Misha looked mostly like Quinn remembered. Still that blackened silver, those moonstone eyes, the oddly expressive slit that passed for their mouth. Even their bearing was the same.

  But there was a difference in their aura, one that Quinn now recognized as a wholeness she hadn’t realized was missing before. Which was quite a surprise in and of itself.

  “Hey,” Quinn said, as Aradie hooted like a echo.

  Misha bowed their head slightly. “Hello. Thank you for coming. I do believe I am ready to resume my duties if you see fit to trust me.”

  A small pang in her chest made Quinn analyze the words for what they were. She had the odd feeling Misha didn’t entirely remember Quinn’s friendship. Or well, perhaps Librarianship was more accurate.

  Harish moved over and motioned to Quinn. He pulled up information and shared it with her. “See these waves here? Those are indicative of Misha’s core health. We’ve removed the Supervisor’s influence, and the core itself is completely new. All we did was transfer the relevant personality strains into it during creation.”

  “Sort of what the old core did?” Quinn asked.

  Harish half scowled. “Not exactly, but similar. That was a matter of using an old core as a base instead of infusing it with a specific persona instead of allowing it to establish one itself.”

  Quinn nodded slowly, mostly understanding it. “So we should be good?”

  “Yes.” He flashed her a rare smile, which was barely an upturn of his lips, but for Harish, it was practically beaming. “Misha is as healthy as they could be and is ready to resume their duties within the Library whenever you’re ready for them.”

  One of the benefits of Quinn’s upgrades sensitivity was her access to the HUD. She could pull it up anywhere, anytime, and did so right then. Accessing the golem directory, she quickly highlighted and reactivated Misha’s supervisory capacity.

  Their eyes went through myriad of colors, creating a very brief rainbow effect, before settling back on the moonstone appearance.

  Misha took several steps, a slight whirr emanating from them, and then nodded. “Excellent. I now also have assistance for the hospital, as well as the alchemical and medicinal branch?”

  “Yeah, the doctors know best what they need and were created for that purpose anyway, and they make use of a lot of the alchemical branches stuff.” Quinn shrugged. “Made sense.”

  “Of course it makes sense.” Misha said. “Just checking my parameters. I will double check storage and the state of our necessary stock, and then I will attend to all branches.”

  They looked up at Quinn and gave a small smile. “Thank you. For fighting to keep me.”

  “Of course!” Quinn wanted Misha to know she’d needed to fight for them. “Couldn’t let my first supervisor wither away, could I?”

  Misha regarded Quinn seriously for a few seconds before speaking. “Not everyone would react that way. I appreciate it. I will also work at allocating resources to retrieve the books we require for the crafting branch. Do you need anything else from me?”

  Quinn shook her head.

  “Then I had best be off. There are several things that have fallen by the way since I’ve been offline, despite the hard work of others. Should you need me, you have but to call my name.” And Misha popped out of sight.

  “I’d forgotten they did that.” Malakai laughed from the doorway, startling Quinn.

  “I didn’t even realize you’d followed me.”

  “Should be more observant then.”

  Quinn laughed, but at the same time was slightly worried her enhanced senses hadn’t picked up his presence, and hinted as much to the Library.

  He’s always there. Like a shadow. I thought you just expected it.

  Quinn wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that.

  With Misha reintegrated into the system, Drukala resting up so she could teach Quinn how to dragon, Nishpa working on the eagle eye trace, and Betty and Dottie running the damned Library as far as Patrons went, Quinn felt oddly out of place.

  “What’s wrong?” Malakai asked, nudging her.

  Quinn shrugged. “That’s just it, I’m not entirely sure. I feel like there’s so much I should be doing. And I feel like I’ve very specifically missed something.”

  “What would that be?”

  “If I knew, I wouldn’t feel like it was missing.” She rolled her eyes. “But it’s right there, on the tip of my tongue and it’s like I went to get something from another room, and couldn’t remember what it was once I got there.”

  “Oh, I hate that.”

  “Everyone does.”

  Entering her office, she threw herself back in her chair as Aradie landed on the back of it, hooting irritably.

  “Yeah, yeah, you’re fine. You’ve got wings.” Quinn searched around on her desk. She knew what had jogged her mind was on there. Like an afterthought. She frowned and glanced up at the Murderboard. Which also didn’t enlighten her as to what could be missing.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Writing things out by hand always helped Quinn master them better in her mind. But right now, her desk was a graveyard for so many lists and theories, so many notes about the books from the restricted vault. Books that they knew had been present but had no way to trace...

  “Wait a second.” She rifled through farther and found a couple of lists she specifically sought. Then she leaned back, looking at them, and smiled.

  Ririn’s Dimensional Distortion Through Sacrificial Means

  The Parsneauvian Theory of Spatial Dimension Manipulation

  The Crown and Fall of Pocket Dimensions Due to Spatial Interference.

  Machmüller’s Theory of Dimensional Dissolution and Disintegration through Ritual Sacrifice

  DeKarlyle’s Thesis of Spatial Distortion

  And just below, she’d written the word: TRACKING? Possible to trace?

  Underneath that, bolded and underlined, was a note Relationship to each other? and a then a few more book names. Books that Milaro had flagged for her what seemed like an age ago.

  Seveshall Lineage of Mind Healing and How to Break It

  The Ashelan Mind Capitulation Device

  Chmlienko’s Guide to Dimensional Complacency

  She looked at the note, and then at the murderboard. Then back at the note again. Machmüller’s Theory was their starting point. Technically. Because DeKarlyle’s had been a sort of trap for Quinn. But no... Machmüller’s was different. They weren’t supposed to find that one.

  It hadn’t been a trap for them. In fact, it had been a complete fluke they’d ever discovered it. She never thought they’d been supposed to find it. At least not when they did.

  “Lynx!” she called out and tapped her foot while she waited for him to appear. He didn’t drop everything, like Misha always did for her. He was a little more stubborn.

  Malakai watched Quinn from the couch, arms crossed, and she offered him a very slight smile. Too much of her concentration was on what she wanted to ask Lynx.

  “I’m here, I’m here...” He seemed grumpy.

  “Did I interrupt something important?”

  “No, just the middle of a rather tedious task. I’ll have to restart now.” But Lynx sighed and turned to her. “What do you need?”

  “Tracing. Like tracing magical signatures. Which is sort of what Jasper was doing with her ritual circle, right?” She was proud that her voice only cracked slightly on Jasper’s name.

  “Yes. Sort of. She was sending out a call for a specific tome by name and by description to locate it using the magic that was inherent in it.” He paused. “So I guess it was tracing a magical signature.”

  “Okay, so, if someone had to activate a book’s magic, would their magical signature be evident in that book... or on that book?” Quinn tried really hard to downplay her level of excitement. She didn’t want to be wrong and have her idea dashed.

  The runic bands around Lynx’s hair extended out to encompass his body as his eyed began to glow in that strange static way. It took several seconds, but he cleared again, the runes slowly seeking their usual spot, and he grinned as he spoke. “Technically, we might be able to find a residue.” Then he looked a little sad. “But we’ve had the book back for some time now, and I’m uncertain is the echo on the book will allow us to go that far back now. It’s been through so much of the new Library magic.”

  Lynx looked so apologetic. But Quinn shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a problem. See. The thing is, I wasn’t actually thinking we’d use the book.”

  “Sorry? You’ve completely lost me now.”

  “Sorry. My thoughts are jumping.” Quinn calmed her mind and sorted out how to say what she thought. “The book was placed and activated on that isle we visited for the cookbook. Remember? With the death tree and everything.”

  “But we destroyed the tree...” Malakai said, leaning forward, his hands steepled.

  Quinn nodded. “Precisely. We destroyed the tree, but the magical signatures should still be there, right?”

  “Technically, maybe?” Mal seemed doubtful, but not fully against the idea.

  “We have all these suppositions, all these traps they’ve laid for us, all of this conjecture,” she gestured toward the Murderboard. “For once I’d like something concrete. Like oh, this precise magical signature was involved in stealing and activating this book, and here is the culprit.”

  “You know it’s not going to be that easy, right?” Mal said gently.

  “Of course she knows that,” Lynx sighed. “But it still actually makes a bit of sense.”

  “Plus, it’s not like we have trouble flying. And we can still use those doors, right?” Quinn smiled and began pulling up information on the island area of the rabid tree they’d killed.

  “I can come with you.” Lynx said softly. “Power levels are approaching optimal. It might do me good to analyze the area you got the book from, anyway. But I need you to tell me why you thought of it?”

  Quinn was only too eager to do that. “So, these are Hal’s important books, right? The ones he entrusted to us and we lost spectacularly?”

  “Accurate,” Lynx said, his brow furrowed, as if he was trying to figure out where she was heading with this line of information.

  “Well Seveshall Lineage of Mind Healing and How to Break It, The Ashelan Mind Capitulation Device, and Chmlienko’s Guide to Dimensional Complacency are all ones I believe Milaro mentioned. Or at least the first two, while the other one seems to fall into the same vein as Hal’s books.” She paused, trying to make sure she’d get her point across. “And two of them are particularly overly specifically to do with mind healing or just the mind.”

  Malakai and Lynx simply watched her, waiting expectantly.

  “You know... the memories.” She waited.

  “You think they used techniques in those books to alter the memories of the Library and me?” Lynx asks incredulously.

  “Well, we don’t know when the books went missing, do we?” Quinn shrugged. “Our best-case scenario for the Seveshall and the Capitulation Device is sometime after Milaro wrote the damned things.”

  “I hate to burst your bubble, but Korradine was around by then.” Lynx said gently.

  “True, but had she already begun to alter the memories?”

  Lynx paused. “I couldn’t say.”

  It was all the concession Quinn needed. “Well, I’m headed to see if there are remnants of magical signature still left with the murder tree. Does anyone want to come?”

  Mal stood up. “Of course I do. Although I’m concerned that you’ve started naming everything with murder...”

  Quinn laughed. “I promise, it’s just apt right now.”

  “I’ll come too. Might want to bring Eric...”

  But Quinn interjected. “Geneva. She’s more suited to go against Esposians and was with us last time.”

  “Geneva it is then.” Mal said. “I’ll go let her know. I supposed you want to leave as soon as possible.”

  “Of course. I’m going to go get food from Cook.”

  “Do we need acclimatization?” Malakai asked, raising an eyebrow.

  “Nope. I’m just hungry.” Quinn flashed him a grin. She refused to wonder if it was wise to eat before going to visit the Hostile Copse.

  Patreon has 16 advanced chapters.