LSRO: Chapter 62 - Connections (Patreon)

This has been a long time coming... hope you enjoy this chapter.

I enjoyed writing it. Though I think it needs a couple of tweaks. 

Anyhu!

Enjoy

~~

Chapter 62

Connections

Book Restoration: Level Two

Quinn blinked at the words in front of her as she placed the last repaired book on top of the pile. They looked good, even if she did say so herself. She had taken broken, bent books and made them whole again. Itt truly made her feel like a librarian, taking care of them, even if it was with magic.

Even if she couldn't leverage any fines for another few weeks, this was still librarian work.

"You look oddly proud of yourself," Malakai said, from where he still lounged on her couch.

Quinn shot him a grin. "I learn something new about myself every day."

"About yourself or about your position as librarian?" He grinned right back.

"Both," Quinn said, decidedly decisive for once. She glanced at her energy levels.

628/792

Huh. It seemed this hadn't been solely a energy-focused task. She checked her mana:

412/650

She realized that accessing her skills and utilizing what amounted to a spell meant that she used more mana than energy. Oh, it was all so complex. Why couldn't it all just be mana? Why couldn't it all just be energy?

"You look like you're complaining in your head," Malakai observed.

"What?" Quinn asked.

"Your facial expression was doing that wiggly thing," and he held up his fingers and wiggled them at her as if that explained what he was trying to say.

"I did not make a wiggly face," she said, crossing her arms defensively.

He shrugged. "Actually, you do."

Quinn shook her head emphatically. "Where's Dottie? She'll back me up."

"Dottie is doing your shift at the check-in desk because you were repairing books."

"Oh," Quinn said. "I should probably go and replace her."

Malakai held up his hand to stop her from bothering to stand up. "No need. You have other duties after all. You've been at this for a few hours."

"It took me that long? It was only 30 books. I have a skill for it." Quinn realized she actually felt quite stiff as she got up from the floor.

He shook his head. "We'll just have to spread ourselves a little thinner while evertyhing gets reestablished."

"Maybe." Quinn knew he was right, even if she didn't like it.

He took that as a sign to continue."How about we grab something to eat, and maybe you should get a good night's sleep so you're not late the next morning - because we really need to continue training."

Quinn sighed. He had a point. She was starving again. Using any type of mana or magical energy to make her sort of ravenous. She grabbed the chaotic filtration books before answering. "Fine. Let's go grab some food." She summoned Carty to her, who loaded the books up and disappeared from the room in a few seconds flat. "Oh, well, I hope he knows where to take them."

"Of course he does. He's a part of the Library," Malakai said.

"You know, you can be very condescending."

Malakai blinked. "I'm aware." He answered without a hint of shame and then headed toward the kitchen.

Quinn, however, decided that she didn't necessarily want to chat while she was eating. She needed to think. She needed to understand where things were coming from. And the best way for her to do that was to head down to the core.

"You know what, Malakai? I have stuff to do. I'm just going to grab a to-go." And she glanced at Cook, who very silently placed a box filled with salad on one side and what looked like a gourmet sandwich on the other side. It was like he'd read her mind. She grinned at him. "Thank you, Cook."

"You appear to be busy, librarian. I understand that you do not always have time to grace the dining hall."

"Yeah," Quinn said, a little worried that Cook might be completely and utterly correct. "Sorry, Mal. I've got to duck." She didn't wait for Malakai to answer or for him to be angry at her shortening of his name. Instead, she grabbed her lunchbox and dashed toward the stairs that led to the core.

Taking a deep breath at the top of them, she began the three-story spiral climb down, taking each step two at a time, gripping for dear life with her left hand to the railing in the middle.

Finally, she stepped onto the spongy floor below.

The beautiful blue and green glow suffused everything again. There were only occasional patches of red and orange that flashed in almost a hypnotic pattern. She listened carefully as she took each step, wondering if it would tell her what was underneath them. She was dying to see the filtration room. But she didn't feel ready yet, and she clutched the books to her chest, knowing that this was probably the best place for her to come.

Finally, she reached the trunk of the core and looked at it, really examined it for the first time. Not just a glance, not just assuming that she knew what it was. The stone-like wood still had beautiful bark markings. The closer she inspected it, she realized that while very tree-like with its branches and its leaves of electrical circuitry lights that illuminated the entire cavern, there was something very alive about it.

She settled herself down on the floor, nestling into the roots, with her back against the trunk, and picked up her sandwich.

Quinn. The library said to her, even as Quinn's back made contact with the trunk, What brings you directly to visit me?

"I have a few questions," Quinn said, taking another bite, "and I feel like this way you can't avoid answering them."

There was a rumbling behind Quinn's back that felt oddly like the purr of a cat. That is a very astute observation.

Why is it easier for me to talk to you when we have contact here?  Quinn asked.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence from the Library, whether it was outside or inside Quinn's head like it always felt when she was this close to the core. She glanced up into what would have been boughs of a tree if the core was actually a tree. She watched where all the branches intersected, separated, and diverged with their intricate leaf-like appearance.

Finally, when she'd almost given up on hearing from the Library, its voice resonated through her. This trunk, this core, is a direct line to me.

Quinn perked up at that. "What do you mean a direct line to you? Aren't you the core? Aren't you this trunk?"

Again. Just a fraction of hesitance before the answer. I am, but I am also more than that.

Quinn squinted skeptically "That sounds like an extremely evasive way to say that the Library is just a small part of you."

It was the first time she truly heard the Library laugh. The sound resonated through her, chilled her bones for a moment, but not in a dangerous way, more in an uplifting and light way. The sound tinkled through the entire room like somebody was making music with glasses filled with water. It was freeing and airy. All of the different, what she'd assumed were electronic lights that made up the leaves, flickered in time with the sound.

You are entirely correct.

"And that's all you're going to tell me," Quinn stated. "You're not going to explain or be like, 'Congrats, you figured it out.?'"

Well, you haven't figured it out yet. You've just made a logical conclusion given the evidence presented to you.

"You sound an awful lot like my mother used to."

This time the Library sighed. It was a much more melancholic sound than the laugh, and it still affected Quinn right through to her core, to her own core.

"It's uncanny the way you do that," she said to the Library. "You're most definitely not a machine."

I seem to remember Lynx and myself having told you that I am not one of these computers that you are used to from Earth. I am galactic, the Library chuckled and the sensation tickled the soles of Quinn's feet. I have transcended the necessity to be slotted into any singular conformity. I am what I am, Quinn. But that is besides the point. You have questions.

"Of course I have questions." Quinn scoffed, and then decided to pull no punches. "What is wrong with you?"

The sigh echoed throughout the room, rebounding off the distant walls and the high ceiling. I do not know. I was careless. I have... There are parts of me that are broken, which you know.

"Was it Korradine?" Quinn asked, knowing and yet not wanting to know the definitive truth.

Another pause.

I believe that to be likely. Although my memory about those times is very sketchy, I think is the word you would use. I cannot recollect events, or instances. There are literal gaps in my mind. I don't know what was done during them. I don't know why they were removed. It isn't enough to completely halt my funtions, but I have to admit to being out of my depth in this case.

"Okay," Quinn said, "then it's time that we figured that out. It's time you stopped tiptoeing around everything and just tell me some shit. I've been here almost three weeks. This is getting ridiculous."

You have a point. There was a long pause again while the leaves above flickered rapidly. I believe you probably won't get overwhelmed anymore at this stage. You have an extraordinary affinity for the magic of the universe. You are in many ways much like I was when I was first born.

Quinn blinked. "You were born? You're like a creature?"

The library chuckled. Nice catch. I am more than that. I am the Library.

"And we're back to that again. If you can't be honest with me, then I'm not going to help you," Quinn said. "Even pushing that aside, you need to help me absorb this book, finish reading these other books. And we have to get to the bottom of this sooner than later, or I can't fix that filtration system."

Very well. What would you have me do?

Quinn wasn't entirely sure she could trust the Library to be this contrite... but she hoped it wasn't about to back out.

For the next little while, Quinn opened the last book and began absorbing what she could from it. Then, she turned to read the rest. It was so soothing, leaning against the core's trunk, feeling the ebb and flow of power all around her. The library was in the distance, just in the back of every single thought she had.

It was there as if she was monitoring everything on a live frequency, like she was watching social media livestream, just on a more vast and intricate scale. Quinn decided this had become her new happy place.

I'm glad of your company, the Library said.

"Are you really? You can't lie to me here. And you can't skirt around the answers here either." Quinn wasn't in the mood to be placated.

I'm aware.

"Hey," Quinn asked suddenly, "The manifestation, what is Lynx? Isn't he... real?"

Lynx is an extension of myself. He was the 83rd version of a manifestation that I created. The others were not quite right, they did not last long. But when Lynx appeared, he was perfect. I have to admit, I think I would be lost without him. The library fell silent.

Quinn mulled that over in her mind. "Well, couldn't magic just bring him to life and then you would have a real partner?"

Magic can bring everything to life, all sorts of things to life, even things that shouldn't be brought back to life. But then I would require another manifestation with the same level of connection that we require. I do not wish to replace Lynx. He is, in my very vast mind, that currently has a few holes, irreplaceable.

"Okay, just curious," Quinn said. She turned back to her book and read more. The filtration system was complex, almost convoluted as if there was a little too much complexity woven into the way it functioned, and yet it brought in chaotic magic and filtered it out to be distributed in a loose form from the books. They didn't just bring magic in and out of the Library. All of the magic contained within it was key in filtering to its utmost capacity.

Quinn had a lightbulb moment. "So while the Library was closed..."

Exactly, the Library said, We have an oversaturation of chaos currently in the filtration chamber. And because the filters are wearing down, we may encounter an overload. Several worlds have already, well, the Dabilian homeworld was not the only casualty. Several star systems, several planets have already experienced chaotic backlash.

Quinn frowned. "Okay, so...

A notification flashed up:

Chaos Filtration - approaching Expert Level 1

Missing Component: Mastering Your Reality Through Chaos

"What does that mean?" She said to the Library, hoping it would be more forthcoming.

It just means that you have obtained the knowledge you needed to from these three books. You just need to get the one that Narilin is currently repairing. You require more skills for the filtration system.

"Like what?" Quinn asked, suddenly overwhelmingly tired. "I mean, I thought I just needed to read these books, put on protective stuff, climb all the way down and figure out how it worked. What else do I need?"

The filtration chamber is dangerous to most organic creatures. So there are several precautions we must take before we send you down there. Acclimation is of vital importance. You will require these two books: Breathing Through Chaos and Fighting Chaos Saturation. You will need to absorb those books and let them digest, I guess would be the appropriate way to refer to that.

The library paused and Quinn felt a brief flush of warmth cascade down her entire body. Like the Library was scanning her.

That's odd, it said.

"What's odd?" Quinn said, hugging herself to ward off the sudden chill that popped up after the warmth left her.

You are

Quinn rolled her eyes. "Elaborate."

There's something in your frequency, I haven't noticed until now, though I confess I never looked. We haven't spent this much time together yet...

"Is it bad?" Quinn asked.

No, it's just unexpected. We did pull you from a star system that has no access to magic whatsoever. The ley lines don't reach there, the chaotic magic doesn't flow there. But you, you are an outlier. You have all of the affinities. I don't even know if you'll need these chaos books. The library finally said.

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked, a little startled, maybe a little scared.

From every scan I've run since you walked in here today, you are not as susceptible to chaos as I'd assumed you would be.

Quinn hesitated before pushing for an answer. "What do you mean I'm not susceptible to chaos?"

Exactly that. It means that chaos isn't going to affect you nearly the same way as anybody else I've ever come across.

~~

Weeeee

Another piece of the puzzle

I promise, we'll really get there

Eventually

BWAH HAH HAH

Much love

KT