A door opens to the hallway in the back of the Arcadian Grand Library. The smell of old pages wafts with us as we focus on to a door. Painted upon the frosted glass is etched a title and a name
The Grand Librarian
Adrian Grimes
It opens, unveiling a massive desk that is covered with stacks of thick books. Their titles are only outshone by the plaques and ceritficates. But centered in the desk, pouring over the tomes, is a balding man. He stares down at the book, not looking up as he begins to speak.
“No lock to knowledge, to be open to all. This has been the motto of the Arcadian Libraries of Truth for as long as I have been here. No matter where one comes from, their backgrounds or money, all may come for knowledge.”
Only now does he look up, gruff annoyance holding a look on his face.
“But we do have standards”
“There are codes of conduct to be followed young man. One does not simply walk into the library and treat it like a pigsty. Here you will not find the filth and squalor that comes from mucking around in a backwater place. Nor the kind of gruff, fist slinging, insult sharing you’d find in a small bar in the outskirts of Arcadia either.”
Adrian closes the book with a loud thud, and puts the tome of “Bars and Dives of Lower Arcadia” onto the stack and rests his arms on the front of his desk.
“For those are not the kind of place where knowledge can thrive. In places like that, violence and anger control more than knowledge. Ignorance holds more sway than the truth of information.”
“But there isn’t much that could be said to sway a bull that’s charging forward. No, no. Once a Bull that has become accustomed to live among filth and rot isn’t one to change his ways.”
Adrian stands up, brushing himself off and puts his hands behind his back. He strides to a window that overlooks the seas of shelves and books, miles of knowledge all under his control.
“No, no. Why waste the effort of re-education on deaf ears? There’s a much simpler solution. A thick headed buffoon like one Wayne D. Mercer behaves on instinct and raw power. Rely on what was given to you, not perfect it into something new.”
A smile forms, twitching at the corners of the four Mr. Grimes lips. One can almost see the lightbulb flash into being above his head.
“Ooh, there it is. Short, simple, and straight to the point is easy to read. He’ll be easier to read than any children’s book ever printed! And then when he least expects it, I’ll get him with techniques he’s never even dreamed of!”
Adrian laughs for a moment, a sound that seems to echo like the blast of a gun in the library before a shush comes from within the halls. He stops, leaving the window and flicking the lamp off into darkness.