I am an early riser. Though I am not accustomed to sharing this tendency with a reptile. I like reptiles, though not that way. So I flinch a little, sliding out of the bed.

It feels odd, but this is really not a time to care about non-essential stuff. I remember the bed. But the room is not what I remember. I was distracted to a significant degree, but I do notice if a room changes from concrete painted white to sci-fi dark blue metal with its wooden furniture replaced by ceramic and plastic equipment.

I cannot see out of the window. It is where it is supposed to be, but it is dark and opaque. This looks like an alien abduction. And what is all that equipment of mine doing stacked up here?

I push my aura sense out. Close but not identical. What have they done to her? I can sort of feel the children and Maria but at that distance I cannot tell whether they are real or replicas.

And there are two alien auras in the house. That is really alien, like I haven’t sensed something like that ever.

My new staff is close by. Why is my hand armoured and has too many fingers? It may be uncivilized to meet aliens with a weapon in hand, but the last months have whittled down my confidence in the benevolence of aliens.

This reptile has a cute forked pink tongue, sleepily extended. On a human woman that tongue would be enough to wet her own eyebrows; both at the same time. May I be looking at a Lieutenant Ilia situation here? Should I initiate some kind of contact? I am assuming a non-threatening position with my combat arms folded. Wait, what is going on here?

The dragon opens her eyes. They are maybe a bit larger than they used to be, but I know those eyes. The voice was another matter, at least when she screamed. It had a growling quality. If she weren’t about two meters tall, her struggle to escape the sheets while getting ready to fight would be comical.

My instincts yell at me to charge my stinger with mana and notice that her armour of scutes leaves gaps associated with female anatomy of mammals. I recoil. I am kinky and I am practical, but that goes into a territory I do not want to go.

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She yells something. That is Zora’s voice. It is her native tongue, she is addressing a spider. You can tell by her use of the vocative case. Now her mouth is opening. How far is that similarity to a dragon going to go? [Eternal Moment] saves me from immolation. My upper right shoulder is still hurting. Upper?

I get behind her and get a grip on her arms.

P: Zora, stop!

Her backside’s scutes mix green, brown and purple, while her front is a mixture of blue and gray. She turns out to be stronger than I am. I bring my stinger to front.

I freeze up. What is happening, why do I have four arms, armoured skin and a tail with a stinger? Have I been changed, too?

Zora snarls and smashes a ladder from my equipment over my torso. That hurts. I spend the mana for a second use of [Eternal Moment]. My pool seems to be quite full this morning.

P: Zoro! Dosta!

Knowing foreign languages is useful. Though doubts on whether my school teachers envisaged this exact situation fill my mind.

Z: Is that you?

P: Yes, did you think I am the president of Brazil invading your home? Don’t you remember both of us enter this room? I mean, I know that I blew your mind away, but that is beyond my expectations.

She wants to poke me with the ladder or at least its remains she is still holding and gets a good look at her own arm. The result is a mix between a whistle and a scream.

Z: I am a lizard

That is a moment the door opens and, going by their auras, the children and Maria enter the room.

P: It’s all right. This is me and Zora is changed a bit.

Her next shriek is a bit like shattering plates and her hands unfortunately cover her strategic places.

She just stares at them and remains frozen.

Which reminds me that I am naked, too. I, however, solve that with [Equip the Army] like usual. Well, I try. What I conjure definitely does not fit me anymore. A simple blanket is still possible, though.

Why are the children so quiet? Well they may be tired and shocked at her mother going reptilian. But Maria is silent. That is like a solar eclipse during a full moon.