Virgil came to the once thriving mining town Greenstone in 1987 when he was 21 after dropping out of theology school. The mining boom and bust cycle had left the once-thriving city desolate and unlucky. One time, it rained frogs; another time, someone got rabies from a bat, the water tower fell over and rolled through the town, and a traveling comedian’s child was kidnapped. Seeing the city from above in Alec’s plane allowed Virgil to comprehend the extent of Greenstone’s decline. Still, like many others, he stayed for the intrigue. Real estate was cheap, so Virgil bought a small house and purchased the Empress from Edgar Poe, who once worked in the mines. For a while, Edgar continued coming to the Empress to help Virgil learn the ropes of what he called “a fading public service” (121), as the Empress wasn’t profitable. Edgar showed Virgil a secret closet where he stores hundreds of rare movies. Edgar worried the films were “trouble […] Imps in a bottle” (125) and offered to buy back the Empress from Virgil. Virgil enjoyed watching the illegal films and declined Edgar’s offer.