Careful of the stacks - LIBRARY LOG

[libraryassistants]

Who: EVERYONE!
What: A bunch of Editors walk into a library...
When: October 31st - November 13
Where: The Unfinished Library
Content warnings: Please add them as needed in the comment titles!

Welcome to the Library, Editors.

As the new residents drop into the Library, they are bound to have questions. Unfortunately it seems no one (except perhaps someone on the phone) appears to have any answers. But there is a nice little cart with a carafe of too weak coffee, a pot of too strong tea, assorted creams and sugar packets, and what appear to be leftover boxed shortbread cookies. There’s a sign inviting people to help themselves but reminding them not to take any food or drinks into the stacks, or touch any of the books with their grubby cookie hands. But aside from this little display and the nametags they’re all given, which do reappear whenever removed for the first week (where do they keep coming from?), the Editors are more or less left alone.

The Library is eternal, or at least it seems that way, unbothered by its new inhabitants. It certainly does not seem like this is anything unusual within its operation. Are there other sections of the Library with Editors, tucked into a different part of the stacks? Have there been Editors here before, and the ones here are simply a replacement? It’s impossible to say, just that the Library seems quite prepared for them. The refrigerators are stocked with appropriate (if generic) foodstuffs, any tantrums in front of the circulation desk are completely ignored, and attempts to set the Library on fire fizzle out before anything can even catch.

However, after a few days, some of the scenery in the Library seems to be changing. Little singing bowls and white noise makers pop up on various shelves and counters, yoga mats appear tucked under the bunk beds (plenty for everyone, somehow), and some of the rooms have started playing relaxing, meditative music over unseen speakers. More confusingly, there are also small UFOs hanging by string from the lower ceilings of the contained rooms, which on closer reflection are revealed to simply be two paper plates glued together and painted silver. In the beginning they’re quite sparse, but by the end of the second week they are everywhere and impossible to ignore.

At the start of the second week, there is a possible hint as to why, for at least part of it. On the table by the circulation desk there is a sign: “This Week’s Recommended Reading: Invasion of the Body Snatchers!” Next to it, there is a sign up sheet: a waitlist to check-out the ‘reading.’ (There is no explanation or apology for it actually being a movie.)

[ooc note: The Library prompts from the TDM can be considered canon to the game. Remember any of the locations listed in the setting are fair game. Have fun!]

Comments

[hellandbackpack]

There were so many situations where charm was all Charles had to go on, so he'd learned a long time ago how to use it. But at the same time, he liked being charming, so it wasn't typically an active manipulation tactic.

"I'm not usually the note-taker so I'm sure mine aren't quite up to par," Admitted with a wry smile as he fished out the little battered spiral notebook from his pocket, along with the pen he'd swiped from the circulation desk earlier. Flipping past a few lists and many, many random doodles, he came across the things he'd jotted down here. "Thought maybe I could see if there was a pattern to what books were here, and what was missin' from 'em right? Except I'm not much of a reader, so if there's a pattern it's sommat obscure."

He couldn't help but huff, glancing at the nearest wall of shelves. "And I've figured out they're blockin' my walkin' through walls. Not all of 'em, but like... the fence in the garden area, the door behind the circulation desk? Can't go through either. And some walls, so I figured I'd find all the walls what I can't go through, maybe get an idea of the shape of the place, even if the inside changes around yeah?"

A poke of the pen tip towards a... start of a map. He had a decent skill at doing quick sketches, but the confusion of what he was describing was clear in the attempt here. "But what walls stop me change. Almost at random. And sometimes it's like a freestandin' part of the wall, definitely not perimeter, at least like you'd think."

[starandhope]

He can walk through walls? Of course, he is dead (so he claims), but he seems solid enough to Mina - they shook hands, after all. He doesn't seem particularly ghost-like, aside from the cold and clammy touch, but perhaps that's an effect of being brought to this place? She's willing to chalk it up to another strange difference of origins.

Still, though, what he tells her - when she begins to parse it - fits with what she already knows of this place.

"I suspect this place is less a physical, geographical place that can be escaped from and more of a - hm. Well, I'm not sure what, precisely, my knowledge of the arcane and esoteric is very limited. But some powerful magic seems to be at the heart of it. Certainly, it is not of the natural world as I know it."

[hellandbackpack]

"S'gotta be some kind of pocket dimension. You can do all sorts of wild stuff with those-" Charles can't help but perk up at the thought, something occurring to him.

"Cor, that book Edwin had me put in the bag for the Blockbuster Caper might still be in there!" Halfway through the sentence he was already unshouldering his backpack, eagerly flipping it open to shove a hand into- followed by his arm up to the shoulder as he rummaged around, though there were no signs of it on the bag itself, just a strange humming coming from it as he was hunting. "There was a chapter on dimensional spaces, he was goin' on about that for at least an hour, got so excited about it..."

A pause. A confused frown as Charles shifted his grip on the bag, drawing his arm out to peer into it with an uncertain furrow of brows. "Hold on a tick... s'a lot smaller inside than it should be. And... a lot of the books are gone."

[starandhope]

Mina can only watch, a little surprised by his antics, but finding it a bit funny (though she bites her lip to keep from smiling too much). She doesn't quite understand what's going on here - not that she's understood much of anything since arriving - but clearly something is wrong, as the look on Charles' face changes.

"I can only guess that anything that would be remotely helpful in escaping would've been removed from our persons if we arrived with them," she offers thoughtfully. "This is, after all, a prison of some kind."

[hellandbackpack]

"I dunno... I still have the moltovs and the bombs... and some of the books that are still in there are pretty dangerous in the right hands..." He hummed a thoughtful moment, frowning into the pack before he looked around the area.

"Let's see if we can find somewhere a bit more out of the way to investigate this, yeah? Room we can shut and lock or somethin' would be best."

[starandhope]

Mina is from a time before molotov cocktails were invented, so she's just going to stare at him for a moment.

"I don't know if there is such a place here," she admits. "The Changeable Door doesn't lock."

[hellandbackpack]

Well, this is going to be a fun learning experience then!

"Mm... we should be alright. A door and maybe a chair under the knob should do it." A wry smile. "I doubt there's anywhere here they're not watchin' somehow but it makes a bloke feel better to have a door, yeah?"

[starandhope]

"Let's see what the Door provides us, then, shall we?"

Fortunately, Mina has long since figured out the trick of navigating back to the circulation desk. A mere thought brings them to it, and from there, it's easy enough to find the Changeable Door. Fortunately, it provides them with a meeting space, with a table and chairs. The Garden would have been more awkward.

[hellandbackpack]

Charles followed along in Mina's wake, pack for the moment set over a shoulder again.

"Gettin' to the desk's kinda like the mirror network back home... never did really understand the mechanics of that one, but maybe that tells us somethin' about this place?" It made sense to him at least, but without someone better versed in the magic that made the mirror network operate, it was little more than idle thought. He perked slightly at the sight of the room Mina opened the Door to, unable to help a laugh.

"Blimey, never thought I'd be this glad to see a conference room!" Once they were inside, he'd just take one of the chairs and wedge it under the door handle. He wasn't sure it'd do much, but if the door was forced open, that chair would make a racket regardless. The bag was once again unshouldered, though this time he flipped it open, and plunked it on the floor, before glancing towards Mina. "It'll probably be quicker to look if we're not pullin' everything out. You can come if you want!"

[starandhope]

Mina is glad as well - for whatever reason, the Changeable Door has given them exactly the room they need for whatever it is that Charles intends to do.

She must admit, she didn’t anticipate a secret, private meeting with a young man she just met today. But his enthusiasm is rather infectious. She watches him work with interest and curiosity.

“Come where?” she asks, eyes wide with it.

[hellandbackpack]

"Into the bag!" Charles replied cheerfully, as he was putting a foot into it- and it sank down to his knee, certainly impossible with the floor right there. Putting a hand on the side of the table to keep balanced, he seemed to be hunting around with his foot, like searching for a step in the dark before he set weight on it, and stepped into the bag properly, offering a hand Mina's way. "The steps are kinda steep, but It's safe enough."

[starandhope]

That is definitely unexpected. But Mina is nothing if not courageous in the face of the unexpected. Carefully, she takes Charles’ hand, gathering her skirts in the other so as not to trip. She’s not too proud to take assistance when it’s required.

“And there are… books in here?” she asks as they descend.

[hellandbackpack]

It's a strange space they're descending into- the stairs are steep spiral things, and the pair are coming down into what looks to be a small storage room, with a entry into another space that from a glimpse, looks to also be storage, from the myriad shelves and trunks littering both spaces, that and the variety of items both on the shelves and stacked here and there giving the air of having stepped into an antique shop. Or an armory- a glance into that other space would show space along the wall where there should be weaponry, though all that seems to be on offer is a sword, some knives, and a rack of... bottles. All with a rag tucked into the neck, all alight, though the flame doesn't seem to be moving up the fabric. (And were those bombs just under that rack? Is that safe?)

Once they're both off the stairs, Charles releases her hand, moving towards one of the bookshelves, where there were a few stacks of thin journals left, as well as some manuscripts and folios. "We've got... some? Less than there were before though, and everything left is unfinished."

As he spoke, he pulled down a couple stacks to bring over to a table littered with tools and nudged a space open enough to set them down. "Journals, manuscripts... if it was published or finished, I can't find it on the shelves here."

[starandhope]

Mina, not being an expert on weapons, or antiquities, or much of anything else for that matter (apart from train timetables and shorthand), studies the items but touches nothing. Her eyes are wide with amazement at this wondrous place that is actually impossible. And yet, here they are.

Charles' words take her out of her reverie and she turns her attention back to him. "I spoke with one of the assistants, a Mr. Durand. He called this place the Unfinished Library, and said that nothing finished would remain in it for long. Something tells me he was talking about more than just the books."

[hellandbackpack]

Charles hummed thoughtfully at that, tilting his head as he considered the details.

"Nothin' finished would remain in it for long..." That was implied he supposed in the name of the place, but that he saw fit to call attention to it like that. He perked slightly, grinning as he flipped open one of the spiral-bound notebooks, flipping to an empty page he could tear out and plop down on the tabletop near the mason jar in which an inadvisable amount of bees were flitting around. "Now that sounds like sommat we can experiment with, yeah?"

Plucking a pen out of the chaos of the jumble of items on the desk with his left hand, Charles jots down on the notebook paper in a hand that was... not anything especially flourishing, but surprisingly legible for someone who didn't seem the sort to sit and practice penmanship: Once upon a time, there was a cat who was hungry and tired. He snatched a fish from the market and ran away to his den, where he ate the whole thing, and then fell asleep, comfy and full. The End.

"If it's just about finishin' a thing... somethin' should happen to this, yeah?" He postulated, laying the pen alongside the paper, straightening once again. "If not, then there's somethin' else involved too."

And while at first it seemed nothing would happen, the first time they both happened to look away from the page together, or blink at the same time? It would indeed just be gone.

[starandhope]

That's certainly one way to test out what Mina had been told. She appreciates Charles' willingness to just do things.

And indeed, before too long they both glance away, tired of staring at the page, and then - it's gone.

"Well, that answers that question," she murmurs. "Mr. Durand gave me that information after I asked him if he could provide me with anything that would help us understand why we're here or how to get home," she adds.

[hellandbackpack]

If there's one thing Charles brings to the investigations? It's the ability to just do, which oftentimes is a bit necessary- Edwin is brilliant to be sure, but he wants to badly to know everything before he decides to take action which can be useful but at times isn't the way to go. At which point? Charles 'No Thoughts Only Vibes' Rowland steps up.

"And we remember the story too, so it's just the finished copy written out what gets nicked..." He tilts his head, considering that with a thoughtful hum. "Makes it slightly less likely this is a Fae thing. Which is brills- I can never seem to keep my mouth shut with them, causes all kinds of trouble, let me tell you!"

[starandhope]

"Really? I never would've guessed," Mina says, lightly poking fun at her new friend. His attitude is simply infectious, and he strikes her as someone who wouldn't take offense at such a remark. Her tone is all affection.

[hellandbackpack]

"Right? Can't imagine why such a sparkling conversationalist as myself would have trouble with the Fae," he replied with a cheery grin in response to Mina's teasing. Absolutely not taking offense at all, in fact he's pleased that she's willing to banter with him. "Maybe they're just jealous how aces I am with people."

[starandhope]

"Faeries only seek to manipulate people," Mina points out with a faint smile. "I suspect you do nothing of the sort, and that may draw their ire."

[hellandbackpack]

"Eh, some of 'em are alright blokes. Just got their rules and all, so long as you go by 'em you're alright yeah?" He chuckled, plucking up a small hacky sack from the clutter on the desk to toss from one hand to the other as if idle hands made it near impossible for him to focus. "There's a Spring-aligned Court that's got a veil in the park near our office back in London. They love when Edwin and I come around to trade for information."

[starandhope]

“You live in London,” Mina says, smiling almost in relief. “I imagine your world is much different than mine, but surely London stays the same.”

[hellandbackpack]

"Best place to set up an agency, innit?" Charles replies lightly, with a grin of his own. "Something's always happenin' in good ol' London-town!"

[starandhope]

"Oh, yes, it's one of the greatest cities in the world," Mina says. "There are many places I'd like to visit, but I can't imagine living anywhere else."

[hellandbackpack]

"Visitin' a multiversal magic library's one way to start off!" He teases lightly, with a soft laugh. "You don't do things by halves, do you?"