((Collab between TheUnknowable and Letter Bee))

Par parked his truck near another entrance, before walking inside. Encountering a Merc, the 19-year old said:

"Hey, I need to meet with Greg; he's at the administration office, correct?"

The merc nodded, before saying:

"You were lucky. An Enclave man came here just a few minutes ago; he wanted some books. Also made some veiled threats; said that he wanted to 'exploit' instead of exterminate."

Par felt a chill down his spine.

"Take me to Greg right away, then." With some nervousness, the Merc took him to where Greg was; the latter would find Par's sudden appearance a surprise.

Greg was a bit surprised to see Par again, especially so soon after the Enclave showed up looking for him.  He briefly concidered that this might be some form of trap, and that Par might be in league with them, but he didn't really have any evidence to support that theory.  "The Enclave didn't see you, did they?  Some Colonel came in here, got a stack of books that only a pervert would get, and then got really interested in you once I said you were 18 or 19 years old."

"I came through another entrance," said Par, clearly disconcerted, even through his shades. "And, that's creepy. Tell me the full story? What threats did he make, what promises? And, do you think we should withdraw from the library; give up the plan to raise an army against Old Man's Corner?" The boy shook, still unsettled.

"No, we don't need to call of the plan, just modify it a bit.  He said he'd give me two months to turn either you or some excaped ten year old girl with silver hair over to him.  She ran away from some vault.  I don't think he'd do anything to the girl except maybe smack her around a bit, but I doubt the Vault-dweller she ran from would be as 'kind'."

"The plan's still pretty solid.  Another day or two and we'll have sorted the ruined books out of the others.  At that point we can crate them and take them back to Liberty city to finish sorting.  Just need some more crates.  As long as we take a couple of the library's computers with us we'll have a listing of all of them.  There's an open shop under the Statue.  For a thousand caps a month the city will rent it to us, and we can open up a book store.  I looked into moving my shop there, but I didn't need the space and it cost a bit much for my needs.  We could probably train them there too."

Par smiled widely.

"That's awesome; I knew I can count on you!" He then gave a hmm...

"It doesn't take someone smart to see that if what the Enclave man implied was right, their faction is under new leadership, new and somewhat dangerous leadership. That means that the war with the Brotherhood might heat up, either because they sense weakness, or because the Enclave's new leader wants to firm up his grasp. What's the name of the new leader, anyway?"

"Anderson, Colonel Alan Anderson."

"An unfamiliar name," remarked Par. "Anyway, I originally came here to tell you that I'm dropping off extra supplies and guns, and keeping only enough to defend myself; I have to go back to Upstate New York for a supply run."

"In that case, can you get us some crates and help us move this stuff to the Island?  One truck won't be enough, and I could use some help sorting.  Merc captain can read a bit, so can you.  That means we could probably just pull the good ones off the shelf and crate them right away.  We'll pull longer shifts too,if we have to.  I just did a six-hour shift sorting books, I could probably do another five or six before I need to sleep."

"All right," said Par. "My strength and endurance aren't the best, but I can work." He sighed, he hated straining his muscles, but was glad to help a friend. "Actually," he continued, "after I help you, I'll sleep here, then go on my supply run in the morning."

"Cool."  

"Thanks," said Par, seeking out a bedroom...