Chapter 1
"Oh," Buffy said. "Great. A book."
Willow Rosenberg looked over from her position in front of one of the scanners and smiled when she saw the disappointed expression on her friend's face. Buffy Summers pulled an oversized, ancient-looking book from the crate she'd just pried open and idly traced the carving on its leather cover. Jenny Calendar, the new computer science teacher, had set up several computers and scanners throughout the library. They were a jarring contrast to what Willow had always felt was the old-world charm of the book-filled room.
"I haven't gone through the new arrivals," Rupert Giles told Buffy. He gestured toward where Willow stood. "Put it in that pile -- "
"Here, I've got it." Dave, a shy, bookish kid with thick blond hair, took the book from Buffy and headed back to his terminal. Next to him, a boy named Fritz worked diligently. Fritz was big and sturdily-built with short hair, the opposite of Dave. But like Willow, both were whizzes in the computer world.
"Thanks, Dave." Buffy grinned. "The Willow pile."
"After I've examined it," Giles said absently, "you can, uh...skim it in."
"Scan it, Rupert. Scan it."
The door to the library closed behind Ms. Calendar as she strode in and Willow had to hide her smile at the flustered set to Giles's jaw. If Fritz and Dave were different, then Ms. Calendar and Giles had to be polar opposites, literally repelling each other. Where Giles was like the library, old-world and rather charming despite the tweed-saturation level, Ms. Calendar was young and hip. She might have been thirty, but her hair was dark and cut short, and the way she dressed was a slightly more modest version of the rest of the girls in school.
"Of course," Giles said. His tone was filled with stiff British courtesy, but Willow thought she could hear a touch of venom around the edges.
Ms. Calendar, however, was not put off. "I know our ways are strange to you," she said as she regarded the librarian with patient amusement, "but soon you will join us in the twentieth century...with several years to spare!"
"Ms. Calendar," Giles said archly, "I happen to believe that one can function in modern society without being a slave to the idiot box."
Ms. Calendar did an admirable job of holding her expression, although Willow could tell she really wanted to chuckle. "That's TV -- the idiot box is the TV. This is a good box."
"Well," Giles said, undaunted. "I still prefer a good book."
"The printed page is obsolete," Fritz put in. His stance at his terminal was so relaxed that he might have been a part of the machine. "Information isn't bound up anymore, it's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not alive." With that, he nodded to himself and flicked the OFF switch on his computer. A moment later the door to the library closed behind him.
They all stared after him, then Ms. Calendar sighed. "Thank you, Fritz, for making us all sound like crazy people." She turned back to Giles. "Fritz comes on a little strong, but he has a point. You know, for the last two years there was more E-mail sent than regular mail? More digitalized information went over phone lines than conversation."
Giles folded his arms and his chin lifted. "That is a fact I regard with genuine horror."
"I'll bet it is," Ms. Calendar replied. She faced Willow and the others. "All right, guys. Let's wrap it up for the day."
Willow glanced at the stack of waiting books, then back at her terminal. She hated to leave stuff undone -- it always came back to haunt you the next morning. "I've just got a few more to do," she told Ms. Calendar. "I'll hang around for a bit."
"Cool," the computer teacher said with a smile. "Thanks."
"Xander," Willow said before her friend could head out after the others, "you want to stay and help me?"
Xander Harris paused, but only for a moment. "Are you kidding?"
"Yes," Willow said gently. "It was a joke I made up."
Xander nodded in relief. "Willow, I love you, but bye."
"I'll see you tomorrow," Willow called.
But she might as well have been talking to the wall. "Buffy," Xander yelled, heading into the hall. "Wait up!"
Willow watched him go and pressed her lips together. I will not pout, she told herself. It's not becoming to a redhead. To a smart redhead. Resigned, she went back to work and from a few tables over, Giles spoke to Ms. Calendar.
"I have to stay and clean up," he said stiffly. "I'll be back in the Middle Ages."
Willow looked over to see Ms. Calendar, without so much as cracking a smile as she walked out, give her parting comment to Giles:
"Did you ever leave?"
The hours flew past, as they always did when she worked on computer projects. The Internet, E-mail, on-line research -- they were all incredible time-burners. Sometimes Willow thought they sucked up chunks of life like the Sunnydale vampires sucked up blood. Despite her intention to stay only a little while, it was already late night, but at least the book in front of her, the leather-covered one that Buffy had uncrated just before everyone left, was the last one.
Willow opened it to the first page, grateful to find that even though it was weighty, the pages were thick and not numerous. After naming the file WILLOW/BOOK 12, she carefully drew the scanner down the first page, keeping her eyes on the screen to make sure the image didn't blur or distort. While she couldn't understand the strange characters and foreign words, the information seemed to be transferring cleanly and rapidly.
Almost done, she thought in relief. Then I can go home and get started on my other homework.
Great.
Turned slightly to the right and with her gaze focused on the screen, Willow never noticed the pages of the book as she completed and turned each one, never saw the way the ancient words and symbols appeared to slip off the heavy parchment as the scanner passed over them. When the last of the book's content entered the screen, Willow saved the file without looking back at the book, then glanced around the empty library one last time.
On the computer, the screen suddenly went blank. After a beat, three words appeared, one letter at a time, across the center:
WHERE AM I?
Willow hit the OFF button automatically. Finished at last, she gathered up her books and headed out of the library.
Copyright © 1999 by Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
