unfinishedlibrary | for all the world's a stage

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for all the world's a stage - LIBRARY LOG

Who: The Editors
What: The Library changes once again...
When: January 9- January 22
Where: The Library
Content warnings: Please put them in the comment headers!

The Assistants have vanished into their backroom once again, leaving only the increasingly unbelievable “Back In 5” sign on the Help Desk, but at least they have attempted to impart some knowledge on the Editors before departing (or… attempted to do anything but, depending who you ask). The customary tea cart with drinks and increasingly stale biscuits is parked in its usual spot, though it seems that the quality of the tea at least has improved some. (Still waiting on coffee improvement.)

There’s a new crafting setup in the Maker Space, a table with an iron and machine for making vinyl designs, along with the instructions on how to use it, and a stack of t-shirts in various sizes. Usually there’s something in the correct size, but, well, mistakes happen. While this addition to clothing is a boon, there is the problem that the t-shirts can’t be taken out of the room until some sort of design is put on them. Get creative! Show off your style! Or maybe just steal one of the shirts that are there for display purposes. It’s fine, the Library can make more.

In the second week as the Library begins to change once more, the Lobby’s wooden floor shines with extra polish. The walls make an odd creaking sound as they shift, warping into brick covered with velvet drapings in a rich, dark red. Gold thread twinkles in the stitches, a sense of opulence woven through. The sound of ballroom music drifts by and, while in the Lobby, characters will be taken by the unusual impulse to dance.

Outside, in the Garden, the day/night cycle has paused firmly on a cloudless night. A full moon hangs in the air - literally. About the size of a basketball, it follows the first person who enters the Garden; hovering a couple of meters above their head. A white aura spreads from them, powered by the moon, and those who are caught in its light will find themselves unable to speak anything but the truth.

When the person to whom the moon is attached leaves the garden, the moon and its aura will leave them; and the moon will attach to the next person to enter instead.

On the circulation desk, there is a sign: “This Week’s Recommended Reading: Twilight!” The accompanying sign up sheet waits next to it for those wishing to check it out- though some will receive the movie instead of the book, with no particular rhyme or reason to it. Periodically someone might also receive something else entirely. Whoops? The Assistants at least will fix that quickly. ~~Richard will be embarrassed, while Phillip will be trying not to cackle.~~

While not advertised, various iterations of different stories will be available throughout the Library. In particular, someone seems to have left the projector in one of the meeting rooms running, with a variety of different recorded plays. These range from professional productions, to parodies, to what appear to be high schoolers (of which one production features a sixteen year old version of Phillip running around being an absolutely nuisance.

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[Nice was silent as he listened to Wreck, only making a sound to let out a shuddered gasp. How could Wreck be so calm about this and not agree how awful he was? It doesn't matter if Shang De ordered him to do it. He still made the decision to do it... ]

You remember the ruins incident?

I do. It's the reason the bulk of the Top 10 list is what it is today.

That whole mess was partially my doing as well..... Shang De heard that the commission were close to finding a way to get rid of fear and trust... and the scientists that were there were the ones doing the research... I was... to make sure no one made it out... and the "fear monsters" that I defeated there? Shang De's creations... Every time in the news you heard about me defeating some kind of creature... even when I "saved moon" they were all Shang De's creations...

[ . . . ]

Did you kill them? The scientists?

I tried. But then that Louli girl interrupted me.

Edited 2026-01-13 17:53 (UTC)

Geeze. No wonder why I'm the one who got the villain contract; you suck at it.

[ Nice elbows him a little, but it wasn't an actual effort to hurt him. ]

And what about that fat old dog? He got popular because he said he handled all those Phobiaclones or whatever and got the deeds back and saved that girl. All his own.

I'm not saying what you did was good, but it doesn't sound like you even hurt anyone. Honestly, it's like you're a good luck charm for everyone around you.

I mean, the news said you "saved the day" in the Ruins, but you only moved from rank 18 to rank 15. No one even knew who that robot girl was, but FOMO got her to rank 6 from that incident. That dog is with FOMO, too, and ended up rank 8 overnight.

Shang De is upset you haven't made it to the Top 10, but it sounds to me like he doesn't know how to advertise in general. Even people like the old E-Soul and Smile had solid advertisements.

So basically my failure brings good fortune for everyone else....

[ Except smile, where he died because Nice failed to save him. ]

It's a shitty industry. We...

[ . . . ]

...it really is just one big popularity contest. The public sucks. The CEOs suck. The heroes who do good work end up with a target on their back, and they die.

[ . . . ]

Nice. Do you want to be in the top ten? Did you ever really care about rankings? Because for as long as I've known you, what you've wanted to do is be a hero whose smile was infectious. Did that change?

[ Nice curls up a little more even though Wreck was still stubbornly holding onto him. ]

I don't.... even know what I want anymore...

It's okay if you don't know. You're away from Shang De now. You can take the time you need to rediscover what you want. To relearn who you are and the type of hero you want to be.

You're gonna hate hearing this, but even if you don't believe in yourself anymore, I do. I always will. And I know that without people like Shang De around, you can be a great hero. You can... act however you want, and you don't have to walk on egg shells.

I still have questions, but I... I don't want to push you any more than I already have. And... um... well, thanks for answering me. I know it wasn't easy, and I... I hope that means you trust me a little again.

[ It's hard to know with the silence on Nice's part if he was actually taking in Wreck's words or not. Actually expressing all these feelings at least to an extent, it only made him feel worse, like now he was actively thinking about all the horrible things he's done. ]

..... When did I ever say I stopped trusting you?

You never said that. But you stopped opening up to me. You shut me out. And I know you said it's because you felt ashamed, but... we're partners. I don't want to support you just through the good. I want to support you through the bad, too.

[ Nice seems to curl up more, his body vibrating a little as he silently cries in his balled up state. ]

I hate me enough as it is, I didn't need another person in my life to hate me.

I don't hate you. I don't think I ever could.

Did... you think I was some angel? I signed that paperwork. I understood what I was agreeing to. Every time we performed for the audience, I was putting people in real danger every day.

[ Wreck sighs softly and reaches to rest a hand on top of Nice's head. ]

So I've got you.

But you'd never put anyone in actual danger. Even when you pulled in stunts that brought citizens in, you were always careful...

I was careful, sure, but I was also lucky. If either one of us was out of sync for even a moment, people could have gotten hurt. And, even though it didn't end up happening... I was willing to take that risk.

How can you be so calm about this?

[ He just had Nice lose it in front of him, and honestly he still doesn't feel okay. And he heard about all the stuff Nice didn't want to tell him about and still.... ]

I dunno. I guess because I... didn't go through it myself? I'm upset for you, and I hate what Shang De put you through. If he shows his ugly mug here, I'll punch him square in the face for both of us.

[ . . . ]

But... I'm not... really upset with anything you did. I don't really understand the reasons why you felt the need to do it, other than I know it's complicated. But there are certain situations I'd agree to do any of that and more, so... I'm not about to cast the first stone.

Wreck....

[ He takes a peek up at Wreck before burying his face in his knees once more. ]

Like I said... I'm just glad you told me. I don't know if doing so helped you. Maybe not. But it did help me.

[ Wreck reaches out to gently rub Nice's back. ]

At least.... now you can rest easy knowing... it was never you. You were never the problem...

Neither were you. Even if you couldn't reach the Top 10 like Shang De seemed to want so badly... he was apparently stupid about how he went handling things. Sending the face of his company, his "most valuable brand" to do his shady work that would have ruined your reputation if something went wrong....

All he had to do was let you be yourself and do real hero work.

It sounds like the "new me" at least is doing things better with my name and face...

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