He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred And Sixty Three - Twists And Turns

Ah, I miss him already.

O'vel-win sat silently in the room arranged by the librarians with his masters and the second technician that the men had arranged to accompany them to the city following the summons of the Grand Librarian.  After he had bid farewell to his lover, he had traipsed in a melancholic daze into the inn to find that the two masters and his colleague were eating a light breakfast.

"You did not return to the room last night," the other technician had mentioned in passing.  "Is everything all well?"

"Everything is fine," O'vel-win had replied, but felt a slight heat in his cheeks as his mind flittered back to the night before in perfect recall.  "I just caught up with an old friend, who coincidentally happened to have business in the city."

"What luck!" The man had commented.  "These days and nights have dragged on and we seem no closer to resolving the issues.  I miss my family."

"Master," O'vel-win had said to the individual sitting beside him.  "Is there no compromise?"

"It seems not," his master had replied.  "Though bleak, we have thought about other solutions, but all would set the project back some time."

"And we were just making progress as well!" The other technician had sighed.  "If we had a season longer, we might be able to ensure that the Machine works without fault."

"Perhaps the Grand Librarian would be willing to wait one more season," O'vel-win had claimed with hope.  "Following the Machine's completion, who would be unwilling for it to be moved?  It would require close contact with the Grand Central Library at that point after all."

The two masters glanced at each other.  "We can only ask," one had said to the other.

And so the Masters had finished breaking their fast and freshening up, before deciding to have the two technicians come with them to the Grand Central Library to speak with the Grand Librarian, in hope that their compromise was accepted. As on the other days, the men were met by a junior librarian, who took them through corridors and halls and rooms filled with books towards a small room that happened to have a window providing small light into it from the outside world. They were asked to wait here and that the Grand Librarian would see them shortly. However, that had been some time ago and the four men were still waiting, each to their own thoughts.

This had naturally led to O'vel-win's preoccupation with thoughts of his lover. To be by his side had felt natural, as if they were meant to be together and not apart. As K'tai-tul had been a shelf carved to fit a single book and O'vel-win was that book. It had felt wonderful to lie beside him, to touch him, to pleasure him. It ran across his mind that they should be able to do more, but he couldn't think what sorts of things they could do together to show love in intimacy. It would have to be something that they explored over time.

He was shaken from his musings when the fitted door was opened and creaked softly. The four men glanced up from where they sat at the thick wooden table almost sighing with relief that the Grand Librarian was finally here. And yet, it turned out that he was not.

"Begging your apologies, sirs," the junior Librarian bowed, humbly. "Unfortunately, the Grand Librarian will be unable to speak with you today. Something has come up that urgently requires his attention. So I am here to lead you out."

The men were impolite enough that they did not hide their dissatisfaction, but were polite enough to keep harsh words to themselves. "Lead the way," one of the Master's said with a heavy sigh. The junior Librarian bowed again and began guiding them down the hall outside of this room. O'vel-win peered over the shoulder of his Masters as he idly began comparing the way to the exit to his mental map of the way into the library. This corridor lead into a large hall that was lined with books and connected to many doorways, the one they would take is straight ahead, rather than the one left that seemed to lead to an even bigger space filled with books or to the right where he could see more openings, one of which K'tai-tul disappeared down.