TEST DRIVE MEME #2

[libraryassistants]

Welcome to the Library

Those who are new awake in the stacks.

You’re not sure when you fell asleep, and the memories of the last things you were doing are hazy at best. But now you’re here, and all you can see is books in every direction, the bookshelves teetering high enough above you to reach to the sky.

A helpful sign points you in the direction of the main circulation desk, and even if you try to ignore it and go in any other direction, the desk is where you will find yourself. A figure sits behind the desk, not even looking up as they sort through books and other media; they look, to your character, to be the exact picture of what they expect a Librarian to be.

Trying to ask the Librarian a question will get them shushed, but they’ll point down a hallway to the side, leading to a kitchenette and what appears to be a dorm room, where they’ll find they’re not alone in this strange place. But once they’ve looked away, when they look back, the Librarian is gone.


The Lobby

Those who are already familiar with the Library will see the Lobby change for the second time. It’s not paper plate UFOs and metal walls this time. Instead there are cheerful garlands strung about, and a stack of books shaped into a Christmas tree taking pride of place. The Help Desk is closed, the ‘Back in 5’ sign once again a bald-faced lie, but there is a menorah sat behind in the window, conveniently just out of reach of anyone who tries to get it. The candles are lit in a… somewhat sporadic fashion, the correct order but with no rhyme or reason to what ‘night’ is being represented. Either time is strange here, whoever’s in charge of it doesn’t know what day it is either, or they simply don’t care. Or some mix of the three.

Those two particular winter holidays are not the only ones represented either; characters will find a smattering of decorations or festive accessories from a great number of holidays, from their own worlds and beyond. There is what looks like a cabinet with instructions to pick your fortune from one of the many drawers. For some reason, there are a number of what looks like a child’s toy ponies placed on and around the cabinet. There are also some posters declaring in bold, decidedly upsetting typeset: “THE GOD-EMPEROR WISHES YOU A FESTIVE SANGUINALIA!” complete with a picture of a certain Library resident in all his feathered, shining glory. (The poster is not remotely shiny, but there are helpful accent lines to show that he should be shining.) And, for some reason, there is also a giant straw goat in the garden now, surrounded by festive strings of lights. Please do not set it on fire.

The Kitchens

It seems the decorations are not the only thing in the holiday spirit. The kitchens, usually bereft of anything but the most basic foodstuffs, are now full to the brim with a variety of holiday foods. There is always a tureen with hot mulled wine and a try of sweet pastries near by it, there’s ham and latkes in the fridge to be heated up, jelly doughnuts, moon cakes, pies, and an assortment of other delicious things. If your character would expect to find a certain thing within the stash, they do, regardless of how niche it may be. Christmas chili? Of course there’s christmas chili!

Oh, and that mulled wine isn’t the only alcohol around either- champagne, sake, hard cider… again, anything anyone might expect to find. Just try not to overdo it too much, alright? Everyone still has to sleep in the same room, and the Assistants aren’t going to show up to hold your hair back.

Crafts and More

What good are holidays without crafts? The Maker’s Space has been specially supplied with anything you might need to make your festive crafts- this includes everything you’d need for a gingerbread construction! (You’d think this would be in the kitchen, but don’t kid yourself- those things are not for eating.) There’s strips of colorful paper rings and instructions on how to make your own, little things of clay and paint and directions on how to craft your own dreidel, ’stained glass’ paper lanterns, and more. Oh, and glitter. Obviously there is a lot of glitter available.

There are also snow globe kits, mostly generic winter themes- trees, presents, and the like. Strangely enough, however, when they’re complete and shaken, they’ll show a memory from the person who shook it- a memory of a holiday, or snow, or generally something that invokes the feeling of the season- light, and hope, and togetherness. It’s fragmented, almost stop-motion in between the falling bits of ‘snow,’ but once it has settled the normal, basic scene inside returns.

Comments

[birdchasingecho]

"... Time, huh..." She pauses, pats her pockets, and pulls out a very light laptop-- You know, the kind that project weird monitors in the air so you know it's the future. She opens a new text file and starts writing in it. LIBRARY UNDER SUITA CAMPUS LIBRARY...

"I think I've heard of that one. Don't they burn the goat on Christmas or New Years' or somethin' out in Europe? A lot of years they burned down early, because who can resist burning a bunch of hay when they tell ya not to burn it?"

[extrasaltypotato]

"Oh, right, Gavle. Now that you mention it."

He looks at the holographically projected text file, and taps his mustache with his index finger.

"...Suita Campus," he echoes. "Humor me: what was the date right before you arrived here?"

[birdchasingecho]

"Huh?" Mei blinks, but... Doesn't see much reason not to humor him. "April 17th. About two weeks after term began. Why?"

[extrasaltypotato]

"And the year," he specifies. "If you please."

Because this is the closest he's seen of technology of his time and place.

[birdchasingecho]

"Oh. It was 2021, just about. Heisei 32."

[extrasaltypotato]

Hikaru, more disappointed than he expected, slumps in his chair.

"Ah. Your Earth advanced far more rapidly than mine, then. When I left it, it was 2047."

Then he laughs and shakes his head.

"...1547, Mundus-side."

[birdchasingecho]

"Didn't have much choice," Mei says, with a shrug. "Without the Astro Fighter project and its descendants, I'm not sure how long we could'a kept ourselves afloat after first contact."

The extra volunteered information pokes her in the shoulder. "... Ah. This is. Your second."

[extrasaltypotato]

"Yes," he says. "Last month was my third. I am not," he adds, "looking forward to my fourth, likely to be YOUR second."

But he also leans in closer.

"Fascinating," he says. "We had no such spur. No conquerors from the stars... and we were set back by grasping incompetents. There is a reason the decade where I came of age is called the Screaming Twenties."

[birdchasingecho]

"Conquerors from the stars, our own home-grown giant monsters, some petty international power-plays. Don't get me wrong, some cool things came out of it, but I'm glad the Long War was over before I was born."

-- coming together of worlds
-- conceptual nexus?
-- "Screaming Twenties"-- look up history among stacks if time permits
-- Visits to worlds not part of this library.

[extrasaltypotato]

Bestill his beating heart, that if it were not already freely given elsewhere, Hikaru would think this girl a woman after it. She's taking notes, and thinking hard about the implications. A fellow Mechanist through and through.

"The Librarians call them stories, and we its Editors... though I had the unpleasant experience of assuming a role as one of its characters. I was damn lucky it was a dramedy. I don't even want to think about the possiblity of being thrown unaware into an adventure... or a horror story."

He laughs. "And I should very much need to talk to dear Siobhan prior to a romance, Gods forbid."

[birdchasingecho]

Most of the rest of this gets typed up as notes, though she does say-- "I only met the one Librarian so far. Looked like my librarian on campus, so it gave me a bit of a shock."

"Oh, yer beau is here?" She pauses. "... Well, while I wouldn't wish bein' stuck somewhere strange on anyone, I guess my heart would be a bit lighter if Kaneko or some o' the Judo Club were around.

"... As fer romance..." She laughs, a short, sharp laugh. "Well, that ain't happenin'."

[extrasaltypotato]

"Given I saw it - them? Her? - as a fellow Pixie, and one I could name, I suspect it's an illusion. Drawn from your expectations of what a Librarian should look like. The same trick that allows every holiday, right here, all at once."

At her mention of romance as undesirable - or impossible - Hikaru frowns. "Are you saying you would rather not, or that you can't?" he asks. "Because I both would very much love to see, and dread the thought of, an unstoppable will grappling with an inevitable plotline..."

[birdchasingecho]

There's a moment where she has to pause, and pull in her lips, like she's trying to figure out how to phrase it. "Taken, presumably. That's been goin' real slow. Neither of us in a hurry, but I'm pretty sure he thinks I'm in love with him."

And she really doesn't want to break his heart by telling Kaneko Ichigo otherwise.

[extrasaltypotato]

And now that frown is accompanied by a scowl.

"...did you intend," he says at last, "To imply he is mistaken?"

And if so, what on Earth or Mundus do you hope to achieve by humoring him? remains unsaid, because the implications of any good answer to that horrifies Hikaru.

"In either case, I am not sure the plots would care," he says. "They certainly didn't care that I'd largely resolved the very same crisis they wanted me to relive."

[birdchasingecho]

The notes stop. The laptop closes. "... That's incredibly dangerous for me, then. If I'm in a mystery, I'm the too-loyal servant. If it's a romance..."

She puts her head in her hands. "I dunno what to do if it's a romance."

[extrasaltypotato]

And then a lot of details click for him.

"I am glad that you understand the problem, Torioi Mei." He bows, sweeping his hat off his head. "Call me by my nom de guerre of Aozora Hikaru, please."

[birdchasingecho]

She stands up, leaning over the table, looking him dead in the eyes. "Let's start with the real basics, Aozora: how the hell do you know my name!?"

ah. so this is what it's like to be on the wrong end of compel +hard.

[extrasaltypotato]

"Because given this place, and the nature of it, I would not be surprised if you had read a light novel named... ahahahahah."

Fuck it. At this point her friend was less than shy about what she had gone through.

"...I Woke Up As My Kitsune Healer From An MMO And I Don't Want To Change Back, featuring me as main character Deedee Yeowoo's sometimes mentor and The Smart One in our band of five plus one outsider."

[birdchasingecho]

"-- Huh? Well. There was this one friend of mine in high school who tried to get me into Duke of Arlen who messaged me about somethin' with that plotline. 'Wonderful Historia Online' was the series, I think?" Something got localized twice in there, perhaps.

[extrasaltypotato]

He laughs.

"Bet my last Sheaf and HP that it was Mundane Phantasy Historia, in the original English. But you understand my point, I trust."

[birdchasingecho]

"Yeah, I do. So, uh, not that you need it, but you're right." She sits, at last, feeling utterly defeated. "Torioi Mei. Double major, first year, mechanical engineering and economics. Probably blowing up my first term by hunting for a shadow creature that's using my face."

[extrasaltypotato]

He nods. "A pleasure to meet you... and I do not think I will examine you under Spirit Sight. Neither of us need that. So, welcome to the Unfinished Library, where tales that have not yet satisfactorily concluded can receive necessary Editing."

[birdchasingecho]

"Thanks for the heads up. Genuinely." She pauses. Sighs.

Stands up, pours herself a ladle of mulled wine, sits back down, and lets out a long, quiet, but heartfelt, "Shiiiiiiit."

[extrasaltypotato]

"Eloquently put," Hikaru deadpans.

And then he sighs. "...and since I have you at a disadvantage," Hikaru says, "Ask me anything about myself and my circumstances and I will answer either honestly or not at all."

[birdchasingecho]

Okay she snorts, and laughs a little, and is, perhaps, a bit more at ease. She does not slam the wine (like she originally planned, and probably would have choked on because she does NOT handle alcohol as well as she hopes she will) but sips at it, gently. It's surprisingly sweet.

"So. T' start with, maybe some history's right. I told you 'bout the Long War and how I got here, 'least the broad strokes." She flips on her laptop again and starts to write more notes.

She crosses out the old title on the notes in a form of markdown, and instead writes beneath it on the text file:

INVESTIGATION: UNFINISHED LIBRARY
Sub-investigations to come: "Editing"
Figure out what genre I am

"And you mentioned the 'Screamin' Twenties'. I take it that cooler heads did not prevail in the face of what, at first, was thought to be an alien bioweapon, and later turned out to be a home-grown coronavirus."

ah yes, there's a thought to help someone sleep at night, Mei.