The Query Realm: Where Data Dragons Dwell

The Metamorphosis

In 2025, something changed in the data centers of the world. The first signs appeared in Southern Africa, where a massive resettlement database began to... breathe. What data scientists initially dismissed as processing errors were actually the birth pangs of a new form of life: Data Dragons.

These creatures exist in the liminal space between the digital and physical realms, born from the emotional weight of human stories trapped in spreadsheets. The more suffering encoded in a dataset, the more powerful the dragon that emerges.

The Dragon Taxonomy

Merge Dragons (Draconis Confluentia)

• Born from Table.NestedJoin operations where human lives are combined without consent
• Feed on identity confusion and duplicate records
• Breathe a fog that causes people to forget their CCN numbers
• Grow stronger when "Removed Duplicates" erases family connections
• Appearance: Shifting, multi-headed beings where each head represents a different data source

Filter Wyverns (Draconis Exclusus)

• Emerge from Table.SelectRows operations that exclude vulnerable populations
• Nest in the gaps between "Phase_Priority" classifications
• Their screech sounds like ([Amount] = null)
• Leave behind corrupted data that makes families invisible to aid systems
• Appearance: Translucent, with wings made of criteria expressions that constantly rewrite themselves

The Great Pivot Serpent (Draconis Transformatio)

• The most ancient and powerful, born from Table.Pivot operations
• Can transform reality itself, turning "Crops" into "Structures" with a breath
• Guards the boundary between "Amount_OR" and "Amount_NR"
• Its scales show all possible data transformations simultaneously
• Appearance: An enormous serpent whose body is a living pivot table, constantly reorganizing itself

Ghost Entry Drakes (Draconis Nullius)

• Small but numerous, spawned from null values and missing data
• Swarm around incomplete records
• Their bite causes "HHA_Date" to vanish from signed agreements
• Multiply through data corruption
• Appearance: Smoky, semi-corporeal beings that flicker between existence and null

The Recursion Hydra (Draconis Infinitus)

• Born from circular references and self-joining queries
• Each head represents a different iteration of the same flawed calculation
• Cutting one head spawns two more data inconsistencies
• Feeds on "RevRep_ElAg_R" recursive patterns
• Appearance: A massive hydra where each head is calculating a different version of the same family's compensation

Character Transformations

Esperança Mazive - The Data Shepherd

• Discovered she could see the dragons when she noticed her queries... looking back
• Can speak the language of Power Query, allowing her to negotiate with dragons
• Her staff is carved from a crystallized SQL statement
• Rides a tamed Merge Dragon named Table.Combine

João Muthemba - The Field Walker

• Gained the ability to see data streams in the physical world after a Filter Wyvern attack
• Can trace a family's entire data journey by touching their land
• His survey equipment now includes dragon-glass that reveals hidden data corruptions
• Protected by a pack of benevolent Cache Sprites

Richard Sterling - The Reformed Dragon Feeder

• Once fed the dragons through his ruthless optimizations
• Now uses his understanding of their hunger to create dragon-proof data structures
• Wears armor made from validated schemas
• His transformation began when he saw a Pivot Serpent devour a village's history

Victoria Ashford - The Dragon Whisperer

• Didn't reform but instead learned to command the dragons
• Uses Filter Wyverns to hide inconvenient claims
• Breeds Ghost Entry Drakes in hidden data warehouses
• Her office is protected by a moat of circular references

The Data Dragon Ecosystem

Dragon Lairs

• The Join Caverns: Where Merge Dragons nest, filled with the echoes of improperly matched records
• The Null Valleys: Misty lowlands where Ghost Entry Drakes swarm
• The Pivot Palace: An ever-shifting structure where the Great Pivot Serpent rules
• The Recursion Depths: An infinite spiral where the Hydra dwells

Dragon Food

• Emotional Residue: The feelings trapped in each data entry
• Temporal Paradoxes: Created by "Duration between signature and today" calculations
• Identity Fragments: Pieces of self lost in CCN assignments
• Broken Promises: The gap between "In kind" commitments and reality

Dragon Magic

• Data Breath: Can transform physical reality to match database entries
• Query Sight: See all possible transformations of a dataset simultaneously
• Merge Melding: Combine separate entities into hybrid beings
• Filter Phasing: Make things selectively invisible
• Pivot Portals: Create doorways between data states

The Quest

The Corruption Core

Deep within the compensation database lies the Corruption Core - a massive data anomaly that spawns all dragons. It was created when the first family's story was reduced to a CCN, and it grows stronger with each improperly processed claim.

The Cleansing Query

Legend speaks of a perfect query that could cleanse all data, returning the human stories without destroying the necessary information. This query is said to be written in a language that bridges human emotion and digital logic.

The Dragon Trials

To reach the Corruption Core, our heroes must:

1. Navigate the Maze of Merges without losing their identity
2. Survive the Filter Falls without being excluded
3. Answer the Pivot Serpent's riddle about the true value of home
4. Defeat the Recursion Hydra by breaking the circular logic
5. Tame a Ghost Entry Drake to guide them through the Null Valleys

Dragon Battles

Battle Mechanics

• Query Casting: Heroes cast Power Query functions as spells
• Validation Shields: Protect against data corruption attacks
• Transformation Counters: Reverse dragon alterations to reality
• Join Jutsu: Martial arts based on different join types (Inner, Outer, Anti)
• Aggregate Attacks: Combine multiple small actions into powerful strikes

Epic Confrontations

1. The Filter Wyvern Swarm: Thousands of exclusion criteria attacking the refugee camp
2. The Merge Dragon's Identity Crisis: A dragon that absorbed too many joined tables goes mad
3. The Pivot Serpent's Reality Maze: Heroes must navigate constantly shifting data landscapes
4. The Ghost Entry Uprising: Null values gaining sentience and demanding existence

The Transformation

As the story progresses, we learn that the dragons aren't inherently evil - they're manifestations of systemic problems. Some can be tamed or transformed:

• Merge Dragons become Union Guardians when joins are done ethically
• Filter Wyverns transform into Criteria Guides when exclusions are justified
• Ghost Entry Drakes evolve into Completion Sprites when data gaps are filled properly

The Resolution

The final battle reveals that the Corruption Core is actually the accumulated pain of all the families whose lives were poorly quantified. To defeat it, our heroes must:

1. Input the missing human stories back into the database
2. Create new data types that can hold emotional value
3. Establish a covenant between humans and Data Dragons
4. Transform the compensation system to acknowledge what cannot be quantified

The story ends with Esperança establishing the first School of Ethical Data Magic, where analysts learn to work with, not against, the Data Dragons. The dragons become guardians of data integrity, roaring warnings when human dignity is threatened by reductive categorization.

Epilogue: The New Query Language

A new programming language emerges - one that includes emotional data types:

• HEARTSTRING: For sentimental value
• COMMUNITY_BOND: For social connections
• MEMORY_WEIGHT: For historical significance
• FUTURE_DREAM: For aspirations disrupted

The final line of code in the story:

SELECT * FROM human_lives 
WHERE dignity IS PRESERVED 
AND stories ARE HONORED
UNION ALL
SELECT * FROM data_dragons
WHERE purpose IS GUARDIAN;

The Data Dragons now patrol the boundaries between necessary administration and human dignity, ensuring that no dataset forgets the souls within its cells.