CHAPTER TWO
A ROOM OF BOOKS
The TARDIS landed in a large hall with rows of long oak tables, stretching the length of the room. The Doctor opened the police box doors and glanced outside, "This is eerily disturbing."
Clara pushed him out of the TARDIS and pulled the doors closed behind her. "Strange, has everyone gone to lunch or something?" The Doctor looked around at the surprising empty vicinity, "I really wasn't in the mood of catching Vashta Nerada again. Although, I hope they haven't had lunch in this room, considering the silence and emptiness of it."
"What, they eat you?!" exclaimed Clara in horror, wrapping her arms around herself. "Well, they don't call them Kittens of the Dark, do they?" joked the Doctor, "last time I met them, I was with an archaeological expedition group who had broken through the deadlocks that had sealed the planet for a hundred years. They came through in space suits, to learn why the planet had been quarantined for so long, and they had absolutely no idea millions of Vashta Nerada had hatched all over the world. They ate the flesh of poor Miss Evangelista, Proper Dave, Other Dave and Anita, used what was left of their bones and took over their suits, animating their dead corpses inside."
"Oh, god! Well, I'm not staying here!" snapped Clara, turning around and heading for the TARDIS. "Wait, wait, wait!" cried the Doctor, "look around. They eat flesh and leave the bones. If they feasted on everyone that was in this room, where are all the bones?"
Clara turned slowly, glancing in every possible direction before looking at the Doctor. "Well?" asked the Doctor, opening his arms wide and spinning around on the spot. "If I see one skull or set of ribs, I'll be right back in that police box making myself a soufflé," growled Clara, pointing from the Doctor to the TARDIS sternly, "and I won't be coming back out until we're off this planet!"
"Attempting," the Doctor replied.
Clara raised her eyebrows, "What?"
"Attempting to make a soufflé," the Doctor winked, turning away to investigate the room. Clara cracked a small smile as she followed after him.
The Doctor walked to the wide doors at the end of the hall they had materialised in. The Doctor pushed one of them open and walked out into a brightly lit corridor. Walking over to a nearby window, the Doctor saw the spectacular landscape of BioCity, the metropolis of biographies. It was the Doctor's favourite capital of The Library. The skyscrapers, named after historical and universal beings that had influenced the universe, towered over the streets below, sparkling in the dazzling sun rising across the sky. The Underline, the public transportation connecting every skyscraper of the city for easy commutation for visitors, buzzed away between buildings. The transportation network of the Library was much more advanced than that of Earth's. The Underline was a network of skyways, the equivalent of subways however aboveground and hundreds of meters high over the streets around the city. Metal rails were not necessary as the skyways were able to follow holographic tracks circuits between building stations that were invisible to human and alien eyes. The network ran efficiently everyday and with no faults.
Clara appeared by the Doctor's side and stared out the window too, "Oh, my … it's beautiful!" The Doctor grinned, "Isn't just? Millions of books stored in hundreds of buildings, knowledge collected from everywhere across the universe and put into a place for everyone to use."
"Put it like that and you could almost say it's the perfect weapon,' mumbled Clara. "Why would a library be a perfect weapon?" asked the Doctor softly, looking to his companion by his side. "It's like what you said. Knowledge collected from everywhere across the universe and put into a place where everyone can use it," replied Clara, "I remember one of my old school books had a quote in it: knowledge is power."
The Doctor looked back outside the window, thinking to himself.
"It was a history book though, just something I happened to remember from those exhausting classes at school," Clara turned and leaned against the corridor wall, "are you sure we're in a library?"
The Doctor let to a small laugh, "I know how to fly my TARDIS to the biggest library in the universe?" Clara raised her eyebrows, "If this is the Library, then you're forgetting one of obvious things that can be found in one."
The Doctor looked at Clara, confused, "What do you mean?"
"Where are all the books?"
As much as the Doctor tried to restrain himself, he couldn't help but to let a much louder laugh than before. "'Where are all the books?' That's a good one, Clara!" The Doctor looked back at Clara, who stood arms folded with a sour look upon her face.
"You actually meant that as a serious question?"
"For a time traveller, you seem to miss the things staring you in the face," Clara retorted, walking back into the large hall they had come out of, "look around, Doctor. Where are the books in a room where no books can be kept? Do you see any bookcases? I don't see any bookcases!"
"Well, perhaps this is a room purely for," the Doctor paused for a second, attempting to think of a purpose for the room they were in, "um … err- photocopying!"
It was Clara this time who burst into laughter whilst the Doctor stood scratching his head, bemused. "Then, explain to me why there is a sign over the doors that says Reading Room 21.56, Song Tower," laughed Clara, pointing up to an obvious sign hanging just above the doors they had walking in from.
"Wait a minute …" the Doctor walked around the large oak tables to the sidewall of the room. Turning around to Clara, he pointed at her and said, "Never judge a book by its cover, well in this case I suppose literally," the Doctor beckoned Clara over to see what he had found.
"This entire room is full of books, just not the ones you're used to," the Doctor pointed at what looked to be engravings on the wall. However, they were not engravings at all. All four walls of the hall were made up of small rectangles; they were size of a book's spine and each one had a small knob attached to the front. Each one has the engraving, written vertically, of what looked to the name of book. The one the Doctor pointed out read The Biography of Sir R. Williams. Stacked up together side by side, row by row, the entire room held what looked to be protective boxes, which held the book inside. Pulling on the knob, the rectangle engraved in the wall opened like a hinged door and inside was not a book at all. Inside was a small computer hard-drive, sitting perfectly in place within the box. Ten USB sticks were plugged in the front of it, with little lights flashing on the end of each one.
"Of course!" exclaimed the Doctor in a hushed voice, "remember how I said Galactic Species Control cleaned the entire book collection of the planet to capture any remaining unhatched Vashta Nerada?!"
"Yeah," replied Clara.
"This was their solution! Absolutely brilliant!" said the Doctor, with excitement flourishing in his voice. "Nope, you've lost me," sighed Clara, looking inside the compartment.
"The Vashta Nerada hatched in the books of the Library. They called them all their forests, because books are made out of trees. Galactic Species Control came up with the solution to prevent the Vashta Nerada growing on the planet ever again, but removing the one thing they thrived on – their forests. They've set up the entire library with millions of hard-drives, which I assume are connected to the Library's computer core. Each book, I suppose, have ten connections in form of USBs –"
"USBs?! On another planet?!" cried Clara, pulling out one of the little devices flashing in the box. "Yep! Little bit of human technology can come a long way!" cheered the Doctor, "the books can 'rented out' multiple times at once, allowing more people to read them rather than having to wait for the single hardcover itself to be returned back. Ingenius!"
"So if this is the book," Clara pointed at the USB in his hand, "how am I supposed to read it?" The Doctor opened his mouth to answer and closed it again, "Hmm, they must have some sort of book readers available for visitors in the Library. Let's go find one."
The Doctor and Clara walked out of the large hall and out into the corridor. They turned left and at the end of the walkway found an elevator area with four metallic doors and a nearby entrance to a stairwell. Next to the stairs were two massive numbers painted on the wall: 21. Pulling out his sonic screwdriver, the Doctor aimed it at the elevator button and the end lit green. Suddenly, every single elevator door opened at once. "I- I didn't mean to open all of them," stuttered the Doctor, his eyes rapidly moving left and right.
"You take the elevator, I'll take the stairs," said Clara, patting the Doctor on the shoulder. "We're on the twenty-first floor!" cried the Time Lord, putting his sonic back into his jacket. Clara smiled, "I live in an apartment block, Doctor. I'm used to lots of stairs."
"Alright then, if there's any trouble-" started the Doctor.
"Trouble? We're in a library! What's the worst that could happen?" Clara interjected, her voice echoed down the stairways.
The Doctor stepped in the elevator as the doors closed in front of him, "You'd be surprised."