Metastasis, Part 3: Shuck

Part 1: Quarantine
Part 2: Odd Jobs

The time jump was unremarkable, as always. To those who were not accustomed to switching places in time, it felt jarring, but to Victor it was just like entering a different room. The only difference was the change applied to time, not position. A distinction hammered into the head of every Meta the moment they held their own pocketwatch.

He looked down, and saw Colossus a great distance below. Being a gravity caster, like every Meta, he casually descended as he rummaged through his pockets to make sure he had everything he needed. Unless trying to blend in by wearing the clothes of the time period, every Meta would wear the same style of cloak with a hood when traveling, thanks to the design having not only durable construction that could save a time travelers life in dangerous situations, but also a plethora of pockets for storage space. Within a few of these pockets, he had some petty change, his usual set of empty notebooks, and of course his pocketwatch. He reached the stony ground, and looked around at the bustling crowd. They barely noticed him as they all went along with their own business, which suited him just fine. He already had a decent idea of where to find Shuck, and wasted no time in heading towards his destination.

Colossus was a dusty city, carved out of stone and built up not just above ground, but also underground. It was well known as the base of operations for the Gatekeepers, as well as a site for a Gateway that gave the group their name. Victor didn’t know much beyond that, nor did he care to. Looking around as he walked, he saw disheveled casters dressed in what he could only assume was normal armor for the time period. It betrayed their primitive nature that they didn’t have access to the same under clothes armor every Meta had that was both light weight and paper thin. Their abilities with casting were likely similar; poorly developed, weak, and imprecise.

According to the file, Shuck was known for hanging around the spectator area for some of the training chambers in Colossus. Several signs were set up for the purpose of finding one’s way around, as was the necessity in any place not as well laid out as Pause. As Victor entered the stands situated before glass viewing windows overlooking several occupied training chambers, he saw his target.

The man looked old, possibly in his early fifties. He wore fairly unremarkable clothes, having basic tan travel pants, a plain white shirt, and a more distinctive dark blue overcoat. He was reclined back, taking up several seats as he observed a specific fight between a light caster and a kinetic caster. While he seemed interested, he was not so invested that he showed any emotion as the two opponents traded blows in their brutish contest of strength.

Victor sat down next to him, taking out a notebook to record any notes. He really should have been taking notes while walking to meet with Shuck, but he had completely forgotten to do so. “The name is Shuck, correct?”

The man looked at him, slightly annoyed once he apparently recognized his iconic garb of pure white. “Oh, a Meta. Wonderful, I was just thinking my day had been going too well.”

Victor was taken aback, both at the man recognizing a Meta and at his aggression towards them on sight. “Excuse me? What do you know of the Meta?”

“I know enough. If you want more information, it will cost you. But that’s what you are here for, right? Information? Just tell me what you are looking for and what it’s worth to ya. Then, kindly get lost.”

Victor was still in the dark on how he had so quickly earned this stranger’s ire. “Perhaps you have had some poor experiences with other Meta in the past… so I’ll start from the top. My name is Victor Meta, and I am a time traveler like most Meta. I require your services to earn some capital for… personal reasons. We would split any profit, fifty fifty.”

“Seventy thirty.”

“What? You can’t be-”

“I’m dead serious. I’m no fool, you wouldn’t have come and found me specifically unless you had a choice. This obviously isn’t for a summoning card, otherwise you would have time sliced me already to work out final payment later, just like you Metas typically do. For a personal consultation role, I’m not going to settle for anything less. Either I get seventy percent, or I’m not hearing another word you say.”

Victor ground his teeth in rage. “My family is in danger. I can’t afford to-”

“Well, better find another sucker, then. My rate is seventy percent for a Meta, I don’t care about whatever sob stories you can dream up. Take it or leave it.”

Victor sighed. “Fine. Seventy thirty.”

Shuck grinned, turning his attention back to the battle in front of him. “Fantastic. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s discuss details. What is the actual job?”

“That’s the point of this partnership. This isn’t a summoning card deal, as you’ve already guessed. I was told you are a man who knows how to make deals. I have the ability of time travel, but none of the skills you have. I was hoping you could help me come up with a plan.”

Shuck sat in stunned silence before breaking out in laughter. “So, let me get this straight. There is no job. At all.”

“That’s a rather reductionist way of putting it.”

“Yes, it is, since I don’t care for dressing up your lack of planning with flowery words. You have no plan at all.”

Victor was feeling less optimistic with every passing second as Shuck continued. “You Meta are all the same… you provide a useful service, and you think it makes you special. It doesn’t. As you are now finding out, the Meta need the world just as much, if not more, than the world needs the Meta. The entitlement just kills me, and makes it a pain to negotiate deals. Class sevens get the wine and dine treatment, while anything less gets exponentially more condescension and swindling. Again, no different than any other society… the rich and powerful get brown-nosed while those without such prestige get pushed around.”

Resigning to his fate for the next year as a food packager, Victor stood up at the end of Shuck’s rant. “Well, sorry to have wasted your time.”

Shuck rolled his eyes. “Sit down, Victor. I ain’t done yet.”

“Sounds like you are. The answer is no.”

Shuck grinned. “How very reductionist of you. But worse than that, incorrect. I accept your offer.”

Victor raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Sure, just cause I’m giving you a hard time doesn’t mean I can’t see the opportunity you are presenting here. I can only assume that any plan I come up with, within the rules of time travel of course, we will make a solid run at. As partners. Am I wrong?”

“So… you do have an idea? A way to make a large amount of money in a short amount of time?”

Shuck laughed. “With the ability to hop back and forth through time itself? I have more difficulty picking just one. Trust me, Victor. We do one job, and both of us are set for life. I’m already doing well, to be frank, but this? I could buy a small kingdom when this is over.”

Shuck held out his hand, and Victor shook vigorously. He just hoped that Shuck wasn’t all talk and no action. “Very well, Shuck. Tell me exactly what you have in mind.”

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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