I stepped onto the train just as the doors began to close. The car was thankfully empty and I collapsed into the seat closest to the door. I had a lot to process in that moment. I had to be honest with myself. Right up until the moment that time froze and the four arm man showed up I thought I might have been genuinely going insane. That morning when I woke up I’d resigned myself to believing my subconscious had made that interaction with the two professors up. As some kind of way to escape the stress and anxiety of my daily life. Now, sitting here on my way to god knows where, I kind of wished that had been true. Had I really just taken a deal with a group calling themselves something as un-seriously as “The Collective”. I laughed a little and let my head roll back as I breathed out. I let all the tension I was feeling wash away. I ran my hand through my hair staring at the ceiling.

Well, I’d really put myself in it now. I’d made some bad decisions before, but maybe this might have been the biggest.

“Ticket please, sir.” A voice said. I made me jump in my seat and sit upright. Standing before me was something I never expected. Their body was human shaped and it had it’s hand outstretched to take my ticket, but where I expected a human face I saw an orange tabby cat’s face. He wore a conductor’s hat and uniform. He spoke again. “Do you have a ticket, sir?”

“Oh. Yes, sorry.” I pulled the Black playing card out of my pocket and showed it to him. His fur puffed out at the sight of it.

“Oh dear me. I’m so sorry, Magi. You shouldn’t be here in the common cars. Please, follow me to first class.” He said beginning to shuffle away to the end of the train car. I reached down to grab my suitcase. “No, no. Someone will take care of that. Please.” He gestured to the door. He took out a key and instead of using it on the door between cars he put it in the wall next to it and it sank into a keyhole I hadn’t noticed there before. As he turned it the outline of a brown door materialized and he pulled it open and it slid into place of the actual train car door. A symbol of a golden ‘A’ sat on the new wooden door.

“After you, Magi.” The tabby cat said. I approached the door and slid it open like normal, but instead of seeing the same kind of train car I stood in it revealed a what I could only describe as a really flashy speakeasy style bar. Polished wood and gold accents covered the walls here and expensive looking bottles of alcohol sat behind an ornately designed bar which housed and actual bartender behind it. He was in the middle of pouring a clear liquid from a mixing tin into a martini glass for an older man who lounged on a bar stool. I immediately recognized him as the man I’d met on this train exactly a week ago. Professor Cyrus sat up straight as I walked in and waved me over.

“Good show, August! I knew you’d make it on time. Fancy a drink before you make your way to your cabin?”

“Cabin?” I said, my eyes wide with surprise. “I get my own cabin?”

“Of course. It’s a long ride to campus. You’ll need to get some sleep. Trust me.” Cyrus said. I sensed something more there to his words, but I was too tired to press him any further.

“So.” He handed me a menu. “Drink?” I glanced at the list and didn’t see any prices. I heard my father’s voice echo in my head. If you have to ask, you probably can’t afford.

“How much does it cost?” I asked through a slight grimace.

“It’s free, of course.” He smiled. “Anything your heart desires.” I looked across the list again. I noticed a common theme to it’s setup and layout. Each of the lists of drinks was categorised as a poker hand. Full house was the boozy classics like negroni’s and martini’s, 2 of a kind had a lot set of shots, like lemon drops and a QF, which I noted didn’t feel very ‘first class’ to me.

Then it seemed like they may have run out of ideas and the non-alcoholics were under a category called “Go fish.” I chuckled at that. A single thing jumped out at me near the final page under a section labelled as Joker with only one option called “Dealer’s Choice”. I thanked the tabby cat and sat down at the bar joining Cyrus who was now sipping a effervescent violet liquid from his martini glass. The bartender moved up to me quickly and placed a napkin in front of me.

“What can I get cha?” He said in an exaggerated version of a new york accent that I hoped for his sake wasn’t real. He was also a cat creature, this time a mottled gray colour to his fur.

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“Dealer’s Choice?” I said. The Bartender raised his brow and tilted his head slightly.

“Ya sure?” He asked.

“Why not?” I shrugged.

“A gambler, eh? I like the cut of your jib kid.” He said turning back to pull a bottle from behind the bar. It was covered in a thin layer of dust and didn’t have a label. Then he presented a copper goblet to me placing it on the napkin and uncorked the bottle. As he poured the liquid it began to fizz. I tentatively sniffed it before taking a sip. It smelled like nothing. Like honestly, no smell at all. In fact it was more like it removed smell from the air just with its mere presence. I cautiously took a sip.

Okay, I just have to cut in here to explain. I do not tolerate alcohol well. I remember the first time I took a sip of my dad’s beer when I was a toddler. He wasn’t paying attention and when he got up to go to the bathroom I grabbed the can and took a mighty swig. It came right back up as soon as it went down. From that point on any time I’d drink even a drop of beer or alcohol I’d have that same reaction. So it was really out of character for me to even attempt this sip. As soon as I did I realized this wasn’t alcoholic at all. I immediately started to cry. Like full streaming of tears coming out of my eyes. Cyrus turned to me and looked shocked. He turned to the bartender who was bursting out laughing.

“What did you give the boy? Misery?” He yelled, furious.

“Naw. I gave him a bit of catharsis. I didn’t know he needed a good cry now did I?” He said through his laugher.

“What the hell is catharsis?” I said in between sobs.

“It’s a kind of relief. Usually a release of repressed emotions.” Cyrus pulled out his a rod similar to the one I’d seen the four armed man wielding earlier. He went to use it, but the Bartending cat stepped up and stopped him.

“Hey, just give the kid time to let it all out. It’s good for him.” The Bartender said.

“Tom. You can be one mean son of a bitch sometimes.” Cyrus said.

“Hey, I just pour em’ like I seem em’” His accent seemed to have changed to a southern accent now. Tom looked at me, his large yellow feline eyes studying me. “Ya alright, kid?”

“Why did your accent change?” I asked, wiping the tears from my face. I did actually feel a lot better. Tom laughed and looked at Cyrus.

“I’ll leave that one to you, Professor.” He said as he walked away from the two of us and receded into the back of the bar. Cyrus shook his head and cleared his throat.

“Listen, August. Things are going to be really weird for a while for you. Your body and your brain need to adjust to their new environment and that can take a minute. The accent on Tom there changing, that’s a side effect of your mind trying to comprehend his speech. The train car does a good job of getting you most of the way there, but your brain still has to process it.”

“So, that bartender, he wasn’t speaking english.” I asked confused.

“Ha. No, far from it. To be completely honest, neither am I, but your brain can figure me out because I look human enough. Tom and the ticket conductor are humanoid, but it’s still a Cat talking to you, so it doesn’t get it quite right. Don’t worry, it takes a few days, but your brain can eventually roll with the punches as they come.” Cyrus said with a smile.

“Right… Wait, you’re not speaking english?” I asked.

“My boy, I’m not even human.” He chuckled.

“So what are you?” I queried.

“That’s a long story and one for another time.” He said. “Trust me when I say you really should be getting some sleep. That will begin to clarify some things.” He stood up and walked down towards the end of the bar where there was another door. He opened it and a hall of more doors stretched out behind him. He turned back to face me.

“So all you need to do to access your cabin is place your black card on one of the doors that doesn’t have a letter emblem on it. You’ll hear a click, your initials will show up and then you can open the door to your personal cabin. Come on, give it a try.” He said as he beckoned me to follow him into the hall. We passed about 7 different lettered doors before we spotted one that seemed to be free. Cyrus stood next to it and urged me forward. I did exactly as he asked and I placed the card on the door. After a second the Letters for my name burnt into the door and I heard a click. I opened the door to find my suitcase sitting on the cot inside. There were no windows in the room and the cot took up half of the space of the room. It was already made up and set of pajamas sat folded up on the bed. Next to my suitcase sat a box that was wrapped in a silver bow. I looked at Cyrus who just smiled.

“An apology present from Professor Dos. Go on, open it. He won’t mind.” He said nudging me. I moved into the cabin space and noticed the ceiling above was a swirling nebula of stars. I stared at it for a moment and Cyrus popped his head in to look. “Oh, reminds me of those glow in the dark stars you’d stick to the roof as a kid.”

“Yeah, but way better.” I said absentmindedly. I’d always wanted them for my room as kid, but my parents were afraid they’d mark the roof. We were always renting and never owned so that kind of stuff really mattered back then.

“You did that by the way.” Cyrus said nodding to the ceiling. “The room reacts to your subconscious and adjusts. You’ll have one just like it on campus. It’ll be a little bit bigger though, I hope.” He smiled warmly at me. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to it. I’m just down the hall if you need anything. See you in the morning.” He moved out of the room and shut the door behind him leaving me alone. I moved the suitcase and the gift box off the cot and on to the floor so I could lay down. I stared at the stars above me and slowly but surely I allowed myself a moment to drift off into sleep.