The Last Library

The hatch hissed when Helena cracked it open and found her nostrils flooded by air that had not moved in decades. It was stale and almost made her gag. It took some getting adjusted to.

            “What is this place?” asked Josh.

            “So far, it’s safe. That’s what it is,” replied Helena. She shined the light on her phone forward and found a metal staircase that led in one direction—down.

            Helena’s curiosity got the better of her, and she continued to move in that direction and eventually down the staircase. The air smelled even older than it had mere steps before. Helena really wanted to know what and where she had discovered. She had come here attempting to find a place where she could recharge the hoverjet and hopefully make it back to the San Angeles Sprawl with her ward, Josh.

            But it looked increasingly like what she had actually discovered was another mystery.

            Josh kept quiet. He knew better than to say anything when Helena was determined to find something out. He just hoped that no matter what she discovered, they were safe and able to get that hoverjet charged back up. Civilization felt much safer than whatever this was.

            A loud clanging sound disrupted Josh’s thoughts and startled Helena. They found themselves suddenly bathed in bright lights. At first, the light was too bright. Both Helena and Josh had to adjust their eyes. But Helena was not prepared for what she saw when her eyes had finally acclimated to the lights.

            She realized that they were in a vast chamber. The walls were lined with shelves, and on those shelves were…

            “Books!”

            Helena’s eyes widened, and her pulse quickened as she looked at all the books on all the shelves. Never in her life had she seen such a sight. She was old enough to remember books and had even seen a couple, but not like this.

            “Books,” she said, whispering and almost reverently.

            “Books? Those are really books?” asked Josh, “I thought they didn’t exist anymore.”

            “Neither did I. We’ve found some kind of storeroom. It’s a…”

            “It’s called a library. It’s the last library, and you shouldn’t be here,” said a voice.

            Josh and Helena looked for the direction of the voice and saw an old man at the other end of the large room. The man wore a HAZMAT sui,t and even through his clear faceplate, his angry visage could be seen. He took a few steps towards Josh and Helena, then seemed to think better of it, and paused.

            “How did you find this place? Why are you here?” asked the old man.

            “I’m sorry. It wasn’t intentional. We were lost. The Cloud went down. Our hoverjet is low on charge,” said Helena.

            The old man stared at Helena as she spoke and seemed to be weighing her words. Then he shook his head and chuckled.

            “The Cloud went down? I knew it wouldn’t last. Also knew it wasn’t perfect. That’s what y’all get for putting all your hopes in a bunch of machines,” he said, then he gestured in a circle.

            “You see these books? They don’t ever fail you. They weren’t designed to fail. It’s kinda ironic that people used what they learned from them to create something that failed. The Cloud? Heh.”

            “It’s not down for good. Just temporarily,” said Helena.

            “Or so you hope. It fails once. It fails again. Always happens. One day, it’ll fail and you won’t have to worry about it failing again because that will be the end. Better you pick up some books and start reading,” said the man.

            Helena took a step towards a row of shelves and then looked back at the man.

            “You said this was the last library?” she asked.

            “Indeed, it is, and you know it to be so. There’s not a book left in the world that’s not in this library. And the sad thing about it is, these books may not last any longer because you’re here. So, you might as well read all you can while you’re waiting for your precious Cloud to come back,” said the man.

            “What do you mean the books won’t last? We didn’t do anything,” said Josh.

            “You sure about that, kid? Didn’t you unseal a hatch to get in here? Did you hear a hissing sound?” asked the old man.

            “Yeah,” said Josh, “So what? I don’t see what that has to do with us ruining anything.”

            The man shook his head.

            “You definitely could’ve benefited from some books. That hissing sound was the air you let out being replaced by the air you let in, and the air you let in is not good for these books. I know you thought the air smelled different in here. That’s for a reason. That hatch was supposed to be airtight. It wasn’t meant to be opened. You see me in this suit while you wear those polluted, contaminated duds. You’ve ruined everything,” he said.

            “We didn’t mean to,” said Helena, “We were looking for somewhere safe.”

            “Well, you’re not wrong about that. It is safe here. These books are like friends. But to be fair, I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to stay here. This place is special. There’s nowhere else like it in the world, and it’s not gonna be like that for much longer, thanks to you. The longer you stay, the shorter the time these books have. I’d rather just have the rest of my duties here in peace,” said the old man.

            “So, you’re just gonna kick us out? Our hoverjet has no power. The Cloud is out. It’s about to be dark soon. Anything could happen to us out there,” said Josh.

            The old man stared at Josh for a long moment.

            “Meh. I know you didn’t mean to do what you did. It’s just bad luck that all that mess happened to you and bad luck that it’s gonna cause this place to be an even bigger mess soon,” he said.

            Regret and earnestness flooded Helena’s face.

            “There has to be something we can do, some way to help,” she said.

            The old man’s expression softened beneath a foggy visor. He shook his head slowly.

            “Lady, you can’t undo air. But maybe you have a chance to make up for it. A small chance, perhaps.”

            The man moved towards a shelf and pulled a single book from the multitude of forgotten tomes. The spine was cracked, and the cover was faded, but the words could still be seen by anyone who cared. It said The Complete Works of Shakespeare. The man held it out towards Helena.

            “Here. Take this. It’s yours. It’s not just a book anymore. Now it’s a seed. If you let what’s inside take root, maybe it’ll grow into something that matters long after the book is gone. Doubt very many people still remember this guy,” he said.

            Josh stared at the book as if it were the most money he had ever seen.

            “You’re just giving it to us?” he said.

            “It makes more sense to give you a book to understand the weight of what this place is and what you may have accidentally done than to just sit here and let these books perish. Besides, I just take care of them. They don’t belong to me. They belong to whoever cares enough to read them. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been anyone for a long time,” said the old man.

            “Thanks,” said Helena. She looked at the book in her hands, and it felt heavy in her hands as if the weight of centuries worth of knowledge had been pressed into it.

            “We’ll take care of it,” said Helena. As she spoke, her phone chimed. It almost startled her because she had not expected to hear the sound. It also meant that the Cloud was back up. But more importantly, someone had messaged her.

            The old man did not miss a thing.

            “Your Cloud is back up?” asked the old man.

            Helena nodded and handed the book to Josh, who acted as if it were the most precious thing in the world. Helena took out her phone and looked at the message. It was Josh’s parents wondering why Josh’s monitor had disappeared from the GPS tracking. Relief flooded Helena. She could get help and get someone to come charge the hoverjet.

            Helena looked at the old man.

            “Yes, it’s back up, and now we have a way to get help,” she said.

            “Good,” said the old man, “Now get on before you accidentally do more damage.”

            Helena nodded. She looked at Josh, who nodded back to her. Together, they made their way out of the last library in the world and back to the hoverjet where they would wait for help. Oddly enough, they moved in silence. They understood that all the words they needed to focus on were in the book they shared.