Metastasis, Part 30: Review
Table of Contents available here.
A Word From the Author:
This is it. The very last chapter of Metastasis. At the time of this writing, this has been one of my most popular serialized stories. For most of the previous chapters, I included a synopsis right here, to get you caught up if you didn't want to read the whole thing and instead wanted to start at the latest chapter. I've decided to exclude that from this, the final chapter.
This is the very last chapter of this thirty part story. I will not be releasing any further installments for this story. Not to undersell it, but that means this is just wrapping up the loose ends and winding the story down to what I hope readers find to be a satisfactory conclusion. I may be writing a sequel of some kind, but that is entirely up in the air on if or when that will happen.
If you want(I certainly can't stop you), you could read this final chapter and learn exactly how everything ends, and get the little twist I had planned from the very start. But I feel that's rather hollow, like skipping to the last chapter of a traditional book. I would at the very least recommend reading the last three, four, or five chapters. I personally would suggest reading from the very start, but I understand not everyone has time for that.
Anyways, I would like to offer a heartfelt thank you to everyone who took the time to read even one of the installments for this series. A story unheard is the same as a story untold, so people like you are what makes this whole process worthwhile.
***
Victor pushed the last bit of dirt out of the way, telepathically shoving it aside as sunlight finally burst through from the surface. Practically crawling out, he rolled over onto the grass, and laid there for a moment while Mira floated out with Shuck in tow. She stopped, looking questioningly at Victor. “Uh… father? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m just… tired. I can hardly believe we got out of there alive, and that it’s all over.”
Mira smiled, and Victor frowned upon realization. “Mira, don’t you dare…”
“Hi, tired…”
“Mira!”
“I’m Mira!”
Shuck found the pun unbearably hilarious, while Victor felt defeated. “That’s my joke! You can’t steal my joke like that, Mira!”
“YOUR joke, father? Please. You didn’t invent it.”
“How do you know I didn’t?!? We’re time travelers! If I go back to the earliest points in recorded history, and was the first to say it, then I’m the one who made it!”
Mira shook her head. “We both know that’s not how it works… but fine. It’s your joke. Let’s move on to more serious matters. Is there anything we forgot? Any wrapping up to do?”
Victor stood up, brushing himself off before he took out the Master Agenda. “Well, it’s not as exciting as everything we’ve been through, but we do need to clean up the mess that the Legion made. They still have agents already sent out on their missions, so we will need to individually track each of them down and deal with them.”
Shuck was not happy with the plan. “That sounds like it will take an eternity. Do we even know, roughly, how many there are?”
“No, but I think you misunderstand. We won’t be alone in doing this, we are including all Meta. I probably won’t even take charge… I would prefer to go back into retirement. I’m not suited for this cloak and dagger lifestyle like you two.”
Shuck crossed his arms, looking over Victor, and nodded his head. “I don’t disagree with you. Except for one point. What about infiltrators? We already know some Meta aren’t exactly trustworthy, which is why we didn’t bring them to face the Legion.”
“I know a guy who knows a guy. That is, the guy he knows is a counterfeiter that can replicate any artifact, given enough time and proper resources. He can replicate this book, and we can make it publicly available… at least to the people it concerns. No one can adequately stop the wrongs being righted at that point.”
Mira yawned loudly, bringing stares from both Victor and Shuck. She apologized once she realized. “Oh, sorry. That wasn’t sarcastic, I’m just tired. Though, I will admit that all this is far less interesting to me. May me and Shuck be excused? I would say our involvement is done here.”
Victor was loathe to agree. As tumultuous as it had been, he enjoyed being around a more mature version of his daughter. It was like a preview of the future, a prophecy of something he otherwise might never see before the end of his own life. But she was right. “Very well. Take care, Mira. And you too, Shuck. Make sure you don’t let my daughter get in too much trouble.”
Shuck smiled mischievously. “No promises, but don’t worry, Victor. We both can take care of ourselves.”
Mira said a short, heartfelt goodbye, and then both her and Shuck were gone. Victor now stood alone in the field, and took to the sky with his own gravity casting. Taking out his pocketwatch, he jumped forward untold numbers of years. Then, below, looking just like it always looked, spread the unchanging, planet wide city of Pause. He floated down to one of the pure white gravity bridges, practically deserted as always, and walked unceremoniously to Gerald’s office.
He knocked once on the plain door, and was beckoned in by the ever studious Gerald, who looked up from his work as Victor walked in. “Ah, Victor! I was expecting you. How are things?”
Victor dropped the Master Agenda on the desk. “Here. I need your counterfeiting expert to make several copies of this. Any idea how much that will cost? I have the time and patience to actually gather the funds this time, so-”
Gerald picked up the notebook, inspecting it, then laughed. “I don’t think money is going to be a problem. You know what the bounty was for this, the Master Agenda? Put out by the fourth Elder Meta, no less.”
Victor raised an eyebrow. “How would anyone even know about it? I just learned of it hours ago, though I suppose it was centuries in the past if we are talking about the actual time code… still, you know what I mean.”
Gerald shook his head. “Really, Victor… you manage to have every idea, and yet no idea, on exactly what you are doing. Of course, we learned about it from you. All we need to do, though, is prevent your past self from learning information we gained from your future self. It’s Causality Control, one of my personal specialties.”
Victor was aware of the practice, but he never really thought of it applying to his actions specifically, only important historical events. Then again, he never considered himself as being a part of such events. “Ok… so what’s the bounty?”
Gerald handed Victor an envelop. He opened it, skimming over the paper inside. “Huh… I wasn’t expecting anything, but this is less than I would have thought for bringing an ancient artifact of such-”
Victor stopped in the middle of his comment, stunned at what he had overlooked. “Wait… I missed some zeros… how… how can it be this much?!? Does that much gold even exist?!?”
Gerald chuckled. “Yes, it turns out you’ve been doing the lord’s work, but must settle for a measly king’s ransom… suffice it to say, I can take an infinitesimally small portion of that for your requested services. It’s too bad I couldn’t allow you to access it before I actually had the book in my hand when your family was in danger, but those are the rules. No payment until completion.”
Victor struggled to process what just happened. “So… I actually can retire, then. No more nonsense, running around on dangerous escapades, dealing with threats I’m only barely aware of?”
“Yes, I believe that is what your record says.”
“My what?”
Gerald stood up, walked over to an unassuming cabinet, pulled open a drawer, flipped through some files, and pulled one thick one out before walking back to plop it on his desk. “You are cleared to read this one, now. I have other people actually writing this report, since you have been known to otherwise forget important details.”
Victor looked through the report, and grew pale. “This has… everything. And you already read this?”
Gerald spoke matter of factly, with an air of cultivated professionalism. “Yes, I had read it multiple times before you even contacted me that day your family was attacked. I had to, given how absolutely insane it was. You actually caught Duralmin, held off a full Legion strike team twice, managed to get that conniving Shuck to do your bidding, survived an Eventual, and even got involved with Ghost without ending up dead… the whole thing, from start to end, is downright incredible.”
Victor closed the report, eyes closed tightly. He pinched his nose in agitation, trying to understand what happened. “You knew… this whole time? Absolutely everything?”
“Well, not everything. I know everything in that report. Surely, you noticed some things left out… like the names of that shadowy group you’ve interacted with. Perhaps you could enlighten me?”
“No, I’m bound by my word.”
Gerald sighed, disappointed. “Figures. But as for your payment, I will be in touch with how to access it. I’m sure you understand that I can’t simply hand you such a sum like we normally do. And your plans with regards to the Master Agenda will be well underway, and you can check back whenever you like to get a status report if you wish. But I recommend against it, since there is nothing more that you must bother yourself with. You have a wife, kid, and now plenty of money for your retirement. I would say you’ve earned some down time. So, that’s about all. Hope you have a pleasant day.”
Victor was about to walk out the door, then stopped to turn around. “So, that’s it, right?”
“Yep.”
“No more surprises? I’m not gonna find some new psychopath hiding out in my house?”
“No, very likely not.”
“And the Legion is all but defeated, now?”
“Exceedingly so. We’ve won the battle for information.”
“There’s no more surprises?”
“I can’t see the future, Victor. I can just read about some of it. But in regards to this specific event, I think it’s safe to say things are over. There is very little reason that I can imagine for people to come after you. Unless… have you forgotten to tell me something?”
Victor considered it for only a moment. “No, the report is complete. You have everything.”
“Good. Then my original statements stand.”
Victor, now out of questions, left. Gerald packed up Victor’s file, and returned it to the cabinet. Next to it, he smiled as he noted the much larger file for Victor’s future, sitting right next to the one he had shown Victor. He had to hold back his laughter, but he couldn’t resist thinking to himself.
I can’t believe he actually thinks he’s done making history. If he would have just handed over that crown, maybe he would be…
***
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed 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