December Library Catch-All [ OPEN ]

[aimsforknees]

WHO: John, Harold, and anyone who might find themselves at the Library
WHEN: December
WHERE: The Library!
WHAT: The Library is here and open to all! Come borrow books, find a comfy chair to relax in, or snoop around.
NOTES\WARNINGS: Will be added as they come up

The Library is a five-story neoclassical building of terra cotta, brick, and stone. And the inside is, in fact, a library! And rather clean and organized too. There's no dust, no muddy footprints (apart from your own), and all the shelves are organized by Dewey Decimal, subject, and author. All literature is something you might find in a 2010 New York City library: various forms of fiction, children's and teens' sections, history, science, cooking, gardening, the list goes on. There's even small sections of audiobooks on compact disks and of DVDs ranging from old classics to history shows. The first floor has a reading/study room, a comfortable space with deep armchairs and tables with chairs; the fifth floor has some smaller tables clustered under a skylight. Part of the second floor is abruptly closed off by a door with a biometric scanner that denies entry to anyone who isn't John Reese or Harold Finch; the walls surrounding this section are soundproofed, so even a keen listener won't hear anything from inside. Otherwise, it's a perfectly normal library!

Comments

[ornithologist]

[ He has plenty of thoughts and speculation on Aurora's relative honesty and what that might mean for her core programming, and the objectives of the person who'd made her. But Harold isn't about to get into that, especially not when he has a pressing, time-sensitive task to accomplish. ]

Aurora is going to delete the files, [ Harold corrects. ] All of them.

[ And he doesn't know when she's going to do that. His gaze is laser-focused back on his laptop, and he starts typing very quickly again. ]

What I am going to do is make a copy first.

[levelshift]

[Well, that's an interesting answer. Accelerator is fairly sure a lot of people would be happy with their personal lives not being on display to anyone who can translate them.

They would also likely take issue with is Harold copying them.

He still doesn't care either way, so he just inclines his head curiously.]

How come? You gonna read through them all on your own time?

[aimsforknees]

[ Why? Because it gives them an advantage, that's why. The main thing they've been lacking here, the main thing that sets them apart back home, is knowledge. Every bit of it puts them in a better position. If they know who they're talking to up front, if they know what they might get out of an alliance, that's something they can use.

Of course, he'll let Harold actually answer the question. ]

[ornithologist]

Isn't that what you did?

[ Harold's aware that's a noncommittal answer, but faced with finally having a reliable source of information he's reverted to his old ways of saying as little as possible. That he told Accelerator he's making a copy at all is a gesture of goodwill in trade for him having shared this resource with them.

He's currently thoroughly preoccupied with ensuring he finishes the decryption properly and gets the data copied over. Fortunately, text files aren't substantial. He'll have to arrange for some back-ups once he's back at the library... ]

[levelshift]

I did it out of boredom. And because Connor told me about this thing.

[Basically, he had nothing better to do, and he valued Connor's opinion. If he thought knowledge of the terminal was worth sharing, then it was at least worth looking into. Of course, saying that out loud would be way too kind of him, but the implication is there.

There's also the implication that Harold and John won't be hanging onto these files for similar reasons. After reading what Echo has on both of them, Accelerator is at least confident in assuming they want those copies out of an abundance of caution. Anything more than that he isn't sure; there are probably more reasons that he isn't thinking of. Questionable ones, maybe. Neither of them seem like the kinds of people who'd abuse this information, but he's been wrong about people before.]

[aimsforknees]

[ John bites back saying "You were bored so you just read about everyone." They at least have a tactical reason to do so. Accelerator was just bored so he decided to violate everyone's privacy? At least he was willing to share this information with them. Harold will have a clever reply though; John just keeps his face impassive as usual. ]

[ornithologist]

[ Harold's clever reply is a droll, ] That is what motivated me at your age, so I suppose I can't say anything.

[ That treason charge sure came from boredom and a friend telling him about a cool thing, and then it disrupted his whole life irrevocably. Harold would never have become the hacker and surveillance genius he is without that history of pure curiosity, though.

This line of conversation also conveniently lets him escape getting too specific about his present motives. ]

[levelshift]

[Okay, he may have been expecting some scolding or something, not that. Surprised and finding it kind of funny, Accelerator lets out a rare (and squeaky) bark of laughter.]

Hah! If that's the case, I would've liked to see you back then!

[Tiny baby nerd Harold, committing felonies out of boredom, that's amazing.]

[aimsforknees]

[ It's a little surprising to hear Harold say that. He knew it was the right choice to let Harold handle that part of the conversation, but he hadn't expected that reply. It's hard, if not impossible, to imagine a Harold without the rigid morals that keep them both in line. Sure, they bend the rules here and there for the sake of doing the numbers, but Harold is nothing if not careful and exact.

He thinks he likes this Harold better. The Harold that keeps him in line, keeps him from making bad choices. That expects so much of him. It can be hard, at times, to live up to those expectations, but he has found himself able to rise to the occasion again and again. It feels good, knowing that he can trust Harold's guidance.

But there's a good thread between Accelerator and Harold here. A connection he doesn't share, unless he wants to bring up the fact that he joined the Army instead of going to jail. Which, he doesn't. It was so long ago, and he doesn't want to take a trip down memory lane. It's too easy to get mired there, too easy to fall into a bad mood. He can just let Accelerator and Harold carry out their conversation. ]

wrapping this up?

[ornithologist]

[ Harold is used to carrying the conversation on John's behalf at times -- especially with techies -- and thinks nothing of it. In a dry tone: ] I assure you I'm capable of far more interesting feats now, I'm just less likely to publicize them.

[ Less likely to get caught, is what he really means.

A moment later he snaps the lid of his laptop closed and starts unplugging the connection cables. ]

All set. Thank you for the assistance, Accelerator.