Day 27: Library

[not_rly_fai]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in.

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close

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[hack_ed]

Ed paid careful attention to the bodiless voice as the nurse finally let her out of the cafeteria. Field trip? Out of the crazy-place? Something sounded fishy about that, but it would certainly be informative. And potentially fun!

However, the more immediate thought was: a library, how useful! But Ed did not see computers here either... how disappointing. As the girl wandered around the bookshelves she saw a lot of titles she was familiar with, but most of them were quite dated. She also noticed quite quickly that part of the wall stuck out to meet some of the bookshelves. What was the point of that? Hmm... further examination of the architectural anomaly revealed nothing of interest.

Oh well, at least she'd had a chance to catch up on all the fun drawings and things attached to her own artwork on the bulletin board. And she'd gotten a little tired of chasing geese, so there was a new message up for interested people to talk to her with ease. Also she now had a physical description for the crazy robot head. She didn't see anyone who matched it just yet...

She poked around the books on the shelf currently in front of her, but they all seemed normal.

[heraldric]

And he had been enjoying his conversation with the other Leon too! The nurses always seemed to drag him away just when he was getting somewhere. Such a nuisance!

At least they were headed somewhere interesting for a change. The library! He couldn't wait to see what sort of books even a prison like this held. As this wasn't his world, even the most mundane of books would probably be something he hadn't seen.

The nurse leading him didn't seem willing to let him go off on his own first thing, however. Instead she lead him over to some small red-head he hadn't seen before, a newer patient most likely, and told him to get acquainted. What was wrong with letting him choose his own friends?

He thought of walking away once the nurse had taken her leave, but that would have been rude. Instead he muttered "Um.. hi," before turning his attention to the shelves.

[hack_ed]

"Hi!" replied Ed brightly, admiring this new person's hair. Pretty pretty blue! And they were a kid too, which was a nice change from the adults she'd met so far. She stuck her hand out to await a handshake as she introduced herself.

"Ed is very pleased to meet you!" She skipped the long version of her name for now, that could always come later. This person seemed kind of shy. Best not to completely overwhelm them.

[heraldric]

It took a moment for Leon to realize that there wasn't a separate 'Ed' that the red-head was introducing him to, but that he or she was in fact referring to himself of herself in third person. Though 'Ed' seemed like a male name, the kid's voice made it difficult to tell. He supposed he should ask, as uncomfortable as that would be, so that he didn't start thinking of this new person as an 'it'.

"Er, likewise," the boy replied with a nervous smile. "The name's Leon. Are you" a boy or a girl? "new here?"

[hack_ed]

Ed put her hand back down; so much for that. Ah well, poor shy boy. Perhaps she could cheer him up with some joy.

"Oh yes," answered Ed quickly, "but Ed knows the tricky secret of the evil doctors, and has been told about the scary monsters. Have you heard? Or is this old news and ancient clues?" That wasn't quite joy but conversation was easier when there were questions to answer.

[heraldric]

Definitely an interesting piece of work, this one. Not to be thrown off, Leon nodded in response. "I've been here a couple days, so I know a fair amount about this place." And he knew you hadn't really experienced it until you'd been there for the nightshift. He hoped whoever Ed had gotten his/her information from had made this much clear.

"And I hope you don't mind me asking, but..." He might as well. "Are you male or female?"

[hack_ed]

Ed giggled and answered, "Ed is a girl. 'Ed' is short for 'Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV'! Ed made it up, isn't it cool?"

[heraldric]

A girl. Well, that made the attitude a little easier to deal with, he supposed.

"It's a... very cool name." It made him wonder what her original name was, or if she had one. Perhaps if he'd been allowed to choose his own name he would have picked something fancy too. Maybe not that fancy.

"Well, I'm a mage and scientist. What do you, uh... do?"

[hack_ed]

Ed cocked her head to the side curiously. "'Mage' as in magic? Ed heard there are magical people here, but Ed hasn't properly met any..." Then she remembered the rest of Leon's question and followed up with, "Ed is a computer hacker from Earth! Ed was a bounty hunter for a while but that was not where Ed belonged. Ed is now being told she is a crazy-head by nasty nurses."

Ed hoped this scientist person would know what a computer was, but at least she'd already had practice trying to describe the technology in metaphors on the bulletin board to those who'd never heard of them.

[heraldric]

Leon did know what a computer was, though he wasn't entirely certain about what a hacker was. He simply assumed it had something to do with working on the machines and left it at that.

He puffed out his chest a bit at her first question. "Yes. as in magic. I'm a heraldry user. ...That means I can cast spells." Such simple terms. "And I'm not from Earth myself, but I have a friend who is!"

He would have added a comment about her not being any more crazy than he was... but he was still reserving judgement on that.

[hack_ed]

"Oh ho ho!" cackled the redhead. "Ed has never seen real magic. Although," she put a finger to her bottom lip for a thoughtful moment, "Ed has seen some things that looked like magic, but those all surely had explanations of the scientific nature. Can you show Ed really real magics?" She smiled hopefully at Leon, thoroughly intrigued.

[heraldric]

The young mage looked a bit embarrassed at this. "I would love to be able to show you," he began with a sigh, "but I can't. Not really. This place seems to weaken everyone with magical skills. It would take a lot out of me to do, and I need my energy for tonight..." It sounded like a poor excuse, but there wasn't anything else to say. It was the truth!

[hack_ed]

"Ah, Ed understands," replied the girl solemnly. "Tricky of the doctors and nurses to do such a thing, but also very smart. They must be very smart to keep everyone here." Ed brightened at her next thought. "Maybe Ed will see magic tonight!" Then she remembered, "But Ed is going to try and help the people of the Aide Club." Suddenly bright again, "Maybe they use magic there to heal!"

[heraldric]

"Maybe..!" Leon continued to smile nervously. He was a bit taken back that the girl had believed him right away despite his lack of proof. Perhaps she was just very naive. Or simple minded. "I'm sure you'll get to see someone use it. I know I'm not the only caster here..."

[hack_ed]

"Oh?" Ed cocked her head curiously. "Who else do you know with the powers of magicalness? Hmm, but perhaps they would not want to show Ed either. Maybe they'll use it in battles in the spooky dark? But Ed has been told not to wander at night, or creatures will give her a terrible fright." The girl looked downcast at this. It wasn't fair, she wanted to fight the monsters too.

[heraldric]

"Well...," Leon frowned. "I haven't seen any other mages here from my world... but I've seen others posting on the bulletin!" There seemed a fair amount if everyone on there was being truthful.

"And it's true, you should be careful at night." The boy's expression also became downcast. "My friend was attacked by one last night and seriously wounded." And he hadn't been able to do anything to help.