Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024
Olivia and Janara approached one of the Main Library’s
entrances along one of the elevated walkways. Olivia was listening to an audio
guide on the University. “The Main Library of Academia d’Aeterna Universitas
d’Aurora is theorised to be as old as the University itself, with expansions
having been made over the millennia. The most recent expansion is the
Quinmillennial Wing, which opened in 2001.”
The colonnaded entryway they approached had various
Nordic runes etched around it, although that portion of the building dated from
the 16th Century.
“Where are you starting?” Janara asked.
“The Information Desk to start with, then I’ll head to
the Nordic Section. It’s supposed to hold most of the codices from that era.”
“Good idea.”
Freya was also curious about the Library. She arrived at
one of the eastern entrances. “I guess this dates from the 20th
Century,” she murmured as she tried to shield herself from the reflection off
of the expanse of glass before her, which was overwhelming despite the fact she
was wearing sunglasses. ‘I’ll probably need to use another entrance.’ She took
a deep breath, closed her eyes, and listened as she walked towards the door.
“May I help you?” the library assistant asked the
colourfully dressed pink-haired girl with her eyes closed before her.
“Yes, directions to the Nordic Art section?” the
pink-haired girl asked.
“I could guide you if you want.”
“You don’t need to,” the other said. She then rubbed one
of her eyelids. “This is just a habit I have when I get visually overwhelmed,”
she added quickly with a tone that implied that she was tired of explaining it.
“Yes, the Library can be overwhelming, especially for new
students.”
“Yes. I arrived yesterday.”
“If you go left a dozen paces, there is a tactile map of
the library, which is beside a usual map.” The assistant said.
“That will be useful.”
Freya ran her hands over the tactile map of the Library.
“I’m here, near the eastern entrance…”
It didn’t take her long to figure out the directions.
‘Easy to remember, either way.’
Olivia and Janara approached the Information desk, near
the Grand Atrium. “Let’s see what this says about it,” Olivia said.
“The Grand Atrium dates from the 17th
Century and reflects the nostalgia for Roman Aurora of the period.”
“That will be something to look into at some point,”
Olivia said.
“You’re looking into the Nordic Era first?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll come with you,” Janara said.
“You don’t need to.”
“Are you sure?”
Olivia nodded.
“I’ll look at the Computer Science section, then.”
Freya had followed the tactile directions and had found
herself in the Nordic Section, the part of the Library that was built in the
Nordic Era. ‘There has to be runes here,’ she considered as she continued
walking through.
Olivia entered the Nordic section.
‘What exactly am I looking for?’ she wondered. ‘Just to
come across something ancient by accident?’
She found a directory nearby.
“History of Aurora in the Nordic Era, Nordic Art.
Scandinavian History and Geography. Icelandic, Greenlandic and the Northern
Atlantic Archipelagic History and Geography. Nordic Linguistics. Nordic
Literature. The Role of Sagas in the development of Auroran Storytelling…
Everything Nordic. I’ll start with the History of Aurora in the Nordic Era.”
She went towards that section.
Freya found the Nordic Art section. “Now the tactile art
first,” she decided.
Olivia was wandering the History of Nordic Aurora section
when she looked over into the Nordic Art section. She saw something next to a
pillar between the two sections. She went over and saw that it was a relief map
of Aurora as it was just prior to the Unification. She tried to read the
inscription, but found that the text wasn’t in a dyslexic friendly font. “Uh!”
she exclaimed. She wanted to read it. ‘Do I have my text to speech pen here?’
She checked her pockets and found that she had left it
back in the dorm room. “Of course!” she groused to herself. ‘I suppose I could
just look at the map.’
“Do you need help?” someone asked nearby.
Olivia turned and saw someone in the art section. A girl
with pink hair, colourful clothes and her eyes closed. “Yes. I can’t read this description… because
of my dyslexia.” She didn’t like having to explain that.
“Let me try something,” the girl said as she came over.
She touched the inscription and ran her hands over the raised lettering. “This
map depicts Aurora in 1122, a year before the remnant ancient kingdom joined
the Commonwealth, reuniting Aurora in it’s current form.” She then ran her
hands over the map. “Interesting,” she murmured. “I’ll come back later.”
“Thanks, um.”
“Freya.”
“Olivia.”
“You’re welcome, Olivia,” Freya said as she turned and
went back into the art section.
Olivia looked at the map closer. She could see the
familiar provincial borders within the Norse Aurora.
Freya wandered over to a bookshelf and brushed her
fingers along the spines of the books. She paused, the pattern there was
interesting. She pulled it out and then went to find a reading nook.
Freya sat and then opened her eyes. She found that the
light from the skylights above was quite soft. More than enough for her to read
by, but not enough to be overwhelming.
“Art of the Aterana River Region during the Nordic Era,”
she read. That was interesting. ‘The Aterana River,’ she consider. That was the
river that ran through Urbs Aeterna, the name being a Latinate version of the
pre-Roman Auroralic name. She opened to the table of contents…
Janara found the Computer Science section, on the edge of
the Mathematics section. ‘Where else would it be?’ she groused. AAUA had yet to
adopt the Dewey Decimal System. ‘But then with many preexisting cataloguing
systems going back millennia…’ Most of the books still had to be checked out
manually. She entered the section and found that the all the books there did
have bar codes. ‘Let’s see… ‘Auroran Linux distributions…’
Olivia met Janara back at the Grand Atrium a few hours
later.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” Janara asked.
“Not really. But then I was relying on serendipity.”
“Same here.”
“There was something I couldn’t read though,” Olivia said
with annoyance.
“Really? Was it in Auroric?”
“No. It wasn’t in a dyslexic friendly font. But someone
came over and read it for me.”
“It’s good that they helped you,” Janara said.
Freya put the book back and returned to the map she had
helped Olivia with. Her synaesthesia allowed her to notice things on the map
Olvia hadn’t. ‘Wait. The trade routes...’ The ancient trade routes spreading
out from Urbs Aeterna like a spider’s web. ‘I hadn’t realised that before.’ She
took out her sketchbook.
She quickly sketched a copy of the map. She looked
closer. “Wait… I’m sure there isn’t a lake there,” she said, looking at a spot
on the Aterana River about 100 miles upstream of Urbs Aeterna. She took out her
tablet. “Aurosoka: map search Aterana River.”
The Aurosoka service responded, showing a zoomed out map
of the Ateanni Province, with a pin on the river.
‘Not that helpful,’ Freya considered. She looked around.
“Auroran Geography? Where would that be?”
But first she needed lunch.
Freya entered a small café near the Library.
“Freya!”
Freya and saw that it was Dana and a few others from
Sigrun Sigurdottir Hall. She then bounded over and sat down. “Hey, Dana!”
“Have you been exploring the campus?” Dana asked.
“Just the Library so far,” Freya answered.
“That’s bold,” another student, James, said.
“It is,” Freya said. “I thought I would jump in. Besides
I helped another student, so there’s that.”
“But it’s so large that it is said that students can get
lost in there,” James saod.
“Nonsense!” Dana said. “Ignore him, Freya. There are a
lot of urban legends about the University that are untrue.”
“But there are also a lot of mysteries,” Freya pointed
out.
“That’s true,” Dana said. “But no one can vanish in the
Library and not be found again.”
‘I hope so,’ Freya thought, as she went to order her
lunch.
Olivia returned to the Library after having lunch. She
found a directory near the Grand Atrium. ‘History of Aurora…’
History
History of Aurora
Pre-Roman History … Ground Floor of Ancient Section
Roman Aurora … First Floor of Early Roman Section.
Early Medieval Aurora – First Floor of Late Roman Section
Aurora in the Norse Era – First Floor of the Nordic
Section.
Medieval Aurora after the Unification – Ground Floor of
the Nordic Section
Renaissance Aurora – Second Floor of the Late Roman
Section
Early Modern Aurora – Second Floor of the Late Medieval
Section.
Auroran History Since 1850 – Ground Floor of Art Deco
Section
‘Art Deco?’ Olivia thought. “What about a succinct
timeline?”
“You can get that anywhere.”
Olivia turned. “Olivia.”
“David, assistant librarian. There are books that
summarise Aurora’s history, of course, but as you see, AAUA studies things in
depth.”
“I guess I would start in the Norse Era, maybe what lead
to the Unification.”
“That would be in the Nordic Section, of course.”
After helping Olivia, David saw a pink-haired girl
looking at another directory. “May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m looking into the upper reaches of the Aterana
River. I saw a map depicting something present somewhere, that isn’t on present
day maps.”
“That would be in the Geography Section, um…”
“Freya,” the girl said as she enthusiastically shook his
hand.
“David. The Geography Section is right in the middle of
the Library, on the second floor of the Ancient Section.”
“So, it’s the oldest part of the Library?”
“I’m not sure of that. Records of what was built when
only really start late in the Pre-Roman period.”
“Oh,” Freya said.
Freya entered the Geography Section. She found that the
section was laid out such that Aurora was at the center. ‘Of course it would
be.’ She walked through the southern archway and between the books on Africa
and southern Europe on the right and the books on South America and the
Caribbean on the left. ‘Interesting.’
She soon found a shelf full of various editions of the Comprehensive
Atlas of Aurora. She grabbed the latest one she could find, which was from
2016. ‘I don’t think much has changed,’ she thought.
She found a nearby reading nook and opened the atlas to
relevant section.
‘Ateanni Province,’ Freya thought.
She soon found that the place on the river was as
expected. ‘No lake.’ She decided to check a topographical map and then found
that the place was mostly flat. ‘Maybe it got filled in?’ she wondered. But
then she hadn’t studied any geology. Still, it was a mystery that had piqued
her interest.
She then went back to the Nordic Art section, where she
spent most of the afternoon.
Olivia and Janara returned to Janus Hadrian Lodge as the
sun was setting. “It was interesting,” Olivia said.
“That’s an understatement.”
“You haven’t heard everything.”
“Oh?” Janara asked.
“The girl who helped me with the map had her eyes closed,
yet she could read the inscription.”
“You’re pulling my leg.”
“I’m not,” Olivia said.
“Maybe she was squinting?”
“I don’t think it was like those anime.”
Olivia laughed as they walked through the doors.
‘Great!’ Olivia thought.
At the same time, Freya returned to Sigrun Sigridottir
Hall in thought. She knew that Aurora was full of mysteries, but the mystery of
the lake had whetted her appetite. ‘I wonder what else happened in the past
that isn’t widely known?’
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