Eric and the Quantum Dragon

A Tale from the P.O.Z.

Welcome to another installment of my younger themed series set in the Pan Oceanic Special Zone.

This story is a lot longer and darker than the previous two installments. It contains some drug use, a lot of violence and my dumb sense of humour.

Please enjoy it a little because I loved writing this a lot.

Paul Mitting

Prologue

Archimedes Network (The Quantum realm)

This world was a place that did not exist, a reflection of the real world written in light and shadows. Light came from the minds that were linked together, forming the great network lorded over by Archimedes. His was the brightest light of all, a pillar of glowing energy that formed the very heart of the network.

About him orbited the planets of his Avatars, their brilliance less than their creator but no less luminous in their own way. Finally came the tiny but intense glow of the servants, the Guards and Agents. They swirled and moved in many orbits, always at the beck and call of their masters.

A tiny tear appeared in the dark spaces of this alien landscape, the barest of openings between one realm and another, allowing a slender shape to slither through. Its body was long and sinuous like a lizard's, with four slender legs and wide, arching wings upon its back.

It kept itself low and innocuous, instinctively shying away from the bright pillar of light that filled the very centre of this place. That was the home of her enemy and her prey and she had to keep hidden for now.

Other sisters had come to this place, worming their way through the Quantum layers, seeking the realm of Archimedes. The foe was mighty and cunning, yet her own Master was no less devious and powerful.

The sisters who came before her had challenged the great mind too soon, before they had grown strong enough. This was one was different, a mere speck of power within her black heart. Other sisters had been powerful and arrogant, yet none had succeeded. She bore no name, no identity of her own to make her swell with false pride.

Her Master, her mother the great Abyss, gave her nothing but a mission. So that would be the only name she would allow herself. She was Nothing, a figment of the imagination, an empty vessel waiting to be filled.

She stalked the world she saw about her, seeing the bright sparks of the servants and Avatars of Archimedes move and interact with each other. They would sense her if she ventured too close to their shining minds, alerting the great mind they served so willingly. In the shadows she crept, avoiding the light, searching the realm from its edges.

Then Nothing found what she had sought. There were holes of darkness in this glowing realm, wells of emptiness where once a mind had flourished in service to Archimedes. She approached carefully, wary of traps the devious Intelligence may have laid, yet found no danger.

A tentative claw of ebon darkness reached out and touched the empty space. Senses came to her, glimpses of the mortal world beyond. There was a living being still connected to this hole in the Quantum realm! Eagerly the daughter of the Abyss slithered her body closer and coiled around the space, feeling the warmth of the human realm fill her.

"I am Nothing, do not be frightened" she assured the mind that she found within. Deeper and deeper she fell, the mortal mind absorbing her within its essence.

"See, I told you" she whispered to her host. "There is Nothing to be afraid of"

Brackenridge Summer House, Pan Ocean City