The Underbelly

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. Anyone that knew me would never have thought I’d become one. The quiet, reclusive, conflict-avoidant wall flower...no, definitely not me.

My golden fingertips glide across the ears of wheat stalks as if I’m playing an airy piano. Their vague reflection momentarily mirrored on the surface of my golden hands. I’d been staring straight ahead for hours. There was no use looking around while surrounded by endless wheat fields and a harmless yet foreboding sea of grey stratus clouds above. I know where I’m headed, even if it takes me days. I’m the lone, red and gold armored Dragon making my way across an infinity of nothing to save everyone and everything.

Most people don’t realize how we got here, how everything turned upside down within seconds. They don’t have the proper ability to recall information because they haven’t been paying attention. Their brains have been numbed by distractions and by chemicals. Some, however, like me, paid attention.

It started small and humorous; there were social media games about the “Mandela Effect.” Tilt your head one way if Pikachu had a gold tail or a black stripe. Tilt your head if Nelson Mandela died in prison or passed away in 2013. They were odd but collectively recalled events that captivated the minds of many citizens. It wasn’t until these recollections became more and more complex that I started to observe them more substantially.

For example, a geothermal oil alternative was created, but then only lithium-ion powered vehicles existed in 2031. An undersea volcanic eruption was responsible for submerging the states of Florida and Georgia in 2033, not an atomic bomb. From there, it only got worse. The reasons for war and political and socio-economic turmoil were one day blamed on a country, and the next, it was run by a new regime that had controlled them for months. The events were happening faster, like the quickening of birth pangs. Most people had stopped paying attention because the distractions were many, and no one talked about reality.

No one, that is, until a female technician working on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN posted a video on a free-speech platform. Kathy_Unleashed, as she called herself, spoke of the Hadron Collider’s ability to manipulate time and space. I watched her video with zealous captivation. She talked about the dangerous individuals controlling it, how they were creating a New World Order by abusing its time manipulation capabilities, and how we are all doomed if we couldn’t figure out a way to stop them in time. Kathy said she was in hiding, where she hoped she would remain safe until she could post again.

I copied down her words verbatim on the 23rd page of my journal. I took a screen recording of her video and sent it to one of my buddies in IT. Leland sent me a laughing emoji and told me to “focus on what I’m good at” and “let the professionals deal with their crazy whistleblower.”

The next day CERN made a public announcement grieving the loss of their technician, Kathy Diego. The company president said Kathy died in a terrible accident involving some out-of-code electrical wiring. CERN fervently and apologetically admitted that they were making reparations to the Diego family.

I ran to my desk, grabbed my journal, and flipped to the 23rd page. It was blank. I checked my text messages…there was no video and no dismissive remark from Leland. It had happened again.

Now even Leland is dead. I saw it happen. I was there. I was one of them, a Dragon. Many people, who survived, or have been enslaved, hate me. I understand why; I would hate myself too, if I were them. But I had to endure. Someone had to.

It was first thing Monday morning when the Dragons arrived in the Valley. Families were at home getting their children ready for school or chugging their last few sips of coffee before going back to the daily grind. I-I was standing in front of the building where I knew it would go down.

Their army was massive, like red ants crawling out of a giant underground tunnel. It was a swarm of red and gold like no one had ever seen before knocking down doors. First, they neutralized all “threats.” They eliminated personal privacy, dissolved all communication platforms outside of their own, and granted human rights on an “as seen fit” basis. On top of that, weapons were confiscated from homes and military bases, all within minutes.

Their technology was advanced and beyond a scientific explanation of the time. The armor alone, the armor I wear, was engineered in CERN labs. Scientists combined tungsten, metal foam, and wurtzite boron nitride to create an immortal metal. It remains slightly flexible with a gold sheen when heated to a certain degree. If the pressure is held for a few more seconds, it strengthens and shines a brilliant red. Lasers can’t penetrate it, and bullets shatter upon impact.

Then they gathered the Ash, or the “unfit,” and brought them to the main square at Center City Valley. I was waiting, sitting in the middle of the main staircase with a singular droplet of blood on a lone sheet of paper, and only the clothes on my back. The evening before, I burned all of my notes, journal, and research. I erased all traces of what I knew and what I planned to do about it, including my contacts at the Underbelly. Two Dragon’s approached me; I held out the sheet without a word. Leland screamed no.

“Your first duty begins now,” they had said. When the shot rang out, and I was armored up, that was when I became the hated, the “traitor, power-hungry, Judas…” along with many other derogatory slurs from the Ash. You may hate me too, now that you know what I have done. I’ve had to be a Dragon because Kathy was right. We were doomed if we couldn’t figure out a way to stop them in time. Time was not on our side, but shrewdness we had.

I finally found a way to break from the multitude of Dragons. I’m on my way to the Underbelly; wait for me.