“Hey, Dolores, how long was I out?” when he woke up and found himself floating in midair, Professor Atkinson asked his assistant.
“You’re out for one and a half days.” Dolores poured a cup of tea for the professor, then she took out a piece of matcha cake from a mini fridge and served it on a plate: “How are you feeling? Headache? Dizziness?”
“I - I’m feeling fine. I think the overwhelming rush of knowledge has mostly worn down now.” Professor Atkinson stretched and said: “I think - I think I am ready to proceed with my research now. I’ve got a ton of questions to look into and maybe ask Mr. Yu. Where is he now?”
“He probably won’t be able to help us directly anytime soon.” Dolores sighed: “Just shortly after he put you to sleep, he became injured from some unknown sources. It was really, really scary - he just wouldn’t stop bleeding and he choked up his organs. I tried helping but he stopped me. He’s resting in his living quarter now, and he said if we need to reach him he would try his best to answer questions, but he won’t be able to do anything for a while.”
“Oh my god, what happened?”
“He told me it’s because his main body was severely wounded in a fight.” Dolores answered: “I don’t quite understand it - he told me that since he is just an avatar, he did not suffer a debilitating blow. But still, he was in a terrible state. So I wouldn’t bother him unless necessary.”
“Okay, okay, understood, let me think about it for a while, and maybe hit the library first.” Professor Atkinson used the spoon to put a big chunk of matcha cake in his mouth: “So, have you taken any notes? I mean the information from Xyn, I felt like he gave us way too much information, and I wonder if he had split the information into separate packages and distributed it across the two of us.”
“Yeah I had. But unfortunately I had to note the information I got on the tablets - the information seemed quite weighted and even the enchanted parchments we have can’t hold it.” Dolores said: “If you’re feeling well, we can start with that.”
“Mmm, no, maybe not right now.” Professor Atkinson sipped his tea and thought for a while: “First I’m gonna need some food. I’m starving right here, next, I’m gonna need to find the library and find some documentation and records on the elemental realms and edgelands.”
“I’ve done some of that already.” Dolores nodded and picked up a thick pile of notes from her desk and put it onto Professor Atkinson’s desk: “Can you take a look and let me know what else is needed? I can go to the library again and borrow some more books.”
“What do you think we need?” Professor Atkinson nodded and asked: “You know I trust your abilities fully, so pull whatever records you want, I can sign the forms for you if you want restricted records.”
“Thank you professor. I indeed have some restricted records on my list.” Dolores flipped to the third page of her notes: “These are the restricted records I wanna get. Most of them are of normal classification level, and one is highly classified, so we probably need to speak with our department head, which could be an issue for us, since Professor Harmon’s schedule is quite hectic. I’ve scored a meeting with him in a week.”
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“Nice. You’re the one I could always count on.” Professor Atkinson finished his matcha cake with a few bites: “This cake is nice, do you have more?”
“Yeah, it’s in the fridge, it’s from Mr. Yu. He also said you should hold your horses with it.” Dolores smiled and shook her head.
After a hearty meal in the academy canteen, Professor Atkinson rushed to the academy library with Dolores, with Dolores’s list of documents and records.
“Hmm… that’s a lot of restricted records and documents.” the librarian in red robe and wearing a red beret took a look at the list, and replied with a frown: “I’m afraid only your signature won’t do, Professor Atkinson.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“You have fourteen items here. And per the library restricted records policy. You can only pull five records with each Professor’s signature.” the librarian said: “If you need more records at a time, you’ll need someone from the department of classified records, or you can have a signature from your department head. Or you can finish up with five items first and come back for others. And this… ‘Memoir of an Elemental Lord’ is highly classified, you would need the signature from your department head, or have a special grant from a qualified project.”
“Understood, thank you Camile.” Dolores sighed: “Then just the first five items then. We have an appointment with Professor Harmon next week, we could ask for that as well.”
“Good luck.” Camile Jensen started operating on a tablet in front of her: “Let’s see… ‘Geographics of the Edgelands’, ‘Climate of the Edgelands’, ‘Elemental Beings, Their Politics and Culture’, ‘Peek into the History of the Void’, and ‘Sentience in Energy - A Record of the Void and Elementals’. Yep, we have them right here, no one’s pulled them for years. Guess no one’s interested in elementals these days.”
“Then why are they even classified?” Dolores asked.
“Well, beats me.” Camile Jensen chuckled: “I think the reason is that the elementals interact with us mortals less and less these days. And there is not much we could gain from them either.”
“Oh ho, that could change soon once we’re done with our research.” Professor Atkinson almost laughed out loud in excitement, then he became self-aware and immediately put on a straight face.
“Okay, well, I’ll be looking forward to it!” two metal boxes appeared in midair to Camile Jensen’s side, and she stamped on the two metal boxes and passed them to Professor Atkinson and Dolores: “Good luck with your research!”