The X-Project

In her exploration, Sarah finds the library and meets its assistant librarian - Alani.



Sarah had set a personal goal that she would check out every room that didn't have a key card entry by the time she had been in the house 2 weeks. She'd find a room, take some notes about what to find there, and keep walking until she hit the end of the hallway. She had been exploring about ten minutes today before discovering a library and reading room. Of course they had a library.


She peeked in, and darted to a bookshelf in the corner. She couldn't decide if she expected the books to be all reference books for whatever research this place was involved in, or if she expected reading material for the seemingly endless stream of people who lived here.


"Hello?" Alani had admittedly not been getting restful sleep, but, even then, she didn't think she'd gotten to the point of imagining things in the library. That seemed like a dangerous, slippery slope. So, carefully she got up to check through the aisles, lest the books show their displeasure again or something just as stressful happens.


It was a relief when she just saw a person, a woman she'd never seen before, sure, but it seemed like they'd had an influx recently so she wasn't about to let that get to her. "Oh! Howdy, can I help you with something or are you just browsing? Or are you... hiding from someone? If there's some weird game of mansion-wide hide and seek going on, I've entirely missed it, which would suck."


"Not hiding. Just getting a feel for the place. It seems like every time I leave my room, I end up in a different hallway that I didn't know existed." Sarah shrugged, and smiled a little sheepishly. "Like this room. Didn't know it was here until just now."


"Oh thank god." Alani flashed a grin of her own. "Yeah, it's pretty big, and there's kinda a lot going on at any given moment. I mean, yeah, I miss a lot of it when it happens, but fucking wild to hear about afterwards. Well, this is the library, and I'm the assistant librarian, when I'm here." She motioned around them with a dramatic gesture, before motioning to the 'assistant librarian' ribbon she'd made for herself earlier that year. "So, if you want a book or to check out a study room, this is it. And, if you have any questions?"


"I can't say I'm much of a reader, much to my father's disappointment." Her smile widened and she mock whispered, "I had to pretend to read every Dick Francis novel he handed me."


"Well, you'll get no judgement here." Alani didn't try to hide her amusement at all. "I was young when I found out I didn't care for the writing of long dead men, and that's done heaps for me. Sadly, I still have to read them when they're assigned though. If you're feeling up to it, we can leave the reference aisle, and you can see all the other books we have. Though, if they start getting a mind of their own, I can do nothing to stop them. Like owning a cat."


Sarah followed closely behind Alani and looked around curiously. They looked like regular books... "How often does that happen? What exactly are we talking about? Books that move? Do they sing songs and fix dinner?"


"You know, I haven't gotten one to fix me dinner yet, but to be fair, we're not that far in our relationship," Alani was grinning, following her gaze. “Only the once, so far. If you noticed the magic sign outside the door, that’s pretty prohibited here, but a little group of people with more... luck in them tried to open a pretty locked door late last year and most of the books decided they wanted to be open too and came off the shelves.”


"But if you don't have any.... magic," the word felt strange to say in a completely serious way, "you should be fine? Or is it the books themselves? Just trying to decide if I need a helmet in here."


"Oh, no! It's not 'having' magic, I mean, Topaz, er, the librarian has dealt with more of it than me, so before I even rolled up, the ‘no magic allowed’ rule was here. So no magic in the library.” Alani explained as best she could. “I am not a magic person, and that doors open, luck attack was my first time dealing with anything happening here. So, I don’t even know when things will happen, if they do. Hmm, that isn’t a glowing endorsement at all, is it?”


Sarah shook her head slowly, though it wasn't necessarily in response to the question. She knew all those words but felt like she was missing some crucial context to make it all make sense. "This place can be a lot."


Alani stopped walking and turned to face Sarah, wanting to offer some comfort or advice but unsure what she could even say. The truth was often the best. "It can be. I don't know your situation, but, personally, living here has included some of the wildest times of my life. On the other hand, there's some pretty great resources and people, if you ever need anything. Also, just a shit ton of free food."

Sarah laughed, and the tension in her body language didn't exactly disappear, but was overtaken by her amusement. "I can vouch for that! I have been fed more times than I can count since I've been here."


"That's how I picked my suitemate, well, and we have similar goals for what we wanna do." Alani half-smiled, hoping her joke landed instead of making her look like an ass. Which seemed to be happening way too often as of late. Or maybe she'd always had a habit of shoving her foot in her mouth. "Favorite meal so far?"


Sarah smiled slyly. "I couldn't possibly say. If word got out that I picked a favorite I might hurt someone's feelings. And who knows when you might need that friend."


Alani blinked, taken aback for a moment, before she made a thoughtful sound. "Man, that's smart. I usually say whatever's been given to me last, but playing cards close to the chest never hurt, did it? Any other nuggets of wisdom you've picked up on?" Hmm, which probably sounded strange, so she rushed to explain. "Been here going on four years, but, like I said, I miss a lot. And I am sorely making up for it."


"Take notes." Sarah waved her journal, and pulled a pen from the first page. "You'll miss less if you write everything down. Plus, you'll start your own library."


"Ohhh, very smart. I used to joke about starting a conspiracy board with yarn and everything to keep my findings sorted, but a journal is actually something I could carry on my person and keep that going. Put that on the shopping list for tomorrow." Alani did pull out her phone then to jot 'journal' into her notes, flashing Sarah a very bright smile afterwards. "Oh! Oh, shit, I never introduced myself, did I? I'm Alani, I usually open with that when I'm not being a total idiot."


Sarah looked sympathetic. "I throw people off sometimes. And my manners are shit today. I came in unannounced, and I'm not even sure I identified myself when I snuck up on you. I'm Sarah."


"Your ninja impression was really good, it did throw me for a bit of a loop," Alani chuckled, before offering her hand. "Well it is a pleasure to meet you, and I hope you're enjoying yourself so far, Sarah."


Sarah looked at her own hand in hesitation. "While I appreciate that you are offering me a hand in welcome, I don't think my hands are in the right condition for touching." She held up a hand in demonstration, and flaky bone patches grew along the fingers. "My stepmother used to say I was sharp and spiky on the inside, but I bet she never imagined I would be sharp and spiky on the outside too."


Alani's face had hardened for an instant as she bit back any comments she might make about Sarah's stepmom, before easing back to a pleasant disposition. "They look fine to me." Her tone was light, the edges of her lips curling back up. "You know yourself and your powers best, and I don't ever try to force an issue beyond someone's comfort. They are very nice spikes, if I do say so myself."


"I don't really mind them," Sarah shrugged, "but imagine shaking someone's hand and coming away looking like you fell on the concrete and scraped up your hands. I heal, but I don't know many people who share that."


"Ah, I see, that could be a bit of an interesting time." Alani nodded a little. "I don't heal, I mean, not faster than your everyday person. I destroy things, that's my powers, er, aside from being able to breathe underwater, which, funnily enough is what I usually get brought in to do." Thinking about it, that was all she really got called to the field for, and she was more than happy with that fact. Flashing Sarah another smile, she raised her hand again and wiggled her fingers. "But I have the first on lock, or I would have opened with that."


"There seem to be a lot of us with powers related to destruction. I destroy soft things-- clothes, furniture, people, stuff like that." For someone with such an extreme mutation, Sarah was remarkably calm when speaking about it to others. "How often does it come up that they need someone who breathes underwater?"


"You may have a point, but there's nothing like having a destructive power to sojourn here. And same hat. I pass through things, but things do not pass through me," Alani laughed, despite herself. It was a little refreshing that someone else with a mutation that could destroy things was speaking of it rather blandly. "Twice now. First to Japan to fight a god guy, then to Baltimore to try and talk a spirit outta some shit. Learned I'm not a good diplomat from that. But if that's the cost of rent, I'll gladly pay it. Bus to the city is just outside, so I'm finishing up my degree and helping kids there."


"When you grow up like I did, you learn to sweet talk both the bosses and the grunts. Diplomacy is something that gets easier with practice," Sarah grinned at her before adding, "and if that doesn't work, you hit them and make them listen."


"Sadly I'm not a hitter, and our hitter was way too into the spirit and her goals to hit, which probably for the best. And my people pleaser tendencies are a hit or miss." Alani sighed dramatically, though she did nothing to look disheartened. "But, if you have those skills, I think there are some teams and definitely some people here that could really make your time enjoyable. Or fill time. Er, if that's what you want. Sorry, you may have noticed I'm a talker, trying not to make assumptions. If you don't want to do things, I'm a great example of keeping your head in the sand."


"You are the assistant librarian. That's doing something, right?" Sarah smiled reassuringly. She liked talkers. I'm cases like this they were harmless, and on a job the talkers we're usually the ones who told you what you need to know. "I'm only here temporarily, until the dust settles outside. But maybe I will look into something to keep me busy while I'm here. I'm not used to this much free time."


"That is something, you're right," Alani flashed a quick grin before continuing as she turned over the latter statement. She knew more than she wanted to think about 'waiting for the dust to settle,' and then everything had led to her just sticking around. But that didn't seem like something anyone would want to hear. Ah, yes, welcome to this lavish mansion with free food, people with powers, and jet, we stay here longer than we ever anticipated. "Well keeping busy is important. We have books on hobbies or some language programs if you'd like to pick one up. I hope you'll like it here."