The Collector moved through his Collection humming to himself softly with eyes on his holoscreen.
He didn’t need to look away to know where he was going, and didn’t spare glances to the specimens he had spent billions of units on acquiring as he passed. Most of his Collection were simply relics, though every now and then in a tank, something shifted.
The Collector was flicking through his unit transfers. He didn’t do them himself, of course, that sort of menial work was for other people. But he paid lesser people to do it, and he was checking for the dozenth time that his recent payment had been received.
It had. He was pleased.
Movement stirred slightly in the corners of his vision. He ignored it.
The Collection hall was softly lit from lights mounted in the tanks, as well as along the wall and room. The result was a pleasant, fluorescent glow that slid over the metal floor and illuminated every angle of every specimen in every tank. There wasn’t a shadow in the room. Not even his.
The Collector shut down his screen and, as he sprang up the three steps onto his special platform for new acquisitions, he raised his eyes.
All of the tanks stood empty and pushed to the back in a row except for one. The occupied tank was positioned exactly so that the Collector could walk up the steps and stop in front of it to appraise his new addition to his Collection.
In the centre of the tank the new specimen stood. It had been half turned away, but when the Collector had appeared its head angled back to eye him. The specimen was in its armour, and there was blood still wet streaked down its face.
Indeed, this addition was so recent that its breathing was still heavy from the exertion of its Collection.
The Collector looked down at title screen at the foot of the tank and clasped his hands together happily. Of course, he already knew its name and title, having been waiting in excited anticipation for this Collection for the past few days, but it still pleased him immensely to look from the item to the title screen, where it read:
Lance, Paladin of Voltron.