"Agh!!"
A man suddenly appears out of thin air. If one word would be used to describe him, it would be "black". He had black hair, black pupils and wearing a black suit. He gets up from his rough 'entrance' and dusts himself off.
"Damn it...The Purple Tear...Can't believe this is how she handled it."
He then looks around the area to try and figure his current location. He didn't want to accidentally end up in a Sweeper nest.
"What the bell happened? What's with all this smoke?"
He covers his mouth and tries to wave off the smoke near him. There was so much he can barely see anything.
"*sigh* Guess I'll have to trust her."
*snap*
Suddenly, the sound of fingers snapping echoed throughout the room and a woman appeared. She had blue hair, yellow eyes, with skin too pale for even modified humans, as if no blood is running in her body. She is covered a a dress made of what seems to be black feathers.
The woman glares into the man, inspecting him for anything even slightly suspicious.
"I'll only say this once. I despise verbose and roundabout speech that doesn't get straight to the point. So don't try to get wordy. Just answer my questions, you don't get to question me either. Where did you come from, how did you enter this place, and for what purpose?"
Without even a second passing, she begins interrogating the man.
Normally, when facing her while she's speaking with such a tone and giving a menacing glate, a normal person would be either too afraid or too confused to give an answer.
However, the man is anything but normal.
Not taking her seriously, the man tries to sass her-
"Well, who are you to- Ugh...boy, I'm suddenly getting all nauseo- AGGHH!!! MY LEG!!!!!"
-with unsurprising results.
The woman looks down on the man, who's currently on the floor clutching his open wound, with emotionless eyes. It is as if she has seen this sort of thing many times before.
"I warned you, and you crossed the line." She says it as if she was the one wronged. "Let me ask you one. more. time."
She said the last part slowly to further in her point to the man.
"Where did you come from, how did you enter this place, and for what purpose?"
Gritting his teeth in pain, the man hears what she's saying and understands the situation he's in. He tries to ignore the pain from the bleeding wound and complies.
"Look, I-I was just walking around, and ended up here before I even realized it. I have no idea how I got here...dammit...blood's gushing outta my right leg... I swear I wasn't even trying to trespass, I...I don't even know where this is."
The man is starting to slowly lose focus from the bleeding, but carries on to avoid further injuries.
"I...woke up around 1 PM and started walking around the streets of District 13. Since I was just out and about, I figured I could go wherever I wanted, so...I decided to drop by HamHamPangPang. Heard they served a weekly special sandwich..."
However, the man doesn't notice that the woman starts tapping her feet as she listened, implying that her patience is beginning to run out...
"Anyway, I had bulls to pay, got no jobs, had to make a living somehow as a one-man Offi-AARRGGGHHHH!!!!!!"
And run out it did, taking away another limb. She wiped the blood from her hand and glares at her captive.
"You dragged on too long, I'll be taking your left arm amd left leg next."
After her threat, the woman starts to use her new information to try and piece together what is happening.
"You have no purpose, and you don't even know how you got here...just who are you?"
"D-Dammit..."
The man, now missing both his right limbs, has thrown all caution to the wind and tries to question her, even though his missing leg is a good reminder of what'll happen if he tries to do so.
"Just an ordinary Fixer who's hit rock bottom. What the hell is this place? And who are you- Grrrrhhhhhrghhh!!!"
The woman made good of her threat amd took both his left limbs off, leaving him as essentially a stump.
"Come on, taking two limbs at once is cheating..."
"I'm the one asking questions. Your name?"
The man tries to answer as best he can considering his current situation.
"R-Roland."
The woman nodded, accepting his answer.
"Good. Welcome to the Library. We've yet to serve any guests, but then you suddenly appeared out of nowhere."
Her threatening tone switched to a more formal one, as if she didn't just tore off all his limbs the moment prior.
"It took me quite a bit of effort designing this Library to ensure that no uninvited guest could enter, you see."
She explained in a polite manner to the limbless man on the floor. Naturally, he couldn't hear anything she's saying as he's lying bleeding out, his mind focusing on his current state.
"D-Dammit, these limbs were all I had...I don't have any cash or mortgages to get new ones anymore..."
Unable to take the pain anymore, he soon fainted. The woman only then noticed his state.
"Seems he's fainted."
******
In the Library:
"Wake up."
"*gasp*!"
Roland wakes up to the familiar voice. His head aching from the pain he experienced. As he wakes up, he soon finds something that shouldn't be here considering what just happened.
"Huff, huff... My...legs! My arms! They're...all intact again?"
"You should be able to swing your arms and walk again."
He turns to the source of the voice. It was the woman who ripped them off to begin with. She is no longer wearing that feather dress anymore, now sporting a more formal and normal-looking one instead. Not only that, her hair is considerably shorter than when she forst appeared in front of him.
Ignoring Roland's stare, she continues her words.
"And I made a few adjustments to your body to make it a bit easier to use. Your original one was in an unhealthy state seemingly due to drugs and other chemicals you took. Although you did trespaas on my Library, I also took your limbs away without your consent, so I'm giving you these as an apology. I'm quite patient and generous, you see."
She spoke that last part with a proud and innocent tone, as if what she did earlier was absolutely justified.
Roland, of course, rolls his eyes at her statement.
"Patient, my ass... Am I really supposed to be thankful for this?"
He then suddenly remembered the painful experience he had not too long ago, causing his face to pale.
"And the, uhh...warning isn't in effect anymore...right?"
He didn't want to experience losing his limbs again after just getting them back.
"Nope, not anymore."
Roland breathes a sigh if relief at that.
"I had a few thoughts while you were knocked out, and here's my conclusion: You'll help me out here."
Naturally, Roland is befuddled by someone hiring a person they jist attacked prior.
"What? Huh? Do Syndicates these days kidnap people this way too? Or, is this one of the Wings?"
'Is this place, like a Singularity or something? Am I in an abandoned Corp's Nest?' Thought Roland to himself. He then thinks back to what he knows to try and figure his situation.
"I heard rumors that they abduct test subjects here and there for Singularity research. An acquaintance of mine apparently began jumping between dimensions as a side effect of one of those experiments. *sigh* My life is really an unlucky mess."
Roland's mood soon fell harder than he did as he begins to realize his potential fate.
The woman is confuses by what he said, as if he's speaking a different language.
"This is a library. I don't know the " Syndicates" You're talking about but this place isn't a Wing at least."
"Doesn't really matter. Whatever the case, I'm trapped here and you'll exploit me, right?"
Unfortunately for Roland, being exploited by others is something he's all too familiar with.
"Yes." The woman said with no guilt or remose whatsoever. "I'm letting you live for two reasons. First, I need an analysis of how you could enter this place uninvited. Sending you back or neglecting you without knowing the reason could pose a significant threat to the Library. Though, it's not like you can leave without my permission anymore."
she stares hard at Roland for the next part.
"Second, from now on I will collect books about the City in search of the one absolute book. And I want you to help me with this process. Since you are a natural resident of the City, I expect you to be helpful in various ways."
Hearing her terms, Roland sighs in depressing acceptance. His head hangs down and he begins muttering to himself.
"I knew this would happen to me someday. People would disappear without a trace, only to be found as chunks of flesh much later. I used ot laugh at those poor folks for being careless ame unlucky, but now I see it has nothing to do with carelessness or anything, huh, just happens without a moment's notice..."
"Don't be too concerned about your life." The woman tries to wave off his worries. "You are not allowed to die here unless I permit you to." Completely missing his point.
"Tch, dammit. So this was a crazy laboratory sort of deal."
He then look at the woman with worry visible in his eyes.
"Do you, like...shove random stuff like corn kernels and clockwork into people's stomachs and turn them into walking popcorn-spewing popcorn-maching-men or something?"
He soon groans at his possible suffering.
"This has got to be the worst... I'd much rather die and be over with it all..."
The woman's eye twitches, annoyed at his ramblings.
"If you spout such nonsense one more time, I'll gladly turn you into a humam popcorn machine as you wish. I've already gone through so mamy cycles of bullshittery, responding to every bit of meaningless rubbish."l
Her expression can tell anyone just how much frustration is building up inside of her. Seeing this, and remembering last time, Roland is quick to recognize his mistake.
"Sorry, ma'am."
The woman sighs in exasperation. She sits down on a chair with her legs crossed and her hands on them. Her face immediately shifting from threatening to inviting and polite as she faces Roland.
"Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Angela. I am the head librarian and director of this library."
Hearing her name, Roland is filled with nostalgia and repeats it...
"Angel--a... That's a good name."
The small smile on his shows that what he said isn't an attempt of flattery or bootlicking, but something he genuinely believes in.
"So, what am I suppose to do?"
He is curious what his new employer needs him for.
"Your role is to welcome the guests invited to the library. I will carefully determine what guests to invite and write an invitation accordingly, and you will entertain the guests once they accept the invitation and arrive at the Library. Since you have actual experience working as a Fixer, I am sure you will be able to give the various types of guests a much better reception than I could."
"I'm just a washed-up Grade 9 Fixer, though... And what's this 'reception' anyway? Do I catch their eyes, or be a waiter for them or something?"
He already has a hunch of how he will welcome their guests considered what happened, but it's better to have confirmation.
"It's simple. You just have to deal with the guests, in a physical manner, of course. The Library presents the guests with an ordeal, and books will open up in the process. Those guests who have overcome the ordeal will be deemed worthy to earn their books.
There is the possibility that you may die in the process of reception, but it's only temporary. You'll get back up when the Library closes. No one here may rest without my permission."
Listening to her, Roland obviously have a few concerns.
"Do you happen to have some weird fantasies about Fixers? Aren't you expecting too much from a Grade 9? I'm not as talented as you seem to think, y'know."
And like all managers in the City, she merely brushes them off.
"That's none of my business. I have prepared a manual for you." She materializes said manual and hands it to him. "So go ahead and figure things out yourself."
Roland begins to open it and skim through its contents for a while before looking back at Angela.
"Okay, I think I get the gist of it now. So, how does this invitaion exactly work?"
"Simple, just open up the invitation, and register the books you wish to serve to your guests."
She then pulls out something from her pocket. 'That's probably the invitation', Roland thought. She then wrote down some things on it before closing it.
"And next?"
"The invitation will be naturally sent to those who need the books."
"That's it? Sounds a bit too easy."
"Don't worry, the invitation is another carefully crafted work of mine, much like the Library. Think of it as a compass of sort. It would be easier to understand that way."
Roland is naturally confused at her comparison.
"Ah~ A...compass? As in the tool that tells direction?"
"That's right. The invitation will guide me towards the one book that I truly wish to obtain. And sometimes, the invitation may turn red according to the books you've registered. A red invitation indicates that it can be sent to the special guests who'll further unravel the next part of the story.
So until we register the books that match what the red invitation wants, my-well, now our journey will be halted for a bit."
Despite her words, Roland still has some doubts in him.
"But there's no guarantee that the guest will always respond to the invitation, right?"
"In fact, there is. They're destined to come. The guests will accept the invitation of their own will and enter the Library."
"Hm, that's surprisingly polite and fair for something that takes in place in this city. Most of the time, people'e lives are taken away by others without any consent or agreement."
Roland is surprised something like his exists in the City considering how it is run.
"Well, anyway, once we get those books, what comes next?"
Roland continues to question, as he is quite interested in just what Angela use the books for.
"The Library is a place of limitless possibilities. Even I cannot fathom the infinite space and power of this library just yet. That's why I wish to comolete the Library by filling that space with books. Eventually, I will get in my hands the one perfect book that will complete me and my library."
"The "perfect book", huh... I suppose those books are different from the ones I know."
Roland then starts thinking to himself before looking back to Angela.
"Well then, miss Director, time to send the invitation?"
"Indeed."
She threw the invitation into the air amd suddenly it burst into sparkes of light.
"Now, we wait for our first guests."