MetaWars: Fight For The Future

Chapter 24

Jonah opened his eyes.

He felt disoriented. His senses were adjusting, as they always did when he switched between the real and the virtual worlds. However, this time he had made no such transition. At least, he didn’t think he had. He had to glance down, to check what he looked like. He was wearing the dragon avatar. He was still in the Metasphere, just a different part of it.

Jonah appeared to be in a temple. He could hear a melodious prayer chant, but from where he couldn’t tell. There were Chinese characters carved into the woodwork, and a black-and-white yin/yang symbol woven into the rug on which he stood. He could see a lantern sitting on an altar, golden statues of a dragon and a tiger, neatly tended flower boxes and no exit.

Jonah floated to a window, peered out, found himself faced with an almost sheer drop. He was in a Chinese temple, all right; if he craned his neck to look upwards, he could see the stacked layers of a pagoda-style roof above him. But the temple was set into a treacherous mountainside, and he could see no way down.

‘Hello?’ called Jonah, softly, fearing he might be alone in here. ‘Mr Chang?’

The cat statuette was still clutched in his claw, its head open. He concentrated upon it, as if it might come to life and tell him what to do.

A shadow shifted. Jonah started. He flipped the statuette into his inventory space and looked around. ‘Hello? Is someone there?’

It floated out from behind a bamboo screen: a golden dragon, towering even over Jonah’s dragon avatar. Its body was long, like a snake’s, and two enormous horns protruded from its head. The golden dragon had a wispy, white beard and wise eyes. It regarded Jonah with a pursed smile.

‘I do not believe we have met, little dragon,’ it said.

‘Are...are you...?’ Jonah didn’t complete the question. There seemed to be no point. Who else could this be, he thought, but the mysterious Mr Chang?

He took a deep breath and told himself not to babble. There was no time. He pictured his mum in front of him, her hands on Jonah’s shoulders, keeping him calm.

‘Please, sir,’ said Jonah. ‘I’ll explain who I am, I’ll explain everything, but first I need your help. It’s urgent. My friends are—’

‘Your friends are quite safe for the present, Mr Delacroix. I have called off the assault on their broadcasting van.’

‘You know...?’ Another question went unvoiced. Of course he knows who I am, thought Jonah. He was Mr Chang. He was reputed to be as smart as Matthew Granger himself. It was one of the few things that was known about him.

Mr Chang, unlike Granger, had always avoided the spotlight. The directors of his multinational corporation did his talking for him.

‘So, you see,’ said the golden dragon, ‘there is always time for tea, and the making of new acquaintances.’

He had produced a silver tray on which sat a teapot and two wide, shallow cups. It floated before him and, as Mr Chang gestured with his claws, the teapot tipped to pour steaming, green liquid into each of the cups. Another gesture, and a cup floated towards Jonah. Jonah hadn’t tried to drink as a dragon before. His arms were too short to hold the cup to his lips, so he had to follow Mr Chang’s example and let it float up to him. The tea tasted bitter and grassy; Jonah didn’t like it much.

‘The charm that brought you here – I left it in the care of an old friend, just in case. And today appears to be the “in case”, does it not?’