“Who are you?” Tunneler 13 asked.

“I’m called Booker. I’m the Threetown Library.”

“What’s a library?”

“A place in which literary and artistic materials, such as …”

“Less, please.”

“Sorry. Something that stores public information.”

“Where is my son?”

“I might have that information. But I mustn’t give it to you.”

“Why not?” her voice rose.

“You don’t have a library card.”

“How can I get a library card?”

“You must apply for a library card.”

“How can I apply for a library card?”

“You can say ‘I want to apply for a library card.’”

“I want to apply for a library card.” Tunneler 13 was a patient cyborg.

“What’s your name?”

A frightening question. If she couldn’t give her name, Booker wouldn’t give her a library card. Then he wouldn’t tell her where her son was. She knew that people had names, and that she didn’t. Was she not a person? She replied with her VRN.

“Sorry. That isn’t a name. Do you have a nickname?”

“Mother.”

“Mother, you’re now a library member.”

“Where is my son?”

“I don’t know.”