Viviana Morgante, praised creator of holographic roleplay games and old friend of Riker, arrives on the Enterprise and introduces him, Deanna and Data to her latest fantasy creation. Unfortunately, the computer apparently goes nuts, cutting off the...
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[Original story formerly published in paper by the Star Trek Italian Club, which graciously granted permission to publish it digitally. Cover and drawings by Chiara Falchini.]
Chapter VIII
The computer was loyal. The encounter with the red dragon had been devised for the entire group, who had good possibilities to manage it, and not just for a single member. Unfortunately, the landslide had taken only Sister Viviana and not all of them: Master Data had ruined the picture. Thus, the computer had only one option left, as they had just efficaciously suggested it: to create a non-player character, meaning a holography able to interact with the player characters, or adventurers, but non-influential to the overall development of the game.
With the terrific speed of its super sophisticated processors, the computer searched for a character, adequate as for personality and experience, in the database of the Enterprise, found it, extrapolated a holographic image apt to the context, gave it the character indicated in the profile, invented a story compatible with the game and inserted it in the imaginary world of Sword & Sorcery with the sole intent to get Sister Viviana out of the trouble in which it had, even if involuntarily, wound her up.
*****
Viviana stared into the dragon's incandescent eyes, knowing that the next moment she would be wrapped in the flames of his breath; fleeing would be useless, those big beasts were surprisingly agile and she would be caught in an instant with no effort whatsoever, without the creature even bothering to fly.
I won't die for good, it'll be just an illusion, I'll be actually safe and sound and with no scratch, she tried to tell herself, repeating it continuously, like a litany, trying to create a shelter for her mind, in order to escape the insanity of a faked, but nonetheless terribly real, death.
The red dragon ogled her, malevolent and cruel, preparing to roast her in a blaze.
Suddenly, its appalling eyes – the colour of scorching lava – moved behind Viviana's back.
"Look and subdue yourself, dragon!", she heard a male voice shouting, a few metres behind her, "This is the Dragon Amulet, you can't do anything against it."
Viviana didn't dare to take off her gaze from the great red creature; for a long moment, the dragon stayed perfectly still, his eyes staring at the one who had spoken, whoever it might be. Then, to her great marvel, Viviana saw him slowly lower his big triangular head, crowned with pointy bone scales, and take on a subdued demeanour, but his smug gaze contradicted it.
"Come behind me", said the man at Viviana's back, in a low voice so that only she could hear him, "Quick!"
The nun didn't need to be called twice for it and a moment later she was watching the dragon from behind the wide back of a very tall man, clad in a scale coat and a large shield hanging from his shoulders; a helmet of vaguely Nippon shape covered his head, and under it showed a ponytail of long raven-black hair.
