Session 35

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The Library and the Book Without Title (2025-04-12)

Journey to the Library

• Mia, Det, Siz, and Chimes head to the mysterious library hinted at by the card.
• Mia calls an automated taxi—an Öber unit with a very chatty AI sporting a thick South Welsh accent.
• The AI rambles about human–Ysoki relations, ramps for small folk, and sociological trivia while Siz tries not to laugh and Mia tunes it out.

Arrival at the Library

• The capital is oppressively hot (34°C), with humidity clinging to every surface.
• The library itself is an architectural oddity: sleek alloys, kinetic sculptures, and opacity-shifting facade panels.
• Inside, a shock awaits the group: a dark wooden tower of unknown age rises through the centre of the modern structure, casting an aura of memory and ancient presence.
• They are greeted by twin clerks, pale-eyed and serene, who eerily announce that Det is *expected* and refer to the mysterious "Core".

Guest Rights and Warnings

• Siz, visibly unsettled, whispers critical instructions: "Offer no names, accept no gifts, eat nothing, drink nothing."
• The twins confirm that access to the Core is granted. One cryptically refers to Siz by a familiar nickname.
• Siz invokes guest-right, an Old Magic form of protection.
• Mia, confused but compliant, follows their lead and bows politely.

Through the Library’s Heart

• The deeper they go, the more surreal the library becomes:

 - Architecture shifts between ancient wood and impossible geometry.
 - Bookshelves reposition themselves unseen.
 - A transparent lift moves in diagonal paths without visible tracks.

• The scent of old paper, pine sap, and faint metal hangs in the air.

The Archivist and the Book

• A being named Archivist Sal approaches, humanoid in shape but not in presence—limbs bend oddly, smiles twitch like memories.
• Det shows the card; Sal offers vague advice to “just walk until something feels right.”
• Books manifest based on each visitor's interests:

 - Mia sees tales of spaceflight and piloting—and a peculiar tome on the Plane of Perdition.
 - Siz is surrounded by texts on plants, fungi, DNA, and mystical growth.

• Siz, terrified, warns again: "Take nothing. Incur no debt."

Sal’s Declaration

• Despite her fear, Siz notes that Sal isn’t predatory—just eerie, like living furniture that forgets it’s alive.
• Det describes the red-bound book seen in her vision: unlabelled, glowing strangely, marked with runes.
• Sal offers limited help but assures that the right book will find them.
• When Mia asks to download the books instead of taking them, Sal solemnly proclaims:

 > “The books selected by our honoured guests are offered freely, without bond, bargain, or binding.  
 > No return is required.  
 > No debt incurred.  
 > No clever twist shall follow.”

• Reassured, Mia also selects a book about famed space pilot Pirx.