Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

by **Ancladar** July 31st 2014, 12:59 am

Normally around six pm on a Friday the store would be bustling with customers. Today it was as dead as a doornail for some reason. Probably a new iphone had been released and everyone was flocking there to get it. Even after studying the humans for awhile Vanile still couldn't grasp why humans needed to "update" their phones whenever a new version came out after what sometimes felt the next day. The damn things were too complicated, so she'd stick with a basic cellphone. Although angry birds did seem like an addiction she could come to like the woman resisted the urge to get one.

Behind the counter of the store Vanile sat clad in a blue business dress, green glasses, and a green ribbon tying her hair back. The sound of her tapping on the keyboard of the stores desktop could be heard as Vanile ordered some books to restock the shelves. Such a dull day. I kinda want some idiot to come in here and try to rob me. I could use the practice and the entertainment if the rest of the night is going to be like this Perhaps I'll rent something on Netflix or go on patrol and just close early if nothing changes soon.

by **Capt'n Sinnarr** July 31st 2014, 6:05 pm

Science had always been around long before the coming of machinery and computers. Back then, everything had been done by hand, writing all findings down in books, big and small. Since the dawn of the computer, a great deal of written work had been turned into data that could be found on the internet. That said, of all the books ever written, only a small fraction had been entered into data. It was for that reason that his father, Alexander, had always told him to never underestimate things such as books and the useful information they held. From time to time, Vergil would check out libraries and even the old kind of bookstores that had been around long enough to potentially own the kind of work that was not easy to come by. Today, he had set his sights on a small place that was called Darkborn Books. The people in the streets that saw him driving in his trademark Bentley instantly knew who he was, for there was only one car in the world remotely like his. As a man of business, most of New York knew what he looked like, was like in terms of public personality and what he had done for the city. Funding orphanages, hospitals and schools alike, very few would speak ill of him or his intentions, save for a few critics. The world was almost full of critics, for when someone spent their money in ways that would eventually help restore what was destroyed and even make it better than it was before, there would be someone who believed that there were other motives at play.

Unfortunately for them, there was nothing else at play, other than the urge to help the world and make it into a place where people would be able to live out there lives. Among the things he had renovated and improved with his ever growing funds was an academy of physics, a place where he had just hired several bright young and old minds to come work for him at the Steel Industries tower. Where he would pay for their studies and their projects, he would get access to new studies about cellular regeneration, solar energy usage, artificial photosynthesis, anti-matter energy generators and interdimensional portal devices and more. While a lot of the things he had been shown had been no more than theory, he knew that if he made those people a part of his staff, the combined minds of the people already working for him and the people that had just been signed up would be able to make it work through cooperation. After all, what was more powerful than the combined minds of those that had stood at the top of a class of geniuses. Driving his car into the parking-lot, he locked the car by switching it into lock-down, causing metallic plates to cover the windows and tires, effectively turning the car into a metal box that could not be breached without advanced cutting tools or explosives. While it seemed like overkill, one could never be too sure when it came to the craftiness of thieves, not after what had happened to New York. Nothing about him looked in any way suspicious, not being the kind of person that appeared intimidating at all. Wearing a black suit and matching pants, a white undershirt, a red tie and black leather shoes, the only look he had to him was that of a man that had plenty of money to toss around.

While his reputation as one of the richest men in America and possibly the entire world could be intimidating in a way, he was not the kind of man that would inspire fear in people, at least he didn't think that he would. As he entered through the front door, the first thing he noticed was how very quiet it was. Not knowing whether it was just the kind of day where people would skip out on reading or if it was just one of those weeks when the main customers already had enough reading material to last for a while, Vergil looked around to see if there were any interesting titles around. Paying no attention to anything else, he walked through the building at a slow pace, writing the titles that managed to grab onto his curiosity into his cellphone. This way, he would not have to carry every single one of these books around by himself and just hand it off as a note to his assistants back at the tower.

by **Ancladar** July 31st 2014, 6:57 pm

The door jingled as the potential customer entered the building. From her counter Vanile looked up and wasn't surprised to see a business man looking over her wares. She had plenty of high end clients come in all the time. They usually bought a lot so she was happy to see the man in that regard. However, many had some snooty attitudes which often made it not worth the sale.

He seemed content to write titles onto his phone so that was promising. Still customer service played a big role in making a sale and staying in business. She had read enough books to know that and watched enough YouTube video's to fake being polite even if the person was an asshole. She saved the document she had been working on and made her way over to the man.

At first glance he seemed handsome, bookish -which was a few points in his favor-, and well mannered. She'd found out in a moment. Stopping two meters away Vanile's soft voice seemed to almost echo through the near empty store. "Excuse me sir, did you need help finding something or perhaps a suggestion?" Vanile had no idea who this man was. The only time she paid attention to the news was when there was a disaster or crime. She may have seen him on television before, but just a glimpse so the image hadn't clicked just yet.

by **Capt'n Sinnarr** July 31st 2014, 9:49 pm

For the longest part of his life, Vergil had studied the greatest physicists the world had ever known, taking up what knowledge they had blessed the world with and making it his own, using it as building blocks to help him create a new age of technological benefits. What set him apart from men such as Thomas Edison was that he did not leave anything behind for others to use. Everything he funded within the walls of Steel Industries Tower was his own, and if he deemed it unfit for humanity, it would not move outside of said walls either. Outside of his advanced mind, very few people could look beyond their own ego and well being, meaning humanity itself had not evolved to the point where they would be able to live with advanced technology that could better their lives without making any attempts at weaponizing it and using it for war. Unfortunately, not everyone shared his point of view, seeing as all kinds of weaponry that were beyond standard military issue weaponry started popping up all over the world. As one of the only people that knew how to find it, tear it down as well as save the information so nothing would go to waste, he had taken the hard task of keeping the world safe from these manufacturers and distributors of harmful technology, at least until the human race had evolved past the point where it needed to wage war over religion, money or the color of one's skin.

Had things just been as easy as keeping humanity in check, he would have a less hard time making sure that there would not be as many dangers in the field of technology, though there were things that were more dangerous than any regular human being. There were those who were gifted with cellular mutations such as himself, people that used their powers for evil, selfish purposes. Though he had never met one of these people personally, he knew that they were out there. Whenever there were people with power, those that had none would be forced to submit to them, which was also how various governments around the world worked. Some were very straight forward in their dealings, others just made the people believe that what they were doing for them was in their best interests. While in some cases being for the good of the people, there was one government he no longer believed in, this one being the american government. This was because he knew exactly how many senators had been stockholders of Steel Industries, back when they were still the main weapon and ammunition supplier to the army. Knowing just how many people that were supposed to protect the people and the peace had a hand and profit in war was enough to sicken him more than drinking rotten milk. It was hard to believe at first, but once he thought about the feeling both money and power gave someone, it was not that hard to imagine anymore.

Luckily, his mind had long since adapted past the point where money and control could corrupt him, making him into a better man that spent so much of his money into special programs that would help make the world a better place for humans, mutants, extraterrestrials and animals alike. That said, he is not the most tolerant person in the world, though that much was not his fault. Before circumstances forced him to become a renegade that moved against the governments of the world and their pet projects that could end up becoming the next war winning weapons as the Spectre, he had been very trusting with people, especially the ones that worked for him. Leaving his personal work and customized technology for his employees was something that led up to spies that infiltrated the building, hackers that tried to get remote access and even armed invasions performed by mercenaries that were hired by some questionable sources. It was once the ugly side of the world had shown itself to him, even though these people knew what he had spent his life doing for not only himself and the people of the city, but for the entire planet, that was when the Spectre was born. Using the same tactics against other companies that had given themselves to greed and power, he would make sure that all of their newly made technology would be scanned, copied, saved and destroyed, no, removed from the face of the earth, remaining known only to him as his hoard of information would grow. Once humanity started evolving as a race, he would start releasing such information over time so no one would get to go crazy with it.

Even now, he had been planning on securing works that not everyone knew about, if they were here to begin with. It was well known that every physicist had at some point been up to some questionable research for the sake of scientific progress, though these things were often documented, hidden and then forgotten. Vergil knew because he too had done such things, though he had made sure that no one else would ever get their hands on it. Right now, he had reason to believe that some of these dangerous works of art might be here in this very building with him, though he had no idea how he'd find them. When the woman walked over to him, she asked him whether there was something she could help him out with, something she could help him find. Getting aid from the person that worked here would be able to find what it was that he was looking for much faster than he ever could. He could not just tell her what the reason was for wanting specific books, documents and notes in case of her refusing to sell them to him for whatever reason, so he had to come up with something else. The first thing that came to mind was by twisting his words in a way that allowed him to not just stay civil, but to make it look like he placed a lot of faith in this particular store, in turn playing in on her ego. Whether this would work or not was something he could not foresee, so the best he could do now was to try and see how things would turn out.

"Ah yes, I would like some help actually. I already took notice of some interesting pieces of work, though I was wondering if you had any interesting pieces written by great minds such as Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Niels Bohr, James Maxwell, Ernest Rutherford, anything that has to do with physics that can't just be bought in your everyday bookstore. Something tells me that this place will have at least one or two of such books, or am I wrong in assuming such things?".

by **Ancladar** August 1st 2014, 2:10 am

Vanile was no physicist nor did she know every title in her store by heart. Fortunately, she had a database with all the information she needed. "Give me just a moment sir and I'll check for you." She left him for a moment and typed all the authors into her database. She found that she had many books by a number of the authors, especially Tesla and Edison.

The blonde bookstore owner printed off the list and came over to him. "I carry a bunch of books containing basic information about said scientists. As for rare works I have one by Tesla about a particle beam weapon and other weapons. A few other books as well about his more extreme works. I've also got a few on Edison as well that include some ,pardon the pun, shocking experiments. The things some people will do is rather astounding and depressing at times." She held the list out to him. "Should I gather them all up for you or did you just want to pick and choose which you wanted?"

Vanile thought physics was interesting, but didn't find it interesting enough to study into it too much. She often broke those laws when casting spells, so there was really no point in her learning too much about the subject.

by **Capt'n Sinnarr** August 1st 2014, 2:16 pm

When the woman let him know about the types of work she knew she had, one of the things she brought up was a particle beam weapon, as well as other forms of weaponry in Tesla's work. The other main thing she brought up was something about electricity and experimentation that, given the manner in which she spoke, no doubt happened with living human test subjects. Despite the nature of the work they did, Vergil still wanted to get his hands on any information it contained. Once he was done reading them, they would be stored in the Vault where only he would be able to gain access to it, meaning no one else would ever be able to use them as stepping stones to make dangerous weapons out of it. When it came to storing this kind of information, the only one he trusted with this kind of thing was himself, no matter how selfish that might sound. It was because things like this made him seem so selfish that his pet projects were so good for his image. The building and expanding of schools, hospitals and orphanages made it very hard for people to look at him as a selfish man that cared only about himself. Aside from that, he had a habit of buying stores that were struggling to fight the unfair competition coming from international businesses. Letting his thoughts go when he felt like he had been pondering for too long, he turned to the woman and let her know what his decision would be.

"If you would be so kind as to round them all up for me, I will have my assistant pick them all up within the hour. There will be no need for me to pick any of them, i'll buy them all, just to be sure that I don't miss out on any of the good stuff. I get how it might sound selfish that I would purchase all these works, though I can't have the competition use them. It's just how it goes in the corporate world.".

Tossing some more information into the conversation that would help him steer the conversation into making him seem like just another businessman that just wanted to tackle the competition. It was a very credible excuse, at least that was what he thought. Giving her no reason to doubt the things he was telling her, he turned his attention back to the building, looking around a little but still staying close enough to the woman in case she had a response waiting. When he looked around the building, he could tell that there would be a lot of people that might just want to sit down in it and read. Not because of some illogical reason but because it was really quiet and had an air of peace about it. While it was most likely not the kind of place that would survive the coming ten years due to people becoming increasingly more interested in E-books so they could purchase reading material from the comfort of their own homes, it was still a nice place in his opinion. Not knowing whether or not this was the kind of place that really needed his money or not, he just assumed as much based on what he could see. After all, he was pretty much the only living soul in the store aside from the woman that was working there. With his creative vision and funding, he was sure that he could turn this place into something way more profitable without having to make too many changes to the store itself, not wanting to change too much about a lovely place like this. While all of that was stuff that was unlikely to happen, it was still something he kept in the back of his mind in case it somehow came up.

"This is quite a nice place, nice and quiet and filled with enough information to last for a couple of years. I have to ask, is this place your own or do you just work here for someone else?".

by **Ancladar** August 2nd 2014, 11:56 am

Vanile simply waved her hand as if to shoo away any thoughts about it being unfair. "Hey, you got here first so you can purchase them if you want. If I was really that unfair I would just not sell them to you. Besides these books have been sitting her for a good while so I'll be happy to be rid of them to get some new works." The store owner motioned for him to follow her to the register so she could write up the order.

As she started typing on the computer a thin smile graced her lips. "Thank you and you're right. There is plenty of stuff here to keep the most avid reader busy for a long time. That's not even counting the stuff in the back. This is my own store though. It hasn't been open that long, but it's normally full of customers every day. Today is just a rather dead day." She finished typing up the order for the books.

"Alright so for all of those books the total will be two thousand dollars and four cents. Do you want to pay in cash, debit or credit. Or is your assistant going to pay when he or she arrives?" By themselves the books were fairly expensive to an average person. Together though most of her customers wouldn't be able to just purchase them straight up. As she waited for a response she began to absentmindedly twirl a few strands of stray blond hair.

by **Capt'n Sinnarr** August 4th 2014, 11:37 pm

From what he could pick up, it seemed that the woman had no interest in what he was going to be doing with the books, nor did she care about his reasons for purchasing them all in such a selfish manner. She told him that with the selling of these books, there would be space for new ones again, sounding like she was happy to finally get rid of them. Luckily for her and him, Vergil was all too happy to take them from her care and into his own for safe keeping. Following her as she took him to the register to get the purchase rounded up nicely, she told him that he owed her two thousand dollars and four cents. Wondering whether it was a bit excessive to ask this much for a couple of books, he figured that they would have the kind of information that would actually be worth taking. If they didn't, it would have been a waste of money, and Vergil did not like to waste his money on stupid purchases. Regardless of what the books contained, he took a little black book out of his pocket together with a personal pen that was black with his name engraved in gold on the side. Writing out a check, she would be able to read that even the paper had been pressed with the Steel Industries logo at the top left, the name "Vergil Bartholomew Aiken" just below it, and a small font at the bottom right of the paper saying "Steel Industries CEO". If there was one thing in the world that was worth doing in the old fashioned way, it was the spreading of one's brand. When it came to spreading a brand, few were more successful than Vergil himself.

"That should be enough to pay for the books, though I have another offer to make. You see, I see a lot of potential in this place, and I know that with a bit of tinkering here and there to make it look a bit more hospitable to people, I am sure this place can be turned into a store that still has a place in this world. Making things legitimate again is kinda what I do for a living, you can ask around if you like it, I have some decent references.".

Having placed the check next to the register, his smug facial expression had returned once he spoke about the store and how he would be able to turn the place into a respectable store that would certainly last for several years before needing another update. Turning things into profit was something he had been doing for years now, something he proved when he put up several orphanages and homeless shelters around the city while also funding and building academies and schools with his name on it. Recreating a system the government had not been able to perfect, Vergil made his own system that got the homeless and the children that had no families to go to school, kept them fed and gave them something to do with their time. Most of the people of New York knew of this, something that in turn got him a lot of money from fund raisers and private parties he threw for the rich and wealthy of the world. What most people did not know was that the ones who did especially well were offered jobs at Steel Industries, working in his labs and workshops like respectable, hard working people. The stores he owned had been bringing up a lot of money already, allowing him to split the flow of money back into the stores, his laboratories and his pet projects around the city. Whether this place would become one of those was entirely up to the woman, though it would be quite beneficial if she worked out a deal with him. After all, there would be worse people to answer to than the man that just bought and funded stores and did not really get involved unless shit started hitting the fan.

by **Ancladar** August 5th 2014, 12:51 pm

The reason it was so expensive was because he had asked for all the books involving those authors. She had a good amount of them. She took the check and put it through her machine to make sure it cleared. It passed through with flying colors of course. She finally noticed the man's name and his business's logo. It finally clicked in her head. "Oh you're the CEO of Steel industries. Small world." That explained why he so easily parted with two grand like it was nothing. "I should have raised the prices higher before ringing you up." A weak joke, but this persona wasn't known for being funny.

His offer while it was meant to bring some profit was a tad insulting. Bookstores may became less and less popular, but they'd never fade completely. Many people still preferred books over nooks and online reading. "I appericate the offer, but you may wish to reword that. From how you've just worded it you made it sound like my store failing which I can assure you it's not. Plenty of people like the feel of a book in their hands, many like the retro feel as they call it as well. There are more than enough hipsters in this city to keep me in business for a long time."

If Vanile had a dollar for every time a hipster entered her store she'd be almost as rich as this CEO. "My store is supposed to look like this and feel like an old library." Vanile adjusted her glasses as she handed the receipt to him. "Now what would joining you entail exactly? I know many owners often don't get to keep the store the way they want when they cut deals like this, so I'm hesitant to enter a deal so willy nilly."

by Sponsored content

Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-

Re: Darkborn Books Chance Encounter -closed-