The Machine [Open/Accepting]

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Damien walked down the war history section and began browsing the books. There was certainly a large selection. Where to start? Well, anything that involved his great nation of Diethelm piqued his interest, but he was also searing to see if there was anything that contained war strategy in it.  

[lil_lollypop1]

Jian turned and also began searching in the art books, looking between the new and the old to glimpse pieces that he had never seen before.

A few moments later, another guard came to Lianne, and she stopped doing her paperwork for a moment to listen to him. "Ma'am, the world leaders seemed to have calmed down quite a bit from last night. We've also found and secured some hidden weaponry that we found on the top floor. We haven't located them yet, but we feel it is only a matter of time."

"I see. Please do be careful." Lianne replied.

"Another thing, my lady... Bishop Gilles would like to speak with you." The guard replied.

Lianne looked away for a few moments before looking at the guard. "Please tell him that I am working at the moment... This is neither the time nor the place." She sighed.

"He will get angry." The guard replied.

"I know..." She replied. "But he's going to yell at me either way. I'd rather it not... when so many have... I..." She muttered, beginning to tear up.

"My lady..." The guard muttered.

"I- I'm sorry. It's just..." She muttered, trying not to cry under her veil though her body began to shake.

"I understand." He replied. "I'll do whatever I can."

"Thank you." She replied as he walked off. She rubbed her eyes under her veil, then took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. Biting her bottom lip, she forced herself to start working again.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Damien heard the conversation and was pretending to keep browsing the books while he listened. "Interesting..." he whispered to himself. He then resumed really browsing the books. He saw something that caught his eye. It was the military exploits of a famous Diethelmian general from a few centuries ago. He grabbed that and was about to head back when he spotted another book that caught his eye. It was on the war that happened between Helmshire and Mt. Angelo back when it was referred to as the Holy States until Helmshire conquered it and reduced it to a mere city-state.  

[lil_lollypop1]

Lianne finally began to calm down and began to work again, taking in the calming silence.

Jian found a few photography and art books that he liked. Some of them were from Diethelm artists who opposed the previous Diethelm government before Jian was even born. He flipped through some of the cleaver propaganda and began to chuckle when he remembered the old days before they took over.

((Colors still not working))  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

((Very bizarre))

Damien came back with the books in his hand and took a seat at a table near where Lianne was. He started reading on the book about the Diethelmian general.  

[lil_lollypop1]

((I know))

Lianne began to hear yelling and she perked up.

"No, don't go in there! You'll get lost again!"

"Don't try to protect her! Where is she!?" The second voice yelled.

"I beg your pardon, but protecting her is my job!" The first voice replied.

Lianne covered her ears, trying not to listen as she tried to focus on the paper in front of her.

Jian wondered back, hearing the yelling and raising a brow. He said nothing though his expression was clear enough. Slowly, he sat at a chair next to Damien and began to flip through his own books, skimming old propaganda that he and Damien used to make fun of.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Damien found the yelling quite irritating. He hoped it wouldn't keep happening. He turned to see what Jian had. "What do you have there?" he asked.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Remember this from high school?" Jian chuckled, holding up a terrible piece of propaganda that was for the previous government.

The yelling finally stopped, and Lianne hoped it would stay that way. She was silently happy that Damien and Jian had found books and were staying out of her hair, unlike most world leaders with constant petty demands.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Oh yeah" Damien chuckled. "They didn't even know what they were doing, did they? That was certainly interesting. I'm glad our propaganda team is a lot more competent"  

[lil_lollypop1]

Jian nodded in agreement. "What about you? What are you reading?" He asked with curiosity.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

"Currently I'm reading on one of our nation's great generals and of his victories. I also have a book on the history of the war between Helmshire and the Holy States" Damien replied.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Interesting." Jian replied.

"Who's it written by?" Lianne asked. She knew of several copies of that history that were inaccurate. She wanted to make sure he had one of those copies.  

[Eternal_PrinceOfFire]

Damien turned his head to Lianne. "Which book do you mean, or do you mean both of them?" Damien asked. He then looked at the books and read the names of their authors and editors.  

[lil_lollypop1]

"Hmm..." She muttered. Both of them were the accurate versions. Though she didn't like it, she wasn't going to take the books away from him either. "Some of those books are completely inaccurate, which is why they're here. The books have marks on the inside cover to give you potential warnings like inaccuracy or gore or blasphemy or whatever might be wrong with it. If I remember correctly, those two don't have black marks, so they should be accurate." She told him, going back to her work.

"Hmm... really?" Jian asked, flipping to the front cover of his book. "What's the yellow flag?"

"Political slander or vulgarity." She replied.

"And this red arrow?" He asked.

Lianne flushed and gripped her dress. "Uhh... that's uh..." She stuttered. "Y-you know there's a g-guide at the librarian's desk over there." Lianne told him.

"Oh. Alright then." Jian replied, now very curious. He got up and found a pamphlet with the symbols in them. He flipped through until he found the symbol. "O-oh..." He replied, feeling a bit embarrassed for asking.