The Chessboard

Summary

• Nora is in a different section of the Midnight Library, near a corridor with a makeshift office desk and computer, though Mrs. Elm is not sitting there.
• Instead, Mrs. Elm is in front of Nora at a low table, playing chess against herself.
• They discuss the unpredictability of happiness and the disorienting nature of moving between different 'lives' within the library.
• Nora expresses continued suicidal ideation and self-loathing, and Mrs. Elm tries to reframe her feelings in terms of 'lack' rather than 'want.'
• Mrs. Elm suggests that there may be a life that Nora truly wants to live, but Nora is skeptical, arguing that all her potential lives still have her in them.
• They start discussing Nora's regrets about her dead cat, Voltaire ('Volts'), and Nora expresses a desire to live a life where she was a better cat owner and didn't let Voltaire out onto the road.