LSRO: Chapter 350 - Be Damned

And as promised, here's another.

I'll drop a couple more today.

I'm pretty happy with the direction the book is going right now. Picking up those threads and weaving a decently warm jumper.

Hope you're enjoying it so far.

~~

Chapter 13

Be Damned

Quinn rested her head in her hands, attempting to grasp everything Narilin had said. She could feel Malakai and Milaro moving over to look at the desk as well, their curiosity piqued by their obvious eavesdropping on the conversation. Which was good, because she really wasn’t sure how to go about figuring this out on top of everything else. 

“May I?” Milaro asked politely, leaning over to peer at the books. He directed his question at Narilin. She simply nodded and watched his every move, as if she feared he would damage the books even more.

Quinn watched him out of the corner of her eye, unwilling to move her head from its comfy hiding place in her hands. Just a few minutes to breathe, to let go of the vertigo threatening to engulf her right then. To absorb the fact that her mind had to expand, and seemed to do it with or without her consent on a timetable only the universe knew about. Just one existential crisis at a time would have been her preference.

“Come on, just because you won’t look at people doesn’t mean they can’t see you.” There was amusement in Malakai’s voice.

She sighed and pulled herself into a sitting position again, leveling a glare at him. “No need to burst my bubble.”

“There is if you’re hiding in it. We can’t afford for you to do that. Maybe after we make sure the universe doesn’t implode, okay?” His tone was gentle enough to make her feel mean for having been sulky for five seconds.

“Melting books make me sad,” was all she said as an excuse. There’d be plenty of time for her to complete her existential crisis after the universe was out of danger. She waited with the others, watching Milaro expectantly. 

Finally, he straightened up and sighed, his frown still in place. “It’s not the previous virus or natural. It is, however, engineered. But it should be easy enough to catalogue it into the system as a dangerous substance to scan for when people exit or enter the Library.”

Quinn almost kicked herself. Why hadn’t she thought of that? It was such a simple idea considering all the magical tech they had at their fingertips. “What about scanning the people here? If they’re already inside the Library, or if they’re still here, we can nab them before they trigger a cascade of book destruction? Maybe?”

Which was when she realized she had to be the one who entered the specimen into the system. 

“Good to see you didn’t completely dissociate.” Milaro grinned at her.

“Shut up.” Quinn grouched before pulling up the system’s foreign matter identification database. She was glad to see several entries already, because she’d never even thought of such a thing, which meant she hadn’t created it with a single stray thought. She still didn’t know how far her powers went, now that she’d been fully synchronized. 

It took her several moments to figure out what to do. Sampling it with her bare hands seemed like the worst idea this century, but then she realized it wasn’t necessary. 

Scan for dangerous substances

Subclass?

Quinn frowned and skimmed down the short list. She found what she was looking for.

Biological matter degradation

...

...

Substance identified.

Necrologicharta

Classification Z

Neutralization methods taken

Scanning current Library occupants

3 contained contaminations detected

0 active contaminations detected

Recommend contaminations be destroyed

Scan added to entry wards

Alerts enabled

Quinn blinked at the information in front of her, fully aware of how long it hadn’t taken. “No one currently in the Library has it on them. There are 3 contaminated samples, which I assume includes this?”

Narilin nodded.

“Should I destroy these like I did with the virus-infected ones?”

Narilin paused just shy of nodding again and looked at Milaro before answering. “Probably a good idea, Librarian. It would mean no accidental way for it to infect the rest of the Library.”

“I’ll do that momentarily.” Quinn had no trouble pulling up the memory where she last used the fire, even if it had wiped her out. She was much stronger now. She looked over the information again and relayed it. “The system will now scan everyone who enters or leaves for this substance. It’s called Necrologicharta...”

Milaro gasped softly. “That’s... not good.”

“You don’t say.”

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow at Quinn. “Necrologicharta is closely related to the infection spread in the Balisor wood.”

“Oh,” Quinn had nothing else for him, but it gave them another connection to follow. At least things were coming full circle, even if none of them could figure a way out of it yet.

“Guess there’s no time like the present for us to make a trip, right?” Milaro encouraged her to stand up. Narilin followed suit.

They were headed to the Book Infirmary when Milaro stopped, nearly causing Quinn to run into him. He turned and grimaced down at her. “I’m so sorry, I have to duck away, and I need Malakai with me.”

Quinn nodded. He had a sector to run after all. “It’s fine. I’ve enough to do. And Aradie is with me.” Sure enough, the bird hooted and landed on Quinn’s shoulder at the sound of her name.

“Just be careful with the books.” Milaro said, a slightly concerned smile on his face as he turned Malakai abruptly steering him away.

Quinn watched after them for several seconds, thinking it an odd time for them to leave. Granted, she knew the list for prepping the Library was a long one. So little time, so much to do. She shrugged, glanced at the waiting Narilin, who’d packed up the degraded book, and was hiding her impatience rather poorly. 

“Let’s get it done then, shall we?” Quinn took the lead this time. On their way to the Book Infirmary, Fallow, their ingredient golem, stopped them.

Even though Quinn could practically feel the irritability spreading from Narilin, she stopped to listen anyway.

“Librarian,” Fallow cleared her throat. “Would you allow me room in the horticulture branch when it opens?”

Quinn blinked, somewhat surprised not only at the request, but that she hadn’t considered it herself first. “Of course. It makes the most sense for you, doesn’t it?”

Fallow smiled and shook her head. “It does. I will see to bringing my helpers with me and to finding more. The branch will be much larger than my little alcove here.”

“Thank you.” But then, Quinn stopped for a second. “Wait, how did you know we’re focusing on horticulture now?”

This time Fallow laughed. “It’s the only branch we haven’t opened that isn’t the Academy. It’s only logical.”

Quinn groaned. “A bit more thinking and I’d have come up with that myself. Thank you, I’ll let you know as soon as we’re ready.”

Ignoring Narilin’s mild glare, Quinn made her way to the infirmary.

It had expanded since the last time she saw it. Not just one massive repair desk with all its little slots for different binding thicknesses, different parchment, and ink anymore. There were now multiple tables and a few more workers than Quinn remembered. Neither of Narilin’s cousins were there, but they probably had days off too. The rafters also seemed to extend now, with many more Nightowls perched the whole way up. Aradie gave a hoot and launched herself up to join them. 

Quinn sucked in a deep breath. She couldn’t help remembering the last time she immolated books that were infected. It hadn’t ended well for her. She could destroy the books, but in the process it had weakened her so much. Now, however, she hoped it’d be okay considering she had so much more strength this time around. More energy, more mana, more knowledge.

She opened her mouth to ask Narilin to get the books together, but it seemed the Salosier was already doing so. Narilin held three silicon-like pockets suspended over a tray with the remnants of the books inside them. She eyed them warily, and looked at Quinn, nodding toward the granite vessel over in the corner.

It took a bit for Quinn to maneuver it into the middle of the floor and slot it into what appeared to be grooves specifically for that. She didn’t remember them being here the last time. But the Library had been growing this whole time, and everything it did seemed to be an improvement.

Narilin walked over, carefully, balancing the books in their protective enclosure. She looked down into the vessel. “Think this will go like it did last time? Should I fetch the doctor to stand by?”

From anyone else, that would have sounded condescending, but Quinn knew that was just how the book doctor sounded. “No, I think I’ve grown into my powers sufficiently now. I shouldn’t be overstepping my power limits so much this time that it causes backlash.”

Narilin nodded. “Very well. Are you ready?”

“Give me a second. Need to activate Book Destruction.” Quinn bit her lip, wary of this strange infectious sludge and how it might affect her Library if it spread further. So far they’d been lucky... hopefully that luck held a while longer. She accessed the area she needed from the system and perused the vaguely familiar process.

Book Destruction
Criteria: Is the book/Are the books damaged beyond repair?
Yes or No?
Quinn indicated Yes.
Has the book been placed in the appropriate Granite Vessel with an Abishu base?
Yes or No?
Quinn glanced at the vessel and frowned. It didn’t seem any different from the last time, so she motioned to Narilin to let the books drop into the container. There was a distinct sloppy sound as they did so, and she felt revulsion race down her spine. Once they landed, she indicated Yes.
Book Immolation Granted upon assessment of Books.
Assess books now?
Yes or No?
She indicated Yes again.
Scanning

...

Scan Complete.

Warning: System recognizes a potent disruptive agent.

Necrologicharta can trigger chain reactions in the current environment.

Books Qualified for immediate destruction.

Book Immolation Level 28 Granted. 

Librarian Level equal to requirements. 

Brace yourself anyway.

Activate Now?
Yes or No?
Quinn chose Yes

This time she felt the building of the fire in her, used to its potency now she’d been the Librarian longer. The hot white and blue flame danced in her hands, ineffectual against her scales as she gathered the power and directed it into the vessel. As soon as it touched the sludge-covered books, a scream rent the air.

It was nothing like it had been when she did this the first time. No, whether it was the extra power she wielded, or that this Necrologicharta was even worse than their first corruptible virus, the screams shared the agony of a thousand needles, the harsh reality of an existence being wiped out. Even as she watched the flames churn, she could see the sludge trying to fight against it, attempting to slither toward the edges of the vessel, trying to escape its demise.

Quinn took a step back, shocked that the sludge could function beneath the onslaught. And so, she directed the system to help her up the heat a notch, pouring even more of that white and blue flame into the vessel.

Book Immolation Level 32 - Granted.

Finally, the sludge began to recede, to taper off, and to give up. The sheer power that poured off her in waves halted, finally having done its job. Quinn sagged, leaning against the closest desk she could, eyes never leaving the smoldering remnants of the books. Not until they finally poofed into ash and burned themselves out, anyway.

A wave of exhaustion washed over her. It might not have been as many books as last time, but it felt like the level of destruction needed had been far greater. At least this time, she only felt tired, not as if she’d been hit by a truck.

The system fed her an update.

Ability to channel Library power increased.

Current capacity increased to 72%. 

Backlash Onset avoided. Rest advised.

She blinked at the new stats. Her percentage had jumped hugely, but then again, she hadn’t tested it in the last six months, not after any of her synchronizations. 

“Thank you.” Narilin said, her tone much lighter than earlier. “I truly appreciate this.”

“No problem. Couldn’t have the Library getting infected by that after everything we’ve gone through to get it back, right?” Quinn smiled and then took her leave of the salosier without waiting for a response to her mostly rhetorical question. They’d done a lot to get to this point. 

And they’d lost a lot.

She’d be damned if she wouldn’t fight tooth and nail to keep what they’d secured.

~~

TADAAA - Quinn's power has grown so much she doesn't black out from using powerful shit.

Which is fun.

And even more fun to play with down the line.

Much love

KT