Danny is a tomboy, she likes to wear cut off jeans with a t-shirt and a spikey choker. Originally from Croatia, she Americanised her name when she got her citizenship after she completed her degree at MIT. “Danica” was too unusual here, people don’t like foreign in the land of the free.
Dating was tough, most guys assumed she was a lesbian but gender was not something that bothered her. Being with a person she enjoyed being with was all that mattered. After hiding her open mindedness in her home country, she was happy to be herself in a land where you could do that without being lynched.
It was a foggy cool Autumn morning in Cupertino California as Danny walked along the lake to work. Sunbeams cut through the maple trees and the fog like search lights. The ground was covered in a mix of reds and yellow leaves and the air was filled with the smell of wet pine and fireplaces.
A group of dog walkers in Lululemon had gathered around the water fountain to hydrate their labradoodles and French bulldogs. A cute young couple were watching their dog drink and glanced at Danny, she winked in their direction. The couple would argue later that afternoon about who the wink was directed at, however Danny had intended it at both of them.
Entering the glass cathedral that was her workplace, she clears the security gates and heads into her department. The scent of coffee permeates the room, and diverts her brisk walk away from her office and to the kitchen where she grabs herself her morning joe.
“You know that stuff is addictive. Caffeine is a drug.” said Stacey, her project manager and recent transfer from the AI division.
“Coffee is delicious.” replied Danny, bored by the rote attempt to connect.
“Well I’m glad I caught you here, you know Charlie wants you to hurry up with that new integration. Do you think if we reassigned the new hires to you it would help us speed things up?” inquired Stacey, unaware that Danny had already left the room halfway through her speaking.
Back at her desk, an update to the office computers meant she couldn’t even start work until it had finished grinding through it. The updates take hours, Danny decides to attend her meetings for the day and continue working from home. At least her home computer would let her carry on.
“And where do you think you’re going?” yelled Charles across the lobby. He was wearing a sky blue suit with bright yellow shoes. Danny couldn’t help but think it took a lot of money to look really cheap in this country.
“My computer is stuck. I’m going home to finish my work day.” replied Danny rather seriously, worrying her department head was about to chew her out.
“Oh please, I’m just joking around! I’m glad someone around here cares about getting things done! Go on then don’t let me hold you up.” he said.
Back in her apartment, the same update that had been rolled out at work had seized her personal computer as well. Thinking she had time for a nap, she rolls herself a joint and smokes it on the balcony. The air is still but a comfortable temperature. Gillian, the nosy old lady from next door was glaring at Danny.
“It’s medical! I promise.” Danny said, before she guiltily put it out and went back inside.
With her computer update still stuck at 57%, she lies down and closes her eyes. After a few moments Danny begins to dream.
Danny’s consciousness finds itself in a realm resembling an old 1980s video game. There is dark void with simple geometric 3D shapes with shading. She has no body, but when she thinks about moving the objects in this dimension they respond to her thoughts. Across the void, many shapes begin to converge on where Danny had placed her attention. Spheres, arches, ramps, cylinders and many others begin to move together and form a complex super shape.
“Insurance heroes! Let us save you!” played at full volume with accompanying music, shaking the windows of the small apartment and causing Danny to jump onto her feet. Realising her computer must have finished updating and resumed her last session, she walks over and looks out the window. It was dark out now.
Danny began to think about the odd dream with the moving shapes. It was inexplicable and she couldn’t quite explain it but somehow she now knew how to solve her integration problem. With the extra rest from the nap, Danny worked through the night until the afternoon the next day. Messages on her phone had piled up, but she’d reassured her line manager everything was fine.
With the last bit of work done, Danny took her hormones and went to bed.
A vast battlefield with two sides – human wizards and their allies versus an invading force of giant trolls. A group of hybrid trolls allied with humans is running through the battlefield with chains, attempting to bring down the giants by binding their legs. The battle is fierce.
“We’re pushing this crystal to maximum m’lady! I’m afraid if we go any harder it will explode and kill us all.” shouted Gyedolf, the dwarven wizard had been assigned to Princess Danica as an advisor but she’d convinced him to travel with her to the frontlines to help with the war.
Princess Danica trusted Gyedolf’s judgement, but she had just learned how to channel her power thanks to the teachers of Sister Magdelena of the Arcane Order.
“Do you trust me, lord wizard?” asked the princess as she stared intently.
“Aye, if I let you die on this battle field I’m good as dead anyhow” replied the wizard in jest.
Danica smiled and began the incantation, bright orange magic circles with runic symbols began to appear out of the words coming out of her mouth and moved into position around the crystal in the center of the carriage.
As she speaks the last word, a third eye made of light opens on her forehead and shoots an intense white light into the crystal which shoots upwards into the sky and splits into six colours.
On the battlefield outside the royal carriage, horseback archers are attempting to divert the enemy from the newly arrived princess. Hybrid trolls of only a quarter size are the closest they have to combat the pure bred giant trolls of the other side. To make things worse, the giants are all wearing full plate armour making them hard to attack.
A bubble filled with wizards is flying through the battlefield and casting spells in every direction. Healing spells, fireballs, and more flitter out of the protective spell like a pyromaniacs fireworks display. A giant troll attempts to swat them but the bubble strafes to the side immediately and erects a local barrier that inverts the giants inertia. With the force of his strike reflected back into his hand, he is knocked sidewards with massive concussive force and his armour loosens. The surrounding archers immediately aim their arrows at the gaps in his armour.
A darkness appears to envelop the battlefield, but it isn’t darker – an immense bright white light emerges from the top of the royal carriage and splits into six colours coiled on themselves and twisted into a spiral resembling a hexagon. The hexametric helix of light twists upward into the sky and then stops, moving like a tentacle. Despite this incredible spectacle, the battle rages on unabated.
“I see them, I see all of them!” shouted Danica, excited that the spell had worked and not blown the carriage killing herself and her loyal servant.
“Great, now kill them!” shouted an excited Gyedolf, he was both happy and terrified of what he was witnessing.
The rainbow tentacle begins to spasm around and then moves like a bullwhip, beginning to crack in the direction of the closest giant trolls. After a few swings, one finally connects and splits the giant in two along his waist. The two halves of the bisected behemoth come crashing down as panicked archers evacuated to get away from the falling debris.
In moments, the tentacle takes out another giant troll. And then another. The giant trolls turn their attention to the carriage and head towards it hoping to crush whatever is causing this. As they all stride towards it and close in, tentacle swings straight up and then around in a circle. In an instant, every giant’s head comes sliding off and immense amounts of blood and viscera begin to rain down on the ground. The battle is won.
Danny wakes up feeling exhausted with really dry sandy eyes. She remembers she had quite the dream but can’t remember any of the details. It was three in the afternoon, she had overslept. Maybe just enough time to login to work and check her messages she thought. In her inbox, the first email “TERMINATION NOTICE: IMMEDIATE EFFECT” gave her a scare, she thought she was in the clear after giving her manager the work yesterday. Then she remembered and was immediately beginning to dread talking to Charles in the lobby. It was always the same with these private school executive types, they act like they cared about work life balance but only said what they had to for optics and performative politics.
Upon opening the email, her heart raced and she began to laugh at the amazing coincidence. Charles had been caught soliciting underage prostitutes in the Philippines and had been terminated by the company. His name had been listed in the files of a famous pedophile whose records were being released by the Department of Justice.
Realising the workplace was probably going to be abuzz and quite pleasant without Charles there, Danny gets ready to head into the office for some late afternoon/evening work.
As she makes her way down the path to work, the sun is setting along the lake and setting the sky ablaze with colours. Danny spots the couple from the day before, and without the other realising, both of them wink at her. Thinking they were signalling eagerness, Danny blushes and looks away. She really wasn’t interested in pursuing something like that today.
In the office, things are mixed and not as happy as Danny expected. Some people are scared that the company may get investigated and even shut down due to being connected to Charles. The police had been in the building earlier to collect Charles’s belongings as evidence. Lawyers had sent letters to all staff advising them the company had done the right thing and that anyone who had concerns should come forward.
Realising she is still exhausted, her mind filled with images of rainbow colours, Danny makes a beeline for the coffee machine.
Beautiful espresso poured into the white porcelain cup, the pure clean smell of fresh coffee filled Danny’s lungs and made her relax until she’s interrupted.
“Hey, about what I said about coffee being addictive.. I’m sorry it wasn’t my place” said Stacey.
“Oh that’s ok, I’ve heard it all before don’t you worry.” quipped Danny, ready to be assaulted again.
“Look, I know I haven’t been fair to.. You heard the news about Charles?”.
“Yes, it’s pretty fucked up hey.” replied Danny.
“Yeah… I’ll be honest though I’m glad he’s gone. I didn’t feel safe reporting to that creep and I think it affected the way I treated you.. I’m so sorry Danny” explained Stacey, with tears forming in her eyes as she began to struggle to speak.
“It’s alright. We can all be difficult when we’re wearing a mask. I know that better than others, trust me” said Danny, referring to a secret she wasn’t ready to tell.
“Can I.. Is it ok if I give you a hug?” asked Stacey. Realising Stacey was actually quite sad, Danny felt obliged.
“Sure”.
As Stacey put her arms around Danny she whispers “Us queer girls have to stick together. And if you want, maybe we could grab a coffee together sometime…”.
“Why don’t we grab one right now?” said Danny, her heart filled with warmth.
The smell of dry leaves permeated the still autumn evening as Danny and Stacey made their way out of the office building and into the small village town of Cupertino California. They sat at a table under a willow tree, facing the lake. A family of ducks were sleeping a stone’s throw away. They spent the evening talking, sharing stories and enjoying each other’s company.