"OK, let me get this straight. We're not the only ones dealing with weird stuff?" Eve asked.
"Not really, no. We have been here for longer than they have, I mean they started in the 1800s or so when a British guy thought that we weren't enough and he decided to build his own place, or he didn't know that we existed, she was never too specific about that." Flynn replied. "Bottom line, this Doctor I talked to is the guy's daughter and well as much as I would hate to admit it, because we did have our little differences, she does a way better job than her father. I mean he had a basement, she has a castle. They deal with the weird living things, like mermaids and werewolves and pretty much every monster that ever existed, and we deal with artifacts. And we talk to one another as rarely as possible."
"But if her father founded the whole thing, this would mean that she's more than 150 years old." Jake said. "One month ago, I would have said that this is impossible, now I'm just going to ask how the hell she pulled it off."
"276 actually."
"Cassandra? Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't this age a bit too much for a girl who was born in the 1850s?" Jake asked but Cassandra wasn't listening to him anymore. "Trapped. Stuck in another time as the ages went over her, unable to get back, forced to leave everything in a frozen like state. Frozen. Cold. The smell of cold air in my nose as I got out and wanted to play in the snow but my parents… Sorry. Where was I?"
"Well you said it a bit more poetic than I would have, but yes, that is the point, she time traveled about three years ago and she was stuck in the 1890s, or at least that is what she says."
"She was forced to take the longer path home. But I'm guessing she's still… young yes?" Jake asked.
"276 is way out of your league mate. I mean I get 130, but this is a bit too much don't you-" Ezekiel began asking but stopped when he saw Jake's face. "Right. Bad joke. Sorry."
"Well I think I will let her explain you the rest." Flynn said. "We need to get going."
"I already prepared everything." Jenkins said as he spun the globe. "The door will get you to the Sanctuary now."
"Sanctuary? That's awfully pretentious for a doctor." Eve pointed out.
"Well hospital sounded bad I guess. Just don't ever say that in front of her." Flynn warned her. "I told you, she is pushy. And British and secretive and hiding things from me and…"
"And sometimes she makes extremely bad jokes." Flynn sighed as they got on the other side of the door and saw nothing but ruins. "She must have thought I deserved that. Very funny."
"What the door was wrong? It never sent us anywhere wrong until now. I mean the point was to get us anywhere right? Anywhere with a door." Eve said.
"No, not wrong, just out of date." Flynn muttered. "Oh, look. That's our drive." He said pointing at a truck that stopped in front of them.
"Is that a-" Ezekiel asked.
"A Bigfoot, yes, and if I recall correctly he finds it really impolite when you stare at him." Flynn said.
"I suppose you're from the Library." Biggie said with a huff.
"She's laughing her ass off right now isn't she?" Flynn asked and the Bigfoot laughed in reply. "It wasn't her idea actually. Hop in, I'll drive you to the Sanctuary."
"Is he-" Cassandra whispered to no one in particular. "You know."
"Safe? Young lady, I've been driving since before your mother was even born I guess."
"Right, that makes it a lot more okay." Jake said but Flynn shushed him. "We're all going inside that truck, Mr. Stone, even if he needs to ask you less nicely. I know him, he's alright. Now hop in, kids."
That settled the argument and they went in the truck, leaving Biggie to lead the way. The road was long so the librarians fell asleep one by one, except for Eve who was still glaring at the driver.
"You didn't get any sleep. I wasn't going to eat the kids, you know. They're too chewy. You could have slept."
"No thank you." Eve said, as she grabbed her gun more tightly, making him laugh. "Please, if you think I'm the scariest thing… You are so not prepared for what's coming."
"Oh really? I am a trained officer, I know all kinds of combat tactics…"
"Can you walk?" Biggie asked as he stopped the truck. "Because if you can't, you're staying here. Wake them up, we're taking a walk from here."
"You know when she called me last year to tell me she went underground, I assumed she was meaning it figuratively." Flynn said as they passed through a complicated network of tunnels.
"We're almost there, don't be afraid." Bigfoot replied and it soon turned out he had been right.
"Hello, Librarian." Helen smiled at Flynn when they arrived.
"You could have told me you moved."
"I could have, yes. But you were too smug about the whole anywhere with a door thing so I figured I could have a little bit of fun."
"Forget about the door, you could have told us we're going to a place that was built according to Buckminster Fuller's plans." Jake interrupted them. "Are you kidding me? This is a geodesic dome, only a lot improved and this guy designed something like that in 1945, but it was thought it wasn't possible."
"Forgive me. He's Jacob Stone, our expert on art and architecture." Flynn introduced him and Helen smiled at him. "I'm Helen Magnus. You are wrong however. Buckminster wrote the plans in 1943, just showed them in 1945."
"I'm pretty sure it was 1945."
"And I'm pretty sure I was there, Mr. Stone. It was 1943." Helen smiled at him. "I thought Flynn filled you in on me."
"Well, on the parts I know, at least."
"I thought there's only going to be one kid." Nikola said as he appeared from the inside.
"Yes well I was a bit busy so I hired some people to do my job while I was away." Flynn shrugged. "But since they proved to be very good at the job I decided to keep them."
"Oh. You're the one who called last night." Nikola said with a glare.
"And you are…"
"Nikola Tesla, at your- well, Helen's service and since she's feeling humanitarian-again- and she decided to help you, you know how transitivity works don't you?"
"You're Nikola Tesla." Cassandra said as her jaw dropped. "Serbian inventor, pretty much the reason why we have electricity today, inventor of radio… Holy shit. You're…. you're…"
"Handsome? Gorgeous? Simply irresistible?" Nikola grinned at her, but she didn't seem to hear anything. She closed the distance between them, her finger reaching for his chest. "I was thinking something along the lines of alive, to be honest." She said as she touched him. "Sorry, I had to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Also, not to say that what you said doesn't work too." she giggled nervously. "I'm Cassandra by the way. Cassandra Cillian."
"Well for a kid you're pretty informed. You forgot vampire though."
"Vampire? Well, I guess it must have been a bitch to stay out of sunlight for so many years." Ezekiel grinned. "I'm Ezekiel Jones. Let's say I'm also a Librarian, but basically if you want me to steal anything, I'm all yours. For a fair price."
"OK, note to self never extend the compliment to the rest of the kids." Nikola muttered. "Did your daddy never tell you that vampires don't burn in sunlight?"
"Yes they do." Eve said.
"Right because all legends are true. Let me guess, you're the guardian." Nikola said sarcastically.
"She is, and don't be rude. All vampires burn in sunlight, I would know. You are probably just an improved version." Flynn said.
"That's insulting."
"Actually, that is possible. I mean based on the hypothesis that all living things come from a common strand of DNA, and evolution is merely a composition of permutations of bits of that strands, and considering that you can encode every DNA sequence as a finite number of bits and that each of these sequences is contained in pi, the permutations would be practically infinite." Cassandra said without a breath.
"Helen? Please tell me this girl didn't find a mathematically correct reason to insult me."
"Well, not exactly, but…"
"But I've met a vampire and she burned in sunlight. I watched her dying." Flynn said.
"Don't throw me that look, Nikola, you heard Cassandra. The number of permutations is infinite, so the possibility of having a vampire dying because of sunlight is pretty much equal to the one of having… people dying of coronary thrombosis. I would know."
"Oh. Now I get it. But now I'm jealous." Nikola laughed. "Excuse me, Librarian, if she says that there is a possibility of a vampire dying because of sunlight she is certainly right."
"Gosh, you're edgy." Flynn said. "But I'm glad we settled that. Cassandra? Are you alright?" He asked as he saw the girl was lost somewhere in her thoughts again. She threw Helen a glance and the older woman blinked silently only once, as to approve of something. But Flynn missed that. "Blue." Cassandra whispered. "Margaret said your eyes were this color, but it never occurred to me how right she was."
"Cheney? You read her biography about me."
"And pretty much everything that was ever written about you, if saying that doesn't make me too obsessed." Cassandra admitted. "But I'll keep my mouth shut." She said, more to Helen than to Nikola.
"Thank you." Helen replied. "Why don't I get you inside and you tell me why do you need us?"
