When I woke up, the shades were already open letting in the light. Beside me sat the coolest looking wheelchair I had ever seen. It had the same basic idea as mine back home but was much more aesthetically pleasing. "Paia won't be happy that I have been sitting here all morning, but I just had to see your reaction." Eutu had a way of sneaking up on me. "I have a secret. You have to promise this is just between you and me. Not even Paia can know until the time is right. That chair is no ordinary rolling seat. One of my sons works for the maintenance team for the Eioikn. He lent me a degravitator so this chair will work on the tracks too. Nobody can know because not only could that get me in trouble for borrowing the degravitator, Napah would be none too happy to know that there is a vehicle on the tracks that he can not disable. Only use this on the tracks if you are in great need."
I nodded my head in agreement. This could come in handy. "Thank you very much. I am very grateful. I would really like to repay you sometime. I'm kind of the low man on the totem pole now, but someday, please let me know what I can do for you. Anything you can think of, I will do my best." He chuckled and left to go back to work with a bob of his head.
I spent the day rolling around the Bibyio in my new ride. I sifted through a lot of books, read a few, skimmed most. About midday I came upon a small inconspicuous door on the side of a bookshelf in the middle of the Bibyio. I wouldn't have noticed it except that I coincidentally dropped a book in front of it and as I leaned over to pick it up my head hit the shelf making a very hollow noise. Curious I inspected it further and discovered the almost invisible line of a door.
That is where I am now sitting trying to figure out how to open up the door. I had tried everything but it wouldn't budge. Defeated I let my head fall against the door. Silently, the door swung open. It was just wide enough for my chair to fit through. I felt a string above my head and pulled on it assuming it was a light. With a click one light bulb came on in front of me, and then a second, and a third, and a fourth, and they continued until a dusty, narrow room was lit up. As each light came on more of the hallway/room was revealed. These books hadn't been touched in ages, and they looked to be ages old. Picking up the first one I saw, I started to read. I was instantly astonished. I know I shouldn't be shocked, as I was in some crazy world or alternate universe, but m jaw still dropped. Flipping through more of the pages I came to more and more maps, charts, and information of thousands of other universes, planets, and life beings. There was so much information in here. It documented how Koohoc has functioned since a universal language came into play. There was no documentation for the last ten years or so, but I figured things couldn't have changed too much since then. According to the records, the upkeep of Koohoc is completely dependent on the citizens. They do all the work and keep the place running. I found it interesting that as of yet I have come across no large disagreements or wars. Perhaps this is because the only weapons they have developed are some extremely poisonous arrows. There were no guns or bombs, but the arrows still meant an almost instant death. Koohoc is overall a very peaceful place from what I gathered.
Over the next few days I continued to read in the secret room when I thought no one would miss me and talk to Puyak whenever one had spare time. I casually gathered information and became more and more suspicious of the King. The Puyak had no idea that other places existed. My weird color befuddled them all. They thought I was some sort of mutant, but didn't treat me with any less respect, I was just different. From previous events I also gathered that none of the typical citizens knew there were any other life forms out there. I just had this weird feeling the King was up to something.
Paia dropped by frequently also. She was almost always in the Bibyio directing the Puyak's work, but lately has been stopping by my corner quite a bit too. I didn't dare ask her anything with the fear that she would start catching on. We kept ourselves plenty busy talking though. I learned so much about her and became increasingly fond of her; so much that I felt a twang of hurt whenever she mentioned her engagement to the King. Her wedding was coming closer, a week away in fact, and I became all the more gloomy.
I needed something to distract myself, so I developed a mission. I was going to spy on the King and figure out what he was up to. This meant I had to sneak out of the Bibyio. People must not notice when I am gone anyway as they never said anything when I disappeared off into the secret room.
I craned my head around the corner to see if the coast was clear before silently wheeling my chair down the deserted corridor. I had been sneaking about for the past two weeks and had found out nothing. I had a few close run-ins with the King and Napah but I think I got away before they saw me each time. I heard voices coming from the corridor and quickly backed into a doorway nearby. I recognized the voices as they got closer. It was Napah and Iox. How lucky! I held my breath as they stopped just in front of the door and continued their conversation.
