Sofia saw her chance and grabbed the gun that Oz let fall. She dropped down on one knee, took aim and fired at Alpha-3. She hit him in the chest.
He gasped, clutching his chest, and fell forward, struggling for breath.
Javier leapt towards him and kicked his gun away.
Alpha-3’s struggle didn’t last long.
Nor did Oz’s.
It was over at last.
CHAPTER 22
Javier quickly grabbed the compass and stepped back, well away from the wall of tablets, far enough for the vibrations to all but cease. The metal tablets were now safe to handle. He nodded to Mari, Carlos, and Juan, who began the delicate process of taking them down.
They were all dumbfounded at what had happened in this cavern. It had happened so fast. It felt almost unreal. They were exhausted and spent, desperately trying to process what they’d just witnessed, experienced and done.
Sofia and Luis walked off to the side and sat down with their father. They huddled together, speaking in hushed tones, wiping tears away.
Rick walked over to Javier. In solemnity, they watched the metal library being dismantled.
“Javier, I have so many questions... but first I need to know why?” He hesitated. He pointed to Oz’s remains. It was a grim sight. “Why am I still alive and he’s not? Was it just because he slammed into the wall of tablets? Because both Oz and that first operative seemed to have had a really bad experience prior to hitting it.” Rick shook his head. “I don’t understand what happened.”
Javier sighed and rubbed his face. He felt drained. He just wanted this to be over with. All of it. “I was serious when I told Oz that the library must never be mishandled. There is enormous power running through it when the tablets are in place. Power we don’t fully comprehend.”
“Right... and... ?” Rick’s memories just after waking up from his experience were a little fuzzy; he had gaps he needed filling in.
Javier continued, recognizing Rick’s need to understand the profound experience he’d had. “As I told Oz, all we know is that the symbols affect each person differently. It may be their thoughts or actions, or a combination of both. Some people have had similar experiences, others radically different. We cannot be entirely certain of what the symbols do, because they can change with each new interaction. For all we know, there might be an infinite number of ways these symbols react to a person’s contact.”
“But why is that?” Rick pressed. He needed to know. He’d come so close to dying tonight in this place.
Javier frowned, reflecting on this terrible night. “I tried to tell him—the library seems to respond to a person’s intent. We don’t know how or why, but we suspect it has something to do with the energy a person brings to it.”
“Like a reflection,” Rick added.
“A good analogy,” Javier answered. He gazed at the wall of tablets as his friends were taking them down. He let out a heavy sigh. “We’ve learned to respect the library’s power. What’s in our hearts, our minds, has real world consequences in this place. Here, it can mean the difference between life and death.”
Understanding began to dawn on Rick. “I guess Oz didn’t see himself as a potential risk. He must have believed in what he was doing and thought the warning wouldn’t apply to him.”
“Si, that’s exactly it. He didn’t see himself as a bad guy,” Javier said sadly. “That was his blind spot. He thought he was on the right path.”
That comment made Rick even more nervous about how close he’d come to death.
Javier continued, “It was also why I told you we needed him to experience what you did when you hit the symbol. That way he could be put to the test. The library judged him, judged all of them, and we saw the result.”
Rick tensed. He understood what Javier was saying. He shivered at the thought of how powerful this place was. There was no hiding here. It also made him reflect on his incredibly positive experience. He’d come away with so much, a renewed sense of peace and belonging, and a sense of worth he’d never experienced before. Profound gifts.
He again glanced over at what was left of Oz.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Javier said.
He looked surprised. “Oh?”
“That it could’ve been you lying there.”
Rick swallowed hard.
“You’re right, it could’ve been,” Javier continued. “But it wasn’t. You’re a good person. Remember that.”
Rick smiled. “I think you had some doubts.”
Javier gave him a quick look. “No más.”
“I’m honored,” he replied. That meant a lot to him. Rick then looked over at Sofia, huddling with her family, deep in conversation. She’d also passed the library’s test. Now that he knew the stakes of what Oz had made her do, he was even more relieved. “They’re good people, too.”
“Si, they are,” Javier replied.
“Bet you didn’t have the same doubts about them,” Rick said, winking at him, only half-joking.
“Perhaps not.”
Fair enough, Rick thought to himself. “Library,” he said, letting out a heavy sigh, still trying to grasp the incalculable power and potential of this place. “What a way to describe it.”
Javier nodded, gazing around the spectacular cavern. “We believe it’s fitting. It seems to reveal the knowledge, history, emotions, memories, experiences, and intent... even obsession of the person who interacts with it.”
Rick listened, riveted by what Javier was telling him.
“We’re still learning about it, but we think it’s also a library of what might’ve been, even possibly what is, in another life.”
Rick was struck by what he said. “That’s what I felt. It was absolutely incredible. Like another life.” He paused. “Or rather an alternate reality of my life.”
“They are all one.”
Rick remembered his father saying the same thing in his experience with the metal library. “Tell me more about that if you can, por favor.”
Javier considered how
