Chapter 150

Keep People Safe

Quinn didn't need anyone to tell her that Finn was telling the truth. She could feel the tiny vibration for fear resonating through the room, through the entire Library. Subtle, but strong, and very obviously there.

From that very first encounter when Finn had approached the check in desk back just before the Library opened as one of the first assistant applicants. Quinn had a gut feeling back then about them, and all the assistants she’d hired, like Geneva and Eric.

And her gut was telling her that Finn’s fear was real.

Now, whether that fear was a truth Finn believed because they had been brainwashed into it, or a truth that was a hundred percent true in everybody's eyes, Quinn didn't know. She also didn't care.

Finn had come to the Library and won a little bit of her heart. Perhaps it was that they were shorter than her and resembled one of those eager, shy, anime characters. Finn had never been a larger than life presence, only a small one, quietly doing their job.

They’d helped out, as an assistant should, but even in difficult situations like the one with Tenejo and maintaining that shield until Quinn’s emotionless state took care of things. Finn stepped up and filled in shifts when necessary, caring and loving in their handling of all the books. Quietly going about their job, eyes always filled with endless wonder.

Unobtrusive and quiet.

Always there.

The perfect spy.

Could they be very good at their job and weaseling in under their target's defenses? If Quinn were sending a spy to get inside the Library’s security, Finn would be the perfect choice.

But there was something about Finn and their passion for Library books - any books. Something that stood out from the first moment she'd interviewed them. It led Quinn to be quite certain that Finn, while perhaps encouraged to apply by their elders in order to spy, hadn't actually been aware of it in the first place.

It was a strong feeling. And right then Quinn was counting on it.

"Finn, what's wrong?" she asked.

Finn's gaze darted all around, their already large eyes impossibly bigger. They still trembled even as they looked around as if they were trying to find something. "I just had my day off... I usually just spend it in one of the species specific rooms, but I was called home this time."

"Did they give a reason?" Quinn asked, as gently as she could, trying to put reassurance in the tone.

Finally something clicked for Finn, and a visible wave of relief shot through them. The tension in their shoulders dissipated. "They said there were important family matters to attend to and that I had to come home as soon as possible. I was so worried. My grandfather has had a few health scares. But when I got there..."

The tension ramped up again, so high that it was palpable and made Quinn's skin crawl. It was panic. Finn was close to a complete and utter panic attack. She walked over to the couch, beckoning Finn to follow. After a second's hesitation, the Library assistant followed. Even doing such a small thing, seemed to calm them ever so slightly.

Quinn sat on the couch first, patting the seat next to her gently. "You know no one with ill-intent can get into the Library, right?” She just had to hope that Finn counted as a part of the Library being an assistant, and that the security was actually working right now. Although she didn’t let that on. She hoped.

Finn nodded slowly.

“Come, sit with me. My legs kind of hurt." Quinn gave her best soft smile.

Finn eyed her cautiously, and then shrugged and sat down, still focusing only on Quinn. Her anxiety levels had evened out ever so slightly.

"So, can you carry on? What happened when you got there?" Quinn asked gently.

Finn paused, and took a deep breath, as if they were centering themself. "They asked a lot of questions. All at once. My parents, my uncles and aunts, cousins I've never even seen before in my life...No one has ever been all that interested in me. Books have always been my thing. That’s why I was so excited when the Library reappeared!"

Quinn noticed that Finn wasn't the best at staying on track. Probably why they occasionally lost themselves in the Library and research. She had to suppress a smile, because this situation required that she be serious. Instead, she gave her best look of understanding before speaking. "That had to be confusing. Do you remember anything they said?"

"They asked how many assistants we had, if there were advancement opportunities for me to become a supervisor, if there was a restricted area, and if I had access to it. They also wanted to know if just anyone could use restricted texts.” Finn paused. “Isn’t that all in the Library rules? I mean I thought it was…Their questions confused me so much. I kept telling them to just read up on the rules, that they hadn’t changed.”

Quinn patted the top of their hand gently, trying to pull them back. “They’ve never taken that much interest in your goings on before?”

Finn shook their head. “Never once.”

“Did they ask anything else?”

Finn frowned, like they were trying to bring their own brain back on track. “They wanted to know if anyone had recently infiltrated the Library." Finn scrunched up their face. "How would they know that and why would they think I’d talk about it? I told them that even if it did happen, I couldn’t talk about it. It was work information."

Quinn cringed ever so slightly, certain how badly that would have been received. "Did they say why they wanted to know all this information?"

"No!" Finn spoke vehemently. "That's what's so confusing. They gave me no reasons for their need to know. But they wouldn't stop asking. And when I wouldn't answer... They asked me to bring them back that information. They said they were so curious about how the Library worked, and why it had been gone for so long. They even promised me all sorts of things if I told them and horrible things if they didn't." Finn muttered the last few words, their gaze darting all around again as if to check that their relatives weren't hiding in the shadows.

Quinn watched the way Finn wrung their hands, the way their eyes darted back and forth. They were legitimately scared and Quinn was quite certain that they weren't scared of her.

What do you think? she asked the Library.

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Genuinely scared, you're right.

Do you think they put them up to this? Quinn asked

No. I mean, yes, The Library corrected itself, but I don't think Finn reacted in a way that their superiors thought they would.

Yeah, I get that same feeling, Quinn said. "Finn, it's okay, we get it. You can relax. Everything will be okay."

Finn relaxed into the couch a bit more, their eyes darted to everybody in the room, with Misha and Farrow there, Malakai and Dottie, Eric, who was like a thundercloud at that point in time, Aradie and Lynx. The room was full of the main people of the Library. It seemed to calm the Ilgonomur somewhat. Maybe it made them feel safe. Quinn could only hope so.

Finn cleared their throat and gave everybody a very nervous, wan smile before leaning right back into the couch down and taking a glass of water from Lynx who'd briefly disappeared and reappeared.

"Is it okay if I ask you a few questions?" Quinn asked as gently as possible. When Finn nodded, she continued. "Let’s take this back a bit. Who told you to apply for the Library?"

Finn's eyes lit up at the question. "Oh, I've always wanted to work at the Library, but for years, for centuries that is, for so long, that was something I didn't even have a chance of dreaming about. I just worked at the Ilgonomur main branch Library. So boring, barely a magical text anywhere to be found. It's very hard for normal libraries to contain them without contaminating other aspects of the Library, you know."

Finn's expressions just lit up their face whenever they spoke about books. It was a demonstration of joy for those books that Quinn was 99% sure she had on her face whenever she spoke about books. It was part of the reason Quinn was certain Finn had never meant the Library any harm.

"So," Quinn said, "it was your idea to apply?"

"Oh yes, but they encouraged me. They knew I loved books. They said that the Library opening now was fortuitous and that if I got in on the ground floor I'd have a fantastic future here for me." Finn said, a small smile on their face.

"Who told you this?"

"Oh, Geshan. He's the lead Librarian for the Ilgonomur main branch Library." Finn said importantly, then they paused, frowning. “He’d never really paid much attention to me before that.”

Quinn filed that away and smiled, hoping to keep her assistant at ease. "Wonderful. So, you filled out the application?"

"Oh no, they filled it out for me, which was great because, you know, there were things in there that I didn't exactly know what I should say." Finn paused, as if unsure what to say next. "I might read a lot, but I’m not a good writer. It was nice to have someone else help me phrase a few things."

"Interesting," Quinn said, mulling that over in her mind. The application had little bearing on why she'd accepted Finn, but now she wanted to go back and look at how it was filled out just in case there were any hints.

This time, Lynx spoke up. "Why are you asking us to keep you safe?" Lynx said.

"Oh," and Finn started hyperventilating again, as if, for just a few moments, they'd forgotten how panicked they'd been earlier.

Quinn could sense the fear rolling off them in waves. "What else happened? Can you tell us?"

"At first I was excited. Everyone asked me all about the Library. What I did here, how many patrons we had on average, how the book retrieval was going, if anything was still wrong with the Library.” Finn frowned for a second. “I think Uncle Nort even asked about a filtration chamber?”

Quinn raised an eyebrow.

Finn shrugged. “The questions started to seem strange, especially the filtration chamber and asking if we’d had any trouble recently. Although there were a lot of people in the Library at the time I guess … right? It would make sense to be curious?”

They asked the question like they wanted it to make sense. Quinn smiled. “Some people are naturally curious.”

Finn’s expression hardened for a brief second. Like they suddenly realized natural curiosity wasn’t something her family ever exhibited. “When I stopped answering questions, the strange and more obscure ones… They began crowding around me, and were so insistent. I don’t like crowds, I don’t like too many people. It’s why I love books so much. Books let you read, they let you learn, and they show you things you didn’t think were possible…

“Finn.” Quinn said gently. “Focus.”

“Oh. Yes.” Finn cleared their throat. “They had hints and tricks for me to get into your good graces so you'd share more with me. That’s when it started to get truly uncomfortable." Finn looked down at the ground and sighed.

"It's okay. Just keep going. Maybe we'll find something we can use to help." Quinn said soothingly."

Finn nodded and took a deep breath. "When I stopped answering so willingly, they pushed, and they grabbed me, each of them vying for my attention… I couldn't think, there were so many of them crowded around me. I was scared. It didn’t feel safe.” Finn looked up at Quinn as if searching for something.

Quinn nodded in what she hoped was an encouraging way. Even if she wanted to find Finn’s family and punch them all.

Finn nodded. "Then started encouraging me to go to the debriefing chamber. I've never been there before but I know where it is and I’ve seen the parliamentary guards out there. You can't fight them. Nobody gets away from them. And no one ever comes out quite the same. I didn't understand what they wanted at first, but I did know I had to get back here."

Quinn waited patiently while Finn took a few deep breaths before they continued.

The Ilgonomur took a deep breath and kept speaking. “I said I had to use the bathroom. It wasn’t really a lie. I felt so sick… They scattered enough to let me out, but I used my Library pass on the door when I went to the bathroom instead. The thing was... I'm quite certain they'd activated the external location locks on all the doors. My badge flashed red before it allowed me access. I don’t think I’d have noticed if I wasn’t so intent on the image of your office door in my mind. So, the Library sort of saved me. I think.”

“An assistants or higher’s pass will override anything attempting to keep you from the Library if you seek to get back to it.” Lynx said, his voice gruff.

Finn paled ever so slightly. “I don’t think they wanted me to come back before I’d agreed to help them. Or before I told them more. Please don't let them come and get me."

Finn was shaking so much the couch was moving. Quinn leaned forward and patted them on the shoulder very gently.

"It's okay. You're safe here." Oh, how she wished she could be a hundred and fifty percent sure they were going to be safe here. So much had happened to put the Library and its assistants in danger, that she was beginning to truly question hers and the Library's ability to keep people safe.

Quinn motioned for Narilin and Dottie to come and help. "It's okay. You've been staying here in the quarters most of the time, haven't you?"

"Yes, a lot of the time. It leaves me closer to the books and I like that." Finn smiled, although it wasn't as blinding as usual. "I just wanted to go home and see my parents but they weren't there when I got there which is why I went to the offices because that's where they work."

Quinn heard the tremor in Finn's voice. She understood. They were worried about their parents, their family, and what it meant that they'd run away. Even if some of that same family had been attempting to coerce them, they were still family. And, for a lot of people, that could get very complicated, very fast.

But at the same time, Finn had been scared and hadn't wanted to be hurt or hurt something they cared about.

"You did the best you could with what you had," Quinn said. "It's okay. We'll make sure you're safe here. Dottie and Narilin are gonna take you upstairs. Maybe we'll get you a soothing soup, something to calm your nerves. Does that sound good."

Finn nodded and a few tears escaped from their big beautiful eyes. “Thank you.” They sighed and held the sobs in, before turning to follow Dottie and Narilin upstairs. Quinn watched as they left the room and then she turned to Lynx and Misha.

"We need to go over the security elements for the Library. If we have to scan every damn person who walks through a door, we will, etiquette be damned. We're not letting anyone else who works to keep the Library going, go through something like that."

"You know they could be... embellishing, right?" Lynx asked carefully.

"Of course I know, but sometimes my gut instincts just work well. And right now my gut is telling me that Finn is genuinely scared. I want whatever we can do to make sure I can keep the promise to keep them safe." She said, her tone hard as stone.

"Very well. I just wanted to make sure you'd considered all avenues." Lynx said.

"I know, and I appreciate it. I'm not about to give them access to the filtration chamber or anything. But, I believe Finn. And we're not letting them go back home. That, that was terror. Whatever information they want from Finn, they're not getting, and I'll be damned if I let anybody else infiltrate this place."