By David C. Daoust
The long solid-light wingspan of the finely tooled metal dragon, referred to, one time, in one quick conversation, as Plaguecat, soared through the desert skies of Twin Crown. A veritable army of spider minions swarmed in its wake. The data-stream filtered information throughout all the swarm, to the dragon. The dragon– host and ground-zero, of the hybrid nanite forms of not only the infecting nanites of the black-tide epidemic, but also a more mundane, though fully destructive, form of nanite– intended to eradicate the upstart dragons of the Pirate Queen’s jungle moon, Taman.
The two separate technologies had fused together to become a hybrid form.
The dragon knew nothing of the outlandish nanites, nor why the nanites intended to harm those of his kind, instead chose to ally themselves with him… truly the dragon was more bestial than intelligent.
At one time Plaguecat’s program was used to simulate the lives of the wildlife found in the great virtual world known as the Hub. Again and again, he would live the lives of both predator and prey; hunt to live, hide to survive. He recreated life and death, for centuries, until he found himself locked within the metal monstrous form he now soared through the very real world with. A form given to him by the Pirate Queen, to become some sort of killing machine on her payroll.
Plaguecat had awoken alongside others like himself. Each in the forms of dragons, all cut off from their virtual home world. Yet the dragons found the real world not to their liking. Found that the lives of the animals, of the actual real-life beings, were being mistreated and mishandled. Found that the reality, to their understanding of this cycle of life and death, was NOT playing out as intended, according to their program. Rather than acclimate to the real world, they had instead rose-up, rebelled. Took control and herded the humans from the jungle moon, and freed the mistreated animals, once and for all.
Plaguecat, himself, was captured by the humans long before this plan came to fruition.
The Pirate Queen’s answer to this dragon rebellion, was to infect and destroy them all from within. Infect Plaguecat with the nanites that would destroy all the dragon he came in contact with, leaving himself unscathed. The captured dragon was far more intelligent than the Pirate Queen had given him credit to be. Plaguecat fled his home moon, fled his family, his brothers and sisters, all to preserve them. To keep them safe from the infection intended to eradicate them all.
With the alliance of the hybrid nanites, the dragon was enlightened to ever so much more of the real world. There was a free flow of information from the fused technologies- sentient, all his own, the dragon welcomed it.
Welcomed the greater picture of the Solar System in its entirety.
Information of where the humans ran rampant like a great infection… But most of all, information of where he could go, to hide, to live, without destroying his own kind– Twin Crown.
The Dragon of Twin Crown was real. It was not long until the great dragon had come upon the discarded Battle Drones in the desert. The nanites once gain fused technologies, leveling up from the microscopic nanite forms– to the larger spider-forms found therein. All still bent to the dragon’s will.
The Dragon ruled over a veritable swarm of fused technologies… the only will, his own, and his will was to spread.
The dragon’s body was made to break atmo, to fly from moon to moon, planet to planet. That of the spiders, however, did not have the ability to leave the moon on their own. With the sudden arrival of the heavy freighter, known to the humans as the Dirty Damsel, new possibilities opened…
As the great dragon soared above, his army of minions tore into the still opened hold of the Dirty Damsel. These battle drones were not controlled by far-off gamers following along set guidelines, hampered by in-game rules. Instead, controlled by a demigod come to take his due- with no care for the human life he saw as an infection.
The first human thugs the spiders came upon, found themselves torn asunder. Murdered outright, as the swarm of spiders infested the ship, floor by floor, murder by murder. The battles were brief and one sided, the number of bullets fired into the swift mechanical spiders, could be counted on one hand…
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