"It's no trouble at all," Adia says sincerely. She gives the other woman a smile, "My name's Adia, by the way."

She sets the stack of books -- ones about ship engines, based on the titles -- on the information desk. Whatever she was planning to do with them, it can wait.

Gesturing for the other woman to follow her, she turns the corner, and sure enough, there is a computer terminal available. The screen is a pale blue, easy on the eyes, with a dialog box in the middle requesting a library card number and password. "Have a seat," Adia offers, before pointing to a small link below the box. New user? Click here! it says. "If you click that, it'll take you to a screen that lets you make an account."