdders/Joonas08Joonas in 2011.
 * Likewise, "ROBLOX Gone LOL: The Complete Series" and "Jarmps' Titanic Movie" are mentioned in this chapter, both being references to creations by ExpitheCat and ChromeAdders/Joonas08Joonas. ROBLOX Gone LOL is a series of ROBLOX videos ExpitheCat made between 2010 and 2015, and "Jarmps' Titanic Movie" refers to a ROBLOX Titanic movie created by ChromeAdders/Joonas08Joonas in 2010.