Chapter 91

This academic floor looked great and William found it rather on within his state of mind. He wasn't sure if he was happy or afraid to think of schools, but he was here to learn. He ought to respect it.

Frankly, he didn't think he was that stupid, but he wasn't the brightest when it came to learning or looking for something he had no inkling about. Training and thinking about something was the fun part. Feeling the consequences of some learning wasn't.

Working with all kinds of people was the same or a nasty headache. Either way, if he had to go through six weeks of this, he could survive this after some minor modifications.

He survived worse, so he wasn't afraid anymore.

Academic floors were on the expensive flank when raising kids in regular families. Results were obvious since the quality of the educational materials was outstanding, and most kids would get plenty of attention. Most families were busy with work, so their children had to learn things properly outside of their views.

Grabbing some book, William looked inside and turned pages every so often as his curiosity allowed. As expected of the geology section, depictions of flowers, fauna, and thousands upon thousands of pictures followed clean and colorful ideas. This book would be priceless Outside.

Each page had at least a few pictures, showing history long turned to dust. Corruption destroyed the majority of the fauna, but this book was older than the Dawn, so it almost felt as if it slipped through time. It was describing facts, descriptions, and usefulness of some old fauna, usually below their respective picture.

It was some sort of encyclopedia, so William wondered how many flowers were extinct. He bet a lot more than anyone ever knew.

Ellie saw his choice. “This is a regular botany encyclopedia. Not something useful to glance at for five minutes.”

“Ah, you've been counting? Why? It is five minutes of looking at a botany book that I've never seen in my whole life. If it isn't that impressive, what is?” William said as if he were some intellectual.

Ellie got an itch to tease him but refrained herself from doing so. Truth be told, his logic made sense as long as he wouldn't go overboard.

And right it went. She remained shut and let him ponder about it for ten minutes until he had enough. Then, Ellie looked at how he got to other shelves and saw more questionable choices. William spent a whole hour looking around, discovering many interesting facts, including some farming techniques, past stakes in agriculture, and how some genetic modifications created near endless supply of food that fed billions of lives. Of course, without a heart for farming, it wouldn't be achievable, and these sorts of things were familiar to him.

Ellie waited impatiently beside a table, sitting and reading through some random books she found interesting. “I should've picked something from the culture floor, or anticipated this and grabbed him whole. Does it count as... kidnapping, if I drag him away?”

After a while, William put the book about plantations and fields of the current generation back into the bookshelf. This one was interesting, as it wasn't too shocking and old. He learned that the current world followed the past and cultivated farming, and wrote new books. It must be the work of this library specifically. It was curious because he was looking at farms a few days ago and knew how efficiency and needs never left these fields.

There were only so many people to feed, birth, and preserve, so not a lot of rich ground was required for most of the camps. There was even a surplus of some goods, but those matters weren't Outside problems in the slightest. Farmers did their duties for a reason. The Federation was behind them, with the majority of goods going away the moment the harvest would arrive.

Thus, Outside had fewer resources, and as far as some camps were concerned, this matter was up to the Federation. Frankly, non-Federation-affiliated settlements were outer problems that not many people were bothered with due to time constraints, or history.

William took a cold breath as he remembered bad times, harvests, and people. A lot of people.

He learned a lot in every camp and opportunity, and numerous problems made more sense later. It was what experience acquired. Today, he learned and understood many things just from a few books. Was it how it always felt? Had he grown a little already, or was Outside a simple pawn in a grand game of survival? Or were those camps targets and places set aside for some other purposes, so nothing would attack the Federation?

Some of those worries were very false and outdated and he realized it.

Reading wasn't always fun for him due to work and exercise, or it was camps that didn't have a great range of books. Usually, most lessons went through talking, less action, and no clear writing or system was put in place for young Walkers, let alone children. Schools were almost nonexistent in many places, including the camps.

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Outside was old-school, if that ever made sense to William.

Here, this whole library created a whole new world that William found thrilling. Deducing more topics to broaden his lacking horizons was like a game to him. He had some topics he half comprehended already, while his Outside knowledge gave some curious, if not sensible views.

Books that he wasn't sure about made less sense to him, but that was alright. There were thousands of them. He didn't need Ellie to call him stupid, so he decided to leave this floor.

Walking to Ellie, he said. “Sorry to make you wait, how about visiting the next floors? How were they called?”

“Oh, already? Nice! I thought you would spend the whole day here and waste my time” She lazily expressed herself, stretching her hands and head at the same time while laying on the table.

“I got lost in some stuff. It is wonderful to know that what I was doing had some meaning.”

“Huh?”

“Farming, I mean. Agriculture.”

“You... Eh. Wait. You were a farm boy?” Ellie pointed at him, half-unsure if she remembered him saying that or if she got so bored, she already forgot about it.

“You don't seem to have farms here, so is farming that shocking for a street city girl?”

“Girl?” Ellie squinted and eyed him. “I am a lady! Sure, and also a streety like a rat and very guilty of it.”

“Then, Lady, have my apologies and my deepest respect.” William teased her and made a small bow. “Can we go, lady?”

Ellie still looked at him, standing there and bowing. “That is good. Good... You have to figure it all out as…long... as... AHHH! I forgot! No! I can't do this anymore.” she suddenly shouted and forced half of the people in numerous rows to look at her.

William backed off in fright since she surprised him much more than he was willing to admit. He straightened his back when Ellie got up from her table and stormed to him as if she wanted some money. Like in stories, William wondered if this girl played this job, or if she was secretly some kind of bandit.

“W-what is it? Don’t surprise me like this,“ he mumbled in embarrassment, feeling books on his back.

“I… I… No! This is not about me at all. You are a Walker! Not a farm boy. It completely blew over my head for the past hour. I can't take it... My heart skipped a beat and you....” Ellie said, feeling a little worse about herself. She pressed him to the bookshelves and got closer. “You...”

“...”

“Can you show me your Emblem?” She whispered to his ears and William swore she smelt better than she sounded.

“Huh?”

“Just a look. A sneak peek. No need for theatrics. It isn't a big deal.”

William was lost in her eyes next and wasn't sure if he had ever been this close to such a girl before. Sure, he saw plenty of girls Outside, but people out there were so busy, they barely got time to hang out. Especially to him, who had less than comforting friendships or simple talks with people his age.

It tended to be serious whenever he spoke with adults, or was it because of his Emblem? Children were less struck by it than others, while most adults took young Walkers for nothing extraordinary because they were yet to shine, and could become really annoying to deal with.

What did it mean when he looked at Ellie, who seemed to be a unique existence that felt like no Miss Anderson, child, or an adult? Was it how youths were after passing their childhood, or was this how this paradise let children grow up? Was Ellie some weird oddball, an experiment gone wrong, or just a girl living her dream job?

“What does it even matter to you? Wasn't it recommended to let them out of sight, or was it some sort of joke?” William shook his head and looked away from her close face. Her sudden outburst put something weird to his Emblem for sure, yet his hand felt surprisingly normal apart from creeping heat. Perhaps it was just his mind or heart; he was just a boy after all.

“Oh, hiding matters? That fact is big like a Walker being a Walker. A person with great standing and work in the Federation has them. Those gems. Those pretty objects. You might be a young one, not yet set up like one, but it won't last forever. You will walk through the darkness, fight the deadly foes, fly through the air, and dominate the sky, while nothing will strike your pride, body, or spirit. I love that sort of thing from stories and had the privilege to look at some warfares in the defensive lines and at other things.”

William wasn't sure how to react to her, though the shine in her eyes and excitement in her voice did not go under his skin.

“Walkers are people I respect the most, William. Well, right behind those books or Miss Heidi. Oh, she is a Walker as well so she doesn't count. You are nothing different, yet different. Do you understand what I mean? I want to tutor you but I don't know you, yet I feel if I knew you, I wouldn't get to know you. It is that sort of dilemma since knowing secrets can curse us both.” Ellie scolded him for real and held his shoulders with both palms.

At least she didn't shake him or shout anymore. William was getting headaches from dealing with his ignorance. This didn't help with anything. What was so big about Walkers? She was exaggerating everything because of her expectations and youth.

William had seen Outside. He had seen death. He watched it and caused it. There weren't some saviors; there were also a bunch of crippling sensations, puddles, muds, red, and survivors. Some, he fought. Others, he battled within himself and drowned. Like two sides of a coin, there were sides to the Madness, and he tried to overlook them both.

Ellie kept pressing on this matter and wondered where was his Emblem Localization.

“If I show it, will you calm down?” William mumbled when she started to poke him with her finger.

“It isn't as if it is against the rules. What is? Walkers are rulers of this place anyway. There are no bans for Emblems apart from unleashing them out of the blue. That is just common sense. No one wants to destroy anything while pretending to be normal sounds like a joke to me. If it's pretty, why hide it?”

“Unleashing Emblem? So there are some rules about them after all.”

“Of course, but that is like wielding a gun. It can be loaded, empty, or just for a look. Walkers are guns, you see. Very pretty guns.”

“Never heard them, so why won’t you broaden my horizons personally? That, or I will go to the upper floors where I will get plenty of materials and get nice pictures of what the world of Walkers is like. I’ve never had a chance to experience much, you see. Something about a so-called ignorant brat clothed in drags makes a bad impression. Silly, am I right?” William spoke with no shred of humility or loftiness.

Ellie didn't get it. She just wanted a little peak, so what in the world was he talking about? “You silly... ugh, where is it? Your back or, chest, or... bellow....” she eyed him and blushed, keeping her pressure on him because she was past the point of recovery.