How to Find your Way in the Incomplete Archives

Seventeen

'And?'

The record-keeper handed the list over to the Librarian. One story was marked with a highlighted text, 'But with your criteria, I found the perfect match. Ticks all the boxes. The personality, the hatred for the Boglanders, even the game boss attitude. How'd you guess that the fake Holy Maiden was part mimic?'

'It was from when she disappeared the first time,'

'You mean at the Archives? But that was because she entered her b...' realisation dawned on the Archivist.

'She did not lose her memories when she entered her own book. She was also able to come back out on her own. That would be impossible to pull off consistently unless she was disguising herself instead of returning to the story,'

'So her trick gave her away,' the Archivist nodded, 'As for that list, I have raised ban requests on all of them for good measure.'

'I'll approve them after I check,' the Librarian sat down to read through the pile of requests, 'By the way, what is the status on that patch request you made to the Creators for our Maintenance Mode bug?'

'Oh, yes,' the Archivist seemed uncertain, 'They haven't responded to that yet. Maybe it'll take a few more days? I don't know, maybe they're busy?'

'I see. I assumed they'd have a patch ready for something this disruptive as soon as they could. How long has it been since we sent out that request to the Creators again? Ten days?'

'I mean, I guess? You did tell me to do it the day you started to investigate the misplaced books,' the ponytail moved with each shake of their head, 'But it is taking way too long. I'll follow up on it,'

'No need,' the Librarian continued to work, 'I checked the records already. There were no requests sent to the Creators that day or any day after that,'

'What?' their subordinate jumped to the work desk and pulled out the request logs, 'But I was sure I sent it. Did I mess up something? Don't worry about it Boss, I'll send one out today, without fail.'

'And how do you intend to do that?'

'What do you mean 'how'?' their subordinate was confused, 'The way we usually do,'

The Librarian turned to look at their 'subordinate', 'Usually it is only those with System access permissions that can create requests to the higher authorities. In the case of the Library, only I, the Librarian can do that,'

The Archivist did not miss a beat, 'Oh! Maybe that's how it failed. I'm sure I created it but I guess it wouldn't allow me to send one without your approval, like with the bans. Guess I forgot after that,'

'No, there's a simpler explanation,' the Librarian sounded cold, 'A loud personality with tendencies to disregard procedure. Spends all day online interacting with the real world even while most of the Library functions are shut down under Maintenance Mode. I always thought record segregation was an autonomous function of the Library,'

'Hey, I'm not doing that bad a job,'

'You're not. You're not doing a job at all. Why would the Creators add someone like that to the Library project?'

'Sheesh. Is this your roundabout way of calling me lazy? Is that it?'

'No, that's not what I'm getting at,' the hooded bookkeeper remained calm, 'The reason the System wouldn't allow you to access deeper functionalities is because you are not part of the System. There never was an 'Archivist' to begin with, was there?'

The record-keeper froze as if in shock but the moment quickly passed.

The masked entity burst into a mirthful laughter, 'Oh ho! You finally figured it out? When did you remember all that? Let me guess. Must have been after the lizard incident. A revive usually cleans out abnormal status conditions without affecting saved progress,'

'Who are you?'

'Me? No, no, no. If I tell you that, where's the fun?' they sat down on the table, 'That's something you get to discover on your own. Besides, I'm sure get to experience the thrill of discovery after we re-apply the Memory Debuff,'

'What are you talking about? What is your pur...'

'Cognitive Resonance, Modify,' they snapped their fingers.

The incomplete phrase seemed to hang in the air for a while before it faded.

The Librarian took a deep breath, 'Sorry, what were we talking about?'

The intruder resumed their role, 'All these requests need your approval,'

'What? What are you talking about?' the Librarian leant forward on their hands, 'My head hurts,'

'You've been getting headaches a lot recently. Maybe you should come back after a break. I'll arrange the ban documents for you till then,'

'Thanks?' the doubtful sentiment was brushed off with ease.

'See you later, Boss, have a good rest,' the 'Archivist' waved as the Librarian left the room. They voiced the next words, "I look forward to our next game,"