"What a day." I mutter to myself, slumping down in a quiet corner of the mag rail train. I reckoned that there was no point is sticking around at Rutger's, classes were obviously not in session thanks to the raging battle last night trashing a large part of the new school building. By the time I reached the station, the workday rush was over and it was far too early for the lunch hour crowd to hit. Choice seating in the usually packed train was a rare luxury that I fully intended to enjoy.
If only Maus would stop scurrying around inside my shirt. Not only does it cause an itchy sensation, having a rodent playing on my skin might give me some kind of disgusting rash. Who knows where Maus had been when doing her rat thing. I'm about to tell my unwelcome passenger off when my phone starts buzzing.
"Surprised no one lifted my wallet and phone while I was sleeping right in the open." I grunt, pulling out the scuffed device from my jeans. The call's from Mom. Odd, she usually calls me on the odd days of the week.
"Please give me some credit, Robert." Maus huffs, peering out through my shirt's collar, "My magic made sure you were invisible to the world, letting you catch up on your beauty sleep."
"Really?" I raise an eyebrow, my finger hovering over the accept call icon.
"Eh, more like invisible to a casual search of the area. Same thing." Maus shrugs, "Don't keep your mother waiting Robert. Pick up the call."
I'm about to ask how Maus knows that the call's from mom, before realizing that the word MOM is emblazoned right on the phone's screen in big capital letters. As my rodent companion slides unobtrusively back under my shirt, I accept the call.
"Oh my gawd, Robert!" Mom's voice immediately squawks over the line, "You're fine! We were so worried!"
"Why wouldn't I be fine?" I shake my head in confusion.
"Its all over the news!" words pour out of Mom's mouth, "Two great houses battled it out at Rutger's! And there was even a report of a student getting killed in the fight!"
"Oh." I dully mutter. A student got himself killed? It couldn't be Carl right? Or was the student either Paul or Sara? What could have happened after I passed out.
"Its terrible! And when we remembered you were in detention yesterday," Mom gushes with relief, "well, your father and I naturally began thinking the worst."
"I managed to get away from the fighting." I quickly reassure Mom, not really willing to go into the freakish details of what really happened. I'm not even sure I understand it myself.
"Well, that's good. Are you hurt?" Mom's concern overflows for me through the line.
"Nah. Just tired. A little shaken." I mouth the understatement of the century while tracing the freshly forged skin covering what should be my torn apart cheek.
"Take it easy for the next few days." Mom orders, "Go get yourself checked out if you don't feel well, you hear me?"
"I know how to look after myself, Mom." I groan, shifting uncomfortably in my seat.
"Alright. I won't nag." Mom sighs, "But Robert, your father and I have been talking."
"Uh huh." I grunt back, not sure where this is going.
"Maybe its time we came back from the rift for good." Mom finally concludes, "Its not safe anymore in the city."
"I told you before -" I repeat before Mom cuts me off.
"Its not about you being able to take care of yourself." Mom explains, "We need to make some decisions as a family. Whether we're going to stay on here, or maybe move somewhere else."
"But I like it in the city." I protest as the Tree of Eternity comes into view, dominating the skyline that I can see from the train's window.
"Like I said, we're going to have a discussion." Mom repeats slowly, "As a family, OK?"
"Yeah. OK." I back down, realizing this is an argument I'm not going to win.
"Good. I'll let you know when we are coming out from the rift." Mom says, "Love you."
"Love you." I reply and the line goes dead.
"Everything fine?" Maus pipes up, her head popping up from the gap in between my shirt buttons.
"Yeah. Mom was just worried." I answer, putting my phone away.
"Understandable. I remember how much trouble my own children caused me back in the day." Maus nods knowingly.
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"I really can't see you as a mother though." I shoot back at the rat. Of course I don't mention the reason why. Maus is way to weird and occasionally sinister for me to associate with motherhood.
"I gave up on being a mother several Purge Cycles ago." Maus looks wistful, "It was a hassle. And none of it mattered at the end of the day."
"You don't mean that." I rebut, "There's sadness in your voice."
Maus falls silent for a few seconds, considering her response.
"Robert, do you see that tree outside the train window?"
"Of course." I agree, "Who could miss the eternally blooming giant sakura tree?"
"The Tree of Eternity is one of the few things that survives each Purge Cycle." Maus says softly, "When the purge begins, the world itself will be swept away. Only that tree and people like us will remain."
"Pretty heavy stuff." I murmur.
"I know you don't believe me, Robert." Maus replies peaceably, "And that's fine. Live long enough and you'll experience it for yourself."
"What happened to your children?" I ask cautiously. Maus doesn't deign to answer, a weight hanging over her mousey brow. I decide to try another track of questioning.
"How many Purge Cycles have you lived through?"
"Countless." Maus comes to, blinking her dark eyes, "I've lost track."
"That's pretty vague." I frown.
"Let me put it this way then." Maus hops out of my shirt and takes the empty seat next to me, "I have experienced living in a world where boiling water was regarded as the cutting edge of science."
"That sounds like a long time ago." I stare in disbelief at the rodent.
"The world slowly but gradually changes with each Purge Cycle." Mays shrugs, "From living in a hovel with no running water, to experiencing the wonders of mass transit. I'm honestly looking forward to what comes in the Cycle after this one."
"So Bart wasn't joking about us being psuedo immortal?" I whisper back to Maus, realizing that we're now on sensitive ground.
"As long as we manage to keep living." Maus corrects, "We can still die Robert. Well, I can't, I'm invincible after all. But for you, accidents, disease and good old fashioned murder are just a few of the ways you can buy the farm."
"Sounds complicated." I sigh, rubbing my temples.
"Just don't do anything stupid and you'll be fine." Maus pats me on the hand reassuringly, "And things do get better, Robert. For one, horse drawn carriages becoming obsolete has made the city far more pleasant to live in."
"How so?" I lean back more comfortably.
"Less shit in the streets." Maus grins at her own joke.
I guffaw slightly before turning serious once again.
"If the world keeps changing with every Cycle, why do I experience visions? And why did you talk like you recognized me at the school?"
"There's a saying from way back when." Maus taps a foot on the seat, "War never changes. You get what I mean?"
"Not really?" I shake my head in confusion.
"Think of yourself as an actor playing a role in a play. A role called "Robert"." Maus begins to lecture, "And so on and so forth in other plays. The names change, the clothes change, the face might even change thanks to wigs and makeup."
"But the actor is always the same?" I purse my lips in thought.
"Precisely so. That's why you experience ego bleed." Maus grins triumphantly, "THe memories of your "roles" in the earlier Purge Cycles are gradually returning to you."
I shudder at the memory of confronting Carl in the middle of an inferno burning down Rutger's. But there was a third person in that memory. A woman not connected to Maus. Who could that be?
"Though you did have the misfortune of being type cast Robert." Maus shuts her eyes as she dredges up that bit of knowledge, "In every Purge Cycle I've experienced, the character you played as died very early on."
"Ouch." I grimace, "Was that why you were watching me?"
"Correct." Maus gives an awkward right on gesture with one of her paws, "Your death was a reliable indicator of when a Purge Cycle is about to get under way. So congratulations for finally breaking out of that thankless rut."
I fold my arms in contemplation. From how she speaks, its clear that Maus is very confident in her assessment of my history in the Purge Cycles. Except she's wrong. That memory of confronting Carl, I can't place the timing exactly, only that it takes place way, way after that particular Purge Cycle kicked off. Something deep in my bones tells me that. A visceral gut feeling.
Maus knows less than she thinks she does. And she could be mistaken about many other things too.
"That being said," Maus continues, somewhat hesitantly now, "There's something you need to know."
"And what's that?" I rouse myself from those ruminations.
"This world has a will of its own." Maus looks about, scanning the train, "And people like us always tend to attract the world's attention. For good or ill."
"You're talking about what happened to Bart." my stomach churns at the memory of that dungeon hidden in the school.
"Bart's an extreme example." Maus consoles, "But it still shows what happens when one is not circumspect in their actions. There's a reason why our kind tend to live quiet, solitary lives."
"Don't rock the boat, is what you're saying?" I muse.
"As ego bleed progresses, we all gain an incredible wealth of knowledge." Maus looks somewhat agitated now, "Like knowing where forgotten relics lie. Or easy ways of learning powerful magics. Even parting the veil of the future, given how the plot of these "plays" tend to repeat."
"That's a huge power boost." I agree, "Foreknowledge is probably the greatest power of all."
"Indeed. And many, many people decide to use that power." Maus swallows hard, "To satiate their greed. Or perhaps to fix this world. There's a massive amount of good that could be done for both yourself and others."
"And that's a problem?" I asked worriedly.
"It depends. The world has a will," Maus shrinks into herself, casting fearful looks at the shadows, "and that will might be perfectly fine with what you intend to do. Or it might decide you had overstepped your bounds. There's no way of telling beforehand. Its an arbitrary creature that no one should put their faith in."
"You sound like you got burned before by this will of the world." I observe.
"There's a memory that never returns to me." Maus quivers, "An eternal blank spot in my mind. But I fear it. Something happened to me, Robert. Something terrible."
Maus looks utterly vulnerable, a stark contrast to how domineering she usually is.
"I'll remember that tip." I say.
"And Robert, I was joking about you being type cast earlier." Maus licks her lips, "But in a way, you're one of this world's favorites. There's no other reason for you always being picked for that same role over and over again."
"Sounds more like the world picking on me." I joke but Maus remains solemn.
"The world might take offence that you stepped out of line. Or it might decide to shower you with love. Whatever the case, you should be prepared."
Having said her piece, Maus sinks into stony silence. And the two of us watch the Tree of Eternity receding into the distance.