Chapter 3 - Fired Twice in One Day
Todd climbed out with a flashlight in one hand and a tire iron in the other.
“Mason?”
Mason lowered the transmission carefully.
“Hi.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Getting my toolbox.”
Todd aimed the light at the transmission.
“With the transmission?”
“I got emotionally attached.”
Todd looked from Mason to the hundred-pound casing, then back again.
“You couldn’t hold that this afternoon.”
“Carbs.”
“At midnight?”
“Very fast carbs.”
Todd’s eyes narrowed.
Mason realized the burned coupe was still sitting nose-first in the dirt behind him.
Todd saw it.
His expression changed from suspicion to horror.
“What happened to the Blackstar?”
“I think gravity.”
“That car was sold.”
Mason blinked.
“It was burned to the frame.”
“For thirty-eight thousand dollars.”
“To who?”
Todd looked toward the gate.
“Not your problem.”
The system flashed.
[LIE DETECTED: 61% PROBABILITY]
Mason frowned.
The system could do that?
Todd stepped closer to the coupe and saw the repaired ground wire.
His face tightened.
“You touched it.”
“I fixed one cable.”
“You need to leave.”
“Fine.”
“I mean Detroit.”
Mason stopped smiling.
Todd seemed to realize he had said too much.
He pointed at the fence.
“Get out.”
Mason picked up the toolbox.
As he walked past Todd, a new panel appeared over the burned coupe.
[OBJECT STATUS UPDATED]
[CLAIMED BY: MERCER FOUNDRY HOUSE]
[WARNING: ILLEGAL CLAIM]
[ITEM WAS ABANDONED PRIOR TO CLAIM.]
Mason did not know what a Foundry House was.
He knew he did not like the word illegal floating over a car Todd had just sold for thirty-eight grand.
Outside the gate, he walked three blocks before a black SUV pulled alongside him.
The passenger window lowered.
Logan Voss sat inside.
Of course he did.
“You’re up late,” Logan said.
Mason kept walking.
“So are you.”
“I was told something fell in the yard.”
“Gravity remains undefeated.”
Logan’s smile was thin.
“Did you touch the Blackstar?”
Everybody cared about the burned car.
That made Mason care too.
“I may have admired its resale potential.”
“Stay away from it.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t know what it is.”
Mason stopped.
Logan’s eyes were no longer amused.
For the first time, the rich collector looked dangerous.
Not rich-guy dangerous.
Predator dangerous.
The air around him shimmered faintly.
A system panel appeared over his head.
[HUMAN TARGET DETECTED]
[REALM: IRON MERIDIAN — THIRD VEIN]
[THREAT LEVEL: YOU WOULD LOSE IMMEDIATELY]
Mason read the last line twice.
Logan tilted his head.
“You can see it, can’t you?”
Mason’s stomach dropped.
“See what?”
Logan smiled.
“Good answer.”
The SUV pulled away.
Mason stood alone beneath a broken streetlight.
The system chimed.
[HIDDEN WORLD CONTACT ACHIEVED]
[NEW MAIN QUEST]
SURVIVE LONG ENOUGH TO BECOME EXPENSIVE TO KILL.
REWARD: ACCESS TO RECLAIMER PATH.
FAILURE: SELF-EXPLANATORY.
Mason stared after the SUV.
Then at the quest.
“Could the reward maybe include rent money?”
[NO.]
“Worth asking.”
---
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