Each of the clones, eX-0281 and eX-0704, only had a fragment of the same dragon soul. A quizzical glance passed between them. Their pupils were constricted out of fear, and both their hearts lurched at the same time.

"Does that… make us the same person?" eX-0281 was forced to pause and wince as he asked that. For some reason, he reimagined eX-0057 who he had killed in self-defense.

The hoarse, angry voice echoed in his mind. "No. I'm the real one…. If I'm the real one, then you can't be!" That was just some of the nonsense that eX-0057 had howled as he tried to kill him.

Charlotte leaned far to one side to examine eX-0281. Then, she did the same to eX-0704. "Yep, it looks like I'm seeing two separate people to me! There's nothing to worry about you guys. It's like worrying if you're the same person because you have the same genetics. It's just part of what makes you guys brothers!"

eX-0281 and eX-0704 looked at each other with greater confidence and shared a sigh of relief. When Charlotte put it like that, they really had nothing to worry about. However, eX-0281 no longer felt inclined to ask the next big question.

If by any chance sub-dragon rage mode was linked to the madness that had overcome eX-0057, then eX-0281 did not want to have anything to do with it. Their brotherly relationship was worth more than his curiosity.

As they were walking back to the Bouchard residence, eX-0704 thought to make the inquiry for him. "Hey Charlotte, have you ever heard of sub-dragon rage mode?"

Why? he wanted to snap out of anger. Luckily, a lump caught in eX-0281's throat before he said something that he would regret.

"No, never heard of it," Charlotte said. "What is it?" A genuine light of interest entered Charlotte's eyes. She tilted her head, eager to learn more about their species.

"We don't know," eX-0281 butt in hastily. "Some kid just mentioned it when we were rescuing your mom last night. Probably doesn't exist! Our intel was unreliable."

"Is that so? Well, I can look into it if guys are curious. If it's not available on the open web, I can also check with some of my contacts and peek into the corporate servers."

"You really don't have to!" eX-0281 insisted. "We just got back, and you need to rest—"

"That would be great!" eX-0704 roared over him.

Her eyes pinched together out of concern for eX-0281. "It'd be no trouble. Really. I like researching things! It'll give me a fun, little mission to do—something to distract me. As you said, we just got back. I'm a little nervous about some things…." A significant number of laws had been broken in her household last night, perhaps responsible for the constant worry in Charlotte's eyes. She laughed it and hastily said, "But Purity Grove is a safe place! We just need to lie low for a bit, and everything will blow over."

"Well, we're back!" she said once they arrived at the front porch. "We have an hour before noon, when Victoria wanted you. Are you guys ready to talk about your names?"

"Yeah, that'd be great!" eX-0281 said. "We'll be with you in a moment. Can we talk for a moment?"

"Of course. I'll be waiting in the garden with some notepads and things!" Charlotte moved towards the back door with a friendly wave.

The dragon brothers were left alone. eX-0281 sent a frigid glare in the direction of eX-0704, whose face fell in a look of pure confusion. "What's up 281—?"

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

Something about the dragon soul shards made him unreasonably angry…. eX-0281 grabbed his brother's wrist and led him to their room. He hissed, "Why'd you ask her about rage mode?"

eX-0704 growled and snapped right back. "What do you mean? We discussed it last night. I figured you forgot to ask, and Charlotte could only help us." With greater emphasis, eX-0704 said, "I was trying to help."

With a sigh and shake of his head, eX-0281 swiftly apologized. "Sorry. I just don't think we should try looking into stuff about our biology anymore. I'm worried we might uncover something we don't like…."

"Are you thinking about that clone who attacked you?"

"Yeah," eX-0281 muttered.

"Well, stop," eX-0704 said. "You're worried about this 'cause you were the one who was attacked." His brother put a gentle hand on his elbow. "I don't know what happened to that guy, but neither of us are him. We're not going to end up like that."

"Okay." While still concerned, eX-0281 believed that he could do anything with eX-0704 that they set their minds too. After all, they were making this new life for themselves outside Grandesia Power Company.

A weight had lifted off his horns now that he had shared his concerns with eX-0704. In a lighter tone, eX-0281 scooped up the sleeping pile of vuls on the bed and asked, "Have we decided who we're giving the third vul to?"

eX-0704 accepted on of the vuls and gently cradled it in his arms. "You can give it to Charlotte. After seeing her on crutches today, I feel like she could use one of these adorable balls of fur to keep her company and cheer her up."

Uncontrollably, his tail lifted in a massive smile. eX-0281 was hoping that he could present the vul to Charlotte. "It'll make a good thank you gift for helping us with our names!"

"Exactly." eX-0704 followed eX-0281 to the backyard. A bounce entered their steps, eager to rid themselves of their number codes.

"Hey!" She called them over to the large rocks where she sat at their base. "I saw you two sunning here the other day, so I thought this would be an enjoyable place to talk."

eX-0281 took the big rock this time, sprawling his back and wings to the sun. Shaded beneath the leathery flaps, a vul lay on either side of him. He could look immediately down and see Charlotte below him.

Her head tilted back to look at him with a carefree smile on her face. "We could go through a list of common, human names if you guys want to fit in well. Technically, names have meaning behind them. Like my name, Charlotte, means 'free' or 'petite' or so the Internet tells me."

"Otherwise, I know you've been quite comfortable with your numbers. If you want to preserve your origins in the meaning of your name, we can treat your number codes as an ambigram. I was thinking, if you turn it upside down like this…." Charlotte typed the result on her phone for them:

eX-0281 and eX-0704

Ibnoxe and Holoxe

"Yes!" they cheered together at once. Those names looked so snazzy, it was a no-brainer for the dragon brothers.

"Except…." eX-0281 said slowly in a downcast voice. "Your name is going to be cooler than mine. Holoxe," he mused quietly to himself. That was definitely the better name, all because eX-0704 had gotten lucky with a better string of numbers.

"I think your name is plenty cool! Ibnoxe," he added on.

In that manner, Ibnoxe and Holoxe had regarded each other by their new names for the first time.

"I guess that settles it then," eX-0281 said. "From now on, I'm Ibnoxe!"

"And I'm Holoxe," said eX-0704. Their tails lifted to do their secret tail flick. Elated over their new names, they kept repeating the pattern again and again.

A light laugh peeled from Charlotte's lips. "What are you guys doing?"

Ibnoxe and Holoxe immediately stopped. "It's a secret."

"Our secret tail flick."

"It's how we recognized each other when we were surrounded by our other clones."

A glimmer of intrigue fell over Charlotte's face as she said, "That's pretty smart! I'd love to hear how you planned your escape sometime, Ibnoxe and Holoxe." Those bright, wholesome eyes pinched up at the corners from her broad smile.

The sub-dragons squirmed out of sheer joy, hearing their new names in use. As much as they liked their names, they would need some time to adjust and respond to them properly.

"Anywho," Charlotte said. "You wanted help with naming the vuls?"

"We were thinking about Vie, Vel, and Vue," Holoxe said.

"Or Uni, Duo, and Trix," Ibnoxe said. "Or anything else you can come up with?"

For a moment, Charlotte regarded the options that they provided and said, "I think you should name them…."