“Yes human, whether or not you believe is of no consequence to me, for I only speak the truth. There is no need to mince words or waste energy lying to you.” Dray-Gon takes a few steps out of the cave, and is able to stretch out, extending his wings and legs. His body and wings engulf the door, almost as if he grew larger once outside of the cave. The light breaking through the trees shimmers across his scales.
He continues, “It seems time a pay a visit to Nugus and seek out my son, Dray-Gos. I have been here on Hegus for too long, not taking my responsibilities as Gon seriously. Thank you humans for the talk, it has been some time since I have spoken to your kin.”
“Well it was amazing to talk to you, if you stay over on our continent long, and need something, just ask. I know you can’t see me but I will tell you my name again, it’s Vernon Douglas. Just contact me, and I will be happy to assist.” Vernon says, not believing any of this is real. If this dragon were to actually show up on his door step it could mean so many things he doesn’t want to think about.
Dray-Gon stands tall on his back legs, his reptilian head now touching the bottom of the over growth. “That is a gesture I would not have expected,” he dips his head in a thankful manor. “If I am in need of assistance I will call on you, Vernon Douglas. Next time I may even get to see what you look like, instead of these machines of yours.”
Dray-Gon extends his wings out up into the trees above, then brings them down with a fierce gust of wind. He breaks through the tree tops, taking to the sky. The drones whip around in the wind, clanging into each other. Vernon tries to move but the drone won’t let him as it stabilizes. He quickly recovers, and looks at Marie. She has a smile across her face, that is almost more smirk than smile.
He shakes his head, and then says, “Want to try and catch him?”
Marie nods, “Let’s just try to see which way he’s headed.”
By the time they get into the air, Dray-Gon was nothing but a speck on the clouds. Marie flies up next to Vernon, and says, “Wow, he flies fast.”
“He does.” Vernon agrees, stunned by just how fast. “Well, the doors are open on the cave now if you want to go explore it.”
Marie shakes her head, “No, I don’t think it would be right. That’s his house, we shouldn’t go trespassing in it.”
“Your right, I just wanted to hear someone say it.”
Marie asks, “Can you belie…” but gets cut off by a flash of red across their vision, turning everything a shade of crimson. It all fades back to normal, but voice communication shuts off as the drones begin to return to the ship. Time had snuck up on them, and the automated return for the drones had been activated. Their vision locks into place and they both begin soaring back toward the ship.
The whole way back they send text messages back and forth to each other. First to calm Marie’s claustrophobia and then to go through the conversation they had with Dray-Gon.
Vernon and Marie wake up in the Dive Bar. Both looking at each other in amazement. They strip off the dive chair equipment, and hurry to their room. Trying not to look at anyone in the process, not quite sure if they just saw something they shouldn’t have. The rest of the night was spent drudging away at the internet, looking for any clues that might show truth to the experience they just had. The more time passed, the more it seemed like some attraction the cruise line had set up, rather than something real they just experienced. Dragons, as they had been told growing up, were supposed to be mindless creatures with nothing but hunger and survival driving them forward. Neither Marie nor Vernon could find any mention of dragons with the ability to speak, or any kind of war with the drigh.
The drigh could be a problem in any un-domed city during the summer months, but that would only effect a few people a year. If that. There was nothing they could find the size or scale of a war. War would mean there were troops, destroyed towns and people killed, or even an effort to eradicate them completely. There was nothing there. The records only showed the past fifty years, and only a few references past that in text books, but still there was nothing. Vernon had thought it was weird for there to be next to no records at all from over fifty years ago. He brushes it aside realizing anything past that point in time would have to be in the Archive. He vaguely remembers a passing comment from a teacher in the academy about how there is so much traffic on the HVN, they have to routinely free up space and store information for optimum efficiency.
The Archive was a public storage location for all human knowledge. Anyone could access it with a HaLO, but had to be physically on site to do so. There were a few times in school where they referenced information the teacher retrieved from the Archive, but the students never had to go themselves. Vernon had never been to the Archive himself. Since he was going to be living in the same city where it is housed, it might be something he needs to do.
Vernon switched his thoughts back to the drigh, trying to wrap his head around the thought of a war with them. With most only small insects, and the largest ever recorded the size of a dog, he couldn’t possibly see a war. The dog drigh terrorized a whole town for maybe an hour tops, but it didn’t even kill anyone. Drigh feed off the magical energy of its victims, and if not removed quickly can drain them of their life force once their magic is depleted.
Life force is what keeps people alive, similar to magic, but the energy behind it is far more powerful than magic could ever hope to be. Drigh normally never get to chance to drain that much magic from a person, to leave them vulnerable enough to have their life force drained. The few recorded deaths they do find are from swarms, and the victims never had the chance to fight back.
After a few hours pass with no real luck, they break away from the HaLO Network. Discussing how it could have been an unfinished entertainment attraction, or the final task in a quest chain that started at the virtual city they didn’t go to. That it would be just the thing to entertain people, seeing a dragon talk – and not just talk – but talk of war. There was precedence for that type of entertainment. Vernon had seen the foundations for it when he was looking at all the new video games that were being released. They started to build beacon towers all over the domes back home. Virtual tours, and overlays that would allow one to have an adventure on real streets and in real buildings, but all the person sees is the game. It would be the perfect mixture of real life and fantasy. These new games took the embedded features of the overlay and used them for more than just seeing what an outfit would look like on your body. It would apply layers over the users vision, changing what was seen into game space. Vernon had been extremely excited about what could come from this when he exited the Academy.
Going back through the events of the day, when they first found the path, everything was far away from the designated area they should have been in. With everything looking man-made. The dragon looked extraordinarily real, his eyes still burned in his memory. But, they were in a dive drone, near a fully virtual city made to look real. Doubt easily crept into his thoughts about the whole experience. In the end, Marie convinced Vernon to keep it to themselves, not taking too much convincing. He knew it would either bring confusion or questions, and neither was what they wanted. Vernon leaves himself a message with a location reminder for the Archive. If he ever was there, he wanted to know if there was more information on or about the drigh.
Beyond that, there still was something about the whole ordeal that didn't sit right with Vernon. Thoughts of the dragon back at his trial come to him. It had the same eyes as the ones he just stared into, and that couldn’t have been a coincidence. He could tell there was something different about Dray-Gon. The same metallic looking scales that he saw back at the trial, the same enormity of presence, along with an uneasy feeling just being near the creature made him feel. Was the dragon he saw at his trial also intelligent like Dray-Gon, or was it just his imagination adding details that weren’t really there.
He let his mind replay some of the events. He stepped into a short range transfer circle after beating a puppet
that was mimicking him. It took him to the other side of a barrier next to an exit for the shifted area he was in. He stood there on the other side of the barrier, watching as a metallic dragon descended from the sky above. Its wings had been bound, and fell to the ground with a thud. By the time the dust cleared, other Paladins had already surrounded the beast. The deep mahogany eyes stared at him from afar, and were the same as the one he saw today. Deep and piercing, calculating its next action.
The rest he didn’t get to see, Tyler pulled him from the trail area with the unexpected entry of a dragon’s capture about to take way. It was unnecessary because Vernon had already finished his trial, only needing to step through the exit. He did not get to see the outcome, but those eyes. They remain vivid within his thoughts and a new set had just been added.
He and Marie were exhausted from the events of the day, deciding to sleep the excitement and exhaustion away. Marie dreamt about their wedding, how perfect everything was, and how it was the way that she had always dreamed it would be.
Sleep was not as restful for Vernon because it was filled with dragons, and flying through the air. On his back were wings the size of buildings, creating hurricanes wherever he went. As he flew, he was looking for something not quite sure what it was, but he searched.
14
Vargas follows behind Amber as she flies toward Viviana. The closer they got, the more massive the virtual city became. The cruise line could have made it look perfect and real, but they chose not to. There was a slight flicker to the next to real looking buildings. Fireworks lit up the sky above the city, and most of the fifteen hundred passengers were walking around.
Amber flies directly toward an information booth, and sets her feet to the ground. She gestures for Vargas to come with her, but he isn’t quite sure what her plan is. She press a button on the booth, and beside it a virtual assistant appears.
“Welcome to Costal Viviana! How may I assist you?”
“He my party, please.” She says to a virtual attendant, pointing at Vargas.
Vargas nods.
“Excellent, party established, may I be of assistance for anything else?”
Amber shakes her head.
“Thank you for choosing Paradise Sailing, and enjoy Costal Viviana.” The VA vanishes.
Vargas rubs the back of his head. “What was that for?”
“Can track you now, while here. You me too.”
“Ah, good thinking. So if we need to split up we can find each other faster.”
Amber’s face glows.
“Let’s stay together at first, and see if we can find any spots that might be good for secret meetings. If we can’t find anything, at that point we can split up and search.”
Amber nods.
She shares the map across their overlays. There is one square mile of space the virtual city occupies, and another mile in each direction, the drones can reach. Within the six square miles is one zone that has been labeled a no fly zone. The upper left corner of the map blinks red, with a yellow caution zone around that. This is also the only area which leads deeper into the continent. Vargas points toward the caution zone.
“This would be the spot. Most people won’t want to go over there, even if they are in virtual bodies.”
“You left, me right?”
“You’re right, sticking together wouldn’t be the best idea. Let’s meet in the middle. I’m not sure what’s in the blocked off zone, but try to stay out of it if you can. I wouldn’t want to have to pay for one of these drones. I think the commander might kill me if that happens.”
Amber smiles, and takes off toward the right side of the caution zone. He stares as she goes. Thinking maybe he should have said they go as a team, they could cover the distance in the same time, while getting to spend time together. He pushes the thought aside instead.
There are all types of events he sees on his way to the edge of the drones reach. People playing different games, sightseeing, even a few adult entertainment facilities. It doesn’t matter if the world is real or virtual, there is always someone who’ll build a red light district. There were women, and men of all shapes sizes and colors, waving seductively. He wasn’t sure if there was such a thing as virtual VD, which was something he had no desire to find out.
Vargas decided to forgo running on the ground, and tries flying. It was much faster than running, but he still didn’t feel like he was going fast enough. Waving open the overlay he starts going through the settings of the drone, looking for anything that might speed it up. Under the safety menu, he noticed he was being recognized as an administrator. He wasn’t one, but it had to be Maldone’s doing when he gave him that icon. He shrugs flipping the safeties to off. What feels like a fifty pound weight of force hits his chest as the drone pushes itself to the limit, accompanied by a rattling of the drone he can feel throughout his body. Which he was sure it wasn’t supposed to do.
He glances up to see the fuel timer for the drone scrolling though faster than he can keep pace. The drones seven hours of fuel had already dwindled down to three, but he is almost to where he needs to be. Two hours or so should be more than enough for him to search the area, and meet up with Amber.
His flight time wasn’t more than five minutes, at the speed he was traveling. He had left the major part of the city within the first minute, and was flying over mostly wooded areas. Spotting a clearing, with a structure in the distance, he pulls back in the throttle.
This would be a great place to start. He thinks.
Vargas mumbles, “Or a horrible waste of time.”
Pushing aside the fact he just talked to himself, he lands just before the trees clear so he can make the rest of the way on ground. There are a few orange lights on in the cabin, and Vargas can see figures moving on the other side of curtains. Walking up to the side of the house, he goes back into the settings, and increases the intake volume of the microphone on the drone, so he can listen in to who is in the cabin.
“Alright you twerp, you told us that you didn’t hire anyone else for this job. So what’s up with the masked lady?” Says a deep throaty voice.
Vargas’ mind races through ideas. There was someone who hired a killer, but someone beat them to the murder. There were at least three people onboard the cruise ship that would kill another person. Silence filled the air. He could feel the thud of his heart in his ears. It was that or the pressure of turning up the microphone past safe levels.
“I do not know what you are talking about. If you failed you mission, then I won’t pay you.” This was another man’s voice, but he enunciated perfectly.
“I don’t think so, you never said anything about how she was killed, just that she was. She is, so we’re getting paid. What I want to know, is how much hazard pay you’re going to fork over since my little brother was hurt by the masked lady.”
“You were hired to kill one of the best fighters Eden has to offer, if you seriously did not think you might get a few bruises you were fooling yourself. So then Jonathan, what is it that you called me here for? I surely hope this is not all.”
Jonathan snorts. “Fine, seems you got more backbone than I give you credit for. Security has been tight, and I’m not sure if we’re going to be able to get our merchandise from you.”
“Make contact with the buyer tomorrow on The Island, I will get the item to you after. Just look for the information on when and where to meet at our drop location.”
“Just remember, if you try to double cross us, it’s your funeral.”
“I will have you recall, it is I who hired you. I have no qualms on our original deal, which is still in effect. Preform your part, and the final payment will be made per your instructions.”
The door on the cabin swings open, slamming against the side of the house. Vargas hits the floor, clenching his teeth, rolling on the ground in agony. He might be in a virtual body, but it was made in such a way that everything felt real. He tries to pull up the settings menu to turn down the mic, but engines roar up aro
und him, from two drones taking off – causing him to flinch, and squint his eyes, before passing out.
He laid there on the ground, staring up at the sky, not quite sure how long he had been there. The wind blows softly through the clearing, which sounds like a hurricane. Finally opening the menu, he turns the microphone back to normal levels. Looking at the timer shows he has about thirty minutes left before the drone will go into autopilot and head back to the ship. Pulling up the map, he sees Amber as a blinking indicator, and starts to head in her direction.
There was a lot to process for him, and she was about twenty minutes worth of a walk away. First, there was a masked woman onboard that was able to kill Miku. Second, there are three brothers onboard that were hired to kill Miku, but got beaten to the punch, then had a small scrape that left one of the brothers injured. All of which happened without anyone hearing anything. Third, the guy who hired the brothers stole the schematics, and is planning on selling them. Fourth, is a meeting that is taking place tomorrow at the ships next docking location.
Motive was still something that was missing from the Masked Lady, if it was a lady. The Mask could have been using a voice altering device or spell. The short video that he had didn’t have any voice from the Mask either. There was one fact that bugged him, is that the Mask killed Miku in a way similar to that of what the John’s would have. Trying to cover their tracks from whoever started looking into things. Which meant they somehow knew the John’s were there to kill Miku. Information he was certain that wasn’t passed around freely.
None of this got him any closer to finding the killer, but it did point him in the right direction. The Island.
Amber comes out from behind some trees. She waves at him with a smile.
“Anything?” She asks.
“Yea, I found them. Cabin about twenty minutes’ walk that way.” He points behind him. “They are meeting someone tomorrow for a sales consult. We need to be there.”
Cypher Theorem Series Box Set: Books 1-3, The Zero Class, Shadow Moon, Dragon Fire: A Science Fiction Fantasy Page 27
