The Emperor's Jubilee II

[Nanoha Takamachi]

"Who might you be?" Samus inquired tersely, the adrenaline flowing through her from the rush of their flight only just now beginning to drain away.

The man smiled gently and said nothing for a moment, instead peering curiously at the trio of Primes. He was an older gentleman, just on the cusp of what could be considered elderly, with silver hair kept neatly trim and close to his scalp. He wore a simple, yet strangely perfect and elegant suit, that Nanoha thought would have been more at place in the past eras of parts of her original homeworld. His eyes were homely and kind, yet they expressed a focused energy that lanced right through her when they connected with her own, like he was constantly searching everything he looked upon for every minute detail.

"I am the Librarian of this place; the Databanks. This is the Dataverse's greatest, and only, library. I am curator and protector, helper and aide. You are all welcome here, provided you do not disturb the peace within."

His appraisal of them seemed to have ended, as he had stopped looking them over and instead was now looking steadily at Raising Heart as she rested easy in Nanoha's left hand. He stroked his chin slowly before speaking again, "I see there is one among you who is much like myself."

Perhaps. We are alike, yet different. You lack what I have, and I lack what you have.

The Librarian nodded sagely. "Indeed. I know of your kind; there are some texts here that speak of Intelligent Devices."

Nanoha looked sharply down at Raising Heart, but the Device did not reply. "Texts here that speak of Intelligent Devices?" She repeated, "But how? I have only been here a matter of days, and the Lost Logia that has created this pocket dimension has never been recorded before!"

Her only response was a simple shrug, before Samus interrupted her thoughts. "You can worry about that later, Nanoha, if these 'databanks' are the only collection of organised information in this Verse, then perhaps we might find something here."

Blues nodded in agreement, "Yeah, if anything it'd be good to recharge a bit before we go back out there. Who knows what else might be waiting now? Trying to find some more information while we are here would be handy."

Nanoha nodded, "You're both right; I had been thinking that. I'm sorry, it is just surprising to me to hear that there is information on Devices here."

Samus shrugged, "Hell, maybe he has information on things from where I come from too. This place is weird enough already; it wouldn't be that surprising."

Nanoha looked back at the Librarian, only to see that he was somehow standing on the other side of a doorway that had appeared in the middle of the courtyard they stood in. It was as if he had conjured it out of thin air before nonchalantly walking through. He beckoned them to follow and, with curious glances at each other, the three of them did so.

They entered into a large room filled with stacks upon stacks of bookshelves, each one lined with immaculate leather-bound books. There was a sort of complex looking coding system running along each shelf, though it wasn't anything like what Nanoha was used to at the Infinity Library back home. These books were all virutal; digitally created within this world of data, but she was certain that each one could be picked up and read like any other book.

Nanoha suddenly realised that Raising Heart was still active in Device mode and quickly had her friend revert to her standby form, the Barrier Jacket that clung to her her dispersing as well. She had been so focused prior to entering the Databanks that she hadn't even realised it yet. With the pressure of feeding mana to power her passive spells gone, Nanoha felt a clarity broaden across her mind. This place was incredible and vast, but they needed to be focused on finding anything that could prove useful on this mission before worrying about anything else.

The Librarian cleared his throat gentle, breaking the silence. "If you seek information then I am here to assist you, just as I assist all who come to this place seeking knowledge. You may, with my guidance, look through the books and other forms of physical data representation here, or you can browse through the library in a more digital form with myself as your aide. If you wish the latter, simply enter the door behind you and you will find yourself in a private room."

With that, he vanished, leaving a door set into the wall behind where he had stood waiting silently for them to open it.

Nanoha looked across at her companions, "I think we should probably split up, and follow a specific line of inquiry each. We need to find out more about who these... Terrorists are, what they are after, and where in the Dataverse, or elsewhere, they might be. I think I will look into what they are after, or whatever they are hoping to achieve, you two can sort out the other two between you. I assume the Librarian will be able to contact us if we find anything useful, so we can reconvene and share data. Sound like a plan?"

"Sure, that works." Said Samus with a slight shrug. Blues nodded slowly, probably already thinking about where to begin.

Nanoha did enjoy handling books, but something about them being digitally created copies felt odd to her. At any rate, a more widespread search would be the best option here. Nodding to the other two, she walked across to the door and opened it. Through the open doorway she could see a dim room with nothing but a simple desk and a computer terminal within. Every library has it quirks, she mused, and stepped through.