The faint chatter of students fills my senses as I sit under the huge tree. Leaning against the tree, I shut my eyes drowning out the boisterous laughter, shuttling footsteps, and muffled voices around me.
A bubble of calm envelopes me as I sat in a meditative pose. My torrent thoughts slows down into comprehensible bits.
Current Location–Velmora.
No idea where that is.
This wasn't The Lights High.
This much I'd already guessed. Miss. Sneaky's words divulged that much.
If the journey was a cover, how then can the destination be trusted?
Hearing it directly however was not pleasant.
I part my lips softly exhaling ropes of turbid air.
'All alone. Far from home. Surrounded by Unknown. Little Intelligence.'
There's isn't much I can do with the little I know.
What options I have?
Request to be expelled before Initiation?
Attempt escaping?
I know too little to do anything.
But, one thing I'm know for sure is that I never signed up for any of this.
As such I won't be forced to partake in any of this.
First step, research.
Second, inform Mum.
The first could easily be handled, the second was not really optimistic.
Other telecommunication networks were unresponsive here.
'No need worrying about that now, i'll gather as much information about Velmora as possible. ' I shake my head softly.
Despair won't help.
"Eave, the library." I call out into the wristwatch, opening my eyes. It chimes in response, a map hovering before me in seconds.
"Thanks." I mutter under my breathe, walking out of the tree's shade. A burst of heat warms my skin, the sun high up in the sky painting the field with a golden glow.
Heads shift in my direction, conversations slowing, glances lingered a bit longer than necessary as I head towards the extrance of the Grassy Plain. My nails dig into my flesh, grounding me under the persistent gaze that followed my every step.
The stares were different this time.
They were observing.
Analysing my every move.
Probably because I'm the 16th Camouflaged Extract. I roll my eyes. 'Don't tell me they already see me as a threat.'
Quickening my strides, I strode out of the field my feet firm with purpose. The paths were almost empty, a few students tucked behind corners hidden from sight. Most only spared me brief glances, eyes trained on my choice of clothing.
Buildings thin, the students even thinner the closer I neared the beeping point on the map. The faint crunching of my soles against the concrete my only campanion in the staunch silence.
I sigh in relief at the sight of the the first structure for the last hundred yards. The building pierced into the sky casting a shadowy shade over the perimeters. I wipe at my forehead with the back of my palm clearing the bead of sweats grateful for shading from the scorching sun.
It was a magnificent hull of stone and wood spanning into the distance. I climb up the stone steps of the porch walking through the arched doors into a massive foyer. Cool air brushes my cheek, stilling for a moment to take in the the sparkling chandeliers dangled from the high-ceils glinting off the marbled floors.
Couches perched to the corners, I look to the mahogany counter in front, where a young lady a few years older than me worked quietly.
I approach with light steps scared to starle her, the quiet clacking of a keyboard becoming more prominent in the silence.
"Good day, Miss." I greet, standing a reasonable distance away from where she sat. She fingers freeze at my words, her fingers hovering over the keyboard for moment.
"Good morning." She responds cooly, her focus still on the desktop in front of her as she continues typing. I wait, expecting her to look up after a while. She doesn't and I grow apprehensive.
Was she perhaps ignoring me?
"I.." She cuts off before I can muster something reasonable.
"Is there something I can help you with?" She starts, confusion etched in her brows as she finally tears her gaze away from the desktop.
Her gaze flickers downward for a second, realisation replacing her earlier confusion.
"Extern Initiate…" She mumbles softly, her features morphing into something softer.
"How did you know?" I ask surprised, pretending my clothes didn't give me away.
"Well, anyone who's gone through Initiation would know their way around here. And won't bother acknowledging the help desk." She responds, smiling, she leans forward watching me closely.
I lean forward, angling my body against the wood, taken aback by her reasons.
"That's for Initiate. How do you know am an Extern?" I ask, now curious about her response.
"Simple. No Inherent no matter how controversial will ever walk in something that simple and dramatic." She points behind me at my gown sweeping the floor. I smile wryly, embarrassed.
"Simple and dramatic, huh" I mutter looking back at my dress in thought.
"Why didn't you wear the Basic Sets you were given?" She asks, interrupting my line of thought.
"I..I wasn't so comfortable with them." I reply vaguely, unable to articulate my concerns properly.
"They are not perfect fits?" She asks in disbelief, tilting her head to the side.
"No, that's not it. The fabrics are a bit off…" I bit my lips nervously. Though I had not wore them, I was convinced they were really my size.
"Are they itchy, fading, or in poor conditions?" She probes, her eyes twinkling in curiosity.
"No, I simply don't like the colors, they exude a somber feeling." I shrug telling her plainly.
"Oh!" She looks at me in surprise. Chuckling briefly to my surprise.
"Then you're in luck, Apparels were pitch black until about fifty years ago." Shaking in excitement, she continues.
"Black?" I stare back skeptically.
"Yes, you could imagine what batches of alumni had to go through. It all thanks to Exalted Ismiri of Starlet Fashion. She organised and led a coalition for the colouration of Apparallel. They settled for dark colors, something about too much brightness ruining Velmora's aesthetic. And yes, we got better designs." She says with so much enthusiasm, bouncing slightly in her chair.
"Oh!" I smile back, affected by the positivity she exuded. She was by far the most normal person I'd encountered since I got here.
"You must be here to do some research." She states slipping back into the professional demeanor she wore when I first stepped in.
My smile falters at her words as I watch her reach for something behind the counter. No matter how normal she looked or sounded, she was just like them. Like everyone else, I had met–the quiet confidence in her tone didn't go unnoticed.
The purple-haired girl.
Esmeralda.
Zara.
They never asked. They simply stated facts. Annoyingly accurate ones.
"Hmm" I nod warily. She looks back, noting the change in my tone, then places a small dark box in front of me.
She presses a button at the side, a screen slids out of one the openings, the box flattenning considerably into a screen with a thin card slot at the rear.
"Slot your Identity Card." She motioned at the device returning her gaze back to the desktop.
ID card. Must be the one with the Status thingy.
I dip my hand into my pocket pulling out a gray card. I slid it into the slot with one sharp push. The blank screen lights up, then it begins loading.
"It will take a minute or two." She reassures clicking at her keyboard, eyes fixed on her desktop. I nod silentily watching the rapidily increasing numbers
60%
68%
75%
Then at 100, it stops with a chime. The Interface changes, displaying a spiralling structure made of three plaits of threads rotating on the screen. Facing upward, the thread-like plaits to the left and right rotated slowly the third still in their midst. Both threads pulse slightly thicker at every intersection.
My bio-data downloads completely, appearing beneath it. Immediately, the lower sections of the thread light up with a golden hall till about the seventh section.
"How many floors were you granted access to?" She asks as if she were monitoring the process all along.
"Oh, so the sections represent floors." I glance up wondering how many floors the building holds.
"Externs are normally granted three floors before Initiation." She states finally looking at me.
"Seven floors, I think." I said hating how unsure I sounded.
"Seven?" Surprised, she leans down staring back at the glass.
"Hale..crest…" She stutters, her eyes trembling in shock quickly regaining her composure. So quick I barely catch a whiff of her agitation.
"Is there an issue." I ask concerned.
"No, there isn't. Due to your special circumstances more floors were allocated to you." She says calmly smiling at me. Her eyes gleaming with something like recognition. Like she just realised what she missed earlier.
'The Camflouged Extract Identity.' I thought giving her a wry smile.
"Do you want an Independent Library Card?" I frown having no idea what an 'Independent Library Card' was.
"There are Merged Library Cards and Independent ones, independents are the normal library cards you must be used to. Merged ones are fused with your Identity cards after Library Intelligence are inparted into them." She explains at my function.
"You'll have to research more on that. There no tutorials or courses targetted toward trivalties like this.
"I will take the Independent one." I reply going for what I was already used to.
Her words not mine.
"Good. While having all your essential Keys in in one card looks convenient. Having sever AVAs on a single low-tier card consumes more energy and greatly affects the specialization traits of each AVA." she nods visibly impressed by my choice.
I smile back surprised. She clicks at the screen inputting some options I could quite make out.
"Your Library Card will be delvered before the close of day." She hands me my card.
"Until then, you can use this to access the first seven floors of any common-grade library here in Velmora." She says smiling.
"Just for the rest of day till you get your library card." She adds turning back jer desktop.
"Have a productive session, Initiate." She concludes the rhythmical clacking of keys filling the now silent hall.
I bow in appreciation heading towards the end of the foyer where the massive double stairs winded up into the first floor. I ascend quickly eager to lay my hands on as much information as possible.
It was everything but what I imagined. Booths enclosed by glass wall filled the first floor. It was empty–which was much appreciated. I tread through the aisle deeper into the floor. I
Reaching the end of the floor, I push the glass double doors open to a array of shelves that spanned the entirety of the room.
The doors close behind me as I step in. Withdrawing my ID card from my pocket, I swipe it at the screen embedded by the side of the door.
"Hello, Initiate. I am Cyra. Your Library Intelligence." My wrist watch hums faintly, a melodic voice filling the empty room from it.
"Oh, nice to meet you." I smile. These AVAs were by all means, more nice than the humans here.
"What would you like to to read today?" She asks.
"Velmora's History," I say immediately
"and Important trivialities, if any." I add remembering the nice libarian's words.
"Sure. Would you prefer subjective or objective publications." She asks again.
"I don't know what those are?" I reply a little bit embarrassed.
"Subjectives publications are works written by various authors and are subject to their perspective of the subject matter. Whereas Objective publications on the other hand are The Consciousness's objective record on the subject matter." She replies calmly, her voice crystal clear from the watch.
The Consciousness again?
"I'll have both versions of similar works if available." I reply after weighing my the cons and pros of both versions.
"Sure. Head towards the 65th shelf, row 3, book 13." She directs. I oblige moving deeper into the library following the number plates above each shelf. I find the first book soon enough with her precise directions.
The Tale of Velmora's Origin by Jameson Pete.
"15th Shelf. Row 1. Book 3." she directs again, I turn back rolling a trolley from the side with me.
100th Shelf. Row 12. Book 9
6th Shelf. Row 1. Book 1
30th shelf. Row 4. Book 7
Four books lay in front of me within one of the many reading booths. There were two couches able to contain four persons, a water dispenser, heater, mat, a cup of colored highlighters and an eraser. The couch was firm and comfortable beneath me, amplifying the whole experience.
"Turning on Sound-proof mode." Cyra's voice bounced off the sound channel embedded on the wall ceilings of the floor.
"Thank you." I say out of habit more than appreciation. There wasn't any noise to really sound proof against.
The Tale of Velmora's Origin by Jameson Pete.
Velmora Truths as recorded by The Consciousness.
The Adept Use ofTrivialities by Crystal Luxert
Trivialities: The Unsung Heroes as recorded by The Consciousness.
I had explored other options but these pairs had the most interesting titles.
Picking the first text, I shifted the other books to the side placing my phone beside them.
12:32 PM
Inhaling briefly, I flipped the book open.
Preface. Prologue. Acknowlegement….
Time passed quickily as I engrossed myself in the piece. Jameson Pete was a direct descandant of the first curator during the first fifty years of Velmora's establishment. He worked with the first curator–Ven Pete his paternal uncle who shelterd him after the death parents, becoming a curator himself fifty years later.
He recounted the woes of the Great Imperial War that took more than half of the world's population–his parent an unforunate part of the billions who lost your lives. The war he said was an offshoot of conspiracies that targeted the heads and heirs of numerous empires, kingdoms, and businesses.
With a large portion of the world's figure-heads gone and the remaining hiding not to be targetted, a huge portion of the world's workforce engaged in a strife to control what was left.
Ironically, the death tolls weren't from dangerous weapons but from the greed that seized the hearts of the common folks quickily escalating into a bloodbath–even the conspiractors did not forsee.
In such perilous times, what was left of the world's powerhouse converged alongside factions of commoners who desired the peace of the worldbeing restored. Together, they formed The Pact of Consolidation that later formed Velmora.
Merging whatever was left of their resources and young heirs, a safehouse was built to protect their young heirs and legacies. Luckily, the common folks were too selfish to cooperate together and were manipulated into believing they had subdued the world of aristocrats.
Meanwhile, the little safe house grew into a school that trained these young ones into cunning and ruthless leaders offsetting the tides of the war.
All those who came together–the first 350 as they are called today decided to continue the training ground even after taking over taking world power.
Streamlining their descendants as the future leaders. While, it seemed selfish, the factions of commoners agreed under certain clauses restrained and mutually benefited both parties but the author didn't highlight.
These young ones with the training they went through defeafed other pamperd, doe-eyed heirs. Over time, 90% of the world's leadership came from the school and then grew more ambitious than their predecessors turning the little school into a hidden powerhouse–a sovereign state independent of the newly emerging states preceding the Great Era of Empirical Decline.
These newly emerged nations were ruled by them but the world never had a clue. Velmora then became the most closely guarded secret of the world, their location remaining elusive. The advent of technology helped further soldifying the first century of Velmora's establishment.
I sighed closing the book, it was actually interesting though the Old English of the 1500s was thick despite the revision making it a tad difficult to understand.
While it gave me a very solid understanding of Velmora's history, I knew very little about their practices or princoples guiding their actions.
I yawn, checking the time.
It was past five already.
"Unlocking Booth" Cyra said calmly followed by a sharp click, the glass sheathing into the leather edged of the booth.
"Can I take these home." I ask her looking at the piled books.
"Yes, either by purchase or lending services."
"I can actually buy books from the library." I ask surprised remembering the empty shelf in the living room of my complex.
"Yes, you can." My smile widen at her words. A few other students longed lazily across the hall. Conversing softly under the warm glow of the overhead lights. I shift my gaze halting at the the sound of footsteps heading in my direction.
A slender, petite young girl moved enigmatically from across the hall. Soft pink hair spills down her shoulder in loose waves, several delicate braids studded with tiny gemstones woven through it glimmering in the light.
Small golden flecked eyes, pointed noses, high check bone and an angular face, she looked adorable. Her slender finger drew close. She pauses, three feet away from where I sat scrutinising me.
"You're the newbie everyone's been talking about." She says taking the couch opposite me