Archive Ch.5

“Teriyaki or barbeque?”

Nic looked over at Jordi where he leaned against the wall of the elevator. They had just stepped back into it, the car rumbling its way back down from the Director’s office.

“Pardon?” Nic asked, audible confusion in his voice.

“Teriyaki or barbeque, which do you like more?”

“…Teriyaki?” Nic said very slowly. “Why?”

“Need to know what flavor of jerky to pack for the delve.”

Jordi pulled out a tablet and began tapping away on it, acting as if he hadn’t just left Nic thrown for a complete loop.

“Why do we need-” Nic began before a thought occurred to him. “Actually, better question, what’s delving?”

Jordi looked up from his tablet, a confused look of his own on his face.

“Wait, did no one explain it to you?”

Nic shook his head. “My master just told me I could get answers here. Didn’t say anything about how.”

Jordi gaped at Nic, seeming genuinely confused by this revelation. It quickly morphed into a grin, the toothy expression spreading across his face like he’d just been told he was getting all his birthdays at once.

“Oh goodie,” he said. “That means I get to explain it all to you.”

The elevator ground to a halt, ejecting the two techne back into the halls. Jordi took the lead again, Nic falling into step beside him while Dewey brought up the rear, following like an obedient hound.

“So,” Jordi began. “Tell me everything you do know, all the details, just so I know what I’m working with.”

Nic pondered a moment before answering.

“I know this place is called Archive and that so far as everyone is concerned, it’s the place you come looking if you need answers.” He shrugged. “Other than that, I’ve kind of just been led around blind.”

Jordi nodded, as if this were the correct answer.

“Pretty good for the broad strokes, though you’re right, that’s missing all the details.”

“I mean, I assume it’s just because there’s a lot of information here, right?” Nic offered. “Books and files? That’s what a library is for, isn’t it?”

Another smile flashed across Nic’s face. “Ah see, there you go with assumptions again.”

“Am I wrong?” Nic asked.

“Yes and no,” Jordi pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “You saw that castle on the way in, yeah?”

“I mean, it’s kinda hard to miss.”

“You’d be surprised.”

Jordi paused, guiding Nic through a random side door he never would have noticed otherwise. Together they passed through what turned out to be a supply closet, the cramped space filled with office supplies, emerging in another hallway on the far side. Their emergence scattered a small group of people who clearly had not been expecting someone to come from that direction.

“Anyway, the castle,” Jordi continued, ignoring the stink eye being shot his way. “That’s the actual library.”

Nic narrowed his eyes, looking over at Jordi in confusion.

“Isn’t this all a library?” He gestured around at their surroundings. “The whole campus I mean?”

Jordi shook his head. “Nope, well, sort of. It is a library but it’s not the library. The campus is more about research and training.”

They came to a crossroads, halting to let a small convoy of CATs roll past. Most of them were near twice the size of Dewey, their sides taller than Nic was, the ground rumbling slightly under their collective weight.

“Training for what exactly?” Nic asked.

“Delving, to bring this back to your original question.”

Nic bit his tongue, resisting the urge to point out that included the lack of an answer.

“And delving is?”

“Kind of what it sounds like: the act of going into the library to explore and recover things from inside.”

“And that requires teriyaki jerky?”

“That’s more a matter of what flavor provision you prefer.”

“See it’s the provisions part that’s confusing me,” Nic said. “How big is the library?”

“Pretty big,” Jordi smirked. “It’ll make sense when you see it.”

Nic threw up his hands. “You’re the third person to tell me that today.”

Jordi titled his head, an amused look on his face. “Have we been wrong yet?”

Nic opened his mouth to speak but closed it again as he considered the question in detail.

“Fair enough,” he conceded. Jordi nodded, nudging Nic in the arm.

“Don’t worry, as I’m sure those other two also said, it’ll be worth the wait.”

He picked up his pace, cutting off another guide bot. Ignoring its angry beeping, Jordi turned towards a large glass fronted door that opened to the outside, waving for Nic to follow. Passing through, Nic reeled back as he found himself standing before the castle walls directly. They felt even taller up close, looming like giants in a way that made everything below feel tiny by comparison. And that was saying something considering what appeared to be a small town had been erected at their base.

Dozens of buildings sat arrayed along the wall’s edge, stretching all the way to both visible corners and beyond. The same design as the rest of Archive, a fusion of utility and academic, all in the same bronzy red hue that dominated the compound. This area seemed to favor the utility however, the comparison to a military base becoming unavoidable the more Nic looked around. Prefab buildings sat in neat rows along both edges of the space, enough to house entire battalions and the material needed to keep them running.

People and vehicles moved everywhere, forming streams of traffic as thick and consistent as rivers. Entire convoys of CATs followed behind formations of delvers, few if any of them wearing the formal robes Nic has seen so far. Instead, they mostly wore fatigues, plain shirts and pants with obvious combat rigs sitting securely on their backs. Mostly unadorned, save the occasional charm or personal flare of colour, the kind that Nic imagined fell within some kind of regulation. No one so much as paused to look at them, their little trio melting seamlessly into the bustle of the crowd.

“Busy place,” Nic observed as they stopped to let a throng of people pass by.

“Worse than usual,” Jordi agreed, watching the stream of people with an amused look. “This is that big expedition the boss was talking about.”

“All of them?” Nic asked, looking again at the sheer bulk of the crowds.

“Well, most of them are support but the majority, yeah.”

“What are they looking for?”

“They’re not looking, they’re going to index a new wing a solo delver found last year.”

The universe chose that moment to be cruel as the traffic cleared and Jordi moved on, leaving Nic burning with questions and no opening to ask them. He hurried to catch up and the two finished weaving their way across the road. From there, Jordi took a sudden left, aiming them towards one of the smaller buildings. Unlike the others, it sat firmly closed, completely devoid of people despite the glimmer of electric lights shining through its high windows. Above the bay doors hung a sign that simply read “SUPPLY” in bold red letters. Jordi ignored it in favor of a smaller, human sized doorway off to the side which he promptly pulled open and entered.

“Now come on, we’ve got packing to do.”

*

Packing turned out to somehow both over and undersell what the two of them did for the next hour. Over because for all Jordi had talked it up, the activity itself turned out to mostly be stacking things in the optimal order. Under because last Nic had checked, a library visit didn’t typically involve climbing gear.

The building Jordi had led them to was exactly what the sign outside had advertised. A stockroom the size of a mid-sized house, lined with shelves and racks in a neat grid all throughout the space. Endless things sat upon them: boxes, jars, sacks, containers of all shapes, sizes, material, and colours, all arranged neatly by type and contents.

Jordi strode through it a seasoned veteran, plucking things from the shelves without so much as pausing to consider them. Dewey rumbled along next to him, sometimes called upon to use his extendable arms to reach things on the highest shelves. Nic found himself relegated to the role of delivery boy, his arms repeatedly loaded with Jordi’s selections and instructed to carry them back to the front of the room. No less than four times he did this before Jordi seemed satisfied.

Then began the task of squeezing it all inside their trusty CAT. Dewey’s sides unfurled to reveal most of his body was empty space, long shelves providing ideal portable storage. With practiced efficiency, Jordi set about filling them with supplies, stacking, twisting, and occasionally lightly crushing things to make them fit. Often, he removed the packaging to accomplish this, allowing Nic a peek at exactly what they were bringing along.

Much of it was food, a selection of dehydrated travel meals, biscuits, chocolate, and drink powders, along with the promised jerky. This sat next to twin sets of toiletries, sleeping bags, flashlights, medical kits, extra batteries for all the electronics and a universal hand cranked charger to keep them topped up.

Though this largely filled the interior, Jordi was far from done. To the exterior, he attached lengths of rope, climbing harnesses and an entire kit of anchors including both pinions to grapple hooks. On the back went a tank that was filled to the brim with water from a tap on the wall, acting as both supply and counterbalance for the increased weight.

Even this somehow was not the end. From somewhere Jordi produced two backpacks which he filled with even more stuff. Not nearly so much as had been loaded into Dewey but enough that it had notable heft when Nic hoisted the bag onto his shoulders.

“So, when you said the library’s pretty big…?” Nic asked, letting the obvious implication linger.

“I meant it,” Jordi answered. He adjusted a strap across Nic’s chest, tugging on it to test that it would stay. “How’s that, anything chafing.”

Nic shook his head. “Don’t think so. Sits the same way my rig does.”

“Good.”

Jordi turned away, looking over his work with a critical eye. He tested Dewey’s hatches, ensuring they still opened easily, ran the arms through a test cycle, and even had the bot drive around in circles several times. The CAT performed all these tasks without issue, giving a little beep at their completion and earning a nod from Jordi.

“Alright,” he said. “I think we’re good to go.”

“Do we really need all this?” Nic asked.

“Hopefully not,” Jordi said. “Assuming the place decides to play nice with us today.”

Nic looked at his companion for a moment before speaking. “I don’t think I have words for how many questions I have right now.”

Jordi laughed. “As I say, it’ll make sense once we’re in there.” He met Nic’s look with a placating smile. “Trust me.”

Against his better judgement, Nic did. Much as he wanted answers, he was also quite eager to see if this place lived up to its repeated hype. Biting back further concern, at least for the moment, Nic nodded his agreement, earning an excited clap from Jordi.

“Lovely,” he said. “Let’s go!”

Together they left the supply, the two techne and their CAT rumbling along the pavement outside. Jordi led them a short distance up to the very base of the wall itself. Against it sat another structure, clearly a later addition by the Archive as it was made of the bronzy metal rather than stone. A shutter sat in the center, triangular metal plates spinning open as they approached to reveal a chamber beyond just barely large enough to hold all three of them comfortably. A second, identical shutter sat on the inner wall, this one remaining still as they moved inside.

“Swipe your card here,” Jordi said, indicating a featureless panel on the wall. Nic complied, digging out his guest pass from a pocket. The wall chirped as he pressed his card to the screen, a brief flurry of information flying across the surface in reply. The whole thing carried on for several seconds before eventually it flashed green and settled, displaying a simple “CLEAR” before returning to featureless black.

“Good,” Jordi said, gently pushing Nic aside. “My turn.”

From around his neck, Jordi produced his own card hanging from a silver chain and repeated the process. The same chime sounded, followed by the same sudden flurry of information. It continued for measurably longer as it cycled through far more data, enough so that Nic started to feel a bit awkward. Jordi just chuckled, though he failed to hide the fingers he held crossed behind his back. After a full minute, just as Nic was about to speak up again, the screen flashed green.

“Problem?” Nic asked.

“Nope,” Jordi said. “My profile just has more stuff to work through.”

Though Nic suspected that was only half true, any further question was cut off as the outer shutter slid closed, sealing the three of them in the room. Air blasted them from all sides, the back of Nic’s neck lighting up as magic washed over them from all sides. It lasted only a few seconds before cutting off, leaving the air still and oddly silent.

The inner door slid open, buffeting them both with a blast of air from within and revealing a long stone hallway that disappeared into a warm haze of dim light. What lay beyond was impossible to make out. Without delay, Jordi turned and strode towards the strange unknown.     

“Well then,” he said. “Shall we?

*

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