Chapter 2

6:42 a.m

Dipper couldn't choose his classes in the first weeks, sadly he got stuck with the morning classes and he surely wasn't a morning person at all. His alarm rang from a far since he felt asleep on his desk working the whole night on the freaking code which he wasn't making any progress in.

Mabel didn't have classes until midday so he let her sleep in and dressed for the uni.

The morning walk to the campus didn't really help waking up, it only made him even more tired and totally cranky. In front of the campus was a cafe, he already heard from the sophomores how good it was supposed to be, so he decided to give it a try, he knew he probably wouldn't be able to pay attention in class without his morning coffee which usually Mabel made.

As he entered the coffee shop he noticed an absurdly long line of students awaiting their coffee, normally he wouldn't stand in line but he still had enough time and maybe some good coffee could astray his thought from the stupid code, he was furious about it, there hasn't been a code he wasn't able to crack in a few hours and this one took him the whole night and the worst thing is he didn't make any progress on it at all. He was ready to go and talk to a professor the same day and somehow get a recommendation letter, he knew it would be almost impossible but maybe his research until now would be enough to convince someone.

As it was his turn he ordered a triple espresso macchiato with sugar and cream to go, he thought tree shots of espresso should be enough for the first time ordering. He had to stand in line again to wait for his coffee, that was the main thing he hated, waiting twice for a freaking cup of coffee. As he stood in line once again he couldn't help but look at his phone, he had made pictures of the code just in case.. And he carried the original in his bag anyway, no matter how many times looked at it there wasn't any pattern, this annoyed him even more than waiting for coffee.

Every time the barista shouted someone's name from a cup of coffee he couldn't help but look up, even if it wasn't his name, the barista had such a high pitched voice that it almost hurt.

"Double espresso, vanilla pump, with cream for... " She looked at the cup trying to decipher her colleagues handwriting. "Bill?" she said looking for the customer.

"Yes.. "

Dipper recognized the deep voice from somewhere, he noticed it came from the tall young man that worked in the university's library. He took his coffee and passed by Dipper who couldn't upload but glare at him. Of course Bill noticed and and couldn't help but talk to Dipper.

"So how's the code going kid?" He smirked, somehow he knew Dipper didn't make any progress and the smile on his face was only there to mock him.

"I'm working on it... I will get it done by today" Dipper replied.

"And I'm the queen of England" Bill said in a mocking tone "Have fun with that kid" The cocky librarian winked and left the store.

"Such a freaking egomaniac... Something about him pisses me off " Dipper thought to himself.

"Espresso for Dipper?" The barista called.

"Yes" He said as he took his coffee and left, still pissed at the librarian, no matter what he did he had to get that code done by the end of class. He took the mocking of Bill as a challenge.

They day passed and Dipper had his first proper lectures, he did try to not concentrate on the code but it was a lot harder than he thought. He also had his first paranormal science class, which of course he didn't learn anything what he didn't knew but it was his chance to get a recommendation. After class ended he was determined to get that recommendation.

"Professor McGucket do you have a minute?" Dipper inquired as every had already left the room.

"Yes, is it about the assignment?" He asked.

"I need a recommendation letter" Dipper shot out immediately.

"A recommendation letter? What for?" He asked perplexed.

"I want to study the books in the forbidden section of the library and for that I need that letter" Dipper explained.

"Well this is your first semester why would you need those books?" The professor asked.

"I've been doing my own research about paranormal beings for the past 6 years and I need those books to finish it" Dipper exclaimed.

"Well well, why don't you let me have a look at those and then we can talk about the letter" The professor demanded.

"Yes of course" Dipper packed out a journal with a six fingered hand with a 3 on it and a second one with a pine tree on it. "I inherited this journal" he showed the one with the golden hand on it. "This one is the improved version of it which I keep adding creatures to, I didn't want to write over the original"

The professor was perplexed and took the third journal. "This... This can't be... This... This is Stanford's work..." The professor said.

"Wait you knew my great uncle? Dipper asked confused.

"We were research partners... And friends... But let's not get sentimental, his journals have been missing since his disappearance 30 years ago, but here we have one... " The professor said trying not to shed tears.

"I kind of realized there would be three but this is the only one I got.." Dipper uttered in a sad tone.

"That doesn't matter, what matters is that you are trying to finish Stanford's work! Of course I will give you the letter!"

"For real? Dipper asked joyously "Thank you gosh, I thought I was never going to get to those books" Dipper admitted.

"What's your name kid?" McGucket asked as he wrote the letter.

"Dip…" He sighed "Mason Pines"

"Even the name this is really a joyous moment" The professor signed the hand written letter and put it in an envelope and handed it to Dipper.

"Thank you so much!" Dipper exclaimed.

"No problem, but now the hard part begins... " The professor exclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Dipper asked confused.

"Well the owner can still refuse to let you study the books" McGucket replied.

"Wait so the letter isn't enough?" Dipper inquired once more.

"The thing is nobody knows who the owner really is except for the rector and some library employees which the owner chose himself, as far as we know the only contact method we have to him is through the head librarian, you probably already met him..." McGucket explained.

"I don't think so no..." Dipper said annoyed.

"Between the two of us... I assume that the head librarian is somehow related to the owner and is using a fake name, maybe his grandson or something since the books where first lend to the university over 50 years ago... The owner must be around 80 years old, but just on the side... if the head librarian doesn't like you, forget that the letter will ever reach the owner... " The professor said disillusioned.

"Wait is he even allowed to do that?" Dipper yelled.

"Well there is no way you can contact the owner directly so it doesn't matter if he is allowed to" McGucket said sadly.

"Wait... He gave me this thing" Dipper pulled out the piece of paper that still hadn't been decoded yet. "A guy from the library told me that the contact number for the owner would be hidden in this code"

"Oh that thing... Look there is only one person who was able to crack that kind of code and this one is different, no one else has gained access to the library that way in 40 years..."

"Who did it? Does he work here? Is there a way to contact him? Dipper asked exited.

"It was your great uncle... " He replied as he looked down.

"He did?" Dipper asked amazed.

"It took him long enough though... He spend days on that thing and he was the best decoder I knew" McGucket remarked.

" Don't you remember anything? Didn't he tell you anything about how he solved it?" Dipper asked once more.

"No sorry kid... Wait... He did say that his eyes deceived him... I'm not sure if that helps"

"It is a start! Thank you!"

Just go and test your luck! Maybe the librarian is in a good mood today, a good tip don't piss him off or forget about ever seeing those books and if he does take the recommendation it might take a while before you get access"

"Got it, thank you professor!" Dipper said as he left.

"He reminds me so much of you Ford... " McGucket said to himself.

Dipper headed to the library and stood again in front of the giant doors, he was sure nothing would go wrong this time.