“No problem. Whatever it takes. We’ll grab them out of the car and be right back.”

As soon as they were outside, Carter closed the door behind him and couldn’t contain his laughter any longer. He looked at Burke, who didn’t seem amused, and said, “A wizard named Allanon Majere. That can’t be his real name.”

“He legally changed it.”

“Of course he did. I’ve heard of LARPing, but I didn’t know that there were people who took it this far.”

Burke’s eyes narrowed. “I didn’t bring you here to make fun of him.”

“I’m sorry, but come on … a wizard?”

“Albert is an MIT grad, who has worked for both Apple and Microsoft. He’s a hardware genius. Guy could build a supercomputer out of an old transistor radio. His magic isn’t anything to laugh at. And the thing is, Albert quit working in the tech sector and only does jobs like this on the side because he figured out that he could make a lot more money playing MMORPGs, leveling-up characters and gathering powerful items, and then selling them to noobs on eBay. He has like twenty employees working under him now. Tried to get me to join.”

“MMO … whatever. That’s the games that kids play online as dwarves and elves and magical creatures.”

“The games could be anything. Fantasy-based, space-based, anything. But they’re big money. Some of those ‘kid’ games generate profits in the billions.”

“Let me get this straight,” Carter said. “This guy makes more money playing video games and selling virtual people and trinkets than he did working in the real world for the tech giants?”

“That’s right.”

Carter shook his head. The older he got, the less the world made sense to him. He half-heartedly added, “But come on, he walks around pretending he’s a wizard. That’s weird.”

“He makes his living being a wizard, talking like that, living in that world every day. Why is it any stranger than living as a cop, or mechanic, or waiter? Just because he doesn’t fit into a nice little box that you can understand doesn’t make him a freak. He’s a good dude, and if he enjoys his life better as a wizard, then who are you to judge him and say that he can’t be whoever he wants.”

“I’m sorry, kid. I really didn’t mean any offense. It was just very … unexpected. That’s all. I apologize.”

Burke’s brows were still furrowed as they walked back to the car and retrieved the two metal trash cans, the kid carrying one and Carter grabbing the other. As Carter looked into the waste receptacle filled with the shattered and charred electronic components, a part of him hoped that Allanon Majere really did have magical powers. That’s what it would take to sift anything useful out of this mess.

Chapter 77

Nic awoke instantly to the strong stench of ammonia. He coughed and hacked, his head throbbing at his left temple. He opened his eyes to see Yoshida holding smelling salts under his nose. Trying to move, Nic discovered that he’d been secured to a metal chair with yellow zip-tie restraints. The chair was in the middle of the white lab filled with all the strange machinery. They hadn’t moved him off-site. He wondered how long he’d been out.