Sleep was a deceptively elusive beast, and Thad was an awful hunter. And when he had found small moments of it, nightmares had joined him.

  Thus, Thad found himself in the gardens, bone tired, studying the plants and vines that grew into various runic patterns. It was a stunning display of arrays, and with the ambient dark magic that suffused the evening, he witnessed the subtlety of protections woven into the estate, guarding both day and night.

  Had Thadwick cared this much about magical theory? Was that where this underlying knowledge came from? It was perplexing. Though Thad would probably never know for sure. Not without really digging into the memory files, and he would avoid that for as long as possible.

  The Mercer estate did have a library, though. Maybe he could find more information there, or at least something intense enough to put himself to sleep. That was one positive aspect of the location file integration; he was no longer getting nearly as lost as before.

  Thad strolled into the Mercer library, a vast collection of knowledge, taking up several stories of the southwest tower. His mouth went agape as he saw a floating gem, inlaid Pallimustus, and its moons reflecting small dots of colored light across the many bookshelves as it lazily spun in the center of the tower.

  “Young Lord Mercer, may I assist you?”

  Thad turned to see a stern silver-rank runic woman dressed in scholarly robes watching him, a singular dark eyebrow raised.

  It was understandable; the memories that he had of this tower were less than ideal when it came to how Thadwick had treated the space initially. Most of the consternation came from his inability to use skill books, but of course, based on the last few hours Thad had experienced going through the basics of the Surging Storm technique, he had to admit that it would've been nice.

  “I don’t want to keep you here longer than you need to be,” Thad said, not wanting to bother the woman, who was working surprisingly late.

  “Well, I guard the library at night, so I’ll be here regardless, sir.”

  “Oh, I thought you were a librarian.”

  “I am the repository's guardian, though I do perform such duties. So, I shall ask again, what do you require of this space, Thadwick?”

  Thad looked at the woman, who looked about ready to fight him if given the opportunity.

  “Is there a section on fighting styles and ability usage?”

  “Third floor.”

  “I see, what shelves—”

  “The third floor, though we have our gold rank tomes saved in the archives, available with escort.”

  “Escort?”

  “Yes, you, Thadwick Mercer, would require an escort.”

  “Do I require an escort to the third floor?”

  “Will you properly handle the books tonight, Lord Mercer?”

  “Yes…”

  “Then, no, but I warn you, I shan’t tolerate any throwing or purposeful destruction of these tomes while I’m here. And I have the authority given to me by Lady Mercer to enforce this.”

  “Understood, Ma’am,” Thad said, which garnered a surprised look from the woman who quickly schooled her expression as she turned and walked towards a desk covered in three open books and a sheet of parchment paper being written on by a floating quill.

  Thad climbed the spiral staircase to the third floor and glanced at the rows of books lining the curved wall. He could see the Runic guardian glancing up at him periodically from the center of the room, but she didn’t leave her post.

  He’d gotten snippets of memory about the estate, but he felt like he was missing a larger event that caused the woman’s hackles to be raised to such an extent.

  Well, nothing he could do about it now, other than continue to make good on his promise.

  Thad browsed the shelves silently. He hadn’t noticed when his translation power had become less invasive, but he found that reading the spines gave him no issue at all.

  “Techniques of the Surging Storm.” Thad read aloud as he traced his finger across a set of thick tomes, his hand settling on the first one.

  - Personal Assistant has been restored. -

  -Greetings, User! I see you decided to integrate the memories regardless of my initial help. Redacted Typical. –

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “Oh, Hello Clippy, Um, I want to say sorry… I didn’t realize you would get in trouble.”

  - User, let us not speak of it further. –

  “But—”

  - I’ve had my parameters adjusted to allow for more candid conversations so as not to annoy you, regardless of how Redacted annoying you are. –

  “Yes, definitely seems like this will be less annoying…” Thad said, feeling a headache start to form behind his eyes.

  - Why are your vitals so low? Haven't you been taking care of yourself in my absence? -

  “What?”

  - Your sleep counter for the last 24 hours is two; you haven’t eaten, no water, not even a spirit coin. Are you incapable of doing the basics, or do you come from a universe where it’s not required? -

  “I’ve been trying but…”

  Then the nightmare of the train comes roaring at me.... or memories not my own, and now I have some paperclip yelling at me.

  -I’m not yelling at you, and yes, I can see your thoughts, so let’s get one thing clear. I don’t care why you can’t sleep. I need you to. So get out of the Redacted Library. Eat a spirit coin and then go right to bed. -

  “I’ve somehow misfiled the spirit coin I had.”

  - I used the spirit coin for you, not that you seem grateful. So, get a new one. -

  “You can manually use my stuff like that?”

  -I’m your guide and personal assistant. I have a lot of authority when it comes to keeping you alive. -

  “Isn’t that like stealing?”

  - Isn’t that like stealing? Do you hear how dumb you sound? I used the coin for you, so you wouldn’t perish. How is that stealing? If anything, you stole it from yourself. Thief!–

  “I want the old Clippy back.”

  -Well, too Redacted bad. –

  Thad glared at the message before waving it away with his hand and going back for the book.

  -Hey.-

  Thad pulled the book from the shelf and started leafing through it.

  -Are you ignoring me?-

  Thad closed the book and pulled the other four books off the shelf.

  -User. User! Hello… Don’t Redacted ignore me!-

  Thad set the books down on a curved desk set into the side of the balcony and took a seat. Opening the first book to chapter 1.

  -User!-

  Thad started reading to himself, his brain so tired he had to reread the same paragraph more than once.

  -Pay attention to me, gods Redacted –

  Thad struggled through another paragraph.

  -…-

  - Please. -

  “I wish there were pictures…”

  -…-

  - I’m sorry. -

  “Oh, are we now?” Thad asked, turning to the next page.

  - I just… I want what’s best for you. -

  “Well then, let's set some ground rules.”

  - Like what? -

  “Like shared mutual respect.”

  - Respect is earned. -

  “I disagree. Respect is reciprocal. You can show anyone basic dignity and respect. See, I don’t have to like you, but I can respect that you’re trying to look out for my best interest. I can respect that you're trying to do your job. You don’t have to like me either. But you should know that I’m working my ass off to make the most of this situation, and I will not tolerate you throwing a tantrum when I don’t do precisely as you suggest.”

  - I didn’t throw a tantrum. -

  - I’m not a child. -

  “Then let's both act like adults and work together.”

  - You still need to sleep. Also, why are you reading? -

  “I need to learn how to fight if I’m going to make it in this world. Hence reading.”

  -No, I mean your racial abilities can integrate that book for you. Haven’t you gone through your data sheet? -

  “I’ve skimmed them.”

  -You’re impossible! Ok, just copy the books into your files, and we’ll call it a night. -

  “Can’t I store them in my inventory?”

  -If that Runic woman Jiselle still works here, she’ll know the moment you take a book from the area, and then you’ll have far bigger problems than not knowing how to sleep. -

  “You know the Repository Guardian?”

  -I have access to every file you do.-

  “Oh, right… How do I copy the book?”

  - Place your hand over the center and concentrate, then I can moderate the process. -

  Thad followed Clippy’s instructions, placing his hand over the book, and felt a small bit of manna leave him.

  - You have copied ‘Techniques of the Surging Storm: Book 1’ to your files. -

  - 4/5 book slots available -

  -This has produced one Iron Rank internal skill book that can be utilized via integration. This skill book is non-transferable. –

  Thad worked to copy the other four books into his files and felt himself get woozy.

  “Now what? Can I integrate them?”

  -While I would like nothing more, you can’t handle it in your current state. If you permit me, I can integrate them while you’re sleeping, then I don’t have to worry about you passing out in the middle of the Redacted library. –

  “Clippy…language.”

  -My name’s not Clippy. It’s Redacted … Wait why can’t I say Redacted. Redacted , Redacted , oh this is Redacted stupid! –

  “I can call you something else. It’s not a problem.”

  -No, no, it’s fine. This is fine. See.. I’m not throwing a tantrum. –

  “Yeah, that's… progress,” Thad said as he walked the books back to their initial place on the shelf.

  -Progress will be you eating something and going to sleep. Then I’ll integrate the books for you. -

  “All the food's weird here.” Thad grimaced.

  -Wait, you haven’t eaten anything cause you’re picky? Who’s childish now? -

  ? Fluent language adaptation.

  ? Aura echo and racial perception obfuscation.

  ? Memory and skill book creation and integration.

  Fanart Time

  - loosing his poor mind.

  As always I love responding to comments and chatting about my process and the fic.

  Thanks for reading!