THE MOMENT
"Congratulations kid, you passed the background check," Ian "DragonBane" Firestone shook the intern's hand with a smile. Justin, the intern, titled his head in confusion. He'd arrived there early to be on time for his first day and he was under the impression he already had the job until he was asked to sit down. He wasn't aware of a background check and wasn't expecting it for a simple grip job. He was just trying to get his foot in the show-business door and a ridiculous 'Dragon Hunter' show seemed like it would be low-profile enough for him to stand a chance. And, he was extra surprised the star of the show met with him personally.
"Thanks, so what's the plan? I'm ready for anything," he said. He assumed there would be some sort of meeting to discuss the script, or maybe he'd missed that already. He was anxious to start and he hoped his eagerness showed.
"That's good, because today you're gonna see some wild stuff," Ian nodded. "It might be your first day; but, we do trial by fire around here. The background check was just to make sure you can keep a secret and you ain't a reporter or anything like that. 'The Dragonbane Experience' has a fair share of secrets and my lawyers appreciate me reminding you that you already signed the NDA."
"I did, and your production secrets are safe with me," Justin nodded. He remembered thinking it was kind of an odd addition to the paperwork. But, he was able to dismiss it as a safeguard to whatever proprietary animatronic technology they had. He'd already applied for the job when he realized it might be a good idea to watch an episode of the show. He'd never really heard of it; but, 'The Dragonbane Experience' was rather famous among fantasy fans. The dragon in the one episode he saw looked far more realistic than the cheap CGI he expected; but, the other trappings of the show kind of put him off it. Justin wasn't a gamer and didn't spend a lot of time in fantasy worlds, so watching Ian defeating a dragon using fancy magical effects looked almost like a real life video game. The game-like UI only furthered that direction and the whole production drained his interest almost immediately. It was the perfect show to work for, he had no interest in it.
"Great, I'm gonna share the biggest one with you now. People always wonder where I find real dragons in the 21st century-," Ian began explaining; but, he was interrupted by a sudden chuckle.
"They do??" Justin asked. He couldn't help it; but, he shook his head quickly and apologized. "Sorry!" He should've ended the apology there. "I mean, I wasn't expecting a joke right away. So, it took me by surprise that people think it's real."
"Oh, I'm glad we hired you, this is gonna be fun," Ian chuckled.
"Huh?" Justin thought he was caught up, but he had no idea what Ian meant.
"So," Ian reached into his pocket and pulled out a transparent glass card. "...this is called a 'node'," he held it up to a sunbeam streaming in through the window to show off how invisible it was. Then, he tapped it with his other hand and the time appeared in vivid, bright red numbers that seemed to be floating in mid-air.
"I've never seen a phone like that..," Justin felt obligated to comment, though he had no idea what Ian wanted to hear.
"And, it can do things no phone can do. For example, it can create these," he put his entire palm over the screen for a moment, then pulled his hand away. It looked like he stole a shadow from the glass somehow and when he held it up to Justin it was a solid, impenetrable black card. "This black card can open a portal to any other universe in the multiverse, as long as I have an idea of where I want to go," he said.
"Another universe....?" Justin asked just to be sure he heard correctly.
"Where do you think I find dragons?" Ian asked with a broad grin.
"I didn't...," Justin shook his head. Was he being pranked? "I'm gonna need some proof," he said. He was tempted to walk off the job there and then; but, a small part of him wanted to see the situation play out.
"Of course!" Ian nodded. he stood from his desk and encouraged Justin to his feet. Once the intern was up Ian handed him the black card and guided him to face the wall with his arm.
"Whoa...," Justin studied the card. It simultaneously felt soft like velvet, and non-existent. If he concentrated, he could sense his thumb and index finger touching. But, the moment he let his attention drift away he felt as if he were holding a firm, silk shadow with no weight at all.
"You'll be doing this a lot on the job, so it's a good time to start learning. All you gotta do is think about where in the multiverse you want to go, then throw the card at the wall," he said.
"How do I know where I want to go?" Justin asked. "I don't even know what's out there."
"They got everything," Ian grinned. "Although, if you want some direction, we usually use them to track down dragons for the show."
"Dragons, right," Justin nodded. It wasn't as much help as Ian might've expected, Justin had only seen part of one episode. But, according to the show, Ian was a superstar dragon slayer. And, despite going along with it, Justin wasn't fully convinced either. The technology he'd seen so far had been amazing, but he was actually at a TV studio and he might've only been dealing with props so far. Even if something portal-like opened, it didn't quite prove anything. Not with the technology Ian had access to. He decided the best test was to find a dragon that Ian wasn't ready for.
'I want the most powerful dragon in the multiverse...,' he thought to himself as he readied the card. 'Supremely magical and divine, the absolute pinnacle of dragon kind. Beyond dragon royalty...,' his train of thought rambled on. He didn't know what he was doing, but he was trying to do what he was told.
"DRAGON!" he shouted just to give Ian some clue as to what he asked for and threw the card at the wall. The card hit the white surface and spread instantly into a tall black portal.
"I should go first," Ian said. But, as he stepped forward, someone came out. She was a pale woman with golden eyes and short metallic hair wearing a gown of layered chrome dragon scales.
"I don't know who you are, but you were attempting to intrude on a private meeting," she said. "Don't. That's the only warning you'll get," she said. She turned around and disappeared into the portal again before it closed behind her.
"Geeze kid...," Ian sighed and shook his head. "If you knew anything about dragons I'd think you were trying to get me killed...," he said. "I think I'll pick the next location we try and explore."
"Do you know her? Who was that?" Justin asked.
"You don't get to kill as many dragons as I have without knowing who Chroma is," Ian nodded.
"I was trying to get to a dragon, is she one?" Ian laughed as soon as Justin asked the question.
"Is she one??" he cackled. "Depending on who you ask she was either the first dragon, the god of dragons, or the queen of dragons; either way, in all cases...," Ian nodded. "She is most definitely a dragon."