Metastasis, Part 2: Odd Jobs

Part 1: Quarantine

Victor poured over the job listings, only half listening as Gerald spoke. “There are plenty that are currently unfilled, though with your skills combined with what you are looking for, that list becomes a lot… shorter.”

Victor responded absentmindedly as he grimly flipped to the last page of listings. “I don’t want to be away from my family that long, nor will I be able to sleep till I know they are out of harm’s way. I need a lot of money, and I need it now.”

Gerald sighed exasperatedly. “You don’t have the necessary skills to make the kind of money you are talking about, and no one is going to loan it to you. It’s really that simple; just spend a couple years time packaging food stuff and ferrying tourists. Build up some savings, and then-”

Victor tossed the papers aside, leaving them strewn across the floor, as he ran his hands through his hair in desperation. “I told you. I can’t do that. I won’t do that. There must be some other way. If I need to take risks or break some rules, then so be it, but I’m not spending years away from my family while they are stuck in a deadly limbo!”

Gerald raised an eyebrow, tapping his finger on his desk as he let the silence hang for a moment before responding. “If I was you… I would watch my language. Stating so openly you are willing to break rules is a great way to attract unwelcome attention from the more… legalistic Meta. But, if you really are willing to take a risk, then I do have an idea…”

Gerald stood up, walking over to a locked cabinet. He fished in his pocket to retrieve a small key, unlocking the cabinet and removing a single folder. He walked back to his desk, opened the folder, and spun it around for Victor to read as he described his idea. “There is a Gatekeeper in the sixth era… real name kept under lock and key, obviously, but his alias is Shuck.”

“What kind of name is Shuck?”

“You would need to ask him. I don’t know what significance it has, if any. You should know that Gatekeepers are known for strange names.”

“I don’t know much about the Gatekeepers, actually…”

Gerald was silent again for a moment. “You… really should. That’s basic world history, you can’t-”

“Oh, I know the basics. They guard the Gateways, apparently have silly fake names, fight Vorpals and each other… yadda yadda, warrior culture and all that. Bunch of barbarians.”

Gerald grew slightly annoyed. “Look, I’m trying to help you. If I thought this was a great idea, I would have led with it, but it’s a stretch. Shuck is a person with the kinds of skills you lack. Sources suggest he has proficiency in infiltration, information gathering, bartering, and combat. We have confirmed convictions in criminal activity, but he has never faced any time in a dungeon for such actions. Which means, he knows not only how to break laws, but get away with it. If you need a massive amount of money in a short time, he would know how to get it.”

Victor thought for a moment, not particularly liking the idea. “But… he’s a barbarian. Worse, you clearly stated he is a criminal… can I really trust someone like that?”

Gerald closed the folder as he let out a short exasperated sigh. “Absolutely not! Don’t trust him, even for a moment. But he’s the kind of person willing to make deals with people like you and look the other way if anything less than legal occurs. Which, of course, I am not suggesting breaking the law in any way. I am only talking about… potential incidents.”

“… are you sure you don’t have any other ideas? Some simple job that will net me the small fortune I need? An airtight trade between several professional casters that would pay the facilitator handsomely?”

“If I knew of something like that, I would have taken it for myself. You know those deals don’t just fall out of the sky without being immediately snatched up by some lucky Meta.”

Victor sighed. “Figures. I guess I’ll just need to… deal with it.”

Gerald was silent, as Victor’s half grin suggested he had missed something. “Um…”

“Get it? Deal with it? Those deals…?”

Gerald was unamused. “Take the file and find him yourself. If you decide that you aren’t crazy enough to try this, then come back anytime to get one of the normal jobs. Those are your two options unless you find someone with a better idea.”

Victor swiped the file, and left with a parting mumbled comment. “Humorless simpleton…”

Meandering about the walkways running throughout Pause, Victor took in the sights. He hadn’t been here in a while, preferring to spend time with his family. The pure white paths with dizzying drops to either side would concern the uninitiated, but he knew it was impossible to fall off unintentionally, and still difficult to do so intentionally. Anti-gravity elevators connected the various paths that in turn connected with larger buildings, and though the central planning influence was clear, it still gave him a headache to look at. The whole of it never changed, as everything that a time traveling Meta would need was located somewhere here. It had the sterility of a workplace where every single aesthetic choice was out of the hands of those actually occupying the environment.

Victor sighed. He could keep stalling, as he still hated the idea of bringing a stranger along with him. He had hoped the next person he would be teaching about time travel firsthand would be his daughter, not some Gatekeeper looking for a quick profit. But things certainly hadn’t worked out that way.

Victor had a quick nap in a sleeping pod, and grabbed a quick meal instead of enjoying the meal he had originally planned with his family. Now thoroughly out of things to procrastinate with, he walked to the nearest jump station.

A couple gravity enhanced pneumatic tube rides later, and he was in the correct physical location. Though he couldn’t tell from his immediate surroundings, as almost any location in Pause looked like every other. White buildings flawlessly clean with very few identifying features.

The platform wasn’t very busy at the moment, himself being the only person apparently taking a trip through time to his target at the moment. He stood on the indicated circle, took out his stopwatch, and took a deep breath. The next moment, he would be in a completely different time period, and could start his search for the man named Shuck.

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Thanks for reading! If you are enjoying the story, you might also enjoy some of my other published work on Amazon! It’s set in the same fictional universe, but follows different characters.

Gatekeepers, Book One: Unquestionable Truth
Gatekeepers, Book Two: Order of Gravitas

The Agency

Same post on Minds