Peace Week

[mockmods]

[So, with introductions made, you're all left to your own devices for the time being. Explore, make friends, try not to go insane in your new surroundings. Maybe organize a game of that Trailseeker thing? Your time is your own.]

[You are woken every day at 7:30 AM by the same robotic voice that woke you on day one. At 11pm each night, a similar message plays reminding everyone about the start of quiet hours and dimming the lights.]

[If you want to talk to Penny, she can be found in the Security Office if she's not anywhere else in the Facility. Office hours appear to be whenever.]

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

((Please tag any investigation toplevels as such, and ping the mods on Plurk or discord if possible!))

Comments

[mightdoriya]

[Yeah, he figures that was going to be a long shot...the volume does eventually grab his attention, though, mainly because it just seems so different from all of the rest. Lips pursed, he reaches out and carefully pulls the book out from between the others, letting his eyes scan the cardstock cover for anything unusual first. He'll check the binding too, both to see if there's any writing and to double-check its homemade quality.]

[mockmods]

[Homemade isn't quite the right term, actually. Well, maybe a very well made homemade, but more like something that might've been done at a copy and print center. Neatly creased, stapled in the middle. Slightly worn, like it's been flipped through a lot.]

[The cover is pretty bare, just a title on what's probably the front; printed left-to-right, in the Western format, sorry if that's a little confusing to someone who's not a native speaker. Reader? Whichever.]

[Regardless, the title reads in basic Times New Roman, black ink-]

Escalation of Escalating Technology
A Brief History

L. M.

[mightdoriya]

[A bit, perhaps, but Izuku is a smart cookie. If there's anything he's good at, it's figuring things out. After a moment he reaches the title, reading it aloud to himself.] "Escalation of Escalating Technology"...what does that mean? [He runs his fingers briefly over the text before he flips the book open, checking the first page or two first instead of moving to a random page inside.]

[mockmods]

[Congratulations, Izuku. You've found a solid contender for most boring possible writing material. The page you've opened too specifically seems to be a diagram and some short notes on the inner workings of a modern elevator.]

[mightdoriya]

[......seriously? I mean, he guesses this is a library...and most libraries have books on nearly everything, but... But... He makes a face, but decides to flip to a little bit deeper into the book. Is that what this entire book is about?]

[mockmods]

[Looks like it, or at least close to it. Flipping backward reveals a progression of types of lifts, starting with what's basically a box on a rope and moving forward from there.]

[Going forward a bit, the thing that stands out the most is probably the illustrations of an elevator box with a cartoonish face on the front, like some kind of mascot. This too is shown as a progression, as if it were updated over years and decades. Including a dip into an 'ultra kewl kid' 90's reboot that looks to have been mercifully short.]

[It's highly whimsical and childlike. Or, from another perspective, the stuff of nightmares.]

[mightdoriya]

[It's hard to decide which direction Izuku wants to go with how he feels about this book, honestly. Given the title and what he saw when he opened it, it's about as...predictable as he was expecting, but only until he reaches the cartoonish embelleshments with which things take a turn for the worst, even if only temporarily. He lifts a hand and runs his fingers through his hair, flipping back, then forward again.] Mmhh. [He flips further. Is there anything past the awful 90s elevator box?]

[mockmods]

[It does return to a more- well, what passes for "normal" design, after its 2 Kool 4 Skool phase.]

[And there is one other thing that might catch Izuku's eye, before he flips past the mascot designs.]

[A short, handwritten note; still in black ink, but in a printing that in no way matches the typeset lettering of the rest of the book. Underneath the terrifying clown elevator (and- what might be some kind of nemesis character, just an open pit??) - ]

Are you kidding me?

[mightdoriya]

[Izuku is keeping his eyes peeled for anything suspicious or unusual, so any notes or anything he might find are of top priority. He holds the book a bit closer to his face when he notices the handwritten note.] Sounds like whoever read this last thought these were a bad idea, too. [In that case, he'll be looking for more writing just like this, whether it be back in the front of the book or further in.]

[mockmods]

[There's one other part that might be of interest. Towards the end of the book, there's a series of illustrations of- pretty basic modern technology, really. Cars, airplanes, skyscrapers, basic household electronics- the most advanced thing looks to be some kind of toy robot or something.]

[The text here are very basic notes on the functions of some things -cars gotta zoom, planes gotta fly- and speculations on the functions of items that are less visually obvious. It's all sort of written like the author has never even heard of most of these things, either.]

[But there's one more handwritten note here, next to a small piece of type that's been circled: "seen through the lens".]

Clever little thief.

[mightdoriya]

[Izuku keeps reading, then, intent on covering this book from top to bottom to see what he can find, even if the notes aren't of any real significance. What they do tell him is that someone else has been here before, writing in this book...and it's either Penny's doing, or someone else. Or, perhaps, more than one person. It's interesting to note, given how...speculatory and unsure some of the text seems. It gives Izuku a little insight as to what kind of person might have written this book, if nothing else. He pays special attention to the next note he finds, because it doesn't...really make any sense? But it's unusual enough to make him want to know the meaning.] Thief...what could that be implying? This book was stolen? ...the ideas inside were...? [Is there anything else significant Izuku might find in this?]

[mockmods]

[Digging a little deeper into the (very dry) text of the book itself, it seems like the technology it's talking about is something the author has observed at a distance somehow, and is beginning to work on replicating.]

[It might take a little bit, but wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption that the author is a bit of a dirty idea thief.]

[mightdoriya]

[That's a few more things uncovered, at least. Izuku makes a mental note to find a notebook somewhere to start documenting these things in... He keeps on skimming without thoroughly reading, wanting to make sure he's covered everything that might be inside. Otherwise, he's going to hang on to it just in case he's able to find anything more of note in it on a later read.]

[mockmods]

[Izuku might notice a few more references to seeing things through some kind of lens, including a few of the more advanced elevator designs, but otherwise that appears to be it!]

[Enjoy your incredibly boring science book, and don't forget to sign it out if you're taking it.]

[mightdoriya]

[Boring it may be, but he's logging this mentally away as being at least somewhat important. He'll be checking it out, of course, because he's a good boy who doesn't do scandalous things like steal library books.]

[mockmods]

[The invisible library spirits will remember and appreciate this, Izuzku.]