Shouting in the Library (Open)

Shannon couldn’t read. She was aware of this, because it would take too much time and money to program her to read every single language known to man. Instead, she was programmed to decipher codes, in case she needed it in the field. That’s all languages really were; codes symbolized by strange characters. The only difference was who knew the code and if others were willing to teach it. To her this place was more than just code now. If Jin-sensei had taught her anything, it was that books had pictures, not just words. She would just have to find another book like that. She couldn’t read the spines of the books, however. It was becoming a real hassle. She would have to ask for an upgrade so she could read Japanese the next time she saw her creator.

For now, she would have to use a different method, “Can someone help me find a book on ancient religions!” She had no idea where to start looking for books on the subject. The librarian would stare at her and shush her. She got the message and decided to be quiet. She would go over to a random section, which happened to be science fiction, and tried to figure out just what she was looking at. It was filled to the brim with words, and not a single picture. This was definitely not the section she was looking for, "I could really use the help!" She was shushed again. This time, she was begining to get the message.

While Hibiki knew how to appreciate a good book, he didn't read as often as he could have. He had been to the library before, but it was mostly for school reasons, and this time wasn't different. Some teachers just loved giving books to read as a homework. Not that he minded though, as it gave him an opportunity to actually read something without wasting any time. He didn't think of reading as a waste of time of course, it was just more convenient when it also meant finishing a school assignment.

Although, this once it wasn't a pleasant experience. Hibiki hated to admit it, but the book he was supposed to read was actually boring. And that was something, considering his standards weren't that high. And there he was wondering why many students skipped these reading assignments. Well, now he knew why. He was on the fifth page when he heard a voice asking for help. Thinking someone would do so, he stayed sitting down, going over the page again, trying not to drift away from all those boringly constructed sentences. However, when he heard the same voice a second time, he looked up, trying to locate the source. Eventually, he settled on the female that was browsing the science fiction section, as it seemed that the pissy librarian was looking at her, and she did look a little lost. Hm, she wasn't standing that far, and the book he was reading wasn't entertaining either, so in the end he reached the conclusion that he could help her and go back o reading later. It's not like he was in a hurry, as he always started his work early enough.

''Hello.'' he said with a friendly tone as he stood up and made his way over to her, the book he was reading still in his left hand. ''Did you need something? I could try to help.'' he offered with a light smile. He had heard her first time, and knew what she was looking for, but he didn't want to seem like he was intentionally listenting. That would be creepy, no?

So, only a single person was kind enough to offer to help Shannon. She found this to be something contradictory from what she understood. From her real world experience, so far, she had found that many people were kind-hearted. Now there was only the one. It was a sudden and jarring shift. It didn’t matter. All that counted was that someone was there to assist. She pointed at the shelf next to her, “I’m looking for a book on ancient religions. Preferably one in which they worshiped a multitude of gods.” It may have sounded like a strange request, but it was the only thing she was interested in finding. She looked the person who had spoken to her over, and noticed the book in his hand, “What are you reading?” It didn’t look interesting, then again, she couldn’t tell anything besides its side, “Does it impart useful information onto you?” She couldn’t think of any other reason why someone would read a book, “Or, maybe it’s for fun?” Though she doubted that. There was no fun in decoding the text inside the books.

Looking over at the assortment of shelves they were standing at as the female voiced her request, Hibiki wondered why was she searching for such a book in this section. A book on ancient religions definitely wouldn't be in this part. Either she didn't notice she was looking in a completely wrong place, or maybe she was in here for the first time and didn't know how it worked. Either way, that wasn't a very important fact at that moment. ''Ancient religions? I'd suggest searching in the shelves on the far right then. You should be able to find what you're looking for there.'' he said waving a hand in the direction after thinking on it a little. Hibiki wasn't interested in history that much, so he was glad he actually remembered that, as he'd only been in that section once before.

''Hm? This?'' he lifted the hand in which he had the book up. ''It's some sort of a novel from a Russian writer. I wouldn't say this one gives any useful information, but we're supposed to read it for a literature class.'' he shrugged slightly. ''There are books that can be fun to read, or give information though. It mostly depends on what are the interests of the person reading I suppose.'' That was one of the reasons why Hibiki didn't get why they had to read something when it was likely that half of the class won't find it interesting enough to even look at the cover, much less actually read it. He wasn't about to argue with school systems though.

Shannon would follow the person’s advice and search the shelves on the far right. She grabbed one of the books and flipped it open. She couldn’t read the side saying that it was on Greek gods, but she could see the pictures inside. They were definitely more than human, commanding both respect and power on a single page. She picked out three other books on Egyptian, another Greek, and Norse mythology. They were large books, but for her they were not heavy. As soon as she had all of them, she returned to the person who had helped her. She gave them a small nod, “Thank you very much for assisting me.” She found the nearest, open table and sat down. She began flipping through the pages, not reading, just looking for any pictures of the gods.

She glanced at the boy who had given her an answer as to why he was reading the book by now. She pointed at the chair right across from her, “Would you prefer to sit? It would put much less strain on your legs. It would also make the book less of a bother.” She assumed that since he wasn’t reading it by choice, he had no interest in it. It could also be nice to have someone explain to her what the text in the books was, in case she got lost. It wasn’t against her to ask for assistance, just not normal.

Hibiki watched the girl out of the corner of his eye as she went on with collecting the books she needed. She seemed to find what she was looking for, which meant he was right when he told her to search over there. That was a good thing. It would be awkward if he had made a mistake. ‘‘You’re welcome.‘‘ he said, nodding back to her as she came back with the multitude of books in her hand. They looked quite heavy. She sure had a lot of physical strenght to carry all of those without breaking a sweat.

‘‘Sure, why not? It would be amazing if a book could become less bothersome when sitting down, though. Somehow I doubt it will. You’re lucky to have the opportunity to read what you want to.‘‘ he said in a friendly tone, as he sat down in the offered seat, sparing a glance at the book he was supposed to keep on reading. Now, he felt even less compelled to do so, but there wasn’t much choice unless he wanted to get a bad grade later. Funny how he was complaining over something so trivial as book choice. There were so many more important things in the world.

Shannon looked up from her book as the boy sat down, “I don’t read what I want to. This is for the benefit of the future.” If she started with early religions, she could figure out where the human belief lied. If she could only find what made them believe in something that was obviously not real, she could finally understand just what was making her different from a real human being. That’s what she hoped, anyway. That humanness, alone, would make her a better spy. She could fulfill her duty to save humans from such a dangerous situation, by going in their place. Such fragile things they were. She ran across a picture of three girls with thread in one of the Greek books. Next to them, she could make out the code F-A-T-E-S. She bit her lips trying to figure out what was being said about them. To try and get an answer, she flipped the page to the boy, “Isn’t this a cool idea? What a fantastic idea.” She was hoping he would reveal something about the story behind them, without having to ask for it. She put the book down and gave him a quick glance, “I never introduced myself. I’m Shannon. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” That was a standard greeting, given a little touchup since he had helped her not too much earlier.

Hibiki looked at her curiously when she said she was reading solely for the benefit of the future. That wasn’t an answer he would have expected. Wasn’t she just reading a book about ancient religions? It wasn’t easy to connect that to the future. After all, it was quite different from the past now, and the future was still far off. It would make sense only it was something she needed to know for some reason, that would take place later on. It was still a strange subject to be reading on, for that matter. ''Is that so? Well, hopefully, you'll find it entertaining too.'', he said, sincerely wishing her luck with it. Reading something without wanting to can often be bothersome, he knew that.

‘‘Hm?‘‘, he looked towards the page of the book the girl was showing him. He gave it a quick readthrough, realizing it was some sort of a greek myth. Made sense, as there were so many supernatural stories in ancient greek, that he knew, even though he didn’t have a peculiar interest in history. Some of them were quite nice, ignoring the fact that it was most likely not real at all. That’s why they were myth, no? ‘‘The Fates? It is an interesting concept indeed, although probably not real. The idea of three incarnations of destiny, that had the power to control the life of mortals from their birth to death, is a little superficial. They supposedly watched over the fate of humans. I wonder why did they think that in the past. Some human beliefs are strange indeed.‘‘, he said thoughtfully, looking at the pictures in said book. It was hard to understand how people thought in ancient times, that he was sure about. They worshipped various gods, without having any proof of their existence, which was a little baffling. It would be more understandable if they had a way to prove their beliefs. Otherwise, it sounded a little naive, as if it was just wishful thinking.

‘‘It’s a pleasure to meet you too. I’m Hibiki Nakahara.‘‘ , he returned the greeting with a smile. Shannon seemed like quite a nice person.


((I'm really sorry for holding up that long >< I never got to this one when I was posting cause it required more time than others, as I had to look up the Fates thingy. (And I tend to be lazy when having to research too) I should be posting on time from now on. I finally found enough time to spend on this kind of stuff. ><))