Not Dead Yet

You would think that such a mind-blowing revelation would change a person.

You would be wrong.

Alana woke in a cold sweat in the same decrepit apartment she had fallen asleep in. It changed nothing. She refused to let it change anything. A shaky hand brushed away the dark locks plastered to her forehead. She had answers but they would not affect her situation in life. It was, however, depressing to know she had a sad mockery of immortality to look forward to at the end of the line and a darker still companion awaiting her return. She drew herself up and shoved the clammy blankets from her form. There would be no more sleep for her this night.

1983 November

The once-forgotten sense of wrongness had returned tenfold and with it, the increased irritation of her peers. Alana drew the violin bow over its strings smoothly to end her rendition of F. Kreisler's Praeludium et Allegro. A smattering of polite applause was heard and the jingle of a handful of coins hitting one another before the crowd dispersed. She split the money swiftly into thirds and handed a portion to the homeless man who had claimed her current busking spot a few years back. It was the equivalent of paying the landlord and had quickly become a routine for her. The man scowled at her and shooed the girl along as soon as he had his money. She would be back in a few days of course.

Alana picked her way through the crowds with quiet agility and a violin case in hand. She had enough to cover the month's bill if her mother pulled through with her job at the grocery store. The chances were rather slim, but a girl could hope. Her sharp eyes searched the streets before she ducked through a short alleyway. These areas were as familiar to her as the stale apartment back home. A prickling on the back of her neck and she ducked out of the street. It was not the first time she had been watched after playing with such intensity. Unfortunately, the perpetrator was more slippery than an eel and just as difficult to catch. The girl spun and made her way home with haste.

Aunt Linda was out as usual at this time of the day and she quickly took the woman's rubbish outside to the bins before entering her own door. The smell of vomit and faeces assaulted her nostrils. The young girl flicked her gaze around the room with little reaction. It seemed her mother had forgotten to clean in the week she had stayed at Jake's house. Unsurprising but no less disappointing. Alana swept past the grime and decay with practised ease to enter her room and place her violin down. Her bed was a layer of library books and dust lit by the setting sun. A few unread novels lounged temptingly on a nearby chair. She was more than happy to indulge in her pastime even at the cost of trauma at the hands of a paperback. Settling down on the floor, she leaned back against the bed with a short sigh. Despite the apartments state, it was still home to her.

Her thoughts travelled to her wrist and the triskelion that lay dormant there. Her theories regarding its use had been proven correct. She had gained an eidetic memory, her very own mind palace. Even Sherlock would be envious of her newfound gift. Alana folded her legs on the musty carpet and fell into an easy meditative trance lulled by the pull of her mark. She had long since established that her mind was a strange place. Inside was a library much smaller than the sanctuary but no less mesmerising. Warm, thick carpets covered walnut wood floors with the same wood panelling those walls not dominated by large shelves of books. In the seating area, a large orrery rotated its planets suspended over a circular fountain where the worlds tree may have sat. Although the tree was absent, Alana knew its roots remained deep within the waters hiding those precious memories of her first life. All the shelves except one were filled with empty books waiting anxiously to be filled with knowledge. She had crafted the place by hand over the last month as the triskelion had continued to throb in its incomplete state. Each delicate touch had woven her soul into the place until she knew each detail and crevice as intimately as her own essence. Yet it still took her breath away to see it.

Chemistry, history, political science, philosophy, mathematics, French. Hell, she had even tossed a book on Yoga on the shelf. Organising the seemingly random assortment of knowledge was a work in progress, but she had eventually worked her way to some semblance of order. In all honesty, organising was more difficult than understanding the subject itself. This was mostly because the library recorded experiences more easily than thoughts and made no distinction the subjects of either. She really had to make the process more autonomous. She had fantasised the creation of a servant to do the job but had yet to learn how to accomplish such feats and doubted if it was even possible. For now, she was resigned to doing it in person.

1983 November

It was mid-November when Alana noticed a change in her mind. As with all story developments, the Saturday began perfectly normally with Alana's closed fist meeting Jake's face in a particularly vicious strike.

"When the hell did you get so strong!" Alana's closest and only friend wailed pathetically as his legs were swept out from underneath him. Said girl only smiled innocently at her fallen comrade and mentally patted herself on the back. Her library had proven itself an exploitable resource when it came to memorising and applying karate techniques. The practice relied heavily on muscle memory and experience after all and it was easy to distinguish the physical activity from her reading.

"It's nice to see you and 'la floor' getting along so well, Jake." Alana smiled as Jake bared his teeth menacingly from the padded mats. She sat reclined on top of him with a posture more satisfied than the cat that got the cream.

"Alright. I think that's enough for the day, Alana. My son looks like he's about to bite your head off, so we'll carry on tomorrow." Mr Matthews sent his son a pitying glance as he led Alana out to the front door. With her back turned, Jake mouthed 'Kill her' with puppy dog eyes to the older male. Alana shot the house one last wistful look after exiting before she headed to the library. She had started to get a headache with Jake's whining anyway.

The public library was marvellous, especially considering the state of most public facilities. Alana couldn't stop the grin forming at the sight of the large antique doors which had inspired the ones in her own mind space. She picked her way towards the physics section with unspoken familiarity and searched for anything interesting. She had always hated physics as Alexis and she still held the same disdain for the way it was taught. There was, however, one branch of it that she had always found captivating and that was atomic theory. This world was a fair bit behind in quantum mechanics, but the seeds of knowledge had already been planted by Einstein. She finally found a decent book and pulled it from the confines of the shelf: Statistical Physics and the Atomic Theory of Matter: From Boyle and Newton to Landau and Onsager. Jackpot! Alana fist-pumped the air in triumph and gripped the book in both hands tightly. It was at that glorious moment that her triskelion decided to flare up painfully forcing her to drop the book with a thud. Ding!

Notification: New Creation in Mindscape!

Species: Library System

Would you like to name your creation?

YES or NO

"Ahhhh?! I've been possessed!" Alana screamed before slamming a hand over her open mouth. Eyes wide she quickly abandoned the book and darted into the library toilets quietly praying no one saw her shout. 'How embarrassing,' she winced. You'd have thought nothing strange had ever occurred to her with that reaction. Her embarrassment was short-lived, however, as she soon focused on the next-level-strangeness of a blue notification window appearing in her immediate vision. She hoped it wasn't some physical manifestation of mental illness that had decided to invade her head. With that final heartfelt plea, she pressed the YES button and her body slumped against the wall.

Alana's mindscape greeted her, and she heaved a sigh of relief at the lack of extraterrestrial life. Ding!

Notification: New Creation in Mindscape!

Species: Library System

What would you like to name your creation?

Golden orbs flicked to the notification and paused there. No keyboard was in sight.

"Capricorn," She said curiously. Ding!

New Creation: Capricorn

Species: Library System

Level: 0

Created as a byproduct of mental growth and loneliness, Capricorn is a library system formed from the magic core of its creator. Capricorn is capable of filtering basic experiences and knowledge at its creator's discretion.

Alana's eyes widened a fraction before a glint of annoyance flashed across her eyes.

"Oi! Who are you calling lonely?!" She grumbled before reading the rest of the notification. Of particular interest was the mentioning of a certain MAGIC CORE. Her analysis was cut short by a soft whirring sound and she turned to come face to lens with a floating spherical droid.

"Hi?"

"..."

'Well, this is awkward.' Alana waved a hand in front of the thing and watched the lens shutter open and closed.

"..."

"So, do I have to program you or something?" She asked. No reply. 'Fantastic. It's mute and looks like a freaky AI.'

The silver machine floated its way to the bookshelf and emitted a soft red light which seemed to scan the shelf. She frowned unsurely before deciding to let it be. She had more pressing matters like Magic Cores to attend to. Based on what she had seen so far, her mind seemed to be changing because of this magic core or perhaps the other way around. She was not sure, but she did know those notification panels were eerily familiar. It was as if she had seen them somewhere before and not just in computer games either.

"Menu," she intoned. No response.

"Inventory." Maybe not. She turned her gaze to the droid.

"Observe." Aaannnddd… nothing. Well, that was disappointing. Ding!

Notification: Level up!

Library System: Capricorn is now level 1 and capable of quicker processing of 600 words per hour.

Alana blanched. Wasn't this just way too slow? The average reading speed was 200 words per minute. With a sigh, she tried several more orders before resigning herself to her fate. Ding!

Notification: Level up!

Library System: Capricorn is now level 2 and capable of quicker processing of 700 words per hour.

Alana gave the machine a disdainful look. 'Hopefully, this thing works even while I sleep, otherwise, this will take forever.'

Edited 24.10.2019