Crowded bookcases dominated the room where Brinn took Helen. Khaki blankets were folded neatly at the end of a single bed. On a table beside the bed were a lamp with a blue ceramic base, empty notebooks, a blue book with gold lettering, yellow pads with blue lines, and a plastic pencil case that contained yellow lead pencils and black-ink pens. "We call this guest room 'The Room of all Matters', by which we mean that it contains information about chemistry, physics, and astronomy. But there are other books here, and of course you will be given computer time when you are ready."

Helen noticed that the room had a window.