Welcome to the Program

[airlockedmods]

Good Morning, Champions. In the interest of maintaining healthy sleep patterns, a day/night cycle is in effect. Your presence is expected in the cafeteria in exactly one hour.

[The voice comes through not a large speaker, but through the device that's attached to each Champion's arm. Further investigation of the features of the device will reveal a list of profiles, a mini-map, and a list of rules. The hallways are shiny white and silver, with running lights along the floor and lights on the ceiling, and at the junction of the hallways is a sign with a knife and fork icon and an arrow pointing down the hall.

Welcome to the Excellence Program, Champions. Time to get to know your teammates.]

Comments

[theundertaken]

[Max is content enough to walk to the library in silence; it's not like it's a super-far trip, and also he's just not terribly sure what to talk to a fourteen-year-old girl about. Not a lot of commonalities, except the one big obvious one.

Once they're at the library, though, he pipes up again.]

Non-fiction seems like it would tell us more about where we are. Though, this looks kinda technical...

[immaculacies]

You don't have to read the books themselves, if you just want to take a quick survey. For example... If this universe has magic that isn't a secret, one of the titles should make mention of it, I think.

[As Manaka speaks, she touches the tip of one finger to the spines of the books in front of her, trailing it over them as she skims their titles for any words that stand out. He's right, these do seem technical... And mostly about space stations.]

[theundertaken]

I was hoping for something more like...I don't know, "History of X Planet". Or species. More specific.

[He picks one off the shelf and pages through it.]

Tell us what kind of people might've brought us here. These aren't even for this space station in particular, that could've actually been useful.

[immaculacies]

We could try looking for an encyclopedia. But... This library had to be stocked by someone. If there isn't anything like that here, they're likely keeping more specific information from us on purpose.

[theundertaken]

Yeeeeeeah. [He glances over at the fiction section.] ...I know some of these books, though. That's something.

[immaculacies]

Do you? [She follows his line of sight.] I don't read many novels myself, so I'm not sure how many I would recognize.

[...But, more importantly.]

Do you think they have publication dates printed inside?

[theundertaken]

[Max grabs the novel instead and flips through it.]

Nnnnnnnno...that page is just blank. Weird...

[immaculacies]

...How strange.

[That...gets a reaction out of Manaka? Her eyebrows lift, and she tilts her head.]

Not removed. Just blank?

[theundertaken]

Yeeeeah... [He holds it up to peer at the binding.] Doesn't look like anything's been torn out or cut.

[immaculacies]

And the rest of the things that should be on that page, like who published it and what edition it is. That's all missing, too?

[theundertaken]

Yeah. Just the title page is here. [He flips to the back cover.] And they left the author blurb.

[immaculacies]

That's strange for more than just the obvious reason, isn't it? If the page wasn't removed, just blank, it needs to have been printed that way. Which means that they paid for all of these books to be custom-made, or...

[...Or what? That these are all commissioned printings is a simple explanation on the surface, but it feels logistically unsound to her. She just can't figure out what the alternative explanation would be.]

[theundertaken]

Maybe they can just run things off like that. Like in Star Trek.

[Aaaaaaaand he loses her again]

[immaculacies]

[...Yeah. Yeah he has.]

I'm sorry. I don't know much about Star Trek.

[theundertaken]

Oh. Well, they have a computer that can just make stuff. Little stuff, like a plate of food or something.

[immaculacies]

Oh. Is that... the replicator? [It's like trying to draw up half-remembered bits of information she had overheard once, trying to think back on things she had no experience with herself.] Still... That would mean they needed to synthesize each of these books one by one, wouldn't it? That would still take a long time, even with some technology like that.

[theundertaken]

Yeah, that's it! And, I mean, it would. But if they could just set it to go, like one big print job, it wouldn't be that bad. Just work on something else and come back for it when it's done.

[immaculacies]

Mm... I suppose so.

[She doesn't seem terrible convinced, though. The detail of those blank pages just feels so off to her. Why are they so intent on hiding dates and editions from them, anyway...?]