"Well, maybe the people on my floor will be a little less helpful," Karen says, teasing. "Though I think this might have it just about taken care of." It's always a tossup here, she thinks, whether people will want to keep to themselves or get into someone else's business. Maybe that's most cities, though, even if Darrow is nothing like she can imagine anywhere else being. There are still going to be commonalities, no matter how strange. The work they do — the actual contents of the boxes — reflects that.

"We're going to have to figure out what to do with all of these books."