LSRO: Chapter 40 - (Patreon)

Tadaaaaaa

And here is the info you've all been waiting for. Some of it at least. 

Hope you enjoy the chapter! Have a happy Turkey Day if you celebrate.

~~

Chapter 40

Breakdown

Quinn wasn't sure what she was expecting upon the revelation that Lynx had no idea what was wrong, how it had happened, or how it could be rectified, but it wasn't complete and utter silence. She glanced around at Dottie, Malachi, and his grandfather. All of them were simply staring slack-jawed, as far as Quinn could tell.

Once she mastered her most recent texts, she was going to find ones on mind reading.

Quinn, on the other hand, felt like her mind was completely and utterly open to the possibility that something had gone inherently wrong, but that it could be sorted out. Her connection with the library was oddly calm, she sensed no panic, just an idle curiosity. It seemed that the library itself wasn't too concerned, at least not yet, whereas Lynx seemed to be taking the information a little harder.

Granted, he was the one who had to interface with everyone, for want of a better word.

She didn't want to repeat what he'd said. She didn't want to ask him to repeat what he'd said. But at the same time, there were a few points that Quinn wasn't clear on. "Okay, so it's not working in the way you're used to, which means you're not functioning at peak capacity. So the things that you've forgotten to tell me or forgotten about, like the time disparity when we went to the Highlands, those sorts of things, those are because the system isn't working correctly. Is that right?"

"Yes and no. It's more than that. I cannot access elements of the system that I've always had access to. It's like they're corrupted, or how can I put it? It's like there's something in the system, like a sludge, causing it to stick together. I can't pry my way into it." He nodded, as if he was reaffirming that description for himself. He looked up expectantly, right at Quinn, like she should suddenly have some amazing solution for him.

She didn't, but she wasn't about to sarcastically dismiss him. He didn't need that right now. None of them did. "Look, I don't know how things were supposed to work before, but I think we could start by maybe making a list of exactly what it is that you can no longer do or gain access to."

"That's perfect," Milaro piped up. "Do that. So do you have exact knowledge of what it is that you're missing access to?"

Lynx perked up a little bit. "Well, yes, mostly. The functions and the system allocations that I'm missing. Just give me a moment." His double eyelids flickered in and out of each other, blinking in that odd way.

Quinn glanced around and wondered how much time she had, and if she could balance a plate of food on his head this time without him noticing. But his focus was already coming back.

Damn it, she thought. I'll have to do that another time.

This time, Lynx seemed to take a slightly different path to process the information he was trying to access. His form wavered, and for a few seconds, he diminished down to what almost looked like a crocodile before morphing back into human form through that of the lynx. Quinn occasionally wished he'd just revert back to being a talking cat. It had been adorable.

Finally, he solidified enough and began listing out.

Links A542 Edition Category F manifestation has processed the following information.

Manifestation lacks access to the following areas:

Recollection - holes in past data. Including events, locations, and items.

Further defined: Type of texts required are not all clear, occurrences jumbled, locations hazy.

Dimensional Locators not fully functional. Precise drop off points unattainable. Visitation locations will require specific buildings. No wilderness drop-offs for the immediate future.

Calibration and reconfiguration of files and history must be established. Errors in memory amalgamation.

Retention of specifics is fragmented. Memory and functional assessments require attunement.

Connection to Lynx A542 is tentative, lacks cohesivity, and is obscured.

Connection to Librarian Quinn, designation LA342, not fully functional, mind meld not complete.

Communication system is currently in critical mode, closed to outsiders, preventative measures sought.

The words came out of him slightly robotic and less human than she was used to. It was as if he was just rattling off something he'd read, almost like a robot.

Not to mention the words hung in front of her eyes like a visible bad smell.

Quinn didn't like how long the list was. But the good thing about lists was that they always gave you somewhere to start. Both Milaro and Malakai looked slightly shell-shocked, and Dottie was actually shaking. Quinn pushed herself up from the couch and walked over, approaching Lynx. She waved her hand in front of his face and he blinked rapidly before focusing on her.

"Sorry, that was a lot of information to organize into a cohesive list," he said, cocking his head to one side. "There's something in the system that wasn't there before, or at least, I couldn’t sense it. And I've got to figure out a way to clean it out. It just feels extremely elusive."

She pondered exactly how to phrase her next words. "Which means somebody beside you managed to insert something into the collective stream of the Library, right? How is that even possible?"

Milaro looked very shaken up, somehow even paler than usual. "That can't be possible. You don't operate like that."

Lynx sighed. "I know this, and you know this. And sadly, the more I discover, the more obvious it is becoming to me that this was done by somebody I trusted."

Quinn did a double-take. Somebody Lynx trusted? Did he mean it could have been a member of the Library or even a librarian? Surely not. That would devastate the manifestation. And besides, who would kill themselves just to pull one over on the Library?

She kept a close eye on Lynx as he continued his conversation with Milaro.

"Do you really think she…” Milaro let the question hang in the air.

Lynx shook his head. “I don't know. All of those memories from that period, they're distorted and fragmented. They're not cohesive enough for me to get a read on. I know I can restore it. I just have to. I need more energy, and I need several of the more advanced books back." There was a deflated quality about the way he spoke now.

"Okay," Milaro said, his voice heavy with determination. "I will aid you. I will fetch you help."

Lynx actually flashed a half-hearted smile. "Thank you, my friend,"

Quinn thought maybe he'd hit a low point. He seemed so bewildered and not the same Lynx she'd met when she first arrived. Gone was the expectant and mostly cocky cat who'd greeted her and in his place was a slightly lost library manifestation.

It was as if everything he'd been aiming for had somehow completely and utterly fallen apart.

She clapped her hands, disliking the sight of the downtrodden library. "Listen, let's just focus on one thing at a time. Just one item in the list at a time. We take it, item by item, and we will figure out ways to circumvent it. Surely there are magical books that can do that, or magical people. Are there any species that would be, like, well-versed in any of these sorts of things?"

Quinn was really trying to be proactive, but the truth was, she knew nothing about this universe. Almost surreptitiously, Malakai handed her a book. She glanced down. 'The Universe Not as You Know It.' She looked up at him. "Let me guess, a brief rundown on the universe, its species, inhabitants, and the different worlds?"

He flashed her a grin, and she sighed. This should have been the first thing that she'd absorbed. Lynx truly was off his game. But even with the information that she got from the chip he'd created for her, it was all just very basic library stuff. It didn't take into consideration that she had come from an entirely different sector, galaxy, whatever it was. She didn't understand how the scope of all that worked.

Lynx shot her a glance, and a half-hopeful smile. "Well if I can trust the someone we get to help..." He let it linger. She knew that he knew just how dangerous Kajaro had been. And it made her understand his reticence to trust anybody.

He trusted Milaro because he had known Milaro before, and thus Malakai as his grandson was also trustworthy. Lynx pulled Quinn through to the Library himself, so she was also trustworthy. He probably trusted the golems because the Library had created them. But she was fairly sure that Narilin was not somebody that he was about to trust. She could understand and respect that, though. Which meant that he probably wouldn't trust any of the other assistants, not fully. They'd need to figure out a way they could vet them, they could test them. Because right now, this malfunction, or however the library worked, it wasn't natural, and it wasn't good.

"I've got it," Milaro said suddenly breaking the awkward silence with a snap of his fingers. "I do have several highly competent dimensional magic theorists and engineers in my entourage. I can bring them to the Library. You know them. They've been here before."

Lynx's eyebrows shot up, as if he'd been surprised at himself for not having thought of that. "Oh, do you mean Harish and Siliqua?"

"Yes, and they have sons now." Milaro smiled softly.

"Oh wow, the whole family?" Lynx actually laughed, and for just a moment it sounded like maybe he thought there was a bit of hope. Like maybe he hadn't lost centuries and friends. It struck Quinn that Lynx's whole existence must be so lonely. To exist for eons... eventually everyone he knew would pass.

Milaro appeared to have caught onto that note of hope in Lynx's voice. "I will call on Harish and Siliqua and get them here. Is there a way I can allow them entry through me?"

Lynx paused for a moment, and suddenly the display in front of Quinn activated.

Allow Milaro assistant access to the library, including all privileges as well as guest invites?

Yes. No. Refine parameters further.

Quinn just chose yes.

"There you go." Milaro laughed. "I'm a library assistant now. That's just perfect."

He sounded oddly smugly satisfied about the whole thing. Quinn chalked that up to it perhaps having always been a secret wish of the king's to do exactly that.

"Anyway," he said, "I will be back," and he turned on his heel and left out of the main entrance.

"He obviously has an exit he can go to. What does it mean the location device in the library isn't working properly?" Quinn half mumbled the question as she watched Milaro exit.

"It's not like that. Usually we can open a door almost anywhere with pinpoint accuracy. As long as there is something that a door can be set into. Like the floor, because it can be a trap door. Into a tree, it can be a door to a building. A car door, or vehicle door, or a cart back. There are ways for the library to appear everywhere. Right now, the locator is not working properly. I barely managed to get you guys to where you needed to be in order to retrieve the last two books. And if you recall, you had quite a ways to travel to go to the location you needed to." Lynx ran his hand through his hair in a gesture that jostled all of his runes.

"Yes, I will not soon forget those treks we had to make." Malakai grumbled from his armchair.

Lynx looked over at him, a harried expression on his face. "Exactly! So that makes this difficult. The library must be able to find locations with pinpoint accuracy. It's going to hamper any borrowers, and frankly, returns as well. While I can probably get people close to their original locations, for all I know some could be days travel out. The Library isn't supposed to be inconvenient."

"Well, let's see if these engineers Milaro is getting can help," Quinn said, keeping her tone soothing. She remembered all too well one of her older foster sisters a few years ago. Panic attacks were the things of nightmares. They didn't need a panicking Library manifestation. His worry was almost palpable. "It's worth a shot, right?"

Lynx nodded, perhaps with a little more calm in his eyes. "It's more than worth a shot. I can give them access, and they can help me sort through what I can't. I should be able to do this myself, Quinn," he said in an extremely low voice, directed solely at her. "This isn't how I function. I'm not meant to need help like this."

She paused, looking at him. "You keep saying the library's not a computer. What are you?"

He looked up at her, his eyes blinking back and forth. "It's not easy to explain."

"Well how about you try me then," she said. "Doesn't it have an impact on how I do my job? Doesn't being your librarian mean that I need to help you in these circumstances?"

Lynx actually laughed, and it was a freeing sound like music to the ears. "Actually, what I am has nothing to do with how well or badly you can do your librarian duties. What it has to do with, however, is me trying to understand how somebody managed to corrupt my internal operations. That's more what it has to do with."

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" Quinn crossed her arms and glared at him.

But he shook his head gently. "Not right now. Your understanding and grasp of the universe as it is, is still rudimentary..."

"Whose fault is that?" She grumbled.

"And besides, I think it would be more fun if you found it out yourself." Lynx gave her a wink, and his eyes started twinkling.

Quinn was ready to punch him in the face... figuratively at least. But as she was about to start berating him further, an alarm went off in the library. Not loud and glaring and danger, danger, library is in trouble, but more of a gentle alert.

Multiple doors have been accessed.

Multiple authorized entrants in the library proper.

Library has applicants.

They are being channeled toward the lobby

Quinn looked around, and all of a sudden, there were probably a dozen, a dozen and a half people walking into the library, looking up at the ceiling. They were all different species, species she couldn't even define visually. Things she'd seen in television shows, things she'd never even read about in books. 

They were amazing, and there were so many of them. They were chattering amongst themselves, to each other, some of them huddled alone, some of them in small groups, and all of them bearing the library assistant application.

~~

Soooo poor Lynx, right?

I just want to hug him and hope he stays solid long enough for me to do so haha.

Let me know what you thought!

Much love

KT