The clock hanging on the wall counted every second out loud. It didn't matter that more than ten pencils were scribbling furiously on sheets of white paper. The ticks were still just as loud. In that cold library room, eyes would wander as brains could no longer function efficiently. Fingers would tap discordant beats as their minds struggled to make sense of the numbers laid out before them. The sporadic coughing filled the gaps of silence; those human bodies unable to handle the stillness of the air. The light tapping of calculator keys found an approximate answer and a bubble would be filled accordingly.