The best thing about the culinary branch was Cook.

  They had this strange sort of calming effect on Quinn. No matter what was going on, how bad it might turn out, or how much she might wish she could ignore it, here, in the kitchens with food that sprinkled nostalgia everywhere - here was where the Library most felt like home.

  Malakai was off checking out the other stoves in use. Most people experimenting with magical food loved having guinea pigs who were eager to sample their experiments. Generally, just a general antidote would do if the food somehow caused a bad reaction. But Cook had plenty of those on hand.

  Mostly though, Malakai’s wondering gave her severely necessary alone time with her favorite golem.

  She didn’t even need to ask for comfort food, nor did she need to espouse a preference.

  Cook just always seemed to know her. He read her moods like an open book and arranged a specific set of food for her every time. If she hadn’t already believed in magic, this would do it.

  This time he’d made her crumpets with butter and it was divine. The perfect texture, toasted just right, with the butter bleeding through the bottom. She savored the bite, closing her eyes, remembering how she’d loved them when her grandmother made them as a special treat when she was five.

  When she opened her eyes again, Cook was sitting across from her, their expression somehow tender.

  “Did I get the consistency correct?”

  Quinn smiled and let out a breath of a laugh. “Yeah. It’s perfect.”

  “Excellent.” Cook paused, cocking their head to one side briefly, as if studying her. “Can you tell me then what it is that is bothering you?”

  That was just it though, wasn’t it? Quinn wasn’t entirely sure what it was that bugged her. No matter how much thought she gave it, which way she turned things... She just couldn’t put her finger on why things felt wrong. Quinn ran her fingers through a loose curl that had, yet again, escaped her bun. It’d been messier than usual this morning.

  “I’m really not sure what’s bothering me,” she admitted. And it was a much harder thing to admit to herself than she’d imagined.

  “Elaborate?” Cook’s enquiry sounded genuine, interested even. Their helpers were bustling about through the culinary branch too, so it wasn’t like Cook had to assist the patrons.

  She studied her fingernails for a moment, activated a shield she’d modified into a privacy one, and then answered. “There’s one of those gut feelings plaguing me like no one’s business. I can’t seem to separate it enough from myself to figure out exactly what’s bothering me.”

  “Sound it out.”

  Quinn blinked at Cook, unsure how they could know just the right words to say on such a consistent basis. So she gathered her thoughts and started. “The Library’s brother wants, for some reason, to let chaotic magic reign unchecked. Everyone so far, and I’m including Sarila, Kajaro, Tenejo and any of their other helpers — they all seem to think releasing chaotic magic means only the strong will survive, despite all the evidence to the contrary that absolutely no one will survive.” She watched Cook, perhaps half expectantly, but they just stare at her, waiting.

  “Now we’ve learned that not only do massive factions of several species out there believe the same thing, but not all the cosmicisodracus siblings seem to think making the Library as a filtration system was a good idea anymore.” She was warming up to it a little more now. “Not only that but this has to have been in the works for at least ten thousand years if not more because Korradine was placed here that long ago and in all sincerity appears to have begun laying traps and sabotage around the place from a very early time. Subtly at first... but more blatant and reckless after a while.”

  “But Quinn,” Cook interrupted her, a soft sense of curiosity in their gaze. “You are giving me information. Have you not yet found the question?”

  She stared at him, as if it only just hit her. That was just it, wasn’t it?

  They had a series of events, of instances. History spattered here and there. A vague sort of thinly veiled motive — that was really reason enough to preserve the Library in and of itself. But, as a whole, she had no idea what their motivation was. It seemed so flimsy, so damned convenient.

  “Thanks.” She said, eating the last bite of her crumpet and wiping away the drip of butter that threatened to leave her chin. There was something deeper, some motivation that ran far under everything she’d assumed. And she wasn’t going to find the answer by stuffing her face. Quinn pushed herself up, a wide grin on her face. “I might have more questions at the moment than I started with, but now I feel like I have direction. Thanks.”

  She reached forward and gave them one of those sidearm hugs they usually shared.

  Cook smiled. Even though Quinn was never quite sure how she knew what expression they were giving her at any given time, it was clear they were currently feeling quite accomplished. “Always. And when you find that question, come back and I will do my best to help you find those answers you seek. In the meantime, I’ll add crumpets to your regular rotation.”

  Quinn grinned. “But with more butter.”

  “More butter?” Cook raised an eyebrow, for once taken by surprise.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Definitely drown it in butter.”

  “Very well.” Cook moved back over to their cooking station, and Quinn felt like her body was vibrating with excitement.

  But it wasn’t just excitement, it was a direction, a way to hopefully stop chasing tails and just find exactly what it was they needed to head toward.

  “You seem to be in a good mood?” Malakai said as he plopped down next to her with a plate that rather looked like the intestines of a small animal and Quinn had no desire to know what it actually was.

  “I am in a good mood. But you should probably eat up and come join me in my office.” She grinned at him.

  He eyed his food mournfully. “But if I want to eat it, I have to stay around here so they can tend to me if I have an... adverse reaction, I believe, were the words.”

  Quinn laughed. “Fine, I guess I’d prefer to keep you around, but...” her fingers twitched with eagerness at making her lists to figure out exactly what it was she needed to link together. The compulsion to figure this out made her skin itch like a bug had crawled underneath it. She hadn’t had this feeling in a long time. Not since she’d been convinced in high school that she alone could establish the whereabouts of the lost Library of Alexandria...

  She blinked, her eyes narrowed, and she focused her thoughts toward the Library. You’re not the Library of Alexandria, are you?

  No. There was laughter in the Library’s response. I was never open to Earth myself. Although ...

  Although what?

  Well, you know there are many myths and rumors in your world. I cannot guarantee that someone didn’t speak of me and influence your history. However, it was never intentional if it happened.

  Hypothetically happened? Quinn knew her tone held a distinct edge that wasn’t the nicest. She wasn’t happy with herself for it.

  Sincerely. If it came from here, it was neither mine, nor any of my Librarian’s doings, not past, present, or future. I’m just saying I’m not the only means of dimensional and distance travel. Even if I do make it easier for everyone.

  Quinn frowned. The Library did sound sincere. Thanks.

  There're more questions aren’t there. It asked simply.

  Yeah, but it can wait until I’m in my office, once I drag Malakai from his food.

  “Quinn?” Malakai frowned up at her as he poked her finger. “You doing okay?”

  She blinked down at where he still sat, polishing off the last of his food. “Sorry. Miles away. That good?”

  He contemplated his answer, his expression passing through several moods before he just shrugged. “Not bad. Very different, and I do not appear to have any side effects.”

  “Yeah? They come on that quick?”

  Malakai nodded. “They said pretty much immediately. So I think I’m good.”

  “Excellent. Let’s go.”

  Five minutes later Quinn sat at her desk, a beautiful feather from Aradie transformed into a Quill.

  She noted down the creation of the five original cosmicisodracus by Chaos magic. The creation of the worlds. The knowledge of what chaos magic did once it needed to devour its own creations to survive. Weren’t the cosmicisodracus the first beings created by Chaos Magic? she asked the Library.

  Yes. We were.

  She frowned, adding it to another sheet of paper where she drew a set of columns with a line dividing the page. In the top columns she wrote what she knew, going into detail about Korradine and her infiltration and the bomb. Right down to the names of all the books that seemed to be missing from the restricted section, especially the five dangerous dimensional ones. Then she made sure to pencil in the use each book had been put to, where it was located, just like the devouring tree they’d found and the resulting Esposian backlash. Not to mention the botched retrieval from Kajaro, or the almost too easy retrieval from Drukala.

  The memories were the major problem, though. Quinn couldn’t fill in on those. She frowned and reached out to the Library again. Do you think it’s possible for Harish to get me data on the dates and worst instances of your memory loss... or missing data processes?

  Definitely possible. Misha doesn’t require constant monitoring and I daresay he’ll enjoy a task that means something in the bigger picture while he’s idling away.

  Quinn nods and decides to send a note through the system. They have it after all, and it’s easier to do some inter-Library memos than to constantly run around the huge thing getting to people she could otherwise reach more conveniently. Because, after all, each of these things is one piece of the puzzle. It’s just a lot larger, with more similar pieces than she’d realized.

  Her correlation diagram was beginning to get crowded, but she wasn’t done with it yet. There was still something she was missing.

  In the next column, she began writing down the different species that they knew were definitely against them. All of them. From the Aracnios to the Sedementites, to the Esposians and more. She frowned as she realized that many of those in the list above, of the pieces where they’d retrieved other books, where they knew for a fact they matched up with the timeline...

  Had she found a link? Perhaps not the link, but it was definitely one. “Shit.”

  “That actually sounds like a good shit... is it?” Malakai asked, and Quinn couldn’t help smiling.

  “It’s a not bad shit.” But she started to laugh, and then sobered, because while it was a sort of answer, it wasn’t definitive and just gave rise to more questions. “I need more detailed notes on what planets and species were created first.”

  “Do I want to know?”

  “It’s a gut feeling about influence.”

  “Color me intrigued.” Mal raised an eyebrow.

  “I have to double check, though.” She frowned and got back to her lists.

  She continued, making notes of the different species who were against them, of Sarila and the Balisor incident. Of the ritual net Jasper had created so they could trace the books...

  Trace.

  Quinn stopped suddenly. “Is it possible to track a tracing spell back to its point of origin?” She asked, even though she wasn’t entirely sure she even wanted an answer.

  Malakai looked up and shrugged, but the Library answered for both of them to hear. Technically. If someone is looking for a tracker, or has triggered or expected one...

  Quinn blanched. She didn’t like those implications. And she knew the ritual room was still set up downstairs.