By Gabrielle N. Rippel

“…As long as we adhere to the laws of three, peace will prosper throughout our world.” The Actor boasted his lines with veracity, passion spewing from his mouth.

 “Law 1: Thou shall tell no lies.” He shook his finger to emphasize his point. “For lies bring forth, manipulation. Manipulation brings forth destruction, destruction brings forth famine, wars, and the end of times.” Leo mouthed the words silently in the corridors of stage right, having the law drilled into his mind since infancy.

            “Law 2: Thou shall only speak what is true to you.” The Actor moves across the stage as he speaks. “This prevents us from trying to speak the truth of others and it will help us understand our history as we have experienced it.” Leo moves into position to hand the Actor his prop for Law 3. With a bit of stage work, the flashing of lights hides Leo’s maneuvering as he hands the Actor the journal prop.

“Law 3: we must record our truths daily, for they will serve as the blueprint for future generations. All journals have the opportunity to serve a higher purpose, there is always a chance that your autobiographical accounts could end up in historical records. So speak your truths daily.” He holds the journal up towards the sky as he demands.

“This is how our saviors the Seraph’s ask we repay them, and so shall it be—the Truth will set us free.”  Behind the Actor a pair of stagehands drop an artistic rendition of a Seraph saving Terra—the radiant humanlike aliens that landed on our planet some 4500 years ago and saved our land from humankinds self-inflicted destruction.

            “The Earth was bleeding, and humans were holding the knife.” The Actor his hands to stage left and a Seraph General named Gabriel steps into the stage light.

“…And we bandaged up the wound so that the planet could heal.” Gabriel boasts, his Seraph golden skin shimmers in the stage light and his teal Seraph eyes swirl like waves in the ocean, like all of his kind. The Seraphs saved the human race and we continue to repay them with a workforce for their home planet and a booming economy fueled by the abundance of the planet’s salt water.

“By adhering to the Laws Three, we have lived peacefully for nearly five millennia.” Gabriel continues, “Thank you for coming out and tuning in to tonight’s annual production celebrating how our societies became one and have prospered. May we all have a safe and abundant future. Blessed be the Truth.”

The crowd erupts into a frenzy, as the annual broadcasted Ceremony honoring the Reckoning of 5072, between both worlds comes to an end.

Gabriel exits stage right past Leo who bows his head out of respect before boldly asking a question weighing on his mind.

“Sir if I may?” Leo keeps his eyes downcast but can nearly feel the annoyance radiating from the General.

“Yes, dear child of Terra, how may I guide you?” Gabriel barely turns to face the stagehand, which is unsurprising considering the difference in their rank.

“I wonder if the Authority has given any consideration to my application?” Leo referring to his societal promotion, having completed the necessary five-year program, he placed a bid to join the Authority’s Historical Preservation.

 “Another year has passed and I have played my role as stagehand in another successful ceremony production, I’d like to think I could also be useful as Historian.” Only four humans are accepted to Authority’s Historical Preservation each year—and Leo has applied for the available spot each term for the past two and a half years.

“Yes, you have proven your diligence, Leo.” Gabriel uncharacteristically faces Leo to make eye contact. “However, I regret to inform you another human has been granted a role as Historian this term. Please apply again, in the meantime you’re doing a fantastic job right where you are.” Gabriel pats Leo’s shoulder to offer a small sign of comfort.

“Now go home to your wife, today is a day worth celebrating! You should spend it with loved ones and honor Terra.”

“Yes, your Grace.” Leo hung his head disappointed in himself, he was not looking forward to telling his wife Cassandra the news of his rejection. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed while he was debating whether or not to send a notification to his wife but it was obvious the Auditorium had cleared out, any stragglers of the crew had long gone, leaving Leo alone in the empty building.

He pulls out the Orb that hangs on a cord around his neck, no larger than his thumbnail he allows the Orb to scan his eye unlocking its holographic technology to project a screen and keyboard. The second law flashes in his mind as he writes his entry for the day—no matter how insignificant it seems. Leo dates the entry in the top righthand corner of the screen.

27 Jundi in the Common Age 9572

General Gabriel of the 7^th Canopy has informed me that the committee has not agreed to my petition to move from Stagehand to Historian. I am disappointed, I believe I can do something more important than be a Stagehand for the Historians. His Grace advises I apply again next term.

He took a final forlorn glance at the center stage wanting so desperately to perform the annual Ceremony instead of staying behind the scenes, determined not to give up.

Attaching his Orb to the cord around his neck, Leo gathers his sack of belongings to make his way home. No sooner than he swung his sack on his shoulders a commotion arose from the dark corner of his stage wing.

“Hello?” Leo shouts into the void, but no one responds, leaving him to investigate the source of the crash on his own. Leo taps his Orb to illuminate the space around him and he notices a gaping hole in the floor of the stage. He cautiously peers below to see what caused the mess and he’s surprised to find the hole continuing past the trap room floor.

Leo crosses over to use the center stage trap door to enter the trap room below, careful to dodge the extra electrical equipment housed there before making his way to the new hole. Appearing over the edge he sees a curtain weight bag and lumber debris resting on top of a steel hatch.

“Is there another level to the trap room?” in a moment of courage he falls the extra four or five feet down to investigate. Once he is safely planted on the new concrete subflooring, he realizes this is not a continuation of the trap room—instead he’s entered some sort of damp crawl space no larger than a few feet in either direction. He kicks the weight bag and debris to the side revealing a lever mechanism on the hatch. He tries to move the lever and is met with some resistance likely due to not having been opened for decades or more.

He opens it to find a rusted ladder against the wall and without hesitation he secures his sack on both shoulders to climb down. As he continues down into the damp corridor, he realizes the hatch he came from is becoming far more distant. Eventually his feet touch earth, there’s a coolness being this far underground. As he spins his perspective around, he notices what looks like a building door surrounded by cave-in debris—however the door remains untouched. Approaching the door, he notices a severely rusted chain and lock on two handles with a sign adhered to the other side of the glass which read:

Harold Washington Library set to be demolished under the authority of the Seraph Honorguard on June 26, 5072 Before the Common Age. All persons must evacuate and all items must be accounted for within, any person found with a catalogued item after the date listed above will be punished by the full extent of Seraph law and will be eliminated.

The Truth shall set you free.

“What is a Library?” Leo wondered out loud, breaking the rusted lock he entered the building only to be greeted by a dense layer of dust. In the center of the foyer he notices a display reading “Adult Fiction.” Unsure of its meaning, he picks up what appears to be a bound journal like the one used for the Ceremony production, and like the Ceremony prop it too had words on the cover—To Kill A Mockingbird.

“Why does this have a title when the only journals to have titles are the documented historic texts?” he turns it over in his hand before gently placing the 4500-year-old journal in his sack. He walks the stacks mindless taking snapshots with his Orb and picking up other journals along the way—all with titles on them: The Hunger Games, The DaVinci Code, Romeo and Juliet, Anthem, The Bible.

Unsure of how much time has passed he grabs whatever journals he can fit in his sack and makes his way back up to the auditorium. Sensing the world would be waking up soon from their night of celebration he felt the innate desire to conceal the existence of this place until he can figure out what it is or what it means. 

Since the Ceremony production just finished this allows a month or so where the auditorium wouldn’t be occupied. Taking care to place the metal hatch back to its original spot, he sealed the hole of the trap room with plywood, hiding it with a tarp. He did the same to the hole in his wing off stage and made the short journey to his apartment just before dawn.

“Where have you been? I’ve been notifying your Orb all night!” His wife Cass screams at him the second he opens the door.

“Keep your voice down!” Leo responds in a hushed tone before securely locking the door behind him and crossing the apartment drawing the curtains shut. “My Orb must not get notifications that far underground.” He mutters. “I think I found something, and I think it’s important. But I also don’t think its existence should leave the safety of our home—can I trust you?” His eyes pleading, hoping that the life they’ve shared together since primary school will be enough to convince her to break the first law—she must lie if prompted to.

“Will the truth keep you safe if it’s found out?” she weighs the risk over the law.

“I don’t think so.”

“Well then there’s no doubt about it, if telling the truth puts you in any harm, I must break the law to keep you safe.” She clasps her hands over his, with a look of assurance on her face he knows he can trust her.

He gives her a detailed description of his evening and she hangs on to his every word, gasping at the photos on his Orb, and gently handling the delicate journals in her hands.

“What does Library mean?” she asks.

“I’m not sure but it starts with what sounds like ‘lie’ so it can’t be good.”

Over the next several months curiosity consumes the couple and they read as many journals as possible, using the cover of night to enter the auditorium and their secret library as often as possible. When they first started reading the journals, they believed the written word like The Hunger Games to be true historical counts. However, two terms after the discovery of the library, Leo was accepted into the Historical Preservation Committee for the Authority granting him full access to restricted texts. There he learned what a library was–a place to house books. He learned what books are, and the meaning of fiction. According to the Authority books contain fanciful lies based on nonsensical imagination, which prompts others to have imagination as well. Free thinking leads to lies and corruption and the downfall of society as the Seraph’s see it. But how can To Kill A Mockingbird be considered a path to destruction when it’s filled with hope and change for the better?

The more books he read, the more displeased he became with the Seraphs taking entire worlds within books away from its citizens. They should be able to have a choice in their knowledge, a choice to dream and to write stories. How is preventing others from reading books more humane than idea of free will? Leo knows what he must do. He and Cass spend the next few months using their Orbs to scan any books in their procession as well as all the books in the library so that no matter what a record of them will continue to exist. Because his plan would surely disrupt life as the world knew it.

Exactly one year after Leo’s library discovery, he takes the center stage as an Actor Historian, the dream job he wanted so badly a year ago now seems insignificant—except for one reason.

The holograph cameras are pointed at the stage as the annual broadcast of the Ceremony is about to begin knowing citizens of both planets will be tuning in. He gives his wife a glance offstage, and she gives him a nod indicating she locked Gabriel in the green room buying him some time to set his plan into motion.

“My fellow Terraians, tonight marks a historical event.” Leo begins and nearly chuckles at the irony.

“Today marks the anniversary of The Reckoning of 5072, and I’m supposed to stand here and tell you the significance of the Laws Three, however, there is something I must share with you, because I must tell the Truth.” He takes a deep breath knowing the next words could bring about his elimination.

“The Authority has lied by omission to all of its citizens!” The audience in the auditorium let out a collective gasp as he reaches inside the billowing sleeve of his Ceremony robe to reveal a book.

“This is a book, and you deserve to know its significance and the laws placed by the Seraphs ensuring you would never know its existence.” He continues to share his findings to the crowd—unsure if the broadcast is still live or not, but at least there was a full audience listening to his every word.

At the end of his speech, he steps further downstage to emphasize his point.

“At the very least we deserve the right to choose if we want to enrich our minds with stories or not. We deserve the choice of learning through books and piecing together previously forgotten history. Who’s with me?” He pleads to the audience, and he realizes what started as a spark within him, has turned into a wildfire as the crowd erupts.