Chapter 19 - Library

I could feel the tension in the air as we walked down the street. Not many people were out on the streets, though I could see some through the windows of the buildings we passed. In between two buildings was what looked like an alleyway, leading into darkness. I had the feeling that we'd end up exploring the rest of the city after we found the library, so we passed by it. At the end of the street was a robot handing out newspapers. We were lucky enough that he pointed us in the direction of the library. Taking a pathway to the east would lead us straight to it. We thanked it and made our way there.

The library was a lot different than what I had imagined. The entire building was made out of metal instead of concrete, looking more like a factory than a library. The light coming from the lake that surrounded the building bathed it in a red glow.

Walking inside, it was a much different feeling than from outside as I felt cool air wash over as we entered the lobby. Bookshelves towered over us on both sides and there were piles of books all over the floor. I could see all kinds of people as we explored the lobby, probably the most amount of people I've seen in this world.

What was most intriguing, though, was that almost all the books had a black clover on their covers. Just like the book we had. As Niko went off to explore a different part of the library, I began pulling books off the shelf and skimming through them. Recalling what Calamus told me, these books must have all been written by this friend of his, if the black clover was any indication. The laptop that brought me here also had a black clover on it. Was it really the same person that wrote these books and make that laptop?

A few of the books that I read spoke about various parts of the world, such as the specifics about Phosphor and the different kinds there were. Each part of the world had its own distinct kind of Phosphor, with each one varying in energy and where to find them. Another book even talked about how some animals had Phosphor in them, like the shrimp in the Barrens and the fireflies in the Glen.

"Oh, hello! Can I help you with anything?" I heard a voice next to me. A girl with a light blue outfit and a small scarf was standing next to me. She was holding onto a different book, again with the same black clover on it.

I closed the book and put it back on the shelf, "Not really, though I could probably use some directions..."

"Of course!" She raised a finger to her chin, "Let's see...this area here is mostly historical accounts, the reference section is downstairs, and, uh…there is a kids section but I don't think you'd be interested in that."

"That's alright. I'm actually not looking for any particular books at the moment."

"Oh! Are you here to...look for the Author, then?"

I raised a brow, "I...don't think so?"

"That's good!" she sweatdropped, "Er, I mean...that means you won't be disappointed! I've been volunteering here for months, and I've never seen him, not even once!"

"Who's he?" I asked.

She stepped back in surprise like I had just offended her, "You don't know who the Author is?!"

I rubbed my neck, "N-No?"

"He's the one that wrote ALL of these books! Practically every single one!" she waved her hands towards the books that surrounded us.

That sounded interesting. "Seriously? All of these?"

She nodded, "Oh yes! His books cover a wide range of topics, though he's been focusing on documenting the world, as of late."

"That's probably why he's never around?" I shrugged.

"I mean, I don't think many people have ever seen him in person...or know what he looks like! I know he works together with the head librarian on publishing, so you'd think he would at least show up once in a while…" she rocked her head back and forth, "Kiiinda reclusive if you ask me…"

A thought popped into my head, "Does...he do anything else besides writing books? Say, like with machines?"

She perked up, "Oh yeah! He worked with the head researcher over at the lab to help with some of the code for the robots! It's like there isn't anything he can't do! Like, I heard he even made a machine that flys!"

This is definitely the same friend that Calamus mentioned...and if he's proficient enough with programming...is it possible that this is the same person that gave me that laptop?

It all sounded crazy. How did he even get from this world to mine in the first place? How did he know to look for ME specifically? I shook my head. Just knowing about him was a good start.

I smiled at the girl, "Thanks for the info." She nodded and started to turn away before I stopped her, "By the way, you mentioned the head librarian. Where can I find her?"

"She's probably back in the archival room. You'll need to talk to the secretary bot up at the desk," she said, nodding in that direction.

I thanked her once again and started looking around for Niko. I thought she would be in the kid's section, but I didn't see her in there. Eventually, after some scouring, I found her watching a man with a book for a head scribbling out parts of a book in front of him.

"Um...what...are you doing to that book?" Niko asked, staring at the scribbled book with shock.

The...man?...shook his head, "Don't worry, these are all my own books. That I wrote. I just pulled them off the shelves to modify them. I have to cross out some sections..." his scribbling intensified for a second, "...most sections."

"Eh? How come?"

"'Cause otherwise they'll think I copied HIM," he spat.

"You mean the Author?" I asked, making my presence known. Niko quickly smiled at me while the man scoffed.

"I mean, I really don't see the point of writing anything anymore! The Author is just gonna write about the same thing, and then everyone will love it! And nobody's gonna remember the books that came out before his!"

"That sounds rough…" I said.

He shrugged as he put down his pen, "I mean, I ain't hatin'. I can see why people go nuts over his stuff. That guy's got major talent." He sighed, "But...it just...hurts, y'know? It's never fun when people call you a copycat for something you wrote about it first."

"I can see that…People call me a cat all the time!" Niko said, barely attempting to hide the mischievous smirk she sent my way, "Even though I'm a person, and cats are pets...and mousers. I sure hope people don't think I eat mice."

The man went back to scribbling in his book, "Heh, then I guess we're in the same boat, kiddo."

As we walked away from the man, I glanced down at Niko, "Well, you'll be happy to know that I don't think that about you, Niko," I chuckled as I pet her on the head, "At least, not the mouse part."

She stuck her tongue out as we headed towards the back of the library, coming across the secretary bot that the girl told me about.

"Excuse me!" Niko called out to it.

"[OH. YOU ARE THE MESSIAH. WELCOME.]" it replied.

"When we first entered the city, a big robot told me to look for a library on the surface! This is the same library, right?"

It nodded, "[AFFIRMATIVE.]"

"Oh, goody!" Niko shuffled on her feet, "Well...we're here...what do we do now? The big robot only said there'd be clues here..."

"[THAT IS A QUESTION FOR THE HEAD LIBRARIAN, GEORGE. ALLOW ME TO CALL HER.]"

The robot fell silent as a dial tone started to emit from it. Niko and I waited as the robot continued trying to call George.

And we waited…

And we waited…

And we waited some more…

Niko and I looked at each other as the robot still tried to get a hold of George.

"[SHE IS NOT PICKING UP.]"

"Is she...not here?" I asked.

"[SHE IS HERE. SHE IS IN THE ARCHIVAL ROOM UPSTAIRS. WHEN SHE IS CONCENTRATING ON HER WORK, SHE WILL IGNORE ANY AND ALL PHONECALLS...FOR SEVERAL DAYS.]"

Niko winced, "Yikes!"

I scratched my head, "Can you go get her in person, then?"

It shook its head, "[LEAVING THIS POST IS NOT IN MY PROGRAMMING.]"

"Then...can we just go ourselves?"

"[OF COURSE. THE ARCHIVAL ROOM IS ACCESSIBLE THROUGH THE STAIRWELL BEHIND ME.]"

Niko nodded, "Gotcha, thanks!"

We made our way around the desk to head towards the stairs, when suddenly…

"[UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY. LIBRARY CARD REQUIRED FOR FURTHER ACCESS.]"

"Wait, what?" Niko and I said together.

"[LIBRARY CARD REQUIRED FOR FURTHER ACCESS.]" the robot repeated.

"We don't have a library card, though!" Niko said, "Where can we get one?"

"[THAT IS A QUESTION FOR THE HEAD LIBRARIAN, GEORGE. ALLOW ME TO CALL HER.]"

"Wait, I don't-" I started, but the robot had already begun to dial George again. So we waited…

And we waited…

And we waited…

And we waited some more…

Niko and I looked at each other again and sweatdropped.

"[SHE IS NOT PICKING UP.]"

"You don't say…" I sighed.

"Are you sure you can't just...let us through?" Niko asked.

"[LETTING YOU THROUGH WITHOUT A LIBRARY CARD IS AGAINST MY PROGRAMMING.]"

Niko was taken aback, "Wh-...Even in an emergency?"

"[MY PROGRAMMING IS NOT FLEXIBLE. I HAVE NOT BEEN TAMED.]"

I scoffed, "Well then, how are we even supposed to get a card in the first place if we can't see George?"

"[THAT IS A QUESTION FOR THE HEAD LIBRARIAN, GEORGE. ALLOW ME TO CALL-]"

"DON'T!" we both yelled out, silencing the robot.

Niko sighed, "Well, now what? We need to see the head librarian, but we need a card to see her…"

"...That we can only get from her." I finished her thought. I rubbed my head, "It's never simple, is it…"

Niko hummed in acknowledgment as we made our way out of the library, "So do we just wander around and see if we can find something to help us?"

I scratched my chin as an idea came to mind, "The girl that talked to me said something about a lab somewhere around here…"

She tilted her head, "How would that help us?"

I shrugged, "Well, we don't have any other options at the moment. Maybe we'll get lucky and find something there?"

The lack of a plan seemed to concern her. I placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled, "Hey...we'll figure this out. We always do."

That seemed to lift her spirits as she smiled back and nodded. We started to head back to the street we arrived in, but I found myself preoccupied with this "Author". He seemed to be everywhere we've been. Knowing that he was the one that wrote the book we found in that safe in the Barrens...I started to get the feeling that it wasn't by coincidence that it was one of HIS books.

I reached into my pack and pulled out the book, the black clover on the cover reflecting the red light of the city. As I stared at it, more questions started to pile on. Was he also responsible for Niko being here? How did he even get to my world? How was he able to find me? How was he able to bring me to this world?

...Why me? Why was I so important that he had to track ME down?

I soon found myself wondering about the voice that kept speaking to me. It was helping us reach the Tower, but at the same time, it didn't seem to view me highly. Was that voice the Author himself? Or something else?

"Alan?"

Niko's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. I rubbed my head to alleviate the small headache that formed from all the questions I had, "Sorry...spaced out for a minute there." I started to put the book back in my pack before I stopped and brought it back, "Hmm...you think this George would be able to translate this book we found?"

"Maybe! We've been holding onto that book for a while without any idea of what it says." She tilted her head, "Why? Are you thinking of what it'll say?"

"More about who wrote it." I pointed at the black clover, "This Author guy seems to be everywhere, in one way or another. With everything that's going on, you'd think he'd be helping out, yet everyone's said they haven't seen him in a while..."

"Hmm...I haven't thought of that."

I sighed and put the book back in my pack, "Well, there's no point in me asking questions I don't have answers to. We should get going."

She nodded and we walked away from the library. As much as I didn't have any idea who this Author was, his role in this whole journey had put me on edge and it was all I could keep thinking about as the library vanished behind us.