I believe I've mentioned before that I have a healthy respect for computers. I'm impressed by what they can do, and how they keep evolving. Not thirty years before, the simplest computer had taken up an entire room, and now each school had at least a dozen in a classroom. Incredible.

I'm not exactly prolific when it comes to using them, mind, but I'm more than willing to learn.

Poor Giles on the other hand, was less than thrilled with them, so when he heard that all of the books were to be scanned into the library's computer system, he was rather upset. In fact he spent a good three hours one night venting about how computers would be the death of books. I disagreed, and we nearly argued until I realized he was just giving voice to his own misgivings, so I let him.

On the day they were all meant to be scanned, he enlisted my help, but I wasn't the only one there to lend aid.

The new computer science teacher was there, Jenny Calender, as well as Buffy, another student named Dave who kept giving me strange looks when he thought I wasn't looking; Xander, a sullen looking boy named Fritz, and of course, Willow.

Miss Calendar and Dave were there to help scan the books in.

Poor Giles looked harried and distraught at the mess we were making. Not to mention he looked tired and defeated. I made a mental note to treat him to a giant pot of tea later on and let him complain and argue about the evils of the computer age all he wanted, the poor dear.

I had just set down a massive stack of books on the floor when I saw Buffy set down an ancient looking wooden box on the table and pulled out a large tome, which was covered in dust. She blew it off and arched an eyebrow.

"What is it?" I asked, leaning over.

"A…really weird book." She answered, showing me the cover. It had a strange engraving on it. A creature that looked not unlike a space alien I had seen in a film one time, only this one had horns and tiny red spots for eyes.

"A history, perhaps?" I whispered to Buffy. A history not open to the public, no doubt.

"Oh, I haven't had a chance to go through the new arrivals," Giles said, taking off his glasses to clean them for what must have been the thousandth time. "Just, set it over there." He motioned across the room and Buffy nodded.

"Cool." She said, "Willow pile."

"Oh, I'll get it." The lad, Dave said, getting up. He was a quiet boy, but he seemed nice.

"Thanks Dave." Buffy beamed at him, making him blush. Buffy just has that affect on boys. Me? They either ignore me or look very uncomfortable.

Did I mention I find it incredibly irritating to not be able to see myself in a mirror? I never know if I have something on my face or not.

"After I've examined it you can…uh…sk-skim it." He said.

"Scan it, Rupert," Ms. Calendar corrected him, "it's scan it."

Giles gave her a withering look that I couldn't help but smile at. The poor man was about to snap any moment now, and Ms. Calendar wasn't helping.

"Of course." He said, his tone dry and condescending.

Ms. Calendar matched him in condescension.

"Oh, I know our ways are strange to you," she said with a bright smile, "but soon you will join us in the 20th century, with three years to spare!"

Giles stepped up to the table, locking eyes on her, he straightened and looked as though he was preparing himself for battle. I paused in my sorting to watch. This whole situation was just too ludicrous. I had been on the verge of bursting into laughter all day, and this was only another temptation.

"Miss Calendar," he said crisply, "I'm sure your computer science class if fascinating, but I happen to believe one can survive in modern society without being a slave to the…uh…idiot box." He motioned at me, "There's an example. She doesn't even have electricity."

Miss Calendar raised an eyebrow at me and I hurriedly laughed and dismissed the comment with a wave of my hand.

"He's…joking…" I murmured, hurriedly returning to the books I was trying to organize. Her face flickered with uncertainty, but she turned back to Giles anyway.

"The 'idiot box' is TV," she explained, and I noticed Fritz was looking at Giles as though he wanted to squash him beneath his feet, "This is the good box."

"I still prefer a good book." Giles retorted. "And I know I'm not the only one."

"You're not, Mr. Giles." I answered, "Though these machines do have their advantages and uses, of course. But the format of the book is not to be discarded either."

Ms. Calendar made a sad moaning sound and came around the table. Much to my astonishment she pulled me into a consoling embrace and patted my head in an exaggerated manner, like a mother comforting a child.

"There, there," she said in mocking tone, "did the bad man brainwash you? It's okay, it'll be all right."

"The printed page is obsolete." Fritz suddenly interrupted us, rather loudly. Ms. Calendar pulled away and looked at him in surprise, while everyone else paused to look at him.

"Information isn't bound up anymore," he continued, getting out of his seat and glowering at Giles. Instinctively I moved closer to him, feeling my back tense in anticipation; "It's an entity. The only reality is virtual. If you're not jacked in, you're not alive."

He looked around in disdain and then marched off.

I looked at Buffy in bewilderment.

"What on earth does 'jacked in' mean?" I whispered, "Where do you people keep contriving these odd terminologies? They don't make any sense!"

Buffy shrugged helplessly while Ms. Calendar rolled her eyes at Fritz's retreating back.

"Thank you, Fritz, for making us all sound like we're crazy." She commented. At least she wasn't oblivious to how bizarre the boy had been acting. Giles shook his head in despair and started moving books around again, while Ms. Calendar hurried to make amends.

"Uh, Fritz comes on a little strong," she said, "But, he does have a point."

I raised my hand.

"I'm sorry but I just can't believe that the only reality is virtual." I said.

"I didn't say he was right," Ms. Calendar pointed out, "only that he had a point." I tilted my head and crossed my arms.

She was confusing little girl, I must say.

"You know," she continued, addressing Giles, "in the last two years more email was sent than regular mail." Giles grunted noncommittally, but that didn't deter her. "More digitized information went across phone lines than conversations." She continued.

"That is a fact I regard with…genuine horror." Giles answered. Ms. Calendar nodded in acceptance.

"I bet it is." She murmured. I couldn't help it, I laughed, but managed to change it into a cough before Giles noticed.

"All right guys," she said, looking at us, "let's wrap it up for today, okay?"

"I've just got a few more, I'll hang for a bit." Willow said. I paused as I set down my stack of books and eyed her. Was it my imagination, or was there some form of…excitement, lurking behind those big brown eyes of hers?

I tilted my head, but she didn't look at me, so I couldn't catch her eye to ask her what she was up to.

"Cool, thanks." Ms. Calendar said.

"Xander, do you want to stay and help me?" Willow asked.

Ah, that would explain it. She was hoping for some alone time with Xander. Well, bless the dear heart, I wished her the best of luck.

Xander snorted.

"You kidding?" he asked.

I guess I didn't wish hard enough.

"Yes, it was a joke I made up." Willow answered, hiding the disappointment on her face very quickly. Bless her poor soul. I wanted to smack Xander. Couldn't he see what he was doing to the poor girl?

"Willow I love you," he said, "but bye!" He elongated the vowel sound and hastily exited the library, all but running from the room.

I gave a huff of exasperation and looked at Willow. She met my eyes with a sad look and I made a throttling motion with my hands that made her laugh.

"I'm just going to stay and clean up a little," Giles said, picking up a few more books, "I'll uh, be back in the Middle Ages." He pointed at the section as he started walking towards it. Ms. Calendar smirked and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Did you ever leave?" she asked.

He stopped short and turned to give her a scathing look. She ignored it with a smirk and turned to gather her things. I mirrored Giles' look and then gave him a sympathetic shrug.

"I'll join you in a moment, Mr. Giles." I told him.

"Oh?" Ms. Calendar said, "Won't your parents worry about you staying late at school? I wouldn't want them to think you're in trouble."

"They won't even notice." I assured her. "I don't usually go straight home from school, in any case." She shrugged and gave me an odd sort of salute, and then left.

I followed Giles up to the Middle Ages section and grabbed up a few books from off the floor and started looking for where to put them. Giles' back was rigid with tension, and he was scanning far too quickly, so he wasn't finding the right place as quickly as he wanted. I could hear him grumbling under his breath.

"She's a bit unprofessional, I find." I told him, breaking the ice. He groaned and turned to me with a tired, exasperated expression.

"I swear, Margery," he said, rubbing his head, "if I have to have one more argument, or have computer mumbo jumbo shoved down my throat I'm going to end up killing the woman. I'm so tired of having the same discussion over, and over, and over again. It's so tedious!"

I nodded patiently. He gave a huge exhale of air and I watched his shoulders slump.

"Feel better now, Rupert?" I asked. He gave a mirthless chuckle and nodded.

"A little." He said, "But I need aspirin. Or better yet, tea and aspirin."

"Let's finish here and we'll go get some." I assured him, "I could go for some tea as well."

He motioned to the books all over the floor and grimaced.

"I wish they hadn't given me a deadline to get all the books scanned in," he said, "it's so…frustrating."

I stifled another laugh, and instead stepped up to him and gave him a consoling embrace. I hear his chest rumble in laughter and he gave me a pat on the shoulder before pulling away.

"I'll be fine." He said, still laughing, "Forgive me, I've just been on edge the past few weeks." I nodded. I felt it too, that tense, building power in the air. I could sense it, perhaps even more than Giles and his paranoia did.

The Master had been quiet. Too quiet. I knew he wouldn't give up just because Darla had been killed, but what was he waiting for?

"All we can do is survive one more day, Rupert." I told him quietly, kneeling down to put the books back on the shelf. He didn't say anything for a moment, but then sighed and started to do the same.

"I know." He said, "But I hate not being able to prepare. Not knowing what to expect. I can't stand it. I wouldn't mind so much if was just me, but it's not. It's Buffy, it's Xander, it's Willow, it's you. It might well be the whole world."

I looked up at him, and for the first time I noticed how gray and…weary he looked. I hadn't really thought about it before, usually just because we all shared the burden, but I realized now how difficult it must be for Giles who was (for the most part) the elder of the group.

Yes I was older than him by a good couple of centuries, but I still looked young, and so of course he would feel obligated to protect me just by default.

"I can take care of myself, Giles." I told him, "And I'll do my best to protect the little ones."

"I know you will, Margery." He answered, "I'm sorry…I just…forget sometimes. But I just wish I could always know exactly what to expect, or at least know how to be prepared for anything. It seems we always managed to just survive by the skin of our teeth."

"But we survive." I answered. "So even if our system isn't perfection, it's working. That's all we can ask for."

There was a long pause, and then Giles gave a small grunt of acknowledgment.

"You're right." He said, "At least one thing is working." He gave another chuckle and I looked up at him again. His eyes were playful and sarcastic, "I suppose what we can be expecting is some sort of mishap with the computers." He shook his head, "Those things don't like me."

"Well, you don't like them either." I pointed out.

"True. Bloody things." He mumbled. "I still maintain that they are works of evil." He added.

I hid my smile by ducking my head down and reaching for another book.

"We'll see, won't we?" I asked.

"Indeed." He murmured. "We'll see."