22

There's no better place to be with Arctus than outdoors, and as you sit in the yard and watch her explore and run amok as her heart sees fit, you just feel so peaceful. It's like this is where you're supposed to be. After the morning you had, this is just what you needed.

After about an hour or so, however, you're called back to the present by the sound of a knock at the door.

As you go to answer it, you wonder if it might be Tobias coming to tell you something else—but when you open the door, the person you actually find on your porch is Robin. When you get a good look at him, you realize he seems close to tears.

"They're shutting down," he says after barely more than a hi. "The archives—I mean—I was supposed to go to work, but then I got a message saying that they're reevaluating their priorities after somebody broke those windows, and that they're cutting back volunteer hours to prepare for closure. I knew they were thinking about it, but now it seems like it's really happening, and—"

He stops to catch his breath, and you can see he looks devastated. He swallows and says:

"I'm sorry, but…I really need somebody's help. I don't know if it's even possibly going to do any good, but I feel like I need to do something. I need to finish my exhibition—or my proposal, anyway. I need to finish it as soon as possible, and I just need somebody to run things by. I'm really sorry for asking—but it'd just be a quick trip down to the archives. Do you think—please—could you help me?"