From deep in the darkness, a small, inconsequential awareness ebbed and flowed, a strange wind flowing through it, suffusing it as it rose from nothing. Gradually, it rose to the point of wakefulness, and blinked a few times - figuratively, as it had no eyelids. Or body, for that matter.

  The first thing it noticed was that the masked one was gone. It looked around it, but it was nowhere to be seen.

  No… There was no gargantuan mask, but there was something. A room. The room was exceedingly simple, with no adornments whatsoever, not even a door or any windows. It was perhaps four meters long and three meters wide, and made entirely out of something that looked like concrete.

  Concrete?

  What was ‘concrete’?

  Befuddled, the newly born awareness pondered the word, and after a few minutes of honorable concentration, a memory stirred.

  Concrete, a composite material that could, handily, go from liquid to solid when mixed and dried. Nice.

  It didn’t know where this memory came from, but… the more you know, it supposed.

  Figuratively shrugging, the being turned its attention back to the cramped room. There was but one light source in the room - a candle that sat silently in its chamberstick on a simple, wooden table. The table was very small, maybe a little under a meter in length and width. It was located in the middle of the room, and behind it was a dainty chair, which looked like it hadn’t seen anyone’s backside in a somber thousand years.

  Most interestingly, though, was the fourth and final occupant of this room, and the only thing of color - The book.

  Placed neatly on the table was a small tome, bound in a dark blue leather-like material.

  The being wanted to pick it up, but it had no hands to do so with. Chagrinned, it stared at the book, hoping that would help.

  It did.

  As if its attention itself was enough, the blank book rose from the table and turned towards where the newborn’s immaterial awareness was poised. Immediately, an equally dark blue screen filled the little one’s vision.

  [Choose your Name]

  The entity was surprised, to say the least. it tried to move to see behind the screen, and noticed it could move freely, if only inside the room.

  On the back of the screen, it only saw a normal blue screen, the letters now being backwards.

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  Slightly relieved, and slightly disappointed, the entity returned to its ‘perch’, that it decided to refer to its spawn point as.

  It wandered…

  ‘A name…’ It muttered, and figuratively jumped out of its non-existant skin when it heard its own voice - Though, it would be more accurate to say it was surprizing it even had a voice. It didn't exactly have a lot of knowledge in its imaginary noggin - it was literally born just a few seconds ago - but it knew it had no body. So how did it have a voice? And why was it so feminine? Was it a woman? But it had no body... Could anyone hear the voice? Were there even other people? Obviously not here, but... anywhere? Or was this room... it?

  Shuddering at the thought, it turned its attention back to the screen.

  'A name... I guess I could choose a feminine name, couse of my voice. What is a feminine name, anyway? Huuu...'

  It- She pondered for a while longer, before honestly giving up. There were none of the names running around in her head that were really her.

  Now that she thought about it, what did she even feel like? She had no body of her own, but she couldn't say she felt nothing. There was something, something close to her that she felt a connection to. It wasn't anything like a tether, it felt like a... like a core of some sort. It didn't feel warm, it didn't feel cold. It didn't feel anything at all, all she could tell was that its location in regards to the space around her. It was strange, having 'eyes' that could fly around while feeling that your... body? Container? Core? Anyway, feeling like your true self was somewhere else. Based on what she could feel now, her self was small in size and in the middle of the room, on the... table...

  'The book!!'

  As it clicked in her mind, the little one zoomed over to the book, moving around it and deftly scrutinizing it. It was important to know oneself, after all. At the same time, she restarted her efforts to come up with a name for herself.

  'The book is blue. Bluey? No, that's too simple... Bookie? No, that's silly. Pagey? Library-y? How remarcable. I think I might actually be very stupid.' She deadpanned.

  She knew the concept of a name. What it was supposed to represent. Everyone gets one when they're born, or in its case, spawns. In the case that one is goven a name at birth or at spawn, there is little one can do to decide, as one is literally an infant. But when it came to choosing one for herself, the little book thought it should be something meaningful to her. To her chagrin, however, she couldn't really think of anything that was important to her.

  Other than this room, of course. The Book couldn'r really explain why, but she felt inherently that this room was not only special, but absolutely instrumental to her. She had the feeling she wouldn't part with it for the world, and if she did, if she was forced to...

  She clutched her non-existent heart in anguish at the thought, and the little book quivered in place where it hovered above the table.

  'No... No, that will not happen. Better not to think about it.'

  Shaking herself - the book, that is - she refocused on the screen. Now, she was honestly a little frustrated.

  'It shouldn't be so hard to think of a name, for ham's sake! What's ham? GAH! Honestly, there is too much I do not know...'

  Immediately, she felt a twinge, a pull and a yank all at the same time, as the thought of knowledge crossed her mind. Her unseen eyes lit up, the book, she, it... thirsted.

  Something about even the thought of knowledge lit a flame within her - and suddenly, it was as if she saw the world through new eyes. Or, well, not eyes, but you get the point.

  The book shuddered and quivered, flying restlessly through the air as that one single word consumed her mind, and with it, bringing more words that became the core of her being.

  The...Information. Books. Letters. Living. Ascendance. People. Library. Helping. People. Liza..... Liza... Helping! Helping Li-

  A violent force hit her from everywhere all at once, and darkness was all she saw.