Another morning, another day ahead, and Zachary had prepared a bag full of supplies and tools to move over to his temporary workshop. However, he had another stop to make first, to do with last night's dream. He packed the book about the Church of Aeros he had just finished into the bag too and set out into the streets, under the cover of the morning shade. Lugging his backpack, he soon arrived at the ruin of the university, where he had been at the time of the cataclysm. The massive bolt of lightning which had struck it along with many other tall buildings left the upper floors as burnt out husks, but some of the lower floors miraculously survived relatively intact. He had avoided taking residence there as many people often passed through the building, but there was one place he did visit often.

Climbing up a few flights of stairs Zachary was in front of a double-door which had been crudely repaired so as to be functional. Faded letters on a sign above the door spelled out 'LIBRARY'. Zachary walked through the doors and entered a very large and dark room. Dark, that is, save for the glow of a single light behind some shelves on the far side of the room. Suddenly, the silhouette of a man moved out from behind the shelf.

"Who goes there?" the figure called out.

"It's Zachary, Leo," Zachary replied.

"Ah, Zachary! If this were a business you'd be my favourite customer. Come in, come in, just let me find the light switch," the man named Leo replied amicably. He returned behind the shelf and a few moments later light cores in the ceiling flickered to life and illuminated the room.

The room indeed was a library. Rows of shelves with books neatly stacked in them filled the room. Smooth metal shelves, rounded painted tables, foam-padded chairs, desktop holopads (albeit without power) and a grey-blue carpet gave a modern feel to it. The room was meticulously clean, save for a large hole in the roof which had been another room until its floor collapsed into the library. You could almost believe the world outside hadn't gone to hell when inside this library.

"I see my lighting still works," Zachary commented. To help Leo out Zachary had fixed up the lighting in the room, allowing the entire place to be illuminated at the flick of a switch. Before that Leo had to make do with a flash-light and lamp. To keep the cores from wearing out he only turns on the lights when needed, but when the lights are on it completes the ambience.

"It sure does. It makes this place so much livelier," Leo said. He emerged from around the corner, and Zachary could see him clearly. He was an aging man, in his late 50s, with a bald patch and greying hair. A decent beard, matching the colouring of the hair on the top of his head, was present on his face. He wore a tweed suit which had remarkably remained intact all this time. Zachary had learned that Leo used to be the Librarian of this place long before the Apocalypse, and still is. The library had been fortunate enough to escape the fire, so as soon as he could Leo had picked up all the fallen books and shelves, sorted them, restored the library and kept it running. He didn't get many visitors, but he liked it that way. Any visitors which come to make trouble face the barrel of Leo's shotgun, but otherwise the man known as the Librarian was quite open to guests.

"As much as I know you like to chat, I also know that you don't come here unless you want a book," Leo said.

Zachary laughed. "Indeed. I've finished this book here." He took off his bag and removed the book from it. "I found it quite intriguing. The parts on kages and ancient cores were particularly relevant."

Leo took the book from him. "I told you that you'd find it interesting." When it came to borrowing books, Leo is quite lax about returning them. He figures that since he has such a high supply and small demand that he can afford to give away a few books, such as engineering reference books to Zachary. He does ask for a donation of food for the service, though, so in accordance with that Zachary also handed over a few serves of rations.

"What do you want now? A couple of back-copies of some engineering magazines? Maybe a nice novel?" Leo asked.

Zachary paused for a moment, trying to find the right word. "Actually, this time I want something on endocrinology."

"That's a strange request coming from you. What sparked you interest in that?"

"Last night I had a dream, sort of. Kaa'is was analysing my body, taking me on a grand tour of all the incredible details. Hormones were a hole in my knowledge, so we decided to do some research."

Concern crept into Leo's face. "You be careful with what your kage tells you, Zachary. I don't know what he's planning in there, but you'd do well not to trust him. But if you insist, you can find such books down there in biology and physiology." He pointed towards a particular aisle of shelves.

"Thank you, Leo. It'll be fine," Zachary replied. He went down the shelves and foraged through the books. After 15 minutes of looking at and flicking through a few textbooks Zachary settled on one and put it in his bag. It weighed as much as a brick, but he had grown accustomed to carrying a heavy pack. With the book in his bag, Zachary headed for the door. "Goodbye Leo," he called out, waving.

"See you later, Zachary," Leo replied, looking up from a book he was reading and giving a quick wave in return.