For the Want of a Book...

Eka thumbed through the books again. It must have been overlooked or something. She furrowed her brow and looked one last time. Nope, nope, nope. Fellow students two rows over heard her exasperated sigh. Eka sat down, right there in the aisle, and looked up at the rows and rows of books. The book in question was a series of essays explaining Lysenko's agricultural experiments and why hybridism failed. The book in question was also absent. She needed it for a paper about the USSR in the 30's and she thought that explaining the more biological side and the more chemical side might help her write her paper.

But she didn't have it. She had searched it on the library's computers like four hundred times. She walked up and done this one aisle four hundred more. The university library was modern and great and buzzing with fellow students. Eka sat down, looking up at the books as if they were some god she had failed to appease. Her white blouse and dark blue jeans were quite appeasing but these gods of books seemed to be intransigent.

She rested her back against her backpack, which was already laden with books and her laptop. Her adventures in the wrestling ring were the last thing on her mind. All she wanted to do was knock this first paper out of the park and she was losing hope. She blew her long curly hair out of her face and rested her chin on her hands. Maybe she could find that information somewhere on the internet. She would have to brush up on her Russian first. And she would have to spend many more hours plowing through useless research articles.

Or she could sit here, resting and looking up at the books, half expecting some divine intervention. That seemed like a good plan for now.

Down the aisle from where Eka sat lamenting her inability to find her book, a girl moved slowly and methodically toward her, her gaze falling on every book on the shelves as she strolled along. The girl, one Irene Inger, was studying scientific innovation in the field of agriculture over the last century. Her research had brought her to an unlikely source: Trofim Lysenko, the Russian biologist who had found favor with Josef Stalin and risen to prominence at the peak of the USSR's power. Even though Irene hated Lysenko and his entire country of origin for their historical use of censorship to quash scientific dissent, the man's work had still had a lasting impact on Russian agriculture. The science girl needed a book discussing his life's exploits, and this library, according to its computer database, was supposed to have one. Yet, as she searched the library's shelves, it was nowhere to be found.

Irene stepped over Eka a couple of times in her search, unconcerned with her existence and certainly not knowing that they were both looking for the same text. After a few passes, however, Irene was getting mentally exhausted and thought about having a seat along with the unknown student. The woman was quite a stunner; dressed nicely and with eyes that were such a bright shade of blue that Irene did a double take when she first made eye contact with the stranger. Irene was wearing a purple skirt and a gray sweater, with a long pair of black boots adorning her feet.

Brushing long locks of black hair out of her face, Irene managed a smile as she addressed the other student. “Mind if I sit with you?” she asked, kneeling halfway to a sitting position next to the girl.

Eka looked up at the girl who asked the question. Her eyes were a dark green that reminded her of the verdant mountains of Georgia, and were magnified by her glasses. She had been stepped over several times but honestly didn't mind. Eka was content to just sit on the floor and wallow in her confusion.

"Um, sure." Her voice was kinda shaky at first. "Absolutely. Pull up a bit of carpet." She patted the ground next to her as a big goofy grin spread over her face. Maybe she would have a search partner to help her on the search for the book. Or better yet she would have someone to commiserate with.

"I am Eka. I need a book here. And even these aisles," Eka motioned to the rows upon rows of books, "do not contain all knowledge. But this is not the end of the world, yes?" She was speaking English. The girl in the flattering skirt had a very American look to her. And she was sure her lilting accented allegro could get the point across. It wasn't the end of the world, true. But it certainly wasn't making the ravenhaired girl's life any easier.

The stranger gave a warm welcome and smiled broadly at Irene. This helped to lift her spirits a bit, and the girl happily took a seat next to the other student. She introduced herself as Eka, in an accent that Irene recognized as either Eastern European or Russian. For all her science knowledge, Irene wasn't the most worldly person and didn't have a great knowledge of other cultures. She was a bit curious where her new acquaintance was from, but decided to dispel her curiosity for the moment. It would've been rude to pry into the personal details of a person she had just met.

“No problem is really the end of the world, except nuclear proliferation, maybe,” Irene mumbled with a shrug of her shoulders. The girl perked up as she realized that her tired voice might come across as rude to Eka, so she decided to cover it up by making some small talk. “So, what are you studying here? I'm a chemistry student.”

Irene was smiling shyly at the other girl and waiting for a reply when she realized that she had not given her own name. Blushing, she introduced herself, if a bit late. “My name's Irene, by the way. It's nice to meet you.”

"Ah, this is true. I am studying history and international relations. And it is lovely to meet you as well!" Eka was still smiling brightly at Irene. Most chemistry students had a rather chilly demeanor in her experience but this new girl seemed to be pretty lively. After the initial brusqueness. "I am looking for a book. A history book. Well it is kind of a history book. It is about this man named Lysenko who tried to do a bunch of crazy things and they all ended up failing and a lot of people suffered for it. I am trying to understand the more technical details so I can write my paper. In some sort of coherent matter, at least." Eka's smile turned a bit sheepish. The Georgian girl couldn't help but notice that the girl had a little bit of muscle to her. She tried to return her eyes back to Irene's face, lest they wander a little bit too much.

"But I imagine that is all a little bit boring for you, Miss Chemistry Student. I think I might just not understand Japanese well enough. I must have wandered up and down this aisle forty times. And searched for it on the computers forty more. But what is to be done?" Eka shrugged as she talked to Irene. Eka tucked her legs into her chest. The massive library always made her feel small. Now she was little bit more than a ball of quiet befuddlement and waning energy. She was going to need another coffee soon.

"And I needed a bit of a break. So I decided to sit down for a bit. The librarians do not allow sleeping on the desks. Or 'malingering'." Eka made air quotes for the last word. Finals last semester drained all the energy from her, and the angry librarian provided her with a, err, spark. "And this is not such a bad hiding spot, yes?"

Irene tensed up a little when Eka described the book she was looking for. Eyes slightly wide, Irene turned her head toward Eka and decided to confirm her suspicions. “When you say Lysenko, you mean the famous biologist who tried to develop the USSR's agricultural system, right?” The scientist was a bit nervous; from what she could tell, Eka and her were looking for the same book, and the library database had only promised that one copy could be found here. The two women were getting along swimmingly for now, but what might result if both of their educations required the exact same resource? Could they share the book when it was found, or would it come down to a contest of which girl could find and claim it first.

In any case, Irene tried to keep her cool as she continued her conversation with Eka. For some reason, that name sounded familiar to Irene; she could swear that she had seen the woman and her name somewhere before, even though the two of them hadn't met until today. Subconsciously, Irene seemed to be associating that name with the identity of someone formidable and strong, because the prospect of slighting the girl by taking that book seemed to send a chill up her spine.

Most of Eka's words were lost to Irene as the girl trawled her mind for another method to find the elusive book the two of them were looking for. For now, she decided to stay positive and offered up a suggestion.

“You know, I'm not sure if it'll help, but the librarian on duty here might know something about our books, and why they seem to have disappeared from this place. Maybe we should go talk to her.”

Irene seemed to have quite an interest in the book she wanted. At least she had some knowledge which was nice. And if she was lucky, she might even be kind enough to help... But that wasn't important right now. "Yes, that one exactly." Eka stood up in an awkward motion and leaned against the bookcase. She offered a hand to help her new friend up. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. Come on, let's get to the bottom of this." Eka loved crime stories and detective stories. And this, no matter how mundane, was shaping up to be quite the mystery.

"I am sure the librarian knows. We will find this book, yes?" Eka looked resolved now. She was going to make a new friend, and she was going to locate this book.

“Thank you,” Irene said, smiling warmly as she took the hand of her new friend to help her get back on her feet. Eka seemed pretty nice, so maybe Irene didn't have to worry about one of them trying to steal the book from the other one. Even though they both knew at this point that they needed the same book, they could find a way to share it...if they were able to find it, that is.

“Right, then, let's go,” Irene chirped confidently as she started walking toward the library's front desk.

Eka happily marched right up to the counter along with Irene. She put her hands on the counter and looked straight at the librarian lady. She felt her mood bolstered by the woman now standing next to her. "(Hey, we need a book called Lysenko's Agricultural Experiments and the USSR. We both searched for it high and low and could not locate it. Could you help us, please?)" Eka's Japanese wasn't great and she had to force herself to enunciate all of the words properly. But it was coming along well and Eka felt she had gotten her message across.

The librarian's face didn't react but her body went in motion. She turned to her computer and started clacking away at the keyboard. She made a confused face and turned to Eka. The librarian returned her gaze to the illuminated screen and continued typing away. "(Excuse me miss. It appears that the book has been purchased from the library and is no longer in these halls.)" Eka furrowed her brows and cocked her head to the side. They didn't have it? They just let someone come off the street and purchase it?

"(Are you sure? Maybe the computer is wrong.)" Eka offered in a quiet, unsure tone.

"(No, miss, I assure you, no mistake has been made. The book has been purchased and is no longer here.)" The librarian's tone was matter of fact and seemed to cut out any protests. Eka looked at Irene and wondered what to do. Maybe the chemistry student would have the proper solution.

Irene frowned deeply as she listened to the librarian's excuse making. This place was a school library, and as far as she knew, they weren't supposed to sell their books to random strangers off the street in the first place. Whoever had managed to purchase the book must have been quite persuasive. Thinking that a prominent professor at the school may have taken the book, Irene decided to ask for more information.

(“Can you tell me anything about the person who took that book? Was it someone from this school, or an outsider? If they were from here, they probably would've shown you a student id.”)

A nervous cough escaped from Irene's lungs as she waited on a reply. She was pretty sure that it was unethical to divulge information about one's customers, but this librarian seemed apathetic as hell, so maybe she wouldn't care.