I remember very little about my life before. I only remember how very exhausted I was after hatching, and that there were many, many other dragons around me. One of them, who as I recall looked rather ancient, passed by at some point and upon seeing me, spoke the word, "Zynthyx," which I now gather was my given name. I do not remember who my parents were, although I do remember a few brothers and sisters emerging from their own eggs around mine.As I said, I was very exhausted after hatching, and the slumber that followed must have been so very deep as to have kept me from waking up while I was being transported. I know not how long I slept; all I do know is that when I awoke, I was faced with a drastically different world than the one I faced at my birth.
Gone were the other dragons. Gone were the other eggs, including my cozy, broken little shell. Wobbling, I pulled myself up onto my feet for the very first time. My eyes slowly adjusted to the sunlight; my feet, to the hot sand beneath them. I surveyed my surroundings.
The land at first seemed barren and lifeless, then I noticed a bipedal creature who appeared to be occupied with a small, wooden cube. The bipedal rotated it, resized it, seemingly examining it with some degree of intensity. Then its eyes fell on me, and the box was forgotten.
It approached, and my instincts commanded me to retreat.
I had not learned to run yet, but when in a state of panic, one learns quickly. Scanning the horizon, I noticed a lone building with crawlspace underneath. I made my way to it, as fast as my still-weak newborn legs could take me.
"Hey! You!" I heard someone yell.
I peered out from the shadows. Another bipedal! This one looked different - hairier. It was what I would later find out was referred to as a "furry." It appeared to be a wolf, but stood on two legs and wore clothing, like the first bipedal, a human, who was still pursuing me.
"Hey, I'm trying to build a house. Do you mind?" this second bipedal, the furry, said.
My human pursuer arrived at the creation in progress and turned to the furry. "Did you see that?"
"Well, I saw something scurry underneath the house I'm building. I'm trying to get it to come out."
"It was a tiny dragon!"
"A tiny dragon? You mean, a griefer built a tiny dragon, programmed to interfere with building?"
"No, no, no...this was real. It was alive. It was an avatar."
Griefer? Avatar? Little did I know this was only a prelude into all the words I would hear that I had yet to comprehend.
"Hmm," said the furry. "Let's see who it is."
And in a moment, the furry lifted the entire house and set it afloat in the air. What incredible strength! I cowered before the two bipedals, my hiding place now snatched away from me.
"Amez Unplugged," the human pronounced. "Well, hello, Amez."
Amez? Who was Amez? I thought my given name had been Zynthyx.
My confused look gave me away.
"Amez," said the furry. "You do know your own name, correct?"
"Maybe Amez doesn't speak English," said the human. "Habla Espanol? Konichiwa? ...Bon Appetit?"
"Bon Appetit?" the furry looked disgruntled.
"I thought it was worth a try..."
I began to realize that perhaps the bipedals were not going to harm me, and I gained the courage to speak.
"Zynthyx," I muttered.
"What did you say?" asked the furry.
"Zynthyx. My name is Zynthyx."
"But...but your name says Amez Unplugged," the human stated.
"At least, that is what your avatar name says," the furry added.
I cocked my head in confusion.
The furry sighed. "Look above your head."
I did as the furry said, and much to my surprise, I saw the label floating above. It indeed read, "Amez Unplugged."
"But I am Zynthyx!" I exclaimed in frustration.
The human chuckled. "Okay, okay, you're Zynthyx. I am Sapphira Diesel."
"And I am Evan Naidoo," said the furry. "According to your profile, you must be a newbie. This is the sandbox, where many of us come to build and create things. Do you need any help?"
They had no idea how much help I really needed. I had no idea how I got here, where "here" even was, and why I had been left here.
There were a million questions and very, very few answers.
