A Courier for Kivotos

by Unknown Sixth

I'd been many things in my travels. Courier, prospector, trader, mechanic, assassin, lobotomite... you name it. But I never expected to become the teacher of a bunch of bulletproof, trigger-happy angels in a city untainted by the horrors of the Wasteland.

20. Sweet Library

"F-for the last time, I said no!"

"Are you sure? Just think of all the possible benefits you'd be missing out on."

"I t-think I'm fine missing out on them, thanks…"

"But you'd lose virtually nothing. And you'd be getting more than your fair share in market value."

"Market value isn't the thing I'm concerned about, though…!"

"C'mon, there's no reason why we can't work out some kind of deal, right?

"I already told you the reason! I, uh, need to get back to work!"

"There's no customers, you've already restocked the shelves, and the entire place is spotless. What else is there for you to do?"

"That…uh…"

"...Besides being on your phone, that is."

"P-please forget you saw that! If my boss finds out that I was on my phone when a customer walked in, m-my hours will be cut!"

"I saw nothing."

"Oh… thank goodness…"

"But since you've got no work to get back to, how about we talk business? As I was saying earlier, I think it would be to both of our benefit if we were to cut some kind of deal…"

Sora shuddered in dread, then perked up as the doors to Angel 24 slid open. A short pink-haired girl with a pink crosshair halo and reddish eyes sauntered in - a Trinity student, going by the white school uniform. Slung onto her back was a blue riot shield, and at her side was a very small submachine gun.

"Welcome! Please have a look around!" Sora greeted unusually cheerfully. "And if there's anything you need, please don't hesitate to ask!" she added with just a hint of desperation.

The Trinity student slowly gandered around the store before her attention fell on us. She gave us one curious tilt of the head, then, without a word, grabbed a shopping basket from next to the entrance and meandered off into the aisles of the convenience store, out of sight.

With her new distraction gone, Sora woefully peered back at me, in the vague hope that I had forgotten my conversation with her.

"Hey, what kind of gun do you use?" I asked casually.

"Huh?" Sora blinked in surprise at the change in topic.

"You probably use something with a smaller caliber, don't you?" I surmised from her [Small Frame].

"H-how did you know…?"

"Lucky guess," I said. "Do you run into a lot of trouble with gunfights? Bullies, maybe?"

"Um…" Sora shifted her feet uncomfortably. Her expression told me all I needed to know.

"What if I told you that there's a way to punch way above your weight class, ballistically speaking?" I leaned one arm over the counter.

"Above my weight class…?"

"Yeah. Picture this: ammunition that hits twice as hard, penetrates twice as deep, with double the effective range. All at the measly cost of having to repair your weapon a little bit more often, which, let's face it, you were going to do anyway," I said. "You'd have the option of turning a peashooter into a hand cannon, firepower-wise."

"T-that doesn't sound possible…" Sora muttered. "And even if it was, wouldn't something like that be super expensive?"

"Not at all. For you see, all it takes is someone with the right knowhow, some elbow grease, and some measly materials. Luckily, I happen to have the first two covered."

"Huh… I didn't know you did things like that, Sensei," Sora said. "But wait, if you have the first two, then you'd still need materials…"

"That's where you come in."

"M-me?"

A sly grin formed on my lips, but thankfully it was obscured from her sight by my headgear. "That's right. All you'd need to do is provide me with regular shipments of surplus ammunition. Surplus ammo is scraping the bottom of the barrel in terms of quality, so your store's not missing out on much by offloading some of your stock, and in exchange, I'll provide you with ammo potent enough that no one will want to mess with you. How's that?"

"No…one?" Sora pondered, a strange look on the normally meek girl's face.

"Bullies, thugs, delinquents, the whole shebang. Even thieves will think twice before targeting your store."

Not that there was much in the way of crime in the immediate area surrounding Schale. It appeared any prospective miscreants had the good sense to stay away from the local halo-less boogeyman.

"W-well… if that's the case, this sounds like a pretty good deal-" Sora muttered before she stopped herself, indignation on her features. "H-hold on, I see what you're doing! Stop trying to barter with me, Sensei!"

Drat, I thought as the smile somewhat fell from my face. I wasn't one to be easily deterred, however, so I tried a different angle. "Then if you can't spare any ammo, how about taking a look at some of the spare guns I have? Got a few that might even be higher quality than your own stock here…"

"A-are you trying to sell to me?!" Sora incredulously said.

"I'd be willing to do business in legal tender, if you so insist."

"That's n-not the point! I'm the one manning the store here!"

"So?"

"So…? Stores usually don't buy from their customers!"

"What good is a store where you can't sell things…?" I wondered aloud.

"I think you're misunderstanding something crucial about who does the selling!"

"Am I?"

"Um, yeah…? T-this isn't a pawn shop, Sensei!"

"You should make it into one. Heck, make every store in Kivotos one."

"I…" Flabbergasted by the sudden and apparently outrageous request, Sora was momentarily speechless, until the sound of a refrigerator closing in the distance startled her out of it. "A-anyway, no! If I try to do stuff like trade with you, my boss'll kill me!"

"Who's your boss?"

"Huh?"

"Where's their office located?"

Sora blanched. "W-what are you gonna do, Sensei?"

"I just wanna talk."

"Y-you're kinda freaking me out, Sensei!"

"Are we being watched right now?"

"Eh? N-no, not that I know of… I mean, there's security cameras, but honestly, I'm not even sure if they can pick up sound…"

"Good. So, are you being exploited?"

"Ehhhh?!"

"They're having you work here every day, and sometimes even at night. That doesn't sound very ethical to me, considering you're still in middle school."

"No! I… I just want more money, so I signed up for extra overtime," Sora replied. "You really thought I'm being exploited from just that?"

"Well, you also said your boss would kill you if you traded with me."

"That was a figure of speech! What I meant was that they'll be really angry with me if I do weird things like trading!"

"Weird? What's so weird about it?"

"Well… I learned in class that bartering doesn't really happen in places that are… you know…" Sora adjusted her apron awkwardly as she avoided my gaze. "...civilized?"

"A society that doesn't tolerate a good [Barter] doesn't sound like a very civilized one at all, if you ask me."

"Indeed. I, myself, can attest to the pitfalls of capitalism all too well," a new voice butted in.

Sora and I turned to see the Trinity student approaching the counter, carrying a shopping basket filled to the brim with assorted sweets and small cartons of milk.

"It is a cruel beast, for what becomes of those forlorn few who were spurned by the whimsies of supply and demand?" The student closed her eyes and shook her head, her expression a mask of stoicism. "Truly a shame. One may take great pains to trek halfway across the city in search of an ideal, tantalized by the proverbial carrot cake on a stick, only to be left wanting; a lofty ideal that may never be reached. But in retrospect, could it not be said that that which cannot be easily obtained are the most heavily prized delights of all?"

Sora and I shared a look. The part-timer simply shrugged her shoulders in bafflement.

With the only other person in the room just as confused as I was, all I could manage in response to the Trinity student's unwarranted waxing poetic was an eloquent, "... Huh?"

The student nodded sagely, as if she was privy to some previously unheard of secret of the universe. "Indeed, to pursuers of the elusive philosophy of romance such as myself, the mere concept of attaching monetary value to such treasures is inconceivable. However, this is not the foremost issue, for the golden opportunity was plucked out of reach long before we had the sense to seek it out." The student set down her shopping basket on the counter in front of Sora, who looked on anxiously. "In that sense, you and I are alike. Two seekers, both striving for the unattainable. Despite all odds, we persevere, as we know no alternative. Granted, I don't know what exactly you're striving for, since I only started listening to your conversation during the last ten seconds, but your plight sounds sympathetic enough that I've no qualms with calling you a kindred spirit."

"..." Sora stared at the girl blankly.

"..." The girl stared back at Sora, then looked at me expectantly.

"... Sorry, I didn't catch your name," I said.

"Yutori Natsu! And you must be Sensei. " The student held up an index finger and a middle finger next to her face, a gesture which I recognized as the universal pre-War symbol for peace. "What's good?"

Natsu… I recognize that name. She's from the new batch of Schale applicants.

"Everything's, uh, good. Thanks." For the sake of politeness, I awkwardly mirrored her peace gesture. "Alright, Natsu. Now that we got that out of the way-"

"Oh?" Natsu leaned forward in anticipation.

"-What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well, you see, it's quite simple. I came here looking for a promotional item for my favorite brand of cake pops, but they're apparently sold out."

"Uh-huh. Why didn't you just start with that, then?" I asked patiently.

"Wait, are you talking about the Super Duper Cake Pops promotion?" Sora meekly asked.

"Why, yes!" Natsu slammed both her hands on the counter, causing the merchandise to rattle, and leaned toward Sora, who recoiled in shock. "Would you happen to have any in reserve? …Perhaps hoarding them for yourself? It's okay, I won't judge." Natsu felt the need to add, "... Harshly, that is."

"A-actually…" Sora squeezed her eyes shut as if to shield herself from the oddly riled up Natsu. "We regret to inform our e-esteemed customer that our store was never stocked with the item to begin with… Our Schale branch doesn't get enough traffic for our marketing team to decide it was worth the cost…"

"I see…" Natsu relented, and I could've sworn her hair lost some of its pinkish luster. "I was counting on the fact that the item would still be in stock here since it's sold out everywhere else, but alas, the golden opportunity never existed from the start."

When Natsu was occupied with Sora, I caught a better look at Natsu's riot shield. It didn't look anywhere near as sturdy as Hoshino's Iron Horus, though it seemed Natsu coveted it all the same, if the custom decal on its front was any indication. The decal in question depicted a personified dessert topped with a cherry, and the word 'SUGAR!' was emblazoned in stylized lettering at the bottom.

"Coming all the way from Trinity for desserts?" I commented, causing Natsu to regard me curiously. "You sure like sweets, huh?"

Natsu regained her composure and tilted her head at me blankly. "To say that I merely 'like' them would be a disservice to confections everywhere. For you see, sugar is an integral part of student life. I may even go as far as to say that Kivotos would implode, were it not for the succulent, saccharine solace of sweets."

Oh, great. She's even busting out alliteration.

"Implode? Don't you think you might be exaggerating a tad?"

"There is no hyperbole to be found here. Are you aware of the top three most marketable commodities in Kivotos, Sensei?"

"Educate me."

"With pleasure." Natsu held up an index finger. "The first and most profitable market in Kivotos would be, of course, ammunition. The second would be beauty products such as makeup. The third, which is just ahead of explosives… is sweets. I make no exaggeration when I say they're part of Kivotos' way of life, Sensei."

"Why would students value sweets so highly?"

"A most pertinent question, and one that has been the topic of much debate throughout Kivotos' time." Natsu closed her eyes. "My answer? Just as all students, by nature, enjoy a good shootout every now and then, so do they crave sweets. Sweets embody the very essence of student life - the joy of free spiritedness, of youth. They are the very definition of romance. That, Sensei…" Natsu paused for dramatic effect, "...is what sweets are to students."

"Sounds extreme, if you ask me." Looking at the conundrum from a purely scientific perspective, it's true that children and adolescents have a higher concentration of taste buds that predispose them toward preferring sweets, but Natsu was taking it to a whole, absurd new level.

"Perhaps it is. For instance, there is one anecdote from an old Trinity legend, in which it is said that some time after the district was founded, a small civil war was once waged over the rightful ownership of a pastry recipe."

"...What?" -the fuck? I barely stopped myself from blurting out as I realized that students' idea of a 'small civil war' probably entailed them plinking each other with bullets until one side cried and gave up.

"Whoops. I forgot to mention that it was a recipe for a particularly tasty pastry."

"Yeah, that doesn't help at all."

Natsu merely shrugged and swiped a milk carton from her basket, startling the cashier manning the counter.

"Excuse me, you have to pay for that first…" Sora feebly protested, only to give up, as Natsu had already stabbed the carton with the accompanying plastic straw and taken a sip. "Oh, never mind…"

Natsu wiped her mouth and sighed in contentment. "Ah, that hit the spot. Oh, by the way, Sensei. Please approve my application."

"Excuse me?"

"My application for Schale. Please approve it."

"I got that part. But you'll have to schedule an appointment during office hours like the rest of the applicants. Walk-ins are allowed but not encouraged."

"It's not an office, but we're talking right now. Isn't that enough?"

"Maybe, maybe," I said. Observing whether a student obeyed formalities was one of my favorite ways to gauge their personalities, anyway. "So then why don't you tell me why you're in such a hurry to be approved?"

"I heard members get a discount at approved facilities! This is one of them."

"You want to join… because you want a discount?"

"Well, I really did come here for the cake pops. But since they're not in stock, I decided to try and alleviate the pain in my soul via this consolation prize." Natsu rattled the shopping basket, causing Sora to flinch.

I crossed my arms. "It seems your plan hinges on the outcome of me approving you. So, what'll happen to the 'pain in your soul' if I were to say no?"

"Despite what my appearance may suggest, I am not an unreasonable person," Natsu smoothly said, making an OK sign with her right hand. "I would be willing to part with any single item in this basket if you were to approve my application. I daresay this opportunity comes but once in a lifetime, Sensei."

Leaving aside the fact that these were all items I could literally walk over and buy myself… "Are you trying to bribe me… with sweets?" I asked, half-impressed.

"Bribe is a pretty polarizing label, and it's not one that I'm willing to subscribe to. I prefer to think of this as a purely incidental exchange of goods and services."

… Well, she's certainly the most entertaining person I've spoken to all day. Why the hell not?

"You know what, I like the cut of your jib."

"What's a jib?"

"Hell if I know," I said, shrugging. English expressions are weird as shit. "Sora, give her the discount."

"Um… I need to see proper Schale documentation first-" Sora's protests died in her throat the moment she realized who she's talking to, and she began ringing up the items with the discount. "Never mind…"

Once all her items were bagged and she'd been handed back her change, Natsu turned to me. "Now, then. The moment of truth has arrived. Pick your flavor now, or forever hold your sweets."

"Uh…" I said as Natsu took out an assortment of sweets and laid them out. "You know, I'm technically not supposed to accept something like this."

"Nonsense. If outdated teacher-student customs forbid you from accepting, simply look at it from a peer to peer perspective. Or soul to soul, if you wish."

Well, whatever. Was never big on formalities, myself.

"What about this one?" I asked, picking out one colorful plastic box.

"Sugar cookies," Natsu explained sagely. "Not what I'd call quality, but they're good sugar content for their price; the junk food of sweets, as it were."

"No kidding," I murmured as I picked up box after box of Natsu's purchases, looking at the nutritional information on the back of each. "Everything here's got almost as much raw sugar per gram than Sugar Bombs…"

"Sugar Bombs!" Natsu exclaimed euphorically, stars literally shining in her eyes- wait, how the hell was she doing that? "What are those?!"

"A breakfast cereal that was really popular during pre-" I caught myself before I said '-War times'. "-school. Yeah. Contains one hundred percent the recommended daily intake of sugar… or so the box says."

"Cereal… Most fascinating…" Natsu said as she thoughtfully twirled her carton of milk like how one would a glass of fine wine. "Combining two of the things students covet most - sugar and bombs. It's genius, really. Where might one acquire these Sugar Bombs?"

"Where I'm from. But I don't think any of us could afford the train ticket." Especially since there wasn't a train in Kivotos that could take us there in the first place. Probably.

"I see," Natsu replied, slight disappointment on her stoic face. "Word on the street in Trinity is that Sensei is foreign, but to think it'd be that far away. Does that mean we can't count on imports?"

"Well, I get a few things now and again, so maybe I'll get a box in the future…" I said. Truthfully, the odds of getting any one specific item from the Crafting Chamber were probably close to nil, but seeing how bummed out Natsu seemed made me reconsider my words. "Actually, I just received something kinda similar right here…"

"Oh?"

I took out the box materialized by the Crafting Chamber the other day and handed it to Natsu.

"Fancy Lads Snack Cakes?" Natsu read, then cocked her head at me. "... You're giving this to me?"

"If you want to try 'em, sure. This box is basically leftovers, and I've already eaten these a million times over anyway."

"... Heehee." In a somewhat puzzling action, Natsu hugged the box to her chest. "I feel as though I've triumphed over my peers, in a way."

"Cool. I think."

"It is indeed cool. For you see, the sharing of sweets, ergo, the sharing of happiness, is one of the greatest joys one can experience. However, this box is no ordinary sweet, for it is something that is native to your homeland and is not so easily acquired. Thus, it can be said that you are sharing a part of yourself - a most special of gestures." Natsu smiled in a spacey manner. "I accept your gesture, Sensei. I am humbled, even; it seems that you have much to teach in every field, including romance."

"All I did was give you a box of leftover sweets, though," I pointed out, but my words were lost amidst Natsu's perceived ideal of romance. In truth, she was doing me a favor; I just wanted to get rid of the box before they went stale or, heavens forbid, Fuuka found the half-finished box lying around the Sink.

"Here. Accept this token of my appreciation. This is the ideal accessory to any kind of sweet, but they're good enough as a standalone treat. That's why these are my favorite." Natsu handed me one of her blue milk cartons.

"Thanks," I said. They certainly looked like they tasted better than the sludge in the two-hundred-year-old expired milk bottles scattered around pre-War homes.

"Now, then. Would you like to eat these together?" Natsu offered, gently shaking the box of Fancy Lads. "Snacks shared with a companion are all the sweeter. It's a scientific fact."

Resisting the urge to dispute Natsu's alleged scientific fact as that'd get me nowhere, I simply said, "Like I said, I already had enough of these to last a lifetime. Feel free to share them with your friends, though."

Natsu mulled over the idea for a bit then nodded satisfactorily. "Then I will do just that. We'll have ample time to exchange our ideas of romance in the future, anyway."

"Sure, I guess."

The Trinity student placed the box of pre-War foodstuffs into her grocery bags and picked up her half-finished milk carton with her free hand. "Then let us continue our quest for the elusive Sugar Bombs another time. Farewell, Sensei and cake pop hoarder."

"I told you I'm not hoarding-" Sora exclaimed as Natsu skipped out of the store, the door sliding closing behind her. "-ugh."

Eyeing the exasperated Sora, I said, "Chin up kiddo, your shift is almost over."

"Er… not really. I signed up for the double again today."

"Seriously? That's almost five days in a row."

"Yeah…"

"That's rough," I commented. It was good to know that she wasn't being exploited; could never be too careful, especially after what happened to Abydos. "Want a coffee?"

"Eh? You're going to buy me one?"

"You deserve a little pick-me-up after working so hard."

"Oh. I-in that case, could I get an energy drink instead?"

"Ring 'er up."

Sora reached into a nearby cooler and pulled out a green bottle with an electricity symbol on the side. After I paid for the item, Sora pulled up a stool from behind the counter and took a seat.

"Um… thank you, Sensei. This is really nice of you."

"It's the least I could do," I replied, waving a hand dismissively. "I used to work odd jobs too. Thankless tasks, really. Just know that you're appreciated; if not by your bosses, then by the people who see you and understand that you're doing the best that you possibly can. May not seem like it, but they're out there, sure as shooting."

"... Huh." Sora didn't have any words for that, so she simply smiled and twisted open the bottle, which let out a carbonated hiss. The sunset outside the store bathed our surroundings in an orangish hue while Sora enjoyed her break.

I broke the silence. "Anyway, back to the deal we were making earlier…"

Sora began to choke on her energy drink.

---

"Sensei! Over here, over here!" Hifumi waved frantically, her sheer excitement palpable.

Stepping off the shuttle, I took in the new environment, utterly floored. By now I'd spent a decent amount of time in the areas surrounding Schale, but it couldn't hold a candle to the magnificent sights before me now.

In all my years, I'd never seen anything like it.

We found ourselves on a winding road made of intricately carved stone tile, and on each side of the road was a myriad series of grand, almost castle-like buildings which vaguely reminded me of old European structures I'd seen in holotapes. Everything was immaculately well-kept, down to the verdant hedges skirting the perimeters of the buildings and road, and I had no doubt in my mind that there went a great deal of time, money, and manpower into maintaining the area's picturesque qualities. On the quaint little road, various civilians - students, robots, dog people, cat people, and, fascinatingly enough, even a few bird people - strode about as they tended to their daily business. All who noticed Hifumi and I amidst the weekday morning hustle and bustle gave us a wide berth, some talking amongst themselves in hushed voices, but Hifumi either didn't mind or was too excited to notice.

This was Trinity General School district, one of the three titans leading the Academy City's districts in both enrollment numbers, total area, and, if Natsu wasn't totally bullshitting me, sweets consumption.

"If we just follow this road, we'll be on campus in no time!" Hifumi said as I caught up with her. "So? What do you think, Sensei?"

Looking at the peaceful scenery now, it was hard to imagine this district had a long-running feud with their neighbor, Gehenna. The cynic in me was all too happy to remind myself that the district wouldn't so readily air its dirty laundry for the rest of the world to see, and that I'd inevitably find fatal faults in droves the longer I dallied in the district, but I figured I'd cross that bridge when I came to it.

"It's pretty."

The simple response seemed to invigorate the Trinity student, and she bobbed her head up and down enthusiastically. "Right?! I'm so glad we ran into each other at the train station. I know almost all the important places in and around the school, so you can get a good feel for where all the best locations to go during your first visit to Trinity!" Hifumi paused, cocking her head. "Wait, this is your first visit, right? Does that mean you haven't been to the other big districts beside Abydos yet?"

"Nope. First one out of the big three I've been to," I answered, to which Hifumi beamed even wider.

Sorry, Yuuka. I know you wanted me to visit Millennium first, but really, you shouldn't have foisted that whole guest lecturer thing onto me out of the blue like that.

If I was going to be formally teaching, there were certain things I had to prepare beforehand. I wasn't quite sure where to begin in a place like Kivotos, but with Arona's intimate knowledge of the city's resources, I was able to pinpoint a place which specialized in the things I needed. It just so happened that the place was in Trinity district.

"-and if you continue on Shoemaker Avenue in that direction there's a nice collection of clothing shops. They're kinda too expensive compared to what I normally wear, but… ah, I'm not implying that you're into that kind of thing, but if you ever wanna dress fancy that's where you'd go."

"Hmm."

We passed by a busy walkway overlooking a burbling artificial creek, where exotic birds frequented cabin-shaped bird feeders. Such abundant, idyllic scenery - a far cry from the dry, barren expanse of the Mojave Desert.

"-if you go that way, you'll reach Birch Street. Lots of students who've just graduated from middle school like to buy supplies from that area before they enroll in Trinity proper. It might be useful for you too, Sensei, if you ever find yourself in need of classroom materials like markers, color pencils, binders, grenades, notebooks…"

"I see. I might do just that," I offhandedly replied, only realizing she included something strange in her list of school supplies a moment later.

Hifumi abruptly stopped to press her face and palms against a glass window containing a display case of various technicolor stuffed animals and, of course, her beloved Radchicken. As if remembering something, Hifumi tore herself away from the window, sighing forlornly in a manner that made me want to, despite my better judgment, pull a Vance on the store.

It was only once I was midway through plotting how I'd go about swiping the Radchicken from its perch that I stopped to think about why I would even consider such a thing. The answer was simpler than I expected: Hifumi was rather enjoyable to be around.

It was quite baffling; we had nearly nothing in common. Our respective realities were literal worlds apart; I once struggled to make ends meet in a gradually healing post-nuclear Wasteland, while Hifumi's greatest concern was not having enough memorabilia of her favorite heavily mutated fictional bird.

But the reality was that she was not quite as trigger-happy as most students, nowhere near as cagey as Hoshino, not unhinged like Wakamo. Just… normal. Or at least as mildly tempered as I imagined a student could realistically be. In a world full of unpredictability, Hifumi's predictability was, ironically, a welcome deviation from the norm. It certainly helped that her cheerful personality bordered on contagious, even to me.

The stone pathway ahead of us began to segue into several paved walkways. I doubted Hifumi realized it, but at this point she was leading me by the wrist as she excitedly embarked down one of the walkways, her familiarity with our surroundings apparent. The walkway trailed off into a mildly forested area sparsely illuminated by sunlight leaking through the canopy. Hifumi slowed her step as we approached the end of the walkway where the treeline ended, and as if realizing what she'd been doing, sheepishly retracted her hand.

"Welcome to Trinity General School, Sensei!" Hifumi exclaimed as we exited the pathway.

We were greeted by the sight of a massive stretch of land surrounded by a glistening moat on which the haloed sky freely reflected. Abundant greenery in the form of grass and sculpted hedges were present in every area that wasn't covered by ivory stone or ceramic. Massive, regal sky-blue buildings of similar European-esque architecture to the buildings from earlier stretched onto the expanse, dwarfing the numerous Trinity students that were scattered around the area in small cliques.

While illuminated by the gentle not-scorching-nor-too-cloudy beams of sun, the scenery was idyllic enough that if you told me that this was part of the Eden that Graham once spoke of from his Scripture, I'd have believed you.

"Lot of students here," I commented, doing a quick estimation of the students present. There had to be hundreds at the very least, and that wasn't even counting the students in the school buildings themselves.

"Ahahah…" Hifumi scratched the back of her head, suddenly conscious of the fact that many students around us had stopped to watch us pass. "Yeah, most of us are on lunch break, so this is when the campus is the most packed."

"You don't say," I commented casually as we crossed the ivory bridge and golden gate leading into the school, my eyes warily scanning the students around us.

All packing heat, as expected.

Standing out amongst the mostly white-clad Trinity students were students in black and red caps and uniforms - judging from the pins on their caps and the sashes that some wore around their arms, they were a part of Trinity's Justice Task Force, Trinity's peacekeeping equivalent of Gehenna's Prefect Team. Some seemed to be on break just like other students, while the remainder actively patrolled the grounds of the academy, their weapons stowed but within arm's reach.

Though I knew most students balked at the mere suggestion of gunning down a non-haloed human, I nonetheless identified the optimal route of escape, in preparation for the unlikely scenario that the students around us turned violent. I still didn't like my odds of escaping such a massive congregation of students wielding top-of-the-line guns, much less fighting through it; this many students could have taken Hoover Dam by themselves, NCR assistance or no.

"This big building you see in front of us is the Central Library," Hifumi announced once we entered Trinity proper. "It's the biggest library in Kivotos!"

"Impressive," I commented, noting the length and width of the library. The Central Library alone eclipsed most man-made structures I'd ever seen in my life - and the lion's share of its space was dedicated to books, of all things. I couldn't begin to imagine how much untapped knowledge it held within its shelves.

It was a good thing the Book Chute wasn't around to see such unadulterated sedition festering in plain sight, otherwise he'd have made it his virtual life's mission to end the spread of communism in Kivotos, one page at a time.

"Isn't it? We haven't even been inside yet; it's got a cafe, bookstore, study rooms, and even sleeping rooms! I'm sure it'll have what you need!" Hifumi paused. "Ah, I forgot. You didn't come here for the Central Library, right?"

"Nope."

"Hmm… I don't know what supplies you'd need that the Central Library wouldn't have, but it must be important if you came all this way for it." Hifumi nodded and coiled her fingers around the straps of her backpack. "But that's okay, we're almost where we need to go. Here, I can point out the rest of the areas of interest while we're on the way!"

"Please," I said as I brought up my Pip-Boy to mark the Central Library as discovered, though this was mostly for old habit's sake; even if I didn't have Arona to help me navigate, there was no way I could miss a landmark this huge in a place as open as Trinity.

"We entered from the west, so you're seeing the libraries as you walk in. If you entered from the east, you'd see the Cathedral," Hifumi said as she pointed in that direction. I could easily make out the towering Cathedral even from this distance due to its grandiose size, which eclipsed even the Central Library.

"That's the headquarters of Trinity's Sisterhood, right?" I asked, remembering the organization from paperwork I'd signed off on behalf of Trinity recently. According to Arona, the Sisterhood was one of the most prominent factions in the district. Apparently, despite maintaining an even-handed position in Trinity's power scheme, the Sisterhood held the most soft power amongst all the factions in Trinity. Fitting, considering the school's religious motif.

"Yeah!" Hifumi energetically nodded. "If you ever end up going to Sunday mass, you can see most members of the Sisterhood while they do their thing. It's really neat."

"Never took you to be especially religious," I remarked in slight surprise.

"Ahaha…" Hifumi sheepishly laughed, scratching the back of her head. "I'm really not. I mean, I still go when they make attendance mandatory during certain holidays, but other than that…

"You don't go out of your way to attend."

"Uh, yeah," Hifumi said after she briefly looked around, as if checking if anyone was within listening distance. "I heard that the Sisterhood used to be really extreme about enforcing attendance. Like, 'threatening to expel' extreme. But they've mellowed out since then."

"Huh."

I followed Hifumi as she passed under a pearly arch decorated with blooming flower hedges. We sidestepped out of the way of a patrolling pair of Justice Task Force students and continued forth.

"A-anyway!" Hifumi continued. "To the north of here is Trinity Plaza. There's a real pretty fountain in the center where a good amount of our school events take place. And that big building overlooking the plaza is where the members of the Tea Party meet up. You can even see the balcony where their meetings are held!"

Really…

If I squinted I could vaguely make out people on the balcony from this distance, but I'd have to take out my rifle to get a clearer image than that. And no way was I going to get caught aiming a sniper rifle at the district's leadership, especially in a place this heavily guarded.

"I remember you saying you're chummy with Kirifuji Nagisa," I remarked. "You must've been up there, then?"

"I'm not sure chummy is the word I'd use, but yeah. I visit Nagisa-sama now and then," Hifumi answered. "She's amazing at what she does, but I feel like even she gets worn out sometimes… though you wouldn't guess it just from looking at her. I really admire that about her."

"Composure is essential when you're as high up as she is," I agreed. "Since you've been up there, are you familiar with Tea Party etiquette?" I continued casually, masking the fact that I was trying to get some info out of Hifumi. I'd have to deal with the Tea Party eventually, so may as well get the skinny on them from someone who was familiar with the group.

"Eh? Oh, I guess you could say that…" Hifumi murmured. "Sure, they have their peeves, but doesn't everybody?"

"You bet," I replied. "Just thought that theirs might be a bit more pronounced, since I've heard they have quite the reputation."

I was bullshitting, of course, but it worked in garnering a response from Hifumi anyway.

"I-I don't think it's true!" Hifumi quickly refuted.

"How would you say they're different, then?"

"Um…" Hifumi surreptitiously looked around. By now we had already passed the corner where a large congregation of Trinity students mingled. With this much empty space between us and the other students, there was little chance of us being overheard. "Well…"

"C'mon, we already know each other's worst secrets, right?" I half-lied. "This is harmless in comparison."

The student blanched. "C-can we please forget any of that ever happened?"

"Sure. You're the boss," I replied mischievously, to which she visibly cringed.

"AHEM!" Hifumi cleared her throat loudly, which had the undesired effect of briefly attracting the attention of nearby students. She quietly resumed, "Um, back to the Tea Party… I don't think they're as fancy or high-strung as people say. At the end of the day, they're just students trying to do what they think is best for the academy."

"Are you speaking for the entire Tea Party or just Nagisa?" I asked.

"Hmm… When you put it that way, I guess I'm not really all that familiar with the other two seats. Mika-sama is sometimes there whenever I go to see Nagisa-sama. She seems nice whenever I say hi, though."

"And the other?"

"Seia-sama? From the times I've seen her, she's really quiet." Hifumi thoughtfully held an index finger to her chin. "Though come to think of it, I haven't seen her lately…"

"Is she sick?"

"Actually, that might be it. Nagisa-sama mentioned that Seia-sama sometimes has to take extended leave due to sickliness." Hifumi adjusted the straps on her backpack as she wheeled the subject back to Nagisa. "Anyway, I guess you can say that I'm generalizing a bit. But Nagisa-sama's said to be the one amongst the Tea Party who's the best at politics, and to do that, you have to be a good judge of character, right? So, if she's on good terms with the rest of the Tea Party, it's safe to assume that Mika-sama and Seia-sama are good people too!" Hifumi concluded - and a bit optimistically, in my opinion.

From what I could gather, Trinity's Tea Party was the student council of the academy, and it was one with an unusual power structure. Three representatives from the most prominent three factions in the district passed around leadership of the entire academy in turns, with the current head of the school being referred to as the current 'host'. On paper, this was an interesting way of ensuring that each faction was granted fair representation, as each faction would each have their own time in the limelight via their head.

To me, though, it was a situation that was ultimately similar to the GSC president's - in other words, it was one that was ripe for foul play.

This may not have been the Wasteland, but countless examples in the past made it clear to me that it was simply human nature to vie for a bigger piece of the pie. It's part of why Caesar wasn't so quick to name a definitive heir; when that prospective heir figures out that they are but a few stabs away from becoming the head of the entire Legion, it'd inevitably result in a bigger headache for Caesar than the brain tumor I suspected he had.

But I suppose I'd have to reserve judgment until I met the Tea Party for myself. Triumvirates tended not to work out thanks to humans being backstabby little bastards, with Ancient Rome being the most salient example, but Kivotos had surprised me before, and maybe it would again. If Trinity had contrived a better method of governance than that of the NCR or even New Vegas, perhaps the secrets of Mystics weren't the only things I should be learning here.

… Kirifuji Nagisa. An elegant young woman with porcelain features and flowing blonde hair. Third year student. Head of Trinity's Filius faction. Handgun wielder. And, if Hifumi was to be believed, an exceptionally shrewd politician who was also capable of no wrongdoing, which, in my eyes, was a paradox.

After the incident with Hina in Abydos, I made it a point to look into the files of the leaders of each of Kivotos' major districts - just enough for me to be able to recognize them at a glance. Since I didn't glean much from this impromptu research aside from their physical characteristics and basic student registry information, this made Hifumi's thoughts on her school's leaders all the more valuable… even if she was hopelessly biased.

A kernel of guilt for probing Hifumi for information nagged at me until I remembered that I still owed her some Radchickens. I'd pay her back someday, I told myself.

… Maybe when my paycheck isn't as sad.

"What else can you tell me about Nagisa?" I asked, not even bothering to hide my interest at this point.

If Hifumi was bothered by my sudden curiosity regarding her friend, she didn't show it. "Well, she takes her tea super seriously!" The student giggled sheepishly. "As if it weren't obvious from the name 'Tea Party', right?"

"Right," I said, my curiosity deflating somewhat.

"Nagisa-sama isn't too picky about what kinds of tea she drinks…well, as long as they aren't iced or store-bought. Right now she's been experimenting with bergamot. She mentioned something about getting the right steeping ratio?"

"Okay…" I said, hoping Hifumi would mention literally anything more useful than Nagisa's tea preferences. Sure, learning someone's likes and dislikes was useful if I ever needed to ingratiate myself. But I knew jack shit about tea. Was there really anything special about flowers or leaves steeped in boiling water besides the caffeine?

"It's actually pretty weird. Like, I'm okay when it comes to making tea, but there's a whole art behind it that I don't think I'll ever reach Nagisa-sama's level on."

"Fascinating. So, what would you say she's good at besides her brewing skills?" I attempted to nudge the conversation in a more practical direction.

"What Nagisa-sama is good at…" Hifumi wondered, oblivious to the fact that one student from a nearby group of giggling schoolgirls took out her cell phone and aimed it in our direction, presumably to take a picture. There was no chance they could hear our conversation from this distance, so I deemed the action harmless and ignored them. "Oh, she might not look it, but she's amazing at baking! Sometimes she insists on stocking the Tea Party's gatherings with pastries she made herself! You won't really know whether she made something until you try it, since her pastries are super delicious!" Hifumi paused, then frantically shook her head. "Er, that's not to say that the Tea Party's bakers are bad or anything… I just feel like you could tell whether something is made professionally as opposed to a hobby…"

"Hmm…" I listened to Hifumi with dull acceptance.

This was a better topic than tea, but it still wasn't quite what I was looking for. Perhaps I was asking the wrong person when it came to learning more of Nagisa's role in the Tea Party. It was also unlikely that Hifumi would be able to shed some light on the two other seats in Trinity's student council.

Misono Mika and Yurizono Seia - heads of the Pater and Sanctus factions, respectively.

The former, I knew little about beyond her soft, princesslike appearance, and I couldn't make a full judgment just from that; after all, looks could be deceiving. It didn't help that students with pink hair had quite an odd streak about them; with the three I knew consisting of a traumatized pseudo-narcoleptic who acted much older than she actually was, a stalker-slash-master-infiltrator-slash-nurse, and a terminal sugar addict with a penchant for philosophy, the prospect of Mika not having some defining, bizarre personality quirk was becoming dimmer and dimmer.

In short, I've come to conclude that pinkness equals uncertainty. While this made for entertaining allies, capriciousness generally isn't something that bodes well for politicians.

The latter, meanwhile, was an enigma. As Seia apparently wasn't as receptive to public appearances as Nagisa and Mika, the only image she had on file was that of her student ID. Beyond her straight blonde hair and multi-hued eyes, what mostly stood out to me were her fox-like ears.

Emphasis on 'stood out'. Seriously, the fuckers were big. I wondered if they factored those things into the height she had on file, because if they did, Seia would turn out to be even shorter than Sora in actuality.

Factional politics and impractically large ears aside, however, the naming schemes of Trinity's three foremost factions was also something that I found interest in. Pater, Filius, and Sanctus - Latin for Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If there was any significance to these names in relation to Trinity besides the obvious, then it was lost on me, and I wasn't exactly going to bust out the Scripture that Graham gifted me to find out. At least, not here.

…Wait, but isn't this the absolute best place to bust that out? Might score me with some brownie points with the locals. Oh, but taking out a holy book just to impress someone sounds like the kind of thing that God would smite someone for.

Tickled by the thought of being struck by lightning from the heavens for entertaining blasphemy, I laughed, and Hifumi, under the impression that I found humor in something she said, sheepishly laughed as well.

…Wait.

"W-well, now that I think about it, that is a pretty silly thing for someone to say…" Hifumi continued regaling the story that I had apparently missed.

If these students are able to harness divine powers…

"I don't think she meant it, really. Maybe she got flak for it in the past and this was her way of dealing with it, who knows."

…and they believe in that religion…

"And yeah, the admissions office was super packed that day, so I get how it'd save her a lot of time…"

…then isn't that indirect proof that God exists?

"But still. Wearing a Momo Friends sweater doesn't give someone the right to cut you in line!"

Joshua and Daniel were RIGHT?!

"And I- eh? Sensei? Why'd you stop walking?" Hifumi turned around and cocked her head at me confusedly. "If you need a break, we can sit down for a bit. But we're almost there, so…"

Crashing back down to earth, I followed Hifumi's pointing to the building straight ahead. It was relatively tall, but nowhere near a fraction of the size of the Central Library. The building was surrounded by a perimeter of greenery adjacent to a short gate roughly the same height, which looked like it was more for looks than actually keeping anyone out. A lone student stood attentively by the sole entrance to the property - a guard.

"Nah, I'm fine," I responded as if I wasn't just having a literal heaven-shattering revelation a moment prior. "Let's go."

Hifumi scrambled to follow once I abruptly took off in the direction of the building, eager to take my mind off the confusing religious implications of Kivotos' existence.

Besides, there wasn't any definitive correlation between God and Mystics just yet.

… Should probably get started on reading that Scripture, though. Just in case.

---

"You sure this is the place?" I asked Hifumi, to which she hesitantly nodded.

"Yeah…" Hifumi nodded. "Um, as you can probably tell, the Old Library doesn't get many visitors."

Who could blame them? The place was about as inviting as the Divide.

… Okay, that was an exaggeration, but the eroding stone walls invaded by moss and the occasional vine, the relatively unkempt yard, and the boarded up windows didn't exactly give off the most welcoming vibes. Every other place I saw on campus except for the seemingly abandoned building south of here was teeming with idling Trinity students on their lunch breaks, while the Old Library was basically deserted. It was a wonder that Trinity saw fit to assign even a guard to this place.

That being said, I personally found the area oddly comforting. The building clearly predated the Great War, just like most of the structures inhabited back home. Maybe if the grass were drier and deader, and the building less maintained, then the Old Library might've blended right in with the other Wasteland scenery.

Hifumi and I neared the gate entrance, and I got a closer look at the lone guard. She was a single Justice Task Force student who wore a black beret, above which a simple red halo floated. She had no other significant physical characteristics other than her long, straight, black hair reminiscent of that of RABBIT 4's, with blunt bangs that obfuscated her eyes from view. How she was expecting to be able to keep watch for threats while her eyes were covered like that was beyond me, but no matter. I wasn't exactly keen on meddling in Justice Task Force affairs when I literally stepped foot in Trinity just a few hours ago.

The guard stiffened when she saw…

No, wait.

…Heard? Maybe she uses echolocation or something?

Hell if I know.

Anyway, she became tense when she detected us approaching.

"Howdy," I greeted.

"Uh, um…hi," the guard stammered, timidly craning her head up to look(?) at me. "Are you… Sensei?"

"Maybe? Lots of people started calling me that all of a sudden."

"Ahaha… Don't worry, Sensei just likes to joke around like that," Hifumi answered once she saw the guard's confused expression, while I crossed my arms indignantly. "I'm Ajitani Hifumi. We're here to visit the Old Library."

"Visit…?" the guard repeated, as if the word were foreign. "Are…are you sure you don't mean to visit the Central Library?"

"We're… sure?" Hifumi said while she looked at me, as if she herself were wondering the same thing.

"Is the Old Library open to the public right now?" I said.

"Um… technically?" the guard answered.

Technically?

"May we go in?"

The guard wrung her gloved hands in apparent anxiety. "You can try?"

Hifumi and I shared a glance as the guard stepped aside to signify that we can pass.

From there, we continued unimpeded to the front door, whose aged brown wood contrasted with the silver lock on the handle, which seemed to be the newest thing about this building. I tested the knob on the door, arching an eyebrow when it didn't budge. Locked.

"Isn't this place supposed to be open to the public, Hifumi?"

"I think so. Hmm… Maybe the librarian is out to break?" Hifumi suggested.

"Doubt it. She-" I tilted my head in the direction of the guard, who hastily pretended like she wasn't just watching(?) us from around the corner, "-would have said so."

"True…"

Raising my hand, I firmly knocked three times. After a bit, I tried again, garnering no response.

Seeing me tap my foot impatiently, Hifumi offered, "Maybe she's in the ladies' room?"

"Well, she needs to hurry up. We don't have all day."

"S-Sensei, it's been five minutes. I-I think we can give her a few more-" Hifumi stopped once she saw me take a step back. "Er… Sensei? What are you doing?"

As I reared back my right arm and curled my fist, Greased Lightning automatically let out a vicious hiss. "Gonna knock just a bit harder."

"Sensei!" Hifumi cried as she held me back by the arm. "Please don't knock down the door!"

"Door's thick, it'll hold."

"M-maybe, but please just wait a few more minutes, okay?!"

"...Tch."

You get off easy, door. But only because our fearless leader said so.

Well, also because that guard would probably take the blame for any damages incurred under her watch(?). Nervous little thing didn't deserve that.

Since socking the door or breaking the windows was out of the question, I was forced to knock within intervals of a minute at a time, sulking, while Hifumi eyed me as if I were a ticking time bomb. Eventually, however, a better idea came to me.

"Hey, Hifumi, remember that Radchicken video you showed me while we were waiting on the shuttle?"

"That one? Yeah, why?" Hifumi's face immediately brightened, then soured slightly. "And Peroro-sama is-"

"-not a Radchicken. Sorry, I'm forgetful," I said, my blatant lack of sorriness causing Hifumi to pout. "Anyway, I thought the video was cool."

"Wait. Really?!"

"Sure did," I half-lied. I definitely found cell phones' ability to flawlessly record and replay videos in photorealistic quality to be amazing, but watching a flightless mutant bird waddle around for five minutes to the beat of unfitting music didn't exactly mesmerize me in the same fashion as it did Miss Ajitani over here. "In fact, it was so cool, I think you should share the experience with our friend from the Justice Task Force over there."

Upon realizing that Hifumi and I were looking at her, the guard shyly retreated around the corner.

"Eh? But isn't she on duty?"

"C'mon, look at her. She's here guarding a ghost town of a library on her lonesome while all her pals are going out for picnics in the sunshine. I reckon having visitors is the most entertainment she's had all day."

"That's… that's terrible…" Hifumi murmured, barely able to withhold the pitying gaze she almost gave the guard.

"Right? You should take it upon yourself to bring her into the light like you did with me," I encouraged. "While you do that, I'll keep trying the door here in case the librarian finally hears."

"... I understand, Sensei. Leave it to me!" Hifumi took out her cell phone, bringing up the video she had saved on the device. She determinedly marched back to the gate, the sharing of Radchickens undoubtedly at the forefront of her mind.

"Oh, and make sure you play it at full volume! The music really sets the tone!" I called after her. Moments later, I heard the excited chatter of Hifumi, followed by the sounds of the video, which was so loud that I could hear the instrumentals from here.

I feel like what I just told Hifumi is totally going to bite me in the ass later, but whatever.

The video was about five minutes in length, so that left me with more than twenty times the amount of time I needed. Nonetheless, I wasted no time as I surreptitiously looked around for prying eyes. Double checking to make sure the only possible witnesses were distracted, I slipped out my screwdriver and a bobby pin and got to work on the door.

Middle… no good. Left… nah. Right… warmer. Far right…?

… Bingo.

With a satisfying click, the door unlocked. Overall, I rated the lock a five out of ten in terms of difficulty.

Might make a rookie like Shiroko break a few of her bobby pins, but c'mon, gimme a challenge, Trinity.

I waited until the song in Hifumi's video reached its crescendo before finally pushing the door open. As expected, the door's ancient hinges let out a tired groan as the door opened, but since the sound was masked by the music, I was able to quickly slip in and close the door behind me without issue.

The moment I set foot in the Old Library, it was like entering a different world.

While the grounds of Trinity General School were bright, idyllic, and teeming with life, the Old Library was anything but; if anything, its interior reminded me of the stagnant domiciles of Higgs Village. The deathly stillness in the air merely served to emphasize the near timeless quality of the rows upon rows of bookshelves, which stood sentinel across the dim interior and lined every inch of the walls, all the way to the second floor. Though the area wasn't quite dark enough to warrant using low-light vision, I nonetheless turned on my Pip-Boy light for additional clarity, causing motes of the occasional speck of dust in the air to become illuminated in a shade of green, suggesting poor ventilation, upkeep, or a combination of the two. I reached out and traced my hand across the spines of some nearby books. They were the genuine articles, alright.

Repositories of knowledge, just untapped. Not to mention fragile. And so very… flammable.

It was safe to say that, aside from the few bookshelves that Abydos saw fit to stock and call a library, this was the largest collection of intact texts I'd ever seen in my life; most libraries of the Old World didn't survive the scorching fires of the bombs, and so the most you'd find in such places would be crumbling heaps of ashes and decaying texts. The closest to this I'd seen on Earth was in the form of the faux American High's library in the X-8 Research Center, but Borous' perversion of a high school library couldn't hold a candle to the real deal.

With all that considered, it was important to note that this wasn't even the Central Library, which was easily several times the size of the Old Library. As if it wasn't already obvious just from one glance outside, Trinity's ability to pour untold amounts of resources into facilities that large spoke volumes of their affluence as one of the three great academies of the city.

Reaching the far end of one of the grand bookcases, I became aware of a relatively bright light coming from the center of the library. Following the source of the light, I happened across a circular area upon which the palisading bookshelves terminated.

The first thing I noticed was a student sitting at a long desk adorned with numerous parchments and vials of colored liquids, with her back to me. The student had long, somewhat messy black hair and a clock-like halo, and she wore a knitted brown sweater over her Trinity uniform along with a conservative ankle-length white skirt. The girl swiftly dabbled a quill in a bottle of ink before scribbling something on one of the myriad parchments on her desk. There was an erratic quality to her wrist movements, which, coupled with her unkempt hair and the two stacks of coffee mugs teetering on one edge of her desk, gave me a pretty good idea as to how she didn't register the sounds of me and Hifumi at the door.

Maybe I should've knocked harder after all, I thought as I walked closer to her with the intent of getting her attention, until I noticed the object leaning on the side of her chair.

Is that… I thought, racking my brain until I recalled the article from Guns and Bullets Issue No. 7, … a De Lisle carbine?

Turning off my Pip-Boy light, I silently sidled up from behind the librarian and, taking advantage of her immersion in her work, gently retrieved the gun and examined it.

Ported barrel, modified bolt, built-in suppressor… I'll be damned.

Since the gun used subsonic ammunition in tandem with its built-in suppressor, the De Lisle carbine was touted as one of the most silent guns ever made - a humorously fitting choice for a librarian, assuming this was hers.

I made to put it back when I came to a realization. This was a gun that, thanks to being a relic from World War II that never saw mass production, was all but extinct in the Wasteland. While weapons like these were probably available for purchase in Kivotos, stores like Angel 24 didn't stock antiques; who knew how long I'd have to scour the land for something as rare as this?

No, more importantly - how much would I have to fork over for something like this? Certainly wouldn't be an amount I could comfortably afford with my pay, especially considering… taxes.

With that in mind, I held the weapon under my left arm. After a brief scan, the item, having been newly registered in the system, appeared in the 'Weapons' tab in my Pip-Boy. I arched an eyebrow when I saw that it was registered with a unique name: 'Volume Suppressor'.

I checked the Shittim Chest. Arona was asleep, as expected; I was, after all, visiting a 'boring' place like the library. But if she didn't change that tag, then how did it register a unique name?

Normally, items would be registered with generic names unless I specifically edited them to give them their names - i.e. This Machine, the Nuka-Breaker, and Cram Opener. Other times, items already came with unique Termlink tags, usually due to having been modified by someone else previously, i.e. the Holorifle, Greased Lightning, and Esther. Arona and I were the only ones who knew of Termlink coding, so the Volume Suppressor was neither of these. How was this possible?

Well, I could always just ask to borrow a student's weapon to investigate this later on. For now, I was content with the fact that Arona would now be able to reconstruct the weapon in the Shittim Chest's virtual space for me to play around with. Might not be as good as firing the real deal, but when you're broke, you're broke.

I placed the Volume Suppressor to the side, out of the librarian's reach, just as she took off the pair of large round glasses she'd been wearing and cleaned them with her sleeve, murmuring something to herself. She emptied her newest coffee mug and sighed irritably once she'd fully exhausted her source of caffeine.

I cleared my throat.

"..."

She replaced her glasses and picked up her quill.

"Excuse me."

"..."

She opened one of the old tomes beside her and thumbed to a specific page, then set it down in front of her.

"Hey."

I tapped her on the shoulder.

"...?" The girl sluggishly turned around and took off her round glasses, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Afterward, she squinted in my general direction in puzzlement. Her eyes widened in shock.

"Howd-"

"HIEEEEEEEEEE!" the girl screeched at a volume which, thanks to the general quietude of the Old Library, was pretty damn loud.

"UWAHHHH!" Arona screeched as she was abruptly awoken. "The chocolate sundae?! D-don't look at me, it was the mailman! I tried to stop him, honest!"

Briefly, I weighed the pros and cons of chucking the tablet against the wall with all of my [Strength].

"W-w-w-who are you?! Are you a burglar?! How long have you been here?! How did you get in?!" the librarian stammered, her left hand habitually reaching for her weapon only to grasp at thin air. Good thing I moved that thing before getting her attention; students here, even the more peaceful ones, had some pretty solid shooting reflexes.

"A courier, no, a few seconds, and you left the front door unlocked. In that order."

The student's brow furrowed as she parsed my answers. "A… courier…? I-I wasn't expecting any mail… and you said I left the front door unlocked?" The librarian's eyes darted to the door anxiously. "But I'm pretty sure…"

"Sensei!" The door to the library burst open, startling the already frazzled librarian, and a concerned Hifumi and alert Justice Task Force guard rushed in. The latter had her rifle drawn, ready for trouble. "Are you okay?! We heard screaming!" Hifumi exclaimed, eyeing the environment warily. Once she saw that it was just me and the librarian, she tilted her head in utter confusion.

"Uh, what's going on?" the guard asked as she took stock of the situation.

"Wait, Sensei…? As in, the one from Schale?!" the librarian asked, a bead of perspiration forming on her forehead. "W-why would you introduce yourself as a courier?"

"Courier…?" Hifumi repeated, turning to me in wonder. "Hold on, you're a teacher and a mailman, Sensei?! Wow!"

"Couriers and mailmen are not the same thing," I weakly pointed out, ignoring the quiet "Mailman-sensei," uttered by a snickering Arona.

"Eh? They're not?" Hifumi tilted her head innocently, ignorant of the AI who'd just broken into full-blown laughter.

Damn you, Faust!

Seeing that the situation was decidedly not hostile, the Justice Task Force guard timidly asked, "So… everything's okay, Ui-san?"

"Huh? Oh, yes, yes. You can go back to your post, uh…" Ui's fatigued features scrunched up as if she were struggling to remember something, then relaxed as she gave up. "... you."

The nameless guard meekly nodded and stowed her rifle as she exited the library, leaving the three of us to our business.

A moment of silence passed as Ui scrutinized us, her gaze only briefly passing over Hifumi.

"Um…" the librarian said awkwardly as she stood to her full height. At around five foot five, she was deceptively tall compared to the average student. "I guess… I might as well introduce myself. I'm Kozeki Ui, director of Trinity's Library Committee." Ui arched an eyebrow, her expression one of slight curiosity mixed in with some suspicion. "... Do you have business here? Because if not, Shimiko's on duty in the Central Library; she should be able to help you there…"

"Yes. I was told you could help me out with a few things," I answered. "In this place, specifically."

"Is- is that so?" Ui said. "I suppose I'd have no issue helping you on behalf of matters concerning Schale, but…" The librarian glanced at Hifumi, frowning. "You… You're not a part of Schale, are you? You're just an average Trinity student. I don't know you-"

Hifumi winced upon hearing being labeled as 'average' but nonetheless plastered a cordial smile on her face. "Nice to meet you! I'm Ajitan-"

"-and I don't want to know you," Ui rudely finished, causing Hifumi to deflate mid-greeting. "The library is, above all else, a place of edification. If you're not here for that reason nor for official business, then kindly see yourself out, if you would."

"I-I…" Hifumi stammered, at a loss of what to say. "T-then, please excuse me…" she said as she turned to leave, only to stop as I placed a hand on her shoulder. "...Sensei?"

"Please don't speak to her like that," I told Ui firmly. "Hifumi's been quite helpful in showing me around, since this is my first visit to Trinity. She's not a part of Schale, true, but I ask that you show her the same respect that you do me."

"Helpful? Ah, really, it's no big deal…" Hifumi rubbed the back of her head modestly.

Ui considered my words for a moment before she inclined her head downward. "I…I see. She's with you, then. I apologize for being out of line. It's just… it's hard to trust outsiders, especially since I know most of them care not for the sanctity of the library," Ui huffed as she adopted a look of annoyance. "Really. Most people think they have carte blanche to trample around the library like bulls in china shops."

Hifumi subconsciously took a step closer to me as Ui located her Volume Suppressor, which lay where I left it. She grumpily shuffled over to it and lifted it by the strap, then slung it over her shoulder, muttering all the while.

"...But if Sensei vouches for you, I suppose you wouldn't be too much trouble," Ui conceded after giving Hifumi one last critical glance. "You're free to browse at your leisure, but you're subject to the same rules as everyone else, okay? I don't care how close you are to Sensei."

"G-got it!" Hifumi replied. "W-wait, close? But we're not… I mean…"

Ui was brusque and to the point. I had my suspicions, based on the locked door and barricaded windows, but it truly seemed that Ui really wasn't all that receptive toward visitors.

"You must get a lot of trouble from other students, huh?" I asked. "You even have a guard posted outside."

Ui hummed. "It's not all that frequent, but I'd be lying if I said the library hasn't gotten damaged by the occasional firefight. The walls are thick, but even then, this isn't the ideal sanctuary. Not since armor piercing rounds have entered common usage." Ui's eyes flitted toward the door. "As for the guard? We house a fair number of important ancient artifacts here, so I assume the guard is just extra insurance… Even if I don't like it."

"Ancient artifacts?"

"Yes, though… to clarify, when I say artifacts, I mean ancient texts lost to contemporary academia. The terms are not mutually exclusive in the eyes of Trinity's executives, which is… probably the only thing I'd agree with them on." Ui's feet shifted over the slippers she wore as she unrepentantly badmouthed her own district's leadership. "More ancient texts are excavated every day, and it's my job to curate them so they may be properly preserved for the perusal of future generations."

With all her talk of sanctuaries, outsiders, and preserving ancient artifacts, I had the feeling that, in another life, Ui would have made quite the excellent Brotherhood of Steel Scribe.

"Good on you. Not many people realize it, but the importance of preserving the knowledge of past generations can't be understated," I commented, knowing that, for one without any formal education, much of what I needed to know to thrive in the Mojave during my traveling days was gleaned from pre-War books and manuals.

Ui started at this, her features softening afterward. "U-um…yes. I'm glad someone outside of the Library Committee understands the importance of what we do." In the following seconds after the conversation's conclusion, Ui darted to one corner of the library somewhat antsily. "A-anyway… before we get started, I'm going to get some more coffee. Would you like any, Sensei? Or you… Hifumi-san?"

Hifumi brightened up as Ui addressed her by name. "No, thank you though!"

"I'm good too."

"Alright then…" Ui nodded, then picked up the numerous coffee mugs at her desk. "You're free to use the seats in front of my desk. Just…" she trailed off.

"Just?"

"Just know that…" Ui stammered, a tinge of red on her cheeks. "I-if you say anything about the smell, I'll kick you out a-and you'll have to wait outside, okay?"

"...?"

I turned to Hifumi for clarification, only to see the student was pointedly avoiding my gaze.

"Ahaha… I don't know what you're talking about at all…" she replied, then surreptitiously nudged me so I could get in on the lie. "Right, Sensei?"

"No problem here at all," I said, tapping my helmet. "Airtight."

"Wait, you can't smell anything while wearing that?" Hifumi tilted her head.

"Nope."

"But you wear it all the time…"

"Yup," I said. Hifumi became downcast at this for some reason.

"That's… kind of a shame," Ui remarked in a sudden departure from her previous attitude on the library's supposed smell. "I'll admit, I'm not in any place to say this since I spend more time in the library than anywhere or anyone else, but there's a myriad of scents you're missing out on."

"Yeah!" Hifumi nodded her head in vigorous agreement. "Like Trinity's courtyard in the spring!"

"The smell of a new book."

"Momo Friends scented plushies!"

"Rice starch adhesive for bookbinding."

"Lavender tea!"

"A fresh americano..."

"Did you just say americano?" I asked.

"Um… yes. It's a type of espresso-based coffee. I could still get you one, if you want."

"It's alright. Was just curious." More specifically, I was curious as to the etymology behind the word 'americano'. Students here referred to foods as being explicitly Chinese in origin, for instance, but they seemed not to know much about China as a place. Perhaps the same was true for their knowledge of the Americas.

Ui hummed in affirmation, then departed with her mugs, disappearing into one of the library's backrooms. She seemed a just a bit warmer towards Hifumi now that they had something in common, which I found quaint; if simply finding out that another person has a sense of smell were enough to get on someone's good side, then the Wasteland'd be a much more welcoming place in general. Or maybe Hifumi just had a certain [Charisma] about her.

Hifumi curiously followed as I located the section of the library with subjects beginning with 'T'.

"Pretty sweet library," I commented as I pulled out a book by its spine and leafed through its contents. It appeared to be a historical study on the tilling of soil and other agricultural methods. Very in-depth, and it seemed to be merely one in an extensive series of texts on the subject.

"Isn't it?" she chirped while leafing through a few texts of her own. "I bet you've been to a lot of libraries where you're from, huh?"

"Just one, actually."

If the 'library' in the Big Empty even counted, that is. Other than that one, the NCR did their best to refurbish and maintain libraries in some of their states such as the Hub and Shady Sands, but I wasn't very interested in pre-War literature back when I last passed through NCR territory. It wasn't possible for me to regret my past self's shortsightedness more than I currently did.

"Eh?" she said, dumbfounded. "Well… I'm glad you get to visit Trinity's libraries now, but you probably shouldn't mention that part to Ui-san…"

"Guess she wouldn't take that all too well, huh," I admitted.

"Not that it's a bad thing, but she seems to take things like that pretty seriously," Hifumi said. "There's a reason why she's called the Magician of the Library or the Unmoving Great Librarian."

She's even got nicknames… Ui herself stated that she spends most of her time in the library, so she'd probably see me as some sort of backwards savage for never having set foot in a single proper library.

Putting the book in agriculture back where I found it, I continued down the aisle. I was hoping I could perhaps pick up a few books on technology, but it seemed as if the Old Library wasn't the best place for contemporary science. Fortunately, that wasn't the only subject that I was looking for.

After eyeing the subjects that I was poring over, Hifumi took it upon herself to help me search. After a few moments, the student pulled out one dusty tome.

"Sensei, what about this one?" she asked. "A Treatise on the Art of Teaching…"

I accepted the book from Hifumi and leafed through several pages. It was certainly as exhaustive as the other texts I found, though this one seemed a bit more objective in its approach.

"Looks good. I'll take it."

Hifumi smiled and opened her mouth to reply when her phone loudly rang, causing her Radchicken music to shrilly reverberate through the Old Library. She panickedly fumbled in her uniform's pockets for her phone, then tapped the screen until the ringing stopped.

"Ah, sorry! That was my alarm!" Hifumi exclaimed apologetically. "Um… my next class period is gonna start in fifteen minutes, so…"

"Alright. Don't let me keep you." I nodded at her.

Hifumi beamed before she turned and headed toward the entrance. "Oh, and Shiroko-chan gave me your number for, uh…" She picked her next words carefully. "... class activities. I'll text you so you can add me; let me know if you need a guide when you're in Trinity again!"

"Sure. You take care, now."

Just as Hifumi scampered off to make her way back to class, Ui returned from the back, a piping hot cup of joe in one hand. She seemed noticeably more rejuvenated and alert than before, with her eyebags not being quite as pronounced.

"I take it she had somewhere to be?" Ui asked.

"Class," I answered, then arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "You don't have to go as well?"

"I made arrangements to access my classroom materials here in the library." Ui waved a hand dismissively, as if the very idea were a bother. She then adopted a look of tired annoyance. "More importantly… Please tell her to put her devices on silent next time she's in the library."

"Understood," I said. Ui did have quite a lot of pet peeves, huh.

"In any case," Ui continued. "Shall we get to the reason you're here?" She briefly glanced at the book I held in my hands. "You came here to check out…?"

"I figured since I'm here already, may as well," I answered. "You allow checking stuff out here, right?"

"If by stuff you mean books, then yes," Ui nitpicked. "Usually people go to the Central Library for that, but if you wish to check out a book that's not marked for preservation, you may." She added, "... If that's all, then we can handle that right now…"

"A few more things. You have the means to make hardcover books here?"

"Of course… Sometimes we wish to make copies of certain texts for the purpose of archiving them."

"I'd appreciate it if you could make a book for me, please." I withdrew one of the spare USB drives that were lying around Schale I'd used to store the data.

Ui took the proffered harddrive, only briefly analyzing it. "... Just one, you said?"

"Yeah. How much would I owe you?"

Ui hummed. "Not much. The printing itself is automated. The bookbinding, I'd have to do manually. But if it's just one book… Maybe around a hundred yen for the materials." Ui smiled sheepishly. "The labor involved is on me. As a… welcoming gift."

I still didn't have the best sense for how much yen was valued compared to the cap, but it didn't sound as if Ui was trying to scam me. Less than a bag of chips for a Big Book of Science was a hell of a deal. "Sounds great, thanks."

Ui nodded, then she began to shuffle back to her desk with me in tow.

Along the way, I added, "I don't suppose you sell book parts here, do you?"

"Eh? Parts?" Ui asked. "Well… I normally do book restoration in addition to repair, but I guess I can offer individual components to one who's confident they can do it themselves."

"Alright. So, my book's spine needs repairing. Could you loan me the parts to do it?" I asked.

"Okay…" Ui said as we arrived at her desk, upon which she rested her mug. "... May I have specifics? Such as the dimensions of the book, its composition, and length?"

"Uh…" I mumbled, struggling to remember the specifics. I didn't pay much attention to these things when reading, I just read. "I think it's about… this wide? And made of… paper? And I think it's about two hundred pages, give or take ten or so."

Ui stared at me blankly. "Uh… huh. Do you… have it with you? Can I see it?"

"Well…"

Perhaps mistaking my hesitance for embarrassment, Ui quickly said, "It's okay, I won't look at anything beyond what I mentioned. I know better than anyone how important it is to respect one's privacy…"

Well, there shouldn't be any issue with just showing her the back of the book, right? I thought.

"Okay. Let's see," I said, setting down my pack. I packed a lot lighter nowadays, since I had a relatively safe place to store my other items, and so I retrieved what I needed quickly. "Here it is."

I held out the rear end of the worn and torn Wasteland Survival Guide toward Ui and she went still as a statue, mouth agape. A few seconds passed and she still didn't accept it; I noticed that she'd broken into a cold sweat. Did someone poison her americano?

"Hey, you okay?"

At that moment, the book's worn pages decided to separate from the spine binding the book together, and the contents of the book fell onto the floor, forming an disorderly pile of paper.

"Oh, crap. Lemme just-"

"AAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHHHH!" Ui screamed as if I'd just stabbed her and twisted the knife.

"Whoa, what's the matter-"

The door to the library burst open, and the guard once again rushed in, rifle at the ready.

"Ui-san! Is everything alright?!" The guard shouted, her normally meek voice urgent. She soon became confused as she registered the sight of me holding out the empty spine of a book, and Ui, who shakily knelt down in front of the pile. "Oh."

"W-w-w-w-w-w-what happened?! How?! Why?!" she sputtered, clutching the pile of papers like how one would a dying loved one.

"I've had that book for years," I carefully said, aware of just how unhinged Ui's disposition had become. "It's just old-"

"Just… old…? JUST OLD?!" Ui screeched, her baleful gaze turned upon me. "If that were the case, EVERYTHING in this library would be in as abysmal condition as this one!"

"True, but-"

"There are many conditions that contribute to the degradation of an old text - exposure to the elements, oxidation, a lack of proper preservation," Ui ranted, her eyes wild. "But this? I legitimately cannot tell whether this egregious state of affairs is due to negligence or calculated malice!"

"Oh, come on. Malice?" My chuckle quickly died when this caused Ui to seethe even more.

"... These pages right here."

"Huh?"

"These pages right here are indicative of lengthened exposure to water."

Exposure to water? That can't be-

Oh.

That must be from when I dived into Lake Mead to escape a horde of Cazadors, only to end up being chased by Lakelurks. Ah, good times.

Not.

"I went for a swim and forgot this book was in my pack."

Ui barely paid attention to my technically-not-a-lie and quickly found another clue, like some sort of detective.

"This page is singed, like it was exposed to fire!"

That's probably when I got set on fire by a Super Mutant when I was hiking up Black Mountain.

"Got damaged while I was cooking." Didn't even have to lie for this one.

"And these are…" Ui held one page up to her face and sniffed, then recoiled. "Chemical burns?!"

Okay, that one was really an accident.

"Chemistry set spillage." Synthesizing Psycho is, at times, a most untidy procedure, usually incumbent on whether the synthesizer himself is doped up on the stuff or not.

Ui sighed and carefully straightened up a stack of pages. Immediately after she did so, a few pages wilted downward, and it became clear that this was due to the fact that these pages were almost completely shredded down the middle. The three jagged cuts gave the distinct impression that something sharp tried to rake into the book, with partial success. Ui said nothing, merely looking up at me in abject horror.

"... Quarry Junction," I said simply.

"Quarry… Junction?" Ui blinked in confusion at the seemingly nonsense words. "That doesn't explain anything at all."

"... Ornery wildlife," I clarified in what was probably the biggest understatement since the Great War.

The librarian squinted at me briefly before returning to her task of bunching up the fallen papers. "Well… I suppose I should get started…"

"Started with what?"

"Repairing your book, of course," Ui replied plainly.

"I'd rather you didn't."

"Pardon? You walked in here with a book hanging on by a literal thread. If you think I'm going to let such a travesty pass…" Ui said, irritation returning to her features. "No, this is an intervention. I'm going to give this book the proper care it needs."

"I don't have the means to pay for something like that," I lied, gently grasping the opposite ends of the papers.

"I-it's fine. I'll do it on the house. Just let me-"

"It's not about payment, Ui," I firmly said, causing her to let go of her end. "I wanted to repair it myself because this book has sentimental value to me."

"Sentimental…?" Ui repeated. "T-then why in the world would you let it fall into this state?"

"I simply didn't have the means to preserve it properly," I stated. I did my best with what I had, but [Jury Rigging] can only get you so far with something as delicate as a book.

"T-that makes sense." Ui looked down. "I suppose that's why you wouldn't want to hand it off to just anybody." She looked at me with hardened eyes. "But even so…! I-it's because the book is important to you that we should do everything we can to preserve it to the best of our abilities! While you might be able to fix it yourself with proper tools now, without an experienced hand it'd only be a temporary solution. Let me help."

I regarded the librarian who suddenly became lively the moment the safety of a book became relevant.

Much of the things in the book were things that an average Wastelander knew; it was written by a former Vault Dweller, after all. Additionally, there were segments of the book which wouldn't really apply to anyone living outside of DC. But the reality remained that there were many useful pieces of information in this book that one wouldn't know of unless it happened to them. The madpersons who wrote the book, in their attempt to create a well-researched, thorough text on Wasteland survival, endured many an unpleasant experience so that I and many others didn't have to.

They saved a lot of lives in the Wasteland, and, though I most likely would've made my way through the Mojave just fine without their advice, I felt their efforts were deserving of respect.

"... Please?" Ui said, noticing my silence.

"... Why are you pleading with me? It's not like you're the one that needs help," I said, sighing. "Fine. Do what you can, please."

I handed over the papers along with the empty spine and cover and Ui gingerly accepted the items.

"Thank you, Sensei. I promise I won't look at the contents-" Ui said in relief, then stopped once she touched the cover. She repeatedly pinched the cover between her thumb and index finger, recoiling in genuine, unfiltered revulsion when her fingers adhered to the surface. "You… you tried to repair it with duct tape…?!"

"Hey, if something moves when it's not supposed to…" I defended, to which Ui only shuddered.

Ui quickly set aside everything on her desk to make way for her new task, then arranged each of the book's components onto the empty space. Reequipping her round glasses, she analyzed the book components before her, and decided that her immediate course of action was to mend the tears in the damaged pages. As she devoted herself to this task with a surgeon's precision, her eyes nervously darted toward the object in her peripheral vision.

"Um…" Ui murmured as she noticed me watching her. "This'll take about ten to fifteen minutes, so if you want, you can browse the library until I'm finished…"

"I'll wait here."

"... You don't trust me," Ui surmised. "... Is that right?"

"I…" I began, and once I realized I had nothing to say to that, I simply repeated, "I'll wait here."

"Um… it's okay. Really, I get it," Ui insisted. "Personally, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving my children with some random outsider…" She blinked and quickly amended, "N-not that you're random, or that you're like other outsiders, mind…"

Children…? Where the hell did that come from? I thought, noting that this was the first time anyone had ever mentioned offspring around here. Having children at Ui's age or younger was more than typical in the Wasteland; rather, I was more concerned with the uncomfortable implications of Mystic children.

First, if Mystics were not sterile like Super Mutants and Ghouls, then that detracted from the possibility of students being inhuman, mutated weapons of war. That didn't detract from the possibility of them being selectively bred for war, but that called into question how exactly one would introduce Mysticism into the gene pool to begin with, assuming they started off as normal humans.

Second, there were still no males in sight… aside from the males of the various animal-people species around here. Suddenly, the animal ears and tails some students had were starting to make more sense-

Nope, don't want to think about that. No, sir.

"Sensei… I took the liberty of working on the cover as well," Ui said. "Um… I figured it's not part of the contents, per se, so it'd be okay…"

In the few minutes I spent ruminating on what Ui said previously, she had not only repaired the various damaged pages, but also restored the faded and smudged portions of the book cover. 'THE WASTELAND SURVIVAL GUIDE' was emboldened flawlessly on the cover along with the depiction of the human skull, the various damages of the Wasteland itself gone. Much better job than I could do myself, that was for sure.

"It looks good."

"Right… Thank you." Ui replied, then looked up anxiously. "Um, Sensei?"

"Hm?"

"P-please don't be ashamed of what you read."

"Ashamed?"

"Yeah…" Ui nodded. "I… I like to roleplay sometimes too… I don't really join D&W sessions aside from whenever the Library Committee hosts them, but still… I don't judge."

Role… play…?

"What does that have to do with the book?" I asked, expertly concealing the fact that I didn't know what the hell she was talking about.

"Um… you know…" Ui stammered. "I assumed, with the whole 'wasteland survival' stuff…"

"You understand the title?" I asked cautiously.

"Well… yes," Ui admitted. "Some of our older works are in English, so I picked up a lot of the language as I translated them." She averted her eyes. "Just… just don't ask me to speak it…"

"I see," I said, leaving it at that. What exactly would I even do, anyway? Threaten her with silence? Ui didn't seem like the type of person who gets out much, much less spread rumors about the Wasteland. Not that she'd even be able to pick up much from a mere book title.

"I think I'm done, for the most part…" Ui said. "There's just one part I want to ask about…"

"Yeah?"

"The preface is heavily damaged, to the point where some portions are likely unreadable. I could try my hand at repairing it… if that's alright with you."

Ui showed me the page in question. It was rather barebones as far as prefaces go, but it still served a purpose in introducing the author, co-author, and where it was written. The page itself looked worse for wear, with blackened parts that I'm pretty sure were from plasma burns.

"Be my guest," I said, deeming the preface to be the least incriminating part of the text.

Nodding intently, Ui began patching up the parts of the page that were burnt away, taking care to preserve the text as much as possible. Eventually, she addressed, "Sensei, may I have your input?"

"On?"

"Here." Ui pointed toward a portion of the preface where the damage was the heaviest. In the middle of the text was a small hole in the page. "I was able to restore the Assistant Author, Moira Brown's name, but the Lead Author and Subject Matter Expert's name is, well… absent. As this book is not native to Kivotos, there's nothing I could use to cross-reference the name… well, except you."

"No problem." I leaned down and grasped the quill Ui offered, writing the name down onto a spare piece of blank parchment.

"Hmm…" Ui hummed as she mouthed the name. "I guess there's a slight onomatological overlap between Trinity and Washington DC, huh?"

"Beats me. I've never been to DC." And thank heavens for that. It was relatively well-known that, even with that person's help, the ruins of DC continued to be an irradiated hellhole that most caravans and travelers didn't bother trying to traverse. The Enclave and Super Mutants being largely gone from the area didn't magically make the place livable, and the Brotherhood of Steel wasn't exactly one to care much about what happened to the people beyond its sphere.

"I suppose that's fair…" Ui said. She entered the name onto a typewriter and printed out a small piece of paper, which she then patched the hole with. After a few more touch-ups, Ui put the book together as easily as assembling a gun, then held it out for me.

"Um… here, Sensei…" Ui said. "It's admittedly a bit patchwork, but I think it'll last for several decades if you take care of it."

"Thanks," I said as I took the book. Patchwork was selling it incredibly short; the book looked better than when I found it, which I didn't believe was possible.

"No… thank you," Ui said, smiling tenderly. "... For entrusting me with your child."

"?!" I nearly tripped over nothing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa. What?"

"Eh? W-was it something I said?" Ui stammered confusedly.

"That part about a child?"

"Your book… Your child…" Ui clarified, as if I were the one who said something strange.

"... Oh." So she refers to books as children, huh. Strange personality quirk, but ultimately on brand with the rest of Kivotos' weirdness.

"W-what did you think I meant?"

"Nothing, nothing," I quickly said; never had I been more glad to clear up a misunderstanding in my life. "Now, about that other book…"

---

Ui tended to her lukewarm americano as she bade Sensei farewell from the Old Library. She watched with no small amount of trepidation as he slipped their three children into his bag; the Big Book of Science she'd personally bound taking up twice the amount of space as the other two.

She reasoned with herself that Sensei needed the Big Book of Science for his teaching, thus he'd take extra special care of it. But just to make sure, she'd have to follow up with Sensei in the future. If it meant leaving her sanctuary to check up on them at Schale, so be it.

The Justice Task Force guard, who remained indoors after the second false alarm, scrambled to open the door for Sensei. After he walked through the doorway and into the oppressive light of the sun, she followed him, and Ui caught the tail end of their conversation as they left.

"Thank you."

"No problem..."

"By the way, what's your name?"

"You… want to know my name?"

"That's not a problem, is it?"

"Oh, not at all!" The guard smiled happily. "My name is-"

The door to the Old Library shut behind them with a groaning kerchunk, and Ui hastily made sure to lock it this time to prevent any further… surprises. Sighing as the solitude of her library was restored, Ui shuffled back to her desk, thoughts of her isolation from outsiders and their outrageous ways putting her at ease.

… Well, she supposed Sensei wasn't that bad; he was certainly nowhere near the level as most other outsiders, at any rate. While it was true that he let his child reach such a level of neglect and decay, he also said that he didn't have the resources for proper book preservation. This may or may not be an excuse on his part, but either way, Ui would take it upon herself to show him the way. She'd see with her own eyes whether he valued the Wasteland Survival Guide as much as he said he did.

Ui sat down at her desk and put away the materials she'd used on Sensei's book. She closed her eyes pensively.

What a curious child that was.

Ui had done her absolute best to keep her eyes from straying while repairing it, but she couldn't help but pick up a few words out of her peripheral vision; the curse of being a seasoned reader, she supposed. She had no idea what a Mirelurk, Ghoul, Rad-X, or Arlington was, but Sensei was quite insistent on his privacy, and so she wasn't keen on asking Sensei about those things.

Nor would she ask about the other strange things she had noticed, such as the paper being around 210 years old, give or take a few years, despite the ink print itself being relatively recent.

Very curious child, indeed.

---

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

"Onee-chan."

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

"Hey, Onee-chan."

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

"Onee-chan!"

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

"Ugh, give me a break…"

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Midori reached around her sister and ran her hand across the controller she held, sabotaging her sister's skill rotation.

"MOMOI!"

"Ahhh!"

Tap, tap, tap! Tap, tap, tap!

"NOOOOOOO!" Momoi wailed as, despite her best efforts, her character was engulfed in gouts of fire, leaving only a smoldering black crisp in its place. 'GAME OVER' flashed across the screen, accompanied by a pitiful little tune. "What the heck gives, Midori?!"

"Sorry. But I've been trying to call you for the past five minutes-"

"It can't be that important, can it?"

"It… kinda is, yeah."

"Can't it wait until after double XP weekend?"

"Onee-chan, it's Friday."

"Did I stutter?" Momoi pressed the button to respawn. "By the by, this dungeon would be a lot easier to explore if you joined me, Midori."

"Um… yeah. About that. Don't you think you're forgetting something?"

Momoi cocked her head at Midori. "We have two hours until our login streaks break?"

"Oh, shoot, that's right…" Midori murmured. She didn't really play that gacha game much anymore, but she couldn't bring herself to quit. The free summons Midori got at the end of each week were just too good to miss out on- "Wait, that's not it!"

"Then what could we possibly be forgetting?"

"The deadline!"

Momoi paused for a few seconds. "Oh, that. Chillax Midori, we still have some time until she-who-must-not-be-named is supposed to check on us. We'll just scrape together something pretty-looking before she arrives, like always."

If memory served Midori correctly, that plan tended to backfire if Yuuka were to press for further details… which she always did. "Procrastination is exactly how we end up in this mess every single time, though."

Momoi shook her head insistently. "Don't fall into that trap, Midori. What you're witnessing here is the muse of an artist at work!"

"Oh?" Midori said curiously.

"Mm-hm! That's what Miss-Nags-a-Lot doesn't understand; that every activity performed in this room - every game we play - goes toward fueling our inspiration for our craft! After all…" Momoi continued cheerfully. "How are we supposed to create enjoyable games if we ourselves don't enjoy games?"

"I mean, I don't disagree, but…" Midori said. "If we don't make some headway soon…"

"The drive will come to us when it comes to us," Momoi said, to which Midori could only sigh.

Midori could always start the rough drafts for her illustrations herself, but she found it difficult to visualize characters and scenes without a sense of narrative or the general plot. Conversely, Momoi found it difficult to envision scenarios to write without visual feedback. It was very much a chicken or the egg scenario that held them back from their work. Unfortunately for them, neither the chicken nor the egg seemed to want to come into being. Yuzu helped shake up ideas between the two every now and then, but there was only so much creative input she could offer, being the group's only programmer.

Midori collapsed onto her futon, giving up for the time being, all the while resisting the tantalizing urge to participate in that juicy double XP event. She had a bad feeling about Yuuka's upcoming visit that she just couldn't shake; Yuuka seemed really ticked off last time, and if she were to see that they've made no progress whatsoever, who knows what would happen. Spontaneous closure of the club, perhaps. To make matters worse, there was still the issue of the missing prerequisite fourth member, and their recruitment posters hadn't any takers, probably because the Game Development Department had earned the reputation of being petty troublemakers.

It was an all-around bad situation, and it was one that Midori definitely didn't know how to deal with on her own.

Taking out her phone, Midori attempted to log into her gacha game, only to find that it was on maintenance. Typical. Unsatisfied, Midori scrolled through the articles of Canny News in restless boredom. It was only until she switched to Millennium's native news network that she came across something interesting.

"Huh."

"What's up?" Momoi said.

"Looks like Sensei's coming to our school for the next Millennium Seminar."

"Ehh? No way." Momoi maneuvered her game character to a safe place and then sidled up next to Midori.

"A brief overview on introductory science topics… All students welcome, pre-registration now open. Thirty-seven out of thirty-seven seats remaining," Midori read off the article description. That was pretty cool, but neither Midori nor Momoi really struggled all that much with science. In fact, Midori was fairly certain that having a decent grasp on science was basically mandatory for studentship at Millennium, so there wasn't really any reason to attend-

"Hey, Midori, let's sign up!" Momoi chirped.

"Eh?" Midori turned to her sister. She was somewhat surprised that something school-related managed to take her attention away from her games. "What for? Our grades are fine."

Momoi tapped her index fingers together furtively. "Well, maybe not because of our grades…"

"...?"

Sensing her sister's confusion, Momoi said, "Remember last time she-who-cows-even-the-gods visited? She was acting pretty weird, wasn't she?"

Midori was pretty nervous back then, but now that she looked back on it, Yuuka was acting pretty weird. She kept checking her phone every minute or so, as if she were anticipating or hoping for a text or call. And then there was that moment when Yuuka got all awkward the moment the topic moved to where she'd been the past week…

"Yeah, now that you mention it," Midori admitted.

"Only now that I mention it?" Momoi teased. "C'mon, we've played the same dating sims. You can see the flags just like I do."

Fighting off the slight annoyance she felt upon seeing her twin's smug face, Midori said, "Okay, so where are you going with this?"

"All I'm saying is that we should get to know Sensei a bit. Might come in handy sometime, you know? Especially if we just so happened to invite him to our clubroom on the day Yuuka is supposed to evaluate us…"

Midori could only shake her head as she played out Momoi's devious plan in her head. Given how she acted last time, it was all but guaranteed that Yuuka would go easy on the Game Development Department the moment Sensei was watching. But still, getting in touch with Sensei for a reason like that felt… wrong.

She bit her lip as she unsurely glanced back at her phone, rereading the time of Sensei's visit to make sure the dates lined up. Her eyes widened.

"Oh, crud!"

"What's wrong?"

"There's only three seats available!" Midori said frantically.

"What?!" Momoi exclaimed, getting out her phone and unlocking it. "But the registrations just opened like two minutes ago! Hurry, Midori, grab a spot!"

Midori quickly tapped the button to register and, thanks to her student information already being in the system, only needed to press yes to confirm. She sighed in slight relief once she made it in… which quickly turned to dread the moment she saw the number of seats open.

Zero out of thirty-seven.

"Aw, what the heck? Just as I press the button, some loser goes and takes my spot?!" Momoi complained. "Queues suck, whether in MMOs or IRL."

"What do we do now, Onee-chan?" Midori nervously asked.

"We?" Momoi smiled at Midori in a manner that was probably meant to be reassuring but only came off as pitying. Or mourning. "Guess you have to attend, huh?"

"Me? Alone?!"

"Nah, you got thirty-six other students with you!"

"Thirty-six other strangers!" Midori exclaimed. The only reason she was going to go through with this in the first place was because she'd get to go with Momoi. But now that she'd be alone with a bunch of other students… and Sensei…

"... What do I say to Sensei?" Midori asked.

"I dunno. Just get on his good side, I guess."

"How do I do that?"

"Use your charm!"

"My… charm?"

"Yeah!"

"What makes you think I have charm?"

"Because I have it!"

Midori simply stared at her sister doubtfully.

"And since I have it, you have to as well! Y'know, since we're basically twins!"

"We're literally twins."

"Even better!" With that, Momoi moved back to her cushion and grabbed her controller. "C'mon, Midori. Let your future self deal with the future; for now, the Holy Kingdom needs our help."

Midori found herself wondering just how Momoi could be so nonchalant about this when she remembered that this was Momoi. She was never one that would get swept up in details, and for that Midori envied her somewhat.

This wasn't just any classroom she'd be attending, it'd be one filled with students from across the city. If she made a fool of herself, she'd be the laughingstock of the city! And that wasn't even taking Sensei into account. He was all but a celebrity in Kivotos, and she was just some geek from a single failing club in one of the largest schools in existence.

Furthermore, everything she'd seen of Sensei from the media depicted Sensei as this diligent, no-nonsense sort of teacher. It was said that he didn't even need a halo to put misbehaving students in their place; that was why he carried around twice his own weight in guns and armor.

Would a person like that even like video games…?

"Don't you worry about a thing, Midori," Momoi said, as if reading her mind. "Everyone likes games!"

"Everyone likes games…" Midori whispered.

Maybe Momoi was onto something. Midori'd dug this grave for herself already; she'd just have to lie in it when the time came.

Intent on drowning out her worrisome thoughts, Midori picked up her controller.

Right now, the Holy Kingdom needed her help.