The Comatose Library (Meta. Neth, Audrey)

Like many library patrons, the man was well-lettered and little else. His stocky frame, now underfed, was stinking and clothed in rags of dull browns and greens. He shuffled, hiding a limp, as he began to browse. To others, he was a beggar, but here, here they treated him with the respect he deserved. Ah, there it was. There in its usual spot, sat the library's holographic collection of cartoons. As soon as he opened it up, however, it was apparent something was wrong. Instead of the cheerful penguins opening across the page, it was nothing but a soft blue void.

"What's goin' on?" he snarled, smacking the display. It seemed to expand in front of him, and with it, a faint sense of dread. This was a problem that couldn't be fixed by simple expedient of a repair manual. This was...otherworldly. His last thoughts before disappearing-sucked in, to be accurate- into the void was the rather detached statement that they really should get this sort of thing fixed, you know.

Audrey smiled as she walked into the library, immediately heading for the Fiction section. She was searching for a good read, maybe a series? She saw a sign right below the Fiction sign that read "New Hologram Fiction books available!", and eagerly went to pick one up off the shelf. They hadn't had new ones in forever, as hologram items were only just starting to become popular.

Before she reached the book she wanted, however, Audrey's glance was distracted by an odd blue glow ahead of her. What looked to be a homeless man had picked up and opened a book, only to have a strange sight in front of him. He tried fixing the hologram display by smacking it, but it didn't seem to work. Audrey could only watch as the void grew larger, and the man seemed to be sucked into the book itself.

Audrey quickly put her hands down at her sides, vowing to never touch a book in this library ever again. But she was intrigued, by the way the man had disappeared. It seemed that Audrey was the only one to have seen this, because no one was rushing towards the last spot he stood. Neither was she, however. She was content to quietly observe the hologram books on the shelf beside the one he had been sucked into- that was lying unobtrusively on the floor. If she hadn't seen it herself, Audrey wouldn't had believed that the man had disappeared inside of this hologram book. It was certainly not normal, and Audrey wasn't quite sure what she should do.

"People going missing!" The Metacrisis Doctor exclaimed as he read over the first page of the newspaper. He was seated on a bench in a Park in London, his eyebrow raising in that comical it always did. People always went missing, it was a way of life. Sometimes they got lost, sometimes unfortunate accidents got them, and sometimes it was vashta nerada. But this was different. The story didn't exactly get a lot of attention, it was a side column on page twenty-two, and it was vague at best. A few people gone missing, one around the park, one around a bar, and three around a library. Reported missing on the same day. That couldn't just be coincidence.

Of course the library got him, and he thought perhaps...the books? But London was converting to half ebook, half book system, sad as it was. It was certainly not enough to hold a forest of vashta nerada. There had to be something else to it, but he was fixated on it being strange, and unnatural. At least unnatural as far as Earth in this century was concerned. So it was time to investigate this strange library! Good thing that class was over.

With a quick gait, he arrived in front of the library, a casual expression on his face. It looked absolutely ordinary on the outside, and when he entered, it seemed just as ordinary. But pulling out his screwdriver, he gave the inside a quick buzz, and stared at the device. "Residual ion energy," he mused to himself, a slight frown on his face. "Like something was transported out of here. But there's not enough present to actually..." His voice trailed off as he took in a deep inhale of air and pocketed the screwdriver. A partly cheerful expression was on his face as he strolled over to a nearby bench, and plopped himself down besides a person.

"Hello, I'm the Doctor," he said with a slight smile. "I was wondering if you could tell me where biographies are."

Neth squawked briefly, startled, when the Metacrisis Doctor landed next to her.
"Doctor…what sort of doctor?" she asked, stammering slightly on the s. "I…I'm Neth, charmed." She extended a hand, then cocked her head slightly. "Ohhh, biographies. They're upstairs. Do you want me to show you? I'm good around libraries, see." Indeed, this was one of the few places on Terra she felt comfortable with the "wares", so to speak, the people, and most of all, her surroundings.

"Oh, I'm the Doctor in just about everything," he said with a haphazard shrug. "Sure, I haven't been to this particular library before. Biographies are where it's at. Did you know there's one on Agatha Christie? I met her once. Oh I loved her books," the Doctor said with an ecstatic fanboy grin. "By the way," and he gestured towards the rest of the library, and lowered his voice slightly, though was still loud enough to be heard farther out than just their table. "Have you seen anything...strange...here?"

(Not sure what Dakota is going to post, but I figured until this post of mine, she probably might not have anything to.)

Neth shrugged. "I like her...alright. I like Chandler better, really. Not sure where her biography is exactly, but I'm sure you can look it up on one of the semi-holos. I can show you the section, though, would that be alright?"

Her voice took on a slightly pleading note. It was so nice to have someone to talk to! Maybe they'd eventually get to debating, say, the merits of Martin versus Tolkien, but in the meantime at least she could help a bit, couldn't she?

"Er...as for strangeness, I'm not sure." she said, head now weaving from side to side in nervous anticipation. Should she have seen something. "There was sick in the water fountain earlier this month, and there's the man who dresses like a wizard and carries dolls around. But he's alright, I think."