Walking with Matt through the long aisle, Ripley held her hands in her pocket as she followed him. When she's certain they're out of earshot of Mallory, she said to Matt, "Please tell me, you're not in love with someone like her."

While Ripley respects Matt, if he so much as hinted he had a crush on the likes of Mallory, she'll box his ears like a headmaster. Nothing personal, just making sure he's well-aware of the consequences of his actions.

Matt's taken aback as he stated, "No, I'm not!"

Ripley felt relieved as she exhaled, "Oh good, I won't have to chain you up and put you in a box."

Questioning her, Matt asked her, "What gave you the idea I'd be interested in someone like Mallory?"
Ripley pointed out, "All the times she got you to do things for her even though we've told you that it's a bad idea."

Bluntly, Ripley brought up the many many times Matt helped Mallory just because she played into his nature like a fiddle.

Matt couldn't come up with a counter argument, Ripley had him there, all the times they've encountered Mallory, it always ended up with him helping her, regardless of what Ripley and the others said.

"I promise you, from the bottom of my heart, it's not Mallory," Matt held a hand over his chest. "If I ever say "I love Mallory" please smack me silly!"

Ripley agreed to smack him if he ever uttered those three words. She made it clear that while she liked him, she didn't want him getting into trouble with the likes of Mallory.

Continuing their journey through the aisle, the duo realized there's signs of other people being in the library before them. There's shoe marks on the floor and it looked like someone came through in a hurry.

"You know, someone had to know where this is," Matt brought up. "All these books, it must've taken time getting them all here."

Trillions of books, the giant bookcases that goes to the skies, there's no chance that this was a one-man job. It took time and it showed as he looked at the craftsman job on the bookcases.

Machines couldn't carry that many books at a time, so whoever constructed the library had fleets of machinery to bring in books. It's another story all-together how these books were systematically sorted and kept sorted.

"There was a man in my universe, built a home, hired different contractors left and right. However, he never kept the contractors for long, he'd always fire them at intervals and cycle through them, never letting them know the whole blueprint. He did this until completion. When he died, he took the entire blueprint of his home with him," Ripley recalled a figure from the annals of history that contracted out work for his home. Rarely, he kept the same contractor, and he always made sure the contractors he hired never knew the whole blueprint to his home. For good reason, for it came out later in time, he was a serial killer, and liked to torture his victims.

Getting to the point, Ripley concluded, "It wouldn't pass me if they didn't let anyone know in the entire ins and outs of this library."

Given that the library's under a security protocol that prevented the books from being read by outsiders, it led Ripley to believe that they made sure nobody knew the intricate details of the library.

Wouldn't surprise her if they made sure nobody knew how to get to the security console, outside the few that helped construct it, even then, they weren't given the whole picture on how it worked.

"Sounds more like a prison than a library," Matt mused.

It felt like ages since they started walking and they stopped briefly to find a grey brick wall with a ladder.

Looking up, Matt tried to see where the ladder went, but it disappeared into the darkness, and he frowned.

"Seems a bit high up," Matt noted.

He didn't want them going up and finding it led to nowhere. If their luck had anything to say, he didn't want them going up there and getting stuck in a situation where they couldn't get down.

"I don't see a lift," Ripley looked around.

The only thing she sees were the bookcases and that's about it.

Frowning, Matt scratched his chin, he didn't want to risk it, but as Ripley pointed out, it's the only thing they found in the library outside the computer.

"Okay, I'll go up first and call down if I find anything," Matt sighed. "You wait by the ladder and I'll let you know if the coast is clear."

Ripley nodded.

Matt tugged on his red bow tie as he went towards the ladder and began ascending upwards. He dared didn't look down as he climbed up the ladder.

He didn't know how long he climbed up the ladder for, but eventually he came to a latch door and opened it.

Slowly, he raised his head through the doorway and looked around the room. It looked like an overseeing office and he climbed into the room proper.

It's dark and he looked out the window to see the dim light from the lights set up by the team. Everywhere else, he barely saw anything. Looking down, Matt realized how far up he really is and barely saw Ripley looking up, but she couldn't see him.

Matt used his Sonic Screwdriver and found a console near the window. It wasn't a security console, instead it's a console for something else.

Matt didn't know what and it appeared it's separate from the security protocol as he sees that he didn't need to use his Sonic Screwdriver to override any locks.

Cautiously, he pushed a button that lit up the office and showed timely portraits and an oak desk with neat stacks of paper, an inkwell, and a feathered pen.

Going towards the desk, Matt checked and found the inkwell completely empty, not even a smidge of ink anywhere inside the glass.

Checking the drawers, Matt found more inkwells, but they're empty too, interestingly, they're still sealed, with the manufacturer tape.

Holding one of the empty inkwells, Matt found it completely empty, no gunk or anything to indicate the ink sat too long. There's not even a crack in the glass. It looked like the ink disappeared, for the lack of better word.

Setting the empty inkwell down, Matt checked the other drawers. He found more papers, but it looked like documents, and they didn't have any words on them despite Matt faintly seeing the indentations from the pen touching the paper.

It confused him as he tried to look through the documents. No smudge, no indication that it looked like whoever wrote the document had another piece of paper under it. It simply looked like ink lifted off the papers.

"Strange," Matt furrowed his brow.

He went back to the latch and called down to Ripley.

It took a couple of tries considering how far up he was, but she heard him, and made her way up to the top.

As she nearly made it to the top, Ripley felt the ladder coming loose and falling backwards as she reached up to the handlebars.

Matt grabbed her and yanked her up.

She ended looking down at him as she fell on top of him.

"Uh… sorry…" Ripley embarrassingly coughed as she pushed away from him and helped him up. "Thanks."

Matt glimpsed to see the ladder hitting against the opposite side of the latch. It's tall enough that it can't fall over and trap whoever's up in the office.

"For an old library, this looks practically… modern," Ripley glimpsed around as she noticed the decorations and the desk with the inkwell.

"Yeah, I guess the security measure works for writings too," Matt showed her the papers and how they're devoid of any writing, despite some presence of writing.

Looking through the documents, Ripley's surprised as Matt was and she looked up to him. "It's like something lifted ink right off the paper," she's shocked as she looked at the paper. She even checked for a watermark, but there's none.

"Weird, right?" Matt blinked.

Ripley agreed.

The duo looked around the office, trying to find clues.

Ripley went towards the console and looked at it. Matt told her, as far as he knew, it was for the office.

Studying the console, it's got a copper chassis, black knobs and switches, and metal plates above them. Shockingly, they also lacked any sort of ink. However, they kept their indentations, so Ripley's able to read off the plates until she found lights for the library itself.

"Ah, here we go," Ripley attempted to flip the switch.

She waited and noticed the lights didn't turn on in the library, not even floor lights.

"Must've gone out," Matt grabbed his Sonic Screwdriver and attempted to use it on the console, hoping to correct the issue and use the console proper, but it didn't work.

The Sonic Screwdriver shrilled as Matt held it over the flip, but nothing happened.

"Not made of a wood, I hope," Ripley blinked.

Matt frowned as he decided to give it the old college try and looked for a way into the console wiring.

"If at first the Sonic Screwdriver doesn't work, re-wire until it works!" Matt decreed.

Ripley helped him yank off the side and helped locate the wiring for the switch. They noticed it's been cut, from how clean it looked, someone used a non-serrated knife, as the wires aren't crumpled as if a pair of scissors were used instead.

"Who'd do that?" Ripley wondered.

Matt didn't know and he worked with Ripley to rewire the switch until they finished with Matt near zapping his finger.

"Okay, round two," Matt gave permission and Ripley attempted to flip the switch again.

This time, it worked, and the duo watched as, slowly, the bulbs built into the bookcases started lighting up.

"And God said, "Let there be light." And there was light," Ripley sighed as she looked at the lights.

On the ground, stripes of light illuminated, giving the duo an easier way of maneuvering around the library.

"Now all we need to do is find the security console," Matt sighed.

Glimpsing out of the window, Ripley's eyes moved as she tried to figure out where it would've been.

"Maybe it's against another wall?" Ripley suggested.

If they found the lights in this office, then maybe the security console's somewhere near the walls, too.

"Could be anywhere," Matt scratched his chin.

There's nothing in the office, the duo searched high and low, but found nothing, just written paper, with no ink.

"Wish we had a map," Ripley frowned as she looked at the plain white sheet of paper, clearly a map, devoid of any ink. Nothing there, not even a watermark.

She turned her head to see Matt going towards the latch and pushed the ladder towards the original position as he said, "Well, maybe Mallory can make us one."

Ripley sighed, "Assuming she doesn't have us fetch batteries for it."

Matt prepared to head down the ladder and lightly touched the ladder with his foot. The ladder wobbled slightly and he's not pleased that it wasn't secured like it should.

"Alright, I'll head down first, and meet you down there," Matt said as he got into position

Going over to him, Ripley held the ladder against the side for him. She told him, "Happy thoughts."

Matt echoed, "Happy thoughts."

He told her when he gets to the bottom, he'll hold the ladder for her and she nods.

Slowly, Matt descended the ladder.

The first time, he didn't have problems, but now, he's worried about falling backwards because the ladder fell back against the other side of the latch door.

Ripley held it towards her as much as she could as he descended to the bottom.

Once his foot touch the solid ground, Matt exhaled sharply and took a breather before holding the ladder towards the wall. Calling up to Ripley, Matt felt the ladder shake in his hands as he held the ladder for Ripley. Faintly, he saw her outline as she descended the ladder.

As Ripley made her way down, she felt the ladder shake towards the top, separate from herself, and she didn't think too much about it. She assumed it's just the ladder shaking against the wall of the latch door. She continued and felt a violently jerk forward that nearly sent her plummeting hadn't she held onto the bars tightly.

Holding on, Ripley felt her heart beating against her chest as she felt the top of the ladder rumble, as if something's shaking it, and nearly lost her grip as the ladder slammed against the opposite side of the wall.

Attempting to descend faster, Ripley paced herself as she tried to get to the bottom. She could see Matt, visibly worried, as he held the ladder.

Looking up, Ripley tried to see who or what's causing the ladder to move, but she couldn't see once she got close to Matt.

Matt used his strength to keep the ladder steady as he saw Ripley harrowingly descending the ladder quickly.

The moment her foot touched the ground, she exhaled sharply.

Matt held her shoulders as he asked, "Are you okay?"

Ripley nods.

Matt looked up to the lit window, trying to see what caused the ladder to move the way it did, and faintly, he swore sitting a slim black figure moving around the office.

When he tried to tell Ripley, the moment she looked up to the window, the figure's gone, and Matt's stumped.

"Who else is here?" Ripley wondered.

Matt frowned as he replied, "I don't know. I don't like it. Come on, let's get back to Mallory."

He walked with her away from the ladder and where they came from. As he walked, he had the urge to look up at the window again, but found there's no figure. The office's empty as it was when Matt found it.

He wasn't crazy.

He knew he saw that figure standing there.

Couldn't see any features, but he saw the slender figure, and there's no way he could've overlooked the figure. He and Ripley checked the office from top to bottom, but didn't see anything or anyone. There's no closet, no way for anyone to hide, it didn't make any sense.

Making their way back to the team, Matt spotted Rebecca using a handheld scanner on collected books as she read off the results. Clarkson wrote down the results on an electronic pad. Samuels worked to get the instruments on the readied table as he overheard the duo working.

Mallory's near the computer looking at it with a twinkle in her eye.

"We couldn't find the security console, but we found the light console," Matt told her as they arrived back at the base.

Mallory thanked him and asked if there were any troubles.

Ripley brought up, "Well, one, you sure there's nobody else here but us, maybe your husband?"

Mallory looked at her as Ripley told her that Matt saw someone standing in the office, just as they left it, and she believed Matt's words.

"My husband wanted to come to the library, but he got caught up in something," Mallory told Ripley.

She's surprised when the duo told her about someone in the office.

"There's nobody in the library but us," Mallory shook her head, her frizzy hair bobbing. "Nobody's been in the library for ages."

Mallory asserts that nobody's in the library except them. She would've known if someone's present.

Samuels called her attention and she went towards him.

Looking at each other, Matt's just as confused as Ripley.

"I swear I saw him," Matt asserted.

Ripley touched his shoulder as she mentioned, "There was nobody in that office besides us. How could anyone slip in?"

The office didn't have any doors except for the latch. No way for anyone to get inside the office from other means. It's small enough that nobody could hide, unless they're small enough to fit in a cabinet.

She saw the dejected look in Matt's eyes as she rubbed his shoulder. "I trust you, you know that," Ripley reminded him.

Given that he trusted her, even when she told him the truth, it's only fair that Ripley gave him the same benefit of the doubt he gave her.

"Thanks, Rip," Matt smiled.

Ripley replied, "It's what a boss does."

They heard clamoring and went towards Clarkson and Rebecca as they tried to get a handle on the handheld scanner that started going berserk.

"What's going on?" Matt asked.

Mallory told her that all the sudden the scanner just started going haywire after Rebecca tried scanning something. She held the button as she lifted the handheld scanner and moved towards another book, but it scanned something by mistake, and it started reacting.