Twilight Paradox

Mezzthang

Eric was walking down Wilson Boulevard Avenue, minding his own business. He was tired and needed to clear his head from working on a new spell. This was a tough one and he was having some trouble perfecting it. He just couldn’t get the gathering of his will focused enough. True, he had only been studying wizardry for a year now, but his teacher Melgon, or Melvin in real life, said he was progressing nicely. Still, this problem of being able to concentrate all his will into a spell held him back from the more arcane and powerful magics. He was working on something that even his teacher had no idea about. In fact, Eric doubted his teacher could even perform the spell.
He had found it in an old scroll that he dug up from the private archive in China. Now THAT had been a hack! He had found a collector of ancient Chinese manuscripts and had broken into his computer. This guy had scanned a lot of the material onto his hard drive. He even had a program (quite expensive, Eric was sure) that could search the documents text. Eric had run this program and found the spell hidden in a manuscript written during the Qin Dynasty about 2200 years ago.
Eric was glad his minor was Chinese (he had planned to work for an international company writing software), and with a little help from some other texts he found, he was able to translate most of the ancient Chinese writing for the fabled spell.
A good walk usually cleared his head, and brought about some new ways of solving a problem. He took a right onto Veitch Street to grab a cup of coffee at his favorite caffeine purveyor, Brew You, Too. He was just about to put his hand on the door handle, when someone shouted his wizard name: Mezzthang.
Eric turned around to look and saw a black SUV pull up on the curb behind him. The passenger window was rolled down, and he saw a face he recognized, John Smith, the source of the voice.
Smith had an “Everyman” appearance about him. He even wore a black suit and red tie like 90% of the other businessmen in Arlington. His face was shaven and he had balding brown hair with flecks of grey in it.
Eric was not particularly happy to see this face, for it most likely meant an interruption in his work. John Smith was not this guy’s real name, Eric had spent many hours trying to track this guy down, but all he found was fuzzy photos and little information. But he paid well for Eric’s skills as both a computer hacker and a wizard, so Eric shrugged this mystery man’s apparent invisibility off.
“Mezzthang, can we talk a bit? I have something that may interest you”
Mezzthang sighed, “What the hell” he thought. “Maybe there will be some good money involved.”
“Sure” he said to john. “I have nothing but time.”
Mezzthang climbed into the back seat of the SUV and the car pulled slowly away from the curb.
Inside the car was John’s driver, Krank, and John himself. Mezzthang had never seen John with anyone else but his driver.
Krank ran about 6’4” and had a “high and tight” haircut that made Mezzthang think he was an ex-military lunk who provided both protection and driving services. He also had an aloof air about him that made Eric uncomfortable.
“Long time no see” Mezzthang said, trying to act casual “What brings you in the neighborhood?”
“Well, I have a little job that I need your expertise for” John said, still staring straight through the front windshield as they drove onto Wilson Boulevard.
“And…” said Mezzthang
“And, I would like to offer this rather interesting proposition to you. There will be a ‘finder’s fee’ of course. $10,000 and all expenses”
Mezzthang was impressed. $10k would go a long way in funding his research. He still had two weeks’ vacation from Hadley Incorporated, and he could take that to earn this stash. But it also meant something big, and probably a bit more complicated than he was used to. The money was a big step up from the grand or so he usually got.
“Keep going.”
“Well there is a certain artifact I wish to prevent someone from stealing. It needs to be kept safe and it is currently being looked at in a… let’s say, unsavory way by some rather unsavory characters.”
“How ‘unsavory’”?
“Very. Not the kind you want in your neighborhood”
“What do I need to do, exactly?”
John leaned over the seat and handed Mezzthang a card. Mezzthang looked at it and saw an address typed onto the card.
“Go there, tomorrow at 12 sharp and I will explain more.”
“Really?” Mezzthang said “we can’t just do this right here?”
“It’s complicated. I’ll explain more tomorrow.”
The SUV pulled up to the curb and stopped.
“See you tomorrow” he said, trying to act nonchalant, but he was burning with curiosity. Usually John just gave him a small briefing in the car, then Mezzthang studied any additional information at home. A meeting suggested a whole different ball of wax.
Mezzthang stepped out and realized they were parked in front of his apartment. He was alarmed, John was not the kind of guy you wanted to know where you lived. Mezzthang cursed himself, he should have been more careful. He didn’t want anyone interfering with his life, and this did not bode well.
He stood on the sidewalk waiting for the truck to leave, then went down to his apartment to think things over.