thisavrou_log | [OPEN] People Can Lose Their Lives in Libraries

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[OPEN] People Can Lose Their Lives in Libraries

Who: Elizabeth DeWitt, 100 Books, and You
When: October 8th - 15th
Where: The NEW AND... NOT QUITE SHINY YET Library
What: Head Librarian Elizabeth has shelves, desks, and books. Now she just needs to figure out where all of it should go...
Warnings: ~~Sexy Librarian~~

'Good morning everyone. Exciting news for those of us bibliophiles (and the individual who needs information from a book every once in a while), I've been informed the rooms that will house the Moira's collection are ready to be turned into an actual library. All he necessary parts-- shelving, chairs, tables, and books-- have been delivered, so it's only a matter of time before I have everything organized.

'But I don't see a reason for anyone who's been itching to read something to go without while I catalog everything. If you're interested in looking through what parts of the collection have been delivered so far, anyone is welcome. The Library is located on the same deck as the Mess Hall, past the gardens. Any questions, feel free to contact me, Elizabeth DeWitt, on my personal MID. Thank you!'

Thank goodness, she'd recorded that message and broadcasted it before she'd started moving things.

After she'd updated the network with the existence of the library, Elizabeth had started moving shelves against the walls. It was slow going and in a matter of minutes Elizabeth had sweat through her work suit. Well, it wasn't as though she hadn't known this endeavor would take elbow grease. No whining, it wasn't her style-- Elizabeth just rolled up her sleeves and put her back into it. One shelf at a time, one foot at a time if she had to. And once the she had the shelves in place, then she had a box of books waiting for her.

((OOC: Elizabeth will be setting up the library all week! Currently the collection is about 100 books, she gets another 100 every week until Than's collection has been moved entirely. The first two days (8th and 9th) she'll be struggling with shelves and looking anxiously at the boxes piling up, on the 10th she'll get all the tables and chairs in place and start sorting the books in the boxes, the 11th through the 15th she'll be in sorting and cataloging hell (yes, she's handwriting all the cards in the catalog-- what else would she do, after all?). She's very dedicated to it, anytime anybody comes in, it's clear she's been working hard. Maybe even forgetting to take a break for lunch...))

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[Ratchet takes the book again, turning it over and looking at it more carefully. She made it sound so engaging.]

Uh….yeah. I mean if you say so. But- [He trails off, reading the title of the book, although she’d already told him what it was. He opens it, skimming the first few lines of the book with a look of both recognition and surprise.]

I can read this. [His tone is dead pan, disbelieving, almost, glancing back up at her.] You can read this?

[Elizabeth narrows her eyes and frowns slightly at the realization, then looks over the other's shoulder at the page.]

Sure I can. 'Consequently, the clubrooms became deserted, the servants dozed in the antechambers, the newspapers grew mouldy on the tables, sounds of snoring came from dark corners, and the members of the Gun Club, erstwhile so noisy in their seances, were reduced to silence by this disastrous peace and gave themselves up wholly to dreams of a Platonic kind of artillery.'

[She gives him a humoring kind of smile and shrugs with one shoulder.] I'd be a strange librarian if I couldn't read.

Well sure, but there are stranger things that on this ship. [It's only half a joke.] But don't you think it is a little strange that we can both read it? You know what it is, so it must be from your world. Earth, I'm guessing?

[He doesn’t wait for an answer, just keeps talking.]

Listen. Last crew I was on we had translator pieces. [He points at his ear, indicating that it was an ear piece. He assumes she'll get it.] Any language gets heard and translated directly. But it couldn't change words written on paper. We couldn't read what was written unless it was our native language. But this is….I mean, I have no idea how this works! We’re reading the words the same, seeing them the same. I didn’t even think that was possible...

[He looks down at the MID on his wrist, more impressed by it than he was a moment ago. It was actually worrisome to think about if you did think about it too hard. It might not just be translating but changing their perceptions. And if so, what else could it be affecting?]

[The idea seems a little strange and the explanation roundabout until he gets to the part about not being able to read anything unless it was in his native language. Elizabeth pauses and looks at the book again, a look of unease spreading over her face.]

...you know, this was originally written in French. I just assumed that... it was a translation...

[She'd also assumed that everybody just spoke English, but that really didn't make much sense now that she thought about it. The Russian accent Wanda had-- did she think Elizabeth spoke Russian too? And Ivan was from a time Elizabeth couldn't begin to fathom, was he speaking English? No, he couldn't have been, he must have been speaking something else...]

How is this happening though? How can that be accomplished without us realizing it's happening?

I….I don’t know. I’ve never seen anything like it...never even heard of anything like it.

[And it wasn’t as if the CDC didn’t have advanced - staggeringly advanced - technology. His own world too. But then, the CDC hadn’t really wanted to aid in their communication. At least here it seemed like being able to communicate with and understand each other on virtually every level was encouraged. Maybe even necessary. He frowns.]

Anyone with trans-dimensional equipment like the Ingress...with the ability to screw around with the multiverse…that’s-

[He cuts himself off. This reminded him of conversations he used to have with someone on the Neheda; conversations that usually led to her telling him he was taking things too far. But he had to police himself now, and whoever this woman is, she doesn’t need to get embroiled in a long winded conspiracy theory that, as far as he could see, wasn’t anywhere near as founded as he felt like it was. He snaps the book closed.]

It’s...it’s probably not a big deal. [He holds up the book in one hand.] Can I borrow this?

[Elizabeth goes pale and doesn't say anything when he starts talking about trans-dimensional equipment and 'the ability to screw around with the multiverse'. Because that's what she was-- basically. Equipped to screw around with the multiverse. What does she say to this? Lying seems the best way, it's easy for her to pretend she never had that ability because she'd done it while traveling. All the time.]

[But then he just... closes the book and stops talking. Elizabeth stares at him like he's just covered his mouth with both hands in complete seriousness.]

Not a big deal? Altering timelines is a significant thing, you think that's what they're doing? To make sure we can all speak, understand, and read the same language?

--And no, you can't borrow that until I check it out to you. Let me get my clipboard.

I didn’t say- [He breaks off again, watches her turn to get her clipboard, with look of something close to surprise on his face. She knew what he was talking about. That alone was incredible, never mind what she was saying. It hadn’t been quite what he’d meant, but it followed.] I don’t know. Maybe? A subtle change in timelines when we were pulled through could change….well, it could change anything couldn’t it? What languages we understand, what language we speak, where we were born, what memories we have.

[He exhales sharply. It wasn't a comforting train of thought, no matter how you looked at it. Ratchet forces a smile despite it.] This is probably a little paranoid, huh?

No, it's pretty much how it works. [Elizabeth says, returning with her clipboard and tilting her head until she could see the title of the book he's holding.] But I doubt we would be this unaware of it. It would seem absolutely normal that we could read or speak any language at all. If these characters weren't English and I could read them, that would be one thing. I'm most comfortable reading and speaking English.

But where we were born, what memories we have, that's all based on constants and variables. That happens independently of whatever the Ingress can do-- can you move your thumb for a second?

Ratchet stares at her, a mixture of surprise and confusion on his face. It isn't so much her familiarity with the topic, as her surety. He'd known other people who were familiar with the multiverse, either first hand or in theory; even met humans who were perfectly at home with the idea. But she wasn't speaking in theory or happenstance, or guesswork, but with the confidence of someone who knows something is correct. Or at least thinks they do.

He moves his hand as she asks.

“How do you know so much about this?”

"The technology existed where I came from."

It's getting easier and easier to omit the fact that aside from the Lutece's device, she was the technology.

"Two scientists and I made an extensive study of timelines and the constants and variables that define them," she explains as she writes. "If it's comforting, our research didn't indicate that timelines are subject to the Butterfly Effect, but that certain direct choices would either remain constant, or cause a very specific change in the timeline."

Ratchet was quiet for a long moment.

It wasn’t just that the technology had existed in her world - it technically had existed in his as well - but it sounded like it still existed. Like it existed and there were people who knew how it worked and how to use it. It’s hard not to ask her a thousand questions, right then and there but he restrains himself, settling instead on just one.

“You’ve used it then? Actually gone through a portal?”

"Yes," she nods, considers for a moment and stops writing. "Not because I thought it was a good idea, though."

"What happened?" Ratchet responds immediately, and over-eager...a fact he realises just a moment too late. He recoils slightly, pulling the book still gripped tightly in both hands closer to his chest. "No. Sorry...I- you don't have to answer that. I mean, of course you don't have to answer it, I just, I meant...I shouldn't have asked."

He shakes his head slowly, as if he could rid himself of the sheer intrusiveness of the question. Shifting uncomfortably, he taps the spine of the book with a finger absently.

"I...had a chance to go through a portal once. I didn't. It would have changed my life, but I couldn't. I think I regret it sometimes. Meeting anyone who might know what that's like is well. It doesn't happen every day."

He's not sure why he chose to mention this, when he'd kept it very purposefully to himself even with people he knew well and trusted better. Maybe he needed to offer an explanation for his prying, prove that it wasn't just absent curiosity gone too far.

Elizabeth does look like a deer in the headlights when he asks about her own experiences. God, she'd been through so many times, which instance was the least painful to recount?

But she understands his explanation. She's not offended or upset, but Elizabeth can't help but smile sadly. "I wouldn't regret it. Sometimes, changing your life, or stepping through a 'portal' to satisfy something you think you need, has consequences you can't foresee. And I know that sounds like a load of cautionary malarkey, but... it happened to me.

"I went through a portal to punish someone who hurt me-- and I didn't realize that by doing that, dozens of little girls were kidnapped and used by a terrible man in his power grab. And the worst part was I thought I could live with those consequences because my life would be better."

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[OPEN] People Can Lose Their Lives in Libraries

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