LSRO: Chapter 28 - Helpers (Patreon)

This has to be one of my favorite chapters about the Library.

I truly hope that you enjoy this sight. I know I loved writing it.

~~

Chapter 28

Helpers

Before she could ask another question she got a notification.

Notification
Return Trolley's completed
Status: Active and awaiting orders.

She dismissed the notification's interruption in her train of thought, slotting it in the back of her mind to deal with later. She still had Lynx, Milaro and Dottie with her, and she wasn’t letting a chance like this go.

"What are you doing?" Misha was suddenly standing next to her and Quinn almost peed herself with fright.

She cleared her throat as she composed herself, trying to ignore the badly suppressed giggles from the others. "I didn't hear you come in."

"I didn't announce myself until now," Misha said, very matter-of-factly.

Quinn realized the golem just didn't react. "That's good to know. What can I help you with, Misha?"

"The initial golem contingent is finished."

"It is?" Quinn was surprised, but she guessed they’d all got caught up in chatting for a bit there. She’d found out a lot of information. “Wait so the Return Trolleys and the golems are now functional?”

Misha nodded. "Yes. I would like to introduce you to them. Is that okay?"

"Yes, of course." Quinn couldn't help a sliver of excitement. But these golems took a fraction of the time to create that she’d thought they would.

The supervisor continued. "They will take commands from you, myself, and from Lynx. From my memories, Lynx has changed. Perhaps it was the time alone."

"Lynx is different? How do you mean?" She was curious now, despite how eagerly she wanted to meet the new golems.

“To repeat something new I heard recently,” Lynx piped up. “ I’m standing right here.

Misha’s moon-like eyes blinked slowly as they turned to face him. “It would seem so. Did the Library’s emergency mode injure you?”

Lynx scowled. “No. I’m fully capable of all my functions. Certain aspects just require a process of reactivation.”

“Excellent.” Misha, apparently satisfied by the answer, turned their attention back to Quinn. “Shall we meet the golems then, ma’am?”

"Please don't call me ma'am. Quinn. Call me Quinn." She certainly didn't feel old enough to be a ma'am to anyone.

"Okay, then. Quinn. Registered." The golem's moonlike eyes flashed through a flurry of colors before they continued. "Misha does seem very fitting. I thank you again for my name."

“When are the shelving golems getting here then?” Milaro looked around them, his arms crossed, an expectant expression on his face.

Misha swiveled slightly to look at the elf. “They are incoming.” They raised their hand and clicked their fingers. Except, because they appeared to be made out of a type of liquid-ish metal, there was a clang to the way they clicked.

Like a resounding gong.

Quinn, Milaro, and even Dottie strained themselves to look over the desk in the direction of the sound. All them waited with baited breath.

Lynx, on the other hand, appeared entirely disinterested.

Fog like that from dry ice, billowed around them. It appeared Misha had a flare for the dramatic. An idle thought occured to Quinn. Perhaps it would be a good idea to go and visit the core again now she'd somewhat acclimated to the connection. But the clearing of the fog stole her train of thought, and she gasped softly as the golems stepped into full view.

Now two of them looked exactly like the clay type of golems she had been expecting all along. They were orange-brownish and stood about seven feet tall.

"Oh, fantastic." She breathed out the words, quite fascinated. She meant it too. They moved smoothly, and even though Quinn knew they must weigh a lot, they didn’t make the ground reverberate or anything. Their steps were stealthy.

"These are the cleaning and shelving golems." Misha gestured to the golems as they came to stand in front of the check in desk.

Both Quinn and Milaro leaned over the desk, trying to get a better look at them.

Quinn blurted out a question. "Do they have names?

"One and two?" Misha asked, like they hadn't given it any consideration.

"One and two..." Quinn frowned, while she was sure she heard a snicker from Milaro. She didn't like quantifying things like that. Especially not things that were sort of like people.

"More accurately: Shelving One and Shelving Two." Misha's tone this time sounded certain. Like they’d just come up with an appropriate system designation.

"Okay, Shelving One and Shelving Two." It still didn't feel right though. "Are we not supposed to name them, Misha?"

Misha turned their head and blinked at Quinn several times before answering. "We do not generally name them, no."

"Well, maybe we should think of a name for them. You liked your name." Quinn tried reasoning.

Milaro piped up. “If you name all of your helpers, Quinn, you’re going to have a lot to remember.” His tone was gentle.

“Well, be that as it may, I’d feel weird going around and telling thing one and thing two what to do. Names help me.” She shrugged, not backing down from the idea.

Milaro shrugged right back at her. “Suit yourself.”

“I will.” She resisted the urge to poke her tongue out at him and turned back to Misha. "They look pretty heavy. Will the ladders be able to hold them?"

"Oh they don’t need ladders." Misha's eyes flashed and they gestured toward the golem on the left. "I will show you later in action, but for now: Shelving One, please show the librarian how you will reach the top shelves."

Right in front of her eyes, he literally grew to like twenty feet tall. Quinn gaped. "Okay, I guess he can reach the top shelf then."

Misha actually laughed, although it sounded more like a tinny chuckle. "Yes, he can definitely reach the top of those shelves. Okay, next. This is Cook."

"We have a cook?" Quinn asked, surprised. "Oh wow, so does he take care of plants as well?"

"He can grow and maintain rudimentary ingredients and cook them all to a very palatable level of taste," Misha explained.

The cook was stocky, shorter and more powerful in appearance, about maybe five foot eight. A little bit taller than Lynx, or perhaps about the same size since the manifestation wasn’t always the same. Cook bowed, didn't say anything. It made Quinn wonder what he'd be cooking to need his apparent strength.

"Can they not speak?" Quinn asked.

"Well, they can, but they don't generally speak unless absolutely necessary." Misha replied. Quinn wasn't sure how she felt about that. They seemed very robotic and like they didn't have personalities.

Cook’s eyes, however, followed Quinn’s every move.

They definitely needed names.

"Okay, so that's Cook and next we have our caretaker." Misha continued.

The caretaker was willowy and around the same height as the cook, but not made out of clay or metal. It almost appeared to be wooden-esque, like a carved doll that moved. It was really quite beautiful.

Quinn piped in. "So this guy will take care of the bookworms and the night owls and maybe the silverfish, depending on how recovery goes?"

"I am glad to see Lynx briefed you on this," Misha said. "Anyway, I just wanted to introduce you to the new workers in the library." They clicked their fingers twice and the new golems fell in line. It seemed as if Misha was about to leave. Quinn put out a hand to stop them.

"Wait, I'm going to name them. I'll have names for you by the end of the day. I don't want to have 'caretaker one' and 'shelving one'. I don't operate that way. It makes them seem like they're not part of the library." Quinn said.

For a moment, Misha watched her unblinkingly, unflinchingly with those moon-like eyes. It was like she was calibrating, maybe computing something, understanding whatever it was that she was trying to understand. "I understand. I think that is a very good idea, but keep in mind that eventually there will be hundreds of working golems in these halls. We will await your designations."

Quinn watched as Misha began to lead them away. She was trying to think of something simple, but Tom, Dick, and Harry seemed as though she wasn't putting any thought into it. She did like Tom, though. Tim and Tom maybe for the shelvers. Frankly Cook really fit cook. She was sure Lynx in all his rudimentary naming conventions would approve.

“Wait. Misha!”

The supervisory golem paused with her little procession and glanced back, waiting.

Quinn steeled herself and caught up to the group. “I want to see the Library. I’d like to see it as it comes back to life.” She paused, waiting for a reaction, even though she knew Misha wasn’t overly reactionary.

The golem seemed to consider the statement and then nodded. “It would be a learning experience for you to see how the Library attendants function. Very well. But we will move fast.”

With that, Misha began walking again, and Quinn kept stride with them all. She glanced around, quite fascinated. “Tim and Tom.” She gestured to the two shelving golems.

“Very apt.” Misha agreed.

A notification popped up in Quinn’s vision.

Shelving One renamed to Tim

Shelving Two renamed to Tom

Accept these changes?

Yes. No.

Quinn didn’t think she’d thought Yes at anything so fast since she got there.

As soon as the Yes went into effect, Tim and Tom changed. Not hugely. More in a subtle way. Tim remained at seven feet tall, but his head became smoother, almost as if he were bald. Tom, on the other hand, grew several inches, almost a foot maybe, and his head, while still clay, looked like it had hair carved into it.

They both directed their gaze on Quinn and bowed their heads briefly in what appeared to be acknowledgement. Quinn blinked, and Misha made a sound that resembled a metallic clicking of the tongue.

“It seems they appreciate their new destinations.” the supervisor said.

It took several moments of walking for Quinn to really take in what such a simple thing had done. By naming them, she’d perhaps given them some sort of agency, or identity? She had no clue how magical creatures worked, but these ones already felt special to her.

The little procession made its way to the kitchen. As they walked, Quinn could feel a soft breeze following them. Or perhaps it was more accurate to say: flowing from them to the rest of the Library.

As if a cool breeze was washing away the dust of eons, waking it up from its centuries long slumber.

It felt alive, and empowering.

As they stopped at the kitchen, Cook stepped forward, their eyes surveying the area.

“Hey.” Quinn blurted out, unsure of how else to bring it up. “Would Cook be an okay name for you. It looks like it suits you.”

The cooking golem turned slowly and fixed her with its stare again, before slowly nodding. “Cook.” It pronounced the word with difficulty, a strange foreign aspect to the syllable.

A ripple of power cascaded down from the tip of its head to its toes. Cook grew perhaps an inch, and the muscles refined. The top of their head turned into a chef’s cap, and their face took on slight human definition.

“Cook is acceptable.” Cook said again, and that thin line that was their mouth, spread into the semblance of a slight smile.

Quinn grinned. “Awesome.” She had a feeling she was going to like Cook.

Misha stood watching, an impassive expression on their face. “Is there anything else you need here to make this area function?” they asked the Cook.

Cook shook their head. “No. I will manage.” And with that they made a wave of their hands and Quinn gasped in surprise.

What she could only call magic, because look where they were, circled into the air. It appeared almost like smoke as it wound its way around the food terrariums, and the cooking area. Everything it touched rejuvenated, or began to clean itself.

Quinn knew that the next time she saw the kitchen, it would be like brand new.

“We must move. I must install all of our new helpers into their relevant divisions within a certain time period.” Misha explained as they ushered Quinn and the other three golems out of the kitchen and toward an area Quinn yet to visit.

This was another section to the side of the main Library thoroughfare, just like the kitchen and the sick room. It made Quinn wonder how Malakai was doing in there.

Malakai is sleeping to heal.

Quinn started, at the words scrolling across her vision even as they echoed somehow in her head. It appeared that her connection to the Library was indeed getting stronger. She wasn’t entirely sure she felt comfortable with it knowing everything she thought of.

They’d have to address that soon.

Misha stopped in a very dimly lit room that smelled oddly of both fresh and rotting vegetation. It was warm, almost muggy inside. “This is the bookworm habitat.”

The long and willowy golem stepped forward. Quinn got the sudden impulse to name them Farrow. “Hey!” she called out. “Is Farrow acceptable.”

The golem resembled a living tree, and slowly turned toward her. It inclined its head and another pulse of power washed over it. Their limbs became more defined and their appearance altered to look like they were wearing a long wispy dress. “Farrow is suitable.”

And Quinn knew without a shadow of a doubt that Farrow would take care of everything. She was so dryad like in appearance that Quinn was taken aback.

Raising an eyebrow at Misha, Quinn smiled. “Awesome. I can’t wait to see what you do with the actual bookworms.”

“I shall endeavor to reignite the magical tome creation process.” Farrow bowed, and immediately began working on one of the worm farms.

That just left Misha, Quin, Tim, and Tom.

“Now where to?” Quinn asked, as they made their way back through to the Library proper.

Tim raised an arm and pointed. His gesture encompassed most of the Library. Quinn flashed him a smile and got a nod in response.

So the shelving guys weren’t talkative, but they did seem to want to communicate. That was a plus. It took a couple of minutes, but they finally stood back in the main Library chamber.

Quinn could see so much dust filtering through the light that got in. Just how the shelves were too bare. And many books remained on the floors with their pages torn, their spines cracked. Some of them were ragged, others had bookworm bites…

It was quite pitiful and sad.

Misha stood in the center of the hall and snapped their fingers again.

This time however, the clang took on a deeper, longer tone. And all of a sudden, three carts began rolling out of the front of the Library area toward them.

One of which was Carty. The other two, the new return trolleys.

Quinn grinned at the former. She’d had a soft spot for Carty since he’d schlepped her to her quarters somehow. His strange accent made her somehow like him even more.

“Ready and reporting for duty.” He said. She could imagine him grinning, if he like… had a face.

Come to think of it, how could she always tell Dottie’s mood without an actual mouth and expression. Maybe that was through the core too. It was looking like visiting the core was something she had to do sooner than later.

“Excellent.” Misha made a sweeping gesture, unleashing a ripple magic toward the bookshelves. It was odd. Quinn wasn’t sure if the magic was visible to everyone, or if she could just see the traces of it because she was connected to the filtration system.

But as she watched the effect in front of her eyes, all other train of thought fell by the wayside.

Power wafted off those strands of magic that wove their way around. The trolleys shot out to gather the books as they lifted in the air, righting themselves.

Tim and Tom made their way to the bookshelves, moving quietly and smoothly, hypervigilant about not stepping on pages or books on their way to the shelves. They practically floated.

After a few moments, Quinn realized that the magically zipping back and forth books were being sorted into different piles on the return trolleys and carty. One for books that could be reshelved, which were then ferried to Tim and Tom.

Then another for those that would require repair. And another… for those that were so badly damaged, they’d likely have to be recycled, or put to rest.

The latter gave Quinn an overwhelming sense of melancholy.

But even so, she couldn’t take her eyes off the scene in front of her. It was like all the childhood magical stories she’d read rolled into one.

It made her happy and sad at the same time, and fiercely protective. She needed to become strong enough so that this never happened again.

A long droning tone filled the Library. Soft, and underlying, but commanding at the same time.

Core system: refiltered.

Refined calibration: necessary

Librarian summoned: Core Room

Quinn sighed. She guessed that was as far as she was going right now. She’d put off the getting stronger, but not for long.

~~

Eeeee making the Library come to life? Having the helpers begin to evolve - it's just so much fun. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Onto the next one!

Much love

KT