fardell24

Scarlett Investigates
Scarlett O’Connell hadn’t expected to be investigating a sabotaged play. She just wanted to learn to improve her art while investigating minor campus mysteries. She had made some backdrop pieces for the campus production of The Tempest and had arrived at the college’s theater to find something wrong. The stage was a mess. She saw that the curtain had fallen completely. “Something’s not right here,” she said as she fidgeted with her tablet.

“It’s a curse,” someone said nearby,

Scarlett turned, and saw that it was Daniel Fields, a theater student on her floor. “What do you mean?” she asked, as she fidgeted with a keyring in her pocket.

“Minor incidents have been occurring all week.”

“All week?”

“Yes, mostly broken props, but now the curtain has fallen,” Daniel answered.

“Sounds like sabotage,” Scarlett said as she sketched the scene.

“What do you mean?”

“That these incidents aren’t just the normal chaos of theater.”

“How can you be sure?” Daniel asked with skepticism.

“I’m not certain,” Scarlett admitted. She was certain, something about the curtain having fallen and Daniel admission of minor incidents, piqued her interest and she knew she wanted to find out what was going on. “I’m going to investigate,” she declared.


“Wait, Scarlett,” Daneil said as she ran off. “You can’t just…” He paused as she dashed through a door backstage.


Backstage, Scarlett wondered where to start. “I’ll need to know who’s involved in the production. But who would have the cast sheet, and would it be comprehensive?” she asked as she absentmindedly sketched the scene around her.

“You there!”

Scarlett turned. “Um, I’m investigating,” she said to the girl who was coming towards her.

“You shouldn’t be here!”

“I know, but I can help!”

“How?” the other girl asked, as she tossed her long brown hair back like a supermodel.

“I notice things that others don’t. I’m Scarlett by the way.” Scarlett then held out her hand.

“You don’t know who I am, Scarlett?” the other asked in faux surprise.

“Should I?” Scarlett asked with a slight bounce, her eyes wide.

“I’m the lead actress of this production, playing Ariel.”

“Still no clue.”

“I’m Victoria Calder! I can’t believe you don’t know who I am.

“Oh, that Victoria Calder!” Scarlett said. She had indeed heard of the theater major who was known for her diva attitude and epic tantrums when her demands weren’t met in a timely manner. “Sorry, I hadn’t put face to name.”

“Unbelievable!” Victoria said with a huff. “Still, Scarlett.”

Scarlett’s attention had wandered.

Victoria snapped her fingers. “Hey!”

“Sorry. ADHD,” Scarlett said.

“Right. You shouldn’t be here.”

“You said that before. But I can notice things others miss.”

“You seem sincere,” Victoria said. “But only if I supervise you.”

“No.”

“What was that?” Victoria responded, tears coming to her eyes.

“I said no,” Scarlett said, not wanting Victoria to be a possible millstone.

“I can help!” Victoria added with her voice raised and actual tears beginning to flow.

“No!”

“Victoria balled her hands into fists and started to screech.”

Scarlett resisted the urge to block her ears . It was too much. ‘Not an overload, not now!’ she thought. “Alright,” she said. “You can help.”

Victoria calmed down and wiped her tears with a handkerchief embroidered with her initials. “Thanks,” she said.

Scarlett was still little overwhelmed. “What have you noticed so far?” she asked as she fidgeted with her sketchbook.

“Some things,” Victoria answered. “We can talk in my dressing room.”

“That would be good.”


Victoria’s dressing room was chaotic, but it was quieter than the backstage complex outside. Scarlett relaxed a bit, although she was still overstimulated.

She sat on one of the side chairs. “Now, what do you know?”

Victoria began. “It was during the initial read through. There was a loud crash that interrupted us as we reached the scene where Caliban recruits the two sailors.”

Scarlett sketched the scene, showing Caliban as bestial. “Maybe someone is objecting to the way Caliban is portrayed,” she blurted.

“No differently than the way the Bard originally wrote it. Just’s not jump to conclusions!”

“Sorry. I was musing aloud. Something I do. I don’t have much of a filter,” Scarlett admitted as she tapped her stylus against her tablet.

“Must you do that?”

“Do what?”

“The fidgeting,” Victoria exclaimed.

“Sorry. It helps me focus.”

At sunrise, Olivia got out of bed, having spent most of the four or so hours tossing and turning. She was as tired as she usually was when she was unable to sleep. Her mind was working on the mystery of the manuscript, Aurora’s history and the layout of AAUA most of the time. ‘I can’t function like this every night!’ she thought. She looked over at where Janara was still asleep. ‘I know you have your own challenges,’ she thought. And she had observed Freya in the shorter time she had known her. The synaesthesia caused sensory overload, she was sure of it.
She looked out over the campus as the sun crested the horizon.


Dana saw Freya come over after she got her breakfast. “Morning, Freya.”

“Hey Dana,” Freya said as she bounced into her seat.

“How are you this morning?”

“I’m well.”

“How is that investigation going?” Dana asked.

“Slowly.”

“Oh.”

“Aurora’s history is a lot more complicated than I thought it would be,” Freya responded.

“That’s not surprising.”

“And that the layout of AAUA is also complicated.”

“You mean the hidden corridors?” Dana asked.

“Yes. But not just those.”

“Digging too deep in it leads to conspiracy theories. Any group of structures are certainly going to get more complex over time, like any organism.”

“I agree.”


At the same time, Janara awoke and saw that Olivia wasn’t there. ‘I guess she’s either started her studies for today, or is still at breakfast.


Olivia entered the Janus Hadrian Hall Dining Room, and found that it was as crowded as usual. She knew she would have to go to a corner.


After grabbing her food, she thought about the day ahead. ‘A few classes, then find Freya before dinner,’ she thought as she made her way to a corner.

“Olivia!”

Olivia looked. “Peter,” she said.

Peter Lucius waved her over. “I heard you found that something was missing from the Library.”

“Yes,” Olivia said as she went over. “It’s proving to be a bit difficult.”

“Oh?”

“With how large the University is.”

“I didn’t really think about that,” Peter admitted.

“It seems that we’re just beginning.”


It wasn’t long Janara came for breakfast herself and saw Olivia and Peter talking. ‘You’re not as introverted as you think,’ she thought.


Freya took out one of the her sketchbooks as soon as she finished eating.

“Always sketching,” Dana commented.

“Not always,” Freya said. “But most of the time. Otherwise I hum, or tap or bounce or dance.”

“It must have been difficult.”

“It was. I was diagnosed early.”

“So, you’ve embraced it over time?” Dana asked.

Freya nodded.


Janara joined Olivia and Peter.

“Finally,” Olivia said.

“You know that I sleep in,” Janara said in a ribbing tone.

“So, you’re involved too?” Peter asked.

“Yes,” Janara answered.

“What do you think?” Peter asked.

“That the manuscript was taken from the Library for a reason,” Janara said. “Most likely because some people don’t like what it says about Aurora’s history.”

“That’s a good point,” Olivia said. “We’ve been tied up with the ‘how’ and the obfuscation, so we haven’t really considered the ‘why’?”

Janara took out her phone. “I’ll send a message to Freya and Alexia.”


Freya was drinking her tea while doodling something on her tablet when Janara’s message came in. “Oh!” she said.

“Something?” Dana asked.

“The motivation for the theft!” Freya said. “We haven’t thought about that yet.”

“Opportunism?”

“I feel that there’s more than that.”

“But then we’d be going into the conspiracy theories,” Dana said with a warning tone.

“It will be a matter of keeping an open mind.”

“It might take more than that.”

“I’ll keep you in the loop if you like?” Freya asked. “Tell me if we’re going too far.”

“Yes,” Dana agreed.


It was early afternoon when Freya, Janara and Alexia met in the Grand Atrium of the Library. “So, what’s this about the stacks?” Alexia asked.

“Olivia and I sneaked down there last night,” Janara admitted quietly.

“That was reckless,” Alexia said.

“A little,” Janara said. “We’re going back with Freya.”

Alexia turned to Freya. “Really?”

“Yes!” Freya replied enthusiastically. “We need to find out if the manuscript is being hidden down there.”

“There has to be a better way than trespassing in parts of the campus where students shouldn’t go,” Alexia said.

“We’ll make sure we’re not caught,” Janara responded, with a whisper.

“Then you’ll need more blueprints of the university’s hidden spaces,” Alexia said.

“But where would they be?” Freya asked.

“I’d probably start with one of the modern Architecture sections,” Alexia suggested.

Freya looked at one of the maps. “The Quinmillennial Section, Second Floor.”

“Are you sure?” Janara asked.

“Not entirely,” Freya admitted. “But let’s go before I change my mind.”


The Quinmillennial Section may had been the most modern addition to the Library, but it still hosted the same Romano-Nordic motifs as the rest of the complex. Freya took all of it in as she entered the area from the Art Deco Section’s second floor. She closed her eyes briefly, remembering the layouts of the Library she and Alexia had looked at the week before. “It’s near the east wall.”

( 4th – 6th )

Total: 504

Olivia looked closely at the unofficial map of the hidden corridors around the library. “No evidence. But I could look tonight.”

“Tonight?” Alexia asked.

“If I can’t sleep,” Olivia said. “I have insomnia as well as dyslexia,” she admitted.

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Freya said.

“I could go with you,” Janara offered.

“But first, we should continue with this,” Alexia said.

“Of course,” Olivia said as she turned to Alexia.

“Next. The known sequence of how the Library was built. The Ancient Section is the core, but not all of it was built over the same time,” Alexia added.

“Wait,” Janara said. “I had heard that the campus is a fractal.”


“The campus is, yes,” Alexia said. “But the Library isn’t.”

“Right,” Olivia said. “According to the records we have, the oldest parts of the Library date from the Second Age.”

“So, the Ancient Section was complete when the Roman occupation started?” Janara asked.

“Yes,” Olivia answered. “The records state that the Early Roman Section was constructed early in the Second Century.”

Alexia tapped her tablet and the Early Roman Section was highlighted on the projection. “It lies to the south of the Ancient Section.”

“There hasn’t been much speculation why the expansion happened in that way,” Olivia said. “But each expansion occurred as the Library came close to running out of space. At least that’s the official explanation.”

“Next was the Late Roman Section, added in the Fourth Century,” Alexia continued.


As Alexia continued describing the expansion of the library, Freya was distracted, but she managed to get the gist of it. She continued her sketching, filling the page with various symbols from Aurora’s cultures.


Alexia concluded and sat next to Freya. “I saw that you weren’t focused. I tried to be engaging for you.”

“It’s fine,” Freya said. “I’m sure that comes from experience.”

“But you followed Olivia,” Alexia said.

“She’s also more passionate about Aurora’s history. that helps,” Freya added with a smile.

“Noted,” Olivia said.

“But what are we going to do next?” Janara asked. “We can’t just snoop around the Library, or the nearby buildings looking for the hidden passageways.”

“Where else?” Alexia asked. “The Library itself may hold the clues somewhere in the public collection.”

“I’ll look tonight,” Olivia said.

“I’ll have to come with you,” Janara said. “You can’t go alone.”

“We’ll talk about that later,” Olivia said.

“In the meantime, I’ll keep working looking at the various blueprints,” Alexia said.

“And I’ll work through what we talked about artistically,” Freya added as she jumped up.


“Are you sure you want to investigate the hidden corridors in the middle of the night?” Janara asked Olivia as they left Sigrun Sigurdottir Hall.

“I’m sure I won’t get much sleep with this mystery on my mind.”

“So, you want to use the time productively?”

Olivia nodded. “I am up to date on my studies.”

“I wasn’t questioning that.”


Freya returned to her room and stuck her sketch to the wall, which was already half covered in sketches. ‘It’s starting to look like my room at home and I have only been here a week,’ she thought. She turned to the window and looked out, at the campus and the glow of the streetlights of most of Urbs Aeterna beyond. ‘Somewhere out there the solutions of these mysteries will be found.’ The manuscript mystery wasn’t the only mystery on her mind.


Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Olivia returned to the vicinity of the Library shortly after midnight. She had waited until Janara was deep into a gaming session before sneaking out. The University was quiet around her, with the on campus bistro closed for the night. She took out a schematic of the western side of the building Alexia had given her. “There is some kind of hatch somewhere near where the Renaissance and Late Medieval Sections meet.” She then took out a torch.

It was, of course, shaped like an old-style torch, rather than an American flashlight. But even so, the light could be focused in a beam. Olivia did so, before sweeping it over the façade of the Library.


After finding a hatch, she managed to flip it open. “I guess they don’t expect students to come looking, or for them to expect it to be locked.” She saw a ladder going down. “I came this far,” she said as she adjusted the torch to diffuse mode.


She then found her way into one of the Stack levels of the Library, specifically of the Renaissance Section. ‘But it would likely be below the Ancient Section, right? Or is that what they would expect someone to search?’ She decided to try to go in that direction anyway.


It didn’t take her long to get to the Ancient Section stacks.


But the layout was chaotic and she was sure that the shelves hadn’t been moved in centuries.
‘This will take ages,’ she thought, as she wandered around them.


Janara logged off after finishing a raid. She then turned and stretched, then realised that Olivia was gone. “You didn’t go by yourself, did you?” she asked herself before quickly grabbing her own torch and jacket.


Olivia had spent some time looking around when she heard something. She turned with her heart beating fast. “Who’s there?” she asked.

Janara came around a corner. “You came here alone?” she asked, with an annoyed tone.

“Yes. You were busy, gaming. And I wasn’t asking Freya or Alexia.”

“Because you haven’t been around them as much?”

“I suppose so,” Olivia responded.

“But I’m not sure that the manuscript would be here, in the stack.”

“It might still be here, but also, there might be doors to the hidden corridors somewhere.”

“They may be well hidden in ways neither of us would notice,” Janara said. “They usually are in games.”

“This isn’t a game.”

“No, but sometimes they are based on reality.”

“Wait, you said ‘neither of us,’” Olivia said. “You’re saying Freya might be able to find the doors?”

“It’s worth a shot.”

“She did find the obfuscation.”

“So, come back tomorrow?” Janara asked as she turned.

“Maybe she’ll still be up.”

“I don’t want to take the risk of waking her.”

“Then it will have to be tomorrow night,” Olivia decided as she followed Janara.


When they returned to the dorm room, Janara found that Alexia had emailed her a copy of the campus blueprints she had presented. She looked at where Olivia was already dictating a recording of the day into her diary. ‘I’ll tell her in the morning.’