Maybe this means the grandpa count is still alive and Chris will return to his side. I was already thinking he's dead and Chris will become a crew member. But if she's not a cat girl, she would be just a second human woman in the crew. Like some others, I do believe the dude wants to gather different races (species?) as his companions. So, when Chris still appeared to be a real cat girl, it was my theory circumstances will leave her with no other convenient choice but to abandon her past and join the crew.