The sensations that swam around Quinn as the synchronization took hold were markedly different from the initial one she’d sat through. While the first time she fully synchronized with the Library had felt more like going under anesthesia, this was more like an altered state of consciousness. That state that wasn’t quite awake but also not fully asleep. In the in between where everything has that plane of difference, of other.

She could feel the power thrumming. It wove through her, around her, inside her.

Like the instrument of her soul had suddenly been switched on and was tuning itself to the right notes.

Yes, this time it was so very different.

She hadn’t realized that pushing though to the seventh pillar in the filtration system would boost the Library and her awareness to this degree. She could feel the strength, like a newly restored engine. It felt like she was floating on a vast sea that was replenishing her while the sun charged her batteries. The water flushed through her, over her, around her, feeding her with a plethora of tiny organisms, all different, all full of knowledge.

Then her body started shaking, shivering. So much that she thought her teeth might be rattling. She couldn’t tell if this was just an internal sensation or if she was truly experiencing it. Warmth flooded through her, like the sun on a good day. Not too hot, not too cold… just right.

At least her insides didn’t feel like porridge.

She couldn’t tell how much time passed or exactly what was happening after that. Information flooded around her, through her, in her. It stuck in her mind so fast and so definitively that she felt like her head would come apart at the seams multiple times.

Except heads didn’t have seams, did they?

At one point, there was a vague sensation of a presence near her which felt familiar but recognition evaded her in that moment. Floating in her ether of water and sunshine, she couldn’t be certain about anything. Except that she shouldn’t be able to see the stars in the sky when the sun was keeping her so warm.

All that mattered was floating.

And then, when she felt like she couldn’t take anything else into her system, when she was about to overload - peace happened.

But reality didn’t slam straight back into her.

No.

Instead, just like last time, she began to wake from the strange state. Bits and pieces floated around her, bringing her back to herself.

Quinn blinked her eyes open.

This time, when she woke, she wasn’t grappling with a shocked revelation about her heritage. It was gradual instead - not her digging to find a specific thing that made her uncomfortable.

In fact, this time it was a little directionless. At least last time there’d been an impetus. She’d realized some of the information was pertinent and had to get a grasp on it. But this time... To be honest, she was a little dazed. She knew she’d just synchronized with the Library. That was obvious. She glanced around, turning her head to each side, trying to pull her thoughts together, to remember something.

The information leached into her brain. It was different this time. Somehow more. So much more.

And yet nothing that set her pulse racing or stirred anger within her.

Quinn remained lying down and pulled at the food sitting on her chest. She chewed it absentmindedly, trying to process everything. She had a vague memory that Milaro had been here, guiding her through some of the experience. She was potently aware that about two days had passed. Unsurprising, and yet, at the same time, somehow unexpected, she’d assumed it would go faster the second time around. Hadn’t she already known a heap about the Library and its universal connection?

Her mind was calmer this time. It allowed her to get a hold of everything she’d been exposed to, allowed her to process the ridiculous amount of information and power now present in her mind.

She frowned as she tried to parse through everything.

It gave her access to all records and a far deeper understanding of how the Library worked. This wasn’t a game changer like the last synchronization had been. No, this was getting into the intricate inner workings required of the Library to function as it did. Acknowledging that there were doors more inclined to be opened by different quadrants. That there was indeed a pattern in the perceived madness of allowing constant access to the Library from all the worlds and people who accessed it regularly.

She’d never really understood just how the transfer of magical power to the Library from books worked. But it had to do with the ambient energy the books absorbed from all the different areas of the galaxy, combined with the people who borrowed or carried the books. Each entrant through a door infused the Library with more power. The way Quinn was woven into that net of dimensional magic meant she could sense when doors were being opened. The more power available to her, the greater her sensitivity to everything involving the Library.

That was how the Librarian position was meant to function.

Which led her to understand why Lynx had to shut it all down.

The Librarian was intricately wound into the system. They were the connection between it all.

Could it still function without one?

Perhaps technically. But the drain on the power system would cause routing errors because the Librarian had been set up as a pivotal piece in the entire construction. She was a conduit, a hub, through which all manner of energy exchange passed. Without that piece in place, the system would feed back in on itself if it continued to be utilized. So, when Lynx drained a heap of the power reserves to seal the soul bomb, he’d had to close the Library to preserve what he could without a Librarian to initiate the recirculation properly.

She’d always thought having 18,000 books missing, or borrowed at a time from such a massive Library, was a minuscule number, and that it meant that not many people frequented the Library. But she realised that many books weren’t removed from the Library, but instead studied there because once removed, they did actually latch onto each person’s or family’s ambient energy and mana reserves.

As a result, many people used the Library as a destination and not necessarily as a borrowing visit. It wasn’t like the Library her mother had taken her to when she’d been a small child. After all, that one hadn’t been filled with dimensional portals.

And if there was one thing Quinn now realized, it was that dimensional portals took a lot of energy to open. The malachite barely offset anything.

Quinn searched through the memories and realised even though she didn’t have exact numbers for the unopened branches, it was obvious that a lot more books had been borrowed before shut down than she’d realized. And now, her information actually included the other branches in it - just waiting for them to be open.

There were still memories the Library needed restored, but there was so much more available to her now.

She sorted through everything, scanning it, skimming it, realizing how much easier it was to access all of that overload in her head. The foggy feeling began to lift, and she flexed her fingers involuntarily, as if itching to scroll or page through its entirety.

When she got to information about the pillars, Ashiron had moved to a pale orange color. Warnings were soft, but still imminent. Their makeshift solution was just that. They’d have to rectify that sooner than later.

She blinked as she focused on processing and now understood how Lynx got that far away look in his eyes. The way the HUD had expanded to complement feeding masses of information through her mind, understanding levels of power in much more intricate detail, and being able to process them all together with the help of the mind dilation techniques Milaro had helped her with. She frowned.

The most spectacular revelation was all the information available about every single visitor. Now that the Library was mostly functional and highly powered, its scan data was ridiculously complex. They had, after all, in order to prevent another potential Tenejo situation, begun scanning everybody’s intentions as they came into the Library. And they’d been doing so for months. Anyone intending harm would basically be detained, questioned, their intentions toward the Library ascertained.

Stolen novel; please report.

What really fascinated her was the level of differentiation required by the system to figure out who could be a potential threat. So far, they’d quite literally flagged no one. Quinn didn’t think that was possible. There’d been millions of visitors since she’d taken over. There was no way that everybody was their friend.

But the readings said otherwise.

Which could mean one of two things. The system was being fooled, or the conspirators were biding their time.

Or perhaps even both.

She pushed those thoughts to the side and focused on the system’s consciousness. The Library was a living entity and its system an integral extension that enabled the Library to function. She loved the sensations running through her, the ability to access the knowledge immediately. Her HUD gave her more options now and more intricate details. And so many more powers.

Quinn was stronger. She could feel it without even reaching for any of her power. It was a heady sense. One she thought she might have to indulge in.

Her mind cleared fully, her fog gone, and her focus sharp.

She flexed her fingers, holding them up toward the ceiling, examining them as she continued to munch away on the replenishment food Cook sent with Lynx. Speaking of which, she could sense him standing right next to her as she chewed away happily on the food. He was waiting and his patience was about to run out.

“Well?” he said expectantly.

Quinn grinned. “I think it worked,” she said. “I feel more connected.”

The Library’s shadowy form approached her, curious. “You feel more connected?” the Library said.

“Definitely,” Quinn said, pushing herself up slowly, her hand still held out in front of her. She was focused on the power that surrounded it, the shielding she’d summoned to test it out. It coalesced faster, with but a thought, a split second’s construction. She murmured the words without really meaning to say them out loud.

“This is very different from last time.”

“Well, last time you were thrown off guard by information you hadn’t expected that we probably should have given you previously.” The Library sounded more logical than contrite.

Quinn raised an eyebrow and couldn’t help herself. “Probably?”

“Sarcasm, Quinn.”

“I’m extremely aware of that,” she winked at the Library and continued to focus on the feel of her hand and her body now that her mind could categorize and create her wishes so much faster than previously.

“How do you feel?” the Library prompted. “Is it too much power?”

Quinn shook her head and truly examined her mind outside of just accessing the information.

She was distant, looking down on things, able to see them from the outside and be analytical... and yet at the same time, she was connected to everything in a much more intricate and intimate way. Could she get closer or have a better command of things? Probably... but the improvement over the last synchronization was astounding.

The Librarian was distant, yet connected. Small, and yet vast. Insignificant and yet powerful. It was all difficult to comprehend with her Earthen raised perceptions.

She could understand why Hal insisted on calling her an egg in the grand scheme of things.

Every ability she already possessed flared within her, like the ceiling twinkled in time with how the power shimmered inside her and she could tell that there were thousands upon thousands of abilities that she had yet to learn. So many. It was like a list inside her head for her to methodically work away at.

And it made her all sorts of excited to get started.

“Yeah,” Quinn said, finally answering the question she’d been asked as she brought her hand down and clenching it into a fist. “I think I’m feeling pretty good.”

Do you want to try anything?" the Library said.

Quinn grinned and summoned her dancing flame on both hands, making the white-hot ball of flame dance between both hands, two of them juggling over each other, twirling over all of her fingertips.

“You did that before.” Lynx said, clearly unimpressed.

“No. You don’t understand,” she said. “I’d only just managed one hand. This feels like I’ve expanded.”

“How do you mean expanded?”

“Like my ability to enact and follow through has expanded. The ability to juggle more than one thing at a time. That I can multitask and immediately pull my magic forward without having to give it a second, though. I feel...” she paused for a second and realized there was only one word for it. “Calibrated.”

“Well, yes, we can pull up your information and double check.”

And so Quinn did.

Name: Quinn

Age: Irrelevant

Heritage: Earth, Sector 12942 - Infinite reach, pocket Dimensional adaption

Species: Librarian - of Cosmicisodracus origin - determining extent and variations*

Energy Capacity: 5284/5284

Mana Levels: 4222/4222

Regeneration: Energy Idle: 15 per second, combat 8 per second.

Mana Idle: 14 per second, combat 7 per second

Alignment: 117%

Affinities: 1723**

Tome Knowledge Expanded: Beginner levels 42% complete. Intermediate levels 12%. Advanced - 0.05% - Higher levels not yet available.

Affinity Level: 32

Determination: Extended

*Cosmicisodracus properties established - awaiting essence distillation calibration effects

**As far as the Library can determine

Quinn blinked and turned to the shadow Library. “Is that... this normal?”

The Library shook its head. “That is 100% not normal, as far as all my previous Librarians are concerned. However, it might be normal for a cosmicisodracus Librarian.”

“But doesn’t it apply to you, too?” Quinn was a little confused.

“I just am. I’m the Library, not a Librarian which is a specific role we created to curb any potential corruption on my part.”

“Did your scope not expand when the portal dimension melded with you?” Quinn asked.

“Oh,” the Library said and chuckled ruefully. “That’s very astute observation, Quinn. I didn’t really think of it like that. My stats definitely increased as the system created itself too...”

“So basically,” Quinn said, “I think this is just natural for what I am.”

It was a huge thought to wrap her head around. She was indeed evolving, could feel it with all of what she was. The excitement made her giddy. So much potential... power with which to protect the Library and everything it stood for.

Quinn moved quickly, engaging her speed with but a thought. She moved from the bed. Conjured a flame into existence to float in midair. While it hovered, she shot icicles all around and used gravity to control them. With whim, with thought. She watched her energy tick down in the corner of her vision and grinned. She had so much. There was so much she could do.

And then she paused. “I shouldn’t be getting any feelings of like grandiose megalomania, right?”

“What?” the Library said.

Lynx raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I feel powerful. Like I can do anything,” Quinn said.

“Well, you can do anything,” the Library said.

“No, no, I don’t. I don’t mean it like that,” Quinn said. “I didn’t mean that.”

She looked over. It didn’t require conscious thought. She tried to figure out how to express what she was feeling and instead decided to show it. She pulled back to all the books she’d read, the earthen ones in particular and the creation of earth affinity which allowed for the creation of sand. Pulling it forward, she gathered the flame she’d cast earlier and crafted a beautiful glass rose in her hand. It was hot, but her scales protected her from it.

Which is exactly what she’d meant. She could pull on any and all affinities and combine them with little more than a thought. Her scales made her heat impervious, and...

And that’s when she stopped, looking down at her arms, aghast. The blue iridescent scales shimmered. It wasn’t overly prominent, but it was there and try as she might, she couldn’t get it to camouflage again. She looked up at Lynx, her eyes open wide.

“Can I not get rid of them now?” She asked. She wasn’t sure if she should be shocked, upset, panicked, or excited. There was an element of fear involved there, too. Scared that she was changing too much.

“That’s just your armour, Quinn,” Lynx said. But he didn’t sound so certain.

The shadow of the Library walked toward her. It passed its shadowy hand through her. And even though Quinn couldn’t really tell if there was a frown on her face, it did make a very odd hmm sound.

“It’s new. You need to just let it sit for a bit. Once it acclimates to you, you should be able to fully control the morphing once again.”

Quinn sighed because she did love those scales. “It’s not that I don’t like them. I just, I prefer to have a choice.”

“You will. Right now, it’s just getting used to your new system.”

Quinn nodded, pushing back on the fear that was trying to crawl up her spine and strangle her. “Okay,” she said.

She released the flames and ice and gravity she was controlling all at the same time and grinned. “Now I wonder what else I can do.”