Zack Zimmerman

Zack Zimmerman, or as he originally introduced himself, Zebadiah Zucker, is probably a Centurion. He certainly seems to be the right age, and he has convinced enough people that he is.

If so, he is Jacob's other apprentice, a fact that surely must drive the young man occasionally known as Viktor Vaughn to some distraction.

One thing that seems nigh-undisputable is that Zack is very, very Jewish, frequently referencing his origins in the noted Judeopolis of Odessa, peppering his speech with gratuitous Yiddishisms and occasionally buddying around with other members of the Chosen People. No one but a Jew would do all of these things at once. At present (like many other Jews) he appears to be a resident (and employee?) of the United States of America (probably Brooklyn).

According to himself (though this was later partly corroborated by Jacob), ZZ was trained from his birth to be the ultimate spy, in a way that was both similar and very different from the manner in which VV was trained. The emphasis in his case seems to have been less on the criminal skillset and multiple identities, and more on a wider range of social skills and strategic thinking. Of course, the basics of spycraft were not neglected either; according to ZZ, he had shadowed VV on some of his earliest jobs without ever giving himself away. He has picked up some serious combat skills along the way, including gun tricks and wrestling.

Despite all this, by 1914 Jacob seems to have reached the decision that VV would succeed him as the master spy and Centurion liaison of the League of the Hidden Covenant and not ZZ. According to the man himself, he reached this decision in part because Zack was too reckless and emotional, compared to the more cold-blooded and calculated VV, and in part because by then Zack wanted out of the game, perhaps resentful of his subordinate role and Jacob's cryptic manner. Surprisingly, Jacob seemed willing to accomodate this; less surprisingly, he was not going to let ZZ leave without paying his debt.

It was likely this debt that brought Zack to Paris in 1914, roughly at the same time as VV - now known as Gregor Kovacs. Jacob's intent, or at least the most straightforward part of it, was to make doubly sure that Schwarzmeer and his agents would not accomplish their goals in Paris (which ultimately turned out to be the retrieval of the von Kalw scripter). If he meant for Zack and Gregor to work together, he did not make it very clear and the end result was at serious odds with this expectation. If, on the other hand, he wished for them to keep an eye on each other and keep one another on their respective toes, it might be judged a bigger success.

Be that as it may, Zack sprung into action even before he could track down Gregor, focusing on building ties in the criminal world. He became the lieutenant of Henri Davide, proprietor of a den called the Faige and suddenly up-and-coming crime figure, helping him trade in king bee's pollen and other drugs discovered or created by Henry Allard. Through this connection he also established contact with the mysterious Mr. Ming and his organisation - Davide's true superiors and suppliers, as Mr. Ming had inherited some part of the long-missing Allard's criminal empire and the expertise retained by some of his employees. Not all of Zack's dealings went as smoothly; at some point in early August, he tried to infiltrate the Black Sun cult, one of those loyal to Schwarzmeer, but was captured and interrogated. He got lucky again, however, as Valentine Dulac, then investigating the same cult, rescued him and allowed him to finally make contact with the local branch of the Century Club, the female part of the membership of which he quickly charmed, convincing them that his criminal dealings were solely for the purposes of investigation. The raid was also a success, of sorts, in that it allowed them to retrieve a crystal ball containing some part of Schwarzmeer's essence... though the effect of continued exposure to it soon began to take a major toll on Valentine's emotional and mental state, jeopardising their relationship in the process (Zack likewise tried to access it, but it is unclear what the effect was in his case).

Although the Black Sun cult collapsed after the loss of their relic, others arose to take its place, vying for their master's favour. Meanwhile Zack finally made contact with Gregor during the latter's investigation of the Faige, which had two parts: a conversation with the visitor at gunpoint and a no-holds-barred tussle that ended with Gregor fleeing from Davide's in a panic. Even though it soon became apparent that Zack was working for Jacob (and Zack already knew who and what Gregor was), their subsequent encounters mostly matched a single pattern, with Zack very aggressively trying to "befriend" Gregor and Gregor working desperately to sabotage Zack's other operations or at least keep him at bay, even though both had to pretend to get along while at the Century Club building itself.

This stalemate was upended when Zack's continued investigations once more landed him in hot water, as the Faige was burned down and Davide killed in a retaliation strike by the ascendant Black Moon cult (ironically, it was in revenge for the killing of a cult agent which was done to intercept a message Gregor managed to steal under Zack's nose). Zack survived largely unscathed, but was now forced to alter tactics. He begged Gregor for a fresh start and an alliance. Despite mutual lingering suspicions, the two spies agreed to join forces, especially as it was clear that their enemies were starting to narrow down their search for the artifact in Paris. Their collaboration paid off as they managed to track the "manuscript in the golden scroll-stand" to one Marie Anne Vauquelin and then (though Gregor did not trust Zack with this) the Museum of Cluny.

Having gone away to consult with Ming's chief Paris man and potent magician Mr. Gou, Zack suggested that they sell the artifact to Mr. Ming once they had it, pointing out that he would be unlikely to work with Schwarzmeer after the attack on Davide. However, his pitch was interrupted when one of his... associates, a young woman named Margot Guerrand who also happened to be a descendant of one Schwarzmeer's retainers and thus rendered weak and susceptible to the cultists' influence, was caught at the secret meeting place of Gregor's minions. Shocked and furious that his operational security was compromissed, Gregor ordered her execution (a mercy killing considering the mentally-deteriorated, Schwarzmeer-influenced state she was in), then dismissed the meeting. Desperate to salvage the situation, Zack confided in Gregor about the League of the Hidden Covenant and his own past. Although Gregor had already determined to act without him during the great December 4th 1914 caper, Zack, with Mr. Gou's help, had come up with the trick of tracking the cultists by tracking Margot's father, who in turn was being used as a magic search dog by the cult, just like his daughter was before him; Chinese blood magic enabled Zack to follow him in time to see the Black Moon cultists secure Gregor and the scripter with the scroll, bringing both to their warehouse base in Gobelins. Wasting only a little time, Zack and his Chinese criminal allies, led by a gentleman known as Quadruple Pierre, arrived to break Gregor out and intercept his prize.

What followed by a chaotic series of events with multiple casualties and close shaves; in the end, Zack and Gregor made it with the scripter and the scroll to the Chinese mob's hideout, in time for the final stage of Zack's plan to begin. By then Gregor had realised that the scroll-holder itself, or the scripter, rather than the scroll, was the real target of the Schwarzmeer cultists' efforts. Whether out of calculation or genuine sympathy, Zack offered him a way out: leave the scroll to him and take the scripter, as his surest ticket out of the place alive. Though reluctant to follow his rival's suggestion, when Mr. Gou's store came under attack from yet another mysterious group, Gregor took the scripter and got out, presumably allowing Zack and his newly-arrived, hinted-to-be-American associates to escape with the scroll, having double-crossed Mr. Ming.

A good deal later, in keeping with his promise (and/or due to being coerced by Jacob), Zack passed on valuable information to Gregor in 1917: both helping Claude Michel analyze the Schwarzmeer cultists' movements (and pass on this information to his fellow spy) and sending Gregor a lead on a certain mansion in Poland. The latter lead, of course, led Gregor straight to Jacob...

Possible Zack Theme:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTI7PDA0w54