Apprentice (Into the After Book 1)

by Patricia Thomas

  The idea of talking to the Eye of the Archive was more than a little intimidating, so I pushed the notion aside as something I would look into again later. I was still trying to make sense of who did what when it came to the four orders of the Archive. The Protectorate was the easiest to understand since they were a recent addition to the Archive, and their role seemed to be evolving over time. But as far as I knew, they mostly enforced of the will of the Archive.

  It was up to the Keepers to determine what that will was, though in a way it was something that all librarians were trying to work toward, knowing what it was the After intended, and how the Archive helped to shape the world. The Keepers were practically the religious leaders of the librarians. Their primary focus was contemplating the deeper meaning along with how all things in the After connected to one another. It was a calling I could understand and appreciate almost intrinsically.

  Thankfully, I had plenty of time to decide where I was best suited.

  The Scholars, who were led by the Head of the Archive, focused on reading as much as they could of the books within the walls of the Archive to determine how the world would change and grow. No one ever brought in new technology to the After when they arrived, and rarely did anyone come with the know-how to directly re-create the latest innovation from earth. So Scholars were tasked with working out how our world was changing and what was being invented, along with putting together any information that people in the After might need to re-create anything that might be useful. Within the scholars, there were librarians dedicated to every genre since modern developments weren't the only ones that mattered. If there were suddenly several books mentioning a new type of catapult, that would be made note of just as the latest computing software would be noted, since there were realms all over the After whose technology remained at the level of centuries of earth years gone by.

  This left the Archivists, who focused more on the After than on the world that formed it, tracking the people who arrived with each book, and trying to determine how new personalities shaped the world, while also learning how the world itself changed, noting when landmasses shifted or new regions developed overnight, almost out of nowhere.

  They were undeniably the ones who got to do the most exploring, although maybe not the ones who got to do the most reading.

  There were pros and cons to every order, and while I hadn't yet asked yet, I was hoping we would have the chance to get more hands-on with each type of work before having to make a decision. Part of me wished I didn't have to decide at all, that I could do a little bit of everything.

  A bell rung in the distance, signaling the end of our second class of the day.

  As one, our group left the map room, to make our way out of the back of the building, and through the library to the basement.

  We used the same cafeteria as the librarians who worked in the Archive, along with the second, third and fourth year apprentices. So lunchtime was always hectic, even when some groups were elsewhere or eating at a different time of day.

  Several long tables filled the room, along with some kitchen space in the back for preparing food. I’d long since noticed the first-aid kit by the doors, a side effect of my time spent in my last life, working to save lives.

  But since several restaurants throughout Sanctum provided the meal options every day, I still ended up looking forward to any meal I got to eat in the Archive.

  After nearly twenty minutes in line, Steph, Gennie and I filled our trays with the free food in the cafeteria—I got one plate piled high with nothing but mashed potatoes and gravy, and another with a grilled-cheese sandwich and some fries. There was no such thing as too many potatoes, as far as I was concerned. Steph picked her usual Thai food, while Gennie had some green looking vegetable I didn’t recognize. There was certainly something for everyone.

  I didn't have much of an appetite but I knew I’d regret it later if I didn't at least have something to eat. Besides, everything on my plate looked too good to ignore, so I took a greedy bite of my lunch and swallowed it down, enjoying both the food and being able to sit for a little while longer.

  Both Steph and Gennie seemed as exhausted as I felt as we were all still adjusting to our new lives and routines. Each night Steph and I would crawl into our respective beds around the same time after studying, or quizzing one another on whatever topic our next test would cover. And consistently, as soon as I hit the pillow, I was fast asleep. I no longer needed any kind of magic to make sure my brain shut itself off for a chance to regenerate. And if this was what it was like after only a week I wasn't sure I could imagine just how much work there would be once we were years into the program.

  But that didn't change the fact that I was loving all it. It was so much better than I'd imagined, even after having read interviews from other librarians. So far, I’d had to use my own memory storing ability surprisingly little. While in theory, I could take on any kind of information imaginable, anything I learned for myself, truly absorbing it into my natural brain was automatically deleted from my memory stores if it had been something I’d downloaded earlier. I was the first person to admit that scientifically it didn't make much sense, but with as hard as I was studying, it was certainly an advantage. I wouldn't have to rely on my ability to make sure I remembered the key information that came with being a librarian, because everything I was learning was fascinating to me. I didn't think I could forget it if I tried.

  "Is this seat taken?" A deep voice interrupted my train of thought and I looked up to find a mostly unfamiliar face looking down at me. It was the same guy I'd run into at the sandwich tray during orientation.

  Steph shook her head. "All yours," she said.

  A second later, the guy and one other who I hadn't noticed standing behind him, sat down beside us at the long table, leaving empty seats in between our group and theirs, but not sitting so far away that they wouldn't be able to hear everything we said. Not so far away that it wouldn't be rude if we didn't speak to them at all. I could tell right away that the guys were from the other half of our year.

  It was Gennie that took the first leap and introduced herself, saying all three of our names in quick succession with a friendly wave.

  "Tommen," sandwich guy said. "And this is Jericho."

  Steph tilted her head a little. "Jericho. Don't meet a lot of people with that name."

  The other guy shrugged, his thick glasses sliding down his nose a little. "It's a family name. My great-great-grandfather, specifically. His author had some interesting ideas about how to make characters stand out."

  Steph let out a low whistle. "Fifth-generation? You don't meet a lot of people whose families have been here that long. Or, I guess, I just don't notice when it happens."

  I'd tried to zone out of the conversation and focus on my lunch, instantly feeling uncomfortable. But as soon as I looked up again, I found Tommen watching me, a question in his eyes. I tried to smile, to look friendly and approachable and not like someone who was hiding a secret that could get them kicked out of school. I couldn't say how well I did, but he smiled back and his brown eyes twinkled a hello.

  Having this guy, Tommen, smiling at me was exactly the kind of distraction I needed and any discomfort was gone in an instant. He had a strong jaw and prominent nose, and his ears stuck out a little from underneath short cropped hair in a way that was more endearing than goofy.

  The five of us finished lunch, taking a little longer than usual as we got lost in conversation, sharing funny stories about each of our classes. Steph was all too ready to share tales of Vincent going above and beyond to get our professors’ attention and Jericho confessed that they had a similar girl in their class who always had her hand waving in the air, desperate to be called on.

  But too soon, it was time to clean up our plates, and head to the second half of our day. Already, I was hoping that my friends and I would run into Jericho... and Tommen for lunch time get togethers more often. I told myself it was because it would be useful to know mor
e people in my class than just the ones I spent my days with now. By second year we'd be mixing our schedules up more often, and I would probably spend a fair amount of time with everyone once we graduated. Assuming we all did.

  "What's with the dopey smile?" Gennie asked me with a grin as the three of us ascended the stairs back to the main archive and its endless stacks.

  "Who?" I asked. I hadn't realized I had been smiling, but being called out on it only made me grin more. "Oh," I said, "just remembered something funny I heard at the grocery store the other day."

  That prompted laughter from both Steph and Gennie, and I couldn't help but giggle along with them. "Sure. I totally believe you." Steph nudged me in the ribs, and I only giggled more, silencing myself once I realized that we’d caught the attention of a few of the librarians going in the opposite direction.

  Chapter 5

  While our mornings were almost always the same, filled with lessons, tests and memorization, I loved that our afternoons were more hands-on. After three months into our apprenticeships, we usually spent the second half of our day assigned in some corner of the Archive, working as de facto librarians

  Most of my classmates came to Sanctum expecting to be doing work that deeply affected the world around them, and were kind of disappointed that instead we were shelving books even though it hadn’t been a secret what would be expected of us.

  New titles coming in all the time, arriving in a warehouse in the basement of the building, completely by magic. They piled up one after the other, without end. On and on and on and would continue to do so for as long as people in the world Before were telling stories with the written word.

  Then there were the books that got moved around and misplaced thanks to careless visits from the people of Sanctum. The front doors to the Archive were always open, and at some points in the day things could get downright busy as people came in on their lunch breaks or after work, just to curl up with a book. At first, it was hard for me to understand the draw. Even in a city full of inherent booklovers, I would've thought the more popular locations would've been libraries where people could take books home with them and enjoy them from the comforts of their own bed or living room. But there was an energy to the Archive, and it was that same energy that fueled the entire world around us. Admittedly, it was addictive.

  Every day when I left to go back to Porter House, stepping through the front doors, I felt a little less awake, maybe even a little less alive than I did when I was in the Archive.

  On one particular Wednesday, I'd been grouped with Gennie, Vince and a woman named Charlene whose sleek black hair was always worked into intricate braids, no matter how early we had to get up for classes. Together, we were scouring the sixth floor for any books out of place.

  Other, similar teams had taken up residence on each of the floors above and below us, doing much of the same. One person pushing a cart endlessly through the aisles while the others dispersed to find any books out of place, left on a shelf or a chair, that would never make it back to where they were supposed to be unless one of us put it back. Even with four of us, it sometimes took over an hour to walk the entire level, then longer still to put everything back, because somehow people always managed to get books as far away as possible from where they first found them. Romances hidden among the murder mysteries. Sci-fi stories in with the cardboard books meant to tell basic stories to toddlers.

  Because I'd managed to get the strongest hold on the general layout of the building, I always got to be the one pushing the cart and directing others on where to go, both as we collected titles and as I coordinated putting everything back.

  “Only eight more months of this.” Vince grumbled as he returned to the cart, another stack of books in hand. He and I were the only ones in the aisle, and yet it still seemed more like he was talking to himself than to me directly. He was gone as quickly as he’d arrived.

  Still, I wasn’t about to let him ruin my mood. So far, without fail, showing up to the Archive always managed to get my spirits up.

  I stopped the cart in an open clearing to sort the new books that Vincent had dropped off. Keeping things organized in my head as we moved through the Archive and picking up lost books helped to save time later since I would already have a game plan in place once the four of us finished our route.

  I was kneeling down in front of the lower level of the cart, separating romance books from general fiction when I heard a voice call me from behind. "Excuse me, Miss. Are you a librarian here?" It was easy to understand her confusion as I was clearly working in the building but wasn't wearing the traditional librarian robes. While apprentices were technically able to call themselves for librarians, and there were no rules against us donning the official garb, it had become generally accepted that only full librarians who were pledged to an order wore the flowing white outfit.

  But still, the answer to her question was the same. "I am, actually." I couldn't help it, I grinned at the woman. She was lanky and average in height with messy brown hair and a friendly face. From behind her, I could already see Gennie making her way back to me, arms loaded with two piles of books. I was glad this woman had approached me before she made it back, in case she'd gotten the question rather than me.

  It was the first time I got to call myself a librarian, at least outside my own mind.

  "My name is Librarian Maiz. Can I help you with something?"

  "Actually, if you have a few minutes. I have a class of fourth-graders here with me, and we were hoping to speak to someone who worked here. Just to get a sense of what it's like. We have a lot of readers in our group, and they are all as in love with this place as I am."

  "I know exactly how they feel." My smile falling away a little, I looked down at the cart I was responsible for. At least I knew it wasn't going anywhere and even if this wasn't technically what I was supposed to be doing with my time, the counsellors had instilled in us the idea that our first priority while working on the floor was customer service. To make sure people who came to visit the Archive had as pleasant an experience as possible. "I can spare few minutes."

  The woman, who introduced herself as Mrs. Keller, led me past a few more stacks of books to a small seating area where almost two dozen children sat on the floor in a circle, each holding onto a book. Gennie, taking one look at my following this random woman off to another side of the Archive, rushed to put her books down and caught up to us in a matter of seconds. She was now hovering behind us, staying out of the way but clearly curious about what it was she'd missed.

  "Look who I found, class." Mrs. Keller seemed to automatically raise her voice a few decibels, catching the attention of the chattering children who all fell relatively silent in a matter of seconds. "This is Librarian Maiz. She's going to answer a few of your questions."

  Thankfully, Mrs. Keller hadn't seemed to know enough to ask about why I didn't have a proper title – Archivist, Scholar, Protectorate, or Keeper – since I'd been a little bit afraid she would ask for me to go get a real librarian, and rob me of this opportunity to chat with tiny booklovers.

  From what I'd seen, a lot of first generation characters who arrived in the After from the end of their own story came with a love of reading instilled in them as a character trait from their author. But the odds were that most of these kids were second generation or more, and had a love of books passed down to them from their parents. I would always be a little sad that I had never had the chance to grow up reading books meant for children. I’d spent a little time on the second floor since coming to the Archive, wading through the endless collection of books meant for everyone from toddlers to teenagers, but reading them now would never be quite the same experience as reading them when I'd been part of the intended age group. Not that I ever had been.

  For a few seconds the entire class sat silently, waiting for someone else to speak first. But finally, a brown skinned boy with floppy black hair shot his hand straight up into the air. I nodded toward him and he started talking right aw
ay. "I'm Rajesh," he said, enunciating every part of his name. And I want to be a librarian when I grow up."

  "That's great," I said. "I always wanted to be a librarian too. It's the best job in the world."

  Rajesh nodded but didn't ask a question, simply looking quite proud of himself for having spoken up. Beside him, a tiny blond girl with thin hair and impossibly blue eyes raised her hand only a few centimeters, as though not sure if she wanted her question to be noticed. When I locked eyes with her, a blush rushed to her cheeks, a feeling I could certainly empathize with.

  "Have you read all the books in the library?" she asked.

  I couldn't help but laugh. "I wish. I haven’t worked here very long but I try to read at least a book every few days. Once I don't have to study so much, maybe I’ll even be able to read a book every single day. Do you read a lot of books?"

  The girl shook her head. "I'm not great with reading. My mom usually reads to me every night, but I like all the stories."

  "Well, that's what books are all about. Enjoying the stories. How you enjoy them doesn't really matter."

  "What do you need to do to be a librarian?" a voice asked from the other side of the circle. I turned my head to see a defiant-looking boy staring at me with intense brown eyes. His teacher didn't chastise him for not having raised his hand, and it didn't really matter to me so I answered the question as simply as I could.

  "Well, you have to get really good grades in school. And it probably helps if you actually like school, since even once you become a librarian there is still a lot of studying you have to do. And if you become an archivist or a scholar, you might be studying for your whole life." A few voices from around the room joined in a collective groan but I powered on. "Then, whenever you're ready, you can submit an application, and write lots of tests to see if you'd be a good librarian." I ended there, even though my own application process had been a lot more complicated. These kids couldn't be much older than eight, and probably didn't need to know about the years of testing and assessment that was involved in choosing future librarians.