He had visited dozens of other people's residences, becoming overwhelmed by the variety of environments individuals chose given the lack of financial restraint and free reign of their imagination.
He preferred something familiar and comforting, so he designed his space as close to the apartment he had shared with Papi as possible, down to the window size and placement that was tuned to look out onto a river in real-time.
He was hardly aware of Woogie when he did not have a question or need, treating it as a combination guide, query engine, and companionable sounding-board. Woogie learned Pablo's quirks and needs quite quickly, fading into the background, ready to serve as needed.
After Pablo had answered every question from his new friends at least three times, he figured he needed to find an interest or two of his own to fill his time. Janice had offered to show him the Learning room, but he decided it was time to explore independently.
"Woogie, please lead me to the Learning room."
Pablo noticed most people directed their PDA's as they would any machine, but Papi had taught him that politeness and manners cost nothing but were often wise investments. Woogie, or that part of the system that ran its programming, was sophisticated enough to realize that even though Pablo made his request as if there was only a single Learning room, he actually meant any available one.
The space was not much larger than a closet, with just room enough for two people to stand comfortably, although it was easy to customize to need as with any space within the city. The wall opposite the entry displayed a typical series of slide controls labeled with icons. As usual, most pictographs were intuitive, but his PDA was always available to explain any that were not.
He had recently overheard someone bemoaning the fact that the city did not seem to have the capability to communicate in any written language. The sociologists' own research concluded that even the PDA's did not speak using sound, somehow manipulating the brain's language centers directly, which was then interpreted as the target's native speech.
That implied to Pablo that the entire population of the world, including the thousands upon thousands of languages and dialects, might now be in mega-city buildings like this one. The implications were too vast for him to make any further conjectures, but he hoped to make a start within this Learning room.
The number of subjects and sub-categories displayed by the slide controls seemed to have neither end nor order. He found that he could start anywhere by asking Woogie to display any field of knowledge. Additional specialties each branched off into alternate lines that felt designed to purposely lead him away from his intended target.
He thought back wistfully to his neighborhood libraries' simple card catalogs, and that thought brought to mind Janice's mention of the city's Library. Perhaps that would help.
"Woogie, please lead me to the Library room."
The colorful, wooly monkey did a little dance, clapped his hands once, and swept his arm to indicate the wall display that had changed to a single icon pulsating before him.
"Somehow, I don't remember you being quite so sarcastic when we first met. I assume this icon will get me access to the Library."
"I knew you were smarter than you look. And before you submit to name-calling, you should realize that my personality is nothing more than a feedback loop that works off your own."
"I see that Papi was right; monkey see monkey do. All right, I'll bite."
Pablo pushed the large icon, and the screen filled with rows of tinier icons that formed three-dimensional lattices of connections that grew from the single start button. The growing structure expanded to fill the entire wall, then crept onto the other walls, the ceiling, and the floor until Pablo felt like he stood at the center of a universe of stars.
The icons shrank as the number of them grew, and new geometric relational shapes became apparent. It was mesmerizing, and Pablo knew in his heart that this was not random confusion even though he could not quite comprehend the sense and meaning behind the display.
He started to experience vertigo at the ever-changing details and fell to the floor as he lost his balance since any semblance of an anchor point disappeared in the not-quite chaos.
"Woogie, can you set it back to the start icon?"
The cube of a room returned to white, except for the original single icon in the middle of one wall.
"No, I mean the Learning Icon."
Woogie froze in place with an introspective look on its monkey-face. That had never happened, and Pablo wondered if he had somehow broken the system. Woogie finally moved again with a slow nod. The Library icon faded away and was replaced by a series of Learning subject slide controls.
Pablo had the outline of an idea and perused through the categories. Once again, the connections always seemed to curve away into rabbit-trails before he could quite grasp what exactly he was looking for. His initial idea finally solidified against the negative information the system seemed to block.
"Woogie, can you have the Learning system upload to me how to understand the Library structure?"
Woogie looked away and avoided eye contact, then mumbled an answer that Pablo could barely make out.
"Only the Librarian can access that information."
"Okay. Will you please let me talk to the Librarian?"
"At present, this city does not have a Librarian."
Pablo could tell when somebody was playing games with him, even if that somebody was an artificial personality, which made him angry. When he became angry, his mind focused to a sharp point. He reviewed every word and intonation he and Woogie had exchanged since they entered this room, and his heart raced as small clues jumped out at him.
"Do I understand correctly that there are other cities?"
"There are."
"And are there Librarians in those other cities?"
"There are, in some."
"Will you place a call to one of those Librarians, please?"
"Only a Librarian may make an inter-city call to another Librarian."
Pablo was not sure what was going on because Woogie had so far always been extremely helpful, in part because the system could near enough read his mind and intentions. So why the run-around? Pablo did not have many experiences with machines since electricity stopped working when he was five years old, and certainly none with any computers.
He had, however, read extensively in library books both about the concept of programming and endless science fiction books on the theme. One thought that always intrigued him was how much free-will such a program might have and how much they might be constrained by their designers.
"Look, I can tell you want to help me, and I know you know what I'm looking for, so how do I access the information I want?"
"Only the Librarian can access that information."
"Now we're just going in circles! Hey, I just thought of something. How does someone become a Librarian?"
"One becomes a Librarian by accessing the Librarian learning module."
Pablo had already asked Woogie to access the Librarian Learning module, as the PDA referred to it, but it had already explained it could not do so. No, wait, it said that only a Librarian could request access, and Woogie was not the Librarian. All right, one more try.
"As the Librarian, I wish to access the Librarian Learning module."
The light in the room dimmed until only a single icon he had never seen pulsated on the wall display. Pablo reached out and touched it. He felt a tingle in his fingertip that raced up his arm and neck and exploded in his brain.
He saw, and felt, millions of pieces of information rotate through his consciousness and coalesce into a replica of the geometric catalog he first saw on the walls, only this time he understood the entire structure in all its glory.
He was at the center, and the information expanded in a sphere seemingly to infinity, yet he knew every path intimately. The learning process finished, and the existential drop back into the real world made his stomach feel as if he was in freefall and about to crash to the ground.
Woogie looked at Pablo with concern in its eyes, but other than a momentary wavering, Pablo recovered and smiled.
"Congratulations, Librarian. As you surmised, there are strict limits to how far I, and I mean the overall city system, may direct humankind.
As you will see, if you search further, I operate under a policy that leaves free-will intact as much as possible. This requires certain information to be temporarily masked so as not to offer undue inducement.
Your compatriots in five other cities have been informed of your status and send their congratulations, plus an open offer of whatever help they might provide. Only Librarians have the capability to communicate inter-city.
When you recover, they will be a great resource. I suggest we return to your room so you may recuperate from this experience."
"I'm sure I'll need to sleep soon, but for now, I feel exhilarated and hungry! Let's go eat first, then home."
~o0o~
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