In 2011, during what will be their final gathering in the Fox Library before three of them later die in New York City, Drummond Fox hosts Wagner, Lily, and Yasmin for a celebratory spring lunch.

Drummond asks Wagner to report on experiments conducted using books borrowed from the library. Wagner bluntly says the result is “nothing”: by scientific measures the books appear normal, and even when a book is used the colored light is not detectable by instruments and yields no particles or measurements.

The group discusses what that implies. Lily suggests the colored light itself may be the source or expression of magic, appearing only when magic happens. Wagner agrees it could be a universal force not yet understood, comparable to electricity or gravity before people could explain it.

Wagner further speculates that the magic might not originate in their universe at all, but could be leaking through from another reality or a deeper underpinning of matter. Yasmin and Lily press on why such a force would be contained in books; Yasmin argues books are specifically human objects, implying intent.

Drummond proposes that a person—possibly long ago—made the magical books and scattered them over time, and Lily and Yasmin agree the choice of books feels purposeful rather than accidental. With no definitive answers, the conversation turns from theory to practical matters: rumors of newly discovered books, absent mutual friends, and stories about a beautiful woman traveling the world in search of the books.