Library System Reset: Overdue: A Magical Library LitRPG Adventure, page 40
Quinn glanced from Harish to Siliqua to Milaro and nodded. "But it’s fixable?”
“We think so.” Siliqua said softly.
Well, that would have to do for now. Quinn took a breath to steady herself. “Okay, but the doors will open soon."
"We know." Milaro reached over and patted her shoulder. "It's okay. We can do this."
With that, the three of them left and Quinn turned back to the console, and its very obvious timer.
Library system ready to open.
Commencing: 1 hour 42 minutes.
45
OPENING DAY
Library of Everywhere Ready to Open
Commencing: 12 minutes.
The assistants finished their orientation and filed into the main hall of the Library, chattering amongst each other. The sound echoed through the stone structure, lending it life.
Quinn wondered if the Library of Everywhere had the same rule about talking as the libraries on Earth.
Go check them over for anything that might hint they're working with the serpensiril. Quinn directed the thought to Aradie, who launched off her shoulder with a soft hoot. The majestic night owl swooped around the group, and Quinn felt, more than saw, the feed of vague images the bird shot back to her.
Nothing in their thoughts was the message those feelings conveyed. It wasn't a perfect all-clear, but it did give Quinn a little more confidence in the new assistants.
All excited. Aradie sounded amused by the last visual influx sent to Quinn's mind.
Quinn smiled as the owl settled back on her perch and hooted softly in Quinn's ear. "Thanks, girl," she said, meaning it.
All the assistants gathered around the desk expectantly, and she realized that they probably all had the countdown in the corner of their vision, too.
"Three minutes to go," Malakai said, leaning against the check-in counter on the inside, joining her as she watched the front doors. "What are you doing?"
"Pointlessly waiting while I watch the timer tick down," she said. To be fair, she hadn't been doing that for the whole two hours. She'd been scouring the system, and attempting to understand several more of its functions, and how restocking supplies worked. Not to mention how the golems that would be complete in about six hours were supposed to function outside of the Library in order to retrieve those supplies.
Why did gathering golems take so much time to make? Although it did occur that slowing down the process probably helped prolong their current power levels. Misha had likely thought of this.
"Thirty seconds," Malakai said, pulling Quinn out of her musings.
"I can see the numbers too. You don't need to count it down for me," she snapped, painfully aware of the time that remained.
"Really?" Malakai said, a smug grin on his face.
"Yes, really." But she sighed as she couldn't help noticing the fifteen move to fourteen and so on.
Suddenly Milaro was there as well.
"Well, are we excited?" he said, and immediately started counting down. "Five, four, three, two, one…”
A pulse echoed through the entire Library, hitting Quinn directly in the chest along with everybody else as she looked around. The sensation shook them slightly, not knocking them off their feet or anything, but enough that equilibrium became a problem.
The Library is open.
The words flashed in cursive script across the air in front of the door. Large enough for everyone inside to see.
Quinn watched the large double entrance doors with such anticipation that she could barely stand still.
She watched, and she watched it some more.
Nothing happened.
The door didn't open.
No one entered the Library.
So Quinn swiveled, and turned around and looked at the rest of the Library. No doors, no notifications telling her doors in different sections had opened. No announcement of any returns, any books, any people, anybody entering the Library who wasn't already there.
Quinn wasn't exactly sure what she was expecting when the Library countdown finished, and the doors were officially opened to everybody in the known universe who had access to the Library.
However, she did know that she wasn't expecting nothing.
She sighed. "That was really anticlimactic," she said out loud.
"The Library opened. What did you expect? People are going to A, not believe it at first, and B, have to find their books before they can return them," Milaro said, even though he grinned fondly at her. "Really, Quinn, instant gratification? It's not actually a thing."
“You’ve obviously never spent any time on Earth,” she said, scowling at him.
Another five minutes passed in silence. Milaro’s self-satisfied smile remained, making Quinn sort of want to smack it off him.
"I guess there are other things for us to do," she said, finally realizing that watched doors did not open.
"To be fair," Malakai said, crossing his arms, "I don't see how people could instantly be here, right?"
"Yeah, probably. I don't even understand how the return of books works. Like, how would they even know? What if people have died? Where are the books?" Quinn started firing off questions and then stopped herself. There were other things to do before she dug into that stuff. In the grand scheme of things, she just needed to know how to check the books in once they got here. Not to mention, she had to assign some task delegation. "Assistants, listen up."
Milaro chuckled, standing back and watching her work.
"Okay," Quinn said, clapping her hands together, she turned toward all of the assistants. "Let's send a few of you to help Narilin. I think Jim and Bob should go and help Narilin with the book hospital. You have multiple hands; you will be able to help her get on top of the initial influx she has amazingly well."
"Righto," they yelled out in unison. Quinn couldn't help but smile. Then she turned to the others, determined to allocate them something to do, so everybody wasn't just sitting around twiddling their thumbs.
She frowned for a moment thinking up what else needed help. "Danio, Finn—you two go work with Cook. It’ll help them get a jump start on their list. They need help cultivating herbs and plants, for when we open the culinary branch."
Those two only nodded before trotting and scampering off toward the kitchen area. Next, she turned to Geneva and Eric. Considering they could both fly, she felt it made sense to keep them together. "Geneva and Eric, please go assist Farrow with the worms, night owls, and silverfish for now."
Geneva raised an eyebrow. "You want us to aid with the production of tome ink?"
Quinn nodded. "I think Farrow could do with help, to make sure we can begin repairs on and recreation of tomes as soon as possible."
Eric let out a sigh. "I'll try to focus on my work." The words were begrudging, like it was going to take him a lot of effort to focus and not muck around.
"Thanks," Quinn said, and watched as the last two flew off to join Farrow.
“You realize we’re going to have to let them rest too, right? We can’t all work day in and day out. We’ll need to organize shifts,” Malakai drawled, his eyes smiling as he focused on her.
Quinn pondered that for a moment. “True. I’ll get to work on that shortly.” She had no idea why she hadn’t thought of shiftwork in the first place. It seemed so obvious now.
She turned around and looked at the massive double entrance doors again, sighing.
Malakai piped up. "You really need to get over that. It's not going to happen immediately."
She wanted to say, “But why not? Why? Why isn't it working yet?” To be honest, she was eager to see who and what would walk through that door. What books did they have? Were they surprised that the Library still existed? She had so many questions and a plethora of things she wanted it to be.
She sighed again. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. It's probably a good idea to do something instead of wasting the whole day." No matter how hard she tried, even she could hear the pout in her voice. It wasn't the front she wanted to present to the people she now technically worked with and was responsible for.
She let out another sigh.
"You really need to stop doing that," Milaro said.
"Well, I need to do something," she grumbled. Which was true. And there were definitely things., other than sighing, she could do.
Quinn flexed her hand and willed a ball of ice into it. Theory and practice however were two entirely different matters.
"Ow," she said, as ice quickly encased her entire hand, and she had to break out of it by moving her fingers. Luckily, it had only been a thin sheet of ice. Otherwise, she would have run into some trouble.
Milaro laughed. It was a full-throated laugh, like nothing subtle about it. He was really being entertained at her expense. On a frequent basis it seemed.
"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. "Thanks."
Milaro shrugged. "You could just ask. I've been using magic for centuries. Millennia, actually. I'm quite certain I could teach you a thing or two."
Quinn paused her initial reaction, genuinely curious. "But isn't your power like a type of electricity?"
"It's called electroflame." Milaro preened a little, as if he was extremely proud of it. "It's a mixture of two magics. Became its own affinity, actually, thanks to me."
"Seriously?" Quinn said, impressed.
"Technically, I could teach you my abilities, but you have a definite water smell about you."
Quinn shrugged. "I guess that makes sense. They always say something like seventy or eighty percent of the human body is made up of water."
Milaro raised an eyebrow at that comment. "You don't say. Wouldn't you think water would be the last thing you'd want to master?"
"Ice-wise, I don't know." Quinn shrugged. "I mean, doesn't it make sense to maybe know how to resist being turned into an icicle?"
"Valid point." Milaro tapped his chin, obviously thinking.
Quinn smiled. She liked making valid points. "But aren't I supposed to have all the affinities?"
Milaro nodded absentmindedly. "Yes, but that’s obviously to provide overt compatibility for the Library. It doesn't mean your body won’t be more partial to specific ones."
“Well, then," she said, suddenly impatient. "Teach me."
Milaro raised an eyebrow. "Is that any way to speak to a potential mentor?"
"You're already supposed to be teaching me mind magic, which we've conveniently neglected, so you've been my mentor a while now." She crossed her arms and awaited his retort.
He laughed. "To be fair, you've been busy, and we can't exactly lock you in that time chamber you wished for, can we?"
"I swear, anime lied to me," she muttered. "Anyway, how about you go over some ice techniques with me? Or even basic techniques? Wait, if you have like electric fire, then are you even able to help me work with ice?"
"Working on basic techniques is something we need to do anyway. No matter the element or affinity, there are always basics," Milaro said.
Malakai hopped up to sit on the outer edge of the check-in desk and crossed his arms. "This’ll be good. He’s the worst teacher out there."
Quinn chided him gently. "I don't know. I actually think he's pretty good. He explained some mind stuff to me, and the cooking, and helped me absorb things. Like dude, be nice to your dad."
"He's not my father, he's my grandfather." The words came out clipped, and there was suddenly something off about Malakai's stance. He was defensive with the way he shrugged his shoulders up, and Quinn made a note to never accidentally make a comment about his parents again.
"Anyway, can we get started?" She turned to Milaro to ask.
Harish chose that moment to step into view. "Actually, we need to run down a list of book categories that, when they arrive, cannot currently be checked in. We have narrowed down what we think to be most of the affected areas and should be able to get them cleansed in a few days."
Siliqua piped up, "I think perhaps a week, or two, would be a better estimate of time. I'd prefer to be finished early than have to go over time." She glanced at her husband with a little bit of irritation.
Quinn sighed. "Okay, just hit me with them."
"Fire magic, air magic, any of the related affinities or combined affinities, including yours, Milaro." Harish turned to him.
Milaro had the grace to blush slightly. "I wasn't about to get out any of the books on it. I wrote them all. I know them."
"Just checking," Harish said, before continuing. "Combat hand-to-hand, combat fire, air, and electricity masteries."
Quinn raised an eyebrow. "That's an awful lot of books…”
"But wait," Siliqua said, "there's more!”
There was no mirth in her words. In fact, she seemed quite perturbed as she continued the list. "Horticulture, specifically in-ground growth. That covers a lot. Right now, the skills Farrow has are going to have to suffice until we can cleanse that subject area." Siliqua concentrated on whatever was written in front of her with a frown on her face.
"Also the regenerative culinary recipes, which, as you know, are extremely important. Cook has access to several hundred recipes, luckily, included in his creation module, so you shouldn't have to worry about anything for the immediate future. However, do not touch the rest of the culinary regenerative magic. And lastly, ancient advanced protective spells. I don't believe you're up to that area level yet, but you can't check those in. Nor can you lend any books in any of these areas out."
"So just a few things, then," Quinn said, a hint of sarcasm creeping in despite her best efforts. "Okay, so how do people know to bring the books back? I know they’ll know, but everything’s been really vague. I want the details."
"Lynx probably thought the information you got would tell you what you needed to know," Milaro answered.
"The information was probably expecting me to come from somewhere linked to the Library already," she muttered, thinking it the only logical explanation. “As it is, I know less than anyone else in the universe who could have possibly been picked.”
"True. I thought you'd be able to look things up yourself because everyone else has been able to," Milaro said. He seemed in a worse mood than he had been originally. Maybe it was the comment about his electric-fire magic, or the confusion about how much basic information she still needed.
"I know that an alert goes out about the book. I know there's like a pulse or something that should alert people who have the book. But what about, well, I mean, a lot of time has passed, and we've already found one dead person whose book had been handed down. So how does that work?" Quinn tried to sort through the confusion in her head.
"Well, the book itself is tuned to the Library. So when the pulse goes out, it will let the person know who borrowed it that it needs to be returned. Failing that, allows for the person to whom it was handed down through blood lineage to know the book needs to be returned. Failing that, if everybody in that bloodline is dead, which could happen," Siliqua explained very eloquently, "then the book itself will act as a beacon for the librarian to go out to fetch it at some stage, or, depending on its level of magical density, the book could try to make its way home. They aren't usually the best at finding their way back, which is why we have to go and retrieve them sometimes."
"That makes sense," Quinn said. Even though if the books had a homing signal, why didn't they just come back in the first place? Although, it’s not like books had arms to open doors. "I take it it probably requires magic to come back, correct?"
"Exactly," Siliqua said, seemingly highly enthusiastic about the subject. "Because the books have been so far away from the core and the Library itself for so long, well, it basically means that their connection with the Library isn’t as strong as it should be until it reconnects. The Library on the other hand doesn’t have enough power to just pull all the errant books home right now. So, we’d have to locate them and then send out someone to fetch them and bring them back. If they don’t have any familial connection to the original borrower anymore…”
Quinn pinched the bridge of her nose. It was way too complicated. She was about to ask another question when an alarm sounded through her head, although maybe it was just a warning message or a notification.
It rang like a trill of bells in her mind, and she realized it didn't sound throughout the whole Library, but she did notice Milaro and Malakai also seemed to have heard it because they were looking around. And then she saw the notification in front of her.
Library doors in sections A84, C95, and B7 have opened.
The Library has patrons.
46
PATRONS, PATRONS EVERYWHERE
Quinn grew up knowing the saying “All roads lead to Rome.” Except in this case, it appeared all doors lead to the check-in desk of the Library.
She gaped around as several different species, ones she hadn't yet met, walked into the room. Given that Lynx said this was a Universal Library of Everywhere, she took that to mean she'd likely rarely see the same species twice, at least to start with.
The first patrons that inched their way toward the desk, wonder written all over their faces, were small and insectoid-like—maybe three feet tall. They had slender wings folded out behind them like a butterfly, yet they looked very similar to a grasshopper, right down to the multifaceted eyes and the antennae sprouting from the top of their heads. Their hands, however, were less claw-like and more three-fingered. Their eyes clicked in that insectoid way, flashing through different lenses as they observed everything around them. She could practically feel the wonderment emanating from them in waves.
They were simply beguiled.
She had to admit the Library presented a beautiful picture to visitors. Majestic columns, rows of tidy seating and books now. She could only imagine their shock if they'd seen it a week ago.
There were four of these visitors in all, and they each held a few books. It looked like they weren't the strongest creatures, and that's when Quinn remembered she could inspect them, for want of a better word.
