LIbrary
As you step into the minuscule library, you are immediately struck
by the mingled smells of old books and damp carpet. When it rains
the room is cacophonous with the sound of dripping water. Buckets
and bowls are placed carefully around the room to catch trickles
from the ruined roof; in more than one place you can see the sky
through the ceiling. Where these holes stray too close to the
incongruously solid, handsome old shelves, shields have been constructed
to protect the books. Umbrellas are nailed to some shelves, plywood
to others; a complex gutter system constructed, it seems, of every
type of scrap pipe imaginable shunts the worst leaks into a large
basin in the library's far corner.
Despite all this, the shelves are neatly maintained and arranged
in perfect order. To your left, a compulsively tidy desk sports
a cup containing ten precisely sharpened pencils; a small stack
of books in need of repair; a legal-size tablet noting several
book titles, borrower names, and due dates; and a crumbling, well-thumbed
guide to the Dewey Decimal system. The windows are shaded with
carefully patched blinds to protect the books from sunlight.
Contents:
Higami
Obvious exits:
Main Street
A young man is wandering the library with a distracted and puzzled
air, touching volumes tenderly as he walks along the shelves,
inspecting the building.
The screen door yawns noisily, and another young man appears in
the threshhold. Two footsteps sound off the floor as Higami steps
into the library, but he remains standing very near the door.
One of his hands roams toward the silver chain emerging from the
pocket of his trousers, but he barely touches it with the tip
of his index fingernail before the hand returns to his side. An
easy, bright grin adorns his face, and his eyes are squinted with
good humor.
Fred Lemisch
This is a rotund young man with small features and large, square,
black glasses. He wears a dress shirt that is somewhat dingy with
age, and a touch threadbare at the elbows, but the collar is starched
within an inch of its life. His trousers are a little large for
him, cinched tight at his waist with a worn leather belt. His
black shoes are freshly polished.
He moves nervously, although his hands are dexterous and gentle
with the many books that fill his life.
Fred Lemisch looks up from his regard of a slight crack in the
spine of a red-leather-bound edition of "The Three Musketeers"
and smiles hesitantly. He pushes his glasses up his nose. "G-g-g-good
aft-t-ternoon. C-c-c-can I h-h-help you?"
Higami nods. "I very much hope so, Mr. Lemisch. In fact,
I'm nearly sure of it." Higami takes another three steps
forward into the library and adds, "I've been waiting quite
a long time to meet you, Mr. Lemisch." When near enough,
he extends a hand. "Higami Ryumaru," he says simply.
Fred Lemisch blinks myopically at the beautiful young man, then
gives a tiny shake. He wipes his hand on the side of his trousers
and takes Higami's in the sort of grip of someone who's been told
several times that he needs to have a firmer handshake. "M-m-mister
Hig-g-gami, I'm g-g-glad t-to m-m-m-meet y-you. Ol' M-man C-collins
said th-there was s-someone d-d-doing stuff in the l-library.
And I s-saw that s-s-someone'd b-been here."
Higami nods once again, but this time it is more of a subtle bow.
"Forgive me. That would have been me. I hope I wasn't too
intrusive... I left a detailed log of my activities in the upper
right drawer of your desk. We can discuss the details in a moment,
but I think you'll find that except for a copy of La Morte D'Artur
that Rowan was perusing the other day, nothing had been moved
or changed in the library. I've been waiting for your approval
before I moved any books or other materials in permanently. Please.
My business card." The teenager extends a white, featureless
card with a metallic texture, slightly cold to the touch. As Higami
withdraws his hand from it, he taps the back lightly with his
ring finger and the front flashes before an image of Higami fades
into view. The image rotates slowly, as text appears elsewhere,
covering the surface of the card: "Name: Higami Ryumaru"
"Position: Official Representative, Guild of Technology"
"Workgroup: Communications" "Clearance Level: 3".
Several small buttons allow the card's viewer to switch languages
and gain further information.
Fred Lemisch startles as the image comes into view, and then peers,
fascinated, at the parade of text. He grins with a child's pleasure
in the toy, and tentatively presses the small buttons with a well-gnawed
fingernail. After a few moments of playing, he looks up, still
smiling. "I'm s-s-sorry that you've had t-to w-wait so l-long.
I was on a b-book finding t-trip." He pushes his glasses
up his nose again. "I d-d-don't mind anyone being here. N-n-no
one h-has been interested in the library in s-so long." Fred's
voice is vaguely wistful. "It's s-s-s-*so* nice to m-meet
y-you, M-mister Hig-g-gami." There's a desperately pleased
sound to his voice. He blinks earnestly behind his thick, smudged
glasses.
Higami's grin widens so much that his teeth nearly (but do not
quite) show. "I see you are indeed a scholar. Exactly what
I expected. You see, Mr. Lemisch," Higami begins, circling
around to the other side of Fred where he rests his hand on the
back of a reading chair, "In this bright new world there
exist a few people who have made it their business to clear the
way for knowledge and understanding through information. Some
seek out lost knowledge to preserve; others build new communication
lines to allow for the free exchange of thought between beings.
Everything I had heard about you, both before and after my arrival
here, has led me to believe that you were one of those people
who would not let the flame of human knowledge be extinguished
by the inconveniences of the day."
Fred Lemisch nods. "I h-h-hope so." He looks around
at his little library with a fond smile. "I used to c-c-come
h-hide here, when m-my parents w-wanted me to d-do chores. There
w-was this old lady, Mrs. Weatherbee, that t-took care of it.
She t-t-taught me to love the books." Fred turns his happy
smile back onto Higami. "She used t-to say, 'Time'll come,
Freddy, when folks'll *want* to read again. And the books've gotta
be here.' So when she d-d-died, I took over." He looks ruefully
at the ceiling. "B-b-but there's so much to d-do, and I'm
not g-g-good at fixing things. D-d-dusty's been a help, though."
Higami glances up at the afternoon sky through the library roof.
"Dusty has an incredible talent for technological improvisation.
If you want, I can supply Dusty with materials to actually fix
the roof. The moisture collection devices he's built are impressive
to the point of being artistic, but we all know that as long as
a large basin of water is sitting in the corner and the rain is
wetting the carpet, the books cannot stay in the condition they
are in for very long. I could order synthetic building materials,
hardening putties that would make it very simple to fix the roof.
But that, Mr. Lemisch, is only one of four ideas I wished to consult
with you about."
Fred Lemisch bounces a little on the balls of his feet and presses
his fingertips together hopefully. "R-r-r-really? Fix the
r-r-roof? That'd be so k-k-keen!" His life is complete, his
world is perfect. "P-please, Mister Hig-g-gami, I'm being
r-rude. W-would you like something to d-d-drink? Have a s-seat."
He pauses, considering his two rickety straight chairs. "I'm
s-sorry we d-d-don't sit on the floor here. It m-must b-be s-strange
for you."
Higami shakes his head. "No, not at all, Mr. Lemisch. In
places of business, we Nihonjin rarely sit on floors. The business
and home environments have become parallels to global and traditional
Japanese culture, respectively." He takes a seat. "Except
in Shikoku, of course... but that's another story altogether.
Mr. Lemisch, allow me to introduce the next proposal I wanted
to extend to you; when I left Nippon, I had already been informed
as to the presence of your well-maintained and impressive collection.
Knowing that I was to be frequently using it, I could not have
arrived without bringing something along to offer in return. When
I arrived, I flew in with me three industrial-sized crates, each
containing nine other crates. The first of these contained materials
to build a shrine here, and a few technological innovations to
facilitate the building of a Guild outpost, a simple wooden cabin,
really, to be commenced shortly; the second contained technological
apparati; and the third contained books. I would like your permission,
Mr. Lemisch, to keep these books in your library, to serve as
part of your collection, if you would be so generous. I have the
books listed and sorted by Dewey Decimal number; you will find
that list, in twenty pages, along with my notes in the desk drawer.
Also, I have brought equipment which would allow library patrons
to access frequency-oriented media, specifically music and speech
from before the Dark Years... a CD player, a tape player, an mp5
decoder and four sets of headphones, along with a small crate
of actual recordings for them. It would honor me if you would
allow them to be stored here as well."
Fred Lemisch blinks. "G-g-g-gosh!" he exclaims, eyes
wide. He pulls off his thick, ancient glasses, extracts a clean,
neatly folded cotton handkerchief from his back pocket, and assiduously
begins to polish the lenses. He opens his mouth to say something
several times, and shuts it each time. At last, when the lenses
are somewhat less smudged than they had been, he replaces the
glasses on his nose and folds the handkerchief back up. Stuffing
it into his back pocket, he finally looks up at Higami. "I'd
b-b-be honored. If you r-really think there's enough r-room here
for all that." He smiles and shakes his head with a little
laugh. "And h-h-here I was thinking that the b-b-biggest
part of my day was going to b-be finding a p-place for the 2144
World B-b-book set I f-f-found." He opens the indicated drawer
of his desk and extracts the list. He pages through it wonderingly
and just says, "Gosh!" again.
Higami leans forward a little bit. "Which brings me to my
next request, Mr. Lemisch. The Communications Workgroup is working
on a project now called the Shattered Rainbow project, or the
Broken Mirror project as we call it in Japanese. It is nothing
more than an attempt to catalogue the literary materials that
have survived the long time of troubles we have just emerged from.
I would like your permission to send the Guild of Technology a
listing of the books you have collected and cared for so well,
so that scholars worldwide may one day know to come here to seek
information. This is also the first step of the Workgroup towards
reinstating the Inter-Library Loan program, where libraries can
exchange books temporarily by patron request. Would you be so
kind as to allow me to send the Guild information on your library?
Please know that you are under no obligation whatsoever to comply,
if you don't feel perfectly comfortable with it."
Fred Lemisch nearly drops the papers. "I... I... I..."
He gapes at Higami, and his glasses slide down his nose and very
nearly off it. "I... Is it really so unusual? I... I'd b-be
so happy!" The last word is an emotion-filled squeak, and
he is forced to clear his throat. "An inter-library loan!
W-what a g-g-great idea! I've g-g-got a c-c-catalog, both c-card
and list, I'll c-c-copy it out for you right away!" He pushes
his glasses back up his nose.
Higami smiles. "Which brings me to the last of my immediate
requests, Mr. Lemisch. I would like to offer you my own services
as a volunteer librarian. Of course, I don't possess your skill
and knowhow, but all the same, I believe that while you were away
I have kept things in decent working order, and that in the future
there may be times when you might appreciate having an employee.
Would you consider enlisting my services? I could tend the desk,
maintain the new listening devices, reshelve books, or whatever
you wish. Naturally, I wouldn't expect you to consider taking
on even a volunteer librarian without the proper credentials...
I can bring over my resume and give you references in the morning,
if you like."
Fred Lemisch seems to be close to tears of happiness, but composes
himself admirably to say, "Certainly, I'd b-b-be p-pleased
to look at your resume, M-mister Hig-g-gami. I c-could always
use the assistance of someone as knowledgeable as y-you seem."
Higami nods, lower than a simple tilt of the head, a lowering
of the eyes that indicates a bow. "Thank you very much, Mr.
Lemisch. I had one other thought in mind regarding the library,
but it is somewhat complex and requres a great deal of discussion.
I'll leave it in writing on your desk when I complete it. In the
meantime," Higami says, standing, "Welcome home. Much
has happened since you left; I'm sure Sashenka would love to give
you the news. I would tell you all about it myself, but I know
that my own dry storytelling style leaves much to be desired,
and if I let Sashenka or Niska tell it to you it will be truly
an experience."
Fred Lemisch stands, as well, and positively beams at Higami.
"This is the n-n-nicest day of my l-l-life, Mister Higami.
Thank you!"
Higami shakes his head. "No... thank /you/, Mr. Lemisch.
All of the hopes I harbored about the library and its more-than-capable
keeper have been realized. I will see you tomorrow... not a day
passes when I don't come to the library. I hope you will consider
allowing me to serve you and this facility." He bows... a
perfect boomerang slant to the body, control and balance, and
a great deal of dignity. The Japanese full honorific bow.
Fred Lemisch demonstrates that his literacy does not extend to
visuals, and, in typical Western style, clumsily attempts a bow
in return. He manages to catch his glasses before they plummet
to the floor, then grins and flushes with some embarrassment.
"S-s-see you soon!" He resettles the blocky frames on
his ears and nose.
Higami pages: Will Fred let Higami help maintain the library?
Higami's really just asking permission to share in the well-being
of the library.
You paged Higami with 'Oh, certainly. He's *so* pleased to have
someone *else* interested in his baby. :)'.