○ what is in the library? ◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜◝◜ somehow time had slipped between avior's fingers and skittered away into the distance like the demented creature that it was, and he found himself facing the final week of xiphoid camp's winter session before the long five months (five months!!!) that preceded the summer session. the end of the winter session meant the end of having unlimited access to the peculiar little library nobody ever seemed to talk about. even if he couldn't read the books it provided, he could very easily use the computers, however old and damaged they might be. that was precisely why he found himself trudging across the deep snow to the school, which stood abandoned and eerily quiet. he had never been here on a saturday. he stepped inside, tracking snow across the floorboards (what was the point, even, of removing snow from your boots when they would be covered again the moment you stepped back outside?). he paused just before entering the library, his hand hovering uncertainly above the doorknob. it was silly, but he didn't want to be in there alone with ethel. the woman looked like a breathing corpse, with her loose, papery skin and dark, sunken eyes and those *hands*, those shriveled claws that tapped ceaselessly away at her dingy old computer. no, he had to go in there and show her that he wasn't afraid. she probably wanted everyone to be scared of her. she probably used it to her advantage. he slammed the door open and strode boldly into the library. "hi, ethel!" he shouted with all the bravado of a very small dog faced with an object far too large to fit in its mouth. his voice fell upon no ears but his own. the desk was empty. somehow that made the tiny library creepier. never mind that. he had come here for a reason. he walked quickly to the computers, glancing over his shoulder every few steps. he gave the computer he had tried last time he was in the library a good solid whack. the screen flickered to life immediately. there was no humming noise. no shadows. instead, a pixelated bar appeared and slowly filled with white as the percentage displayed above slowly ticked upward. ninety-two. ninety-six. ninety-nine. the screen went black. a bright blue dot appeared in the center. a second dot, this one bright red, fluttered around the edges of the screen. a large cluster of bright orange dots slowly appeared one by one slightly to the left of and below the blue dot. avior watched, fascinated, as the orange dots slowly came together to form a thick line, which began to move, slithering along the screen. the orange line made a sharp turn and moved toward the blue dot. watching the line approach the center of the screen, avior couldn't help but feel like the little blue dot was in grave danger. just before it reached its victim, the orange line turned around and slithered away before coming to a stop. now the red dot was moving, inching along, towards the center of the screen like the orange line had. "come on, guys, leave the poor little blue guy alone," avior whispered. the red dot picked up its speed. it paused briefly. the orange line twitched. the blue dot remained stationary. the red dot drew nearer, paused briefly, paused again a moment later. the door banged open. avior turned his head so quickly he thought he might have nearly broken his neck. marcus stood in the doorway. "hello," avior said. each moment he was not watching the dots on the screen felt like an eternity. "hi," marcus said uncertainly. that may have been the most civil interaction they had ever had with each other. what an incredible milestone. "come look at this," avior said. he turned back to the dots, and as marcus crossed the library, the red dot too moved toward the blue dot. "wait." avior commanded. "stop moving," marcus's footsteps ceased. the red dot froze as well. "okay, keep moving." the red dot moved as well until it came to a stop directly beside the blue one. the orange line pulsed slowly in its place. "try something for me," avior said to marcus. "watch the screen," he walked across the library and stopped at ethel's desk. "did anything happen?" he asked. "yeah," marcus answered, "the blue dot moved." "s[][][]," avior breathed. he was beginning to realize something. he returned to the computer. marcus inhaled sharply as the blue dot slid across the screen again. "are the dots," he began, voice catching slightly, "/us/?" "yeah," avior whispered, eyes fixed on the screen and that pulsating mass of orange, "i think they might be," "then what's that orange—" the orange line began to twitch slightly, and then, slowly, it began to move. from somewhere within the maze of bookshelves, there was a strange sound, like someone was being dragged along the floor. the sound stopped as the orange line stopped moving. avior hardly dared to breathe. at his side, marcus stiffened. the orange line started to move again.
