The Infinity Library was many things: it was the Time-Space Administration Bureau's centralized data archive. It was a storehouse of incredibly rare cultural knowledge dating to before the time of Belka's fall, even in some cases to the shadowy corners of history when Alhazred had still been a thriving society. And it was the ultimate archivist's nightmare, where an attempt to find a book required an archaeological expedition using advanced and precise area search magic.

What it was above all else, though, was a library. The name was a big clue.

"Excuse me."

No one in Reading Room #4 paid Erika Fuso any heed. Possibly this was because they didn't hear her. The delegation of officials from the Belkan Saint Church was there for some research project or another, and with each new book the staff brought out from the stacks for them, their voices had raised. It had begun with hushed talk scarcely above a whisper, risen to excited if muffled chatter, and then came the disagreements.

Erika really had no idea what the actual argument was about; the arcane points of doctrine of a religion she didn't belong to were beyond her. All she knew was that sharp, clipped phrases in a normal speaking voice had led to several people talking at once, to voices being raised to carry above the din, to the Bishop of Vaizen, Knight-Captain Ascona, Archon Monza, and eight assorted members of their staffs yelling back and forth at one another.

"Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen," Erika tried again, pitching her voice higher and adding volume. It didn't make a dent in the argument. She sighed, and turned to the ten-year-old Junior Librarian tottering along next to her under a stack of books tall enough to completely block her line of sight. A bunny plushie, actually the girl's Intelligent Device, floated along after her with another book balanced on his head.

"You know, Vivio, you're allowed to make two trips. Or just use one of the hovercarts to carry the extra load."

"I wanted to show I could do the job without needing help," Takamachi Vivio said. "I guess I kind of overdid it, huh?"

"Just a bit. Give me some of those, will you? I'll take the books, so why don't you see if you can do something about our guests? Sometimes little and cute goes a long way."

"Mmn!"

Erika scooped off the top half of the stack, set it on a nearby table, then took the rest of the books. Vivio scurried off towards the arguing throng.

"Excuse me!" she chirped. "Ladies, gentlemen?"

They didn't respond. The power of cute, unfortunately, was not good at getting attention. Vivio bit her lip, pouting, then grinned as she thought of a solution.

"Kris, please enhance my voice."

The bunny peeked out from under its book and waved a paw.

"Pardon me!"

Plaster dust fell from the ceiling, and eleven angry voices fell silent at once. Eleven heads turned to look at Vivio. She pointed dramatically at a large sign high on the wall that read, "Please respect your fellow library patrons; keep your voices down."

"Well?" Vivio said.

Eleven clerics bowed as one.

"Yes, Your Majesty," they chorused...at a whisper.

"And don't make me come back and shush you again!"

"Belkans," Erika mused. "I always forget about that."

~X X X~

A/N: I seem to have endless fun with the ramifications of Vivio basically being the walking voice of God. Sometimes, as in "No Atheists in Foxholes" or Stahlkönigin, I look at the issue seriously with how that plays out in the universe. More often...it's a source of cheap punchlines. I borrowed Erika from my Shadowverse stories, but otherwise this story actually takes place in canon, as shown by Sacred Heart being her Device. (Thanks also go to my wife, for helping me brainstorm what stereotypical librarian behavior I hadn't riffed on in a previous story!)