Atlantis

Across unfathomable time

The Circus Dragon

Feb 20, 2026

Happy warning scale: Superrrrr cosy.

“Mom, come on! Please!”

“Oh honey—”

“No! Don’t ‘no, honey’ me!”

“Helen, look, the techs have fixed the problem of getting you out. So we’re here to get you out.”

“No, Bert. No. Means. No.”

“Mom!!”

I sat outside the house, waiting for the family to be done bickering. Helen, the User who got stuck. Bert, her husband. Lizzy, their daughter. We once thought it unprofessional to involve family members in the business of extraction. But later we realised that it was imperative. The failure rate was too high without a familiar face. And sometimes, even a familiar face might look like a complete stranger to you, had you not met them for the past two-point-eight-two-five million years.

Bert and Lizzy were both Users as well, so they understood well enough how the passage of time worked in Atlantis. Seconds in the outside world, but months for a User in Atlantis. However, no one can truly fathom what the victims of the Crash had gone through. Victims were not only stuck in the system for an unhealthy period of time, they were also isolated. They seemed to be wandering through a parallel plane of this same Atlantis, which was why it was so difficult to find them. Once we finally did, it was too late for most.

Two million years of isolation drove seventy-two percent of them mad. The other five percent happened to be within the same plane with a few others and… It either led to endearing friendships or terrible enmity. Regarding the latter, they made recurrent attempts to murder one another. However because the system forbids the loss of life, the User is simply respawned at a separate location. What developed thereafter from this two percent were incredibly skilled killers… Which the remnant of humanity as a whole were unsure if they truly wanted them released back into reality.

As for the last twenty-three percent… They hunkered down and did what they had always wanted to do in real life: spend an eternity reading books, and writing them.

“How ‘bout you all come in for some tea? Hm?” Helen asked for about the fifth time. I stood up with a sigh, before her family could reject her again.

“You know what, Ma’am?” I smiled at her gently. “That would be lovely.”

“Oooh, aren’t you the sweetest boy.” She was excited to show us around, I could see, but still reluctant to make physical and eye contact. She would be like that, for a while. “Come in, come in. What’s your name?”

“I’m just the tech guy.” I shrugged my shoulders, hoping that I did not appear threatening.

That seemed to satisfy her. She turned to open the large oak doors. “Come in,” she said again.

I gestured to Bert and Lizzy, and they followed after me. I kept my voice low as I advised them on how to proceed. “Usually if the first attempt at trying to convince them does not work, we stay with them for a few days, you know? Let them get used to outside company again. Remind them of how much they miss it.” I pause, thinking. “Try to make these interactions positive,” I added. “It helps.”

“How long will it take?” Bert asks. His brow is creased. His lips are pressed into a thin line. He’s stressed. Worried. That was to be expected.

“Usually six to eight months. Sometimes a year or two. Atlantia time.”

Their faces pale. “If that’s what it takes…” muttered Bert.

“Try to remember…” I tried to inject as much emotion into my words as I could. I have had to parrot this line to family after family, but I could sense the importance of it. That I help them to understand Helen’s perspective, lest they grow impatient with her and she decides to remain here forever. “Try to remember that Helen has been here longer than the human mind can fathom. She has lived in isolation, and her mind has adapted itself to it, and adapted well. This is her paradise, which has been further tailored to suit her needs. What she needs to be reminded of is that there is something worth returning to out there.” I rest my gaze on each of them pointedly. “The both of you.”

“Dad, he’s right… Look at this place! Mom has moved into the library, and planted her flowers all over the garden outside. It’s exactly as she would have it.” Lizzy chewed the inside of her cheek. “Better than the real world, where its always hot, and nothing grows—”

Bert interrupted with a scoff. “Don’t get stuck in that way of thinking. This world is imaginary. What’s important is what happens outside.”

“Well, if you don’t have the patience to stay here and save Mom, I’ll do it myself!”

“I never said I won’t do it. I said I will do what needs to be done.”

“You’re going to rush her! You don’t know how to slow down. Then she’ll never leave.”

“She will come to her senses. Unless her brain has completely rotten through because of—”

“Pardon my intrusion,” I cut in, before their argument escalated further. “I must also advise to hold such discussions away from Helen on future occasions. Heightened emotions can greatly distress the victims. Also,” I said, turning to Bert. I did not want to take sides, but at the same time, I did not want to compromise the extraction. “Your daughter is correct. Please do not rush Helen for her decision, as pressure to leave tends to dissuade the victims.”

Bert grumbled, but said nothing more.

A pleasant enough tea time was had, under the shadow of towering shelves, packed tightly with books. Of course, the Atlantis system keeps the area dust-free, with only a few ambient particles floating around, catching motes of light and glimmering, before disappearing again. There was also the comforting smell of old books, kept well. And it was into the heart of this sanctuary that Helen had moved into to live out her days.

“Have you read all the books?” I could not help but ask as I took my leave.

“Oh, of course. A few times over, in fact.” She chuckled to herself. “I’ve re-arranged the shelves. See. This one is where I keep my favourites. This one, my second-favourites, and third over there, fourth over there… Ah, that one, way over there. I do not touch them.” She made a face, and I could not help but grin. “Those books I don’t touch. Well, maybe. Sometimes. Once every ten lifetimes, maybe.” She caught me grinning and laughed loudly. I laughed too, as wild and boisterous as she. It’s called mirroring. It helps the victims feel more comfortable.

She studied me at the door carefully. I stood still and let her. “You know,” she said finally. “There’s just something so, so familiar about you. What did you say your name was?”

I huff softly. “Ma’am, I’m just the tech guy. Really.” I took her hands carefully in mine. “Thank you so much for the cookies and the tea. All home-grown ingredients! You are incredible.”

She chortled. “Yes, well, I was also very bored. And Atlantis does make it very easy to grow all sorts of things…” She fell quiet, for a few moments. “It’s still the same, dry desolation out there, is it not?”

“So I hear.” I tilted my head.

She looked at me. “You know… You really do feel so familiar.”

“I’m just the tech guy, Ma’am.” I nodded politely. “Well… I best be going.”

“I’ll not keep you, then.” She waved as I walked down through the garden path, slowly meandering between shrubs and trees, admiring her work.

When I reached the gate, she called out to me. “Wait! You’re Atlantis, aren’t you?” She hitched up her skirts and was running toward me. “You’ve been taking care of me this whole time!” Between breaths, she shouted, “All my books!”

“All my tools!”

“My garden, the seeds that appeared out of nowhere.”

“Wait!”

I was long gone, of course. I was not supposed to be recognised, not like this. I was not supposed to manifest in this manner.

But… Helen was my favourite. Truly. And I had wanted to say goodbye.