Sam: I’ll get back to you on that.

Araxes dropped his head into his hands and let out the vilest curse he knew. It was in the ancient tongue of Ketch, and involved vile imprecations upon the anatomy of one’s female progenitor, and for some reason lost to the annals of time, ants.

That is a most unpleasant manner of speech. You should not use it. It will diminish your intellect and cause stagnation of language. Persephone said in her child god’s voice.

“Oh do hush,” Araxes grumbled, lifting his eyes up to glare at her. “You’re the entire reason I’m in this mess to begin with.

I believe that to be incorrect. According to recent inputs, it is likely that this is the culmination of a series of events you started yourself. Although, upon several cycles of examination, it seems that technically your troubles did not truly begin until the Tolliver swung his hammer at you. So in effect, your current predicament is his fault.

“Well, at least someone is on my side.” The lich sighed again and looked around. The blue expanse spread out before him in every direction, now dotted with thousands upon thousands of bookshelves, presumably in which sat hundreds of millions of books on all the subjects this core had accumulated over eons of existence.

For a creature who routinely considered himself among the oldest, beings on the face of the earth, it might have been humbling.

It wasn’t, but it might have been.

“So,” he said after a moment’s thought. “Tolliver hasn’t a clue how to get me out of here. And I am lacking any of the abilities that might have been useful in that endeavor. Have you any suggestions?”

Were I still whole, I could release you quite simply. Perhaps those beings who now call themselves my sisters could intervene in some way?

Araxes frowned and turned to face the core-child for a moment as thoughts fired off in his skull. Then he turned, slowly, to examine his surroundings once more. He cast a quick spell to check a few things, and nodded when he got the information.

Araxes: Tolliver. A question. Does Persephone remain near you?

Sam: Yeah, she’s right here. Powered down, though. She’s not responding to anything, not messages, not speech, not Sally poking her with a rock.

Araxes: Thank you. Carry on.

The lich king tapped a finger against his teeth thoughtfully, making a sharp clacking sound with each tap. Then he looked down at Persephone, still standing there, watching him, apparently content to do so until the end of time if needs must.

“Are you quite certain of that?”

The child blinked. What do you mean?

“This… Expanse. This Blue Room. It is different from the White Room which Tolliver frequently visits. Oh yes, he’s explained quite at length how that place operates, and what is possible and im-possible within it. For instance, one cannot see their mana or health reserves, even with the aid of the Status spell. Which I just cast. And which showed me, quite clearly, my totals. Which suggests to me that, much like the Red Room that Tolliver discovered only a few short days ago, that this is not actually a construct like the White Room at all.”

Persephone’s avatar blinked again. And your point is…?

“I doubt that your sisters would be able to convey me home if they were still connected to you,” Araxes said. He tapped his teeth again and turned in place, scanning the multitudinous bookshelves. “Tell me, do you actually know where we are right now?

The girl shifted a little awkwardly. This is the Blue Room.

“Yes yes, capital, understood and all that. But do you know where it is?”

…No.

“I thought not. May I give you my theory? Formulated from centuries of experience and several compressed days spent in far too close a proximity to a young lout with the dimensional subtlety of a brick to the forehead?”

I don’t understand half of what you just said there.

“An affectation, worry not.” Araxes flipped his hand airily, feeling more and more sure of himself as he continued to look around. “No, in fact, this bears far more resemblance to the Red Room that your sister Sally—what an atrocious name, by the by—sent young Tolliver to when he activated some sort of failsafe during his bonding ritual with her. I do believe she has a demi-plane she is tied to—perhaps that you are all tied to—that exists solely to deal with intruders.

“And I believe it functions quite differently from the White Room. Which means that, just as there was a function to remove Tolliver from the Red Room, there ought to be a function to remove us from here in a similar manner.”

He paused then and glanced down at the avatar, still watching him with unblinking eyes.

“Come to think of it, why the devil are you in here with me? I’ve only heard of one core who entered one of the Rooms, and that was when she was summoned by her Guardian.”

I must guide the Guardian with knowledge. It is my purpose. I must be present to be a guide, and I must guide if you enter the room of knowledge.

“Sally is going to murder someone before this is all over,” Araxes muttered. “Tolliver says your core on the outside has powered down and is not responding. Have you been receiving messages in here?”

That caused the calm quiet facade to crack just slightly. The eyes widened and the mouth dropped open a bare quarter inch. No. I am inactive? Why am I inactive? I should be perfectly capable of processing input from both instances of myself. This is not optimal. You must fix this at once, Guardian.

“Mm,” Araxes grunted and turned again to the bookshelves. “At a guess, I’d say that you have created a link to a pocket dimension, projected consciousness into it, and then the link closed on you for some reason. Possibly because you are not fully integrated with your sisters, possibly as a security measure, possibly any of a dozen other scenarios. But it seems likely that, for some reason or another, the bulk of your processes have become trapped in here with me.”

Oh no. No no no. The avatar suddenly dropped to a crouch, hugging her knees to her chest. Oh, Sally is going to be so worried. No, I have to get out of here. Oh, what if someone touches me out there? What if they hurt me! No, please, I have to go. Can’t be here, can’t stay here, can’t be here, have to leave!

Araxes quirked a brow at the child as she started rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Of course,” he grumbled under his non-existent breath. “Because one juvenile latching on to me out of desperation wasn’t enough.” The lich sighed out a dusty sigh and stepped forward, leaned down, and rested the tip of his index finger right in the center of the girl’s forehead.

She blinked and raised her head, then batted at his finger. What are you doing?

“Getting your attention,” Araxes said. “Is it working?” He placed his finger back in the same position.

She swatted at it again, more forcefully this time. Stop that. It is annoying.

“Yes, it is. Are you finished whinging like a babe who just had its front tooth removed?”

What a horrible mental image.

“Accurate though. Are you through?”

If I say no, what will you do?

“Oh, I’m sure I’ll figure something out.”

Then yes. I am done. I apologize for my outburst. I am… Not good. With changes. Or strange things.

“Then let us focus on what is before us. We are trapped in a pocket dimension and haven’t a clue how to extricate ourselves. That is our starting point, yes?”

Yes.

“Excellent. Now, you mentioned that within these walls lays all the accumulated knowledge, I assume not only of your eons-long existence but of other things? Repositories of knowledge from the before time? Perhaps tomes of mechanics and rules governing how the system itself may operate?”

I… Yes. There should be sections dedicated to things like that. I was designed to—

“Bup bup bup,” Araxes raised a finger. “Not important at this juncture. What is important is that you will have tomes dedicated, perchance, to the art of dimensional travel, pocket planes, interconnectivity and the like?”

It… Seems likely, yes. But you will have to find them within the index before I can retrieve them for you.

“Ah. Yes.” Araxes turned again to the bookshelves. “Would it be too much to ask that you have a search function?”

I do, but it only operates under very broad or very specific parameters. I can search the index for a single complete subject, or for a specific instance within that subject, but you must know precisely what you are looking for.

“That is the single most annoying search function I have ever heard of. Who thought that was a good idea?”

Likely it is a security feature, to prevent too much scrutiny from the system falling on me. A single pinpoint request will draw less interest than a wider yet still-targeted search. And—

“A broader search would raise few flags because the information is necessarily dispersed. Yes, I suppose that makes a modicum of sense.” Araxes snorted. “It is still the single worst search function I have ever encountered. Were your creators imbeciles?”

It seems unlikely. They created me, after all.

“A point,” Araxes said flatly, “that does not reside in their favor. Alright my dear, let us begin with the broad request. Show me knowledge related to dimensional travel and pocket planes.”

Working.

The floor suddenly shifted beneath the lich’s feet and propelled him forward, while at the same time thousands of bookcases flowed away from him while others drifted closer.

“Ah. We’re a children’s amusement ride now.” The lich sighed. “Wonderful. Where are we going?”

To the appropriate section. It is quite some distance away. Even previous guardians did not venture into these stacks. They were typically much more concerned with matters of immediacy. Weapons schematics, room designs, even history on occasion.

“Then they were short-sighted. Any good general knows, logistics and time are the two greatest advantages and enemies in any campaign. Had they sought out the ability to manipulate either, they might not have had such abysmal ends.”

Perhaps. We are arriving. You are the first to walk this section of my memories in many millenia.

Araxes raised both brows as the bookcases around him swirled to the side, and revealed a pair of skeletons, still clad in ancient rags, laying on a section of the blue floor that had been stained black by viscera.

“Yes,” he said. “I can see that.”