At least, Lenora assumed she and the robot had vanished from the Calendar room. Because they certainly weren’t in the library anymore. They were in front of an enormous pair of marble doors in a wide courtyard open to the sky. The courtyard was covered in smooth white tiles. Everything around them was peaceful and quiet. There was no chaos in sight. Lenora’s gaze traveled up to the open sky. There she saw giant red letters blinking: ERROR, the letters said, over and over.

“What is that?” asked Lenora, pointing.

The robot looked just as puzzled. “I don’t remember. I’m sure it’s the reason for the chaos, though.”

“You don’t remember? Robots have memory banks, don’t they?” She thought she had seen that in a movie somewhere.

“Yes, but…” Bendigeidfran hesitated. “I’ve been having problems with my memory unit ever since I bashed my head against the nose of the Great Sphinx of Giza.” He pointed to a dent next to a small panel on his metal head. “Maybe you could take a look?”

“I suppose you’d want a librarian from the Robotics section for that,” said Lenora. “But it can’t hurt to try. Open up.”

The robot knelt and pressed on the panel, which popped open. Lenora peered inside. As she expected, much about a robotic brain from the year 8000 meant absolutely nothing to her. But amid all the dancing lights and graceful whirling dials she noticed a spot with six slots on it. The trouble was, only five of those spots were occupied by glittering chips. The sixth slot was empty.

“Do you suppose you are missing a chip?” she said. “It could have gotten knocked off when you bashed your head.”

The robot snapped his fingers as his eyes changed to a happy green. “Yes! That must be it. I’ll have to go back and find it. But first—we must do something about the chaos.”

“Of course,” said Lenora. “But I don’t see any signs of chaos.”

“You will,” Bendigeidfran replied. He threw open the doors.

They were staring down a wide, ornate hall with many interesting details. But Lenora couldn’t notice any of them because of the chaos. It was exactly as you would expect chaos to be. People were running up and down and back and forth, screaming or muttering or both. Some of them threw their hands in the air, while others hugged themselves and shuddered. Their clothes could have been called strange, but Lenora had every expectation that people in 8000 would dress differently, so this did not surprise her. She was well prepared for time travel.

“The librarian is here!” cried Bendigeidfran. “Make way for the librarian!”