Kristeen couldn't work through the whole day. By early afternoon, her head was throbbing from reading. According to the console, the weather outside was beautiful and calm; no storm was expected in the coming hours or even days. The archiving robots in the library worked with incredible precision and efficiency, even without her supervision.

  Before starting her daily check-in, she quickly scanned the comments on her previous posts. Many envied her being there, some considered her very brave for venturing into the Zone, others asked for book recommendations, and a few invited her for a casual evening once her work here was finished. For a moment, she considered replying to everyone individually, but she wasn't in the mood. She wrote a general response, listing some of her favourite books and thanking them for the invitations, but explaining that she wanted to focus on her current work, and would revisit the topic once it was done.

  Her daily entry and check-in were much more difficult, as she couldn't talk about what she truly wanted to report. Instead, she described the scent of the books, the types of paper, and how tangible a part of the past had become. She wasn't satisfied, as she wasn't used to secrecy. But it turned out quite well, considering.

  "To hell with this messed-up, brutal life!" she muttered to herself after turning off the console. "I come here to have a good time, and meanwhile, the world crumbles. I couldn't care less what's behind the scenes." She sent a short message to Daan about what she had found and if he would allow her to report on it. But it seemed Daan hadn't even read it. Unable to wait for a reply, she decided to take a walk in the empty city.

  She set off at random, walking down the middle of the road between the crumbling houses. There was something majestic in this destruction. She didn't understand why the book forgery had shaken her so deeply. "Lying pigs!" she repeated to the rhythm of her steps. Then she tried to calm herself. "After all, why does it concern me? I'm a teacher. I deal with the here and now. With people, their reactions, their desires. And there can be no lies in that. The scenery drawn around us will collapse anyway. Just like this city here." This calmed her somewhat.

  Suddenly, she reached the demolition area. The flock of demolition robots performed their work with astonishing efficiency. She slowed her steps as she approached the robots, but even so, she realized she had crossed a line she shouldn't have. Some of the robots froze and took up an attacking stance. A huge, furry body also stirred in one of the shaded areas. Kristeen froze. Robots could interpret any stranger as an attack. "I'm not wearing my transponder suit, they don't know who I am. I hope they perceive that I pose no threat. If they charge, they'll tear me apart in an instant." After some waiting, the large furry, dog-like robot settled back into the shade, and the workers returned to their tasks, leaving only a sentinel behind.

  They must have perceived the danger as small, or the shepherd intervened from somewhere. Just like the flock, Kristeen also calmed down. She watched the swarms of robots working silently as they were dismantling a larger house. They were so coordinated, as if they knew what they were doing. Yet, they were only controlled by simple codes. The secret was in the coordination. Everyone in their proper place: the compactors, the carriers, the selectors, the guardians, and the controllers. The operational network connected these tiny beings. The smallest was the size of a child's fist, but even the largest didn't reach her knee. Their muscles and exoskeleton were modelled after arthropods, yet the greatest technical feat lay in their control and nourishment. Their nervous system was built around an integrated chip. They had no consciousness of their own. Their digestive tract was optimized for the sugar produced by the mother trees.

  Kristeen slowly began to discover patterns in the destruction. The dance, the rhythm in their bursts of activity, their rest, their sunbathing, their visits to the mother tree. The demolition of the city proceeded with incredible precision. Its purpose was not merely to give back to nature what was hers. The world suffered from such a shortage of raw materials that the old, wasteful cities served as mines for humanity. From the resulting wasteland, they created a varied landscape. Further away, planting robots were already at work. They ground organic parts of the building material into pulp, soaked it with nutrients, and then planted the sprouts of the initial vegetation. The first vegetation was not yet the final one. First came the pioneer plants, then with the thickening of the topsoil, more and more others. Every reclaimed area was tended for years to facilitate the return of the appropriate flora and fauna, especially caring for the young plants so that the forest's wild animals would not damage them prematurely.

  Restlessness swept over Kristeen again. "Ants, just like Brin said. Ants everywhere! Am I one too? I do my job because they made me believe teaching is good? And reading? But they falsify everything that could be dangerous to them? Can you be honest in a dishonest system? Am I just a useful idiot? Could I have no other purpose, just like them? What things are they hiding? Why? What would be the right thing to do? What should I do? How did I even get here?" Her heart pounded again, and she was seized by a tremor.

  "Aaaargh!" she shouted in anger. The robot flock froze, the guardians sat up. Everything, absolutely everything, became so confused all of a sudden. She spun on her heel and started to run. Brin was waiting in front of the hotel.

  "I was worried about you! Is everything alright?" Brin asked.

  "Nothing, absolutely nothing is alright! I'm here in this goddamn Zone, reading non-existent books, and it turns out everything I've lived in so far is just a damn illusion. Plus, my ex is starting his second family right now, and my daughter doesn't give a damn about me."

  "Oh!" Brin lowered his head.

  Kristeen caught her breath. She barely recognized herself. She was lost, and nothing felt certain. "If only my friends were here now, or someone..." she thought. Together, they had solved many things. Brin shifted his weight from one foot to the other.

  "An early dinner?" he suggested hesitantly. Kristeen tiredly agreed.

  Brin quickly set the table for the two of them. It was good to look at the table, although there were a couple of unfamiliar dishes that Brin had obtained from the shepherds. Kristeen preferred her own familiar tastes. The soy sauce, or whatever they used instead, with its dark flavour, always had a calming effect on her. She took another dried algae wafer and began to munch on it. The familiar, deep flavours enveloped and soothed her. It was slowly getting dark outside; the city through the glass lost its depth, becoming like an illustration in a book.

  "Sorry I unloaded on you. It's not your fault," Kristeen looked at the man.

  "Well, I'm a little bit in it too. I really didn't mean to confuse you!"

  "I know. I'll ask the Knowledge Network what the truth is, and then there will be peace again," Kristeen smiled bitterly.

  "How about we relax tomorrow? We'll go and find that book you borrowed." Kristeen didn't understand for a while, but then it clicked.

  "You mean that book is still there?"

  "Well, the Great Famine, as a descriptor, doesn't quite capture the chaos that was going on then. Believe me, people weren't concerned with library books. So, it's likely."

  Kristeen didn't have to think much. She had no desire to go back to the library.

  "Alright! The weather is so beautiful anyway. Do you know where we need to go?"

  "It's not far. About 80 kilometres. The road is still in pretty good condition, according to the photos. A carrier can get there quite quickly. But..."

  Brin trailed off.

  "But what?"

  "There's some danger involved. It's probably no coincidence that this book doesn't exist digitally. Are you up for it?"

  Kristeen swallowed hard. She no longer took what Brin said lightly.

  "I'm up for it. At least we'll see things more clearly."

  "Alright. Then dress very comfortably, especially pay attention to your shoes, so walking a lot isn't a problem, bring a raincoat, warm clothes, and don't bring Judy."

  Kristeen nodded, though it bothered her. She felt a little uncertain without Judy. After all, they would be leaving the network, and she wouldn't be able to use her anyway.

  "Imagine this," Brin began another story, "I found one of the foundations of sci-fi literature. I read it a very, very long time ago. Asimov's Foundation Trilogy. Have you read it?"

  "Something rings a bell... There are two foundations that help rebuild the universe's civilization."

  "Bingo! You're good! Imagine, the protagonist's family in the third volume is named just like you!"

  "Darell?"

  "Yes! They are the ones investigating the second Foundation. The Foundation is the one secretly guiding the world."

  "Well, here we are," Kristeen grimaced.

  "See, I told you it's worth reading sci-fi."

  "But in the end... In the end, there's no change. Do I remember correctly? It's as if they use some mind trick to make you believe the first Foundation won, but they actually didn't."

  "Exactly. In the end, everything stays as it was."

  "Do you think Asimov believed there needed to be an invisible hand to set things right?"

  "It seems so. Somehow, we believe we can't do it alone. That we need someone or something to help us stay on course. A few gods, a foundation, or the Knowledge Network and the Truth Stamp. The world will be simpler if we hand over ultimate control to someone else," Brin paused. "But we can't do that! We have to hold the reins, set the direction, and get where we want to go."

  "Do you think the direction is wrong now? Do you think the goal isn't to conquer the universe, to escape the planet? And to create a society where everyone feels good, and the environment isn't destroyed?"

  "But these goals are good. All of them. Really. Perhaps even too perfect. But isn't it strange that no one thinks otherwise? Everything is subservient to the grand goal. But the species will degenerate this way. Complex systems are the ones that are not vulnerable. At the altar of cooperation, we sacrificed competition, and the Knowledge Network, the Truth Stamp, simplifies everything. Because of it, everyone has to think the same way."

  "We're on topic!" Kristeen grimaced. "Besides, society is complex. It hasn't simplified at all. My daughter, for example, isn't interested in science, society, or truth at all, only in hanging out with her boyfriend. Society doesn't punish idleness; it allows it, even supports it. It's already a merit if you are able to do something! I'm a teacher, you research blueprints, there are private companies that produce premium products. I could go on all evening."

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  "You're right. I'm saying it's a good prison, just one or two things aren't good about it. This uniform truth, or the appearance of it. But I'll stop," and he did. Brin controlled himself annoyingly well. He didn't want to offend anyone, or he truly believed it was pointless since he couldn't prove his point anyway. It was impossible to tell. The chair creaked beneath him. "Perhaps some winding-down sex? Maybe I could massage you first to help you relax..."

  Kristeen looked at Brin. At this large, slightly soft, black man. "Actually..." she thought.

  "No, thank you. I want to be alone..." she ended the thought, not understanding why.

  "Then perhaps tomorrow!" Brin rubbed his thigh hopefully.

  The next morning, Kristeen woke up tired. She tried to put on the most comfortable clothes she had brought. She didn't have hiking gear, and she would have had to wait at least a day for delivery here. Whereas at home, the autonomous robot army in the delivery channels would deliver everything in half an hour. "Never mind, it'll probably be more of a city tour than a real hike anyway." Judy said there would be no wind, rain, or snow, but just to be safe, she packed a warmer pair of socks.

  "Where are you going?" Judy asked.

  "I don't even know," Kristeen was startled because she had forgotten to ask. "Brin said he wants to show me something. But I don't know where." Then something occurred to her. "Brin's data sheet says he's unreliable. Why?"

  "There's no data from his military service, that's natural. The system listed him here because of his early discharge."

  "I see. He seems so normal to me. But I understand. I'll be back by evening at the latest," Kristeen said goodbye to her assistant.

  Brin was waiting in front of the carrier, in military boots and his worn military uniform, with a hideous red scarf around his neck. Kristeen was surprised when she saw him.

  "Are we going to some costume party where you're only allowed in with a scarf? Should I have brought one too?" Brin didn't understand at first, then he realized.

  "You mean this?" he poked the scarf. "This is a towel. There's a legend that when you travel, all you need is a towel. But of course, I brought a lot of other things too. I just already packed them," he opened the carrier's luggage compartment and put Kristeen's bag next to his own. "Then let's go, it looks like we'll have great weather."

  Kristeen took out a book for the journey. She still smoothed it with enjoyment.

  "Where are we going?"

  "St. Ghislain. If I checked correctly, it's barely 80 kilometres. There's an old data centre there too. While we're in the area, I'll show you that too. I'm curious if it's still operating. Currently, there's no robot or human presence. Also, the reclamation will only reach there in three years. Theoretically, the city is empty."

  They got in. The carrier started with them.

  "If you knew a person had a map to a treasure you wanted to get, what would you do?" Brin asked.

  "Can I do anything?"

  "Yes."

  "Am I stronger than them?"

  "If you surprise them, yes."

  "Well, I'd take the map from them and then get the treasure, I guess that's the simplest."

  "I'd wait until they get the treasure, and only then attack. Well, we'll see if your book is a real treasure." Kristeen shivered. She hoped they wouldn't find it.

  "If books are so important, why didn't the Church acquire them?"

  "Good question! Daan told them they would get the digitized version. He just needed the physical book. I think that was the deal."

  "But that's what caused the trouble..."

  "No trouble yet. We're just tiny specks of dust; they can crush us anytime."

  "You reassured me!"

  "Sorry! It wasn't intentional. So, I think the Church got complacent. They simply don't believe anything bad can happen to them. Even if something happens to us, there won't be any news about it. That's it. What's not news, that doesn't exist. Your book also became popular that way. Suddenly, it became news. Of course, it was probably very good, but the algorithm boosted it.

  "I know, it was almost exactly like the previous ones. Well, not quite, but it wasn't that much better.

  "Maybe they just needed some peaceful news, and that's why they highlighted it above others. To distract from something... like the loss of the Entanglement."

  "The way you support me..." Kristeen grumbled.

  They didn't set off in the direction Kristeen had arrived from. The city streets here were narrow and opaque, surrounded by tall buildings. Kristeen involuntarily drew herself in.

  "This city is strange. Everything is so cramped. It seems uncomfortable."

  "Perhaps we'll end up the same way with our current cities. If the population is too large, we make bad decisions. Plus, back then, they still believed that it was best to entrust all development to the balance of supply and demand. It led to pretty terrible situations."

  "Well, looking at this city... It must have been horrible to live here. In many ways, we're lucky with our cities today."

  "There are advantages to starting over, but we shouldn't throw everything away just because it's old."

  The city slowly fell behind them. Next to the road, a tall white obelisk stretched above the trees. On its sides, a circular arrow pointing back into itself and two vertical lines were carved. Here and there, black paint still clung to the carving.

  "I saw this symbol on a book too," Kristeen said, "it was a comic book."

  "It's a wonder you only saw it in one place. This is the symbol of the re-Charge movement. They prepared for human civilization to collapse due to climate change and migration. So, they created a book that, in pictorial, iconic form, provides technological guidance to survivors and re-starters. If you look carefully, you can find in it how to navigate using the stars, what the most important theorems of mathematics are, but also how to wash your hands, or boil water before drinking it, or that men and women are equal. It was a clever initiative, but ultimately, technical civilization did not collapse. During the Great Migration, indeed half of humanity died, but the technologies were looked after better than the people starving."

  "But why are there pillars?"

  "They are signs. They expected humanity to live in small hordes and wander. So, they carved the movement's symbol everywhere, so that if the book was found, they would know it was important. To respect it, to seek it. At the bottom of the pillars, there's usually a small map of the surroundings, showing where the next obelisk or the next book is. This instils trust in the reader, and it's important that they accept what's in the books. They described the world accurately and would have helped with the restart."

  "Practical. I'm glad we didn't have to start over that much."

  “I don't know. Maybe it would have been better, but it's truly practical. So many civilizations disappeared without us knowing anything about their technology, because they didn't think it was necessary to pass it on. How were the pyramids built, Stonehenge, how did the Mayans build their cities? We don't know, because they didn't write it down. Well, here everything is drawn, or at least a lot of things.”

  Kristeen stared silently at the passing landscape for a while.

  “Don't you want to ask something about the education of teenagers?”

  “Why would I?” Brin became flustered.

  “Then I could tell you interesting things like that too. It's not so easy to hold a 14-year-old's attention!”

  “I believe that! When I was 14, my teacher didn't have an easy time with me. I always paid attention to something other than what he wanted,” Brin recalled, but he didn't ask back. Kristeen and Brin both took out their books and immersed themselves.

  The two hours passed quickly. The road here already led through old forests and quite wild countryside. When they got out of the carrier in St. Ghislain, on the former Rue Simonon Street, silence, peace, and birdsong greeted them. The many red-brick houses were a real peculiarity for Kristeen. She had never seen anything like it, the street completely mesmerized her. Although trees grew out of some houses, everything was surprisingly intact. As if the residents had only left yesterday.

  “It is so slow as how nature breaks down and reclaims the cities. Even this one. Yet, if I see correctly, this city was much greener and more liveable than where we came from. It must have been a peaceful place. It's hard to understand why such large cities collapse and empty.”

  “It couldn't have been easy to leave, but if the supply collapses, you have to act,” Brin mumbled. “But let's focus on our task now. We'll go in here now and try to find it. But when we come out, we'll be very sad, no matter what happens. Alright?”

  “Alright,” Kristeen accepted. “Let's go!”

  They pushed open the door of the house. Inside, it was as if time had stopped. Kristeen sniffed the air. “I'm in a time capsule. Now I've travelled back in time about 150 years. At least. My apologies in advance to everyone who lived here.”

  “See, here's this book too,” Brin pointed to a white book on the shelf, on the front of which the inward-turning arrow, with the two vertical lines in its centre, was emblazoned.

  “Hold it! Feel it? They printed it on this strange material so it wouldn't burn, so it wouldn't be used for fuel. This is an old material. Back then, they called it plastic.”

  Kristeen leafed through the book, Brin poked at a picture.

  “See, here's the transportation section, determining north with the help of the stars, then hygiene, mathematics, botany, genetics. An enormous number of things were drawn to facilitate a fresh start.”

  “Until now, I thought this was just a comic book…”

  “Well, it's really not that!”

  “Alright, let's look around for what we came for.”

  “Surely in the bedroom. I'll go upstairs.”

  Kristeen became excited as she went up the creaking wooden stairs. She felt a bit like a stealthy thief. Of course, she knew she wasn't stealing from anyone. Those who lived here had long since died, likely none of their relatives were alive either. But if Brin was right, and she found what they were looking for here, then she would have something that perhaps existed nowhere else.

  She opened the door to one of the bedrooms. She quickly searched it, but there was no sign of a book. Another bedroom. Not there either. Well, so much for treasure hunting. Brin appeared at the top of the stairs.

  “Well?”

  “Nothing,” Kristeen said disappointedly.

  “If you don't mind, I'll take a look too.”

  Brin entered the room and routinely rummaged through everything with experienced search movements. Quickly, efficiently. He looked under the bed, on top of the wardrobe, flipped over the mattress. A nasty mess remained behind him. Kristeen's stomach tightened.

  “Really nowhere. Have you checked the toilet yet?”

  “Who reads on the toilet?”

  Brin waved instead of answering, then opened one of the doors. A few seconds later, he triumphantly came out, a book wrapped in newspaper in his hand.

  “Oh! Show me!” Kristeen exclaimed, snatching it from his hand.

  She opened it, and on the first page, the book's title shone: "How to Use Unknown Things?" They really found it. She leafed through it. There was nothing special about it. It looked exactly like the others. Many letters, some drawings, some formulas. It was incomprehensible why it was important.

  “I think it’ll be better if I carry the book,” Brin said, and after some waiting, he took it from Kristeen's hand and tucked it into his clothes, next to his console. Kristeen started to go downstairs, but Brin called after her.

  “Wait a moment! If someone is watching us, they need to believe that we had to completely turn the house upside down. If we finish too quickly, it's clearly a sign of success.”

  Kristeen reluctantly stopped.

  “It must be awful to be paranoid. Who would be watching? Why?”

  “It is awful, but at least I'm still alive,” Brin shrugged. “Just a few extra minutes, and remember, when we go out, don't be too enthusiastic!”

  “Yeah, right. Okay…”

  Kristeen composed herself and tried to go downstairs very dejectedly already. She was never a good actress. But she felt she was playing the part quite well. She thought of her daughter, and involuntarily flinched.

  Suddenly, led by a thought, she took the re-Charge from the shelf and tucked it under her arm.

  “It'll be good for an alibi.”

  When they stepped out of the house, Brin also hung his head.

  “At least we have a copy of this one!” Kristeen tried to conspicuously comfort him, waving the plastic book. Brin shook his head in disappointment.

  “Never mind. I suspected it would be like this. If we're already here, let's go and look at that old data centre, maybe there's something there at least.”

  They got into the carrier, which soon stopped in front of a fence. Behind it, a low, metal-covered massive complex was hidden, with the church's red logo on it. The area was conspicuously tidy.

  “I wouldn't have thought it was still operating. But it certainly is. It's too tidy here.”

  Their looking around was interrupted by the approach of a church operator. His clothes were so bleached by the sun that the church's red had become only a faded pink.

  “Hi! Can I help you with something? Do you want to come in?”

  “No thanks! We just came here for a trip. You know, since we're working in the zone, we're looking at this and that. I thought it wasn't working anymore…”

  “Yes, it is. It's kind of a background storage. Of course, the biggest storages and most of the machines are orbiting up there,” he pointed towards the sky. “Cooling is cheaper there. Here, there's just a bigger relay, and some backups.”

  “A real industrial legacy,” Brin enthused. “Can I take photos?”

  “Of course,” the operator leaned on the fence. “But there's not much to see, the servers are inside the building. Even I can't go in there, only the maintenance robots. I also only see everything through cameras.”

  Meanwhile, Brin rummaged out a micro-drone and tossed it into the air. The drone circled for a while, then flew back to Brin.

  “You know, it's kind of a hobby. When I get back to the city, I show what I've seen,” Brin explained awkwardly.

  “I understand. If I didn't work here, I'd find it exciting too. Living in a metal cube. Quite bizarre. Do you work for geomechanics?”

  “No, not at all! We just came over from next door. We're saving what can be saved in Brussels.” Brin accidentally looked at his console. Kristeen's attention didn't miss that he became gloomy for a moment. “I see the Knowledge Network is also available here. There was no network elsewhere in the city. I felt like I was left on an island.”

  “Yes! The reception is pretty good here. In this way, everything is more bearable. At least I can virtually go to matches and concerts. Half a year here, half a year at home. It's not easy.”

  The guard's console beeped.

  “I'm going! I'm a prisoner of the system. I can't be away too long. Have a good trip!”

  “Goodbye, keep it up!” they said goodbye to him, and got into the carrier.

  “Let's go back!” Brin ordered the carrier, and leaned back. Kristeen felt how tense Brin had become. She looked at this huge, friendly man, and didn't understand what he was so afraid of. They left the city when Brin spoke again.

  “We shouldn't have gone there! I should have known the Knowledge Network would be available there. They surely queried the carrier.”

  “But the carrier knows nothing. Anyway, it's on the operational network, at most it can transmit coordinates!” Kristeen argued with him.

  “Just let's get home!” Brin sighed. He checked his console to see if they were out from under the network. When he saw it was unavailable, he spread the towel over his lap, took out the book, and started photographing it with his console.