Ascending once more in that elevator, I sat in the oppressive silence, alone with my thoughts as the sickening contraption drifted up toward the 27th floor. I tried to shake off the reminders of that administrative world. I'd nearly succumbed to the same fate as my mentor, I thought to myself. As I stared down at Derrick's folder, I tried to cast my thoughts away from that, recalling the details of his life. I reminded myself of Derrick's life, as I felt like I was looking back on a distant memory inside my head.
Derrick had wanted to soar, free like a bird through the clouds as he escaped the doldrum of the office. Perhaps he still wanted to fly above all of that. Beneath it all however, I had gotten the distinct impression that Derrick was not a man who felt comfortable sent adrift in the wild. I knew for a fact that he would not flourish in nature as Andy had, he wasn't that sort of person. With that in mind, I had a few details to build a foundation from. Now, with the help of the Alexandrium, it was time to build upon that foundation - moulding a dream from the skeleton of a man's memories.
As the doors opened, I was greeted by the familiar sight of shelves - extending as far as the eye can see, off into the horizon. Countless friable volumes were stacked along the wooden bookcases, the tomes of a universe crumbling with wear as age slowly eroded at them. Understanding was always neglected in this world.
Approaching the front desk, I could see Belgor - still reading through that book of his, Labyrinths, eyeing the tiny book closely with his massive reading glasses. My footsteps echoed across the black laminate, and as he heard them, Belgor raised his eyes from the book toward me with a soft smile on his face.
"Welcome, Malarie," Belgor said. "It is lovely to see you again."
"You too, Belgor," I replied. "Still reading that book, I see?"
"Of course," Belgor answered. "Unfortunately, it can be awfully difficult reading such small print. It slows down my reading pace quite considerably."
With that, Belgor placed the book face down against his desk, as he stared back toward me with a solitary smile. He seemed so desperately alone here, without company. It made me wonder how many people Belgor actually met other than myself. I was sure Vincent would come down here occasionally, but for all I knew, the only other company he had was those books. It was, in my view, a lonely, forlorn life that he led down here.
"Anyway, what can I help you with?" Belgor asked.
"Well, I was looking to find a world to suit a client who wants to fly like a bird," I began. "I doubt he's the sort of person who'd survive in nature for long though. I'm thinking that he might do well in a position like a carrier owl or something along those lines, living a simple life in a technology-free world. Is that something you can help me with?"
"Just a moment," Belgor said, punching some details into the screen. As his fingers darted across the keys, he strained his eyes to stare a little closer at the screen, looking at the results on the display. Standing in front of the desk, I stared into the infinite blackness across the horizon - looking at the tomes of billions, trillions of universes, stretching off into the horizon - as that computer scoured through them all.
"We have a lot of hits here, as is to be expected," Belgor replied. "Do you want me to shuffle it and pick one out at random?"
"Not quite yet," I said. "Could you also set a relative peace requirement to narrow the pool a little?"
"I can do that, yes," Belgor said.
Moving that little mouse across the desk, the sound of those solitary clicks echoed throughout the infinite abyss of the library, slowly reverberating into the empty blackness - as every sound did here. Staring at the screen, Belgor nodded as he turned back to me - with an affable smile on his face.
"Alright, done," Belgor stated. "Should I shuffle now?"
"Go for it," I said.
Pressing another button on that little computer, his massive fingers impacted like hammers against the tiny keyboard as he inputted my demands into the screen. Focusing as he leaned in with those glasses, he read something back to himself, made a mental note of it - before standing up from his desk. Lifting his novel up, and marking his place in that little work of fiction using a tiny slip of paper that looked like a piece of string between his fingers, he placed the book back against the desk as he walked out from behind the desk - raising his right hand to the air.
"Right this way then," he said.
With a snap of his fingers, the world around us changed shape as - within an instant - we found ourselves standing between a gargantuan pair of shelves that stretched off into the horizon. Standing between the scantily lit shelves, Belgor snapped his fingers once more, as a ladder shot with lightning speed and deft precision out of the void, stopping squarely before the shelf in front of us.
"I'll just be a moment," Belgor said.
As he gripped that ladder, he slowly lumbered up the tiny rungs. Staring up toward those tomes, which seemed to stretch up to the heights, I wondered how anybody could find anything in this place without guidance. However, as Belgor climbed around three-quarters of the way up the ladder, he reached out - grabbing a tome in his arms and descending once more. After a few minutes, Belgor dismounted from the ladder, grabbing that dusty tome from beneath his arm as he proffered it to me.
"Here," Belgor said. "I can also summon a reading desk for you, if you'd like."
"Thank you, I'd appreciate that," I said, as I took the dusty tome in my arms.
"Not a problem," Belgor replied. "Oh, and... I know this may seem a little cheesy, but thank you for visiting, Malarie. I enjoy the company."
"You're welcome," I warmly responded, with a soft smile crossing my lips.
As he raised his right hand to the air once more, Belgor disappeared, as a reading desk emerged in the place where he once stood. I placed that thick tome against the table, as I heard the soft echoes of Belgor's parting remarks ring out into the void.
