A Machine Called Earth

There they stood, at the top of the flight of stairs, which led down to the entrance of the Arccon Archives. The ‘ground’ floor of the archives, was in fact below the ground. Before them, were the huge letters making up the sign, ‘The Arccon Archives.’ All the letters were still intact and hanging in position, despite some being crooked. So they made their way down the flight of dust and debris covered stairs.

At the foot of the stairs, was the entrance. But it was boarded up, as if to stop any unwanted people entering. On one of the boards, which made up the barricade, was a sign which said, ‘No Freaks Please!’

Hector looked at Hope and said. “No freaks? I guess we’re ok to enter then.” A comment which showed his high spirits after meeting up with his friends Charlie and Valimir.

But the door was impenetrable, as it was well barricaded. This was a good sign though. Perhaps there are survivors within. As Hector scanned the boards and barricades, he noticed another small sign. Around a small fist sized hole, was the words, ‘If in need of assistance, please pull string.’ Hector figured that the string was inside the hole. So he reached his hand all the way in, until just past his elbow was inside the hole. And within was the string, which Hector pulled. As he pulled the string, a small ringing sound was heard, as if the string was attached to a small bell.

They waited, for a while, but nothing happened. So Hector rang it again. But, still, nothing happened. It wasn’t until Hector rang the bell for the third time, that something happened. A clamoring sound was heard above their heads, as if someone was shuffling within the ceiling above them.

“What’s that?” Said Jessy.

Suddenly, a panel was removed, and out popped the head of a man. He seemed to quickly scan them with his eyes (checking for abnormalities no doubt) then left. Moments later, a rope-made ladder was spun down.

“Up you get.” Came his voice.

Hector looked around at the seemingly empty and quiet town, and did just that, he climbed the ladder. He went up first, then Jessy, then Hope. It took a while for Hector’s eyes to adjust, as the building was very dark. The first thing he saw, was the dark figure of the short, pudgy man, pointing a pistol at him. Hector just let out an awkward smile as he stared at him. But that was only momentarily. For when Hope made her way up the ladder, he lowered his weapon.

“Alex? Is that you?” The man asked.

Hector turned to Hope, assuming this was a case of mistaken identity, but she responded, saying, “Milorad. Hello. Yes it’s me.”

Hector was thoroughly confused. He wanted to ask, ‘Who is Alex? Are you Alex? Do you know this man? Who is this man?’

But he was stopped at asking any questions, for Milorad went and grabbed Hope’s hand and said, “I’m so glad to see you again, and to see that you are safe.”

Hector looked at Hope blankly and asked, “Ahem... What’s going on?” She then turned to Hector and said, “Oh sorry, yeah, my name is actually Alexia. Hope is my middle name.” She then introduced Milorad, saying, “This is Milorad, he’s a friend of mine. He used to read stories to me when I was younger.”

“Why then did you tell me that your name was Hope?” Hector asked, slightly angry that she had lied to him about her name.

Hope responded, “I didn’t know if you were trustworthy or not. So I just told you my middle name instead.”

“Well, if that was a lie, then how can I know that I can trust you?” Hector asked.

“Look I’m sorry, I just didn’t know the right time to tell you. Please don’t make a big thing about this.”

“Hey don’t mind me, I’ll just be sleeping with one eye open tonight.” Hector said, still angry. To be honest, Hector was quiet annoyed at the situation, but he couldn’t help but smile as he said those words. For Hector only had one eye. It was not really a laughing matter, but he couldn’t help himself. However Hope missed the joke, for she stood confused at Hector’s laughter.

“What brings you here?” Milorad asked, trying to break the tension.

“Oh yes, we’re looking for a book.” Hector said, making a rectangle shape with his hands.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place, for this is the Arccon Archives.” Said Milorad, as he motioned his hand, presenting the large interior of the archives. This was followed by a mucus expending cough, which he caught in his hand, wiping it onto his blue and white checkered shirt, and across his suspenders, holding up his oversized black shorts.

The archives were huge. There were many levels of bookcases that filled the hall. All the walls were concealed by shelves that spanned to the ceiling and stretched far into the shadows of the long corridor.

“Care for some tea?” Milorad asked, already responding as if there was an answer of yes.

As they walked down the north corridor, they made it to the center. The center tower of the structure was breathtaking. Its huge expanse stretched quite high, until it reached its glass ceiling. There was an upward spiral of levels connected by stairs and ladders that climbed all the way to the top. “I had never seen so many books in all my life.” Hector said amazed.

Milorad responded. “Well of course you haven’t. This is the Arccon Archives. The largest and most extensive collection of books and documents, in all the land and beyond.”

After Hector got over the amazement of witnessing such a large building filled with books, he noticed that these archives had seen better days. There was a lot of broken shelves which had spilt their load all over the ground, and the marble floors of the main hall were filled with broken books, with pages littered everywhere.

“Are you the only one living in here?” Hector asked.

“Yes, I can’t have anyone interfering with my work. Although, this place is quite large, perhaps there are people within these walls, whom I have not encountered.” Milorad said. “After the attack, from those senseless mutants, many of the books and their shelves were destroyed. I’ve put it on myself to restore these books to their former glory.”

Hector looked around then said, “It looks as though you got a lot of work ahead of you.”

“Yes yes. Imagine putting together a thousand, thousand piece jigsaw puzzles, when all the pieces are jumbled together. It will take some time.” Milorad then bent over at a pile if papers, and grabbed a stack of them. He began skimming through the pages until he stopped at one. “Ah here we go.” He said, as he went off past a swaying tower of books. They followed him as he led them to what looked to be his office. It was a small room, with desks along two walls, which were filled with huge piles of loose pages. Along the floor were pages of the books he was working on. As he tip-toed around the deconstructed books, he reached one, where he placed the page which he found. “There we go. ‘Emergence Of The Sea Syndrome’ eighty percent complete. A literary masterpiece.”

He seemed quite proud of himself, so Hector quickly asked before he got distracted by something else, “So, about the book that we’re looking for... Can you help us?”

“Of course.” Milorad said. He seemed to be quite distracted though. His mind seemed to be racing around. He looked as though he had a thousand things on his mind. Hector was a bit hesitant about increasing his work load, in asking about the book. But he was the best person to help them. “So what’s the book?” Milorad asked.

Hector handed him the page, and he began to look at it. After some time of thinking, he said, “Ah yes. I remember this book. I just saw it five or ten....um... years ago.”

Hector was hoping he was going to say minutes. But years! ‘How am I ever going to find this book?’ Thought Hector

“Yes, ‘All Things Regarding The World And Within’. A very controversial book. It is in fact, about what the title implies. The book contains a history of all things. However it is contrary to popular beliefs. Many deny it to be true, but none could deem it false.”

“Do you know where it is?” Hector asked impatiently.

“Well, I’ll have to look through the records, to see where it is. Please bear with me.” He then began looking through the papers on his desk.

However none of this seemed interesting for young Jessy. He lost interest in waiting on Milorad, and went off to explore through the archives by himself. Jessy re-entered the main hall. He went down the flight of stairs of the main hall, and began looking through the aisles of bookshelves.

As he ran down the rows of shelves, he ran his hand along the books, knocking them about. Jessy stopped in his tracks as a shimmering from above, caught his eye. It was on the highest level of the archive hall, and far too high to distinguish the cause of the shimmering. But whatever it was, was reflecting the light from the sun, through the glass ceiling, and this was something Jessy was compelled to investigate.

As he examined the room for a way up, he noticed that there was the quite noticeable spiraling set of levels, which made it to the top. Which almost looked like a plant that twisted and turned in an effort to reach the light from the sun. But that was a long and difficult climb. There were an array of stairs, ladders and planks which joined all the levels and shelves together reaching the top. But there was another way. It was far more direct. It was a tightly spiraled staircase, which went all the way to the top. Although the first way, was more like a child’s playground, filled with ladders and feats of balance and poise, but Jessy wanted efficiency.

The staircase was only beneficial, and would only be taken, if you wanted to get to the top level, which was a platform that overlooked the entire hall. The other, less direct way, would allow access to all levels as you made your way to the top.

So Jessy began to make his way up the staircase. As he ran up the stairs, he held onto the brass railing, pulling himself forward, up the stairs. Eventually, he made it to the top.

From the top platform, which was fixed in place, hanging from the ceiling, on the beams between the windows, Jessy could see the entire central hall. Jessy was awfully high, and was hesitant to venture close to the edge. There was a railing, which encircled the platform, but it was too high to be of any use for Jessy. The railing was at about Jessy’s nose height, but there was nothing between that and the floor to stop Jessy if he was to fall.

From the platform, the entrances to the four corridors could be seen. But Jessy wasn’t so much keen on scoping the archives from the ceiling, he had other matters on his mind.

As Jessy examined the platform, he saw the cause of the shimmering which brought him up here. Whatever it was, was in a glass container, which sat on a desk. Next to the desk, behind the slender, well embroidered chair, was a world globe. It sat on a set of copper legs, attached to a frame, where it could be spun.

Jessy quickly hopped up onto the chair, which creaked under his weight, even though he was but a small child, so that he could reach the top of the desk. On the desk, on the front-left quadrant was the item Jessy was searching for. It was a talisman of some sort. Jessy carefully lifted the glass casing and placed it gently by its side. Apart from this glass case, which was like an upturned vase (it wasn’t, but that’s what it looked like) the desk was rather empty. This wasn’t realized by Jessy, for he was captivated by his shinny prize. Usually a desk would have a candle or lantern, but not this one.

The talisman was of an unusual metal, and had very intricate carvings etched into it. It also had a chain, which Jessy used to put the trinket around his neck. It was in the shape of an arrowhead. Perhaps it was made in commemoration of the ancient archer. But perhaps it was much older than that.