Divine Artifact in a Scientific World

Katie's family had a mansion on the shore of Stetle Lake, and the road to their mansion passed over a hill and wound down its side, giving Jack a fantastic view of their mansion below.

The mansion appeared to have only one floor above ground on the uphill side, away from the lake, but several floors were exposed on the lake-facing side. Past the mansion was a garden and lawn that stretched to the water's edge.

As he drove along the winding road towards Katie's home, he wondered how their first date would go. He was looking forward to meeting her again and wondered if she would respond to him as strongly as Samantha had.

The driveway was a short cobblestone lane that ended in a circle in front of the house.

As Jack drove his Maybach S680 up the lane towards the house, he admired the landscape and the mansion's architecture. It was a tasteful blend of local and Mediterranean styles.

The front entrance overhang extended out across the driveway circle so that anyone who pulled up could get in or out of their vehicle without worrying about getting wet if it was raining.

He stopped under the overhang, got out, and was walking towards the front door when a man opened the door and stepped outside.

The man looked to be in his early twenties and was wearing slacks, a button-down shirt, and a sports jacket. He had sunglasses pushed up into his slicked-back hair, and there was a gold chain peeking out from under his shirt collar.

The man looked like a gigachad wannabe.

"Is your employer really that much of a coward?" asked the man disdainfully.

"What?" Jack blurted out in confusion.

Does he think I'm just a chauffeur?

"He must be a coward if he's too afraid to meet her family and sent his chauffeur instead."

Did I dress like a chauffeur? No, Miranda's mom would not have approved of this outfit if she thought I looked like a chauffeur. This guy must be blind or something.

Several ways of handling this flashed through his mind. He didn't know if this douche nozzle was related to Katie, or just a guest, so he decided to try a polite, but firm, approach.

"You are mistaken," he said firmly. "I am not a chauffeur. This is my car, and I am here to collect Katie for our date."

The man snorted. "Wow, not gonna give up on the charade, are you?"

The man walked down to Jack's Maybach and knocked on the back passenger window.

"Come out, you coward!" he said, while trying to glimpse the vehicle interior through the tinted window.

Jack watched, bemused, as the man knocked on the back passenger window again.

"Come out, face me like a man!" declared the man.

Face him like a man? What is he talking about now? Did the man expect Jack to duel him or something? Or was the man expecting someone he knew?

"The door's not locked," said Jack, curious to see how this guy would react when he found the car was empty.

The man yanked the door open and stuck his head inside.

"What?" the man said in muffled confusion.

The man leaned in further and looked at the front passenger seat, then back at the back seat, like he couldn't believe the car was empty, and kept hoping he'd spot the person he was looking for.

Not finding what he was expecting, the man pulled his head out of Jack's car, slammed the door shut, and turned to Jack, scowling.

"Where is he?!" the man demanded.

"Who?" asked Jack. "Who were you expecting to find?"

"Katie's date! Where is he?!" yelled the man.

"You're looking at him!" said Jack, trying not to yell.

"You!??" said the man. "Enough with this bullshit!"

The man stalked towards Jack while saying, "We'll see what you have to say soon enough."

What the hell! was all Jack could think, as the man reached out with his hand like he was going to grab Jack's throat.

Without even thinking, Jack reached up with his right hand, grabbed the last two fingers of the man's reaching right hand, and twisted.

The right hand cannot rotate that far counterclockwise, so Jack's maneuver forced the man to either sacrifice his fingers or turn and bend over to keep up with Jack's twisting.

Jack grabbed the man's shoulder with his left hand, spun the man around, pushed him to the ground, then rotated the man's wrist so the man could not get up without sacrificing his shoulder or wrist.

Jack stared down at the prone man, stunned and proud.

He'd practiced this very maneuver with his training dummy, but had not expected it to work so well in real life.

"Ow! Ow! Do you know who I am?!" howled the man. "I'll make sure you never work in this town again!"

Oh geez! Seriously?! I am not having a Young Master moment. That shit only happens in books, right?

He was thinking about having his parallel self templatize and interrogate the man, so he could figure out who the idiot was.

"Jack?" said a lovely voice.

He looked up to see Katie in a cream-colored dress that was tight around her bodice and waist, and flowed over her hips to end just above her knees.

"Katie?" he asked. It had been a while since he'd seen her.

"Yes, Jack. What's happening here?"

He wasn't sure, but she sounded almost amused.

"This," several impolite words came to mind, but he restrained himself, "person attacked me. So I defended myself."

"He attacked you?!" she asked, incredulous.

"Yes, he tried to grab my neck."

"That's a lie!" howled the man. "Call the police! This chauffeur is a vicious animal!"

"Oh wow," Katie mutter. "Just... wow. I knew he was an idiot, but this?"

"Chad," she began.

"No!" exclaimed Jack in disbelief. "Seriously, his name is Chad?!"

What were the odds that the gigachad wannabe was actually named Chad? He hadn't meant to say it out loud, but his surprise was just too great.

"Yes," she said, trying not to laugh.

"Chad," she said to the prone man, "why did you try to attack my date?"

"Let go of me this instant!" yelled Chad.

"No. You attacked me without provocation," said Jack.

"Lies! I did no such thing. Help! Police! Someone help me!"

"What is the meaning of all this racket?!"

Jack looked up to see another woman standing in the doorway, arms on her hips, glaring at him.