(no subject)

[mariannethree]

Dear book-people,

I believe I have found a way to escape my library. I'd like to thank you for all the advice you've given me...though I'm afraid my solution is fitting with this world, rather than the more active suggestions you have made.

It will involve the potential burning of a book.

Do you think that is alright? To destroy a work, no matter how vile, just for my own sanity?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Marianne Zahm-
Under Assistant,
The Library
Chaos: 374 Order: 909

Comments

[embersandashes]

Of course. Not everything merits preservation.

[mariannethree]

Even if that book contains someone' life story?

[embersandashes]

Whose is it?

[mariannethree]

I do not know. The books do not tell the names of their owners.

[embersandashes]

And why do you need to destroy that particular one?

[mariannethree]

It was the one the voices outside want.

[regalbearing]

If something is truly so vile that it could threaten the safety or well-being of others, then it must be destroyed. No matter what it is.

[mariannethree]

But there are few who can even enter the library, or so I've been told. So it is unlikely to escape unless by my hands.

[regalbearing]

Even if that is so, could you truly rest easy knowing that something so dangerous exists when you had the means to destroy it? That is the question you must ask yourself when considering such matters. Sealing something away can have its uses when there are no other alternatives, but if a situation arises in which decisive action can be taken, I believe it is the responsibility of those who can take it to do so.

Of course, it is entirely your choice what you do, Marianne; I would not dare presume to take that from you. But with no other information at the present time, that is how I would read the situation.

[mariannethree]

True. But I do not have the ability to destroy it - I merely assume that the creatures outside will destroy it after I've given it to them. Who knows if they could be affected by its contents once it gets out of the Library.

Thank you for your help - it is difficult for me to read situations accurately, I'm afraid.

[regalbearing]

Please, think nothing of it. Even a King needs advisors to help find the best course. I am happy to lend what aid I can.

That said... would it be possible for you to tell me more of this book? If it is as you say, and you are certain the creatures you plan to deliver it to will not be affected by it during their efforts to destroy it, it is all for the better, but... I would have misgivings still, depending on the nature of the book's curse, or of the creatures themselves.

[mariannethree]

I just found it, so I can't tell you much...nor would I wish to read further. It is a terrible book, devoted to torture and maiming.

The page I just turned to showed how to extract power from the pain of a children left in agony.

I think...I would rather not talk of the other things I found in it.

[tenminutes]

Even if the book can't be replicated or the information is there, a human life is worth more than any book so I think you're in the clear.

[mariannethree]

Well, I am still uncertain if I am human. Is a human artifact worth more than a potentially unreal person?

[tenminutes]

Okay, let me put it this way: You're sentient and sapient and that makes you worth more than a human artifact.

[mariannethree]

I hope you're right. First, I have to find the thing, though.

[tenminutes]

Which right thing?

[mariannethree]

The bit about being worth more than a book.

[lifeisbrief]

I suppose...that could depend on the book.

But you shouldn't be trapped somewhere, either.

[mariannethree]

Its the only solution I can find, so perhaps I should just accept it.

[pawful]

If a work is vile, then shouldn't it have already been destroyed by someone?

[mariannethree]

I don't know. Isn't all knowledge important, if just to know what to protect against?

[pawful]

[ that's something someone who doesn't know anything about the real world would say, Bernkastel almost responds, before she realizes that it would probably be stating the obvious. After all, isn't she speaking to someone who's trapped in a library? ]

If you're afraid of everything.

[mariannethree]

If my experiences thus far have indicated that fear is a healthy outlook.

[pawful]

And, just what kind of experiences have you had?