Liberi Reader

I feel... New. Complete.

Hahaha, you can stop circling me now, little fella. I'm just as happy to see you good as new.

Zumama: skilled at overhauls.

Zumama, requesting favor. Small favor.

0428, partner: already retired. No longer responding to communication. Requesting assistance.

Shipped along with this machine, built in the same factory. Now, no longer responding.

No longer responding?

Don't worry. Take me to see it.

Zumama, this way.

......

These components, and this design... Hmm, might be a bit more complicated than routine maintenance.

How does this thing work? And what's this component for? It's nothing like Lancet, and I don't think Closure has ever said anything about these.

If I connect it here... No, I should be more careful. This is your friend after all, right?

Friend? Zumama has described this relationship several times. But I do not understand it.

Repair cannot be performed?

If only I had some information to work from...

Information? The library, preserves information.

Can you take me there?

Assisting in navigation is my glorious mission. Zumama, this way please.

Now that's something you don't see every day.

I've never heard of anything like that in the books. Surface-dwellers are worth looking into.

Elysium, let's have a little race to see who can fly out face-first from the super spinny slide the fastest. How about it?

Hah, you're about to see why they call me Rhodes Island's Legendary Aqua-Man!

I'll be honest here. I don't have the slightest bit of interest in hanging out with you. I'd rather be eaten by one of the gloompincers in that damned Acahuallan jungle.

Don't be like that, Stitch. I just want to hear your opinion.

Regardless of what the people of Zeruertza think, I know who's truly worth their mettle in this town – and that includes both you and your teacher. You've earned it.

I've never seen anything like Zeruertza's breathtaking dome in any piece of Durin architectural literature. If you could...

If that's what you want to talk to me about, I suggest we stop here before wasting any more of each other's time.

I know you're not so into my Great Aquapit's design. Same goes for the slide, and the fountain. None of them are exactly masterpieces.

But, Stitch, do you know what is I really want to design? Same as you, the dome right over our heads! We were competing over it for the longest time!

Haha, you've got some nerve saying that to my face. Are you trying to pick a fight?

You and I make good rivals.

Hah! Good rivals? You sure think highly of me. Should we hug it out? Put our arms around each other and weep?

I'm serious, Stitch.

I just want to know. Why did you give up on the dome renovation project a few years ago?

You stopped submitting your designs to the referendums. You just quit. You couldn't have given up trying to win people over to your aesthetic?

Were you really fine with Master Finch's unannounced farewell? He's still your...

Stop talking down to me, Catch!

I just got bored. Tired of it all. Simple as that.

I got fed up with trying to pin all my ambitions on this broken dome, and trying to get the people here to vote for me.

I got fed up with peddling solutions against 'architects with dreams' like you. It's all completely pointless!

Listen up. That piece of junk over our heads, I don't care if it leaks or explodes or even if you vote to tear it down one day––

I don't give a damn anymore. So do whatever the hell you want with it!

But that dome is your teacher's...

I'll say it again.

*sigh*... Alright.

Stitch, I wanted to ask you to work with me. The two of us could've come up with a brand-new plan for the dome, which I'm sure the vast majority of people here would've agreed to.

But since you don't care about the dome anymore, I won't push you. I respect your decision.

But, could you give me a moment of your time and offer me some feedback about my ideas for renovating the dome? I'd like your advice as well.

I don't care–– Actually, let's just hear it first.

Really? I appreciate it!

First, I think the whole thing should be more colorful.

What do you think? From my perspective, it's a brilliant, innovative design. I'm really proud of it. But I'm ready to take your feedback seriously.

Catch.

Had a change of heart already? Then, we'll be partners...

You're not laying a single finger on the dome. I'm going to do everything in my power to stop you.

Didn't you just say you didn't give a damn anymore, and I could do whatever I want?

I thought you just wanted to resurrect that shambling corpse. Or put it to rest permanently. That, I don't care about.

But I will not allow you to desecrate it in this manner!

Huh? This is entirely a product of my respect for the dome.

No. No way in hell. I swear I'm going to beat that idea out of your head!

Maintenance materials, library. Location: Sorted Archives, Area 59. Available bookshelf.

Is this the place?

Affirmative.

Let me see... Hm, is this Durin text? I can't read it at all.

Reading. Book titles: 'The Durin: To the Surface and Back Again' and 'Fine Durin Liquor: 127 Commonly-Seen Brewing Methods.'

Continuing search. New hits: 'Believe It Or Not! Super Crazy Durin Masterplans' 'Research on Cybernetics Information Theory Based on the Influence of Social Behavior'....

Little fella, are you sure they have what we're looking for here?

Probability: 42.377%. Durins rarely organize things.

Hmm, I can read some of the words over here.

The issues of 'Stranger Things' on these three bookshelves are more than ten years old. This row is for Victorian books... and you even have Kazimierz's 'The Red Wine'?

We use them to learn different languages, cultures, and news from the surface.

I see. No wonder why there's hardly any communication barrier between us.

Is this a Durin-published magazine? 'Breaking News! Attack of the Self-Driving Cart!', order one magazine and get a prototype for free... So that's what all those gadgets zipping around outside are?

Croque seriously pushed her cart modification business, and sold those add-on booster packs throughout Zeruertza.

She said, 'everyone likes a bit of randomness,' but I don't really get it.

But why is this in Sargonian?

In order to carry on the fine tradition of 'Stranger Things,' we decided that our own magazine should also be in Sargonian! It's how Durins think.

Are you looking for this book? 'Build Your Own Assistant Robot in 3 Seconds.'

That sounds like it could come in handy. Thank you.

Deculture! 0429 says hello!

You two know each other?

Hello, allow me to introduce myself. I am Deculture Silvermint, the industry representative of Zeruertza.

And also administrator of the assistant robots.

The administrator...

That's right. The assistant robots in Zeruertza are built, supervised, and governed by me.

Model R3-E3 Assistant Robot #0429, what are you doing here?

This unit, submitted a request to Zumama. Overhaul 0428.

0428 has already been retired. Now return to your post.

...Acknowledged. Executing directive.

Zumama, your communication with that assistant robot is pretty unusual, and its responses have been... abnormal.

What's unusual about our communication?

I can't say for sure. Maybe what's unusual is... the communication itself?

You don't talk to the little fellas?

No... They were made just to work.

That's no good. I talk to my Lancet all the time. She's like a big sister to me, letting me lean up against her cold, metal shell, patting me on the shoulder with her robotic arm, singing to me with her beautiful synth...

...Huh?

'Stranger Things' never mentioned anything like that.

Hehe, that was worth the trip!

I wasn't able to find the right outfit, but these little trinkets are awesome! Ores I've never seen before, these strange metal wind chimes, as well as these cute little pendants...

And most importantly! Gavial helped me pick this out...

The only thing that could be better is if Gavial bought a matching set with me!

Is she alright?

Oh, yeah, it's fine. The kid's been like that ever since she was little.

I've read that this obsessive hoarding behavior is called 'Zalak's Disease' in some places. It might be stress-induced or something.

No, no, I'm really happy! These memories are very precious to me!

Okay, if you say so.

So, Avdotya, you have an Ursus name. Is that where you came from originally?

My name is Avdotya Razorpen. A standard Durin name.

But, Avdotya is still Ursine.

What are you getting at?

Calm down, I'm just making small talk.

No... that place is not my home. I just happened to come from there.

What I really don't understand is why you're so paranoid about the surface.

......

When I was little, I loved spending time with the grammar tutor my parents hired for me. Though she could be a bit dry, she sometimes said really interesting things.

Ursus has a lot of literature describing one's hometown, and my tutor was always entranced by those works. We would analyze their motifs, their composition styles...

Back then, I thought everyone would grow nostalgic for their hometown, and people who traveled far away would eventually find their way back to slumber eternally...

But I later found out that's not true at all. If all the memories you have of your hometown are painful ones, and you find a place more suitable to be your home, then why should you yearn for a place you once were?

It is no different from another stop on a long journey.

Miss Avdotya, what made you decide to leave Ursus?

...I don't want to talk about it.

Things that would make you vomit. My status, my family, my friends, all vanished overnight. I fled with my tail between my legs, quite literally.

From Ursus, to Sargon, to an underground Durin city... Your journey couldn't have been easy.

How could there be a journey with no destination?

I just happened to get lucky. I finally found this place, a small city called Zeruertza.

The Durins here accepted me, and I will repay the debt with even greater kindness.

This is the place I've decided I belong.

And that's why I won't let anything harm them. I don't care if it's out of malice, or out of good intentions gone awry.

That is my warning to you.

Alright...

I was going to ask you to have a drink, just as a show of goodwill. But maybe not––

Wait.

That isn't off the table.

––Ahhh.

Yeah. The way you drink definitely screams Ursus.

Shut up. Durins drink the same way.

To be honest, I'm not much of a psychologist. There are a lot of things I don't understand about the human heart, and I don't really care to understand it. It's already hard enough patching up the body.

But what I can say is, you can never really become a Durin, no matter how much you act like one.

I don't think we know each other well enough to start picking out each others' problems.

I overheard you talking with some of those Durin shopkeepers. The gist I got was that the stories you wrote about snowfields didn't seem to strike the right note with them.

That's right... They have neither snow nor fields underground.

Just to be clear, I don't write like that because I miss being there. It's nothing more than... a plot of land for a story to take place on.

You know that there's a story to be told there. That by itself isn't Durin.

Some scars can't be covered up after all.

But that won't stop me from trying.

Even if you just be yourself, the Durins will still accept you.

What if I want a new self?

Fine.

Sure, the Durins are always happy to accept anyone they meet. This time, it was you people, and me. What about next time?

Since you are a doctor, you must have seen the evil lurking in men's hearts. You've surely seen the depravity to which people will stoop in order to hurt one another.

I won't act like this is a racial issue. Everything on the surface has shaped us into this. All too quick to resort to violence, lusting after power and money, blinded by ambition...

I used to be soaked in it. Now, I want a new self.

Evil is contagious, and can be learned. The people underground have never experienced it, and have no resistance to evil.

You're right, I can't become a Durin. But for the sake of the people of Zeruertza, I am willing to do everything in my power to protect it.

––I will protect this idyllic, unspoiled innocence.

Didn't you say before that the Durins can handle their own problems?

Stop using my own words against me!