The Librarians: The Next Chapter

These do not appear to be serious scholars.

Smart people don't have to wear robes anymore.

Some of the sharpest kids in the city come here to study.

Mm, I was only 15 when I took my first course at Oxford.

I knew we'd get to you somehow.

I just think your campaign to bring me up-to-date

in modern science is a little bit silly.

I was considered quite the dimber-damber

in astronomy circles.

As Galileo said, "I have loved the stars too fondly

to be fearful of the night."

Yeah, well, we've learned a lot since your time.

You may have shiny new facts at your disposal,

but you will never know the thrill of living in an era

of pure scientific inquiry.

The days of Morey and Dalton

when gifted amateurs lit the way.

But science isn't about nostalgia.

It's about looking forward.

There have been huge discoveries in the last 170 years.

This is why this is a good opportunity for you.

Rosalind Kirch is a genius.

Look over there.

That is where she developed her hypothesis

on interstellar dust and active galactic nuclei.

Just sitting under a tree,

watching the oil droplets in her tea.

- And? - And then boom!

Scientific inspiration.

It's a famous story.

And riveting, I'm sure.

She was at Stanford when I was doing my first master's.

Her work on quasars was a real inspiration to me.

Quasars?

Yeah, super cluster of stars discovered in the 1950s.

Dr. Kirch found a way to use them

to predict celestial events, like black holes.

It's all about predicting with you, isn't it?

These are your seats, seven and eight, row three.

Thank you.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

You did that, um, charmingly.

All I did was show you your seats.

I think she fancies me.

Do you want to know another discovery in the last 170 years?

- Mm. - Mm. Creepy staring? Not sexy.

This must be recent.

Thank you all for being here

to celebrate the restoration of the Kutusov telescope.

Now, the committee that raised the funds for all of this

was led by today's speaker.

So please welcome back to our campus

one of the world's preeminent astrophysicists,

Dr. Rosalind Kirch.

Thank you, Dr. Stanaris.

And thank you for the tour of the new observatory.

What a privilege to be back on campus

as a visiting professor.

This is where I first developed my hypothesis on X-ray emission

as a predictor of an accreting black hole system.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was sitting out on Observatory Hill and I...

Am I still...

Where was I?

You were talking about the day that you formed

your galactic nuclei hypothesis.

Oh.

You'll have to forgive me.

I don't think I'll be able to.

Dr. Kirch is extremely jet-lagged.

Give us a moment, please.

She has one of the sharpest minds I've ever known.

To see her have a neurocognitive episode is just upsetting.

Yeah. We went through the same thing

when my grandfather started off

with him forgetting to shut the refrigerator.

Before you knew it, he didn't even recognize us.

You gotta appreciate being young.

Aging is no picnic.

This was not a product of age.

I believe that she was under a spell.

He's The Librarian, therefore he thinks everything must be magic.

You know the saying, when all you have is a hammer,

every problem looks like a nail.

She froze, then shuddered, a telltale sign of memory theft.

There are powerful artifacts that could cause this.

Talon of Hydroloth.

That is one, but that is already in The Library.

I recovered that one myself.

Ooh.

Perhaps a Tally Stick.

We don't have to ascribe everything to the supernatural

or being possessed by demons.

Dementia is a normal and sad part of aging.

Mm.

Or a sand targe could have pronounced an incantation

over that poor woman.

Is anyone gonna help me out here?

It's been so sluggish lately.

So according to Elaine's instructions,

I gave it a tarnish bath

and re-aligned its mercury cup and ball weight.

Now, why is it doing that?

The College of Science observatory.

As I suspected.

Thanks a lot.

So, magic in the neighborhood, huh?

Let's not jump to conclusions.

This could be something else unrelated to Dr. Kirch.

Kind of a coincidence, though, don't you think?

What I saw wasn't supernatural.

It was human and sad.

Some aberration has occurred to this woman.

Now, I've trained myself to be observant,

to remember details.

Well, I don't need to remember.

I got it right here.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

I was sitting on Observatory Hill and I was...

Wait a minute.

Did you see that?

Uh, use my AI enhanced 3D program.

Very cool.

Hmm.

Don't.

Mmm.

Well, we need to talk to the victim

and investigate what is happening at the observator.

That's it.

The solution to the Bolkonsky Millennial Prize problem.

I believe it is.

It came to me in a flash last night.

Uh, Lysa Pascal.

I was in your graduate seminar at Stanford.

Ah, yes, of course.

You did a thesis on applying predictive models

based on galactic motion.

Yeah, uh, that was me.

Uh, we came to see your lecture yesterday,

uh, but we were just a bit concerned when you had...

- Had my little brain cramp? - Yeah.

Dr. Stanaris said I was trying to tell a story

of how I developed my quasar hypothesis while drinking tea.

Apparently, everybody knows that anecdote but me.

I can't remember a thing about it.

But now this.

The solution to a problem proposed 25 years ago.

A solution that we all believed

would still be decades in the future.

And yet.

That poor woman.

Some sort of infernal malediction

has robbed her of that important memory from her past.

She can't be that badly affected.

She was able to solve the Bolkonsky Problem.

Not badly affected?

One of her most cherished memories gone.

Not to be rude or anything,

but maybe you're overvaluing memory a little.

I mean, imagine all that brain space could be used for,

I don't know, achieving something.

Do you know what your problem is?

Hm? The problem with this whole modern world

is you don't give a tinker's damn what's going on in here.

Or in here.

No, you've given it away to your little machines.

No need to think, to know, to remember anything.

No, you're hollowed out.

A list of achievements, and even that's in here.

And soon, very soon, these little contraptions

will be feeling for you.

Now, I for one will not trade a single memory of mine

for gold nor glory.

I sat down and I couldn't remember anything.

I couldn't even remember going to class.

What's your name again?

[Vikram clears his throat and chuckles]

My lady.

We met last night.

- Did we? - Yes.

Yes. You showed me to my seat.

We had a moment.

I'm sorry, but I honestly don't remember you.

Forget me?

Impossible!

This can only be some sort of foul necromancy.

This spell, this curse is spreading.

We have no time to lose.

We tracked down the students we saw and got statements.

Hmm.