During the elevator's smooth ride, Melissa was breathing hard. Jhin was sitting in a corner next to the door, but Melissa was standing, holding the wall. Suddenly, she wanted to go back up, to the outside. But she didn't know how. She was trapped.
The elevator came to a halt, smoothly. With a soft chime, its doors opened. Melissa expected there to be other monsters, ready to attack her, but instead, the floor was a lot more peaceful.
The scent of books, old and new, filled the air. Shelves upon shelves upon shelves, filled with what seemed like all the writings ever produced by humanity on them, and what didn't fit was stacked into piles, some of them seeming to reach the invisible ceiling. Great vertical windows were on the walls, all also seeming to reach the ceiling, but their placement seemed weird. They were placed on walls behind which another room would start, for unlike the previous floor which was simply rectangular, this one had many rooms and corridors and hidden passageways. But, regardless of their placement, all the windows were showing simply white, as if they hadn't been cleaned in a long time. The light cast oblique rays, visible across the room thanks to the suspended dust, which painted abstracts shapes on the ground.
Melissa's anxiety quickly led place to a thirst for exploration. This place begged to be explored, its many passages and tunnels holding who knows how many secrets.
Jhin looked around, seemingly bored. He picked up an old book on top of one of the shorter piles, and looked at its title then threw it back. They didn't have much of an interest with books, and simply wanted to finish this job.
They tried to contact the surface with the radio, but they could only hear statics. At this distance, they should still have been able to contact others, but judging from the radio they were much, much deeper underground than they thought.
As the duo wandered through the shelves, not a sound was heard, although the shifting of paper would sometimes break the silence.
Melissa wondered who turned these pages, and if they were human.
She did not have to wonder for very long, though, as soon enough, the pair stumbled onto a book floating in the middle of an alley. At first she was wary, but it seemed the book hadn't noticed them. Jhin, on the other hand, had decided to take a more predictive approach, and was inching toward the book holding a folding chair above his head.
"You can stop that, you know." said the book, in a tired voice. "And put that chair down. You'll hurt your arms."
"These can talk ?" immediatly screamed Melissa, with a slightly disgusted tone in her voice.
-Of course we can. You don't see me asking the same about you, it's obvious you can.
-Uh.... Hello ?" tried Melissa.
-Yes now that your attempt to end my life has ended in failure this is the perfect time to start a friendly conversation." it said, with a sarcastic tone. "How's the weather ? How are you ? What a great day today. Will you be coming to the garden party on sunday ?"
Melissa looked at Jhin with a confused expression.
"My bad my bad, i can see that at least one of you is willing to talk." apologised the book.
-So ! Hello." it finally answered.
-Yes, well, uhm...
-I'll do you the honors of giving you a conversation topic as well. This is going swimmingly. Yes, perfect..." it sighed. "So, well, it has been, i think, quite a while since someone came from the surface. What brings you down there ?
-Ah, well, the town above has, you could say, migrated to this mall. So we're trying to find them," Melissa answered, "And personally i'm also here to explore.
-Yes, a fine reason. And what about sir perfect officer over there ?" it said toward Jhin.
-Uh, me ? I was sent here. I don't really wanna be here but can't go against that order.
-Right," the book answered.
"Well," said the book, "that was a fine meeting but I am afraid I will have to leave you. I wish you good luck for your travel."
"Wait wait !" Melissa shouted, "We could use a guide. It seems this place will be weirder than what we imagined."
-Ah, well I don't think my busy schedule will allow me to accompany you, but i can at least make you a gift."
In front of the book, a sort of transparent construct appeared. It was floating in the air, and projecting a faint cyan glow to everything you could see through it. The construct itself seemed as though it was made from many, many smaller and simpler constructs. Suddenly, all the smaller elements triggered, and the bigger structure burst.
"Do you know what this is ?" the book asked. "These are psychic constructs. This one is a weak one of the Informatics element. I can teach you how to make one."
The book started to float near Jhin and Melissa, circling around them. They had the feeling they were being scanned.
"You, young lady, I think you are compatible with this element." it said toward Melissa.
It floated in front of Melissa's face, and she closed her eyes. Her mind was flooded with pictures of the stars, with pictures of computers, of circuits. She understood that many simple elements working together in an orderly fashion could create something much, much bigger than the sum of their parts. She understood that nothing in this world was left to luck, that everything had a cause, which itself had a cause, and so on. That, she understood, was the basis of the Informatics element.
She opened her eyes again, and, holding her arm out in front of her, made one of the constructs.
"As I thought, you are indeed compatible. Now then, I will take my leave. I believe you can take better care of yourselves now." And with that, the book silently floated away.