It's Turbin' Time (Library of Ruina Modded/Arknights)

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4.3 - Wild Card

"...you."

"Me, yes. I don't exactly recall anyone with a hat like this going around Rhodes Island." you say. "If you see them, warn me. I'll sue for copyright infringement."

Roland chuckles.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." he answers. His sharp gaze dissolves. "That was less hostile then I expected. I guess it's not too unusual coming out from the Color of cooperation, eh? What did you come here for?"

You roll your eyes.

"Really, 'Black Silence.'" you say, doing air quotes. "Since you've arrived, there's been an elephant in the room. We both know what we're in here for. Let's stop dancing around the issue, okay?"

He sighs.

"Yeah, like things couldn't get any worse... I don't think you're giving up those books without a fight, are you?"

Alright.

Time slows down to a crawl, and you give yourself time to think.

You study Roland, the Pale Librarian's assistant. Short black hair, sullen look. The suit would really sell an appearance of weakness, with how painfully beaten down to standard it is- the look is very convincingly Grade 9.

If it wasn't for your experiences. and the Black Silence's gloves being as instanteously recognizable as they are- you can even pinpoint the small indentations in the base of each finger where space is being subtly warped to make room for a storage reality- you might even fall for this impression. He sells it very well. All it'd take is a small change in expression, stuffing the gloves down his pockets, and he would be completely impossible to pinpoint in a Backstreets crowd.

He could attack at any moment, but you don't believe he will. Not when he is, essentially, a guest of Rhodes Island. If he isn't lying about having the means of communication with the Library blocked, killing you and taking the book- which you doubt he can do with any sort of relative ease- is just going to get him trapped here, with a place full of high-level combatants...

Then you recall the Black Silence's rampage.

...well.

You should try to be careful around him.

The issue is that you can't give him what he wants. You don't have Poor Screenwriter's Note- it's best if you tell him that already.

"Look, I can't help you here. I don't have what you want."

He looks at your tail, then raises an eyebrow.

"...I am referring to the Poor Screenwriter's Note. I don't know where it is, so I can't give it to you."

"Well, can't you give out the other, then?" his expression lightens, and he massages his forehead. "Look, it might sound like a lot to ask of you. I'm sure that book's been really helpful. But we really do need to keep this stuff safe. Those things aren't good news."

"Roland- can I call you Roland?"

"Yeah, sure. It's... weird to hear me call me Black Silence, to say the least. I'll call you Sieg then?"

"Fine by me. Roland, we're not really in condition to let go of those books by now. I'll just note- have you asked X about his?"

He looks squeamish, and sighs.

"...look, the cat's already out of the bag with this one. I don't think anyone who'd be perfectly OK with letting that thing-" he shudders. "Just walk around is going to care all that much."

"I can't really vouch for X, but I do need you to understand this- I'll need the Book of the Dreaming Current for the foreseeable future. They've been helpful, and I don't intend to let the Dreaming Current out."

"Right, right. You'll need it for-" he pauses. "How much do you know? About the whole... L-Corp situation?"

"Most of what went around in the Facility and in the Laboratory. I don't know anything about the Library's story, neither do I know all that much about your fellow Patron Librarian and your employer." you say. "I also know about Carmen, if that's what you're asking. The whole story, I kind of know what she wants, and that I need to stop her. That's why I came here- I don't think you're going to ignore that situation, will you? So we'll have to work together. We both need to know what the other is doing."

Roland looks pensive. After some time, he simply nods.

"Uh. That's fine with me. What have you got to ask me?"

His body language relaxes. Alright, you can ask your questions now.

"What is the situation with you and the Pale Librarian?"

He makes a so-so gesture, then takes what seems like a small flip phone out of his pocket. You recall that H Corp made a big deal about those some years ago, about connecting the entire City- but setting up the infrastructure all around the Nests of multiple Wings was far too difficult, and the process was quietly shelved.

"Angela. She's called Angela." Roland notes. "And we've been trying to restablish contact. Not going very well. After we returned the Plague Doctor and Angela confirmed she received it, the connection started to go haywire. Someone's interfering with it."

Hm.

"How did you come here, anyway? Through the Book of the Purple Tear? And how were you mantaining contact?"

"The Book of the Purple Tear- nevermind." he says. "...we came here through that, yeah. The communication was something they figured out using the Books of W-Corp. Don't really know what. One of Chesed's Abnormalities apparently has the power to sort of... bullshit it into existance? I don't like that one, but if it works it works."

A presence slithers into your mind exhaustedly. It seems that Abel has been busy, and that this has attracted his interest. Time slows down to a crawl as your implants activate.

"Likely the Adult Which Tells Lies. If recall it correctly, one of its many, many abilities- which the Library holds control over- would allow them to essentially negate the massive energy costs necessary to mantain this connection. Perhaps it has grown unruly, and that is what caused the communication to become unreliable?"

Hm. That's interesting. What's the Adult like?

"She is the Abnormality of false friends and pointless cruelty."

...that sounds like a bad Abnormality to try and use for... anything, really.

"She is less bad then it sounds. We in fact had to keep her in storage, because her "gifts," even if they ultimately caused harm to the Agents, nearly completely trivialized the cycle."

How much does Abel know that much about the Managers, you wonder. Was he not a mere prisoner of the cycle?

"Some of it are borrowed memories from Ayin. The rest... as Hokma grew more... accostumed and accepting of the cycle, I managed to work my way into collecting some data from my computer inside the room. And there was not much else to do inside that room other then think and analyze, and occasionally offer advice to every Manager that passed my way. However, due to the self-reinforcing and adjusting nature of the cycle's mechanisms, most of the combinations I had thought of were removed as to make sure the Manager would not make it all too easy."

...oh.

That sounds rather sadistic.

What did he work out, then? Using the Adult?

"Hm. Most of what I have of my strategy's proven results is that essentially, it was possible to create a number of highly empathetic, and yet disposable employees to "sacrifice" to her. Their high Temperance statistic would get her interested, and she would offer her "gifts," that would ultimately lead to the Agent's downfall, but while they did not the agent would be able to grow and learn very quickly, singlehandedly resolve difficult breaches or work with temperamental Abnormalities. But what they had not anticipated is that it was possible to sidestep all issue in this concept."

That's rather heartless, but it sounds like it should be obvious to a Wing manager.

"It was only made possible through two other Abnormalities. One known as Urbane Slitherer, which could possess an employee to give them a vast increase in their Temperance- ah. In that case, Temperance being, the measurable compatibility with Abnormality work, a quality associated with conflict resolution capacities and empathy." Abel coughs. "The Urbane Slitherer could only possess one agent at a time, through its E.G.O gift. But its E.G.O gift was incompatible with the Adult's gift, which caused her to force it back into its containment every time she gave a gift to a possessed employee. The other was the Resident of Metropolaris, which could create an indefinite barrier blocking all damage and mental degradation around an Agent as long as they did not meet any other Agents, at the cost of preventing their growth, for a period."

"Normally, it would be highly impractical to throw a high-Temperance employee- her favored target for gifts- at her to eventually get killed, all for an increase of performance that a trained and qualified one could surpass. After all, her boons had an upper limit and eventually claimed the employee's life." a smile creeps into his voice. "But the Slitherer could make any employee, no matter how unqualified, into perfect bait for the Adult, without any consequences whatsoever, while the Resident could block off the eventual side effects. And it did not matter if the Agent could not grow, as their power was already vast. It was finicky and difficult to execute, but the Manager who received this particular piece of advice cleared through day of work after day of work with no issue. Obviously, it didn't last. Based on what I could deduce from the testimonies of further Managers and the intercepted data from L-Corp's channels that I could manage to siphon from within my room, the Adult and the Slitherer were placed in storage, and the Resident was moved to another facility for simply being too powerful for the Manager. But still, it was an interesting concept..."

Well, that's interesting, but you kind of have a discussion to go back to.

"Oh."

Abel sounds earnestly ashamed. It's no issue. He shouldn't be.

"No, it was a break from decorum. I will leave now."

Before you can answer, you find his consciousness disconnecting from yours. With a silent sigh, you deactivate your mental acceleration. What were you talking about again?

Oh. Right.

"Okay, then. You said the connection was going haywire. Is nothing getting through?"

"From what I'm getting, they can occasionally cut through the interference. Doesn't last any more then a minute or two, though."

"Can you go back?"

"...not until the connection's re-stablished. But if you're asking if we can take you back to the City when we get it done-"

You wave him off.

"I'm not sure if I want to. My Office's torn on the issue, but let's talk about that some other time. For now, the issue is Carmen. What are you going to do about her? She's probably behind the interference."

"Uhhhh, I guess we're not sure? For now, we're just trying to get back home, yeah, but that could change. Chesed said he's got something in mind- he wants to check up on the, uh, Khaganquest more. Try to figure some stuff out."

"Well, if you don't mind, it's going to be useful, at least, if we are in the same page. What do you have that could help? What did you bring here that Carmen might try to get for herself? I have... lingering suspicions that she took Poor Screenwriter's Note, even if she hasn't used it herself by now. Which she might have done."

It's a frightening thought.

---

"Mr. Parvis?"

"Yes?"

"What's that book you're reading?"

"It's... a work belonging to a friend of mine. I believe it will prove useful."

---

In order to cultivate a spirit of solidarity, you end up telling Roland about the capacities of your own allies as well.

His friends are... well. You have a feeling they'll be useful, even if you don't exactly want the power of Yesterday's Promise anywhere around you.

"...well, do you have any way to keep us updated on whatever you find out, from the Distortion?"

"Not unless you want to sign a contract, and I don't blame you if you don't. I wouldn't either."

You snap your fingers as an idea comes to mind.

"Say, how does this whole book thing work out? Can't you, I don't know, turn the Khaganquest into a book and read it?"

"We'd need to be in the Library for that. As far as I know the only thing we can turn to books are ourselves."

Eh?

You guess that should have been right. The Librarians you defeated did vanish into golden pages... was this one of their secrets to victory? If their own defeated forces were harvested by that power... and they could release guests at their leisure, could they reuse their own troops indefinitely? It's a concept that displeases you just as it did with L-Corp doing it. It is something that feels fundamentally wrong to you.

Normally you'd just ignore it and try to not pay much attention, but you've found yourself doing that far less often recently. There's just so many thing you just can't accept as a fact of life- not anymore.

"You can turn each other into books?"

"More or less. I'm... half flesh and blood by now, but everyone else's made of..."

"Light."

"Yeah, that. Body made out of light, stored in the book, and kept in shape by what the Library's got left. The way it works is that the Pages they're using are all either Distortions or E.G.O users, and they're basically Light reactors that let everyone stay around. And I got one just to be sure. Though I don't use it much."

"So, what happens if one of your allies dies?"

"They go right back into their book, and it... drops in the floor, I'd imagine. With their Page probably tucked in somewhere."

"Good to know. We're going to be departing in a mission soon- I've got to recover the rest of my Office, as they ended up scattered around Terra. We might end up meeting another Distortion around the place we're going- that's Columbia, by the way."

To his credit, Roland doesn't even come close to flinch when you say that. He just looks kind of awkward and gives you a thumbs up.

"Alright. I'll... talk to everyone about that. Thanks."

---

A few hours later, after a full day of boring pre-mission tasks you're fairly used to- fill out paperwork, request supplies, help collect supplies, go around and talk to some the Operators that manage this sort of task- you decide to stop for now. You'll have a more complete talk which every member of your new team tomorrow.

For now, you will just go back into your room to rest, you find something in your desk. It's a book with a solitary piece of paper tucked inside the pages, and a note accompanying it.

Hello! We've had a discussion. Some of us wanted to help. Others didn't.

If I'm not wrong, it's neccessary that the mission be accomplished with some relative discretion, no? So we've decided to send some discreet help. It'll even help you communicate with us.

Don't worry. They agreed to this- and I can say from experience that being inside those books isn't that bad- it's like a deep, dreamless sleep.

After you return, perhaps we could meet over some coffee?

-Chesed

You pocket the note, and examine the book- but refrain from reading what is inside. It is...

[ ] A leather-bound "Book of Tatyana." It is soft to the touch, and the cover is emblazoned with various indentations, forming image of a clock. The page is of a grey, and sizzling with strange runes.

(Tatyana is the former Captain of Disciplinary, now an Assistant Librarian of Social Sciences. She is boisterous, cunning, and endlessly curious. Her page is Pluto.)

[ ] A "Book of Paul" bound in wood, with a few Middle symbols engraved on it. Not nearly enough for a even a Big Brother. An initiate's symbols? And the page inside smells of blood.

(Paul is a former member of Extraction Team, now an Assistant Librarian of General Works. He is provocative, and prone to contrarianism, enough to be described as "an argumentative little shit." However, in matters attaining to work, he remains a consumate professional. His page is Pickman.)

[ ] A cheap-looking paperback "Book of Chiyo." It is thick with weight, and early every page has dog ears, enough that the book has grown distorted in shape. The piece of paper within seems is singed at the edges, and the writing is faded.

(Chiyo was an extensively experienced member of the Architecture Team, now an Asssistant Librarian of General Works. She is vindictive and ruthless, though she can find it in her heart to be kind every now and then. Her page is Philip.)

[ ] A "Book of Bongbong," bound with a material you cannot quite identify. It is blue in color. The page within is yellowed and filled with cuts and scratches.

(BongBong is BongBong, former mega-nugget, wielder of Twilight, vanquisher of Alriunes and designated Arbiter destroyer. She is BongBong. Her page is Tanya. Unknown to Sieghart, even Adam's experience and Carmen-whispered secrets failed to predict her existance.)

[ ] A velvet-bound "Book of Louise." It is a bright burning red. The margins of the pages are all filled with incomprehensible annotations. The piece of paper hid inside is heavily decorated, with red and gold.

(Louise is a former Welfare agent, and now Assistant Librarin of Social Sciences. She is conciliatory, steadfast, and makes an effort to never appear very emotional to people she doesn't know that well. Her page is Xiao.)