Chapter 33: The Library of Babel

At the bottom of the stairs, I was greeted. That’s the sentence, it was read correctly. The creature that greeted me was something I had encountered before, and before I had time to even think of pulling my weapon, it spoke into my mind.

“Greetings. Please don’t attack us, we are humble librarians.” So it said. Normally, I would be skeptical of such words, but the fact they came from a fox-masked creature, I didn’t question them even a little bit.

“Don’t worry. I didn’t attack on floor seventeen when you guys attacked me, so I certainly won’t attack here since you are talking to me.” I offer out my hand in a gesture for a handshake. The creature returns it confidently.

“Since you’ve heard my message to your mind, you must have trained hard on the floors above.”

“I wondered why the one of you I met earlier didn’t actually speak, and instead just wrote.”

“Your mind probably would have collapsed, a very painful and bloody experience that not many survive.”

“Quick question, does a mind collapse usually happen after a weird popping noise that doesn’t sound natural?”

“If you know that much, you are lucky to have survived, what creature performed such a harsh action? Was it one of our own?”

“No, it was a hive mind, not sure if you know of the one on floor thirty of this place?”

“Pray tell, what floor is this?”

“Thirty-three.”

“Then yes, we know of it. A rather crude creature, but its ability when all in one place, not spread out like it most likely was, is comparable to the lowest level of demon. A fearsome beast to have tried to maim you.”

“Good to know then. It survived too, but all its minions died after it… I guess collapsed my mind. Feels like a strange concept to me.”

“Certainly understandable that you’d have never considered the mind a separate part of yourself. Alas, I could talk about this for days on end, but you must be tired from your journey here. Would you like to have a seat, perhaps some refreshments before we begin?”

“Sure, but what do you mean ‘begin’?”

Without responding, the fox-masked creature led me through what seemed to be a library. It was absolutely massive. The hall was probably around a hundred of me tall and had ten stories of equal height. The hall continued on until it faded into the horizon.

Eventually, we came up to a large group of dark stained wooden tables that certainly fit the atmosphere of a library. The luxury feeling was a bit out of place, but I had never been to a private library before, so they might be like this… maybe.

“Please, feel free to leave your bag underneath this table. I guarantee with my life that nothing will be touched or taken from it.”

“Alright.” I trusted the fox-masked creature and tucked my bag underneath the table so that it was out of the way. The creature then gestures to one of the chairs for me to sit down in, and I do. It sits across the table from me, bringing back memories from floor seventeen.

“Feel free to drink this at your leisure, just be careful not to damage any of the books. A drop or two is fine but spilling it on them will not be good.” The creature said as it brought out a bottle of the mint water stuff I had back on floor seventeen in the same way the other one did.

“This is the same drink I had on floor seventeen, are you the same one I encountered back on floor seventeen?” I had to ask, just to see, but they didn’t act quite the same.

“No, but I was told to expect your arrival and that you were quite fond of this beverage. I do have to say, that despite being told to expect your arrival, I was not expecting it so soon. Most that make it to this floor take several years to make it from seventeen to here.”

“I’ve just been lucky to avoid any injuries that would put me out of commission for a while. Worst injury I’ve had in a while, other than the mind collapse would probably be breaking my little toe back on floor twenty-one.”

“Formalities out of the way, let me tell you how this floor works. As long as you don’t destroy anything, you can come and go as you please. If you wanted, I could take you to the exit and you could be on your way.” The creature pauses, seeing if I have something to say, but I motion for it to continue.

“While on this floor, I will act as your guide and supervisor. Feel free to grab any random book you see, do note that most will be unreadable, incomprehensible garbage. However, every book serves its own unique purpose. If you have any question at all, on this floor, we can answer them.”

“Anything? Then how many floors are there in total?”

“Forty. No matter what it is, it can be answered here. There is no question that is off limits here, we have the information on everything, however, some questions may take longer to answer than others, as we will have to find the book on it.”

“If I get to floor forty, can I escape?” I asked nervously.

“Yes. You will find the freedom you seek on floor forty.” The creature looked like it wanted to add more, but it held back. Was it because my question was too vague, or too specific?

“What is on floor forty?”

“A demon.”

“Is it the thing that controls all of these floors?”

“Yes and no. A lot of the floors in this place are autonomous in the way that they’ll function even if nothing controls them. For example, this is an autonomous floor, where we have control over everything that goes on in here.”

“Who is that demon then, how can they make a place like this?” I ask a more pointed question.

“That is tough to answer. Deciding ‘who’ someone is definitively is hard but answering how they’ve made this place is almost as easy as a simple handwave. They are one of the most powerful demons to ever exist. There is nothing in all of known existence that can kill them. In fact, there is not even a book on how to kill them, as killing something that powerful is truly impossible.”

“My goal was never to kill them. I know my place as a normal person. However, why did they make this place.”

“I cannot answer that.”

“What? You said that every piece of information to ever exist was here. It is like the library of Babel; you should have something here that tells you the answer to that.”

“I understand your frustration, however, there are some bits of information that certain beings are able to keep secret. Imagine this, you are a king of some country, but you’ve learned exactly how the king now runs the whole country. Every single coin coming and going, what can you do with that?”

“It could easily be used to exploit a country, but what’s the harm in knowing why this place exists? It isn’t the same question.”

“It was simply an example that was easy to comprehend. The truth behind it is infinitely more complex. The being that controls this place, the demon that is one of the most powerful in ALL of existence. Are you aware of the implications behind that?”

“That means they can fudge the rules a bit then.”

“A bit would be an understatement. They, to make a long story short, can ‘make’ rules. They can do whatever they want with information. They can simply make information not exist, despite it being right in front of you.”

“That’s hard to wrap my head around.”

“Then another example of that power.” The creature grabs something that looks almost like an apple out of thin air.

“Is that an apple?”

“No; but take this fruit. You can see it, right?”

“Yes, it’s right in front of me, of course I can see it.” However, while saying that, a quick feeling of wrongness contorts the space around the apple. I can see it, but it just feels wrong.

“This fruit no longer exists. The moment you look away from it, it will cease to exist. This is similar to what the demon has done. It forces something to not exist despite it clearly being visible, and the moment you look away, you can no longer see it.” As soon as I blink, the apple is gone, and it fades from memory slowly.

“Then, perhaps even if you told me this information, it would be pointless.”

“Precisely. While we do have every piece of information here, whether you can use that information or not is another story.” The fox-masked creature then grabbed the apple thing off the table and put it back wherever it had gotten it from.

This gave me a lot to think about. I wonder how much I had actually learned down here, but was forced to forget, as if it never even happened. I guess there was no reason to worry about it. I was still here, and I could still move forwards. That’s all that’s really ever mattered.

“Then, when I do escape, will I be able to go back to how my life was before?” I asked, but I had a feeling I already knew the answer to this question.

“Give me a minute. I will have to find the book for that one.” The fox masked creature stood up and left the table.

I was anxious, this wasn’t very important, as I don’t think I want to go back to how my life was before, but I want to know if I could. I want to know how this place has changed me, for the better, or for the worse.

“Ah yes.” The creature comes back quickly, holding a green leather-bound book.

“That was quick.” I remark, but the creature continues to read as it sits down.

“There is no definitive answer to your question, but it seems to be an all around ‘no’.”

“I figured as much. Is there any particular reason why?”

“You’ll become too bored. It would seem that this place has changed your mind in an interesting way that most would not be able to replicate. Your heightened paranoia paired with the speed at which you have cleared floors has spoiled your brain with adrenaline. You almost crave it at this point and staying in one place for too long is no longer enough for you. You actively seek danger at this point, finding it almost fun.”

“Feels weird to have myself analyzed like this. So, I think danger is fun now?”

“Objectively, yes. You are the most excited, or rather, happy, when you are doing anything when your life is in active peril. Perhaps even now, you consider trying to kill the demon at the end of this place just to see what happens.”

“That was not once an active thought, but… I can see myself trying to antagonize the ruler of these floors.”

“Might I recommend not doing that?” The fox-masked creature says with genuine concern.

“I wouldn’t do it on purpose. At least not until I see no other option. I’ve already antagonized one demon too many. The boss of the next floor is most likely going to kill me the moment I step onto her floor.”

“Ah, so you already have experience flirting with death then. Who am I to stop someone so obsessed with death, they actively seek it in roundabout ways? However, it is unlikely the demon on the next floor will try and kill you. They have been bored for too long to let someone they think is as interesting as you slip away through death.”

“Now, that’s a little ominous for my liking. What are you talking about and how do you know they find me interesting?”

“When all we do is read through information, we find it enjoyable. Now, we are told to be expecting someone and are given a name and appearance. Do you think we would not do any kind of research on them?”

“Then why did you act surprised when I said I antagonized the demon.”

“We are not demons, we are still subject to the same rules as you, and information can be hidden from us, even by weaker demons. The demon was willing to show that you were interesting to them, but not why.”

“So then, let me ask you this. Do I die while exploring the remaining floors?”

“Let me go grab another book.” The creature left quickly, almost phasing through the chair. It seemed just as interested in this answer as I was. It would make sense that I survived, considering there is an answer for me at least attempting to reintegrate into society.

“So, this truly is some mess you’ve found yourself in.” The creature says as it comes back to the chair and sitting down.

“What do you mean? Do I die or not, I’m sure the answer isn’t complicated.”

“You’re wrong. More wrong than you can even imagine. So, there seems to be two answers.”

“Wait, two? What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never seen this before. I am sure I could find something given enough time, but I don’t know if you want to wait around just for an example.”

“I’ll take your words at face value then. Tell me what happens, when do I die?”

“Let’s start with the first of two options. Your death. You will die on floor forty.”

“Well. I guess I must do something really stupid then. I probably end up talking back to the demon and they just kill me. A fitting end for someone like me.”

“That’s not all. Even though you die on floor forty, the records keep going. This isn’t even to mention the second option here at all. In regard to the first option still, you seem to keep living even after death.”

“How does that make any sense at all?”

“I cannot say. You’ll have to just wait and find out.”

“Fair enough, but why are you not mentioning the second option?”

“Because I can’t. I would love to tell you, such an unprecedented feat, but I cannot utter these words from my mouth. No matter how much I force myself. Even if you attempted to read them, the words wouldn’t even register as the language you speak, completely obfuscated.”

“It must have something to do with the demon at the end. Something about it seems off to me, but I will just have to find out when I get there.” I sit at the table, staring at the fox-masked creature in silence. I had more questions, but I think it was time to take a break from serious questions.

There was no danger here, so I might as well have some fun.

“What was this world like before it was added here, before it died?”

“Ah, the history of this place. Something I couldn’t forget even if I tried. We actually aren’t the original inhabitants of this world but ended up migrating here. The original world was something of a repository of information even before its collapse.

Once a demon came along and forced the world to warp into what it believed it had become, it didn’t change all that much. However, it warped into what one might assume is the fictional tale of a library. The Library of Babel.

A brief summary being that it is a kind of storage place where the books withing the library contain every possible combination of a certain character, meaning it would have every bit of information known and unknown to man. The only issue being that it was unlabelled and finding anything was near impossible.

The original inhabitants starved to death after this, the tale originally stating there would be everything a person needed for survival, but that was a blatant lie. It was only books. However, there was another theory, a book to solve all books. To understand the meaning of any book held within the library.

That tale was not a lie. The original inhabitants of the world all died from starvation long before it was found. However, we found it. We were forced into this place after our world was taken from us by demons. Somehow, through sheer luck or coincidence, we found the book mentioned in the old tale.

It allowed us to find anything we asked for. Immortality, powers near equivalent to demons. Anything. However, we became something else after we read the book. We became unable to leave except through divine intervention. So, unless you want to stay here forever on this peaceful floor, I don’t recommend reading the book to understand everything.”

“Yeah… alright.” I thought about this for a while. Being trapped here wouldn’t be fun for someone like me anymore, but I could see the appeal. Having access to every piece of information ever. There was almost endless entertainment.

Was there anything else I really needed to know before I kept descending? I could ask what awaited me on every floor after this, but that almost felt like cheating at this point. I think I was going to anyways, better to be bored and prepared than unprepared and die early… but I wouldn’t die until the end it seemed. Best not act reckless regardless.

“What are the next floors like after this boss floor?”

“There will be books waiting for you at the beginning of all of them. I cannot tell you more than that.”

“Wait, are they written by the same person who wrote books for the first fourteen floors?”

“No. I cannot tell you who wrote them.”

“Hmm, then, where is the man who wrote the books that I read during the first few floors? They went by The Author if that helps.”

“It does help. They are waiting on the floor after the boss. They will not be expecting you, but they will be happy to see you.”

“Alright, then I guess that’s everything I wanted to know. I’m ready to take on the boss floor.”

“Very well then, let me guide you to the exit.” The fox-masked creature stood up and waited for me to grab my things before walking back towards where I entered.

Once we arrived, instead of the stairwell that led me here, it was replaced by an elevator and an exit door. I guess no one would really need to head back for any reason, there was nothing there.

Not existing floors aside, the door to the next floor reminded me of something you would see in a prison. It was extremely heavy duty looking. The door itself was heavier than any prison door had any right being.

“Good luck, may we meet again if you wish to return to this floor.” The fox-masked creature peacefully sent me off.

“I don’t plan on coming back up anymore, this is my final push to the end. I wish you luck in your immortal life.” I waved goodbye as I went through the door and started to descend the concrete stairs.