Becoming the Dragon

Part 1: Portal Voyager Part 2

Andy's friends were waiting for him when he arrived home from the hospital. They all gathered around, filled with questions. First on the list, had the lightning awoken anything supernatural in him?

No! He thought gloomily, I can't read minds, see the future or communicate with the spirits of the dead. What a crock! I was struck by lightning and don't even get anything out of it!

It wasn't long, however, before Andy learned the lightning had left a rather unusual effect behind. As soon as he sat down at or lingered near a computer, it would slow down and freeze up. The television flickered with static if he came within 5 feet of it. Andy was forced to withdraw permanently from his lifelong love of gaming. He could never have expected such a cruel blow from Mother Nature. A scar on his neck was one thing—complete with bragging rights and a sort of war story—but to be sentenced to life without computers? That was punishment fit for the wretched.

When it became clear he could no longer use a computer, Andy fell into a deep melancholy. He felt his life was over and transformed almost overnight from a happy goofball to a pensive guy with an intense, piercing gaze.

In time, he realized he had no choice but to accept his new life and rediscover the world around him. Books (so many books!), his bicycle, rollerblades, the gym in the evening, and, oddly enough, even a passion for ... cooking.

One afternoon, Andy was idling around the house alone. His younger sister, Allison, was at daycare, and his older one, Jenny, was at a friend's house. His parents were at work. He was starting to feel restless, and in order to distract his mind and save himself from an attack of melancholy, he decided to leaf through a cookbook. Then the idea occurred to him to try cooking something—all by himself.

His first attempt at a meal was an eggplant-based lasagna, constructed mainly from leftover veggies in the fridge, and the result was mouthwatering! For a long time, his mother couldn't believe he had prepared something so delicious on his first try. She had expected him to be like Jenny, who was capable of producing passable scrambled eggs at best.

For the next month, the family spent all of their spare money on various groceries and ingredients so Andy could prepare new and exciting culinary delights. Ally, a very picky eater, suddenly devoured the dishes her older brother prepared, dirtying both cheeks in the process and gaining three pounds as a result. Jenny threw her diet out the window and joined her younger sister in the feasting. They teased each other about who could put on weight the fastest.

And there was no question their parents loved Andy's cooking. His father joked that his son could make a salad out of nothing. Still, Andy soon tired of his cooking phase and took to new hobbies, such as renovating the guest room to make it livable again. The added upside was his own space, since sharing a room with his little sister had become awkward and sleeping on the living room couch wasn't very appealing either.

Next, he tried sports to distract his ever-busy mind. He retrieved an old bicycle from the garage and fixed it up, and repaired some broken roller blades. Andy began to spend all of his time outside, convincing his friends, Sam and Sasha, to join him. Instead of Counter Strike and Call of Duty, Andy persuaded the boys to experience skating in the park and the real-to-life world of paintball.

It was after one particularly gruelling game of paintball that Andy first encountered Sergey, and his life took yet another unexpected sharp turn.

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