Eric and the Quantum Dragon

Brentwood Apartment, 10th District

Thursday December 20th, V26 (2046)

Carmody was flying, the air rushing past her face and body, the sky dark and strangely empty around her. She had flown before, carried in the arms of the Steam Dragon Stanley and the Levitator Miss Abrams, but this time it was different.

This time it was just her, arms flung wide, soaring and diving in an open sky, no lights nor sounds to be heard. A part of her mind wondered if she was dreaming, yet the cold air rushing past her felt real enough.

A small speck of green showed in the distance so she unconsciously guided herself towards it, flying at speed through the emptiness. The chase seemed to take hours or minutes, her perception of time seemed all out of kilter so she could not be sure. One moment it was a green dot then next it was a vast green dragon, wings the size of buses flapping slowly as the mighty beast plowed through the darkness.

Carmody overtook the mighty creature, finally coming abreast of the long, green scaled head of the dragon. A yellow eye swivelled to regard her, the head as long as the Auto-cabs her father serviced.

“A girl child, so far from her home!” boomed a voice in Carmody’s head. “This is not a place for you to wander, daughter of men”

“I’m sorry, but I think I am lost” Carmody spoke out, drifting closer to the huge dragon’s head. “Can you tell me where I am?”

“This is the Void, girl child” it answered her. “The nothing that exists between all of the realms, a place only Dracoris can cross in safety. How can you be here?”

“Um, I really don’t know” she answered with a trace of alarm creeping into her voice. “Are you sure this isn’t a dream?”

“If it is a dream, it is one we are both sharing!” laughed the green dragon. “What is your name, fellow Void traveller?”

“Ah, I’m Carmody Brentwood” she answered. “Are you one of the Dracoris Verdana?”

The dragon seemed to smile, or at least the jaws curled back to show rows of razor sharp teeth in what Carmody hoped was a friendly manner.

“Indeed I am!” the Dracoris replied. “You obviously know something of my kind. My name is Alexandrettica the Twelfth, Daughter of Kormogorrah the Ninth. I hail from the Realm of Avalon and I serve as Scout for my Clan Verdana”

“Pleased to meet you, Alexandrettica” Carmody said politely. “If I may ask, where are you going?”

“Tis no secret, girl child Carmody Brentwood. I am charged by my Clan leader to investigate a suspected incursion by a fragment of the Abyss into another realm. It is a realm protected by an ally of Avalon, the one called Archimedes”

“Archimedes!” shouted the girl. “I know him! Or rather, I know some people who work for him” she amended. “Can you take me to his realm?”

Alexandrettica regarded her carefully with the one eye, weighing her up it seemed.

“You do have the aura of a warrior about you, there is no denying that” the Dracoris said. “But I can only make a tear in the Void big enough to let me slip through. I cannot open a Portal such as a human would need to pass between the realms”

Carmody began to panic now. She had no idea how long she had been here and no way to get home!

“You have to help me, Alexandrettica!” Carmody pleaded with the green dragon. “I don’t know how I got here and I can’t find my way home!”

“Can’t you just follow that blue thread trailing from your right hand?” the Dracoris responded. Carmody looked at her right hand and saw a glowing blue line, as thin as a string, looped about her fingers. Turning her head, she saw that it stretched behind her in a line that went into the far distance, ending at a small faintly pulsing blue light.

“Is that the way home?” Carmody breathed in relief.

“Of course it is, Dracoris Terminus” Alexandrettica answered. “Follow it back to the source and I am sure it will lead you to where you belong”

“Thanks!” Carmody replied then registered what the dragon had called her. “You knew I was a Dragon Slayer?”

“I too am a Child of Avalon, Dracoris, so how could I not recognise one of my Clan? Fly home now and let me complete my mission!”

“Okay, thanks again!” Carmody shouted and drew back, letting the great green scaled creature fly away into the distance once more. Turning, she pulled on the blue string and felt it grow taut, as if it knew she was ready to return.

The air rushed past her even quicker than before, the blue thread drawing her faster and faster until the blue dot grew into a shape she recognised. A glowing blue sword, the thread an unravelled piece of the binding on the hilt. Carmody flew straight into it and her hand wrapped easily around the handle as she arrived.

A brilliant flash of light and she felt like she was falling, the darkness engulfing her with a solid thump.

Carmody woke up on her bedroom floor, the handle of the cricket bat Excalibur in her right hand. Her bedroom door was flung open, light spilling in from the living room beyond.

“Are you alright, Kiddo?” her dad asked and knelt beside her. She managed a confused yes so with strong hands he lifted his daughter and laid her on the bed then gathered up the scattered sheets and blankets. “It’s been a long time since you fell out of bed” he chuckled as he tucked her back in.

He laid a warm hand on her forehead and she could see his look of concern in the reflected light from outside her room.

“Did you have another one of those bad dreams, the ones about the black oil?” he asked her gently.

“No dad” she said, smiling a little. “I think I had a good dream”

10th District Junior High School

Friday December 21st, V26 (2046)

“Good morning, Carmody” her homeroom teacher called out to her as she entered the room. She was a bit early, especially since this was the last school day of the year, so there were no other students in her class yet.

“Hi Mr Ishikawa!” she replied happily, placing her school bag on the hook next to her desk and Excalibur under the chair. She knew her teacher was uncomfortable about her carrying her cricket bat everywhere, so she tried to keep it out of his sight when she could.

He smiled indulgently at her then wiggled his fingers, sending an envelope with her name on it Telekinetically across the room from a stack on his desk. It landed gently on her table top with a final twirl and she laughed appreciatively. She recognised it as a paper copy of her end of year results.

“You are so good at your Telekinesis, Sir!” she told him. “Why did you decide to become a teacher when your Ability is so useful?”

Mr Ishikawa came and sat on an adjacent desk, a more serious look on his face.

“Ah” he acknowledged, “The question that every student of this Junior High asks their teachers.” He met her enquiring gaze and softened his expression. “First off, Carmody, shall I tell you how I define myself?”

“Um, Okay” Carmody agreed, unsure where this conversation was going.

“First I am a Father and Husband” he began. “Those are things I define most strongly about myself. Next I am a Son to my parents, even if they live far off in Japan. After that I am a Teacher, a master of Mathematics. Lastly, I define myself as a Telekinetic, one of the Awakened. Do you see the order of how I view myself?”

“I guess so” she responded. “You are saying that being a Telekinetic is important, but not the most important thing in your life”

“Yes, top marks Miss Brentwood” he said with a pleased grin. “My Ability would have let me work in any number of highly paid professions, even as a Grade Two. I could have been an astronaut working in the Orbital factories, or a Nuclear Power technician, or maybe even something thrilling like a Bomb Disposal Officer for the Police Auxiliary. Yet do you know what I wanted to be?”

“A Maths teacher?” Carmody ventured as if this were an unthinkable choice.

“Correct! If you had scored so well in the last exams you would have gotten better than your B-Plus” he laughed.

“What?” she exploded. “I only got a B-Plus!”

“Calm down, you did well in most of your other subjects” he consoled her. “Anyway, do you see what I was trying to tell you?”

“Yes. I shouldn’t define myself by my Ability as a Kinetic Enhancer. I should value my other talents or something like that” she reluctantly agreed. “Angelina told me the same thing a little while ago”

“That reminds me of something I did want to say to you, Carmody” Mr Ishikawa continued. “Thank you for becoming Angelina’s friend. I have seen her develop an amazing skill with her Telekinesis yet I always feared she would go out of control with it. I thought we had nearly lost her after those incidents with Sarah Evermore, yet she came through it with your help”

“It was a group effort” she assured her teacher but he waved that away.

“It has been a pleasure to teach you this year, Miss Brentwood” he told her. “I will miss having you in my class next year”

“What? Aren’t you going to teach me Maths in Year Eight?”

“Well, I will be your Maths teacher of course” he replied. “But Miss Abrams has insisted very strongly that you are to be moved into her home room for next year. Apparently she has convinced the Principal she needs all of her piglets in the same pen. Those were her words I might add, not mine”

“Oh, because of the Project” Carmody realised. “I guess that makes sense. I just wish she would stop going on about how messy we are!”

“She is a clean freak, that is for sure” Mr Ishikawa agreed. “You ought to see how she carries on when the Teacher’s lounge is left untidy!”

They both shared a laugh and Carmody knew she would miss her home room teacher’s gentle calm. Some students noisily entered the class, greeting her and the teacher with the high spirits that only the end of year can bring.

=====

It was an extended home room, where Mr Ishikawa handed the students their paper copies of the yearly results. Electronic versions were already winging their way across the network to their parents, so there was no chance of hiding the final results.

Carmody had done well overall, her results falling into the “high end of average” as Mr Ishikawa explained it in a very non-mathematical way. She would progress into Year Eight and enjoy all the wonderful privileges such a lofty position would bring. Mostly that meant Testing Days every Wednesday instead of Monday and they got to eat in the middle of the cafeteria instead of the junior end.

After home room it was the Graduation Assembly in the auditorium. Considering the events of the Parent Teacher night Carmody was surprised they were having the assembly, but some traditions had to be upheld.

The event went off smoothly after all, with half of the new School Security team inside the auditorium and the other half patrolling the grounds. The Guard contingent were on patrol as well, watching from the rooftops in full Tactical Armour and Assault Rifles at the ready.

Carmody had half expected Fiona to be carrying her Rail Gun, but the Security Chief was in her neatly pressed grey uniform, her right hand covered as always. She caught Carmody’s eye and gave her a small nod of acknowledgement from where she was standing on the main stage. Seeing her like that, with her expression stern but so very human, made Carmody feel warm and happy on the inside.

Once the Year Nine students had all been presented with their graduation certificates, Mrs Abela the Principal gave an impassioned speech about how challenging the past year had been. She admitted the coming year would be another difficult one too, with the imminent collapse of the Euro-Bloc nations into civil war.

It was unsettling stuff and Carmody realised many of her fellow students and even some of the teachers were upset. Nearly everyone in the Zone had come from other countries and many still had close ties to those homelands. To see and hear the world beyond their borders starting to crumble was worrying, yet they all knew the same threats were appearing in their own nation. In their own District and School.

“So that is why we must be strong” the Principal had declared. “We have many Awakened in our school and all of you have the potential to protect this world, to be guardians of what is right and good. I call on all of you to work hard, develop your strengths and be proud to call yourselves students of the Tenth District Junior High School!”

“Hell Yeah!” called out a girlish voice, one that sounded suspiciously like Sarah to Carmody’s ear. The assembled students erupted into cheering and clapping and not a few more “Hell Yeahs” as well. It took some time to restore order, but the Principal did not seem to mind. She just stood there and beamed at her students and looked quite proud herself.