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During the many decades required to finish this task, humanity’s scientists turned to cyber implantations and robotic splicing. Melding the brain and body to metallic bodies of resilient plastics and optic fibres, the human race gradually turned from being totally organic, into half-machines. This, though very gruesome to most in the beginning, gradually became accepted. Mind enhancing also grew, this being achieved by the attachment of several organic chips to one’s brain or strict programming of the mind. The organic chips, after serving their purpose of implanting the programming, would disintegrate. This process became more common than the latter, though the latter still existed for certain squeamish individuals.
After the rebuilding of the Network, it was made accessible to the public. However, unlike the first Network, this world was patrolled routinely by the CCG sections. The entire Network has since stabilised, any crimes or trouble generated within the Network dealt with through the CCG enforcers, humans with both mind enhancement and nearly total mechanical bodies.
The dragon groaned softly in his slumber, nearly awakening. Automatic scanners activated and made cursory but thorough checks of the organic systems. Everything showed up as per normal, except for extra brain activity within the left and right hemispheres. Outside the containment unit, a circuit within a control panel activated. Bulbs flickered in rapid activity, deducing the appropriate action within its programming. After a second of rapid checks and rechecks, the bulbs shut off, save one. A red bulb on the far left of the control board, it flashed, once every two seconds. Then, after a minute or so, it switched off.
His chest rising and falling gently with every breath, the dragon continued sleeping. Almost totally organic, the dragon possessed an enhanced skeleton, reinforced with the strongest metallic alloy. Despite the heaviness of the skeleton, the dragon did not seem encumbered by it. Muscles, unnoticed when relaxed, could support an undefined amount, its limits not yet found. His tail, thick at its base, tapered into whip-like thinness, strong enough to crack reinforced steel. Claws, naturally tough, were combined with iridium and platinum, the former for corrosion-resistance and the latter for strength. These were bonded into the skeleton, allowing the claws and bones to naturally produce this alloy within them as they grew.
The walls of the containment unit flickered as the bulb switched off. Then they faded, the energy powering them deactivated.
“Awaken, Relaeth!”
The dragon snorted, one red eye opening.
[Cut the theatrics, Kerner.]
The scientist had the decency to pretend to be chagrined. Standing, the black dragon stretched his body, hearing bones pop.
[This is good…]
Dr Kerner smirked at his colleague’s comment before tossing him a protein pack and fetching the report. The dragon gave him a grateful hiss before swallowing the entire tube. His back to Relaeth, the scientist turned around, hands full with the dragon’s recent equipment report.
“Let’s see… You want the long list, or the summary?”
[Summary, Dr. I can’t stand your embellishments even at my best, let alone now.]
The last scientist attached to Relaeth had threatened suicide or a transfer. He had claimed it was due to the acidic remarks the dragon often gave in generous amounts. Relaeth had just shrugged when questioned. To Dr Kerner privately, the frazzled scientist had given him a whole pack of earplugs and wished him luck. His exact words were: Hard luck, Kerner. Use these and you may just survive. The Dr shook his head and smirked to himself. The dragon just travelled along different lines than humans. Acidity, according to him, was just the other extreme of alkalinity and the dragon used both judiciously.
”Yes, Rela, your wish is my command.”
[No nicknames, Dr, unless you want to be known as Apple-core for the rest of your life.]
His threat was not empty, but Relaeth usually did not carry them out, although for him, usually was a bit too much of a stretch. He continued as though there was not any interruption.
“Your skeleton has been bonded to the platinum and iridium alloy, so have your claws. That’s about it.”
[That’s all?]
You could hear his incredulous tone in his telepathic words.
“The skeleton was the most major part, Relaeth. It required at least a good few hours worth of work just to make it. The bonding needed two days, continuous.”
[Fine. I concede to your great intellect. Now, what exactly did all these ‘bonding’ do to me?]
“Well… you can basically, take more concussive impact and still keep your body relatively intact. That doesn’t mean you can go jumping off roofs and still survive. Your organs are still breakable. You can deal with armour plating with your claws now, too.”
[Not too bad. Can do. Barely.]
Relaeth, buckling on his ether-link, left the laboratory. A few minutes later, Dr Kerner strode out and sighed. Activating his com-linkage, he waited a few seconds for Relaeth to answer.
“Relaeth, how many times are you going to leave your armour and stuff at my lab?”
Many of the scientists were glad that the late Dr Russov was late. Otherwise, there may have been more than one Relaeth to deal with. As it stood, the dragon was bad enough with his comments, not exactly spiteful, but barbed just enough to hurt. No one knew how to create another dragon and no one wanted to. The works of the brilliant scientist were destroyed in the unknown explosion that killed him a few hours after the creation of Relaeth. A lone scientist, no one else knew how exactly he had done it. Replications had failed, though it must be said that Relaeth had not been exactly co-operative.
Unfortunately, the higher-ups were not glad. Dr Russov had been a brilliant researcher, geneticist and scientist. A genius in these fields, he had been recruited into government service and soon, was working on the perfect soldier, the perfect enforcer. He had come up with Relaeth, inspired by the tales of dragons. As it was, they now only had one perfect soldier. Also, Dr Russov had done his work too well. Efforts to clone the dragon had resulted in unresponsive cells that refused to replicate and grow. They just lived. His DNA was coded within junk DNA, hidden within coils. The perfect soldier remained the perfect soldier, not the perfect soldiers or battalion. Just soldier.
However, even the perfect soldier could get injured or die. Relaeth had gotten in various scrapes that would have mutilated any normal person and survived, though sometimes barely. The scientists researching in the section were all the top-fields’ could boast of. He was the government’s golden boy as well as their shadowy assassin and he did not like it. Scientists were paid just to enhance his capabilities, to ensure that he survived more than he had. And they did not care whether he wanted it.
Few could understand what the dragon felt; fewer still even bothered, especially with his comments and reputation. Only Dr Kerner knew what Relaeth felt at times, at certain rare occasions. As the attached scientist, he was usually around the dragon. He would murmur in his sleep, whimpering. What he did not show in the day, he showed, unconsciously, in the night. Fear, helplessness, insecurity, loneliness; emotions he never displayed if he could. The perfect soldier.
[Relaeth reporting for duty.]
The words were neutral, but the tone was slightly annoyed. Being pulled from a nap to proceed on a mission was not his favourite pastime. It did not even qualify for pastime in the first place. He had been asleep, quite peacefully, when the com-linkage woke him. It was definitely not his fault that he now required a new com-linkage.
“Ah, Relaeth. Check this out, will you?”
His superior placed a file before him. Flipping through it, red eyes narrowed for a second.
[The ghost hacker, isn’t it.]
It was not a question. The ghost hacker had preoccupied this section for a quite a while, having thrown no few problems their way. Industries had their accounts and databases hacked into and altered, apparently with random changes. Banks too suffered, though thankfully, apart from one or two major cases, there were no disastrous problems. Lately, however, it had gone silent.
“Yes, Relaeth. This time, he has hacked into the CCG’s database. However, your program seemed to stump him enough for us to detect. He fled before we could obtain a trace.”
[Obviously. If he was skilled enough to get past our defences, tracing would be neigh impossible. Guess I’ll have to reinforce the firewall.]
“Ah, good. Thank you.”
[As if I have to do everything around here…]
His superior shook his head.
“Relaeth…”
The dragon was out the door by the time he managed to speak.
“Relaeth! Your stuff is still in the lab!”
He smirked at Kerner’s pained tone. The laboratory was his sanctum where everything was the way he wanted. Leaving his stuff there not only gained himself some entertainment, it also provided him extra storage space.
[I know, Kerner. I’ll be around to pick it up soon.]
“You’d better!”
Sighing, the scientist trailed after his charge. The pristine white lab-coat fluttered gently in the artificial breeze. Steel-framed old-style glasses rested on the bridge of his nose, the glinting light rendering his eyes blank. The neat tie rested like a tight noose around his neck. Short black hair, barely above his collar rested in its perpetual uncombed state. Not too neat, but still quite tidy.
“How was the briefing? I heard that our section was intruded upon.”
[Yeah, it was. Now I have to reinforce the firewall and produce more of the same, if not better, standard.]
The doctor winced in sympathy. Relaeth had a great dislike for programming but despite that, his defensive ones were of the best standard. One often wondered what would happen if he were on the other side. The quadruped entered his quarters, Kerner stopping hesitantly outside. The first and last time he had entered without permission, the dragon had thrown him out immediately without a second glance. The earlier attached scientists had not even dared. Its contents remained as much as mystery as its occupant. He had not even dared take a peep in, though his curiosity had tried to convince him to do otherwise. Such was the way of the metaphorical ‘curious cat’, though in this case, it would definitely be very true for the cat to die and even satisfaction would be hard-pressed to revive it.
[What are you waiting f-… Oh. Come in.]
Dr Kerner stepped in, glancing around curiously. The quarters were similar to other enforcers’, spartan at best. However, Relaeth took the word to a new level. His room had nothing that was personal. No pictures, not even dirt. The dragon, coiled up on his bed, spared the scientist a curious glance before shutting his eyes, to all appearances, asleep. Kerner sat down at the unused desk, waiting.
His eyes roamed over the quarters. Similar in layout to every other room, it had the bare essentials. The bed, a desk on one side with a chair, and that amounted to all the furniture. Of course, the bed took up quite a large section. A thick spongy affair, it was the standard issue that the government usually supplied. He could tell that Relaeth, despite it being assigned to him, rarely used it. The lab was more comfortable. Barely a few metres square, the room bordered very closely to claustrophobic. During his short observation and mental analysis, the dragon sighed before removing his new ether-link. Giving the doctor a haggard stare, he flopped onto his back.
[Hit me, else I fall asleep.]
Kerner smiled at that. Rising to his feet, he strode over to the dragon, hand within his pocket, digging around for a protein pack. Being around the dragon had taught that, if nothing else, it was best to always have one on his person at all times.
“Got something better. Here.”
[So, I’m that predictable now, huh?]
He guzzled the pack not ungratefully despite his words. He needed quite a lot of food, most probably due to his high metabolism rate, an unfortunate side effect of an enhanced energy output.
[Dr, could you tell the Director I’m done? I’m too tired to do it and I hate using the ether-links. It only encourages them to give me more jobs.]
“Your servant, now? No longer scientist?”
The dragon smirked, albeit tiredly.
[Nope. Errand boy now.]
Giving Relaeth a mock glare, the scientist walked out of the door. Behind him, the dragon had dozed off.
“Relaeth, your program seemed to work. We’ve got a trace. I want you to follow it.”
[Why me? I’m sure there are other enforcers within the area-]
The director sighed and gave the dragon a hard look.
“You are the only one I can trust to go in there and come out alive. It’s in the Old City.”
Damn. Why did it have to be there? Fighting down his anger, he nodded.
[Yes sir.]
“So, Relaeth, what did the Director want?”
The dragon glared at the wall. He wisely shut up. Waiting patiently, he stood a short way off. Relaeth had stormed into his lab from the Director’s office and from what he had heard, from a nap before that. The first was bad enough, but if Relaeth had just been pulled away from a nap, it meant that everyone was in for a good helping of acidic remarks and barbs. The black scales captured the light, giving the endotherm a look similar to that of midnight shadows. He could hear the dragon’s angry breaths coming out in heavy almost audible growls, a sure indication of his fury. Missions were never a good topic to talk to him about. Compounded with the fact that his nap was interrupted, he was in the worst of moods.
He drew in a heavy breath before his shoulders relaxed, the dragon sagging down into an exhausted position. His legs gave out from beneath him, sending Relaeth into a heap on the ground, the ether-link coming to a rest a short distance off. With a muffled curse, he saw Dr Kerner crouched above him, saying words that were not heard. The images were blurred, rapidly mixing together in a fuzz of colours. He felt his muscles deaden, becoming lead within a matter of seconds, too heavy to move. Even the effort of keeping his eyes open became too much to bear. His field of vision narrowed and became darkness.
“Relaeth? How’re you feeling?”
He growled weakly, the effort to do so nearly too much to give. His body felt tired, hurt and heavy. Kerner hovered around him, glancing anxiously at him every now and then, checking the readings that were playing out across the room. He knew what they meant, but currently, he was having too much of a headache to try to decipher the various numbers and their indications. The scientist took the computer printout, flipping through it rapidly before tossing it aside.
“There’s nothing wrong with you. All systems are in working order, all checks have proven no illness, and all indications show that you are perfectly healthy with nothing wrong.”
He would have growled, save that the headache was too much to even allow that.
[How long was I out?]
The reply was not what he had expected.
“Five minutes, 23 seconds.”
[…]
Dr Kerner, removing the sensors and packing them away, smirked. That was the first time he had ever seen, or heard, Relaeth without any comeback or reply. However, the amusement was quickly replaced by the earlier worry. If an illness had been detected, it would have been a relief. However, now, there was nothing to explain the happenings. Relaeth himself was at a loss of what had transpired.
[Whatever. Dr, equipment please.]
Despite his misgivings, he nodded. It would not do to displease the higher-ups, especially on missions. The Director was an easy-going enough person, but even he had his limits.
“So, where to?”
[Old City.]
He remained stunned only for a moment before retrieving Relaeth’s equipment. Armour, ether-link, armaments and miscellaneous items of which only Relaeth knew how to use: the total of his equipment. The dragon, fully-armed, had enough fire-power to take down a tank, theoretically, that is. The crux of the matter was, in spite of all the pressing situations, he never bothered with weapons. He preferred being up-close and personal in melee combat, a choice very much frowned upon by the higher-ups. Hence, the actual power he carried was an unknown quality.
The armour plating glimmered within the light, containing radar absorptive substances as well as environmental camouflage. Of course, it was strong enough to protect against most conventional weaponry: hand-held shot-guns, Uzis, M-16s and the like. Of course, anything larger than a tripod-mounted was able to punch through. As it was, anything thicker than the present armour was rejected, not by anyone, but by him. If he refused to utilise it, they had no choice but to come up with something thinner.
Of the miscellaneous items and contraptions, they remained a mystery, even to Kerner. He had tried to puzzle out their uses but had ended up with nothing more than a headache. Most of them were nothing more than generic metal parts, but there were specific parts with them that had to be assembled with their respective counter-parts in order to work. Relaeth, catching him going through them, had offered to explain one or two and it had resulted in a worsened headache.
Striding through the darkness, his ether-linkage provided the night-vision that he lacked. His claws dug into the stonework, providing the support and grip he needed to scale the buildings. Here, the buildings and infrastructure were still in the old style, made of concrete and steel, crumbling slowly with the passage of time. The Network was connectable around here, but the static and interference made it next to impossible, especially with the poor quality of linkage.
Gangs and crimes happened very often here, with the impossibility of constant patrols to this area. Enforcers never entered unless they had to. The only one that entered was him, and he was not too pleased with the idea. Whoever lived here were either guilty of heinous crimes or were part of the various cyber-triads. Thankfully, he did not have to deal with them. Those that did so were often killed in line of duty and while it sounded dignified, it was not very pleasant. He only dealt with those that the CCG felt was too dangerous to be allowed to remain alive and those that infringed upon the rules of murder, genocide and cyber-hacking. Of all three, the worst that had ever happened were the first and last.
The rock gave way beneath his claws and he slipped, halting in his descent as his claws punched through the wall, regaining purchase once more. Dragging himself upwards, he soon reached the top, where the night breeze tugged at him, taking away the edge of raw nerves. Reaching within his equipment, he pulled out various metal pieces, swiftly assembling them into a Network enhancer. Tapping into it, he felt the connection between the Network and his ether-link grow stronger.
[Relaeth reporting in. I’m above the trace and ready to enter.]
Proceed when ready.
He dismantled it and replaced it within his pack, the entire process taking place so swiftly that it was as though he had merely folded it up and packed it away. Carefully, he launched himself off the parapet, vaulting across the empty night air, revelling in the freedom that it had, of the ability to hang within the air like the birds. Then, he was falling. With swift rapidity, he had silvery metal within his claws and there was a near-silent burst before a clawed gripper slammed into the wall. Halted within his fall, he regained the wall, repacking the equipment once more. Briefly he thought of Kerner and the other scientists. Their equipment, while just as effective as his own, were too cumbersome and did not have the same dismantle-and-reassemble ability as his.
Metal plates blocked the openings within the building. With a rapid stroke of his claws, they were torn apart. Streaking through them, he was within the building. A shaft of misty light filtered in, forming a dim silhouette around him. Darkness greeted his glance, not that it mattered. While he was not using the ether-link, he used his own night-vision. While not as effective as that provided, it was sufficient for his needs. He did not need the preciseness of the ether-link for this.
Glancing around, his yes told him what he wanted to know. Using the ether-link only served to confirm it. Dropping from the wall to the ground, he felt the shock run through his skeleton, but without any damage to himself. Kerner was right about that, at least. Reassembling the Network-enhancer, he was in contact with the Director.
[There’s nothing here. I’m pulling out.]
Do what you deem necessary. Permission to pull out granted.
The Network enhancer was no longer in existence. Assembling a totally illegal contraption, he activated it. Immediately, a translucent screen flickered into existence above it, projecting his current location in relation to the Network strength, to the other ether-links in the area. Zooming on those closest to himself, he glanced through the information on it before leaping from ether-link to ether-link, checking their information and details. After a few moments of checking, he disassembled the contraption, stowing it away once more. Then, he was scaling the wall and out of the ripped opening. A square of light fell to the ground, a dark shadow flitting across it as he left. A short while after, clawed forelimbs stepped out in the light, the quadruped regarding the opening with unblinking red eyes. Activating the idle ether-link it carried, it turned away from the light.
{He’s left.}
He just could not shake the feeling that there was something out there, something that he had missed. Pacing within the lab, he circled around the discarded pile of armour as well as his ether-link. He did not want anything, or anyone to distract him now. Wondering whether he should return to the site of the trace, he continued in his circular path, at the same time causing no end of annoyance to Kerner.
“Relaeth, please! Just sit down and think like any other normal person! Your pacing has come this close to driving me nuts!”
He smirked.
[Since when was I normal? Or a person for that matter?]
Kerner merely glared in reply. The dragon flipped his tail at the scientist before settling down onto the ground, staring at an empty conical flask with an absent-minded gaze. Ignoring him, Kerner went about on his own business, typing out reports on Relaeth’s condition for the past two days, something he had to do so very often with extremely detailed observations written in. Of course, that momentary lapse in which Relaeth had blacked out was left out. If he had included it, the dragon would be swamped with medications and a whole department would be set to researching on it and finding out its cause as well as a remedy for it.
While this little secrecy was going on, Kerner kept a close eye on his charge and assignment. He had made very sure that if the dragon had another of those black-outs, he would report straight back to him and into the report it would go. There was no point in harbouring such an important detail if it recurred. Obviously, Relaeth was not too happy about the last part, but there was nothing he could do, legally, about the report. Then again, with Relaeth’s capabilities, there was next to nothing he could not do. Kerner had the sneaky suspicion that the dragon had less than legal means at his disposal, but he had no conclusive proof of it at the moment. Logging in the last few lines, he completed the report with a diagnostic test result of the system checks as well as recent mission statistics.
Dr Kerner, report.
Glancing at Relaeth, he noted the absence of the ether-link and sighed mentally. If you cannot contact the dragon, contact the attached scientist. He will know where the dragon is. How he hated that unspoken assumption.
“Research Lab 3CiQ. Relaeth is here.”
Upgrades in the Main Lab. Report as soon as possible.
“Understood.”
He turned to regard the dragon and found him searching the lab compartments and storage areas.
“Relaeth, there’s more ‘upgrades’, as they put it.”
[Tell them to wait. I’m busy.]
He continued nosing his way into some of the less open compartments, eliciting the tinkle of glass as well as the clink of metal. Finally withdrawing from one of his fruitless searches, he emerged with a mane full of dust. Shaking himself vigorously, the dust scattered all over the ground, coating the annoyed scientist with a fine layer of grey.
[Where’d you hide them?]
Kerner sighed. Fiddling around in his pockets, he drew one out before tossing it to Relaeth.
“They’re expecting us, Relaeth.”
[Do I care?]
“Even if you don’t, I do!”
The dragon merely shrugged before swallowing it whole and growling contentedly. Grabbing the ether-link, he buckled it on before exiting the lab with Kerner trailing behind, complaining about Relaeth’s usual lack of consideration for the cleanliness in the lab, of the need for neatness and the pile of armour in the centre of the floor.
“We’ve been studying the subject’s battle tactics and have arrived at this conclusion. Despite the large armament it carries, there is little, if none, usage of them. Hence, with subsequent authorisation, we’ve created an entirely new suit of equipment for the subject of study and research.”
[Like hell I am an ‘it’!]
The scientists around them glanced around slightly embarrassed and red-faced. Kerner, standing off to one side, smirked quietly to himself. Although he had not heard the comment, the preceding statements had already made him anticipate Relaeth’s statement. Judging from the white-coated people around him, it had been along the lines of what he thought.
Pointedly glaring at the speaker, he trotted forward, his claws making an almost inaudible click on the plated flooring. Regarding the armament that was supposed to have been an improvement over his old one, he made a surprised growl before catching himself. The scientists around twittered to themselves at the dragon’s apparent start, forgetting the earlier comment. Moving from his position from beside the door, Kerner took a closer look and smiled. At last, they had finally got something that Relaeth might just approve of.
It had removed most of the excessive, he felt, weaponry, reducing its weight drastically. Now that had been done, the dragon would have little to complain about. In compensation for the lack of firepower, they had included thicker armour plating. Mounted along the shoulders was the only arsenal that it had. Tri-barrelled light blasters, they were the most commonly used of the previous armament. However, the most impressive feature that this latest equipment had was the wings.
Energy based, they had a transparency belying their strength. Positioned similar to that of a dragonfly’s, they had more use than that of flight. Comprised totally of projected and shaped energy, they were extremely fine, able to slice through most armour-plating. Also, they were able to deflect most projectile attacks, mainly energy-based ones like lasers.
Kerner took one look at Relaeth’s entranced expression and grinned. That was a rarity in its own right.
The frigid night air coated the edges of his armour with crystal-like frost. While they were pretty and nice to look at, they were indications of a less desirable condition. It was cold, and he did not like cold. He could operate well in all conditions. It just depended on the length of time he operated. His wings hummed silently, transparent and invisible against the night. Perched on a building top, he waited silently. The night skyline was marred by the crumbling buildings, their black silhouettes sometimes even daring to reach for the globe of silver hanging above them all. His surveillance would soon be over. The window period for observation was soon to end. Whatever the trace was, it had not reappeared. Silently, while half his mind kept a scrutiny on the happenings around him, the other half thought back.
Kerner slumped across the keyboard, the screen showing half-typed text. The scientist would wake up the next day with a headache, but with no ill-effects. He had made certain of that. The drug was not exactly difficult to concoct. It was just that few knew the exact components of it. Colourless, odourless and undetectable if used correctly, it was just as good, if not better, than any other dope.
The director, too intent on that strange ‘anomaly’ that had occurred within the CCG database. Typing intently, the screen’s display flickered with rapid text lines. It was simple really. Add a harmless virus that scrambled documents on a binary random generator and let it loose within the database through a masked ether-linkage. Harmless, it would cause no permanent damage, though it would take a long time to repair. It could not be countered so easily as well. He had that much faith in his programming at least. It would stop work and delete itself after sunrise.
He was out here alone. There was something he needed to check out, on his own, without anyone knowing. It was his own personal inquiry and there was no one, including Kerner, who had any business knowing it or interfering, no matter how good intentioned they were. The trace had led here and while he had checked it out earlier, on the previous mission, he felt a lingering sense of disquiet. Despite his earlier thorough check, he felt that he had missed out something, hence his return. Then, there was that time he had blacked out. Upon awakening, he had felt a brief flicker of another, another similar to himself, another dragon. He was intent on finding that other.
The mere presence of another meant that he was not alone in this world. That also meant that the other, he or she, was in danger of being exploited like himself, whether it being for monetary gain or for underhanded means, like himself. If he was right, the other was near here, near the trace. For what reason would such an intrusion be, if not to search for information on him? He was the only other known dragon and all records were on the CCG database. Just in case, however, he had moved all the files and replaced them with a blank copy while surrounding the originals with security tighter than that of even the CCG accounts.
Deep in his musings, his mind kept silent vigil. A slight movement immediately drew his attention, surging away from the sea of thoughts that constantly surrounded him. Glancing down carefully, utilising the full capabilities of the ether-link, he zoomed in, finding nothing. There was no one there. However, there were indications of some one having been there a few moments ago. Claw marks, easily overlooked, and smudged by a heavy weight, like a tail. It was very similar to his tracks. Returning to normal zoom, he deactivated the initialising unit before following the tracks. Taking care to remain within the shadows, he crept down the building side, not daring to use his wings just yet. The tracks were easy to follow, for an experienced tracer like himself. To others, they were nothing more than dirt. Following them, he came to the old building he had once entered, following the trace. Smirking to himself, he winged his way to the old opening, slithering in carefully.
[Hmm… seems quiet enough. They didn’t notice the entry I made the last time…]
Proceeding carefully, he took in the difference. Instead of an empty space within the large building, there was a slightly smaller one within. Forcing his way in the same way, save that he had to cut through the opening blockage with his wings, he saw nothing more than darkness, the moonlight filtering in behind him. Immediately, his thought processes came to the same conclusion no matter what path they took, be it logically or merely through intuition. Leaping away from the wall, he heard a click of the activated trap before the portion of the wall was blown apart. The sudden glare of light filtering in illuminated the turret that rested in the centre of the building floor.
Firing his tri-barrels, they merely glanced off the armour of the turret, ricocheting across the walls. Another shell took apart the wall he had been a few moments earlier, forcing him to keep moving. No longer bothering to fire at it, he bounded from wall to wall, sometimes avoiding the shells with nothing more than a nanosecond’s breadth. Each time, a portion of the wall was blasted apart, reducing the amount of wall he could scale.
[…Can’t keep this up…]
He hesitated a moment and suffered the consequences. A shell blew him off the wall, crashing to the ground with a very sickening crack. The world swirled around him, with only one thought in his mind: Pain. However, as the turret locked onto him and the barrel swirled to meet him, he regained his footing and was in the air. Immediately, the barrel changed direction, rising to meet him. Landing onto the turret’s hatch, he dug his claws in while his wings came down in a brilliant arc of fragmented rainbows, the moonlight refracting within their transparency. Just as they began to cut down, mini-barrelled chain-guns emerged around him, forcing him to divert his attention into three parts: keeping his grip, cutting the hatch without cutting himself and blasting the chain-guns. His tri-barrels took out the guns rapidly, though by the time they were gone, blood was flowing slowly down from numerous bullet wounds. At such a close proximity, even his armour was of little use.
Now able to concentrate fully on the hatch, his wings dealt swiftly with the cybernetic core of the turret, the pure energy playing havoc with the circuitry before destroying it completely. The turret powered down, eliciting a tired sigh from him. Just as his grip loosened, the turret exploded. Flung away from the machine, he slammed through the remnants of a wall before coming to a halt on the outer wall, surprisingly undamaged. This time, the world did not swirl. It darkened, becoming shades of grey and white. Before him, the very air shimmered before solidifying; revealing a dragon, red eyes regarding Relaeth’s with nothing more than a slight curiosity.
Relaeth? Where are you?
He waited worriedly for a response. There was none, not that he expected any. For the past hour, he had tried contacting the dragon many times, though each time there was no response. Awakening with a splitting headache, he had wandered about trying to find something to get rid of it before noticing the dragon-shaped hole in the air around him. Also, the lack of armour in the centre of the lab had been a very big indicator. Searching for the dragon had borne no fruit and contacting the director had returned nothing more than what he knew. Glancing around the lab, his eyes fell upon Relaeth’s equipment and grinned. Extracting certain metal pieces, he began to slowly piece it together, forming something totally illegal, something that Relaeth had explained to him once.
Coughing out blood, he grinned up at the other dragon, wincing at the pain as he did so. Immediately, the other dragon hunkered down beside him, nuzzling him gently, the red eyes conveying deep concern.
{Are you okay?}
He shook his head, wincing as he did so.
{It’s serious.}
The statement was not directed to him, but to another person. The other person emerged from the shadows and Relaeth’s eyes widened with recognition and no small amount of fear. Clothed in plainly, but with a lab coat covering it, the man had thin spectacles and short straight hair, the brown strands kept just hanging above his collar. His expression was at the other dragon, he motioned towards Relaeth. Growling softly, the other dragon shook his head.
{I can't...}
Scowling, he drew out a control and pressed a button. Immediately, the dragon roared in pain, clutching his head. Seriously wounded, Relaeth could only watch helplessly. A few moments later, the dragon stopped, turning to Relaeth. The red eyes held nothing now, nothing more than intense hatred. Snarling, he lunged forward, claws glancing off the armour plating. Rolling out of the way, Relaeth avoided the dragon's attacks, knowing full well that he could not intentionally hurt the other.
As he dodged out of the way from another attack, the dragon switched tactics. Chain-guns emerged from his armour, firing at Relaeth. Employing the same method he used with the turret, he leapt from wall to wall, this time without fear of running out of leaping space. However, another consideration had entered: he was hurt and he knew he could not keep it up for long. Behind him, bullets dug into the walls, leaving pit holes wherever they hit.
The dragon merely stood still, moving only to bring his weapons to bear onto Relaeth. With that in mind, Relaeth leapt from wall to wall. However, just as he leapt from one, he missed his destination, landing onto the ground, dazed. The man laughed, the raucous sound echoing throughout the building.
“At last, proof that you are inferior!”
His laughter changed to screams however, as chain-gun bullets tore through him. Standing directly between Relaeth and the other dragon, he had unwittingly become the instrument of his own death. The control fell from nerveless fingers, falling into the path of the bullets, exploding into a shower of sparks and metal shards. Immediately the hail of bullets stopped as the dragon collapsed. Rising unsteadily to his feet, Relaeth regarded the dying man with a sorrowful gaze.
[You hated me... why? Russov, I tried to be the best... but it was never good enough for you. Why?]
Dr Russov smiled even in his death throes, blood spilling out everywhere, mingling with the dragon's.
“You... were... the weaker... of the... two...”
Relaeth's gaze immediately shot to the other dragon, before returning to Dr Russov.
[He's my... brother? But you never told me...]
“Why... should I...? The CCG would... have only...”
His eyes rolled back and he stopped moving, his sentence unfinished. However, Relaeth knew the reasons for his actions. Russov had only liked his brother, not him, hence, the 'death' during the explosion. All this time, all the ghost hacking, the trace, all of them were Dr Russov's plans, just to drag him here, to fight with his own brother, to prove the Russov was right, that he was the weaker. However, it had all come to naught.
Stumbling, he forced himself over to the other dragon, only to find him barely conscious. Blood flowed from where he had clutched at his head, the ether-link scratched with claw marks.
{Relaeth...?}
[Don't move.]
He dragged his brother bodily from the warehouse, only to collapse after barely more than a few feet travelled. The other dragon by then had lapsed into unconsciousness and he soon followed.
“Arise, Relaeth!”
{Cut the theatrics, Kerner.}
[I second that notion.]
