Two figures opened a glass door and stepped into a wide entrance hall. One, walking in front without sparing a glance for his surroundings, the other following behind and to the side. The first was a man past his prime, with frazzled white hair on both his head and his face. He wore a white lab coat over a black shirt and green pants. The second was a woman, an armored mask at odds with her neat suit. She had dark skin, braided black hair, and carried a briefcase.

The pair walked down the large, well lit hall. There were walls and pillars made of black marble, and a red carpet laid out. At the end of the hall was a wooden desk. A receptionist sat at the desk, in front of two large letters, ‘E’ and ‘L’, hung on the wall behind her. The two figures approached the desk.

“Welcome to EL Bank, how may we help you today?”

The man straightened his back and crossed his arms.

“It is I! Dr. Kayserling himself! Today you shall have the honor of rewriting the course of history!”

The woman behind him, Londyn Green, heaved a sigh. She stepped forward and passed a business card to the confused receptionist.

“Hi, we’re here for a loan application. Dr. Kayserling has an appointment scheduled.”

The receptionist nodded and looked down, shuffling some papers.

“Kayersling, was it? Yes, I see you have a three ‘o clock. Please take the elevator on the left to the top floor, Mr. Herring is waiting for you.”

Dr. Kayserling immediately turned to the left and continued walking without another word. Londyn gave a quick thank you to the receptionist and hurried after him.

The pair made their way up the elevator. With a chime, the doors opened up into a bright office, a wall of floor to roof windows on the far side from them. The adornments were simple at first glance, but each was of the finest quality and craftsmanship. More impressive was the cabinet filled with bottles, most of which were either red or clear. On the side wall was a large picture frame, holding a...movie poster? An interesting choice. At the end of the office were two men, one a well-groomed young man in a suit, sitting at a large desk, the other a hulk of a man wearing a suit and sunglasses, standing to the right of the seated man. The young man smiled and stood up.

“Ah, Dr. Kayserling I presume, welcome welcome.”

“Greetings, young plebeian. I, Dr. Kayserling, have decided to grace you with my time today.”

Londyn resisted the urge to hold her head, and stepped forward to shake hands with the young man instead.

“Londyn Green, thank you for having us, Mr. Herring. We are most grateful for the opportunity.”

The young man beamed as he shook her hand.

“Please, call me Markus. Mr. Herring is my father. This here is Ivan, my bodyguard slash analyst extraordinaire.”

“Hello, is good to meet you.”

“Please, have a seat!”

Markus led the pair to their seats before taking his own.

“Now let’s get into it shall we? We’ve taken a look at your proposal and I must say it is most exciting. Would you mind if we ask a few questions?”

Dr. Kayserling let out a sigh and shook his head.

“I suppose it is hard to fully comprehend the workings of my genius.”

Londyn put the briefcase on the table and opened it, removing some of the documents within. She nodded at Markus.

“Yes, we are prepared to address any concerns you may have.”

Markus clapped his hands.

“Wonderful, Ivan, would you please?”

Ivan moved to a shelf and took a folder. He walked over and handed it to Markus. Markus opened up the folder and took a look.

“Right, so you plan to build this, Mass Suppressor, you call it?”

Dr. Kayserling nodded.

“My life’s work, my crowning achievement.”

“And it will allow you to…”

“I shall steal gravity itself! The laws of physics shall bend to my will!”

“How exciting. And then…?”

“Then? Then what? All shall bow before me, obviously.”

Londyn sighed.

“Doctor, I believe he is asking about the monetization scheme.”

“Oh, how droll. Minion, take care of it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Londyn separated out some of the documents. Ivan stepped forward and Londyn handed the stack to him, who passed it to Markus.

“As you can see, we’ve scoured the legal system and found no laws that could be implied to refer to the ownership or right to gravity. This is currently irrelevant as there is no way or need to redistribute gravity, which will change once the Doctor’s work is completed. We will demonstrate that gravity is a resource and that we possess the means to redistribute it. We will then offer said redistribution as a service and allow market forces to allocate gravity as is most efficient.”

The edge of Markus’s mouth curled upward.

“And you’ll capture the profits?”

Londyn nodded.

“That is the goal.”

Markus nodded several times.

“Interesting, but I imagine you will be regulated fairly quickly?”

Londyn nodded.

“We have a number of follow up products that will utilize the technology once developed. We plan to invest the initial profits to fund a second wave of research and development in order to capture the new market. And…”

“And?”

Londyn smiled under her mask.

“We have…contingencies if the public officials are not reasonably cooperative.”

Markus’s grin grew.

“Most interesting. I would be most curious to see what these contingencies entail, should they ever take place.”

Ivan took a step forward.

“I have question.”

Londyn turned to the man and nodded.

“Yes?”

“This technology, it sounds very fancy. It will take long time to make, yes?”

Dr. Kayserling glared at the man.

“You dare to question my genius?”

Markus shook his head and held his hands up.

“Of course not, my dear Doctor. Your genius is self-evident from the sheer brilliance of your invention.”

Markus moved his hands back and clasped them on his desk.

“But my associate does raise a valid point. What is the timeframe on the Mass Suppressor and what will you do if you require additional funding midway?”

Londyn nodded and took out another document, handing it to Ivan as he approached her again.

“We do have a plan for that scenario. While the Mass Suppressor is the Doctor’s primary focus, it is not the only invention he has produced. We imagine there would be a smaller market for some of his devices. Our projections say they will cover operational costs as well as fulfill the R&D budget fairly quickly. We simply need the initial capital to get started and for some of the larger purchases the Mass Suppressor will require.”

Markus rubbed his chin as he reviewed the document.

“A well thought out plan. Any thoughts, Ivan?”

“Da, is very exciting technology. Maybe too exciting? It may attract many thieves, I think.”

Londyn nodded.

“Yes, that is a concern. We heard you also provide some discounted staffing with a partner agency, correct? We would like to apply for that as well. We are aiming for a full security detail on top of the R&D and administration departments.”

Markus nodded.

“A wise choice. Well I think we have a good picture of your needs and plans now."

Markus stood from his seat, extending his hand forward.

"Thank you two for coming in today. We’ll get back to you with our decision. A pleasure speaking with you.”

Dr. Kayserling stood up, arms crossed.

“Don’t keep me waiting.”

And promptly turned around.

Londyn packed up her briefcase, then reached out and shook Markus’s hand.

“Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today, we look forward to hearing from you soon.”

As the doors of the elevator closed and the numbers atop it began to drop, Markus sat back at his desk. He grabbed the receiver off his phone, dialing in a number.

“Hi Bob!”

“Markus.”

Markus began giggling, then broke out into full on laughter.

“So, what do you think? Stealing gravity itself, heh.”

“It’s good.”

“And so?”

“Too good. The world isn’t ready for that kind of technology.”

“Too bad, I was looking forward to seeing it in action. Shall I give them the bad news?”

Bob leaned against a chair in a small break room, drinking a cup of coffee. He focused on a television in the room.

“Next up, Defenders of Justice, or violent criminals? We talk with the experts to understand this new ‘supers’ phenomenon sweeping the globe and what it might mean for you!”

“No, I have an idea. You still keep up with Lewis from undergrad?”

“Yea, we’re on for golf this weekend, why?”

The edge of Bob’s mouth curled up.

“Approve the funding for Dr. Kayserling. I think I know exactly where to put him.”