Orders were orders, or at least that's what the higher ups liked to think, but that way lay madness if the history books ever proved anything. On the other hand, there were hundreds of instances every day where she herself wished the civilians would just shut up and follow orders for once.

How hard was it to understand that catching 98% of their virus laden spittle before it became airborne could prevent the majority of transmissions between individuals? Condoms didn't have a better success rate than that, but the same people insisting that one barrier was useless would swear on their god, or their mother's name, that the other barrier worked every time.

She gazed at the screen and considered her own objections to her orders. They wanted her to keep the freaking alien being, who was spending twenty-four hours a day on the internet learning everything that humanity was willing to post about itself, secret from everyone outside the squad assigned to security for the room the alien was occupying. The orders made her wonder how many of the ridiculous stories that she'd dismissed in her lifetime had actually had some truth to them.

She was just worried. Who knew how much that thing that currently looked like a statuesque woman was learning about them. Since her own mother had even posted about her toenail fungus to her favorite social site, she was rather afraid that there was nothing that people wouldn't post. According to the search history that they were tracking, the thing had looked up everything from how to make a bottle rocket, to how the space shuttles were constructed.

The weirdest thing was that even though the shapeshifting alien seemed so… well, alien, everyone was insisting that it wasn't actually an alien. They'd sent samples to three different labs for testing, and every single one insisted that they had been given samples from some new species of ordinary terrestrial amphibian. Almost ordinary at least, since there were attached speculations about having found a descendant of an extinct prehistoric family, with possible links to the evolution of mammals.

It half made her wonder if it had messed with people's minds, and tricked them into testing the blood of something else, but in a way, that was even more improbable. The most frustrating thing was that her orders prevented her from consulting anyone about the creature that either looked like a woman, or had the power to make everyone around it think that it looked like a woman.

--

"Legends, fairy tales, myths, and gods are still walking among us today," Frederick insisted.

"Even if a freaking dinosaur is swimming around Inverness, it doesn't mean that fairies are stealing your socks, or children are getting invitations to wizard schools," Michail argued dryly.

Frederick exclaimed with exasperation, "Of course not! I'm not talking about some modern fiction story, I'm talking about real creatures. There are stories that exist in almost every culture for something like the dragons that are currently being sighted in different places across the globe. There are also stories about powerful beings that resemble humans only superficially and gift blessings or curses upon those who encounter them."

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Michail shook his greying head and adjusted the scarf that covered his nose and mouth. "Those pictures are hoaxes. They are just proof that digital creations can no longer be distinguished from real photos. Just like those politically slandering ones they finally proved were actually created in some kid's basement."

Frederick ran his hands through his frizzy hair and glared at his old friend. "Look, I'm just telling you that more than geese and badgers are coming down out of the wilds. If the kid says he feels like she's too good to be true, he could be right, and he should get a good look at her teeth."

Michail snorted. "The poor girl is definitely daft to be interested in my grandson, but she's no sidhe or wild godling that can't abide churches or salt. The kid himself's more suspect in that case, probably hasn't been in a church since he got baptised with his name, and lives on tofu. I certainly don't blame her for refusing to eat anything that she can't identify as having been alive recently around his place."

Frederick glanced in the mirror, where he'd swear he'd seen a stranger's coat shift restlessly like wings, and then settle into a new pattern a week before. But only a handful of familiar faces occupied the room today, and he shrugged. Glamour, illusion, and images indistinguishable from reality had a lot in common. Who knew what the kid who'd created those photos had actually been, but weren't there a thousand legends of those who preferred to live below ground.

--

Chris carefully explained the difference between creating an identity from birth, the way he usually did, and stealing a temporary identity like the one he was currently using. "You don't even have any intention of maintaining the identity do you? You have no idea what you could start if someone that famous disappeared after entering the country. It wouldn't surprise me if it started the next world war."

"I do not care if the humans reduce their overall numbers," Amaru pointed out. "I would consider it a benefit."

"Even if they destroy the entire world?" Chris asked mockingly.

The elder dragon blinked.

"Nobody would really use nukes just because of that guy would they?" Anne asked doubtfully.

"People in groups are really stupid," Chris pointed out.

"Yeah…" she agreed reluctantly.

"Why do you need to ride in an airplane? Why not just fly there yourself?" Chris asked.

Amaru frowned. "I hoped that it would be faster."

Chris could feel the worry in the vibration of the words, and it worried him. "What's the sudden emergency? You never mentioned wanting to visit any of your children before?"

"I had thought that the song of spring had woken me, and that the tribes of the mankind had fragmented the strings with their disruptions, but now I am not so certain. I think that perhaps the strings have begun their unraveling, and if the time has come for the world to turn upside down, that one will starve," Amaru explained simply.

The young dragon and the young woman gazed at him with wide eyes for a long silent moment.