“Let’s go,” she said. Lucy nodded.
Hands clasped, they stepped backward into the dark.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lenora and the Whispering Hoards
Lenora backed into the darkness and Lucy came with her. Once in, she found it was not completely dark—she could see Lucy faintly, as though by starlight. The distant whisperings could still be heard. Her heart pounding, she waited to see if the Forces would follow. They did not. Whatever was here, the Forces feared it. Lenora just hoped that anything the Forces feared meant nothing but good for her and Lucy.
“Uh, Lenora?” said Lucy. “What are we standing on?”
Lenora looked down. She had been right—almost—about the starlight. Faint points of light could be seen in all directions, up, down, and everywhere else. But they were not stars, for they did not twinkle. And they were not in space, where stars do not twinkle, because they could still breathe.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted, for they seemed to be standing on nothing at all. She took a step, to see if they could walk. They could.
“What’s that?” asked Lucy, pointing.
Lenora saw in the near distance what appeared to be a sign, lit from below by glowing lights. That made sense. This was still a library exhibition, after all, even if it was a very strange one, and things would have explanations somewhere. Toward the sign they went.
Soon they were standing in front of it, and both read silently:
I have this vision of hoards of shadowy numbers lurking out there in the dark, beyond the small sphere of light cast by the candle of reason. They are whispering to each other; plotting who knows what. Perhaps they don’t like us very much for capturing their smaller brethren with our minds. Or perhaps they just live uniquely numberish lifestyles, out there beyond our ken.
—Douglas Reay
This sign was not at all helpful, but it sent a chill through Lenora. The whispering—were those hoards (she did not know why the word was hoards and not hordes, but somehow that made the message even more frightening) of shadowy numbers, plotting?
“Lenora,” whispered Lucy, pressing close against her, “you were right about the creeps. Are they going to come after us?”
Lenora shook her head. “Not here, I don’t think. The Forces of Darkness seem afraid of this place.”
“Why do you call them the Forces of Darkness?” said Lucy. “That sounds evil.”
“Lucy,” said Lenora as gently as possible, “it’s not something I invented. They have been known by that name for a very, very, very, very long time.”
“Daddy must not know that!” exclaimed Lucy. “He can’t possibly.”
“I don’t know,” said Lenora. And that was true, for she had never met the Director and couldn’t say. “Anyway, if they are afraid of this place, then they can’t have fired anyone here.”
And then she stopped, as she began to get the first glimmerings of an idea … if the Forces were afraid of this place, then maybe she could …
But her thoughts were interrupted when Lucy broke in. “So there must still be a librarian around here somewhere, right?”
“Oh, there is,” said a voice, and once again Lenora and Lucy leapt about a foot in the air. And now she’d completely forgotten the idea she’d almost had. Lenora was getting rather tired of this, and felt that these invisible librarians really needed to cut it out.
But this librarian was not invisible. A small boy stepped from behind the sign. He was fresh-faced and smiling, and dressed in very old-fashioned clothes. He had a librarian’s badge, which read:
MILTON SIROTTA
ONE GOOGOL
“You really didn’t need to scare us like that,” said Lenora crossly.
“I am deeply sorry,” replied Milton in a soft voice. “I sensed the Forces were near, and even though they are afraid to enter this section, I thought it best to hide nevertheless.”
“What exactly are they scared of, anyway?” asked Lucy.
“There are beings here that they cannot understand or control. And that frightens them more than anything else, as it should. They could destroy all books of history, and history would be lost to us forever. They could destroy all poetry, and that would be lost forever, too. But these beings—the numbers, math itself—even if you destroyed all books of math, it could be rediscovered. So here is something the Forces of Darkness are powerless against.”
That sounded to Lenora as though she and Lucy had nothing to fear, either, and Milton himself was utterly at ease—but she was determined to keep her guard up regardless. Of the many unexpected dilemmas she’d faced in the Library, this was one of the most unsettling. She needed more information. “Are you really Milton Sirotta?” she asked.
The boy shook his head. “No, not really. I am a googol, which is—”
“One followed by a hundred zeros,” interrupted Lucy. “We know.”
“Ah,” replied the boy. “Well, then you also know that I was named by nine-year-old Milton Sirotta. And so, for purposes of helping anyone who might enter this section (very few do), I have chosen to take on his form. You may address me as Milton, which I rather prefer to ‘Googol.’”
“I can relate,” said Lucy sympathetically. “I hate my real name, too.”
“All right, Milton,” said Lenora, a bit impatiently. “I need to know what the world’s largest number is.”
“Hmm,” said Milton. “That really depends on a number of factors. And they have their own opinions, of course.”
“They?” said Lenora.
“Yes,” said Milton. “Can’t you hear them?”
“The whispering,” said Lenora, whispering, too. Shadowy numbers whispering things she could not understand—she did not like this at all.
“Correct. They live out there, far off in the dark, at distances one can scarcely imagine.”
“What are they whispering about?”
“I’m not always sure,” said Milton. “I’m unsure most of the time, really.”
“But aren’t you a large number?” asked Lenora.
“Oh, yes. Very large. In fact, the total number of electrons, protons, and neutrons in the entire observable universe is less than me.” Lenora began scribbling furiously in her notebook. “Quite a lot less, in fact. But that’s really nothing. Milton also invented the term googolplex, which is one followed by a googol zeros. Next to that, I am nothing. If you wrote one digit of a googolplex on every Planck volume in the universe—”
“A Planck volume is basically the smallest thing that isn’t nothing,” Lenora explained to Lucy, who had just opened her mouth to ask.
“—you would run out of space long before you finished writing the number. It simply can’t be done. Even if you use regular English to write the number’s actual name, it’s ten tremilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliamilliatrecentretriginmilliatrecenduotrigintillion. So you can see it’s rather long no matter how you look at it.”