Dragon Ops Read online

“Are you sure?” I asked, squinting.

  “Take your goggles off and see,” Uncle Jack replied with a laugh.

  He reached over to help me pull the goggles up over my head and I blinked my eyes to adjust them back to real-life mode as I looked out onto the beach. Sure enough, it was completely deserted. No dragons. No unicorns. And most importantly, no people.

  “Whoa!” I gave a low whistle. “This is unreal!” Then I laughed when I realized my unintentional pun. “Well, you know what I mean.”

  “The technology behind this whole thing is truly revolutionary,” Uncle Jack agreed. His mouth quirked. “Just like real life… but a lot more fun,” he added, quoting the official Dragon Ops slogan.

  “There’s nothing wrong with real life,” Lilli butted in, tossing her goggles onto the bench. Had she even tried them on? She crossed her arms over her chest, and her mouth dipped to a frown.

  I sighed. And… here we go again.

  “You’re absolutely right,” Uncle Jack agreed, giving her a reassuring smile. “But sometimes we need an escape from real life, don’t you think? Not forever. Just… like a time-out. A chance to leave it all behind. Have fun. Go on an adventure.”

  “You can go on adventures in real life.”

  “Not always safely,” I pointed out.

  “You don’t know this is safe, either.”

  “Trust me, Lilli, the creators of this place see safety as their number one priority. They’ve taken all the precautions. It’s safe. And it’s fun.” Uncle Jack gave Lilli, then Derek, a pointed look. “Can we at least try to have fun this week?”

  “Yeah, come on, Lills,” I begged. “Just try the goggles. They’re really cool!”

  “No thank you.” She shook her head. “I’m sick, remember? VR will only make it worse.” Then she clutched her stomach. “Oh no.… Not again!”

  And with that, she ran back inside the boat.

  Uncle Jack sighed. “I’ll go check on her,” he said. “Be right back. You guys be careful with those, okay? And stay away from the edge of the boat.”

  “Uh, obviously,” I said, trying to ignore the disappointment settling in my stomach. I had been so sure once we got here, away from home, Lilli would start getting excited about this whole thing. After all, she loved Fields of Fantasy. Even if she didn’t want to admit it. We used to have so much fun playing together. And I thought maybe, if I could just get her here…

  Whatever. Lilli could do what she wanted. I was going to make the most of this trip, no matter what. I slipped the goggles back over my head and blinked my eyes, waiting for my vision to clear again.…

  Suddenly, a shadow seemed to fall over the boat. I looked up, just in time to catch a fiery flash streaking across the sky like a giant comet.

  “What—?” I started to ask.

  Then I stopped. My mouth clamped shut as I realized exactly what it was. The only thing it could possibly be.

  “Whoa,” I breathed. “Atreus. That’s, like, really Atreus!”

  The dragon Atreus was nothing short of legendary in the Fields of Fantasy universe. A fabled ancient fire dragon who held the entire land in his evil thrall. All the other creatures in the world—including the other dragons—lived in fear of his wrath. And it was said that if a player were somehow able to defeat him, the game would end. The credits would roll.

  And that player would become a video-game legend.

  Of course, that never happened. In fact, in all the years since Fields of Fantasy had been released, only a few players had ever even leveled high enough to get to his lair, a crystal temple deep within a lava-filled mountain. And though some groups claimed they’d gone and beaten him, they never seemed to have any proof. Which was ridiculous. If you got to the end of the game and were fighting a legendary boss, the first thing you’d do was screenshot it—if not stream the entire fight on Twitch. The cred you’d get from the gaming world would be epic.

  A thrill spun down my spine as I watched Atreus now, swimming through the sky, his crimson-colored scales shimmering with flecks of gold in the sunlight. He was so big. And yet, at the same time, so graceful, his massive wings moving up and down with perfectly rhythmic strokes. And when he suddenly dipped his snout and started diving toward our ship at full speed, I instinctively ducked to get out of his way.

  “Dude, what is that thing?” I heard Derek ask, his voice sounding odd and far away as Uncle Jack’s had earlier. I tried to look over at him, to see if he had put on his goggles and was seeing the dragon, too, but he was so blurry I couldn’t really tell.

  Whatever. I didn’t have time to deal with Derek. Not when a literal dragon was hovering only a foot away from our boat, watching me with curious eyes. I took a step forward, mesmerized by the way his scales caught the light. Like tiny rainbows flickering up and down his sides. His wide, amber-colored eyes locked onto me, and, to my surprise, they seemed almost gentle. Kind. Which didn’t make any sense, really, seeing as he was supposed to be the bad guy here. The baddest of bad guys.

  Well, hello, tiny human, a low voice rumbled in my ear. Welcome to Dragon Ops.

  Whoa! I almost fell over backward. Had he just talked? Had the legendary Atreus just talked to me? His mouth hadn’t moved—but I could hear his voice as clear as if he were speaking out loud. I swallowed hard, my heart pounding in my chest. This is crazy! I thought.

  Atreus cocked his head, giving me a questioning look. Can you not speak? he asked, sounding almost disappointed.

  “Um, I can speak,” I blurted out, my voice sounding way too loud and stammering compared to the dragon’s smooth, velvety purr.

  Atreus’s mouth quirked. Very good, he said approvingly, as if praising a small child. And what brings you to my island, tiny human who speaks?

  “Uh, just visiting?” I stammered. “To, uh, play the game?”

  The second I said it, I realized how dumb it sounded. The dragon wouldn’t know this was a game. For him, this was real life, right? I needed to get into character.

  “We’re here for an adventure,” I corrected quickly.

  Ah, yes. Atreus smiled. There are many adventures to be found on my island. Many—

  His left ear twitched. The dragon frowned, dipping his head in an attempt to scratch it with his hind leg, much like a dog might do. But try as he might, he couldn’t seem to reach the itchy spot. He gave a frustrated snort, smoke puffing from his nostrils, as he turned back to me.

  Would you mind? he asked, stretching out his long neck in my direction.

  Uh…

  I stared at Atreus, heart in my throat, my mind racing with what I should do. Should I scratch his ear? But what if it was a trick? Atreus was evil, right? Though this Atreus didn’t seem very evil…

  In the end, I decided to go for it. Mostly because I was extremely curious whether I actually could. After all, he was virtual, right? So would my hand go right through him? I stretched out toward the dragon, not quite able to reach—

  “Ian! Look out!”

  I yelped in surprise as hands grabbed me from behind, yanking me backward. A moment later the goggles were ripped from my head, sending me crashing back to real-life mode. I whirled around to find Derek standing behind me, giving me an exasperated look.

  “What are you doing?” I cried, furious at being interrupted moments before I could touch the dragon.

  “Dude, you almost fell off the boat!” he exclaimed. “You were, like, hanging off the edge.”

  What? A jolt of horror shot through me as I realized he was right. All this time I’d been keeping my distance from the rail; but when Atreus had shown up, I’d completely forgotten my fear. Had I really almost fallen overboard in real life? I stole a glance down at the gray, choppy water, and my stomach churned along with it.

  “Thanks,” I said weakly.

  Derek rolled his eyes. “Yeah, whatever.” He looked down at the goggles in his hands. “What did you see, anyway?” he asked, sounding curious, despite himself. “To me it just looked like some gia
nt metal drone.”

  “Really?” I raised my eyebrows. “Like a robot?” And here I had assumed Atreus was simply a virtual creature—like a Pokémon you could see through your phone but wasn’t actually there in real life.

  “I guess.” Derek shrugged. “It flew away pretty quick once I grabbed you.”

  I stared out over the horizon, hoping for another glimpse. But the dragon was gone.

  Uncle Jack reemerged on the deck. “What’s going on?” he asked, looking from me to Derek suspiciously. “I thought I heard yelling.”

  I waited for Derek to sell me out—to tell Uncle Jack I’d almost fallen off the boat. But, to my surprise, he just shook his head.

  “Nothing,” he said. “Ian was just dorking out over some dragon or whatever.”

  “Not just any dragon,” I corrected. “The dragon Atreus. Uncle Jack! I actually saw the dragon Atreus.”

  My uncle chuckled. “I don’t think so,” he said.

  “No! I swear he was right here!” I protested, pointing off the side of the boat, keeping my distance, this time, from the railing.

  Uncle Jack frowned, grabbing the goggles from the bench and placing them over his eyes. He scanned the sky, a super-serious expression on his face.

  “Do you see him?” I asked anxiously.

  He pulled the goggles from his eyes. “No,” he said. “And you couldn’t have, either. You must have seen something else and thought it was Atreus.”

  I shook my head. “No way. I know what Atreus looks like, Uncle Jack! He’s been on the cover of every Fields of Fantasy game since the beginning. It was him! I swear.”

  “I’m sorry, Ian, but it couldn’t have been,” he said.

  “Why not?”

  My uncle shrugged. “Because there is no Atreus in Dragon Ops.”

  “No Atreus?” I stared at my uncle in shock. Atreus was the whole point of Fields of Fantasy. The mascot. The big bad. A Fields of Fantasy game without Atreus was like Mario without Luigi. Link without Zelda. Pikachu without Ash.

  Uncle Jack caught my expression and laughed. “Well, not yet,” he corrected. “At least not on opening day.”

  “Why not?”

  “Let’s just say they had some issues with the prototype. It was fitted with some highly advanced artificial intelligence software, which was really cool, but they couldn’t get it to gel with the rest of the game and they were running out of time. So they shelved the Atreus project temporarily, and will probably add him on as an expansion in a year or two.”

  I stole a glance at Derek. He shrugged, also looking a little confused. What Uncle Jack said made perfect sense. Except I’d seen that giant dragon and Derek had seen the drone hovering beside the ship. If it wasn’t Atreus, then who was it?

  Uncle Jack clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Don’t worry. There are plenty of other wonders to be found in Dragon Ops. You’ll never miss him.”

  We got off the ferry just outside what looked like a rustic fishing village, tucked snugly into a small cove. Uncle Jack informed us that this was Dragonshire, the park’s official starting zone. It would be a place where people could buy supplies, eat meals, sleep, and learn to interact with their new environment before heading out into the wilds to start their quests.

  The actual entrance to the park sat on a small hill just beyond the back edge of town. Towering wooden fences roped with electrical wire met at a central gate made up of two massive iron plates. On the gate was etched the official Dragon Ops seal—a dragon chasing its tail. An ouroboros, according to my sister, who, when not on an online strike, liked to look these kinds of things up. Under the seal were three very familiar words, written in Latin: HIC SUNT DRACONES.

  Here be dragons.

  A chill tripped down my spine as my eyes took in the words. Words I’d read a thousand times over the years in the regular game before walking through those gates. In fact, I’d seen them so many times I’d almost forgotten they were there. But gazing up at them now, here in real life, they looked bigger and cooler somehow—like the announcement of a grand adventure.

  I broke out into a massive grin. This was seriously going to be the best week ever!

  I ran to catch up to the others, walking past empty admission turnstiles (which were still being constructed) to enter the town itself. Soon we were walking down winding dirt streets lined with simple wooden houses and empty shops with tin signs hanging off their awnings. A blacksmith, a baker, a pub. Just like in the game, though deserted and empty. At the end of the road stood a large two-story building with a sign that read THE DRAGON’S YAWN over its front door. Uncle Jack pointed to it, saying this was where we’d be sleeping for the week.

  “Cool,” I said, probably for about the tenth time since we’d left the ferry. But who could blame me? Everything about this place was blowing my mind. It was like everything I’d ever dreamed of, come to life.

  “What’s so cool about it?” Derek demanded, turning to me with a scowl. He kicked over a small bucket of water at his feet and I had to jump back to avoid getting splashed. “It looks like some cheap movie set put up in two days.” He pointed to a small magic shop. “There’s not even any doors on the buildings.”

  “In Dragon Ops things are not always as they seem.”

  We turned at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, surprised to find a tall, thin Japanese man standing behind us, dressed in a simple white T-shirt and skinny jeans. He was probably in his late forties, with long bleached-blond hair tied back in a ponytail and a pair of black-rimmed glasses. I squinted at him, at first wondering why he looked so familiar. Then realization hit me like a blast of dragon fire.

  Hiro Takanama? I mouthed, scarcely able to believe my eyes.

  The man grinned, flashing a set of brilliant white teeth. He gave a short bow. “Children!” he exclaimed. “Welcome to Dragon Ops!”

  I tried to return the bow—a traditional greeting in Japan—though I felt a little awkward, not sure if I was doing it right. The last thing I wanted to do was disrespect my hero.

  Out of the corner of my eye I could see Derek and Lilli shuffling from foot to foot. Clearly they didn’t recognize the legend who stood before them: Hiro Takanama, only son of Atsuo Takanama, the creator of the Fields of Fantasy video game back in the 1990s.

  In other words, the most important man in the videogame industry.

  From what I’d read online, Hiro’s father, Atsuo, had died ten years ago, just as the idea for Dragon Ops had started to take shape. Hiro had been a rising game maker himself with a master’s in game design and a concentration in artificial intelligence from the University of Southern California. But he’d left the gaming world five years ago after his wife died in a tragic car accident, declaring he had “real-life” things to take care of. Then, two years ago, he made a surprise triumphant return to the company, and the project had been ramping up ever since.

  “It’s an… honor, sir,” I stammered, feeling as if my mouth had been stuffed with cotton. “A true honor. Thank you for letting us come here. It’s… it’s… I’m so excited!”

  “The honor is mine,” Hiro replied with an indulgent smile. “Now, shall I show you around?”

  I stared at him in disbelief. Wow! The man who made the game was going to show us the park? Best day ever had just gotten even better.

  “Uh, do dragons fly?” I sputtered before I could stop myself. Zero cool, Ian. Total zero cool. I could hear Derek snickering behind my back.

  “Great. And I’ll go check in with the team,” Uncle Jack proclaimed, giving us a wave. “I’ll find you after your tour and get you settled into the hotel.”

  We said our good-byes to Uncle Jack, then followed Hiro down the street. As we walked, the game designer explained how the starting area was meant to work. Unlike in the rest of Dragon Ops, here in Dragonshire goggles were optional. If you needed to take a break from the game you could return here and spend time in real-life mode. Grab a burger, buy a souvenir, get a good night’s sleep in a real bed
—basically unplug until you regained your equilibrium and were ready to go back into the game.

  “Some of our beta testers found that being in the game world too long was a bit… unsettling,” Hiro explained. “It’s a very immersive system, and it can play tricks on your mind. We’ve found for some people it can help to take a break once in a while before going back in.”

  I tried not to make a face at this. Noobs. Once I got into Dragon Ops there would be no breaks. In fact, they’d probably have to drag me kicking and screaming back to real-life mode at the end of the week.

  “For example,” Hiro continued, “while the Dragon’s Yawn Inn looks perfectly medieval from the outside, once you step through the front doors you’ll find a modern hotel, complete with flat-screen TVs, electricity, and comfortable beds.”

  “What about Wi-Fi?” Derek piped up, looking interested for the first time since we’d gotten off the boat.

  Hiro nodded. “High-speed Wi-Fi, streaming movies and TV shows. And all sorts of video game consoles if you feel like playing games the old-fashioned way.”

  Derek looked relieved. I rolled my eyes. Imagine coming to a place like this and wanting to stay in your hotel room to play Fortnite.

  Hiro caught my look. “I can tell you’re a purist,” he said with an approving nod. “Do not worry. If you choose, you can wear your goggles twenty-four/seven and leave the real world behind for your entire trip. You can even sleep out in the park. We have small inns and homes with real beds scattered throughout. And we send you out with a good supply of protein bars to sustain you through your journey.”

  “What about bathrooms? You got bathrooms out there?” Derek asked.

  “We were required to install bathrooms, yes. However, to keep with the medieval theme, only the hotel has flush toilets.”

  Derek slapped me on the back. “Virtual reality crappers! Sounds right up your alley, Ian!” I shoved him away, making a face.

  “Just to be clear, this is not simply virtual reality we’re talking about here at Dragon Ops,” Hiro corrected politely. “More of an augmented reality—or mixed reality, you might call it.”