Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (18/?) WiP 1 (Patreon)

Hey everyone! Here's the Work in Progress for Chapter 18 I hope you guys enjoy! :D 

There I was, my gaze locked with a polite looking fox that continually cocked its head from one side to the other. Causing those two, large, fluffy ears to sway back and forth with each and every swing.

“I erm.” I looked to Thacea, expecting her to take the charge but given how her eyes shot back a you’re on your own now kind of expression, I knew it was my time to shine.

“I’ll be brief, I’m just looking for a concise, succinct explanation on two subjects. One: The Ritual of Duplicity, and Two: Nulls. With the latter more than likely having something to do with the former.” I spoke with as clear of an enunciation as I could through my vocoders.

The fox perked up at that, not at the two subjects I’d brought up in particular, but at something else.

“Speak, speak again!” It leaped up at me, its tail wagging furiously now as it jumped up and down on its hind legs, placing both of its forepaws against my armored knee; using it as a brace as it remained upright.

“Erm, I’m looking for a brief explanation on the ritual of duplicity and nulls?” I asked again, not really getting the fox’s overeagerness here, but very much willing to go along with its sudden burst of overexcitability.

The ball of fluffy white and orange fur chuckled in absolute joy anytime I spoke, cackling wildly in jubilation, as it leaped up at me yet again. This time, it managed to just reach my neckline, as it now dangled precariously with both of its forepaws holding the lip of my chestplate and both of its hind legs kicking at the air in a futile attempt to gain more purchase. Despite this, it still managed to get even closer, as it used the tip of its snout to sniff at my vocoder, before gently booping it once, then again, then several more times for good measure.

“Oh my, oh dear, oh my! Oh how novel! Oh how new! Oh what a breath of fresh air!” It kept giggling, cackling even as it kept booping the small speaker unit affixed to my vocoder in rapid succession.

“Oh my dear, I am so sorry, I never quite caught your name! Please! Your name! I must have your name!” It excitedly shuddered.

“Erm… I’m Emma Booker. Cadet Emma Booker.” I spoke with a clear air of uncertainty.

“Emma Booker, Cadet, cadet of what? Of where? Which realm? What civilization? What species? What peoples? What culture? Oh. Ah, a commoner too! How exciting!” The damn fluffball was on the verge of a seizure at that point as I decided to peel it away from my chestplate, holding it with two hands underneath its forelegs all the while it beamed back the biggest smile I’d ever seen. Its eyes were practically filled to the brim with a euphoric satisfaction I’d never even seen before on a human, let alone a fucking fox.

“Hey buddy, you gotta relax. Please? I don’t wanna be the reason why a librarian fox seized on library grounds y’know.” I managed out dryly as the fox closed its eyes and increased the breakneck pace of its tail wagging.

“Yes! The new one has given me a name! That shall be my new designation! I am Buddy! Your library assistant!” It yapped out in delight, at which point I noticed tens, no, hundreds of beady little fox-like eyes emerging from around us, all of which seemed to whimper in disappointment, before slinking back into the darkness as quickly as they’d appeared. “However, I am not the librarian! I only speak for them! I am, however, authorized to grant you access within reason! And given your…” It paused, as it used its black little nose to sniff my hands with great enthusiasm. “Uniqueness, I think a deal can be struck!”

“Whoa whoah whoah” I held the fox further away from me now.

“Listen pal, I’m not here to play infobrokerage, I’m here to find answers and-”

“Oh, my apologies for being so brash! Your mere presence here is payment enough for the information you seek! It will be an honor to serve you, Cadet Emma Booker! If you wish for more knowledge in the future we can discuss further exchanges. But for now, I wish to bring you to what you seek, come, come!” The fox somehow managed to wriggle its way out of my hands, landing on its four little feet, committing to a silly little dance before skittering forward urging for us to follow.

And follow we did, as we passed the main concourse and the continuously rotating aisles of books, towards a maze-like arrangement of shelves that took us deeper and deeper into a space that should not have been physically possible. At least, not with the dimensions of the tower we’d seen outside.

My poor EVI had all but given up on making sense of things at this point, the frazzled program had all but been reduced to yelling out error after error message on all matters relating to topography and telemetry, as we delved deeper into the library.

Seeing all of these otherworldly, completely ridiculous and enigmatic approaches to information organization immediately put me in mind of Thalmin’s opinionated stance towards the library.

It was clear now what Thalmin actually meant by how unfair the library was.

If it wasn’t for the fox’s willingness to guide us through this labyrinth, it’d be impossible for you to really gain your bearings, let alone find what it was you were looking for in the first place.

I guess you could technically navigate the library yourself, and that this technically meant that anyone could have access to the library. But that was a technicality that bordered on outright sadistic humor given the sheer scale and nonsensical approach to information organization.

We went from hallways of shelves that looked as if they belonged in some sort of dingy underwater shipwreck, drenched in water and moss, to ones that would’ve fit well in the NAU’s congressional library with its stark minimalism and homage to old world designs. Every single book on display was in varying states of repair and disrepair, though I imagine that a bit of magic was all you needed to actually access anything.

After a good 10 minutes of walking however, we finally reached it.

An unassuming wooden shelf with books stacked atop of one another, unorganized, and in complete disarray.

Next to it, was a desk clearly meant for reading, with a window allowing natural light through, or so I thought. As a quick glance at it from my enhanced optics revealed it wasn’t a window at all but simply some sort of an artificial light fixture that for all intents and purposes mimicked a paned glass window with blindingly bright daylight piercing through it.

“Ritual of duplicity!” The fox jumped up and down, placing a paw on a thick leather bound book which was flung unceremoniously to a desk just adjacent to the shelf. “Aaand nulls!” Another book was pulled out, flying straight to the desk as both books opened on their own volition, flipping through thousands of pages before landing exactly where the relevant information was located. “You requested for a brief, succinct, explanation, I have collated two pages for each!” The little thing yapped proudly, running in circles around me as I couldn’t help myself but to let out a sigh, before kneeling down to pat the thing on the head.