She raced to the tube and threw open the door.
She had to rescue Ada. Zenodotus had said his key would take her wherever she wanted, and she wanted Ada. And so there was, of course, a label blinking ADA with a slot below it.
Lenora fumbled for the key, then thrust it forward.
And stopped, inches away from plunging the key into the slot.
Something felt wrong. Lenora thought hard. She did not know where the Forces had taken Ada. She did not know how many of them were there, or what traps might await her. Though she longed desperately to hurry to the rescue, it would be terribly stupid to rush in without knowing what she was up against.
She slumped back in the seat, desperate. Ada’s cries for help still echoed in Lenora’s mind. Should she go back and ask Zenodotus? No, there wasn’t time, and the corridor was blocked anyway. The Forces had said they were coming back for her. She had to get out of there.
And then she had it. She knew where she wanted to go. And so, naturally, the ADA label changed:
THE DIRECTOR.
Lenora thrust the key home, and shot off into the darkness.
When she got to the Director’s office, she was ready. The moment the door opened, she bolted from the tube and straight up the golden staircase, right past a startled member of the Forces, who made a grab for her but lost his balance and tumbled down the steps as Lenora thought, They’ve got to start protecting this place better, and then she was in the office of the Director, surrounded by Forces, all closing in on her.
And just as they were about to snatch her, she yelled, “Princess has been kidnapped!”
The Director, who had been smiling giddily and polishing his platinum DIRECTOR badge while he watched one of his own speeches on the transmission console, instantly went grim. “What?” he said, looking straight at Lenora. “What are you talking about?”
“Nothing, sir!” said a member of the Forces, this one having the appearance of a teenage girl who had hold of Lenora’s right arm. “This girl is crazy.”
“She’s lying,” said a man who had Lenora’s left wrist. “You know how females are.”
“Then where is she?” shouted Lenora. “Where’s Princess?”
The Director stood, his voice booming. “Let go of her! Now!”
With great reluctance, one by one, the Forces released Lenora, glaring as she glared back.
“Now,” said the Director with great authority. “Where is my daughter?”
“I saw her just now, playing with the dinosaurs,” said a woman. “She’s fine. Very happy.”
The Director paused. Lenora could see he was becoming confused. “Why don’t you ask them to get her, then?” Lenora asked. “She can go back to the dinosaurs when she’s done.”
“She’s very happy,” said the woman soothingly. “Why would we interrupt your precious Princess over this disrespectful, loud little girl?”
Lenora saw the Director hesitating, unsure. “Princess hasn’t seen you in a while,” she said carefully. “That poor girl … imagine how hard it must be to be away from a father as wonderful as you.”
The man behind Lenora hissed. She did not flinch.
“Of course!” said the Director, straightening. “She must miss me terribly! Go fetch my Princess at once!”
None of the Forces moved. Instead, they all looked at one another. And Lenora saw things begin to slither under their clothes.
“Did you hear me?” shouted the Director, coming around his desk to the front of the dais. “I order you to bring me Princess!”
The Forces faced the Director. “We can’t do that,” one of them said. The usual tone of fake respect was fading. “The presence of your daughter … distracts you. Interferes with your judgment. Causes you to forget the Plan.”
The Director’s fists began to shake. His face turned red, then purple. The veins in his neck and forehead bulged. Lenora had seen this before, and knew he was about to fly into a rage at such disobedience.
And she knew exactly what to do.
The attention of the Forces was entirely on the Director. And so she slipped away, then sidled along the wall until she came to the Transmission Console. And flipped a switch from OFF to LIVE.
Unbeknownst to anyone but Lenora, the scene was now broadcasting to the entire Library.
“I am the Director!” the Director shrieked at the Forces. “Do you know how many companies I’ve run? Do you know how much money I make? You work for me, and you do what I say!”
The man facing him continued calmly, “This girl is destroying the Plan—”
“Don’t you tell me about the Plan!” screeched the Director. From the color on his face to his bulging veins, Lenora was worried that he might explode. “The Plan was my idea!”
“Was it?” mused the man. “I seem to recall visiting you and telling you that we could make you the biggest, most important, most famous librarian of all time. You were quite pleased at the notion.”
Lenora did not think it possible to screech at a pitch any higher than the one he already had, but the Director found a way. “I don’t need you idiots! I’m the smartest genius in the world. I could do this all by myself. You’re fired! You’re all fired! Now where is my daughter?”
“We took her to the Board. They can protect her.”
“I can protect her better than anyone! Bring her to me!”
“No,” said the man, quite simply.
And that was when something inside the Director broke loose. With incoherent screeching, he turned to the nearest portrait of himself, tore it from the wall, and hurled it at the man, who easily ducked under it.
The Director stalked around the room, ripping each portrait from the wall and throwing them at the Forces. His rage grew ever wilder as they easily dodged these attacks.
“I am the Director!” he continued to screech. “I’m the smartest! You’re all idiots! Everyone is an idiot! Everyone except me!”
At last, the final portrait was hurled. The Director, panting and purple, looked around for something else to destroy, then slumped against the wall, exhausted.
“I’m the Director,” he croaked.
“You see,” said the man, “this is why you have us. We need you to appear to everyone as the tough, confident leader of the Library. And you need us to protect you from being seen like … this. You are fortunate such outbursts are kept hidden.”
“No,” said Lenora. All heads turned to her, only now noticing her next to the transmission console. She gestured to the panel. “Everyone has seen it. Everyone in the Library. All the Library’s patrons. You put those monitors everywhere, because you wanted everyone to see all of your lies. But now they have seen the truth.”
The face of every one of the Forces went ashen. “No,” a man said. “The Board … they’ll—”
As one, all of them opened their mouths to scream. And then each of them was—Lenora was not able to describe it quite like anything else—pulled from the room, as though pulled through keyholes. Like the opposite of a balloon popping, she’d later say. Only the beginning of their screams was left.
“Help me,” choked a voice from behind her.
She turned to see the Director on his knees, his face white, his hands clasped, imploring. “Help me,” he said again to Lenora. “You have to help me get Princess back. I’m the Director … I’m the Director…”
“Not anymore,” Lenora said, pointing to his chest. His glittering platinum DIRECTOR badge was gone. “You’re fired.”