The Greek Gods and the Apocalypse

Chapter 11 (Edited)

When I arrive back at Shimmer's barracks I knock on her door. A few moments later she opened it and let me in.

"Hello Aurora," she says smiling slightly. "Shall we begin figuring out what this note is trying to tell us?"

Apparently, she had her lunch delivered because the remnants were still on her desk. She places what is left of lunch in the trash and begins lining up all of the chains with charms side by side in front of her. Although I am looking at them upside down it is still very easy to tell what they are.

"While you were gone, I began trying to figure out what these pendants were trying to tell us. What message they were intended to relay? Have you figured out anything while you were away Aurora?"

"The only thing I have concluded is to solve the mystery we need to decode the message one line at a time and then put all of our conclusions together to find our answer."

"That is a good approach, Aurora. I believe the best place to work on this is the library where all of our known history is stored. This clearly predates our existence."

"Go ahead of me and ask everyone to leave the library for the rest of the day. Have them take whatever they are using back to their barracks. This is the only way to make our research private." I leave and head for the library as requested.

At the library there are only a handful of people, so it only takes about ten minutes to clear everyone out. While I wait for Shimmer to arrive, I begin browsing the bookshelves. I have no idea what I am looking for. I guess if I see something helpful it will stand out to me. I browse for about twenty minutes but not a single book catches my eye.

Shimmer comes through the library door with a satchel and a ring of keys in her hand. We look at each other and she motions for me to follow her. "Aurora follow me." I nod and follow Shimmer to a closed door at the far side of the library.

The door has a sign hanging at eye level that says, 'Do Not Enter'. Shimmer reaches down and tries to turn the handle. The door is locked. For the next several minutes Shimmer tries each key on the keyring she brought with her. Finally, one of the keys works. The door unlocks and we enter the room. The light switch is on the wall next to the door we just entered so I flip the light on.

Instead of rows of shelves full of books like the rest of the library this room is organized by time period in history. There is nothing but historical archives on shelves against all four walls. Each shelving unit covers a period of our history. The center of the room is occupied by tables and chairs.

Shimmer takes a seat and opens the satchel she came in with. She dumps the contents on the table in front of her and proceeds to line the pendants with chains up, side by side. The same way they were on her desk earlier.

"Aurora, I want you to take the note and search the archives for any clues that will help you decipher it. Use any method you like. You mentioned line by line earlier. That will do fine."

With that, I walk over to Shimmer and take the note that she is handing me. I read through the note as a reminder of its contents.

The first few lines read 'I assume if you have opened the envelope that you are prepared to change how humanity existed before the apocalypse. That you are ready to right the wrongs that were made that led to the near annihilation of every species on Earth.' I believe we have already succeeded in doing what is written here. In Community, we only take from the planet what we need to survive. We have all heard horror stories in our history lessons of the time before the apocalypse and we have strived to be better. To work together as a team. Our society is not consumed by individual triumphs, we are dedicated to succeeding together.