The sound of voices woke me, and I blinked sleepily as I lifted my head. I inhaled in surprise when I saw a dozen people in white lab coats walking down the rows. They were examining each dragon and writing things on the clipboard that was lying in front of that cage. A man was in front of my neighboring blue dragon’s cage, taking notes.
I gasped in shock; the dragon had been right – I was much smaller now. The scientists dwarfed me. The young man in the white lab coat put the clipboard down and moved in front of my glass prison.
I wanted nothing to do with the barbaric people who could do this to other humans. I hastily staggered to my feet and backed up with a loud hiss, startling myself with the sound. I hadn’t been aware that I could hiss in this new body. It sounded more like water hitting hot rocks than a cat.
The blue dragon lowered his head and growled at the guy. The man wasn’t fazed by either of our actions; judging from how the other dragons were expressing their dislike of their visitors, he was probably used to being greeted like this.
He examined the clipboard outside my door before grabbing the handle on top of my cage. He put the cage and the clipboard on a small cart in front of him. I whined in fear as I backed into a corner of my jail cell.
The blue dragon’s voice once more entered my mind as he said, “They will take you to a small room to weigh and measure you. Remember to act like an animal. They’ll likely also give you a chance to move about. This is something they do to everyone every day.”
It was a small consolation, but at least I knew they weren’t about to strap me down and pretend to play mad scientist. Although, technically, the fact that I was in this situation meant that they had already done that… Where are one of those animal rights groups that sneak into illegal testing facilities when you need them?
The man pushed the cart out of the main area and down a hall before going into a small room. I growled at him as he lifted the cage and put it on a metal-topped table. He undid various latches on both ends of the cage, and I jerked my head back as I realized that both the front and back glass panes were actually doors.
Another white-clad man entered the room and closed the door behind himself. He put on a pair of heavy gloves before coming over and reaching into the front. I, of course, backed up to avoid him, not realizing that I had backed up past the back door until it was too late.
The cage was whisked away, leaving me standing nervously on the table. The cold metal felt weird and slippery under my claws. The gloved man started organizing jars and items on the side of the table while I shuffled backward until my tail touched the wall.
I glanced to the side, but the table was elbow high on the man, so I didn’t dare jump – I wasn’t sure I would survive a drop from this height. My wings weren’t an option; I hadn’t even had time to examine them yet, let alone try and figure out how to use them.
The first man started flipping through the clipboard and spoke into a small voice recorder. “Specimen D5843. Female; twenty years old. Part of the intelligence specification group. Collected on September fourteenth with use of injected tranquilizer blend A3. Metaforming completed on February second. Egg case finished formation on February eighteenth. High heat hatching method C5 was used. Hatching occurred late evening on March twenty-first.”
He nodded to his companion, who came forward to grab me. I tried to run, but my claws skidded on the smooth metal, causing me to trip and lose my balance. All I succeeded in doing was banging my chin on the table as I failed to find any sort of traction.
As the man grabbed me, I screeched and tried to claw him, but my claws couldn’t pierce the thick glove. It was like there was some sort of metal lining inside to stop sharp objects. He placed me in a basket that wobbled lightly beneath my feet. I instinctively half-spread my wings, trying to keep my balance so I didn’t fall down again. He eyed up both the scale and the odd black lines on the back of the basket.
“Four pounds and three ounces, or 1.9 kilograms,” he said. “She stands twenty-three centimeters, or nine inches, at the shoulder. Typical weight and size upon hatching. Growth will be monitored.”
I squawked as I was grabbed again, nearly panicking as I unsuccessfully struggled to get free. My heart raced as I was held up and examined as one of the men moved my legs and wings to inspect their range. In desperation, I even tried to bite him, although his long gloves kept me from reaching his skin, and my teeth didn’t seem to have any more success than my claws had.
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The man examining me continued speaking, “No noticeable deformities or mutations. Meets standard form and shape. Before collection, specimen 2843 was noted to have preferred flight over fight and actively avoided conflict. These traits seem to have transferred over. Actions are mostly evasive with defensive moves if she is unable to avoid us.”
I wiggled in his grasp as I hissed at him once more. Stalkers! I can’t believe they stalked me for who knows how long while taking notes! Oh, I can’t wait until they get what they deserve!
The man bent over and placed me in a large tray of sand that was sitting in the corner on the floor. I clumsily scrambled backwards to get away until I had backed myself against the walls, still hissing at him.
He backed up and placed the gloves on the table before leaving the room. The first man was sitting on a chair in the corner with a clipboard in his hand, likely taking notes as he watched me.
I swiftly looked around, but there was nothing to hide under or any obvious escape routes. I shivered lightly; the air seemed cool after a night under the heat lamp. I watched the man cautiously, but he remained sitting while simply observing me.
I was starting to feel chilled, and the nearby heat lamp was tempting. With one eye on the guy in the corner, I walked several steps over to the heat lamp that was shining on the sand tray. I sighed in relief as I curled up on the warm sand and spread my wings to collect the heat. I watched the man warily while I warmed back up, but he never left his seat.
The heat lamp above this sand tray was much hotter than the one above my cage, and it wasn’t too long before I started feeling overly warm. I glanced up at the windowsill on the other side of the room, but all I could see from the floor was blue sky. I wondered if I could manage to get up there. If I could, I might get an idea as to where I was being held. That knowledge would be essential if I tried to escape.
I took a deep breath to gather my courage and stretched as I moved away from the corner. Luckily, my body knew the best way; like a cat, I stretched my forearms out in front and dug in my claws slightly as my wings arched over my back without any thinking on my part.
When I relaxed, my claws slid back into place – retractable just like a cat’s were. Cool. I shook myself like a dog, resulting in an odd tinkling as my tiny scales rustled against one another. This tail feels so bizarre. Perhaps I had better get the hang of walking before even thinking of flying, or else my attempt at landing is going to be rather humiliating…
I stretched a few more times in various ways, trying to get a hang of how my muscles and limbs moved. I was delighted to realize that I could sit up on my haunches like a rabbit. At least I wasn’t completely restricted to all fours.
Pretend I am a simple animal… I pondered on that thought. What would a cat or similarly-sized animal do? I shook myself once more and slowly walked around inside the large tray of sand. I dug down a bit in one corner, although I didn’t get far before I found the bottom of the tray. So much for digging to China.
I realized that nature was calling. Well, I already dug a hole, I might as well take my cue from cats. I quickly did my business in the hole and buried it. It would give the staring pervert behind me something to clean. Serves him right for making me so uncomfortable. The least he could do is look away and give me a bit of privacy, but no…
I wandered back over to the heat lamp and rolled around on the warm sand. It felt really good against my scales. It also gave me an idea of how lithe and flexible my new body was. I hadn’t ever been this flexible. I didn’t think that my cat could even manage some of the contortions that I was accomplishing.
I sat up and shook myself with that tinkling noise as my wings halfway unfurled with the movement. I regarded my wings, mindful of the silent man in the corner. I pretended to lick and nibble on an itchy spot on the wing joint before stretching my wings to their fullest. They were long and narrow. At least it is a skin membrane covered in scales. I won’t have to preen feathers.
I moved out from under the lamp and went to the edge of the sand tray. It was just high enough that I couldn’t step down. I would have to jump a bit, but it would be an excellent way to test out my wings. I partially unfurled them as I crouched on the sand and examined the small drop with my head peering over the edge of the tray.
I tried to recall what I had observed when watching birds take off - and especially how they landed. Taking a deep breath, I jumped over the lip of the tray and beat down hard with my wings, expecting to only slow my fall.
My powerful wingbeat plucked my feet from the sand as it threw me into the air. I squawked in surprise and spread my wings wide in alarm before gravity regained its hold on me. With several awkward back-winging motions of my wings, I landed lightly on the floor.
Well, at least I know my wings work. I glanced at the man in the corner as he was scribbling quick notes. I turned around to regard the tray again. Well, they say practice makes perfect. With another hop and a single light wingbeat, I managed to land in the sand tray with fanned wings slowing my momentum.
That was much more graceful. But a wing-assisted hop wasn’t true flight. And I still wasn’t on the windowsill.