Iris sits alone in a house that she bought for herself. It is not big. It can accommodate three adults comfortably, but to Iris, it is the perfect size for one person. She has her bedroom, she has an office, and she has a spare room for visitors. The kitchen is the perfect size for one person to maneuver between the stove top, the countertops and the counterspace; two people bumbling around inside was insufferable to Iris who had bought her house in order to perfectly curate her own comfort. Outside of her home, Iris is pulled in many directions, Iris is everything to a lot of people. When she is inside of her home, though, she can relax and let go of the burden.
The year is 4798-2 and Iris is eager to finally get the promotion that she has proven herself worthy. She has made herself available to all of the scholars who utilize the UL branch that she has worked for all of her professional career, UL Branch 63, which is regularly selected at debates to present before the Nexus and his assistants. She would surely be named head of UL 63, she is the best candidate of the nominees and most, including the other nominated librarians, see the selection process as mere formality. It is customary for a UL branch to nominate three potential replacements at the death or retirement of a Head Librarian who all serve in the duties until a replacement is chosen by the UL based on recommendation from local assistants.
Iris is alone and trying not to think about tomorrow, when the new Head Librarian would be chosen. Her home is walking distance from UL 63, and she can see the building from her windows; she pulls a shade to avoid the view and she goes to her personal library to finish unboxing and shelving additions to her personal collection.
Every Bromeris has their own personal library that is made up of books with personal resonance; the Bromeris only own books that are not readily available from UL branches that provide free and unlimited access to any book in their possession. A personal library on Bromeran usually consists of out of print works, or alien texts that are not readily available. Iris has a fairly modest personal library of just about twenty books, but the previous branch Head Librarian had left her his personal library when he died and Iris inspects each text closely as she removes them from boxes and organizes them on shelves in her office. The former head librarian seems to have had a fascination with extremely old texts that Iris handles carefully. The most obvious indication of the age of the texts is the binding method used; in order to ensure the preservation of printed texts, a debate was held at the Ultimate Library where book binding methods were standardized and laws were established for the proper storage of books. Many of the texts that Iris unpacked were stabbed stitched by hand with a twine-like string, maybe the most primitive of binding methods, and it is clear that the now deceased head librarian had taken great pains to ensure the preservation of the works.
Many of them seem to be by the same writer who Iris assumes had personally hand written the thousands of pages.
Futeel Saplee documented ancient Bromeris culture upon arrival to the planet Bromeran many millennia ago. The Bromeris were the most technologically advanced of the planet Wiis during the unified period, and they had successfully scouted the space around Wiis in a radius of about a 100,000 light years for their current home planet. Futeel was happy to hand write the stories that he collected from long distance conversation with ship captains who explored their galaxy. He worked for the early space command of the Bromeris on Wiis and he was one of many monitors who maintained communications and logged captain’s reports into the Eternity Archive. His hand written works showed that Futeel maintained conversational relationships with many of the captains and he hand written selections of their accounts after summarizing them for the Archive.
Iris opened a book called The Long Lost Crew Recovered that was the biggest of the previous librarian’s collection. Futeel had contributed to this text for years and it was actually a collection of four volumes, Iris thumbed carefully through the third with white gloves.
“Word today from a far off land… the captain explains that the previously unknown things are very intense. They are a very ritualistic group of things and they have taught the stalwart captain rituals that defy expectation. The captain has spent extensive time with these things, and he sees similarities now. He is convinced of a common ancestor, even all those light years away that he and his crew have found by chance, extremely lucky to still be alive. Imagine that, the Bromeris having distant ape cousins on an extremely distant planet.”
Iris could believe it. Even though the physical characteristics of the Bromeris and the Rhasdwiis, who are also a native species of the planet Wiis, are drastically different, they do have some characteristics in common; similar facial structure, reproductive functions, and the same number of limbs.
Iris closes the book and she stares at the picture of Futeel that is pasted to the back cover. He has a sinister face, his horns protrude from his forehead just above his eyebrows and they curl up over his head in a dramatic flourish. He has thick black hair that seems to be slick over his face and his eyes are pointed.
Iris places the book on the shelf, and picks up another of Futeel’s originals, a book called The Common Ancestor, and then another called The First People. They are small compared to the volumes of The Long Lost Crew Recovered, and she is about to sit with The First People, when she notices a very modern looking text. It is underneath a few other books, but the corner of the cover that caught her eye reflects the light. She grabs it and it seems to be wrapped in very smooth foil. It has a much more modern binding and Iris is surprised that Futeel had written it as well. It is not handwritten and when she holds it up to her face, she can see her reflection as clear as if it had been a mirror. She smiles at herself. Her physical appearance does not matter much in her daily routine, but she does have a stunning set of horns that grow from the sides of her head and form what could be described as the skeleton of a butterfly’s wings. She admires herself over the embossed name of Futeel Saplee that is the only printing on the reflective cover.
Iris opens the book, and though the pages feel like paper, she knows that they are not when the vision of Futeel’s portrait appears on the page she opens to. It is a digital book, with hundreds of digital pages that could function like a normal printed text, but could also send and receive any manner of communication, and also display high quality video and photography. The portrait of Futeel is very realistic and Iris smiles down at it ready to bow.
“You are taking over the UL branch, I presume,” Futeel says. Iris assumes that it is a video, most likely a gift that the previous head librarian had intended to give her before he died. Iris just looks at it with a smile, expecting it to continue, but then Futeel is suddenly very angry and he barks at her, “Answer me! Are you hard of hearing? You are a poor choice of replacement if you cannot hear!”
Iris jumps and then answers, “I am…” she stammers, “I hope to be… it looks like I will be.”
“Very well,” the portrait says. “Are you prepared for the duty?”
“As prepared as ever,” Iris says, regaining her confidence. “I am the best candidate for this. I am made for it.”
“So you say,” Futeel says with a sneer. “You have only one duty, and you do not look up for it.”
Iris scoffs at the book. “I am absolutely up for it. There is not a task asked of a librarian that is better executed by myself in the whole of my branch.”
“The task asked of a Head Librarian is not the same as the tasks expected of a mere librarian.”
“True,” Iris say, “but the former Head had confidence in me, as do all of my colleagues.”
“How could they know if you are fit for the one duty expected of the head librarian of 63? Have they ever been the head?” Futeel asks sharply.
“They all know what they expect…” Iris starts. “What is this? Why am I talking to this book? And why do you keep implying that there is only one duty for the head of 63? A head librarian is stretched in many different directions.”
The portrait sighs. “Very well then. If you are the new head, and you will be if I agree with you, then you should know the one duty of the head of 63.”
“Well, what is it?” Iris asks, eager to make her case for why and how she could satisfy any requirement.
Futeel reaches a hand toward Iris and she stumbles back in shock to see the hand extend from the page. She crawls away toward the door of her home that is the perfect size for one, as Futeel climbs out of the book and jumps onto the floor.
“What is this?” Iris asks in horror. “What is happening?”
“This is possession dear,” Futeel says and he lifts a hand. A book floats behind him and he points in the direction of Iris, sending the book flying to land in her lap. The book is called, “Spirit Possession and the Seizure of the Physical Body. It’s my favorite,” Futeel says. “Each new head is expected to give over their physical bodies to me, the only head that this branch has ever known. I have never had a female body, but you all outlive us males right? It is a worthy experiment I suppose.”
The ghost of Futeel Saplee has been the head librarian of the local UL branch for millennia and his reflecting book helped to ensure that he always would be.
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