Of course, Nickel would discover her joke the moment he opened his communication device and found nothing about Queen Bee's intentions for next year.
'Until then, let him sweat a little.'
Noble turned to the books in her hand. It would be her responsibility to put them back on the shelf unless she wanted to take them to her classroom, so it was probably a good idea to see if they were even remotely what she wanted.
Locating the nearest table, the professor hovered over a chair and set down the books. She opened the first one and thumbed through the pages. It did indeed have information regarding memories of all shapes and kinds, but the section on unknown runes was sorely lacking. It was an older book–about ten years—and some of the information it gave was only partially true anyway. Noble set it aside.
The second book made the professor nearly choke. "I don't think this will be helpful at all…"
Ren had written down the title and the location of the book for Nickel to find but had neglected to register one crucial detail. "A Compilation of Memories and Their Uses by Professor Noble."
'I mean, I am one of the foremost experts on Memories, so it would have been useful to anyone else. Still…"
Noble decided to at least peruse the pages of her own work. Perhaps it would jog her memory in some way that a fresh text would not. Alas, her search was in vain. She felt in no better shape than when she began.
The third title held more promise. Noble ran her finger across the lines as she read. "Some believe that the Magicians of Nightmare Realm had immense power. A sleeper who apprenticed under one of these mighty beings claimed he could alter the very core of an object…"
Normally Noble would have dismissed the vague nature of the words. People who had been through trauma–which included all who had been through a Nightmare in the Dream Realm–could easily exaggerate a claim thinking it was true. This was why even though Noble had heard claims of 'sorcery' before, the word always rang empty in the end…until now.
'A Magician could be another word for a sorcerer, right? It sounds very close to what Julius described.' Noble felt a buzz and looked at her communicator. 'Oh! Where did the time go?!'
Placing the book under one arm, the Awakened professor put back the other two volumes and headed toward the front of the building. As promised, Ren had set up a station so that she could peruse the Academy's articles in a small cubicle in peace.
There were a few advantages to using the library's screens over her own handheld communicator or datapad. For one, the larger area allowed Noble to see more information at one time and even compare documents by splitting the screen.
Secondly, the library had access to things that regular communicators did not. The Academy had its own server and set of documents. The massive store of information was not available to the general public.
Some of the things contained in the research were too technical and boring for mundane humans to care. Other information in the wrong hands could prove potentially dangerous.
So terminals like this were the only way such information could be accessed.
The third reason was quite simple. Noble didn't want her inquiry attached to her communicator or even her classroom. Until she knew what was in her possession, the professor didn't want anyone coming around asking questions.
The clans and government were always subtly vying for important resources. Most likely this Memory wasn't important, but if it were…
'It is probably broken…' Noble shook off her bleak thoughts. 'If that is true then no one will want it.'
When holding it in her Soul Sea, the Awakened hadn't felt the normal pull from the Memory which she usually did. Noble had not felt any urge to use it a certain way or experience any instinct on how it should function.
Being broken was one explanation. But it was not the only one. And that is why Noble felt the need to be careful.
Ren had been right. There were tens of thousands of bits of information on Memories with untranslated runes. Some were more vague than others, depending on the Awakened that provided the knowledge.
Unfortunately, a lot of the articles were on the same handful of memories, so the facts became repetitive after a time.
Only a few of the pieces seemed worth getting a synthetic copy. Nickel brought her the selection from the front desk.
"Is this for a paper?" He asked, only mildly curious.
"Maybe in the future." If the Memory turned out to be interesting but not valuable or dangerous, it could easily become part of a research paper worth a few contribution points. For now, that was not her priority. "Right now I am just helping out a student."
Nic raised one eyebrow. "So you are just doing this out of the goodness of your heart? Teachers are weird…"
Noble chuckled. "I've been called worse."
Tucking the papers into her bag, Noble signed out the book and headed out of the library. Not just anyone could remove the books from the repository of knowledge, but the professor had already gained permission a long time ago.
Not that anyone would have realistically tried to stop her if she had tried to take it. Even though Noble was not known as a fighter, she still gave off an impressive presence that few wanted to confront.
Looking down at her communicator, Noble quickened her stride. Time was getting away from her and she didn't want to be late. 'It would be faster if you went full speed,' she told herself with a wry smile.
Although her movement was more levitating than true flying, Noble could still move at a rapid pace. But as her top speed was much faster than a person could reasonably walk, the ability of her feet to feign movement along the ground would appear not only awkward but suspicious.
Noble preferred her flaw to remain a secret, so it was better to be a tad late than to risk traveling more quickly. 'I can make it.'
The professor hurried to her room to drop off her bag. As she came out in a burst of speed, she passed a student with bright orange hair. "Professor Noble!"
Taking a deep breath, the Awakened put on her best smile. "Can I help you?" The woman struggled for his name. The one that came to mind couldn't possibly be right.
"I need help with a Memory," the young man dipped his head.
The corners of her mouth became strained. Despite Noble's shrinking time window, she could never turn away a student in need of assistance.
What if that Memory was the key to their life or death in the Dream Realm?
There was no way the professor could let another life be on her conscience. Seb's youthful face flashed across her memory. He probably would have loved having brightly colored hair if she had ever allowed it.
"A memory, you say? Then you are in the right place. Come in!" Noble led the young man over to her desk. "Do you need it analyzed or do you have a specific question?"
"I don't think I need it analyzed. I just need a safe spot to mess with my bright little trinket where I will not blind anyone."
"Then, by all means, use my chamber. It has a reflective coating inside so you will not bother me." Noble relaxed a little. It seemed she wouldn't be needed for guidance, only supervision. "How long do you think you will be? I do have an appointment to attend here shortly."
Surely it couldn't hurt to put a time limit on the student. At worst, Bee Two could monitor him to make sure he didn't end up in too much trouble.
"It shouldn't take long!" The young man eagerly hopped into the structure and closed the clear polymer door.
Through spelltech, Noble could hear what was going on inside of the chamber even though nothing could escape the protective walls. The young man was mumbling to himself as he summoned the Memory into existence.
Sparks of light formed around his face as a visor appeared. The sleeper's eyes were suddenly hidden by a shortened helmet with a symbol resembling a rainbow on the forehead.
Noble watched curiously to see what he would do next.
The young man focused and suddenly the entire chamber was infused with light. Red. Then Blue. Then green. Finally, the entire area contained within the polymer walls was bathed in the same hue of orange as the young man's hair.
The air itself seemed to glow with the help of the fluorescent mask.
But the student was not done with his little experiment, it seemed. Another set of sparks filled the air and manifested in his left palm. Noble blinked a few times, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.
The memory looked like a pewter platter and on it…was… a piece of pie?
'What on earth?!'
The light morphed and focused until all of it was aimed directly at the morsel of food. Then a sudden flash of light caused the dessert to take on the color of the beam. The pie was now…orange.
The task complete, the student dismissed the visor and exited the chamber. "Thank you for your help. I will be on my way now."
"Wait! You did all that for…pie?" Noble was struggling to understand.
"Not just any pie: orange pie." The young man looked quite serious. Was he hearing himself? The sleeper continued while holding up the platter, "My [Bountiful Feast] only reproduces the last thing I ate, and I ate cherry pie. But orange is so much better. So I used my [Light Bender] to fix it." He tapped on his head where the visor had been.
The professor opened and shut her mouth a couple of times. "But you only changed the color. You didn't change the contents of the pie."
"I don't understand your point. Anyway, thank you, Professor!"
Noble blinked a few times. "You are welcome…"
"Tan," the young man at last provided his name.
"You are very welcome, Tan." 'A boy named Tan, making things orange?' A thought struck her. "Is Tan short for Tangerine?"
Tan cocked his head to one side. "Yes, but only my mother calls me that, why?"
"No reason." Noble shook her head innocently. "I am sure she thinks you are quite a peach."
Shrugging, the boy looked down at his food. "I suppose…Thanks again. I better go before the pie gets cold!"
'Watch that man-go. He peeled out of here real quick!' Noble caught herself. She looked at her communicator and paled. Suddenly all the fruit jokes had lost their appeal.