I raised my head and took another peek at what looked like an assembly line of talking rats. All of them were standing still, all of them looking at me.
"Wait... if all the former caretakers were... rats, then why hire me this time? Why not find another rat?"
Maya didn't answer. She only gave me that sad look, like she was waiting for me to figure it out.
"No..."
I abruptly got up and retreated several steps behind as the truth occurred to me.
"You... you weren't rats when... when you took the job."
The hundreds of rats' heads nodded, confirming my fear.
I felt my blood go deathly cold for a second. By God, this was why she was begging me to stay. This was what she wanted me to see before deciding to forfeit the contract.
"This is the in-house punishment," I stated, petrified by the possibility of it. "Being transformed into a rat."
Now it all made sense. Earlier, I had noted Maya didn't react too well when I blatantly called her a rat. That must have been because she wasn't used to the idea of it.
She must... "Maya, were you the last caretaker?"
For a second her chest swelled and her eyes got moist. She slowly lowered herself into a seated position.
"Sire is right. Maya was indeed."
I smiled warmly as I crouched next to her once again.
"Please forgive me, Maya... for calling you... that."
She looked up, the moisture in her round eyes threatening to fall.
"Sire has nothing to apologize for. A rat is what Maya is."
"And that is what I will soon be," I said, crumbling next to her.
Now I could see myself waiting in that small room for the next victim. I could see myself bouncing down those stairs, patiently answering their existential crisis questions. Then finally standing alongside hundreds of my predecessors to welcome the new master.
I could see myself as one more rat in this ever-growing pool of in-house punishment.
I mean, what could I do differently that all these men and women before me hadn't done?
"Sire will not fail." Maya jumped up with a renewed zeal in her voice. "Not in Maya's watch. Sire needs to come with Maya and accept his role, then begin work right away."
I did not argue. The point where I planned to find a chance to ditch this place seemed like ages behind me now.
I stood up and bowed before my gathered predecessors. Now, despite their physical appearance, what I saw was one more man or woman desperately looking for a job and landing here.
"Resume your roles. Sire will see you later."
Maya instructed them with a newfound authority in her voice.
They all bowed more cheerfully before breaking out of their orderly formation.
"This way, sire."
We crossed to the other side of the room, which was lined with numerous doors. She stopped at the middle one and, once again, with just a tap it swung open before shutting behind us.
Another short staircase followed, another door. At last, we were standing in a mildly furnished house.
There was a brown leather couch and a midsized table at the heart of the room.
All the corners of the room were shelves filled with thick, dull books.
This flow was only broken by the door we had come through and a fireplace on the adjacent wall.
"This is sire's residence and office," she announced, approaching one section of the shelf.
I watched her push a section of the exposed woodwork and a drawer popped out.
She placed the forms I had signed inside the drawer and it got swallowed back into the shelf.
Another drawer popped out and she pulled out a tiny wooden box.
"This now belongs to sire."
I automatically reached and took the box from her tiny hands.
"What is this?"
She stared at the box in my hand with what looked like longing mingled with pity.
"The caretaker's ring... Maya will give sire some time alone. Sire will call Maya when ready."
And she quickly left, shutting the doors behind her.
I was left standing in front of the shelves, staring at the box that was now my charge.
Retreating to the couch, I placed the box on the table before pressing the tiny knobs on the corners.
The lid snapped open and I found myself staring at a dark ring with an infinity sign engraved on the center stone.
Maybe it was me, but there seemed to be some kind of energy radiating from it. An energy that seemed to be beckoning me to pick it up and slide it through my finger.
I hesitated.
I had seen the look on Maya's face. This most likely was the same ring she had worn herself. Probably the same one all those hundreds of rats had worn.
What happened between then and the point of them transforming into rats? At what point did the hotel deem their contracts forfeited... and after how long?
I mean, those rats were too many. Even if each of them lasted six months, they were still too much.
I pushed the matter out of my thoughts. At this point there was no reason to dwell much on it. It was either I put on the ring and do my best to stay... well, me, or refuse and join the ranks as one more failure.
Also, I was curious about what my compensation would be. I mean, a lot was at stake here including my identity as a person, so it only made sense if the reward would be of equal weight.
I gently lifted the ring from the box and slowly eased it down my ring finger. I didn't even have to try; it slipped through like it was adjusting itself all the way down.
"Now what?" I thought as I waited to feel something. What does the ring offer the caretaker? What was supposed to happen?
I brought my hands closer, trying to see if anything was changing, when suddenly a screen interface popped right in front of my face.