The aroma of burnt papyrus lingered in the atmosphere after. Thirteen years post the blaze Hypatia could still sense it—a whisper of ash on her palate as she ascended the marble stairs of the Surviving Annex. Dawn colored the Brucheion district, with gold yet the Library's shadow persisted as a chilly blue presence.
She passed through the cedar doors framed in bronze giving a nod to Khenti, the night guard. His spear remained firm. His eyes resembling the Nile at flood time flicked towards the stairs ascending to the protected vaults.
"The Chief Librarian is expecting you in the Scriptorium, Scholar Hypatia " Khenti stated, his tone a deep murmur. "He has been present since the watch."
A surge of anxiety clenched Hypatia's stomach. Apollodorus was resting in his quarters above the annex; his being here early indicated an emergency. "Is it the envoy? Have they issued their requests regarding our catalogs?"
"It isn't the Romans " Khenti stated, his eyes, at locking with hers. "It concerns… preservation."
The Main Scriptorium was a chamber where beams of light streamed in clearly highlighting tiny dust particles as they settled on extensive tables. At the table beneath a solitary oil lamp Apollodorus was seated, hunched over. In front of him was a scroll case made of simple cedar lacking the typical marks of accession or provenance. He did not raise his gaze as her sandals softly brushed across the pavement.
"Close the doors, Hypatia."
She did, the loud thump resounding, in the corridor. As she got closer she noticed his hands—academic hands—quivering where they lay on the desk.
"Master?"
"The blaze that consumed Caesar " he started, his tone fragile as paper "was not simply a mishap. It served as a cover. A disorder, behind which particular… dealings could occur. Realities could be concealed.. Preserved."
He turned the case to face her. Within resting on linen lay a scroll. The papyrus was. Darkened its edges neatly trimmed, secured with a plain blackened leather cord.
"This is the Typhon Codex " Apollodorus declared. "It was secretly commissioned by the autonomous spymaster of the Ptolemaic court a man called Soter, during the year preceding the Roman intervention. This is not a work of literature. It is a record."
Hypatia refrained from reaching out. The temperature dropped. "A record of what?"
"Of transgressions. Of debts. Of pacts made in deceit and killings veiled as misfortune." At last he gazed at her. His eyes, keen with intellectual interest were empty with fear. "It reveals the framework of this city's influence, over the past two decades. Who deceived whom to the Romans. Which grain trader financed the rebel blockade. Which clergyman poisoned a competitor's successor. Which among our academics sold manuscripts to overseas buyers."
"Why was it created?" Hypatia asked softly.
"As a safeguard. As a tool of defense. Soter disappeared on the night of the blaze. He said he would conceal this where only a genuine protector of the Library's essence, not its manuscripts could uncover it." Apollodorus offered a bitter grin. "He stashed it within a commentary, on Euclid's geometry. A work dull so essential no greedy thief would value it. I discovered it yesterday amid the inventory. They requested access to our records, on land surveys and property legislation. The geometry case had been incorrectly filed within those documents."
He slid the case nearer. "The blaze erased our history. This scroll contains the secret to our now.. It is a cursed secret."
"What should we do?" Hypatia inquired, her thoughts rapidly considering the consequences. Having such a document in possession would provide them with a roster of every influential person, in Alexandria whose allegiance might be purchased or shattered.
"We do not obliterate it " Apollodorus declared resolutely. "Eradicating knowledge no matter how vile is the transgression, for a librarian. We safeguard it. We comprehend it.. We guarantee it never reaches those who would employ its secrets for violence."
He rose, a delicate pillar. "This duty cannot fall to me. I am overly scrutinized. Every action of mine is relayed to Philo the bureaucrat and from him to the court. You, Hypatia are my pupil. You are reliable, yet not quite well-known enough to attract attention. Your intellect discerns order, within disorder."
He set down an iron key on the table. "This opens the study chamber, in the basement the one concealed behind the hydrological texts. Nobody ever visits. You are to retrieve the Codex. You are to examine it. You are to chart its links.. You are to keep it secret. Not your father, Theon. Not Demetrios, who observes you intently as a hawk eyes a mouse. No one."
The burden of responsibility rested upon her shoulders. "What should I be seeking, Master?"
"A thread " he murmured. " One fragile thread in the fabric of lies. If Soter concealed this he thought a time could arise when its reality might serve not as leverage but as justice.. Maybe he foresaw the judgment it held would eventually start independently. The initial record, in the Codex… it recounts a death. A scholar called Menander rumored to have drowned in his bathtub following drinking. The Codex asserts that it was a homicide, planned by an operative known solely as 'The Anchor,' and executed by someone, inside this very building."
Hypatia's heart sank. "Menander passed away three days earlier."
Apollodorus's expression was confirmation. "Exactly. The murder detailed in the Codex isn't an account. It's a formula.. Someone has recently executed it. The purge recorded by Soter has started. You have to locate the passage, in the Codex before the murderer does. You need to identify who 'The Anchor' is.. You have to prevent them."
He lifted the scroll case. Handed it to her. The cedar still carried the warmth of his touch while the scroll inside felt extraordinarily weighty.
"The Library has ceased to be a sanctuary of knowledge Hypatia " he murmured softly. "It has turned into the arena of pursuit. You have become both the pursuer and the target. Leave now. The day. With dawn watchful gazes emerge."
Holding the case close, to her chest Hypatia headed toward the stairs descending to the lower levels. Upon exiting the Scriptorium she looked over her shoulder. Apollodorus remained still in the glow of the lamp a shadow shaped by sorrow and looming turmoil gazing at the vacant spot where the world's most perilous tome had been moments before.
Somewhere in the waking city, a killer opened their eyes. And somewhere in the scroll she carried, their next target was already named.