Cody hit the button to call the elevator. Aren kept watch outside, but the rest of them went down.

“Hey, Dad!” Josephine had her phone at her ear. “I’m about to do something dangerous so I just need you to play along and be, like, an outside deterrent or something. ‘Since I’m on the phone they won’t hurt me,’ that sort of thing.”

She shifted to one hip, listening to her father make some exasperated sounds before continuing. “Mhm… yeah… ok, well you’re the one who put a tracker inside my body, so I figured we need to put that safety net to good use! It’s too late, we're already walking into the magic box… I’m referring to an elevator, dad.”

These people were crazy. Genuinely, like no one Cody had ever met. He still tried to determine if this was a good or bad thing. Generally, being around them made the very concepts of good and bad seem redundant.

He looked over at Jasper as the elevator doors closed, the four (plus mushroom) of them inside. Jasper’s blue eyes were pinpointing every step they took today, as if he were expending extra energy just to be aware of everything around him. Perhaps a bit of that was necessary, but Cody was a bit concerned.

“Corfuvem, sleu, jor.” Jasper incanted.

Everyone watched as the lock over a small metal box clicked and turned. Jasper pried it open to reveal a “B1” button underneath the others.

"Where did you learn a lock picking spell?” Maria asked. Cody was also surprised. He thought they were going to brute force it.

"One of the few things my parents taught me." Jasper said, pressing the button. As soon as he did, strange 60s elevator music began playing the tunes of jazz and Lindy hop. Everyone made weird faces and looked at the air above them. It was an odd feature to add, considering the situation.

Disregarding this, and at the risk of being a clichéd storyteller, this felt too easy to Cody. Surely, the regular staff also had access to that box and this floor. Cody's eyes weren't picking up anything, though. If there were a spell hiding something, he'd see it.

“Oh, esteemed member of the Council my ass!” Josephine had her own mini argument going on in the corner. "Your last research project ate our dog!”

Everyone in the elevator looked at Josephine.

"Okay, dad, we have to be quiet now unless you want to put me in more danger. Just stay on the line.” she said.

“The journey of heroes beignets! I mean, begineth!” Jiro said as the slow elevator nestled, finishing its descent.

As it bounced a few times, Cody placed an arm over Jasper and grabbed his shoulder. Jasper incanted invisibility on cue, sharing with Cody and Jiro.

“Tuzul, alazul, winope ’n truh’vo, ’n truh’vo en trifluenzi bwhest du.” Cody incanted quickly, curtaining a blanket over them to also block their energy signatures. He already had a variation of this spell placed on himself, but that was irrelevant currently.

Now, to anyone else, it would appear to only be Josephine and Maria in the elevator.

The door spread open to a short corridor, and the women walked out first. Cody and Jasper followed softly behind.

The only option was to turn left, and a pair of footsteps was already rushing over to meet them. Cody only held mild relief that they sounded like a human’s, but he also felt Jasper stiffen under his arm.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Josephine and Maria said.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Professor Jorgien’s voice said simultaneously in front of them.

Cody slid around to see.

“Isn’t this your day off?” Josephine accused.

“THAT’S what you’re— Josephine, you don’t have clearance to be here!”

Should he and Jasper slip by, or should they make sure Josephine and Maria would be okay?

“We were just looking into mysterious underground places for bugs.” Maria said innocently, hitting her heels together once and looking down, then back up at their professor.

“That’s not—” Jorgien sighed heavily, bringing their hand to their face in contempt. Cody squeezed Jasper’s shoulder, and they used the opportunity to ease themselves around Jorgien.

It was darker down here, only dim artificial lighting and gray walls. Cody was focused, no longer paying attention to the cacophony behind them.

Cody never trusted the professors, even though it was also true he never trusted anyone. Not fully.

And this place with smooth, clear-cut and dirt-less walls was something hidden from him and the other classmates. Everyone hid something, it was human nature. Sometimes, it was innocent. Sometimes, it was a secret organization. Cody wanted to know more.

After they successfully slipped around Jorgien, time would only tell of their professor’s innocence. Would there be other teachers here? Upperclassmen? Council members? It was easy to assume the worst of people meant to ‘protect,’ as they often only ‘protected’ their malignant desires or preconceived norms. Cody was not a norm, therefore no one would protect him but himself.

He and Jasper made their way down a narrow hallway that turned off into a larger one. Several other metal doors scattered down with sullen number posts atop each one. The dullness was a prison— there were no other qualities about to describe. The entire space artificially constructed to drive someone mad.

Incoherent echoes carried from inside one of the rooms. An angry tone caught Cody's attention. He tugged Jasper to the side and pressed his ear against the door, feeling Jasper shuffle over and do the same.

“It’s just annoying, is all! We went to the trouble of producing an iron chess set, and for what? They told us he was the perfect student for it!” A man said from inside the room.

“He was.” Another voice said. Cody couldn’t recognize the gender, but it was a more refined voice. “He lost a scholarship for a merit issue he refused to acknowledge, and he’s obsessed with winning the chess tournaments. His parents weren’t the best and he has had a few entity-creating outbursts already. He’s the perfect subject for such an artifact.”

“All I’m saying is, I wish he’d play with more than the pawns! Is he just resetting the first plays over and over? These tiny beetles won’t do a thing, they’re practically harmless!”

Cody felt Jasper’s breath let out a quick huff as his shoulders stiffened in Cody’s hand. Something was definitely wrong here.

“All we need is for him to move the queen once.”

“But he only practices with the iron set! There’s been ONE soldier beetle, which means he’s moved a knight ONCE!”

“Listen, there’s no rush. I don’t care how good the research division is, we won’t be found out.”

The Research division of the Council? Why were they referring to that division specifically? (There were also the Action division and the Parliament, as well as mission members who took orders from all three.)

“I’m not worried about that either, I’m just impatient!”

“At least you’re self aware.” The pretentious voice laughed, then appeared to sound closer. “Try to relax in the meantime. I’m gonna go out and make sure Jorgien is okay. The wards—”

Cody immediately pulled Jasper away and walked them, tiptoed, down the hallway. A coat hanger could’ve been picking up his shoulders. After only a few steps the door they were just in front of flew open. A dark figure walked out and paused for a moment.

They looked over at Cody and Jasper with a gray face Cody could barely make out. A woman with a short haircut was all he surmised before she turned back and headed off toward the elevator.

The lighting in here was less than ideal, and Cody couldn’t show his eyes in front of Jasper. Cody could still see better in the dark as it was, but the artificial lighting still made things less than optimal. However, he could still make out the word ‘LIBRARY’ atop one door, in place of numbers.

Luckily, this place was small and easy to navigate. There weren’t any other people around, either. As dumb as it sounded, that might have been because it was Sunday. Even suspicious people took days off.

Cody wanted to learn what was going on here, but he also wanted to get a few books and get out.

A faint yellow glow emitted around the cracks of the door. It wasn’t locked, but the door opened to a barrier ward.

Jasper seemed to shift in reaction to something, and then Cody noticed some odd yellow spray wafting from… themselves?

“Go now” Jiro whispered.

Cody didn’t waste a moment. The sprite clearly paved their way somehow. They opened the door and walked in without issue. Having the Mother on their side certainly came with perks.

Cody softly closed the door behind them and Jiro suddenly appeared, having leapt from Jasper’s arms and invisibility spell.

“Valiant adventurers!” Jiro whispered, “My spores don’t detect anyone in this room. They will also search for the book.”

Jasper let out a tense breath, and with it his hold of the invisibility spell. Cody could see his own hands again. It was time for the search.