Walt spent hours in his office after dinner looking through the books. The cover of the top book was all it took. It was the gateway to a night of obsession. The same way “one more drink” works. He kept combing through. Picture after picture of buildings that look like they belong in ancient europe. Some looked more like Castles. Some looked like Churches. The image of the Classic library on the cover spoke the loudest though. Maybe because it was the first he saw. This wasn't a travel brochure. This was a very old book of record. These images of immense structures were surrounded by very few people. Ordinary looking people, none struck him as wealthy or elite. Either way, there were so few of them walking around. Far less than you’d expect around the structures. Horse and buggies here and there carrying some debris. But nothing that looked like an operation for building nor dismantling. And nothing that looked like the commerce and street traffic of everyday life. Most images of the building contained just that one building. And all of the images showed dirt roads, or poor conditioned roads at best. Where was everyone?

The image of the Classic Library (which was originally referred to as Botham Public, as it was the first) was so desolate. The mound of dirt on the cover was so juxtaposed. Everything was juxtaposed. The mound was large but not large enough to be the amount leveled to start a project of that size.

The other image was the National post office. A building you’d expect to have mail carriers all over the front in the streets. Furthermore, It was the National post office. And there weren't even enough carriers for a city post office to make sense.

The financial street building had more buildings in front of it carving out a straight street leading up to it. Many of these buildings were also massive, containing Columns 3 stories high at least. Again, some people walked about, some horse and buggies, but nothing that implied it was in use.

Walt went in and out of reasoning with the peculiar scenes. Maybe the artist only wanted to get the building and not the people, or maybe the old cameras developed so slowly that only the stationary objects were part of the finished photograph. But there were other things there that did develop and surely couldn't have been still that long. And the artist may have not felt the need to draw all those people, but why surround the building with nothing but a desert?

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Dates were in most of the captions. The ones that said “Built” claimed a 2 year construction process at most. This didn’t seem right. The feeling completely overshadowed the exquisiteness of these monumental structures. It tainted them. It made them look suspicious. He started allowing himself to think that maybe these buildings were there before the people walking around, the buggies, the artists, and the photographers. Could they have been there before the architects?

“Ah, but the architects…” a brief moment of enlightenment flashed. Let’s ook into them a bit

This extended his session, and complicated it. One of these architects was Robin Henry. He had dozens of projects mentioned. He looked this up online for a more complete list. Henry was impressive. He built 5 of these monstrosities in just 1 year. He double checked that. Triple checked. 1 year. All desolate lots with Architectural Marvels on them. 5 of them in 1 year? And they were all separated by 100-400 miles. 5 in 1 year? With horses and buggies as a way of travel? Was this even possible to do with an established railroad?

Another architect by the name of Alexander Snowden had a confusing portfolio as well. His list consists of a couple houses, a highschool, and the National Treasury building. When you go to the Treasury page he isn't one of the 6 architects mentioned though. Even more, most of the architects listed never seem to have been confirmed by the building's design history. The images of the treasury are reminiscent of the parthenon. Large columns everywhere with a prominent staircase in front. Another massive structure and in a very undeveloped area.

His curiosity far outweighed his skepticism. For much of his session he was thinking that the appreciation for the skills of people in that era wasn't adequate, especially without modern tools. We’re told so often what happened and to support this and that cause, because it happened. We never see the grueling labor involved. Which is true for much of history. The finished product is all anyone wants to look at. It's the reward. Maybe we’re too imaginative, we create endless reasons and possibilities by just looking at one image. Maybe there isn't anymore to the story, this is just human nature. Build, forget, critique.

The next couple of days Walt did very little reading. It weighed heavily on him though. He wondered if there were more to this, or did he just want there to be more to this. Phil seemed to be on the “more to this” team. He’s a reputable guy too. Professor in electromagnetics at a prestigious college. That doesn't mean there’s no room for quackery though. He hated that word, but was aware of its prevalence, whether from people in authoritative roles or not.

Getting back to real life was a good idea. It distanced him from the intensity of the research. He spent some time with Mary. Which is a good idea anyway, you don't ever want the lady on your case about being distant or acting funny. And he was. This is such needless behavior. Getting this deep into history books? What needle does that move in a young man's progression through life? He thought. What good does it do for your spouse or family? He was acting funny, and this break was needed. But with this break Walt lost steam. He didn't even look at the books again till he had to return them.