The Library of forgotten things
You are the custodian of a secret, underground library. One day, a desperate visitor arrives, begging for a forbidden text that might hold the key to saving their world.
This week’s short story is based off the idea of those games on the internet like the elevator game.
In a world where information is digitized and books are considered obsolete, you are the custodian of a secret, underground library. One day, a desperate visitor arrives, begging for a forbidden text that might hold the key to saving their world.
I could not fit all aspects of the world into the short story itself without interfering with the characters so the sci-fi aspect lies more in the context of the larger world as compared to the short story so be sure to read the snippet and author commentary for it to make more sense.
Here is a snippet of the larger world of this short story:
Science is magic. That was what the society of Terra discovered in the twenty-second century. The discovery of new ways to manipulate new forms of energy paved the way for the great innovation age that followed in the next thousand years.
But as Michael navigates the underbelly of a digital world where magic is bought and sold in malls and alleyways, he soon discovers that whenever people invent world-changing inventions, they stumble upon world-ending possibilities too; while the medium changes, the stakes always remain the same.
As gangs and corporations dabble in sinister forces beyond their understanding, Michael soon finds himself having to stake everything he holds dear in a deadly game with beings that manipulate magic and science as easily as breathing.
I hope you enjoy the short story.
Welcome to this week’s short story by Quotes Unknown. Each week I write a fantasy or sci-fi (generally) short story.
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The man fell through the double doors leading into the library and, like with all visitors, I greeted him with a wide smile. As our eyes met, I saw a series of emotions flash through his eyes. Shock, fear, and finally determination.
His lips hardened into a hard line as he met my gaze.
This was unusual, my normal clientele consisted of either confused people who unwittingly stumbled upon the Library’s double doors or wide-eyed children amazed that a list of instructions they had chanced upon actually worked. This man, I analyzed, knew that the Library existed, and he had actively sought it out in search of something.
My curiosity was piqued, it seemed like this rare occurrence might serve as a good break from my eternal boredom.
The man dusted himself off, trying to clean up his clothes covered in what looked to be grime and human blood. He failed at this miserably but it seemed to help him collect his thoughts. As if remembering something, he fumbled around, patting every pocket in his fishing vest and cargo pants before pulling out a hand-held tally counter, clicking it for each second that passed.
I waited patiently, my smile growing wider with each passing second. The man knew the rules and was clearly prepared to meet me.
“Welcome to the library of forgotten things.” I pulled out a small lamp lit up by an ethereal glow onto the receptionist counter. “As you seem to already know, no open flames are allowed near our books.”
I paused and looked him in the eyes. I was in no rush for him to reply so I waited silently as he continued to stare back, unblinking.
The pause stretched for what seemed like half an hour, the silence filled only with the soft clicking of his tally counter. Fifty. Fifty-one. Fifty-two. Finally, he nodded, and I beckoned him forward to take the lamp from the surface of my desk.
He walked forward cautiously, his free hand reaching forward to grasp the handle of the otherworldly lamp. He kept his other hand close to his chest, consistently keeping up the monotonous drone of the tally counter.
Once he had a good grasp on the handle of the lamp, he pulled it back quickly, as if worried a snake might suddenly strike at it if it remained outstretched for too long.
I paused and watched him inspect the lamp. Finally, he finished the inspection and he held it tightly, knowing it was his only lifeline in the place which he would need to go.
“Great! Now what would you like to find out today?” I asked.
One of the noble duties of the custodian was to help weary travelers find what they are seeking, given they had made it all the way to the hidden library. I waved a hand at the vast number of shelves behind me.
“We have everything you would like. Fiction, fantasy, science-fiction, romance,” I droned on, knowing full well that someone as well-prepared as him would not be seeking out books for mere entertainment.
“I am looking for a book on how to reverse an eldritch ritual.” His voice was tight but controlled.
I felt my smile falter slightly. It seems that this man had come looking for some highly classified information. The atmosphere in the Library seemed to darken slightly at his words but I pressed on regardless.
I reexamined the man more seriously.
He had a wild look in his eyes but I brushed that aside. Anyone who was deliberately seeking the library of forgotten things was desperate. They also had to be well-prepared otherwise rushing in would be akin to suicide.
Nothing else about him stood out so it seemed that I would need to read up a bit on what was happening beyond the Library’s grand entrance once he gave me more clues about what world and time he was from..
“This way then,” I signaled for him to follow after me.
The man’s combat boots thumped against the floor as I glided soundlessly past the decorative shelves at the entrance. I noticed he glanced at the tally as we started walking and I smirked. Visitors’ plans always seemed sound, but it only took a moment of carelessness for their gamble to fail.
The tally currently recorded one hundred and twenty.
He followed me as I travelled past countless shelves, each filled with books both ornate and simple, their varying colors meant to catch the eyes of unsuspecting browsers. We ignored all of them as we travelled deeper into the library and I felt the familiar darkness start to surround us, held only at bay by the light of the ethereal lamp.
He hugged his light source closer, knowing it was the only lifeline protecting him from the darkness tendrils.
I smiled back at him wondering if I would get to witness the first person to leave the library in over five centuries. He had a good plan but people failed to perform halfway through their high-stakes gamble.
As we journeyed in the darkness, we could hear the sounds of the Library’s servants hard at work in their eternal toil, shuffling around in the dark rewriting books and reorganizing information for the umpteenth time. The Library was updating its stacks again and I would need to remember a brand new system once this new traveler had either left or lost.
I sighed, the Library was merciless to its inhabitants as usual.
-
We finally arrived at the shelf containing information on accounts of mortals successfully convincing other entities to reverse their involvement. As I stopped, the man once again glanced at his tally.
Six hundred and twelve.
It seemed that he may leave the Library intact yet.
“Here is the entire section on beings that escape your world’s inhabitants' understanding. On the bottom shelf are those that your Fae have and will fail to understand, on the eighteenth shelf are those that have and will escape any human understanding, and all the way at the top is information on beings that your entire universe has and will fail to even discover. In between are for all the other races in your world,” I explained as his eyes widened.
I paused, waiting for any exclamations or for him to ask any questions about the undiscovered races of his world. He remained silent, wisely choosing not to act on the shattered belief that his world was not shared with other intelligent species.
I continued to explain the current system which the knowledge was organized in.
“Each book covers the events from each civilization from its beginning to end to its end and we cover the entirety of the time from the start of your universe until its eventual heat death. You have way too many civilizations,” I complained to him even as I finished explaining.
He stared up at the endless number of books, overwhelmed at the sheer amount of knowledge contained within. Even a single page within was likely to change his life if he managed to make it back intact.
I smiled expectantly, knowing he would have to speak again to get my help sieving through the multitude of information. If he had specified in his earlier request, he would have had more breathing room.
I saw him look at me, worry written clearly on his face, illuminated only by the otherworldly glow of the lamp held in his hands. I could almost hear the cogs turning in his head as he attempted to structure a specific enough sentence to enlist my help in his search.
“I am looking for a way to reverse any eldritch rituals performed in Elmoral or its alternative names which has negatively impacted on its residents in the human year of 1753.”
I waved my hand and we heard a book fly from the shelf before it landed at his feet in a thump. One of the Library’s servants had climbed up the shelf and pulled the book out before tossing it into the circle of light.
“Pages 9013 to 14532. You are lucky your society is still in it’s infancy. Enjoy your reading,” I gave him another wide smile before I silently slinked back into the dark, out of his sight.
I left, leaving only the dark, his imagination, and the sound of his tally clicking to accompany him in his quest for a solution to his world’s current problem.
-
“I have learnt enough and would like to leave now.”
I snorted at how forced this sentence was. Evidently, in his world, it was rumored that those exact words were necessary in order to leave. I stepped forward through the darkness, allowing myself to be illuminated by the lamp once again. I glanced down at his tally.
One thousand and eighty-three.
If he was accurate, the path to return home remained open.
“Alright, follow me.” I moved back through the darkness, the glow of his lamplight causing me to cast a strange shadow as he kept up pace behind me.
Our surroundings gradually began to fill with light again as we walked out of the darkness. With every step forward, I could see the relief wash over his face.
The ornate and bright surroundings faded back into view and its colors filled our vision again. The entrance’s red rugs and brown wooden shelves provided him with welcome warmth compared to his time reading by the cold light of the Library’s lamp.
As we reached the place he first fell through, I saw his pace quicken. He unceremoniously left the lamp by my librarian counter and walked briskly to the double doors. He stopped clicking, slid the tally back into his right cargo pocket, and firmly grasped the double doors.
Now came the moment of truth. He pulled hard against the double doors in an attempt to open them.
It flung open, revealing a set of stairs leading upwards.
The tally was accurate enough. I saw him visibly relax now that the path back was right in front of him.
“Goodbye. I hope to see you again.” I said with a soft smile.
He turned back towards me and opened his mouth as if to reply.
I held my breath as I awaited for the first syllable to leave his mouth like they had for many others who had made it this far. The relief and sudden rush of security often left visitors careless enough to say something before they realized their mistake a little too late.
The joy would drain from their face and the panic would set in as they turned back just in time to watch the stairs fade out of their reach. They would then run straight into the waiting darkness in an attempt to get away from me, the acolyte of the Library.
They did not know it was not me they should have been wary of.
The darkness would digest them, uncaring if they were lost school boys or heroes on a quest to prevent the demise of their world. It would then mold them into servants of the Library, seeking only to rearrange information and rewrite books for all eternity.
He snapped his mouth shut and turned before bolting through the double doors, ignoring me completely. A tiny part of me felt overjoyed at witnessing the first person to leave in five centuries even as the Library rumbled darkly.
I waved it off, knowing the Library would present me with another visitor with another purpose shortly. I doubted I would get to witness such a rare event for at least another millennia though.
Soon, the Library would modify the rules to prevent them from keeping time like it did when the visitor used a candle to keep time the first time. The books were impervious to heat and flames anyway, it was solely to make the gamble harder to win.
I watched as the list of rules updated on my desk.
Visitors are only allowed to remain in the library for 30 of their world’s minutes.
Visitors are only allowed to speak less than 3 sentences within the library.
Visitors are not allowed to bring an open flame into the library.
Visitors are not allowed to make any noise in the library other than speaking to the librarian.
I knew that even as I read it, the new condition was being propagated through every world the Library was connected to.
In this place outside the realm of time, I knew the next person would have read their own version of the urban legend with the updated rules when they entered. Winning the information they sought solely depended on if they could stick to the rules of the increasingly dangerous game the entity enjoyed playing.
I sighed as I heard the double doors creak open once again. I turned towards the doors to greet them with a smile like I had to with any visitor to the Library.
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Author’s commentary
Thanks for reading!
So I actually thought this one was just alright. But I really enjoyed the premise of the world and the inspiration of the story.
With regards to the world, I love the idea of a world which treats science and magic similarly because what is magic but a new way to manipulate a new form of energy. It would be akin to the manipulation and use of electricity which has lead to so many new possibilities. However, as with all new advances in science, things we cannot control will be found: Nuclear energy, atom bombs, etc. In this case, I believe that it would give us a method to contact and work with beings we cannot control, and that would be considered forbidden magic. It would be akin to building a nuclear reactor in your backyard (dangerous but technically possible for people to do).
With this story, I was hoping to capture a bit of that, but I don’t think I succeeded so I might try again down the line, fleshing out the world a bit more.
Then the next idea which really captured my attention was a concept like Household rules on TikTok or the Elevator game on the internet. These to me always seemed like ways to enter another world or communicate with other beings in ways which raised the stakes but gives the protagonist a promise that if they follow properly, they may escape with a prize against these greater beings or creatures.
I tried to tell it from the other perspective but it might be the case where that works against the format as the whole point was feeling a slight suspense for the character and taking the perspective of the more powerful being does not deliver on that.
Again, I don’t think I managed to capture the idea fully so I will likely approach this again from a more conventional angle which will (hopefully) capture that feeling more.
That is just my opinion but if you personally liked this, I am glad.
Do let me know if you want to see Michael or the Librarian again, the option is definitely still open for him (or his world) to make an appearance again in future short stories!
Please be nice, but I would love if you had any comments on how to improve, if you enjoyed the story, or if you would like to see Michael and the Librarian again!
Either way, I hope you have a great week ahead!