The Archival Library

The interior was vast and expansive, far larger than any library Camden had ever been to back home. Tens of thousands of leather bound books lined the shelves, all organized in an orderly fashion. Two ornate staircases curved up from the main foyer, leading to the second level, another few leading from there to the third. It became clear that The South had a high respect for those who came before. For documenting history. Why else would they have put so much effort into constructing such a fanciful and overly lavish establishment, only to keep it secret from the rest of the world, and presumably most of their citizens? Not a word was spoken, as all three of the travellers took in the view.

Madam Cecilia walked up to one of the shelves, brushing her hand across the spines of the multicoloured books that were placed on top of it. A trail of dust flew behind her fingers as she did so. Evidently, nobody had been here for a long, long time.

It was a miracle that the aging structure was still standing after so long. That The Iron Hand hadn’t destroyed it in a violent blaze. It would have been so easy for them to set it on fire, to blast it with energy until nothing remained but the ash of the wood, the dust of the carved stone, and the sheared metal scrap. But they hadn’t. Perhaps even they had some respect for preservation, in their own twisted way. That, or they simply hadn’t found it, which was significantly more likely.

Almost directly in front of the entrance was an old wooden desk, with a myriad of little drawers placed in a structure behind it. This must have been where the librarian would have stood, serving the lucky few who were given access to such a prestigious archive. There wasn’t much sense in looking around without rhyme or reason, so they began their search by combing through the drawers behind the desk, which entailed an old carded cataloguing system. The sound of fingers flitting through papers filled the otherwise soundless room.

“Anyone find anything yet?” Levo asked, a sense of boredom in his voice.

“No, not yet,” Camden replied. “Just a bunch of agricultural history so far. How about you?”

“Merchandise transport records. Madam Cecilia?”

She glanced up from her pile of cards. “Documentation on different religions. An admittedly interesting subject, but not one that benefits us at the present moment.”

Camden sighed, putting down his pile. “I’m gonna take a look around, see if I can find anything that way,” he said. It might not have been the most efficient method, but at least it would be more engaging than looking at a bunch of winy handwritten cards.

His curiosity got the better of him as he climbed up one of the staircases, his footsteps echoing throughout the cavernous room, and reached the second floor. He looked around, wondering where he should start. The signage in the archives wasn’t especially useful, with it being faded after so long, but it did give him a rough idea of where to look. He looked at the faded sign closed to him, attached to one of the bookshelves.

“Former,” he read. It was the only word that he was able to make out. Honestly, a pretty good start, all things considered. He reached for one of the books on the shelf, this one with a dyed red cover. Out of curiosity, he opened it to a random page somewhere in the middle, the pages feeling frail in his fingers. Looking at the words and diagrams, this book appeared to detail the workings of the old world. Of the civilization that came before, hence the word “former”.

Unsurprisingly, it was full of stuff he hadn’t ever seen before. But strangely enough, some of the diagrams looked almost futuristic. Nothing like the steampunk machinery of where he was now. He flipped the page to reveal… a map of earth? Camden blinked a couple of times to ensure he wasn’t hallucinating. But the map remained. Just how was someone from here able to get a map of earth? And what was it doing in the history books, of all places? Though Camden didn't get much time to ponder, as he soon heard the Madam speaking from below.

“Hold on, what’s this?” she said to herself. “Mr. Valaraki, I think we found something!”

Camden looked up from the book, feeling slightly guilty for not focusing on the task at hand. “Alright, I’ll be there in a sec!”

He'd have to think about the Earth map later. He put the book back on the shelf that he’d found it, and headed quickly down the stairs to find Madam Cecilia and Levo lifting something heavy out of the front desk. It appeared to be some form of bronzed metal safe, its weight a shock, considering its small size and form. It was in the shape of a cube, only about a half meter long, wide, and tall. The front of the safe contained a keyhole, a lock meant to keep it sealed shut from the outside world.

“There was a mechanical switch located at the bottom of one of the card drawers,” the Madam explained, slightly out of breath from the exertion. “Pressing it opened a secret compartment in the desk.”

With a loud and hollow thump, the safe was placed on the table, the loud noise echoing throughout the library.

Levo was also slightly out of breath. “Whatever this is, it’s clearly important,” he theorized.

“And might just have the information that we desire.”

Luckily for them, the safe was already unlocked. Which was strange, to say the least. Had someone been here before them? The vault's door opened with a metallic creak, revealing a set of books that were somehow even dustier than the ones that populated the rest of the library’s shelves.

One book looked a fair bit older than the rest. While the majority of the books appeared to be reproductions of old texts, this one seemed like it was an actual archive from at least some hundreds years ago. The exterior was extremely worn, the title barely legible after existing for so many years. But barely legible still means legible, and the Madam read the title aloud.

“Legends from the Old World.”

She opened it gently, its spine making various cracking sounds from the age. The paper was thin and dry, seeming like it could rip if looked at the wrong way. The Madam carefully flipped from page to page, the paper crinkling gently in their hands. Looking through pages upon pages of old documentation, schematics, maps and the like, all printed in an inky black print. There was a sense of anticipation. If it was anywhere, it would be here.

And then she saw it.

A page on the weapon of myth. The blade of legend.

She quickly rummaged through her bag, pulling out a dossier, and then a photograph, one that she had taken of the only schematic they’d ever had. She placed it gently on the page, next to the illustration. It was a perfect match.

She read further.

“A weapon of origins unknown, this blade was said to contain the power to slay a god. It appears in various different myths and texts, such as The Siege of Contempt, The Fall of the Wonders, and The Prophecy of the Saviour.”

“Sounds like our blade,” Camden pointed out.

The Madam nodded, and continued to read. “It currently resides in a museum of artifacts, kept locked away in a vault from any potential thieves.”

“Great. How very specific,” Levo interjected. “How are we supposed to find some ‘museum of artifacts’? It might not even be standing for all we know.”

The Madam ignored him, her brow furrowing with curiosity. “Hold on, there’s something else written here…”

And in fact, there was. Beneath the text printed on the page, laid a handwritten note. This was in a different style to the official text, being both written in blue pen and in a different style of handwriting entirely.

“Was too easy to steal. Kept it in my safehouse to the far north,” the Madam read. “There’s also a set of coordinates here. Longitude and latitude.”

“So someone must have written this after The South fell, right?” Camden proposed. “I can’t imagine they’d let someone scribble in one of their most prized texts.”

“You make a good point,” the Madam agreed. “And whoever this is just made our jobs a whole lot easier. C’mon, let's take this info back to the vessel. I’m sure the Captain will be pleased with what we’ve been able to find.” the Madam said as she gently put the book into her bag, latching it shut.

And so the trio all climbed back up the ladder, book in their possession. Nothing could possibly go wrong now, could it?

They arrived back on the surface, the autumn air a welcome respite from that of the cold humidity of the cave. But as soon as the book passed the threshold of the trapdoor, something began to occur.

An alarm began to sound, its tone blaring and grating through the air. A fine mist appeared to descend from apparatuses on top of the skyscrapers, slowly falling to the ground below. The taste was that of oddly sweet chemicals, and the surrounding air took on a sickly pink hue.

Oh no.

One by one, the mist entered the pipes of the countless broken automatons. It clearly wasn’t enough to get them at full mental or physical capacity, but it was enough to get them one thing. Movement.

Swarms of dented metal cadavers crawled along the streets, limbs bending at unnatural angles as they rushed at the trio. It was almost like running away from zombies, their movements and body language erratic as can be.

This must have been a security system to stop anyone from stealing anything from the secret archives. But ordinarily, everything would have been functioning the way it was supposed to, and the targets would have been apprehended in seconds. Not this zombie chase straight out of a horror film.

The trio began to move quicker, Camden stumbling slightly as he began to run. After all, he wasn’t used to such action, living against such threats constantly. Yet another reminder of his origin, of how he wished to return home.

“The gate! We need to make it back to the gate!” the Madam yelled, her voice just barely audible over the cries of the siren. And as it continued to blare, another sound breached the environment. The unmistakable screaming cry of the drones. Their sharp forms sliced through the sky as they arrived, splitting off from their formation. The alarm must have caught their attention.

If the trio stood no chance before, they definitely didn’t now.

The aircraft soared down from above, approaching on all sides. One was coming in from their back left, blasters primed and ready to fire. Levo jerked his head backwards, just in time to see it making its approach.

“Get down!” he yelled, shoving Camden and the Madam off to the side. All three of them fell to the ground, just barely dodging the barrage of blaster fire that took out chunks of the cobbled pathway, leaving char marks in the flattened dirt that laid below.

Camden was the first to get up, helping up the Madam in turn. Levo hurried to his feet, turning back towards the zombified automatons. They might have been sentient at one point, but they sure weren’t now. He reached into his backpack, drew his blaster, and fired. One shot, then another, then another. The blasts dented and sheared at their metal shells, though it didn’t do much to stop them. He got one in the head, wherein its body then spasmed, and fell to the floor. But then it got back up, crawling in the same direction it had been prior. That’s right, the head probably was only for the “eyes”, not for whatever mind these things might have had. They couldn’t be stopped, it would seem. But at least they could be slowed down.

One of the other aircraft flew into view, this one having taken a path around one of the skyscrapers. The trio had to move, and fast.

“This way!” Camden yelled, as the other two followed.

They ducked their way into one of the abandoned buildings, the ground floor of an old office. They rushed through the lobby, past the wrecked furniture, and eventually made it into a conference room, closing and barricading the door behind them with a heavy metal chair. It would hold, at least for now.

They all took a moment to catch their breaths. This was getting out of hand. The room was dark, a somewhat fitting mood for their current situation. Madam Cecilia pulled out a lamp from her bag, activating it. It flickered calmly before settling into a steady orange glow. Dust particulates floated in the air, revealed by the light.

“Right, what do we do now?” Camden asked, catching his breath. He hadn’t been used to so much exercise.

“We’re being chased by what amounts to mechanical zombies, and The Iron Hand’s got drones on our tails, what do you think we need to do?” Levo asked rhetorically, also catching his breath from the sprint. “We need to get back to the vessel.”

The Madam shook her head. “No, not yet. We go to the vessel, we lead the drones there. And something tells me they won’t want to get set on high alert this late in the night. Wouldn’t want to risk anybody getting hurt.”

Camden frowned. “So then what? We just camp out in the woods?”

The Madam thought about it, weighing their options. “All things considered, that might not be a terrible idea.”

“What? No, that’s an awful idea!” Levo exclaimed. “And just what, wait for the zombies to catch up to us?”

“They shouldn’t be able to if we camp far enough away,” the Madam clarified. “Think about it. Right now, the only reason that they’re active is because of the mist that’s descending from the skyscrapers. Which means they won’t be able to leave their radius without shutting down entirely.”

Just then, one of the fallen automatons began to slam itself against the barricaded door, the impact resonating throughout the room.

“So unless you have a better plan, on the count of three, make a b-line towards the gate. Understand?” the Madam asked.

“I can’t believe we’re doing this…” Levo groaned.

“One…” the Madam began, positioning herself in front of the door. Camden and Levo did the same, following her lead.

The automaton threw itself against the door again, denting it as the hinges buckled under its weight.

“Two…” she grabbed the chair that barricaded the entrance, holding it in place..

The door buckled inwards once more, the hit denting it even further. The door wasn’t going to last for much longer.

“Three…” her hands tightened around the chair’s metal form.

“Now!”

Just as the automaton hit itself against the door, the Madam whipped the chair out of the way, causing the door to give out. The zombified automaton fell through, landing on the ground as Levo shot multiple blasts into its torso and head. With the Madam leading the way, the trio rushed out of the office building, dodging what mechanical zombies lied in their way. One of the aircraft came back around, and just barely missed as the three explorers ducked behind another building.

They continued to run as fast as they could, just barely managing to make it out of the gate, the three of them pushing it shut with all their might to stop the mechanical zombies from following them, at least for the time being. Luckily the Madam appeared to be correct, and they didn’t seem to have much range beyond the city. And once the towers stopped diffusing Valos Alnovarium into the air, they’d all fall once more. So it was just a matter of time.

The drones circled overhead. Hopefully by hiding in the dense coverage of the forest, the trio wouldn’t show up on any rudimentary sensors that the drones could possess. Instead of taking the risk of heading back to the vessel and alerting the drones, the three opted to stay the night amongst the trees. Ideally the drones would have lost interest by the morning, and they’d be safe to head back then. But until that moment came, it was time to set up camp.

Camp was relatively sparse, especially considering none of them had thought to bring along blankets or sleeping bags or whatnot. Of course they hadn’t, this was meant to be a one and done, in and out type of expedition. They each ate a ration from Camden’s bag, and set up their backpacks as makeshift pillows to lie down on. It was far from ideal, but was still better than nothing.

Lying there, watching the stars twinkling in the midnight sky, breathing in the chilly outside air. It made Camden think about Maya. About the summer nights that they’d look at stars just like these. It brought him comfort, thinking about those old, happy memories. Back before, well, everything. Before his grades fell. Before he lost motivation. Above all else, before the insanity that was his past few weeks on the vessel.

He hoped he’d be able to see her again.