Seeing Lucian approaching, the man on the right greeted him, "Good morning, sir. Might I inquire as to your business here today?"
His short hair was chestnut brown with three small braids dangling from the left side of his head. He wore a pristine white robe with a... changing symbol that seemingly morphed each moment not letting you get a clear look at what it was creating.
"Good morning, I was wondering if that position for archivist is still open?". Sorry Priscilla but this might be beneficial for both the Ethereals and myself.
"Perfect! Our most recent archivist perished in an accident not so long ago, so we've been searching for a replacement. May he rest in peace.", said the man as he drew one straight line down the center of his chest with his hand.
"Right this way, sir."
Lucian swallowed down his building regret and headed up the stairs entering the enormous cathedral.
It seemed to be even larger on the inside with many decorated pillars holding up its large frame making it seem like was a piece of art rather than just a plain building for prayers.
If I'm right, then these men are affiliated with the holy mandate. Since that's the case, I may be able to extract information if I were to work in the archives. Not being an Ethereal is my biggest shield when working here, meaning if I am safe from the maniacs that wish for the perishing of all Ethereals walking this earth.
Lucian had devised this plan to get a better understanding of the world he was living in. Yes, what he was doing was extremely dangerous, but the saying "high risk, high reward" was a buzzing thought in his head.
The large area they were currently inside of looked to be some sort of praying ground for devout or regular followers. Taking a left, a small room lay at the end of a rather long hallway. Once there, the church official entered and turned around saying, "Feel free to set your groceries on the ground, you'll only be gone for a bit."
After setting down the bags Lucian joined the man in standing within the small box like room. To the right of the man were two large levers. Pulling the first one, a small gate closed off the room they were in, and pulling the second one caused the box to start descending at a slow pace.
Lucian shifted his footing. I get to learn about new contraptions every day I suppose.
A minute later the box descended to a point where they had another spectacular visual. The ceiling was even taller than the main floor held up by even larger pillars with carefully decorated stone carvings. "This area isn't for access to the regular civilians, although most are aware that we have a place like this down here, it's not something the public is concerned about. Most of it won't be of access to you nor even I am allowed to see every corner of this sacred construct."
"Why is that?"
"Think of it as a government sort of thing. There are things that they allow people to see and there are things that they don't allow. The ends of these large halls aren't meant for most eyes."
"I guess that's valid.". Why the hell is he telling me this kind of stuff so openly? Aren't churches supposed to be truthful and open to their beloved followers? And why is such a large place like this bellow Novus?"
Once the gate slid open, Lucian and the robed man walked to an intersection of two seemingly endless hallways. "In the middle of those hallways was an odd-looking machine with metal wheels, and a small double door the size of one."
Lucian was a bit taken aback by the weird hunk of metal and asked with a rather confused expression, "Pardon, but what is that peculiar machine?"
"Oh, I suppose you wouldn't know of what this is yet. This is a tram; I believe construction for it is already in production not too far from this cathedral on Honestus street. As the church, we've been given the special privilege of having it installed down here."
Lucian fixed his cuff, "Wouldn't the construction workers have seen something while installing it though?"
"Fortunately, the hallways don't contain things that we hide from the public. Everything hidden is behind a door or two.", stated the man keeping his lighthearted smile.
Once inside the tram Lucian found a seat near the front while the robed man opened a door to the very front asking someone, "Could you please take us to number 83?". One could only assume that he was talking to a driver.
The tram was moving at a considerable speed, or at least, faster than your average athlete sprinter. As the tram kept its pace, they passed a few groups of rather secretive or religiously powerful individuals eyeing Lucian as if he was some sort of suspect. Not at all did it help his nerves calm down.
"Don't mind those guys, they're just priests. They tend to look like scary old geezers but they're actually quite kind at heart."
Lucian nodded and attempted to relax. A few minutes later, the sound of a man's voice could be heard in the very front, "Number 83 as you requested oh the most praised deacon."
"It seems that we have reached our stop." the man held his hand towards the door, "After you."
Exiting the tram, Lucian was met with a door almost as tall as the ceiling, looking as if it'd take 10 men to open.
Clank, the door started opening slowly, revealing a large room filled to the brim with towering shelves of books.
"Did you think that we'd have to push it open?"
Looking over, the man had his hand down on a metal mechanical lever. "If I saw that then I wouldn't have.", noted Lucian.
The shelves inside the library weren't your ordinary library's. Every one of the shelves were spilt into many small squares containing large books, manuscripts, and records. It looked like one large, fantastic puzzle ready for a detective to crack its code.
In the center of the large room was a singular typewriter on a small mount connected to the floor, although it didn't contain letters, only numbers 0 through 9 stood up.
A small open box on the wall contained a few fresh books waiting to be shelved while binders, empty books, and a regular typewriter waited patiently to be used on a large desk at the end.
"Being an archivist is quite easy; you'll take anything brought down by that dumbwaiter, read the number taped to it, and put it into the numbered typewriter. Once that happens one of the partially or fully emptied shelves will be transported down ready to receive that item. Here, I'll show you."
Walking over to the small box, he grabbed a book out of it and muttered "19". Then he went over to the typewriter, putting the number in. Once put in, the shelves started making a strange noise, VSzzSZZVVZZ. Looking over Lucian could see many of the boxes moving out of the way for multiple boxes labeled 19 moving downwards ready to be given the book.
Placing the book inside one, the man then walked back to the typewriter and pulled a small lever next to it causing every shelf to shift and return back to its original look.
This spectacle left Lucian shifting through more thoughts. How the hell is the church this advanced? I thought they only focused on simple things like praying and worshiping gods and goddesses? Lucian let out a breath, Though I guess I should have expected this sort of thing.
Pointing at the table full of binders and empty books, the man spoke, "Another thing you'll be tasked with is copying old texts before they deteriorate. It's simple, really. Every word you read on an old document will be put directly into the typewriter and put inside the binder, once finished you'll make sure every page is in order and send it up the dumbwaiter. After a couple of days, a fresh new copy of the old book will be brought down ready to be shelved once again."
"The dumbwaiter also sends down instructions occasionally for detailing which book, record, or manuscript should be copied or requesting any of them."
Once Lucian's guide was done showing him around, they calmly exited the expansive archive and hopped on the tram once again.
The ride was quiet, with only the sound of the metal wheels moving along their tracks. Each pillar swiftly passed Lucian one by one, showing off their amazing craftmanship.
The church has a place like this, full of efficient utilities and yet the Ethereals have a couple shacks and a loyal coachman. If there was one thing I had learned through my few days since waking up, it's that this world is unfair and cruel. The ones trying to do the best they can to keep others from harm are seen as demons of sorts while the ones that sit back and do nothing live comfortably. A view many had on the world was embedding itself into Lucian.
Once off the tram, Lucian entered the elevator, but something seemed off with the elegant man. He seemed to be checking for something, or rather, someone and then acting as if he hadn't at all, followed Lucian back into the small box.
As the box rose, the man spoke up, "If you do decide to work here, there are two rules that I strictly urge you to follow. The first one is to stay away from anyone ranked higher than a priest, it can get markedly dangerous around them."
Lucian blinked, "Hold on a second, why the are you talking about this so suddenly?"
"We don't have time for questions right now.", exclaimed the man as he pulled his jumbled hood down to reveal a mark on his neck. The very same mark Lucian had received at Eliots abode.
"You'r-"
"The second rule is to never do anything out of place here that might attract attention to yourself, all you are is an archivist here. Nothing more, nothing less."
Before Lucian could think to himself or talk, the ascending box arrived at the main floor of the cathedral. "Your main pay will be 7 crowns per month. Quite a lot for an archivist yes but being so large we'd have to give you more than 5. We don't require interviews here because most people either come up with things to say or just flat out lie. One of the deacons here will supervise you for about a month to see how you fair in your tasks determining whether you are fit for the position or not."
The man was back to normal as if nothing happened at all. Stunned Lucian slowly reverted back to his regular self while picking up his groceries.
"No need to be nervous, you can come by any day to confirm that you want this job just as long as nobody else has requested to acquire it."
Lucian let out a breath of relief, "I'll take that info seriously then."
"My name is Johan Adler. I'm a deacon assisting one of the priests here and I may be the man supervising you, so I suggest sending a little prayer to one of the gods or goddesses that you get me.", stated Johan half-jokingly as he put his hand forward.
completing the brief handshake Lucian exchanged his name and headed off back to the ship.
***
Pushing the door open to Lucian's current room, Ozzus could be seen reading his book on the couch next to the still unconscious boy. "Finally back, are we? I'd have assumed you went on a perilous mission with the time it took you to return."
"I just got a little sidetracked is all."
Ozzus's gaze shifted to a sterner look, "I'm not even reading your mind right now, and I can tell that's a huge curve around the real truth."
Dammit, he's going to be pissed when he learns what I did.
Lucian didn't know how to explain himself, in fact, he thought it might be better if Ozzus did some searching in his head instead. "I saw a sign outside the large cathedral near NorthPark sa-"
"Ah, I take it that you may have met Johan then?"
Lucian had nothing to say, Ozzus's lightning-fast response kept making him loose his words. "You're reading my mind again, aren't you?"
Ozzus used his index finger and brought his circular black glasses down to reveal his dark red vampire like eyes, "Maybe."
"Sigh, yes I met Johan, he gave me a tour of the underground area of the church. It's actually a lot more advanced than you'd think."
Ozzus shut his book and laughed a little, "He's told me that numerous times, talking about how they need to be more generous to the public and incorporate that tech into everyday lives."
"He's not been given any missions lately because his job is the mission. I find it surprising that me and other Ethereals forgot to tell you about him. Hell, even Eliot forgot about him, hahaha!"
"No matter, you've met him today, so what's done is done. Based on what I've seen in your head, the job is archivist right?"
"Yes, though I'm not sure if I should accept or not. Johan did say some scary things."
"Don't mind that. Yes, it is dangerous but it's very simple to not get caught even for Ethereals. You being exclusively an assistant as of right now makes you practically invincible in there since the church only eliminates Ethereals. You should still listen to what Johan says though considering the fact that he's been a deacon for over 2 years now."
"I'll be sure to do that, but is it really alright for me to take this job? Priscilla did seem very angry at me for even choosing to consider obtaining the job."
"If the opportunity that presents itself at hand carries a battleship full of benefits, would you let someone's feelings get in the way of it?"
Lucian bit his lip, "I suppose not."
"That's the way! Oh, what's the pay anyway?", asked Ozzus with a lit-up face.
"7 crowns, why?"
"Because once you start earning your own money, I don't have to drain my leather bag for an additional meals."
Lucian let out a sarcastic laugh, A bit mean but that's fair, I guess.
The rest of the day was spent monitoring the boy's condition, prepping the meals Lucian had got from the farmers market, and taking turns fishing. It was a mellow day that let everyone breath relief and calmness, a perfect day that let Lucian feel at ease, and a silent day that let the young boy sleep.