Library:Found and Lost

This story by Sindariya was submitted for the SotA Writing Round Table's "What Was Found in Ardoris?" writing contest and won second place.

Found and Lost
by Sindariya

“Message received. Start mission: Identify found object. “

The watcher's clicking metallic feet echo in the alley as it crosses the street. It is one of many in the streets of Ardoris. None of the inhabitants notice nor pay particular attention. They will sometimes even unknowingly step on one. Thus, the watcher crawls in shadow close to the wall. It turns right into a narrow, unpopulated street. In the cloudy sky, another watcher flies circles over the street between the houses observing an object lying below. As the watcher on the ground reaches its destination, the flying watcher heads back to its normal observing route.

“Location reached. Start identification.”

With its fire-red blazing eye it starts analyzing the rectangular object, a book. It wasn’t lying here for a long time. There was no mud or dust on its surface. It is bigger than an average book and in use for generations as revealed by the worn cover.

At the same time, a red light starts blinking in a little basement deep under Ardoris. A gloved hand turns on a big screen in the center of an old and rusty control desk full of buttons and switches. On the stone wall over the desk hangs an enormous map of Ardoris studded with small lights flickering indifferent colors. Letters appear on the screen.

“Found object: Book. Title: Nothing. Cover: Damaged infinity symbol.”

“More detailed scan required.”

The other gloved hand hides the smirk on the face which observes the screen. “TheOracle wants a more detailed scan? Why is she that curious?” he mumbles in the hand. “Let’s see what the watcher will find.” This was the first time that one of the keywords was triggered by a watcher. Catching a watcher and hacking into his system without alarming the Oracle was really difficult. But if he can now prove that the Oracle is hiding information, it was worth the hard work. His fingers tap impatiently on the desk, his eyes still focusing on the dim luminous letters on the screen.

“Scan successful. Cover: Two symbols. Alpha and Omega.”

“Stay on hold.”

“Waiting for orders.”

He jumps from his chair. That is an unusual development. Normally the Oracle wouldgive the watcher the order to scan the content to retrieve the information. The object itself would be left where it was found. He learned this procedure of the Oracle from his first observations.

“Order: Secure book.”

A short time after the watcher got its order, a disguised person enters the narrow street where the watcher is sitting on the book. The noise of buzzing wings catches his attention of the person. He turns around and sees a swarm of flying watchers approaching. The swarm is big enough to pick up a book and make it disappear. The man accelerates his steps, snatches away the book lying under the watcher and vanishes around the corner at the end of the street.

“Mission failed.”

The watcher walks on.