#68: The Dragon Lady Returns

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Shelby was waiting when the Dragon Lady and her entourage returned. Something about them was very different. They weren’t nearly as intimidating.

“Make up.” Shelby blurted out. “You wore makeup the last time.”

“Very impressive young man” the Dragon Lady said with the bare trace of a smile. “You are very observant. Now...pleasantries over...I believe that you have some drones to show me?”

“Yes ma’am.” Shelby replied.

“ I notice that your dragon puppet doesn’t seem to require your attention. I find that to be VERY interesting. Would you tell me about that please.”

“Mind control” he said.

She fixed her gaze on Shelby “Tell me more about this mind control please.”

Shelby reached into his pocket and withdrew a small gold chain. “This is a neural loop. When worn around your neck it will interface, non-invasively, to your brain.”

His four visitors were impassive. No perceptible reaction.

“It senses what you want the puppet to do and directs it to do so.” Shelby said. Did he note just a touch of longing in the eyes of the ogres.”You can see thru the puppets eyes, hear through it’s ears. In a sense you ARE the puppet. It’s fully immersive tele-operative.”

“They’re amputee’s just as you are.” Elvira told him mind to mind. “They have metal legs. Horribly uncomfortable I would assume. Perhaps they’d be candidates for mono-wheels?”

“That is perfectly acceptable.” the Dragon Lady said.

“May I assume that you want some puppets?” Shelby asked her. “by the way, I call them Avatars.”

The Dragon Lady smiled. “A more respectable name than ‘puppet’?’

Shelby nodded slightly.

“Yes I believe that I do. One for each of us please.” she stated.

“It will take me some time to build them.” Shelby stated. “And I will need certain measurements before I start.”

“Certainly” The Dragon Lady said “ Do you have a tape? Tatsu can measure me.”

“That’s not how it works. I’m afraid that they are not that type of measurement.” Shelby told her. “ I’m referring to mental variations of your brainwaves.”

He handed her the necklace. “The Neuro-Loop communicates to the Avatars via a technique that I call QECom. That’s short for Quantum Entanglement Communications. As far as I can tell it can not be detected. The process is encrypted using your dna as a key. The link is totally secure.”

“When you put the neuro-loop around your neck it will take a DNA sample to make a crypto-key. That will sting, somewhat like that of a bee or a wasp. Then it will measure certain functions of your brain. When that is complete I will take the data,and the key, and insert it into my fabrication machine. The machine will then fabricate the Avatar. It takes a few days. My machine builds the Avatar atom by atom. That is quiet time consuming.” he told her.

“How many of these neuro-loops have you made?” The Dragon Lady asked him.

“Besides mine?” Shelby mused. “I’ve made a dozen or so but your’s would be the second one activated. I’ve provided a number of devices to a young man that I met in a bookstore. His was the first.”

“How was he recommended to you?” The Dragon lady asked. “I’m not being critical. I truly want to know.”

“He’s a reader. He reads Science Fiction. He’s also a wounded warrior. That makes him a member of my tribe.” Shelby said. “He and I drank many gallons of coffee in a bookstore one night, we discussed everything from Atoms to Zanzibar. We got to know each other very well.”

The Dragon Lady stared at him for a moment, then shook her head slightly.

“Very well” she said “We’ll all take one please.”

“Yes Ma’am” Shelby said. He provided additional neuro-loops. One for each Ogre and one for the China Doll.

“Ware the sting” he reminded them “After the sting it will need a few minutes to do it’s analysis. Then it will link to the my server and transfer the data. When the basic avatar is grown I’ll notify you. It’ll take a few days. Once you receive your avatar you can modify it to your own personal preferences.”

“Very Good.” The Dragon Lady said.

He served them coffee while the process was completed.

“Those weren’t real pig stickers were they?” he asked Marc while they were waiting.

Marc and Captain grinned. “Absolutely not. We might hurt ourselves on a real blade. One of my buddies made that for me. Out of styrofoam, Bondo and spray paint. It looked real at a distance didn’t it?”

“It certainly did” Shelby replied. “Very realistic work. It speaks of years of practice.”

“Years and Years. I think Cody might be five” Captain said.

Shelby blinked at that.

The old lady smiled and sat back in her wheel chair. She might not absolutely need a wheel chair but she could use one. She was very old. Anyone who thought Shelby to be a ‘young man’ was by no means young.

Shortly thereafter the Dragon Lady and her group departed.

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The Next Episode is
#69: Structural Smoke
The Previous Episode was
#67: The Dragon Lady
the First episode was
#1 : Prologue

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I'm

@everittdmickey
.
I write
SPECULATIVE FICTION
I have books on Amazon too.
Sometimes I also comment on the news

Sometimes it's hard to tell fiction from the news.