Mysteries of Aurora - The Manuscript Part 11

 

Olivia looked closely at the unofficial map of the hidden corridors around the library. “No evidence. But I could look tonight.”

 

“Tonight?” Alexia asked.

 

“If I can’t sleep,” Olivia said. “I have insomnia as well as dyslexia,” she admitted.

 

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Freya said.

 

“I could go with you,” Janara offered.

 

“But first, we should continue with this,” Alexia said.

 

“Of course,” Olivia said as she turned to Alexia.

 

“Next. The known sequence of how the Library was built. The Ancient Section is the core, but not all of it was built over the same time,” Alexia added.

 

“Wait,” Janara said. “I had heard that the campus is a fractal.”

 

 

“The campus is, yes,” Alexia said. “But the Library isn’t.”

 

“Right,” Olivia said. “According to the records we have, the oldest parts of the Library date from the Second Age.”

 

“So, the Ancient Section was complete when the Roman occupation started?” Janara asked.

 

“Yes,” Olivia answered. “The records state that the Early Roman Section was constructed early in the Second Century.”

 

Alexia tapped her tablet and the Early Roman Section was highlighted on the projection. “It lies to the south of the Ancient Section.”

 

“There hasn’t been much speculation why the expansion happened in that way,” Olivia said. “But each expansion occurred as the Library came close to running out of space. At least that’s the official explanation.”

 

“Next was the Late Roman Section, added in the Fourth Century,” Alexia continued.

 

 

As Alexia continued describing the expansion of the library, Freya was distracted, but she managed to get the gist of it. She continued her sketching, filling the page with various symbols from Aurora’s cultures.

 

 

Alexia concluded and sat next to Freya. “I saw that you weren’t focused. I tried to be engaging for you.”

 

“It’s fine,” Freya said. “I’m sure that comes from experience.”

 

“But you followed Olivia,” Alexia said.

 

“She’s also more passionate about Aurora’s history. that helps,” Freya added with a smile.

 

“Noted,” Olivia said.

 

“But what are we going to do next?” Janara asked. “We can’t just snoop around the Library, or the nearby buildings looking for the hidden passageways.”

 

“Where else?” Alexia asked. “The Library itself may hold the clues somewhere in the public collection.”

 

“I’ll look tonight,” Olivia said.

 

“I’ll have to come with you,” Janara said. “You can’t go alone.”

 

“We’ll talk about that later,” Olivia said.

 

“In the meantime, I’ll keep working looking at the various blueprints,” Alexia said.

 

“And I’ll work through what we talked about artistically,” Freya added as she jumped up.

 

 

“Are you sure you want to investigate the hidden corridors in the middle of the night?” Janara asked Olivia as they left Sigrun Sigurdottir Hall.

 

“I’m sure I won’t get much sleep with this mystery on my mind.”

 

“So, you want to use the time productively?”

 

Olivia nodded. “I am up to date on my studies.”

 

“I wasn’t questioning that.”

 

 

Freya returned to her room and stuck her sketch to the wall, which was already half covered in sketches. ‘It’s starting to look like my room at home and I have only been here a week,’ she thought. She turned to the window and looked out, at the campus and the glow of the streetlights of most of Urbs Aeterna beyond. ‘Somewhere out there the solutions of these mysteries will be found.’ The manuscript mystery wasn’t the only mystery on her mind.

 

 

Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Olivia returned to the vicinity of the Library shortly after midnight. She had waited until Janara was deep into a gaming session before sneaking out. The University was quiet around her, with the on campus bistro closed for the night. She took out a schematic of the western side of the building Alexia had given her. “There is some kind of hatch somewhere near where the Renaissance and Late Medieval Sections meet.” She then took out a torch.

 

It was, of course, shaped like an old-style torch, rather than an American flashlight. But even so, the light could be focused in a beam. Olivia did so, before sweeping it over the façade of the Library.

 

 

After finding a hatch, she managed to flip it open. “I guess they don’t expect students to come looking, or for them to expect it to be locked.” She saw a ladder going down. “I came this far,” she said as she adjusted the torch to diffuse mode.

 

 

She then found her way into one of the Stack levels of the Library, specifically of the Renaissance Section. ‘But it would likely be below the Ancient Section, right? Or is that what they would expect someone to search?’ She decided to try to go in that direction anyway.

 

 

It didn’t take her long to get to the Ancient Section stacks.

 

 

But the layout was chaotic and she was sure that the shelves hadn’t been moved in centuries.

‘This will take ages,’ she thought, as she wandered around them.

 

 

Janara logged off after finishing a raid. She then turned and stretched, then realised that Olivia was gone. “You didn’t go by yourself, did you?” she asked herself before quickly grabbing her own torch and jacket.

 

 

Olivia had spent some time looking around when she heard something. She turned with her heart beating fast. “Who’s there?” she asked.

 

Janara came around a corner. “You came here alone?” she asked, with an annoyed tone.

 

“Yes. You were busy, gaming. And I wasn’t asking Freya or Alexia.”

 

“Because you haven’t been around them as much?”

 

“I suppose so,” Olivia responded.

 

“But I’m not sure that the manuscript would be here, in the stack.”

 

“It might still be here, but also, there might be doors to the hidden corridors somewhere.”

 

“They may be well hidden in ways neither of us would notice,” Janara said. “They usually are in games.”

 

“This isn’t a game.”

 

“No, but sometimes they are based on reality.”

 

“Wait, you said ‘neither of us,’” Olivia said. “You’re saying Freya might be able to find the doors?”

 

“It’s worth a shot.”

 

“She did find the obfuscation.”

 

“So, come back tomorrow?” Janara asked as she turned.

 

“Maybe she’ll still be up.”

 

“I don’t want to take the risk of waking her.”

 

“Then it will have to be tomorrow night,” Olivia decided as she followed Janara.

 

 

When they returned to the dorm room, Janara found that Alexia had emailed her a copy of the campus blueprints she had presented. She looked at where Olivia was already dictating a recording of the day into her diary. ‘I’ll tell her in the morning.’