John’s eyes felt strange. He didn’t know if it was psychosomatic as Relar had suggested or if there was something wrong with his retinal implant. The chip was made up of a strand of carbon nanostructures. Relar had assured him that there was nothing wrong with John’s implant. They had even gone to a medical facility to check. Androids and robots did everything in the city, including surgery and diagnosis. John hadn’t seen a single real person outside.

“Where are all the people?”

“They come out in the evening,” Relar said.

John activated the ‘chip’ with a thought. His eyes turned green. Earth had a long way to go before reaching this level of augmented reality. The AR images looked so real yet one could distinguish them from reality with a glance. They held a certain glow. Telepathic control allowed John to use the features of the chip without navigating any menus. He could use the chip to gain new information, to make calls, to control certain objects, to make payments, and do many other things that John had not yet discovered. It also acted as a galactic identity card. The chips were standard issue throughout the galaxy. They were like an oasis in the desert, a common cause amid the wars, just like the galactic feud against sentient AI. Relar had transferred five thousand galactic credits to John, though there was nothing he really needed to buy. Most things in the city were free. He’d gotten himself some new robes after the implant. John liked dark colors. His robes were purple with a black border and, best of all, completely free.

When John and Relar returned to the house it was close to dusk. John immediately went to the food dispenser to make a margherita pizza. He sampled all the cheeses until he found one that suited his taste. Then he encountered a problem. The dispenser lacked olive oil to make the dough. John was very particular about his pizza. He couldn’t make it without the oil.

“There’s an ingredient missing,” John said to Relar, “I’ll go and get it.”

“Do you want to use the speeder?” It felt nice to fly in the sky and look over the city, but John wanted to see it from the ground up.

“No, it’ll be nice to walk around.”

John left the house, following the directions displayed on his retina. There was an oil press near the city center. Though the planet didn’t have olives it had something called tila which John thought would make a good substitute. It took an hour to walk to the oil press. John talked to the android running the oil press and soon obtained a pint of tila oil for free. This truly was a utopia.

On his way back to Sor Al’s house he felt that someone was following him.

“Come out,” he said, making an aura blade out of air. John should have been more cautious. There was danger everywhere. Karamen had taught him that.

He heard a woman laugh, “you truly are a wild child,” she said. A pretty elf appeared before John, turning off her camouflage device. The device looked like a bracelet. John wanted one too, but he’d probably have to pay for it.

“Who are you?” asked John.

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“You may call me Il Vara. I am the chief priestess of Inashta.” She suddenly ran forward and pinched John’s cheeks. “It’s true what my sisters said,” she chuckled. “A child’s cheeks truly are a pleasure to pinch.”

“That’s harassment,” said John, fighting out of her grip. “I should report you to the law.”

“There is no law here,” said Il Vara. “There is no need for law.” She seemed very smug.

“There definitely is a need, with crazies like you around. Relar warned me about your cult. He said that you were fanatics. What business do you have with me?”

Il Vara laughed, “Relar is a stuck up elf. Don’t worry. The most we do to children is pinch their cheeks. Why don’t you come to our temple for a feast? My sisters will be giddy with excitement to see a child.”

“No thanks,” said John. “Go find some elven child. There must be other children in a city as big as this.”

“There are,” said the priestess, “but their parents are all as stuck up as Relar. Won’t you come?”

“No, I’m going home and eating my pizza.”

“What’s a pizza?” Il Vara asked curiously.

“It’s food.”

“Can I taste it too?”

“No.” John didn’t want to share his pizza, especially with some crazy woman. She may have seemed nice on the outside, but she had been stalking him, and she pinched his cheeks. That had really irritated him.

“Why are you so hostile towards me,” Il Vara stamped her feet. “All we’re trying to do is wake our sleeping goddess to save our dying race. Is that so horrible?”

“The way you’re going about it isn’t right. Besides, what if your goddess doesn’t want to be woken. It would really piss her off to wake up like that. An angry goddess doesn’t bode well for the elven race.”

“Why would she be angry? We are her people. And you’re a prude, just like Relar. Do you know, he tried to lecture me on the truths of Rahl? How boring!”

John shook his head, “Anyway, I’m going. It’s been nice chatting with you.”

“Doesn’t seem that way,” Il Vara shouted at his fast disappearing back.

When John was almost home he heard a sound above him, like a jet plane. He felt a rush of wind almost blow him away. He looked up and saw a golden dragon flying in the sky. This wasn’t a drakon, but a true dragon, he thought in wonder. The dragon flew closer to the ground and John finally realized how massive it was. The masters of his lonely planet were nothing in comparison. The dragon seemed to sense his gaze and looked back at him. John felt fear pass from head to toe. This was a deadly being, the likes of which he had never seen before. High demons were like tiny infants compared to it. John ran home in panic. The dragon circled around the house and landed, its head hanging over the courtyard while its long body remained in the air. It didn’t see to need its wings to fly. Really! John felt he was attracting all sorts of beings today. It moved so close, that John could only see one of its enormous eyes. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sor Al appear.

“Greetings Sor Alluine Melas Aton Oparien Ti Meletiel,” said the dragon. It was only then that John remembered Relar saying that a dragon would visit. Was that really Sor Al’s name? It sounded so strange. Was she elven royalty or something like that?

Sor Al replied, “Welcome Droth, daughter of Dhara.”

“I know you do not like wasting time in small talk,” said Droth, her voice rumbling like thunder. “I came today to ask a favor.”

“Anything for an old friend,” said Sor Al.

“My flock seek to enter the Ifran system. They will use it as a mere transit point to go to the coordinates where the Swift Retribution picked up the wild human. They cannot make the journey through a different route. Can you negotiate with the Asi Conglomerate for safe passage?”

The dragon knew about him? John felt proud for some reason, though he didn’t much care for the nickname. Wild human! Hmph! He wasn’t wild. He’d just been raised in the wild.

“That would be difficult,” Sor Al said after thinking for a while, “but I promise to try. The Conglomerate is unlikely to accede to this request no matter how much wealth you offer them.”

“Even if it is a star stone?”

“Even a star stone. If news got out there would be war. They would not take the risk.”

“That is a pity, but you promise to try?”

“I will.”

“Then goodbye old friend,” said the dragon.

“Till we meet again.”

The dragon took off into the sky and soon disappeared.

“It seems that your story has reached every corner of the known galaxy,” Sor Al stared at John.

John was famous now, but not in a way he liked. John didn’t want to be known as ‘the wild human’ for the rest of his life.