The Library of Powers

Chapter 16 - part 6

Okay, it wasn't actually empty.

It was, however, barer then Jackson had hoped. Inside was an office of muted browns. There was a desk, two chairs on one side and a singular seat on the other. There was a painting of a meadow. There was an ancient computer. One window looked to the West. That was it. No mysterious prophet, no book of secrets, no container containing all the answers Jackson could have ever wanted.

So, essentially, the room was empty.

They filtered into the room. Jackson went behind the desk and started opening drawers. The top two were empty, but the bottom drawer opened like a file cabinet and still held a few manila folders. He dropped them on top of the desk, and looked to Melanie. She started to filter through the files. Jackson then turned his attention to the computer. It had a large CRT monitor, once eggshell white but now yellowed at the edges. He flipped it on, but nothing happened. Checking under the desk, it was plugged into an outlet.

"The power must have been turned off," he mused, "Chase, did you see a breaker on the far side of the building?"

Chase thought about it, "No, but I can find it. But I don't know how to use... One of those silver electricity contraptions. Sam, could you help me out?"

She nodded, and they walked out. Once they were out of earshot, Chase brought Sam in close. "That's the room where our assignment was," he revealed. "A tag on the box said 'to the new librarian'. Why are they here? Is this box for them? Jackson seems invested. Is it for him?"

"He was a little disappointed when he saw the room," Sam noted, "But even if it's for him, we can't give it to him. We have a job, and I don't want to know what they'll do if we don't follow it."

"And I don't want to know what they'll do to Jackson if they learn he has it," Chase gulped.

Chase lead Sam to the one side of the building he hadn't seen yet. To his satisfaction, the circuit breaker was on this side. Opening the electrical panel, Sam took a long look at the line of unlabeled switches. "Ah, what could go wrong," She said, and then flipped them all.

Back in the office, the computer sputtered to life. He thanked the incredible luck that the city had just turned off the breakers rather than fully disconnecting power to the building.

He was greeted with a windows 95 login screen. There was one account, simply labeled "Librarian". He clicked on it, but it required a password. He gave it a few half-hearted tries, with answers like "password", "bernardharbour, "maryfletcher, and even "LibrariansRTheBest". No dice.

"Is there any way to break into an old computer?" Jackson asked to no one in particular.

As if on cue, Samantha walked back into the room. "Dozens. What is it running?"

"Windows 95."

"Easy peasy. I can get you an iso on a flash drive in about a week, should work like a charm."

Ivory's eyes widened. "Are you a hacker?" She asked. To an outside observer, it might have seemed half-mocking. But Jackson knew the truth. It was full-mocking.

Sam waved it away. "Pffft, if only. That's such an old computer it'll be no issue. I'll just download a tool from the internet, and write out instructions on what to do. The real question is, are you gonna leave it here?"

Jackson felt the cardboard box inside his pocket. He expanded it, unplugged the computer, placed the computer into the large box, and then shrank the box. It was heavy, but manageable. Back into his pocket it went.

"Whoa, that's, uh, neat," Chase said.

"I think I found something," Melanie told them. She reached into a folder and pulled out a fabric patch. It had a white star, with purple squiggly lines emanating from each side. Underneath it read, "The Calypsos".

"So she was a fan? That's awfully convenient," Jackson commented.

"No," Ivory corrected, "She wasn't a fan." Ivory shifted her jacket to show a large patch on the right shoulder. It had a white star, with purple squiggly lines emanating from each side.

"She was a member."