Entro was thumbing through the book, with a spark of zeal. At first, pages were skimmed out of curiosity, intrigued more by Ellie's fascination than anything.
Soon, however, intrigue became enthrallment, each word threatening to drag him under; every stroke of ink coerced him into a hypnotic lull. He snapped the book shut. Entro knew himself well enough to know how fast this book would be devoured.
"This won't do"
Standing from the shadow of wallowing and self hate also referred to as a tree, he journeyed outside of the park and to the nearest library.
It was right next to the park, along with many buildings under his last name. In fact, several blocks were filled with businesses and public services built under the name Voldstadt; his children often requested he use his money for humanitarian purposes, resulting in the creation of 'Stadt Street' as referred to by many.
This one could be considered a Great Library of sorts. At the heart of this district, it stood tall with the immense grandeur of obsidian and accented by reflective glass.
Accompanying the library were two enormous statues in the shape of knights, Raze's idea, that left a heavy atmosphere on the environment.
They weren't for show either, something the public was unaware of for years. That is, until after Entro's fall from fame, the rotund man marched on the library with the intent of tearing it down. They were met with 200 foot tall statues swinging 80 foot swords, pandemonium ensued.
The first thing attacked were the construction vehicles, folding under the swords like heated aluminum foil, leaving none left untouched. Despite their massive size, the statues' swords moved in a blur and any person retaliating with firearms were dealt with swiftly as well, with the public dubbing the day, 'The Stadt Street Massacre.'
Every other major 'Stadt' landmark, was promptly invaded and demolished after he was excommunicated from his own company, with the library being the only thing left standing, courtesy of the knights.
The day left the rotund man livid and unsatisfied in his failure in erasing every trace of Entro's existence so he did not miss this chance to paint Entro as a villain; blaming him for jeopardizing the public safety with deadly contraptions and deterring anyone from going near the library, therefore, despite being a city staple, it's normally devoid of traffic.
Still it stood tall after all these years, still as beautiful as the day it was built.
Entro waltzed into the library unhindered, he hadn't been here in years. The building continued to be maintained by a plethora of robots, ranging from fliers to dust massively tall bookshelves, or some that were endlessly organizing.
The air inside was scented with Hope's favorite perfume, the ambience entering Entro's nose and proliferating throughout his body, giving him a sense of relief mixed with sorrow. He pressed onward.
He didn't know what he was looking for, he had never been the greatest fiction reader, choosing to work with his hands or experiment. As a child, Entro had skimmed textbooks, relying on his natural talent for learning.
Concepts came easily, stacking themselves into a foundation of skill. Science and mechanics weren't his first talents, they were simply the ones that fascinated him most
Approaching the front desk, there was an android idling on the other side of the desk, with a book in her hand.
She wore a fitted cardigan draped gracefully over her shoulders with a cream colored. high collared blouse peeking out. Her mid length skirt was made of a soft fabric that perfectly accented the librarian vibe.
She even sported round reading glasses that slowly slid down her nose as she read, causing her to adjust them ever so often. Her eyes were a lighter purple, darkening closer to the top, and everytime she blinked, he was blessed with the familiar camera click, warming his heart.
Not wanting to interrupt, Entro decided to wait for a few minutes. That soon turned into nearly half an hour. She simply didn't notice him there.
"Excuse me," Entro called out gently, unsure whether to raise his voice.
The android jolted upright, arms flailing as she tipped backward out of her chair. The clunk of her impact echoed through the vast library, followed by a grumbled, 'Ow.'
"Where did you come from?" she demanded, scrambling to her feet. "Are you stalking me?"
Entro raised an eyebrow. "I've been standing here for half an hour."
"Half an hour? Oh. So… you are a creep," she concluded with a glare
Entro resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Aren't you the librarian here? I just want to find books similar to this one." He held up the book and sighed, his patience already wearing thin. "Then I'll be out of your way."
She crossed her arms and tilted her head, her synthetic hair catching the light. "Do you know how long it's been since someone actually came here to check out a book?" She leaned closer, "Six years. I'll let you try again."
Entro's eye twitched. "It doesn't matter if it's been a hundred years. I'm here now. So, can you help me, or should I start moving books around until I find what I need?" His voice turned low and sharp. "Maybe put a few dozen on the wrong shelves while I'm at it?"
Her eyes widened in horror, "You wouldn't."
"Try me."
Her lip quivered for a second as she visibly contemplated the consequence of continuing to toy with Entro.
"Give me that," she huffed, snatching the book.
"Good choice," he quipped, a smug grin on lips.
She casually peaked at the title, read the back and skimmed the content of the book, her synthetic eyes moving at inhuman speeds.
"This is just your run of the mill fantasy novel, you can find these on the sidewalk, with tastes like these, you could grab any random book and be satisfied."
Entro glared at her.
"Right… helping, follow me to the young adult fiction please."
The librarian guided him through the enormous library, navigating the literary maze with practiced turns.
"I'm glad I approached your desk," he thought out loud, "I would've never made it back here and escaped on my own,"
She glanced back, raising her eyebrow in curiosity. "Have you ever been here before?"
Confused on what having been here before had to do with navigating this paper labyrinth, he answered, "No."
A flash of understanding crossed her face, "That's why. You would've been fine, the shelves position themselves to grant you easy exit access."
Her answer, however, only confused him even more. He thought back to the construction of the library and couldn't remember implementing such an innovative mechanism.
"What's your name," He carefully questioned.
"Elara," she threw over her shoulder.
"No, I mean, your serial number," he clarified, causing her to stumble in her tracks.
"VV-87," she replied gruffly.
'VV-87? That's not one of mine'
Something else took hold of his attention at the moment.
"Why the reaction, you've never been asked for your serial number?"
"No one has ever recognized me as an android, how could they?" she responded.
"While you're a beautifully designed android, to be posing as a human, you're terrible at it," Entro said matter-of-factly
If she was annoyed at his presence before, she was angry now.
She spun around and jabbed a finger in his direction.
"What do you know about androids smart ass? Just because you took a lucky guess doesn't make you an expert"
"Well, if you must know," he replied coolly, "you're too perfect. Your breathing and blinking are too monotonous, you blink every 15.43 seconds, 2.73 seconds to breathe in and 1.67 seconds to breathe out; consistent since you're a female and they breathe faster, but what about random times when humans take large huffs of air, seemingly for no reason?"
She froze, her anger clouded by pure shock.
"Your voice is in perfect tone and pitch at all times, no human speaks that way. Even trained singers talk off pitch and their tone varies wildly. When you walk, you move fluidly, not wasting any movement. Some people couldn't walk straight if their life depended upon it. Lastly, you have facial expressions that directly correlate with the emotion. If you're angry, you look angry; you can find a person in seething rage and a smile on their face. As a human, you're ironically, too perfect."
The librarian swallowed, finally at a loss of words, she lost the battle of wit.
The rest of their walk was in silence, which was fine to Entro, he was deep in thought. He wondered who created such a sophisticated android. Including the flaws of a human was something only he could integrate into the code of an android, it was too difficult and complicated; whoever created Elara was second only to him in craftsmanship.
Elara abruptly stopped before snapping her fingers, the sound echoing deep into the library. Following her gesture, half a dozen robots resembling small humans and sporting six fast fluttering wings on their backs appeared, excitedly flying circles around Elara and diving into her hair.
"He's looking for high fantasy novels, let's see what we have, chop-chop."
Both Elara and the fluttery little people started pulling books off of the shelves, with the librarian handling works closer to the ground. From deeper into the library, a walking bin appeared for them to place the books in.
Comedically, the little people were just barely as big as the books themselves, often struggling to fly them down into the automated bin.
More interested in the library itself, rather than the chaotic sight before him, Entro opted towards exploring the craftsmanship of the shelves.
Running his hands along the wood work, he could feel the low rumble of gears turning inside, a therapeutic noise.
Gliding his hands to the end of the shelf, he marveled at the texture, smooth yet imbued with a subtle grain, like silk over stone. It was warm to the touch, soft yet firm, like a cloud shaped by the hand of a master craftsman.
"Rosewood," he exhaled, a smile tugging at his lips. "My favorite."
He tapped the edge lightly, listening to the subtle, resonant tone of the wood. Its density and quality were unmistakable. Whoever had worked on this knew their craft, this wasn't just a shelf; it was a masterpiece.
As his fingers brushed the side, they caught on something engraved into the wood, letters. Tilting himself to get a better view, he read the inscription:
Viorica Voldstadt, daughter of the world's greatest and most absent mind.
A wave of realization crashed over him. VV-85. His favorite wood. His library.
It was her.
For a moment, the revelation stole his breath. Viorica. His daughter. She had done this.
Entro had initially assumed the intricate designs and advanced engineering were the work of some lone craftsman or engineer, a hired genius contracted for the task.
He hadn't personally overseen the construction. Sure, he had drawn the blueprints, provided the funding, tools, and expertise for the more delicate and advanced inventions, but for the library's physical build, he had delegated most of it. Construction workers, teams of artisans, architects, personally screened and trained by him, they had brought it to life.
But this… this was different.
"I never knew you were capable honey," he murmured, voice packed full of regret and wonder.
He gazed upon his surroundings with a new eye. Fluttering robots and the librarian, so full of personality. The cavernous size of the library, a monument to his daughter, legacy to his protege.
The thought brought tears to his eyes.
"Hey, are these enou-" Elara paused, noticing his expression. She had a pile of well over a dozen books behind her as she stood awkwardly, not knowing if she was supposed to make a comment.
Opting to ignore it, she gingerly called out, "please follow me to the front desk and we'll get you checked out."
On their trek towards the entrance, Entro realized Elara was right. The shelves were, in fact, positioned in a way that gave easy access to the front desk. As they walked, each one shifted slightly to match their destination, truly innovative. Simple in mechanisms, but genius practicality. But it left him with one thought.
'What do they do when two people need to see the desk in conflicting locations?'
While pondering, he only noticed they were where they started once Elara interrupted his train of thought.
"Each book is outfitted with a special tag that scans every book as they leave the building, documenting when it was checked out and brought back…"
Elara began explaining rules regarding leaving the library with books, but Entro was hardly interested since he noticed a back room behind the desk. Inside were mostly used candles and blankets on the floor. It was sparsely decorated but had a home-like vibe emitting from it.
"How often do you leave this library," Entro tentatively asked.
She, again, eyed him curiously. "I've never left the confines of these walls since the day I was turned on and assigned my role; leaving… is not within my coding."
Not bothering to respond, Entro grabbed her hand, only realizing how insanely rude it was after the action. He looked up when he felt her gaze boring into his head.
They locked eyes, her expression filled with an emotion he couldn't quite decipher, but she wasn't angry.
Taking his sign to continue, Entro swiped his hand around her forearm until a console opened. The look on Elara's face told him not even she knew it was there.
'Just like your daddy'
Swapping and removing certain wires, Entro deactivated her boundary limits. Allowing her to travel wherever she pleased.
He could tell the engrained urge to remain within the library had vanished by the stunned look she was giving him.
Not needing anything else from the library, Entro began walking out, only to be stopped by a hand; her hand.
Looking at the complex look within her eyes as she tried to process what she should say, what she wanted to say.
Perhaps failing to conjure words, or choosing not to, she looked down and let his hand go, allowing Entro to leave.