Ascension Up 809 Briggs Way

## Chapter I: Pacman

It was a bright and rather skyful day with not even a hint of a cloud in the sky the day we embarked out for YggdraCole. No doubt many of our explorers have been privy to the library before, but this time was different. For a world so close to the Entrance, I marveled that we were only beginning to explore it now. This marvel - childlike fascination at the possibilities of what could lay beyond - it never went away. I smiled a bit, preparing my backpack with provisions sufficient for a week without sustainable food. There were water fountains and a recreational cafe in YggdraCole, to be sure, but it was of the prepared mindset that anything could happen which prompted us to pack such seemingly extemporaneous provisions.

Our expedition was headed by none other than myself, with Giselle and Edwin being my two main cohorts in our adventures. Giselle was responsible for making the maps, her nearly photographic memory an asset should we somehow lose our way. Edwin on the other hand was responsible for recording descriptions and collecting samples of life that we found. He was nearby with a smug grin on his face, probably because he knew just as well as we all did that YggdraCole had no known plant life. I'd make sure he's kept busy though.

I put a canteen of vitamin water in my pack and decided to bring along a compass for good measure. Compasses, besides being inherently useful as a navigational tool, are also a neat way to determine dimensional topology, as dimensions with finite planets usually have a magnetic field while infinite planes - with the exception of inherently magnetic realms like the Ferrousphere or The Neodymium Circus - have usually no magnetic field, or, have a field which fluctuates and tugs sporadically on the compass needle.

After Giselle had finished packing, her camera and multiple SD cards the last to be packed, we both waited for Edwin, who in his smugness had forgotten to make a change of clothes and therefore had to take everything out of his backpack before putting in the clothes and repacking. At 7:15 AM though, we were early for the expected departure time of 8:00 AM.

The bicycle route to the abandoned dormitory we used for entrance was leisurely as usual. I approached the door and knocked the secret knock that was soon returned with a likewise 'rappity-rap-rap'. Hearing the sound of a clicking lock I was soon faced with the familiar face of Marvin Levin, who was there alone. Of course he was alone, we didn't like to gather in too many numbers nowadays, especially with how we'd stand out due to social distancing guidelines and what not.

Welcoming us in, he shook all of our hands then explained to us what information has been gleaned on YggdraCole over the years. Evidently, The Triad had explored it a bit as early as December of 1989, having found himself in a library of seemingly ordinary patrons, but far-from-ordinary dimensions. Per Henry Gordon style, he unscrupulously stole about a dozen books from the library, only to find eleven of them contained pure gibberish, with the twelfth book describing the history of a scientist that did not exist in our world.

Later, Mary Cindworth herself took about 24 books from the library in 1995, having better fortune than Henry in that she was able to find five of those book containing sensical writing. Even still, the contents of these books were pretty boring. It was at least better than a "Library of Babel" situation, but fairly unhelpful as regards information about YggdraCole itself, which is what our expedition would uncover.

In short, there was not much to brief us on. Giselle nodded and asked if we could enter before 8 AM. Marvin agreed and we stepped back while he enscribed one of the Corridoric sigils on a door that if opened without the sigil would lead to a dingy basement in which we hid the larger artifacts found in Corridoria. - With the sigil being written with the flawless ease of someone who's used it a thousand times before, we were ready.

Marvin stood nearby as we opened the door and met with a shadowless green hallway with velvety red floors and a pitch white ceiling. The central corridor invited us in as stepped past the threshold, not into a dingy basement, but a new dimension, that which we call Corridoria.

The path we took was L5L3S - just two turns really. I thought about what we might uncover as our footsteps plodded silently on the soft carpet like ground, scarletful and teeming like the blood of a slain giant whose mind we were about to enter. Perhaps Edwin picked up on this, for he said:

**Edwin (🤔):** I wonder if we'll see any of those Librar-arachnid-nilly-what's-it-illions?
**Me (🧐):** *Librararachnians* you mean.
**Edwin (🙂):** I know, just find it funny Henry expected anyone to remember their names.
**Giselle (😅):** He *was* found of absurdly long names, that's for sure.
**Me (🙂):** Welp, we're here.
The door to YggdraCole was plain and insignificant, at least compared to the other doors here. Turning the latch three times, the door was able to be retracted. We saw that the entryway was still in the predictable recess underneath the stairs, from which explorers had come and gone over the years. Giselle snapped a picture from the entryway.

**Edwin (😏):** Sheesh are you really going to take a picture of *that*?
**Edwin (😑):** Kinda boring, besides we already know what the entry point looks like.
**Giselle (🙄):** You're kinda boring. Now get out of my way I want to get a good shot of this, it could be important.
**Edwin (🙂):** Fine.
**Me (🤔):** It's interesting in any case, that no-one's really caught an explorer entering or tried to accost us.
**Me (🤔):** Makes you wonder.
**Giselle (🤔):** What, that YggraCole could be exerting a mental influence on it's denizens?
**Me (🤨):** Perhaps. It's never been confirmed but I find it hard to believe no janitor or staff member has never just *noticed* this door.
**Me (🧐):** Seems to me it's hidden on purpose.
**Edwin (🙂):** Probably.
**Edwin (🤤):** Anyways I heard there was a *cafe* here?
**Me (😐):** Yes but be careful we don't know yet what currency these people use.
**Edwin (🙂):** Eh.
**Edwin (😋):** We'll cross that delicious bridge when we come to it, I'm just glad there's new food!
I didn't blame him. Our provisions were mostly canned and powder-based substances that needed water to be of use. It took up the least amount of space but was pretty dry and at times outright disgusting. As I've pointed out before, canned food can have all the protein and calories and sweetness you want it to have, but there is not a single ounce of love within those cans.

We stepped fully out of the room this door was located in and shut the door behind us. It is likely that no one would have noticed it opened anyhow, but the existence of Corridoria needed to remain quiet. We were in a stairwell with two doors, each leading to a corridor beyond which was the main cafeteria-like area with the receptionist desks. I choose the left door to walk through, knowing either one would lead to the main Ground floor, or, as we technically termed it: L-I-0.

Walking through the Corridor, we emerged in a cafeteria area I recognized from photographs taken by prior explorers. This time though, there were no people, and looking at a nearby calendar tacked up to a bulletin board I realized why.

**Me (🧐):** It's Sunday guys. This explains why there's no people.
**Edwin (😁):** Mmm... so no people means no one guarding the *cafe*, ay?
**Giselle (😒):** I wouldn't try that, just in case they got a security system.
**Edwin (🙁):** Rats.
**Me (🤔):** I mean, I'd be willing to try.
**Edwin (😔):** Not about the cafe, I mean, the fact the library's closed. It means the elevators probably don't work.
We all thought about this for a few moments. Not that it was a big deal or anything. I'd personally started using a *Norditrack* and going for long walks before this expedition so I could be prepared for the stairs. *Nothing like 28 flights of stairs to get an expedition going*, I thought as we made our way to the stairwell.

Giselle and I were just about to ascend the first flight of stairs when I looked back and saw Edwin spinning around in one of the chairs that were present a little bit past the break area, with comfy orange cushions.

**Giselle (🙄):** Come on, we have levels to explore.
**Edwin (😄):** Oh yes, just taking note of the exceedingly fine cushions here.
**Edwin (😉):** ...for research purposes of course.
**Giselle (☺️):** Of course.
**Me (🧐):** Alright. If Henry Gordon's notebooks are anything to go by, this place is supposed to get stranger the higher up you go. Where we are there's nothing strange...
**Me (🙂):** ...but be careful.
We proceeded up the flights of stairs, with Giselle taking photos of the art in the stairwell. Each floor had a different piece of art, seeming to be painted by hand. This I knew of course since I'd been here before - I'd personally been as far as L-III, although the farthest one went to my knowledge was L-XXXIII. We were intending to reach L-M. *What* exactly was on floors this high up no one knew, but we'd be the first to find out.

After about 15 minutes Edwin piped up.

**Edwin (😊):** It appears like we're at the top.
**Me (😊):** Yeah, we should take a photo of the view up here.
**Giselle (😊):** Sounds good.
Thus we did. Stepping out unto the 23rd floor, it appeared this section was allocated towards mathematical and musical literature. While walking through the mathematics shelves I saw a book entitled *Proof of The Reinmann Hypothesis* by Terrance Tao. I could not understand much of what was written in it, but I knew this was a potentially revolutionary document. I put the book in my backpack and we moved towards the row of windows, which revealed a sprawling campus with a wide variety of lesser buildings and dormitories. There was a pond there too, and in it were a flock of geese. It appeared to be late spring at about this time, meaning that the date of our expedition was roughly concurrent with that in this dimension.

A beautiful picture of this scenery was taken, and we returned to the stairwell. We ascended just a few more flights of stairs, before the final flight. On that landing, Giselle took a photo of a piece of art that simply read "HAVE FUN." in large red letters on the pale wall. Given the circumstances, I felt a peculiar sense of intrigue at this. I couldn't help but feel this was directed towards us, although it was not in any way especially dissimilar to the other pieces of stairwell art we'd come accross.

So we ascended the final flight of stairs and found ourselves back at the Ground floor of yet another Cole library. This one, we labeled L-II. We were on the ground floor, or L-II-0, whereas just moments before we'd been at L-I-28. The anomalous behavior wouldn't kick in until about L-V or L-VI from what we'd been told, and in any case it would be good to get a ways into our trip. So we climbed more stairs, having checked the main area to find that once more it was vacant.

**Edwin (🤔):** It's like *Pacman*.
**Me (🤔):** What are you talking about?
**Edwin (🧐):** The nature of the levels.
**Edwin (🧐):** Every time we reach the 28th floor we are in a new library. We "loop back in the map" as if this were a game of *Pacman* where you enter the top and come out the bottom.
I chuckled a bit and we went on our way. Finally, after ascending several libraries worth of stairs we were at L-VIII-0 once more. This time, there were people in the main concourse. A bit tired, we decided to rest and eat. These people seemed ordinary although if one listened carefully they could hear words being tossed about that were wholly unfamiliar - expressions which I had never heard before, but seemed to be in English nonetheless. Giselle and Edwin ate while I consumed a can of soup. It admittingly looked strange to pull out a can of soup in a public building, but it would have to do while I sized up the nearby cafe and thought about how to order food.

Suddenly, I saw Giselle half choke on her food while Edwin let out a small yelp. I felt a concurrent tap on my shoulder and looked behind me to stare in the face (or, mandibles rather), of a spider that must have been a minimum of 6 feet tall. Granted, I never had arachnophobia but that was to say nothing when it came to spiders taller than I was! I backed into the table quickly, spilling the soup and causing the hoary haired arachnid to retreat a few legs in surprise, with an accompanied profusion of apologies.

**Me (😶):** I...
**Me (😬):** Sorry. You startled me...
**Librararachnian 1 (🕷😌):** It's alright, do you need help with the spill?
**Librararachnian 1 (🕷😊):** Here let me get that.
The creature deftly picked up a napkin from several feet away using a large jointed limb and wiped the table in front of me. I kind of helped with my shirt sleeve because I didn't want to seem unhelpful, though, I stopped after I saw it was useless against the rapidly burgeoning inundation of soup that was flowing off of the table. The spider-creature apologized and I said nothing while Giselle and Edwin were intensely watching what was happening.

**Librararachnian 1 (🕷🙂):** I meant to ask you, if you wanted any of the lemonade here. We're doing a bake sale and the muffins are five glujkols each, although the lemonade is free.
**Me (😐):** Gluj...kols?
It was another one of those unfamiliar words. I knew now this must be their form of currency, though, how we'd go about obtaining units of it let alone purchasing with it remained to be seen.

**Librararachnian 2 (🕷🤤):** Yeah they're really good trust me!
**Librararachnian 1 (🕷😏):** Heh, that's Bob.
**Librararachnian 1 (🕷😅):** Don't eat them all just because you don't have to pay for them!
**Bob (🕷🥺):** *Oh alright.*
'Bob' stuffed a large muffin between his mandibles and chewed conspicuously, eliciting a sigh of discontent from the large spider who had tapped me on the shoulder.

**Giselle (🤔):** What's *your* name?
**Librararachnian 1 (🕷😊):** Shirley.
**Shirley (🕷😊):** It's a pleasure to meet you.
*Shirley you must be joking* I thought, before she said something that startled me more than her first tap on our shoulder.

**Shirley (🕷😂):** That's a good pun, heh, I'll share that one with my friends.
**Me (😯):** Pun..?
**Shirley (🕷🙂):** Yeah, the one you just thought of.
They could read minds apparently. I focused my thinking to be as 'normal' as possible, not wishing to alert these beings of who we actually were. Normal thoughts - yes - *table* - *chair* - *spider librarians from a different dimension* - perfectly normal.

**Shirley (🕷😁):** Welp. I got to run, some overseers are due at 10, going to be a busy day.
**Shirley (🕷😁):** You three take care now.
She did what might be described as a "smile" in spider terms, but was a disconcerting parting the mandibles to us; lifting three legs off the ground in an undulating wave goodbye. Then she walked off on eight legs and I noticed her checking a leg that had a watch strapped near the end of it.

**Edwin (🤤):** I'm getting the lemonade, be right back!