New York Public Library, Main Branch

“This will be your office. Since you’ll be in charge of curating several of our foreign language sections, we don’t actually expect you to spend a lot of time in your office. Feel free to walk the library, but if you decide to reorganize the sections under your purview, please report the changes so that the floor librarians are able to locate the books as needed. Also, try to submit books to be added to the collections from a variety of languages. We don’t want any one culture to go underrepresented,” the gray-haired woman who had been speaking for the last half hour told him. “Despite the military base at our backdoor, the library still gets visitors. We hope you like it here.”

“I’m sure I will, ma’am,” Jude responded.

“Mrs. Nimma is fine. Ma’am is… too much,” Nimma Eridu, Chief Librarian of the New York Public Library said.

Nima Eridu was American. She was born in the United States, but her family had left Iraq in the 60s, so by all physical accounts, she was Middle Eastern. She did not cover her hair, letting the wavy white hair hit her shoulders instead. She was dressed in a long, long-sleeved, flowery gown that went down to the floor. Only the click-clacking of the heels as she walked betrayed her shoes. Had it not been for that, Jude would’ve thought she was floating. There was almost a regal posture to the way she walked and spoke.

“Very well, Mrs. Nimma. Thanks for taking a chance on me.”

“No need to thank me. You are young, but your knowledge of multiple languages is hard to find. If you feel overwhelmed by any portion of your new position, please ask questions. This is a library, Mr. Masters, and we do not withhold knowledge.”

“I will!” he replied, but Jude paused for a moment before asking, “Mrs. Nimma, what happens if I’m taken?”

The American government and countries around the world had divulged some of the workings of the towers to various media outlets. It was now common knowledge that people were taken into the tower at random, so the question didn’t come as a surprise to Nimma Eridu. Some of her staff had left the city altogether when the Crimson Tower appeared, but she knew businesses around New York that didn’t open again, and she posited that some of those people had gone missing entirely.

“Mr. Masters, I’ll be blunt. Should you disappear suddenly, we’ll try to hold your position for a month and a half. If more time passes… I don’t believe you’ll come back then.”

“I see.”

“I hope you don’t find me callous, but so many people were lost. Now, the army is parading their G.I. Joes like rockstars. If you go and come back but don’t come back here, I’m sure that’ll mean you joined them.”

“I’m OK, Mrs. Nimma. If that happens, I’ll come back. I’m more of a library sort of person.”

“Good! I mean… That’s good to hear. That’s all for the tour, Mr. Masters. If you have no further questions, please be back here on Monday at 8:00 a.m. I’ll hand you some proposals that were being worked on before the position became vacant then, and you can start your work.”

“Thank you very much, Mrs. Nimma. Have a great day, and I’ll see you on Monday.”

“Have a good day, Mr. Masters.”

Jude turned around, walked by the rows and rows of bookshelves, by the reading tables, and finally by the reception before leaving the library. He knew that the New York Military Base was just behind the building he had just exited, and after passing the library lions, Astor and Lenox, more commonly known as Patience and Fortitude, he looked back at the building and saw the Crimson Tower piercing the sky behind it.

Almost an entire month had gone by, and Jude had yet to be pulled back into the tower. In that time, the American government had organized a team of survivors to spearhead the tower exploration on their end. The 16 members of the team were doing rounds on daytime and nighttime TV shows in an effort to appease the public and offer a path to those who would return from the tower in the future. They never displayed their powers on national TV though. Jude supposed that the nature of their powers, if they had any, was deemed classified.

Their leader, Captain Brett Cooper, gave a few interviews where he recounted some of what they had gone through in the tower, and that’s how Jude and Iris found out that they had been the only ones to survive leaving the cave. While none of the members announced how many people had survived the tower, it was simple for both Jude and Iris, who also received the survivor announcement, to connect the dots.

Before heading back to his apartment, Jude sent Iris a message.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

[I got the job.]

A reply came not too long after that.

[Come over.]

[On my way.]

After texting back, Jude changed directions and headed to Iris’ place. Iris herself had not yet started looking for work. Instead, she had transformed some rooms in her apartment into makeshift alchemical labs. She had brought samples of the original rot that had infected The Devourer with her and used it to train almost daily like she had done with Queen Millicent.

Initially, she had wanted Jude to go live with her, but running some tests on the rot samples, she found out that other people would not be able to handle being exposed to it continuously. Jude would survive because he had gone through the tower just like her, but even then he would suffer tremendously. For that reason, Jude had stayed in his apartment, and Iris didn’t receive visits anymore. If either Angela or her dad wanted to see her, she would visit them instead. It was better that way. Even purifying her body of the rot took a while, so most of the time she did just enough to survive with it. As time went by, Iris had begun to notice a change within her.

It didn’t take long for Jude to get to Iris’ apartment building. She had made him a key, so he simply walked into the building and headed up the stairs. The apartments in that building were large. Iris had somehow found a building with an apartment owned by someone who didn’t mind a less than average return for an apartment that size. The building was old, and there was only one apartment per floor.

She had told Jude a story about helping an elderly man having a heart attack on an empty subway platform when she was only 18. The same man owned the apartment she was now renting. After finding out that she had been about to start medical school, the man had told her that if she ever needed to relocate for school, he would have the place available for her.

Iris didn’t take him on his offer initially, and it was only after she had started as an intern that she reached out. Her dad’s grocery store was close, but at that time, he still lived in Harlem, so the commute had been too much.

Once Iris’ left the house, her dad started looking for places nearby as well, and he actually found something. Even before the appearance of the tower, he rarely used the cot in the back office of the store, the one Jude slept in after the run-in with the paramedics.

When Jude opened the door, he saw Iris sitting on the floor, almost as if meditating. He knew, however, that she was training. A small saucer filled with red liquid was positioned in front of her.

Iris didn’t notice him walk in, so Jude closed the door behind him and knocked lightly against it.

Iris opened her eyes. The world spun around her, and she gasped. Without saying anything, Jude pulled up a chair and sat by her. He watched as she started the purification process, ridding herself of most of the damage of the rot. The flesh around her cheeks and arms healed. If other people had seen her, they would’ve assumed her to be a zombie.

“You auditioning for a Romero movie?” Jude quipped.

“Ha-ha… Give… a sec,” she replied, still short of breath.

He waited. It took almost half an hour for her to heal herself entirely, which told him that she was diving deeper into the rot. Jude didn’t know if she was losing control or reaching her goal.

Finally, Iris said, “All done.”

“You’re not going too far, are you?”

“I’m fine. You ask that every time.”

“That’s cuz every time I show up, you seem to be in a worse state,” Jude replied.

“I’m fine. I’ll be careful.”

“If you say so, I’ll trust your judgment, but if you need help, ask.”

“Can you get me some water?” she asked and winked at him.

Jude sighed and dropped his shoulders in exaggerated form, but he stood up and headed to the kitchen to get a glass of water.

“Congratulations!” Iris yelled behind him.

“Thanks! What about you? Any luck with any labs?”

“I don’t think it’s time yet. My research right now is more important, but once I’m done, I’m sure I can find something.”

“You don’t need help with rent?”

“I have my savings,” Iris said. “Plus, Mr. Clifton wouldn’t throw me out,” she added. And just as Jude was filling the glass with water from the sink, Iris whispered in his ear, “Not that he’ll have to.”

Jude got goosebumps, but he still managed to turn around with the full glass in hand. Iris had covered the distance of the apartment in no time at all, so he knew she had shadowstepped.

“Guess you are training that too,” he said.

Iris took the glass from his hand and took a long gulp, drinking it dry.

“Haaa! Thank you,” she said. “I lose a lot of liquid during Mana Life training.”

“Is that so?” Jude asked. Then, he grabbed her by the waist and picked her off the floor. She instinctively wrapped her legs around him.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“Taking you to bed to rest.”

“Rest?!”

“Well, rest after…”

Jude grabbed the empty glass out of Iris’ hand and set it down in the sink behind him. When he turned back to look at Iris, she grabbed his head and kissed him deeply.