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Gev, Rax, and Xathlor grab bubble tea and go for a walk, talking about their Draconic nature, diving into the depths of what has happened to their minds...



Gev took another sip of tea. He’d opted not to go for pearls this time. He found they weren’t as enjoyable without Human molars to chew them with. That didn’t seem to deter Rax or Xathlor though. They somehow happily chewed their pearls as they walked along the downtown sidewalk. Gev wasn’t jealous of their strange ability to do that, and definitely didn’t order his tea 100% sweet just to make up for the lack of tapioca.

“I’ve been trying for months now to push for an increase in the standard height of ceilings and doors to better accommodate modded individuals, but the Humans are stuck in their ways, as ever…”

Xathlor had been going on for a while now about the minutiae of his career as an architect. Gev had tuned out a few minutes ago. Or maybe half an hour? It difficult to say, but judging by the fact that his tea was more than half empty, it had been a while.

“They acted as though I were suggesting we rebuild every structure in existence to be large enough to fit a Dragon.” Xath continued.

Rax grunted in agreement. Gev was half sure Rax wasn’t really listening either, but he generally seemed to agree with anything that cast Humans in a negative light.

“Something about that though…” Xath paused, his tone thoughtful.

“Hmm? What?” Gev asked, not entirely sure what he was inquiring about, or if he had enough tea left to get through the answer.

“Everything being built at the scale of Dragons. That’d be just a foot or two taller, mind you. Something about that just feels strangely right… It feels like…”

“That feeling we all got at the meetup?” Gev finished for him.

“Yes, actually. Though it seems strange that thinking about architecture of all things would trigger that.” Xath replied.

“Maybe it’s not about the buildings.” Rax said. “Maybe it’s about Humans being in their place.” He glared at a passing Human on the sidewalk, causing them to shrink down noticeably and hurry along their way in the opposite direction.

Gev found the statement a bit concerning, as he often did when Rax got onto the subject of his feelings toward Humans. Though he had to admit, something about the idea of places built specifically for Dragons did bring about a small measure of that feeling of rightness to him as well.

“That’s a bit of an… Interesting way of putting that.” Xath said carefully. “The idea of building a city specifically tailored to the needs of Dragons does sound like an interesting problem to solve though.”

“Didn’t you say you saw a Dragon city or something when you were knocked out at the meetup yesterday?” Rax asked, blunt as ever.

Xathlor thought for a moment before replying, trying to think back. “It was all blurry and vague, but I think so, yes. As I said before, I saw what I think was a city of some kind from the air. I’m certain I was flying at that point.”

That finally caught Gev’s attention. “Do you remember anything else from the… Dream?” He wasn’t quite sure how else to describe what the others seemed to be experiencing.

“I recall speaking with other Dragons. Not any of the words or faces, just vague dreams or memories of conversation. That, and building things, I think.”

“Building things? That’s like, weirdly specific and super vague at the same time.” Rax said with a laugh.

“Yes I know, it’s difficult to describe.” Xath replied, completely glossing over the strangeness of what he’d just said. “It’s kind of like when you can remember what you were thinking during a normal dream. It makes sense in the moment, but when you wake up you realize it was all just part of the dream and complete nonsense. In those dreams I just remember… Building things, somehow.”

“Like, you were a construction worker or something?” Gev asked.

“Hmm no… I think I was both planning and executing on whatever it was I was making at the same time. It felt similar to when I first started learning about architecture actually.”

“That… Doesn’t make a lot of sense.” Gev confessed. Xathlor already had a tendency to describe things in a way that was confusing to anyone not already familiar with the subject. It probably didn’t help that he was describing a half remembered vision on top of that.

Xathlor laughed. “No I suppose not, but hopefully I can have more of those dreams, perhaps even remember more of them.”

“So building stuff is a cool tangent and all, but were there any humans in those dreams?” Rax asked.

Xathlor paused for a moment to think. “No, actually. I don’t think so. Only Dragons. I barely remember anything though, so it’s hard to say for sure. Even so, the idea of a society of Dragons somehow feels in line with what I experienced.”

Gev wasn’t sure how to feel about that. The Dragon part of him lit up at the thought, that rightness thrumming softly within him at the thought of a society built by and for dragons. His Human upbringing seemed to contradict that feeling though. Didn’t Humans themselves perfectly demonstrate the problem with structuring societies in ways that explicitly favoured one group over another?

“I don’t know… Humans have done that sort of thing a lot of times in the past, and it always went badly. Is that really something we’d want to emulate?” Gev asked. He felt a tension within him as he spoke, something that tried to push him away from voicing dissent to what Xath was describing.

Rax grunted and spoke reluctantly. “I guess you have a point… Humans have done some pretty fucked up shit. They do that a lot.”

Xath, however, seemed unperturbed by Gev pushing back on the idea or a Draconic society. “That’s exactly the problem. They’re Humans. They discriminate against one another. Do anything to benefit themselves. Dragons are inherently different, and a society of Dragons wouldn’t fall prey to the same problems as the societies Humans have created throughout history.”

"But… How do you know? Like, are we so different from humans that you can be sure?" Gev asked uncertainly. Something about what he was saying felt inherently wrong somehow though, and Rax eyed him sideways at the remark.

Xath didn’t seem to mind, in fact he seemed to enjoy explaining this to Gev. "Well, we are different. You already feel it don't you? That feeling you get when you surround yourself with other Dragons, when you see yourself more and more fully realized. Try to imagine exploiting or even harming another Dragon in the way Humans do to one another all the time." He looked at Gev knowingly, as slight smile on his face.

Gev decided to humour him, and tried to imagine attacking Xathlor in his mind's eye. The image was strangely vivid. In his mind, he raised his arm and tried to claw at Xath. His body immediately locked up, and he was overwhelmed by a feeling of intense nausea, regret, and shame all at once. The feeling was so strong that it translated to the real world. He groaned slightly and put a hand to his stomach as he felt the nausea escape from his mind’s eye to his actual stomach.

Xath noticed his discomfort and gave him a slight smile. He seemed to know that would happen. His expression wasn’t one of malice though, but sympathy for the experience.

Gev decided to try again, but this time tried to imagine exploiting another Dragon somehow, rather than simply attacking one. Again, his capacity to envision something in his mind's eye was strangely acute.

This time he tried to imagine giving a Dragon a highly addictive drug with the goal of selling more to them later. It was obviously a very contrived thought, but he was still able to clearly envision the small bag of unspecified white powder, and the green scaled dragon he intended to give it to. He opted not to think of one of his friends this time. Perhaps thinking of a Dragon that didn't actually exist would change things?

In his mind, he tried to hand over the substance to the imaginary Dragon. Once again, was hit by the same feeling of nausea, shame, and regret. His body locked up just as before, and the mental image shattered, his mind rejecting it in its entirety. He couldn't put a name to the feeling, but it felt like the polar opposite to the feeling of rightness he’d often experienced since his transformation. Something about that seemed significant, but without understanding more about both feelings, he couldn't say what.

Xath chuckled softly as Gev's discomfort was made plain to see on his face. "You see? The same thing would happen if you actually tried whatever it was you just envisioned, rather than just imagining it. It seems that it's physically impossible for one of us to harm another. I do wonder if there are any complications that might arise from that though…” Xath’s gaze became distant as he considered the ramifications of the strange compulsion not to harm another dragon.

Gev broke into his reverie. “So… Why exactly do you think this happened? Like, isn’t it really really weird that I can’t punch Rax in the face?”

“Hey!” Rax looked annoyed, but a grin soon split his face. “I mean, I’d probably want to punch me too. Huh, I wonder if I can punch myself?”

“Okay maybe don’t test out that theory, Rax.” Gev said with a wry grin.

“Hmm, he probably can’t do it anyway.” Xath interjected, his focus back on the two of them. “As for why this happened? That I can’t explain. The results are clear though. We all feel the same sense of rightness that pushes us to realize ourselves and those around us as Dragons.” He explained. “Conversely, there’s a sense of wrongness when we move in the opposite direction or harm another Dragon.”

“How the hell did you even figure that out?” Rax cut in.

“Meditation, mostly.” Xath replied.

Rax paused for a moment, then laughed. “Meditation? You don’t seem like the kind of guy to reach nirvana.”

“I’m not. It’s simply something I’ve done for years to help with my focus while working.” Xath said, as if that were the most obvious thing in the world. Gev and Rax shared a quizzical glance, but let him continue.

“Anyway, I spent a lot of time exploring thoughts that felt right, so naturally I decided to try explore thinking about things that would make that feeling recede. I’d hoped to find a way to counteract the visions I’d been having, and it seemed to work for a time. Unfortunately, meditating wasn't enough to stop me from hallucinating when meeting a new Dragon.”

“Right, right that’s all very interesting,” Rax interrupted, “but why is it happening?”

Xath paused at that. “Hmm yes… That is the question isn’t it? I’m not a biologist, but I helped you get your mods Rax, and put together my own suite myself. I don’t know about yours Gev, but I suspect that nothing about any of the mods the three of us have would account for these… Feelings.”

They were all silent for a moment as they continued down the sidewalk. Cars drifted by on the road on near silent electric motors. A delivery robot trundled past, oblivious to their presence. Nearby Humans continued to give them a wide berth, as they always did.

“Okay, so…” Gev began slowly. “Any theories? We… Really should figure this out. Especially with Rax and Kai getting the worst of it.

Xath thought for a moment. “Nothing that would make any sense from a scientific standpoint… The only theory I have is that the visions I’m experiencing are true. That Dragons once existed, and we have somehow inherited their memories.”

Rax and Gev shared a concerned look.

“Uhh you sure about that?” Rax asked slowly.

“Yeah that’s… A pretty big logical leap.” Gev said. A logical leap was the kindest way he could think of to say completely insane.

Xath nodded. “Yes I realize that. Think about what we know so far though.” He began ticking off points one claw at a time.

“First, we all share the same sense of rightness when acquiring modifications, spending time in the company of other dragons, or simply thinking about realizing oneself as a dragon.”

Gev and Rax nodded slowly, they’d all experienced the same thing and it was certainly very strange. Concerning even.

“Second, the hallucinations that most of us experience occur in more or less the same circumstances. Either shortly after modification, or when coming into contact with another Dragon for the first time.”

More nodding. That was even more strange for sure. Hallucinations could be explained away as some kind of psychosis; the Human mind reacting badly to the body being modified so drastically. The proximity factor didn’t make any logical sense though.

“Third, the hallucinations are consistent across individuals.”

Rax looked over at Xath. “Uhh no, they’re not? None of you guys are literally dying every time this shit happens.”

Xath nodded. “Yes, exactly. I’ve been researching this pretty extensively the last few days, contacting as many other Dragons online as I could find.”

Rax chuckled at that. “And how many times did you get knocked out at your computer doing that?”

“None, actually. But that was something I was curious about too. It seems that physical distance is the key to invoking a hallucination. Contacting someone over the internet doesn’t have the same effect.”

“Okay sure, sure.” Gev interrupted. “But you said the hallucinations were consistent somehow?”

“Ah, right.” Xath replied, pulling back from his diversion. “As far as I can tell, there are four different types of hallucination. The majority are like you, Gev. They just black out for a moment. Nothing more.” Xath paused briefly to sip his tea.

“The next most common are those like me that see visions of being a Dragon, only more fully than any of us are. We see cities, places, other Dragons. All of it is indistinct, however.”

“Wish I could see that, sounds a hell of a lot better than…” Rax trailed off, shaking his head.

“Yes, of course…” Xath nodded. “Out of the seven hundred or so Dragons I spoke to…”

“Seven hundred?” Gev exclaimed.

Xath nodded, as though sending messages to hundreds of other Dragons online were a perfectly reasonable thing to do. “Yes, I had to be thorough. It turns out the number of Dragons that experience the sorts of hallucinations that Kai and Rax do is very small. Only two that told me they repeatedly experience the same vision of being killed, as Rax does. Three others that reported indistinct dreams of… Hunting, killing, and perhaps even being something else. They were understandably reluctant to talk about that until I described Kai’s experience.”

Gev let that sit for a moment, simply walking down the street with the others and sipping his tea. “Okay… So the rightness, the sameness of the hallucinations, and the fact that they occur with physical distance make you think these dreams you have might actually be memories?”

Xath nodded. “I know it’s strange, but everyone that I talked to that had visions like my own described very similar experiences. These dreams also somehow just… Feel like memories.”

That was an uncharacteristically strange thing for Xath to say. He usually stuck to facts and logic. Going off of a vague feeling was unusual for him.

“That’s the best explanation I can come up with, I think.” Xath continued. “Somehow, we’re connected to Dragons that lived long ago. At fist I thought these might be shared memories, or collective feelings that were passed from generation to generation. The fact that Rax and the others like him seem be describing an event that happened to a specific Dragon makes me think that these memories may actually be from specific individuals, however…”

“So no theories on how or why this happened?” Gev asked, trying to keep Xath from getting lost in details.

“None. We started as Humans, for whatever reason were driven to transform ourselves into Dragons, and now within the span of a few weeks we’ve all started to have these visions. Me and Kai were modded for years without any of this happening. The fact that it’s happening to Dragons all across the world in such a short timespan just convinces me further. Perhaps there’s something about us specifically that allowed this to happen. How else would you explain wanting to turn yourself into a Dragon? Isn’t that incredibly strange on it’s face?”

Rax chuckled. “You’ve not wrong. Most Humans think we’re ugly as fuck… Those ugly fucks.”

Gev laughed at that. “I suppose you have a point there. So then, what do we do with that conclusion then?”

“Continue pursuing more modifications.” Xath replied with a determined nod. “If we go further, these visions might become clearer. Perhaps we can learn more from them.”

Gev saw Rax look away slightly at that statement. If getting further mods meant that he’d be reliving the death of some long dead Dragon over and over, he didn’t envy him that. Gev apparently didn’t have much to look forward to himself either, with only a brief lapse in consciousness to mark what might have been entire memories to another.

Xath appeared to notice Rax’s discomfort. “If we’re lucky, maybe you’ll recover other memories, Rax. Your visions are more specific and clear than anyone else’s. We could learn a lot if you experience something different.”

Rax didn’t seem convinced. “I hope you’re right…” He said softly.

“Our next step should be to pursue getting wings through further modification, if that’s even possible. The thought of being able to fly…” Xath trailed off.

Gev took heart in that shared thought. Even if he probably couldn’t recover memories, the thought of taking to the skies was incredible. The feeling of rightness lit up anew within him as he envisioned himself with wings.

He closed his eyes and imagined it. Soaring over parks, swooping between skyscrapers, flying far above the city and out into the mountains beyond. That last bit came almost of it’s own accord, as though a part of him wanted to leave this place, perhaps to find that Draconic society they’d been talking about.

Gev knew that wasn’t reality though. The idea of a society of Dragons was ludicrous. Humans had claimed the entire planet. A nation state would never allow it’s Human citizens to form a micro-nation within it’s borders, and with how much control Aluria ceded to mega-corporations like Humanitech year by year, those organizations would surely crush any attempt at forming an alternative to life under their rule.

Rax broke into Gev’s train of thought. “Speaking of getting more mods… Amon should probably be done with his by now right? I haven’t heard anything from Kai yet, maybe we should pop in and see if he’s done? The clinic is pretty close to here.”

“Yeah you’re right, that’s a good idea. Let’s check in on them.” Gev replied. He hoped his tone didn’t betray his mood too badly. He couldn’t help thinking about what was happening to them all and what it meant. There was something about the idea of a Draconic culture and society that just felt right. It was the same rightness he felt when looking at himself in the mirror.

He just knew that dream was impossible to achieve, and the Human part of him told him it was wrong. Even so, he decided to try and let himself dream for just a moment anyway. He closed his eyes again, shutting out the people, cars, skyscrapers, and noise.

Gev tried to imagine something like what Xath had described. A city in the mountains, seen from above in the skies. And this time, he failed. He could envision himself flying through mountains with startling clarity. It was like he was really there, feeling the wind across his scales, soaring through the skies over snow capped peaks and tree lined valleys. It was so vivid he had to open his eyes after a moment just to make sure he wasn’t about to walk into traffic.

Rax and Xath were silent for now, probably thinking similarly depressing thoughts to his own. Gev closed his eyes again, and this time he tried to synthesize the Draconic city from what he knew, rather than some nebulous concept of what it should be. He soared in his mind’s eye now among glittering towers of glass and concrete, but where Humans built regular blocky shapes for the most part, these looked as though they were sculpted by wind and water.

Organic flowing stone shapes blended naturally into wide sweeping windows. He flew by one such structure, studded here and there with large balconies without railings. Dragon’s wouldn’t fear falling, of course. These balconies were simply how one entered and exited from whatever area they wished.

His mind drifted to how such structures would even function, and he saw windowless supply gondolas, narrow roads, and even a small train trundling up a slope. These strange features shifted and changed when he glanced away and back again. His mind wasn’t sure how to actually piece this place together, it wasn’t real. Just the impression of a city built for winged Dragons.

He swooped down onto a balcony. He was the same size and shape he was now, but he saw other Dragons here enjoying the crisp mountain air. They were larger than him. Much larger. At least twice his height, or more. And heavy. He couldn’t actually make out clear shapes or faces when he looked at them. But he got the impression that these creatures were immensely strong, their hulking bodies bristling with spines and armour.

Though he couldn’t make out their faces, they beckoned to him, and he knew they had nothing but kindness and warmth for him. He looked over his shoulder, trying to see the wings he’d flown in on, and strangely found nothing. He appeared exactly as he did in the waking world even though he’d somehow been soaring through the sky moments ago.

He noticed now that he was essentially child sized in comparison to this Draconic structure. It had distinctly modern Human finishes to it. Sliding glass doors, LED lights studded into the concrete balcony, high end triple-pane windows, and smooth bright concrete accented with steel filigree. Everything seemed normal, except for being over twice the scale of any structure he’d ever been in.

The towering, indistinct figures occupying the balcony fit into the space perfectly, and despite Gev being obviously not physically made for the space, they beckoned nonetheless. The welcomed him into their home, into their company. Though he couldn’t make anything out other than a vague impression of their height, size, and the huge wings folded at their backs, he felt nothing threatening from them despite their obvious physical power. He stepped forward, hoping that if he got closer, perhaps he could see more of who they were.

And crashed straight into a delivery robot that had blundered straight into his path.

“Shit!” Gev exclaimed, violently pulled back into the real world.

Rax laughed out loud at his misfortune, but smiled reassuringly after. He meant no harm by it, and Gev couldn’t help but smile back at his own foolishness. Walking down the street completely consumed in a daydream was obviously not a smart choice. Even so…

“Strangely vivid isn’t it?” Xath asked, as if reading his thoughts.

“Uh, yeah that’s… Actually pretty strange. I’ve never been able to just imagine things like that so clearly before.”

“And you’re sure you didn’t see anything when you blacked out the other day?” Xath asked.

Gev blinked in confusion at the question. “Absolutely. Why would that matter?”

“I found my ability to daydream and imagine things was enhanced not too long after being modded. When the visions started happening a few weeks ago, I found that they felt startlingly similar to when I would daydream like you just did. The only difference being that I had absolutely no control over what I was seeing, or when I would wake up.”

Gev nodded thoughtfully. “I tried to imagine a Dragon city, like you described.”

Xath perked up, his interest piqued. “Oh? I’ve tried to do the same, what happened?”

“I couldn’t do it. So I tried making it look more… Human. That worked, I guess because it's all I know. It just… Felt like I was missing something I needed to make it happen." Gev said regretfully. "What about you? You said you tried to do the same thing?"

Xath nodded. "Yes, I was able to imagine… Something. The entire place was just hazy and indistinct, like when you have a dream that you can't remember, even though I vividly recall the entire experience."

Gev thought for a moment. "There were other Dragons in my dream. They sounded like what you're describing. Weirdly indistinct while everything else around me was clear."

"Interesting… Would these Dragons happen to have been very… Large?" Xath asked.

Gev nodded. "So you saw the same thing then? Yeah, they were. It's weird… I could fly in the dream, but I looked exactly the same as I do now. No wings."

Rax scoffed. "I can fly in my dreams all the time! Been keeping a dream journal and doing it for years, even before getting modded. It's like, normal to me at that point!"

Gev smirked at him. "You have a dream journal?"

"What! You don’t want to dream about flying? What else are you gonna do at night?"

Xath chuckled softly. "I wouldn't be surprised if most of us find flying in our dreams quite natural. It might be something that pushed us to become Dragons in the first place."

Gev nodded. That made sense, he supposed. It…

What was that sound? Xath and Rax heard it too. A distant chorus of angry voices coming from somewhere up ahead of them. Some kind of protest or demonstration?

The three Dragons exchanged glances, then continued onward toward the source of the sound. The Humanitech clinic where Amon was supposed to be receiving his modifications, and where Kai had accompanied him…