LSRO: Chapter 94 - Goes both ways (Patreon)

Okay I think this sickness is gearing up to leave me... I hope. Almost there... maybe.

But hey! So this chapter sort of took a bit, but I like where it ended up. When I go back through book 2, this will definitely need tweaking, but the end result is what I was aiming for.

All excited. 

~~

Chapter 94

Goes both ways.

The next days were super frustrating for Quinn. Try as she might, she couldn't get her broadcasting over general Library waves under control. It wasn't even a matter of intentionally sending out a signal. It was more that the Library knew where she was headed and gave everyone a heads-up unless explicitly told not to.

"Is it like a system setting or something?" She said angrily gesturing at the HUD in front of her that found no urgency in her actions whatsoever. All the angry emoting only made her feel marginally better anyway.

She tried multiple different options such as Privacy Settings... which gave her crickets. Then she attempted Roaming options... but again, there was nothing. Why couldn't it just be nice and easy like the internet settings on her phone used to be?

"Are you okay in here, Librarian?" Dottie poked a part of her bench around the mostly open office door, like she wasn't entirely sure of her welcome into the space.

"If I said no, could you fix it?" Quinn asked, collapsing into her chair with an exasperated sigh.

Dottie took that as an invitation to enter the room. "No, I don't believe I could, but I can listen and maybe help that way." There was a happiness to the words as the bench trotted over, like she was excited to maybe be able to help.

"Don't suppose you have any idea how to adjust it so I'm not constantly just broadcasting where I am, and what I'm doing to everyone within the Library?" Quinn leaned forward, stretching out her hands underneath her HUD and focused on the bench.

"Like I said, no. But I can listen to you talk your way through it." Dottie angled the head end of her seat somewhat. "I'm not the only one who can do that."

"Thanks, Dottie." And Quinn meant it. She groaned again though as flashes of information made their way through her head. "It's a pity it won't just tell me everything I ask it, especially since it seems set on overloading me with information I don't necessarily need right at this moment instead."

"What do you mean?" Lynx asked from the doorway. He walked in, taking deliberate and very physical steps. Ever since the power upgrade he seemed to have forsaken being incorporeal most of the time. Now he only did it when it suited him. He approached the desk, a frown on his face. "Well?"

Quinn flashed him an irritated glare. "So much information that I haven't been seeking is currently just traversing through my mind."

"Like what?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You surely should know."

"I think we've long since established that I do, in fact, no longer know everything I should or need to. However, I can estimate that you're currently getting a heap of Library operational functions and manuals. Not to mention specific golem relations and specifications, and probably also a briefing on exactly what it is the Library is currently in need of as far as establishing supplies and more personnel, including golems. Am I right?" He looked smug.

"No." Quinn said, just to see the confusion on his face at her answer. She relented shortly thereafter. "And yes, but there's no need to be such a know-it-all when doing so isn't about to help either of us."

She grimaced. "It's like I instinctively now know how to craft the golems, what's required when they're required but I don't know how I know or why? It's like there's a disconnect."

Lynx sighed. "Yeah. I know."

Surprise, surprise and they were back to square one. Quinn tried to figure out how to break the awkward silence that arose. Dottie cleared her throat, which still always caught Quinn off guard. "Is there a way you can use the information you're being given to sort of trace back any of the problems? Like following a string?"

Lynx spoke before Quinn could completely follow. "Not quite, but the idea has some merit. Backtracking can often lead to finding entrance points we've overlooked. Still, this isn't that. But thank you Dottie."

It was the most polite way Quinn had ever heard the manifestation speak to the bench. Maybe he was finally starting to feel himself again. Guilt did weird things to people.

"How can I tweak my broadcasting through the HUD, or the Interface... do I need to go back down to the Core to do something like this?" Quinn asked, pulling Lynx out of his contemplations.

Lynx shrugged, and his eyes pulled that distant focus thing he usually did when he was looking into something. Quinn glanced at one of the books to her left but didn't have the energy to stand up to balance it on his head.

"I'm not completely out of it, I'd have noticed if you put the book on my head." He muttered in her direction.

Quinn groaned. "I'm even broadcasting my pranks now."

Lynx actually chuckled. "We'll get it. it fixed, it's just going to be more involved than I remember. Keep in mind, the initial influx of information never reached your brain and you started out a little behind in knowledge and application ability. So, this is just all going to take time."

"But I have direct access to the system now, right?" Quinn asked. "Doesn't that mean I should be able to access it and fix things now?"

Lynx shrugged. "In. away, yes, but also only to a certain extent. Also, that means you have to know what it is you need to do to rectify whatever is glitching."

"What aren't you telling me?" She asked, not even bothering to look at Lynx. "Come on. We've got the Library back to a decent standard, but we have a long way to go."

"We should probably just check with the Core to see what it thinks." Lynx sighed. "We don't always agree on everything."

Quinn just needs to give the Core and HUD proper access to her mind, beyond her walls.

Quinn blinked at the statement that floated in front of her eyes. The answer seemed so simple. Here was the Library trusting her with copious amounts of power and an age-old legacy, and she hadn't even let the damned thing in past the mental walls she'd built.

"You haven't let the connection propagate?" Lynx asked, turning his full stare to her.

Quinn didn't even need to look up to know his gaze was locked on. "Maybe." She mumbled into the desk suddenly feeling extremely silly for not having thought of it. In all of Milaro's teachings about building up her Mental Barrier, she'd never come across the option to let a friendly foreign presence back in.

She moved back and sat in her chair, centering herself. Reaching in she pulled through to her mental barriers and felt the thickness of the walls. So many levels thick to protect her mind from the attack by Kajaro, and now, she had extremely dense protections.

All it took was one simple thought, and she could feel the Core so much closer to her. All of the control reverted back to her instead of outside of her, and everything immediately became simpler.

She sat up straight, opening her eyes in surprise. "It was that easy."

Lynx shrugged and the Library practically pulsed with laughter.

Quinn tested the connection once more, and felt the flooding of information come toward her. But this time it was controlled, and connected. This time it was coherent and made more sense than it had earlier.

It shouldn't have taken her days to come across this. Why didn't you tell me sooner? She asked the Library, somewhat put out.

There was a pause before it replied like it had weighted its answer heavily. I won't always be able to help in the moment. Most times, yes, but sometimes you're going to have to figure out things yourself. Think outside the box more often. Or, in this case, within it.

That was cryptic. Quinn pouted slightly.

Sometimes a little cryptic is good for all of us.

Quinn ran a hand through her disheveled hair. The messy buns and ponytails just weren't keeping her loose curls contained anymore. It had gotten so much worse since she'd synchronized. She'd have to check and see if any of her appearance had changed too.

"Now that's sorted." She turned to look directly at Lynx. "I believe we have some information to go through. We have to fix all of these holes in your memory, in the Library's memory, and frankly in my instructions. So where should we begin."

Lynx radiated uneasiness and Aradie swooped into the room like she'd been summoned, landing with a soft hoot on Quinn's shoulder and dropping a bag into her lap.

She swore the bird knew when Quinn was suddenly starving. The bag held a sandwich and one of those apple-like fruits. "Thanks girl." She said, reaching up to scritch her neck.

"Now, no avoiding Lynx. Talk." Quinn ignored the sense of foreboding she'd begun to feel once more. This time it resonated through her head instead of the soles of her feet, telling her she wasn't radiating concern out to the rest of the Library at least.

No, this doom and gloom was all in her own head right now.

"You have to understand that this isn't one of your computers..." Lynx began, but Quinn held up a hand.

"You've told me this about twelve times I think, I could be mistaken, it might be twenty. Either way. I know the Library is not a computer. We've been over this. Stop stalling."

He frowned briefly. "It's an all-encompassing neural network."

Quinn kept her temper, pretty sure they'd been over this before too. "Like a brain."

"Almost exactly like a brain," Lynx answered, still sounding too evasive for Quinn's liking. "And right now there are areas of it that require healing more than it requires restoring, if that makes sense."

Quinn's eyes widened as she connected the dots. "So that means we need to apply mind healing, right? Sort of like when Milaro helped me with my own... issues thanks to Kajaro."

"In a way, yes. It's just that..." Lynx paused for a moment. "I did send for Milaro yesterday when you were having issues. He should be here soon, so it'll be easier for us to address this."

"You know he has a kingdom to run, right?" Quinn quipped.

"But this is a part of his council duties too, so technically, he also has a Library to help." Lynx winked at Quinn.

She smiled and pushed this council business to the back of her mind. Not too deep. She needed to figure out all that crap sometime soon. The least of all because of the new heritage she'd discovered. "Okay then, so mixing mind magic and healing together would give us elements of mind healing that should allow us to retrieve or repair some of those fragments of missing... brain for want of a better phrase?"

"In theory..." Lynx said, not sounding the most convinced. "I mean healing goes both ways."

Aradie hooted that Milaro had entered the Library and was on the way. Quinn didn't need to ask the owl about it considering the Nightowls all lived in the rafters and generally had the run of the entire Library. It was an excellent information network that none of the patrons seemed to notice much.

"Have you guys had any luck piecing together the missing books?" Quinn asked her owl softly. Aradie shook her head and pushed the soft feathers of her face into Quinn's cheek for a moment. "That's too bad."

"Well that's part of the whole dilemma," Lynx took the conversation and ran with it.

"Oh do fill me in. I love me a good dilemma." Milaro swept into the room, his long robes flaring out behind him for dramatic effect.

Quinn narrowed her gaze. He was awfully good at entrances.

Lynx rolled his eyes. "The problem is that the books we require that would most likely work the best for healing the missing parts, are all from the restricted vault."

Quinn groaned. "And let me guess, they're all the ones we're missing...?"

"Three of the four we've identified, yes." Lynx practically whispered, even though his voice managed to echo through Quinn's office.

She closed her eyes for a moment to collect herself, and then pulled up the listing in front of her. "So, essentially, we need: Chatfield's Force Fields of the Mind, Uglandia Theories of Mind Manipulation, and Sethrovian Rings of Dream Entrapment."

Milaro nodded. "And that's really just the start. I'm actually quite certain we're missing two more. Mainly because I authored two of them. Seveshall Lineage of Mind Healing and How to Break It is the first one. I have to admit, that if I were to develop those tactics today, I would not share them with the universe. I would bury them so deep that no one would have access."

"You know knowledge shouldn't be restricted." Dottie snapped disapprovingly.

"But just because it can be done my dear Dottie," Milaro said, his tone melancholy, "Does not mean it should be."

"True." Dottie said begrudgingly and fell silent again.

"You said there was a second book?" Quinn prodded.

Milaro nodded and frankly, he paled. Which Quinn had never thought possible. "The Ashelan Mind Capitulation Device. It is a magical engineering book that creates a device well... I mean it's in the title. We should have locked it up and thrown away the key."

"Hindsight is always great." Quinn tried to reassure him, but she could see it fell flat.

"It really is." he muttered. "Anyway. I only know that those two are missing from the list of available titles that Lynx gave me to peruse. And I only know because I helped with their contribution. But if those are missing, I don't like the chances of what else is hiding out there..."

Quinn groaned. It kept getting better and better. But. That was the thing right? She pushed herself to stand. "Okay. We have direction then."

For the first time since the synchronization, her head felt full but clear, focused and with a purpose. "Aradie. I need the owls. Dottie I need some assistant volunteers to help us scour memories. We're going to find out what the other books were, and we’re doing it now. And then we're going to get them. Meet in the training room in an hour so we have more space."

Milaro smiled, falling into step with her as Quinn marched out of her office to get more food. "I like this plan. I will assist you to the utmost."

"Of course you will." Quinn grinned. "After all. This is kind of, sort of, a little bit at least... all your fault."

"How do you figure?" The elf King raised an eyebrow.

"You keep writing really dangerous books and someone is going to use one."

"Can't fault your logic." He said.

She knew it wasn’t all going to be as simple as that, but they had to start somewhere, and they may as well start now.

Plus, Quinn was determined that this time at least, she wasn't going into anything with an empty stomach.

~~

Yep... now Quinn aint doing anything without some damn food!

Speaking of which. Being on copious amounts of prednisone makes me starving.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter

Much love

KT