Chapter 87
William was surprised at how quickly Ellie was explaining things. She was witty too and understood a lot of things.
It wasn't overbearing thanks to common facts. “Regardless, your pass has not a single restriction because it is a treasure created by Mister Kaufman. You can see anything. All secrets. All for free and without any locks. Isn't it exhilarating!?” She asked enthusiastically and far too close. “I don't even know all of the secrets and locks! The Dark World is especially thrilling! I want to go there myself, but...”
“Alright. Alright.” William tried to calm her down but failed spectacularly when she began to beg him to borrow it. That was laughable, so she spoke of how unfair this card was and how lucky he was.
That lasted for a few minutes until she calmed down.
“Understand? That card is worth ten of my lives, and hundreds of my salaries, if not more.”
William had an itch to talk about credits next but figured it sounded a bit weird. He wanted to discover the library. “You don't know... or can you do it justice?”
“I can!” Ellie argued, her pride hurt.
“But you don't know everything.”
“Do you want to know everything...boy?” Ellie approached him, patted his shoulder, and looked as if he was silly. “Ah, boys these days. They think they see the moon but want the stars.”
William shook her hand away and acknowledged he shouldn't have said that. “So, can I use it for myself since it is his and now mine?”
“Why not? Burton let you have it and even the headmaster agreed. Mister Kaufman was the foremost headmaster of the library, so that is why I was shocked to hear you've mentioned him. It is wild that you met such a legend. He even gave you his card!”
“Doesn't feel that impressive. Like a paper. Stiff paper.”
“Hey! That is so terrible of you!” Ellie seemed hurt when William downplayed his luck and looked at his card. She wanted to berate him like Burton.
“It is true.”
“Fine. Frankly, I don't know a lot that some might want and you are right. Stuff about Walkers and facts of history or the Blank Century are remote, or not known because it is still worked on. I don't nearly know everything that hides here, but I bet I know enough for you.”
“Bet?”
Ellie crossed her arms and pretended to be hurt. “Alright, no betting...”
“Then I am glad to have you,” William sighed and stored his card in his pocket, leaving Ellie silently cursing this boy who knew nothing about this gift. He offered her a hand which she took and shook. Thus, their temporary business had started.
“It sounds strange to gift a full pass like this to someone like you, which explains Burton. I am not one to judge a powerful person like Kaufman. Headmasters or not, rules and words are like a law and power. Do you know about them, hm?”
“A little. They are like excuses that can be great or like cheats.”
Ellie begrudgingly nodded and figured she shouldn't argue too much with him because he was just starting to learn. He also didn't sound as stupid as she assumed, which might be odd considering his clothes, or shocking because he handled Burton very well.
“Kaufman was a headmaster, eh? Is that shrewd and cunning person named Burton close to one as well?”
Ellie unwillingly laughed at William's open curiosity. If Burton heard this, he would be angry for sure.
“No. A Dean is a high position for an intellectual and orderly person. It is like being a vice-headmaster, serving right under the current headmaster. Her name is Heidi Kaufman, by the way, and she is the daughter of that Kaufman who you met last night.” Ellie explained the bit she understood.
Burton already revealed a bit of it, so William wasn't that surprised. “I see. What about this library? Although I’ve seen the wall with floors, there must be more to that than Burton's words, or those carved ones.”
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“You have seen the board?” Ellie glanced behind her and saw the floor planing. “They are right. You are also not wasting your time if you look at them better. First, you have to consider what you want to know since you have the full pass. Even the last floor is open for you, but there are many things I don't know about there. They have been locked even for me which...” Coughing, Ellie didn't want to accept her inferiority.
“Weird how an employee doesn't know everything about their job,” he said as if he was digging for her reasons.
“It is alright because it is part of the Walker's rules. Even as an employee, I am far below them. Walkers know things. Researchers better than me are the same. I think Burton will tell me what to do with that tonight. And with you, I don't think you want to go from up to bottom, right?”
William nodded and glared up. “I guess.” He really wanted to go there and look at the secrets of the Darks that might be there.
“Oh, when you mention it, I don't even know if you will get access to some places, even with this pass. Some are private after Kaufman left, while Miss Heidi has different views over those upper floors. I don't think.... she would want you to know some things because it is fair. I've read rumors. Heard them too. After some official recommendations, or deals under the table, Walkers of enough Rank can get access to most places in the name of the Federation or their status. It is a real struggle. Most normal people are completely removed from that equation because Walkers protect what is right.” Ellie explained and sighed in disappointment.
Apparently, she wanted to see and know what was up with some things and secrets. “Apart from those regulations that might even touch museum or history floors, you are good. The upper floors have this mysterious lingering aura that is rather special. I’ve been there many times as a student and employee. It's quite mysterious and different. There are many doors and rooms with different stories. Even without being a Walker myself, knowledge hits differently. You will get it.”
William figured she loved this sort of stuff and talked about it with lovely curiosity and knowledge. Perhaps she was even hiding something, for she was quite mischievous.
Ellie went on and on, and William listened to her every word of advice with open ears. It almost seemed she had this job because of her voice and presentation. She cleverly used many technical terms, tones, and comments that made her sound clever, yet sensible to even someone like William who grew up Outside.
It was impressive. Some comments were brief, but otherwise, her speech had enough information for William to get started. Without going to any floor, he spent almost twenty minutes listening to her without any complaints.
“… and that is a basic premise of the library without entering any floor. Get it? Knowing what one wants is important and going from there is next. Shall we go easy at the start, proceed with effortless topics, or things you might be interested in, rather than complicated things like management or some economics?” Ellie ended her long explanation that left William with endless nods.
To him, the library was more endless than his nods or her words. He underestimated it. What he should learn? Where to start? He had no ideas about his expectations and felt a bizarre tendency to listen to her.
“Why do I have an idea that you seem more excited about this than myself?” William stated with an unwilling question that Ellie took naughtily, if not with some pride. Both of them were standing before a floor planning panel and had no time to go somewhere else because of Ellie.
“Because I am. Why should I not be? Dealing with people is always interesting, and your case is the same, if not much better than many others. I don't have to worry about anything. You have free access so that means no locks to me either We don't have to consider anything. That is unusual. Maybe you should be more excited since the amount of knowledge Outside must have been terrible for growth or your mind, or... uh...” She stopped herself after she realized she might hit on something improper.
William didn't mind what she meant, though he denied it for once “Outside is still my home. Or used to be. We know how to live. There are some resources and common sense left over from times that people gathered for years. They allow us to survive. How? Wasn't this how thousands of years were like even before the Dawn? There are no walls or oceans against knowledge or people. People meet and knowledge spreads in one way or another. That's at least my perspective of surviving for ten years, so do you want to judge it? If so, maybe we can exchange our position and I can become your lecturer.” William pridefully said and managed to sound quite good, unlike his image.
Ellie found it interesting and almost exciting “You see, you don't sound that dumb as I've expected. I am almost inclined to accept it.”
“Excuse me then.”
“So, does that mean you didn't exaggerate anything when you introduced yourself to Burton?” She asked out of curiosity and direct confirmation. She trusted that he told the truth, but refugees can lie all the time.
“Not one bit. I don't need to spout nonsense. I was like this for years and my time changed overnight. It's tough but I will manage.”
“A decade out there... wait, what about before that? You are what? Sixteen years old or younger?” Ellie sized him from the bottom and up, making a few circles around him which made him more uncomfortable than he thought.
“No idea. Don't know my birthday. I don't think I am more than sixteen.”
“You don't even know how old you are? Well, it isn't that rare Outside, I bet. Births go and deaths await. You must have no parents if that's the case.”
“Are you a detective or what?” William got defensive and rather changed the topic because he didn't want to go into that route. His parents were a tough topic to speak about.
“Oh, you know about detectives?!” Ellie cheered. “Outside has stories? How come? Which? How exciting are they?”
“And jobs. How surprising, eh? It is as if we are living people with some rare hobbies and stuff.” He sighed over her sudden change of mind. Suddenly, she sounded less than her attire suggested.