Night 71: Patient Library

[forsworn]

[from here]

Shortly after Kratos closed the library door, the intercom came on abruptly. For some strange reason, though, the voice that came through was not Landel's, and it was soon joined by several others who also were not Landel. The rebels? How had they accidentally hijacked the intercom? And more importantly, where were they broadcasting from and what were they doing? Those questions, though, had to be saved for later: their goal tonight was very clear; they had their own mysterious lead to decipher.

He began to move again once the broadcast turned off, heading straight for where they'd found the switch the previous night. "Check the right side of the center aisle," Kratos said as he passed Lloyd. "We're looking for the Oxford Book of English Verse."

Comments

[overlimit]

[from here. Timeskipping to before the other groups in the room, so Rita can activate the third floor!]

Safe. Rita didn't slow down once she reached the library - she let the door swing wide, so Taura could easily follow, and made a beeline for the switch. There were a short few seconds of frantic searching as Rita skimmed over the titles on the shelf, but fortunately, she remembered enough about the location to find it quickly. She tugged down on the corner of The Oxford Book of English Verse and heard that satisfying click, followed by the rumble of the passage opening up.

Good - it still worked. Rita had considered the possibility that Landel would seal the passage or change the switch, just to throw them off. Maybe he was choosing to let them through. Or he was too distracted with other things to stop them. Whichever. All that mattered to Rita was that she wasn't being inconvenienced or obstructed this time.

"So, that note I was showing you before..." Rita began again as she approached the passageway, "I don't know who it's from, but it's someone who knows about this passage, and the teleportation system. They said to look for the records archive room." Rita didn't really care to take advice from faceless strangers, but if there really was such a room up there, she supposed she would have checked it whether someone told her to or not.

"But I don't think they knew that I already know the way, so... either it's a lucky coincidence that I got the note, or they might have given the same message to other people." In which case, others were going to discover the passage soon.

[damned_monsters]

There was a thin trail of ichor that had run down the spine of the book from the sleeping kida; only enough to give anyone who touched it only the faintest glimpse into the realms of dreams, but enough. The human, if she noticed it at all, would only have the faintest residue sticking to her fingers, opening the way to truth, or nightmare -- or both, which was perhaps the greatest truth of all.

[ninelivesonce]

Taura was hard on Rita's heels, trying not to loom over the smaller woman. "The records?" It seemed strange -- but so had destroying Ryoval's refrigerator, when Miles had suggested it as the perfect revenge. "Ohhh," she said, as it hit her. "He goes on and on about records and procedures during the day, and it doesn't seem fake." Whatever he was keeping on the third floor, it would be good.

No, not good. Horrifying, but useful. Still, there was only one way to find out.

[to here]