When Anvar reaches his home, his mother stands up from her embroidery with a smile. "Oh, Anvar, you're back! That was quick." "The nexus at the Great Library is working, so I came back that way," he says, and bends to undo his shoes. "Ah, how was the library? Did you find anything out?" "No, not yet. And not what I was expecting." He starts fiddling with his cloak neck ties. "I met an allochthene scholar." "How odd." His mother frowns thoughtfully. "I don't believe that was normal practice. What world was she from?" "I didn't ask." "What did the other scholars say?"