Ep. 11 This Side

Days trickled as and I did my job—patrolled, ate, slept. The routine brought a certain rhythm to my existence in this timeless place. A little over two weeks had passed since my arrival though sometimes it was hard to tell how accurate that was because days really blend together here.

Most of the time I was thinking about the next time I'd get to see Eight or wondering how Leaner was doing wherever he was. 

The other time I spent thinking about that book Eight showed me during our last meeting. She had discovered it during a routine inspection of the outermost shelves in her subsector, simply fallen on the floor open wide.

It had obviously been corrupted and was in the process of breaking down, its pages disintegrating in places, text scrambled beyond recognition. The corruption wasn't natural decay—we were taught to recognize that during our training. This was deliberate sabotage, pages deliberately altered, knowledge intentionally obscured. But who would do such a thing? And why? And how come the alarms didn't go off as soon as they entered the subsector? None of this made sense.

I hope the Keepers get here soon. Eight had reported the incident through official channels immediately, but the Keepers were a busy division and could take weeks to arrive. I've been on edge ever since Eight discovered it, checking my own shelves with increased vigilance, listening for unusual sounds in the silence of my subsector.

Of course, we're taught what to do if a book in our subsector is attacked—I mean, that's the whole reason everyone learns combat even if they're not going to be Keepers—but still, it's so rare for it to happen I never even thought about it. But to think it happened only a couple subsectors away from me and they could still be here somewhere, floating around the sector...

As I walked back to my quarters after the evening patrol, my mind kept returning to these thoughts.

I gulped down my nervousness and started to eat dinner, same old brick as the last couple of weeks. To be honest, I'm starting to get used to it, so it's not as bad. The sweet-grainy texture that once revolted me had become familiar, almost comforting in its predictability. I found myself developing little rituals around it—breaking it into thirds, savoring the first piece slowly, and consuming the final piece while planning tomorrow's patrol route.

I finished up and decided to do one last patrol, this time checking every nook and cranny and making sure everything was ok before calling it a night. I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled over me since Eight's discovery.

My subsector was shaped roughly like a square, with my living quarters at the apex and the shelves radiating outward in neat rows. I started at the furthest edge, methodically working my way inward, checking each aisle for signs of disturbance or intrusion.

Each shelf received my careful scrutiny, each volume a quick inspection. All seemed in order, but the unease lingered. The silence of the library, once peaceful, now felt charged with potential threat.

Finally, I looked at my holowatch and saw that it was time to sleep, so I made the walk back to my quarters and crawled into bed. The endless void above seemed particularly vast tonight, an infinity that might hide anything—or anyone. I found myself wishing, for the first time, that my quarters had a ceiling—some barrier between me and the unknown expanse above.

I kept tossing and turning, thinking about the Rogue Librarians that could be hiding here. The instructors had spoken of them during training—former librarians who had broken their oaths, who now sought to steal or destroy the knowledge they had once sworn to protect. They were rare, but dangerous, knowing the library's systems from the inside.

The thought of them being in my subsector scared me, of course, but the thought of them being in Eight's terrified me even more. She was never the best at combat or making hard, quick decisions. During our training exercises, she had always hesitated at crucial moments, her analytical mind seeking the perfect solution when sometimes any action was better than none. If something happened, I'm not confident she could handle it.

These thoughts kept me awake for a while, tossing and turning in the thin sheets that suddenly seemed too constraining. I considered requesting permission to check on her subsector tomorrow, though I knew such requests were rarely granted without good reason. Personal concern wasn't considered sufficient justification in the eyes of the Counsel.

I tried to calm myself with logic. The library was vast beyond comprehension. The chances of rogues targeting our particular subsectors, out of millions upon millions, were infinitesimally small. Eight was capable—more capable than I gave her credit for. She had ranked higher than me in theoretical studies, and despite her hesitation in combat drills, she had always found unexpected solutions to problems.

Just as I was finally drifting toward sleep, lulled by these reassurances, something that no librarian ever wants to see happen in their subsector happened. My watch, left on the nightstand next to my bed, started to glow red and give off a loud alarm sound. The harsh tone cut through the silence of the library like a knife, shattering the peace I'd grown accustomed to.

I bolted upright, sleep forgotten in an instant. The red light pulsed with urgent rhythm, casting crimson shades across the stark white walls of my quarters. The alarm continued its strident call, demanding immediate action.

I didn't even have to pick it up to know what this meant.

Intruders.