Archive Ch.10

Nic and Jordi wasted no time clearing the area. Though it was unlikely the books would attack again according to Jordi, he also suggested it might be better not to tempt fate. Nic couldn’t have agreed more, not even bothering to take his harness off until a solid ten minutes stood behind them. Only then did they stop to catch their breath.

“Come here,” Jordi said, gesturing Nic closer. “Lemme look you over for wounds real quick.”

“Me!?” Nic asked. “You’re still bleeding!?”

Jordi laughed, quickly checking over Nic’s back and shoulders. “I’m fine. Like I said, I’ve been in worse.”

Practice. Nic couldn’t even begin to imagine the kind of life that would have the display Jordi pulled off being considered normal. Though that didn’t stop Nic from trying, his imagination going off on fantastical tangents on the subject. He made a mental note to ask Jordi about them when he had the chance. Nic suspected the delver would have more than a few tales to tell.

“Alright, you look good,” Jordi said, backing away. “You can start getting that harness off if you want.”

Nic nodded, turning his attention to the buckles. Jordi did the same, quickly stripping out of his harness and laying it over Dewey’s back. From within the compartments, he pulled a first aid kit and began to dab at his cut with a cloth. He showed no sign of pain as he did so, instead continuing to speak with Nic.

“So,” he asked. “Which one first?”

“Which question do I want answered first, you mean?” Nic replied. Jordi nodded the affirmative.

“Obvious one I guess,” Nic said.

“Careful, that word again.”

“Wha- oh, right.” Nic waved hand. “Fine, my first, totally unassumed question is: what were those things?”

Jordi nodded, his smile widening ever so slightly before he continued.

“Do you know what a geist is?” he asked.

Nic pondered the question. He’d heard the word before but only in passing. Random references on the Net and once or twice in Master Orlin’s assigned readings but nothing so useful as a proper definition.

“Heard the word before,” Nic said eventually. “Magical phenomenon, right? Related to elementals somehow?”

“Yes and no,” Jordi replied, slipping out of his harness. “They’re more like ideas.”

“What?” Nic asked flatly.

“Ideas,” Jordi repeated. “Or living ideas, might be a better way to put it. They’re like elementals, in the sense that both are manifested concepts, distinct entities derived from larger overarching forces. Make sense?”

Nic nodded, well familiar with this concept from his studies. Jordi nodded in turn, smiling as he continued his impromptu lecture.

“The difference is that while elementals are derived from fundamental forces of the universe, geists are manifested into being from ideas. Thoughts and emotions tied to something so strongly that they take on a life of their own.” He gestured back the way they had come. “Literally, in some cases.”

“Yeah,” Nic said, finally freeing his leg from the harness. “Are they always books?”

Jordi shook his head. “Nope, they can be almost anything. The important part is the intent behind the thing, not the thing itself. I’ve seen shoes, doors, umbrellas, even whole houses taken over.” He chuckled. “Those ones are fun, let me tell you.”

“Actually fun? Or how in Sharpe’s name did we make it out of there fun?”

“Yes,” Jordi said.

Nic was tempted to press him for more details but got distracted by a particularly stubborn clip in his harness. After several unsuccessful attempts and some light cursing, Jordi stepped in to free him, effortlessly releasing it with a single press. Sheepish, Nic slid free of his trap.

“Thanks,” Nic said.

“My pleasure.” He took the harness, folding it up before hanging it on Dewey’s casing. Nic watched, his eyes drifting back towards the way they had come, paranoid at every errant flicker of shadow.

“They shouldn’t follow us this far,” Jordi said. “They don’t like getting too far from wherever they’ve chosen to settle.”

“Are they always like that?” Nic asked.

“Sometimes.” Jordi paused, joining Nic in glancing back down the aisle. “Though it’s strange to see a group that big so close to the surface. You usually only see a few at a time on this side of the depth marker.”

“I’m sorry, depth marker?”

“I told you this place was big, didn’t I?” Jordi said, his smile coming straight back, before turning to look at the shelves. “Though on that subject, you ready to get the next book?”

Nic cast him a questioning look before realizing what he meant. He looked over at the shelves, finding them filled with a mismatched collection of hardcover books, some old and dusty, others so new they almost shone. It reminded Nic of a stationary store, the kind that sold blank novelty books and journals, just with all their stock mixed up and out of order. Other than that, there was nothing about the scene that would have caught Nic’s attention.

“Seriously?” he asked, incredulous.

“I’m nothing if not a multitasker,” Jordi said, pointing up at the right-hand shelf. “Should be just up there.”

Nic looked again, unable to pick out whatever specific volume he was indicating.

“I’ll take your word for it.”

Jodri nodded, beginning to turn towards Dewey before pausing, quickly turning back to Nic with a devious smirk on his face.

“You want to get it?”

“What, like, go up there?” Nic asked.

“Like yeah.”

Nic cast him a withering look but let the feeling pass as he looked back up at the shelf. Looking at the spot in earnest, it didn’t seem as high up as he’d originally through.

“…What do I do?” he asked after a moment.

Jordi smiled, gesturing Nic closer to Dewey, the latter of whom began to unfurl his many arms. They quickly formed a rough box, looking like a half-assembled jungle gym.

“I’ll point out what we’re after when we get up there,” Jordi said. “Just hold tight and let Dewey do the lifting.”

Nic nodded, stepping forward to grab hold of offered arms, bracing his feet against the two lower ones. The arms contracted in response, giving him a stable platform to stand on as he began to rise into the air. Nic was surprised by how smooth the ride was, the arms shifting as they ascended to keep him centered in their grasp. It suddenly made a lot more sense how Jordi was able to make this look so effortless, riding next to him on only one arm. There was some quality tech in these things. He’d have to see about getting his hands on their schematics for his own tinkering. Though thinking of it, Nic remembered something else.

“Another question,” Nic said.

“Hm?” Jordi replied, turning to look at him.

“Back there at the geist nest, I tried to help you out with a spell, but it didn’t work.” He paused, grasping for words. “Or well, it worked, something just stopped it from going anywhere. Kinda like, something ate it?”

“Ah, thought I smelled smoke back there.” Jordi raised his free hand to pat the metal arm he clung to. “That was Dewey’s doing. Part of his personal defense package, simple ward that siphons off certain things.”

“Certain things?”

“Fire, water, strong enough wind, basically anything that might damage the books.”

Nic cast Jordi an incredulous look. “Pretty sure those ‘books’ weren’t returning the favor.”

“Well, you can hardly blame them, can you? We did kind of invade their home.”

“Still, no magic at all?” Nic persisted.

“A few things can get through,” Jordi said. “And it’s easy enough to think around, you just need to get creative.”

“Like that green light?” Nic asked, indicating the arm that Jordi had held the shield with. Jordi nodded, smiling in recognition.

“An old delver’s trick. Bound force elemental, applied at the subatomic level. Spell never actually touches the books, just pushes them away gently enough that nothing gets damaged.” He chuckled again. “No idea why it’s green though, some old quirk in the code.”

Nic made a mental note to get a copy of that code just as Dewey’s arms came to a halt. They were most of the way up the shelf, only a few feet shy of the top. The books had changed somewhat this high up, being darker in colour but otherwise the same mismatched collection of tomes. A few of the spines bore titles, though none of them helped Nic pick out which of them they were after, some not even being in English.

“What now?” Nic asked.

“Here, try this,” Jordi said. He pulled a simple eyepiece from a pocket and handed it to Nic, pointing at the shelf. “Look through it at that.”

Nic did so, holding the aperture up to his eye. Instantly his vision was flooded with information, an entire virtual overlay in a familiar red and bronze colour scheme. Wherever he looked, holographic vectors highlighted objects, from the shelf itself right down to the individual books that sat upon it. Text boxes appeared as his gaze wandered over the scene, each one displaying a quick summary of relevant information. Everything from location data to publication date to the all-important titles.

“Whoa,” Nic asked, looking away from the monocular. “This is how you see?”

“Everything you could ever want to know, right before your eyes,” Jordi said, tapping the side of his glasses.

“That is cool,” Nic said.

“Isn’t it?” Jordi nodded back at the shelf. “Right, I’ve marked what we’re after, take another look.”

Nic did so, returning to the world of overlaid lines. It was no trouble finding what Jordi had referred to, two books sitting permanently highlighted off to Nic’s left. They were badly mismatched, one a spiral bound notepad while the other was a blue hardcover journal. Nic didn’t pay it too much mind, instead reaching out to grab both at once, pulling them from the shelf in a single motion.

“These ones?” Nic asked, holding up his prize. Jordi took them, flipping open the spiral notebook and quickly scanning the contents. After a few seconds he nodded and flipped it shut.

“Looks like it,” he said. “Hold on tight.”

Without obvious prompting, Dewey began to lower them to the ground. They didn’t make it far before there was a horrible grinding noise and Dewey’s arms suddenly seized, their only motion a violent twitching as the mechanism kept trying to operate.

“Shoot,” Jordi said, swinging down to hang from the arm. “Don’t go anywhere, I’ll get it.”

He dropped, landing with lithe grace on the floor next to Dewey. Nic watched as he reached for the controls, pressing a familiar silver button near the top. Instantly the pressure went down in the arms, lowering Nic to the ground quite a bit more quickly than he’d been ready for. They hit the ground with a clang, Nic stumbling clear and nearly losing his balance until Jordi stepped in to catch him.

“Thanks,” Nic said. “Another mishap?”

“Yeah, I really need to fix that.” Jordi looked him up and down. “You alright?”

“I’m good.”

Jordi nodded, turning back to Dewey’s controls as he set about resetting the bot’s arms, the metal limbs neatly folding themselves back into place.

“So, what now?” Nic asked. “Find another place to read?”

“Actually, I was thinking we should find a place to camp,” Jordi said. “It’s getting late.”

Though he couldn’t say he was surprised anymore, it suddenly hit Nic just how long they’d been in here. They’d been walking for hours just to get here and presumably it would take just as many hours to get back. Nic’s feet already hurt and the idea of lying down for sleep was starting to sound real tempting.

“Right,” Nic said, glancing back the way they had come. “Someone will tell my master I’m not coming home, right?”

“No need, it’s only been about an hour back outside.”

Nic shot Jordi an incredulous look, working at parsing what had just been said and finding himself unable.

“…Excuse me?”

Jordi gestured at the monocular still clutched in Nic’s hand.

“Look at the upper right corner of the display.”

Hesitantly, Nic obliged, returning to the overlay of lines and text. Looking at the corner as instructed, two boxes appeared that seemed untethered from the rest of the overlay. They each displayed a digital clock, one labeled Objective, the other Subjective. The two times were not the same, the former reading 2:42 while the latter read 7:26. Beneath each was a second number, timers Nic realized, though not equal ones. While the Objective one moved normally, seconds ticking by over the span of their namesake, Subjective blazed away faster than he could keep up with. Minutes passed in what felt like seconds, the number rocketing up in the blink of an eye.

“…Temporal anomalies?” Nic asked, taking an educated guess.

“Just the one actually,” Jordi replied. “It gets a bit complicated, but the short version is time passes much faster in here than it does outside.”

Nic let that settle on his brain, finding the thought just a bit too big for him to handle all at once. For some reason, he was compelled to glance at his hand, finding only smooth skin and straight joints. Exactly what he should have expected of course, but the image of it rapidly aging to that of a wrinkled old man just wouldn’t leave him be.

“Don’t worry, it’s perfectly safe and the difference isn’t that steep,” Jordi said, perhaps intuiting Nic’s worry. “Won’t feel like more than a relative day.”

“And it’s…” Nic grasped for the words to express his question. “It’s just there?”

Jordi shrugged. “Time flies when you’ve got a good book.” He gestured for Nic to follow. “Come on, the sooner we camp the sooner we can rest.”     

He turned away, Dewey following along at his heel. Nic watched him go for a moment, mind still ticking away at a mile a minute. Only after taking one last quick glance at his hand, did he move to catch up.

*

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