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_ Chapter 15- Shifted Perspective _

<UEF-A 'Tiamat' -E-Deck Pod Room> June 20, 2085

Canith once more found himself floating in darkness, devoid of all tactile sensation. While nice, he was getting rather tired of it happening. But a nice change was that he didn't actually feel tired anymore. The ongoing activities had slowly eaten away at his reserves until he was, if not run ragged, then not as fresh as he could have been. Then the activity on the moon base had really taken a toll.

:Canith, I am glad to sense that you have regained consciousness.: Aura's voice echoed in his mind via his uplink.

:How long was I out this time?: He felt rather refreshed, as if after a long sleep.

:Right at two weeks. It is how long it took for the lesser pod to acclimate you to the changes you forced on your body. Also, I may have altered some of the genetic coding to improve your energy efficiency from now on. Although, I do not recommend combat shifting like you did very often. You need time beforehand to prep for it, and time after to recover. Just not this much, next time.: Aura was being rather open all of a sudden, which was something he was not used to. It made him a bit suspicious.

:Aura. What else did you do . . .:

:I might have been indirectly responsible for your combat shift due to an emergency protocol I rigged into your uplink. I called it the Kaiser Protocol, and what it does is allow you to access the ships digital resources like I do, albeit only temporarily. As a result of it activating you came to the conclusion that a level 2 shift was the most optimal route for victory. I say you, but it could have easily been influenced by multiple factors. And it happened between the space of two thoughts.:

If Canith had his eyes opened, he would have blinked in surprise. :I can do that?:

Aura hesitated for a moment. :Not exactly. It essentially is a reversal of the AURA system, where instead of you having an interface for the data, the system you are accessing has an interface for you. It accelerates your processing power relative to the size of the system. As both the base and the ship were in range, you were able to utilize both. That kind of strain is unsustainable;however, so it is limited to levels of high adrenal activity and dire need, and only for a few moments- 2 minutes tops. Any more would outright kill you.:

Canith floated in silence while he processed this. He didn't see anything faulty with the execution or the explanation, so he mentally shrugged. :Very well, we will talk more about this later. I believe I will need to have a talk with Snow anyways:

Aura immediately chimed in. _:About that. I did make some minor adjustments to your external appearance, although with some effort you could use your shifting to either hide them or get rid of them altogether. So please watch your balance.:_Not quite the warning he was expecting, he just commenced with the cycling of the pod, just as he did with the main one. A minute later, he was blinking owlishly out of the pod, into the anxious face of an anthro polar bear.

As the seal parted, her feminine, if rough and deep, voice came to him, and it was rather loud. "I was getting worried. I know Snow said not to worry if you took your time getting out, but seriously. Normally it only takes a few minutes for most to pop the hatch. You were in there for nearly ten minutes before it started cycling."

Canith winced a bit at the volume, before realizing it might be loud because he hadn't heard anything for almost two weeks. He covered his wince with a bit of humor. "What can I say, I like to sleep in." His voice was rough with disuse, though not painfully so, and he stepped out of the pod, using the side of the entrance as a brace.

The bear tsk'ed him, then made a beckoning gesture, and a bottle that was sitting on the desk floated over into her paw. She held it out, and he downed it gratefully. "Good- humor, looks like your higher functions are still there. Whatever that devilishly digital wolf construct did looks to have no adverse effects, even if your profile will need to be updated again."

The bear had switched gears so fast that it took him a minute to realize, and to associate the description with Aura. Apparently not everyone on E-deck was up to date on Aura being able to access whatever systems were in her range, and her propensity to do so at will. It took him another moment for him to realize what the last part meant. He reached a hand down, and felt the smooth slit. Nothing different there. A swish of his tail confirmed that, and then he heard a slight rustle behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder, and what wasn't blocked by his new appendages showed in the mirrored surface of the pod. He now sported a pair of slightly glistening wings the same shade as his scales, with a pale gray webbing shot through with red radiating out from the wing fingers.

"Oh." Was all he said, staring at the wings in fascination. Though not what he was accustomed to, they felt somehow right. He tried to flex the muscles experimentally, and succeeded in extending them out. His wingspan seemed oddly short, at least for his body size. Then he tipped backwards from the overbalancing.

The bear began laughing as she quickly rushed forward to catch him. "Easy there. Most who get wings added on usually know instinctively not to open them up without a good stance to counterbalance for them." She helped him upright, then helped him fold them back against his shoulders. They settled easily, and with a slight rustle and shake were barely noticeable. "Once you are cleaned up, go see Snow- he should be back in his office." With that, she strode back over to her terminal and sat down with a sigh and a slight creak from the chair.

Canith quickly made his way over to the shower section of the locker rooms, and started up a shower. He waited a minute for it to get hot, then stepped in . . . only to leap back out suddenly as the water felt ice cold! "What the hell?" He looked at the faucet, and it showed the temp to be at his normal preference. There was a sliding scale, like in his room, but it had a few settings higher than what he was used to seeing. He looked around, remembering that the last time he was here he had not been the one to start the shower, and took a closer look at the extra settings.

One of them, on the lower side of the temp, was labeled for arctic creatures only. On the opposite side, was one that was simply labeled "W.Drag.Only." and had warning labels all over it. At this point Canith noticed that although it felt cold to him, the water was putting out a lot of steam. (Hmm, it looks like my heat tolerance is now way over what it should be. Guess it must be the western kicking in.) With a bit of hesitation, he slipped the setting to the low end of the warning section, and he was immediately treated to the sound of something clicking in the wall, followed by a spray of water that was pleasantly hot, but was filling the locker room with more steam then the blowers and vents could adequately handle. He cleaned off quickly, and then turned off the shower.

He dried of his scales easily enough, then started on his mane. It was the same as before, which was a bit out of place on a western based dragon. Overall, he had the structure of an eastern dragon with the wings of a western on his back. He finished brushing out his tail floof with a nearby brush intended for that purpose and then pulled on a normal jumpsuit. This finished, he headed out into the hall and down to Snow's office.

The door to the office wasn't too terribly far from the locker room, so Canith didn't have time to really contemplate what Snow might want to talk to him about. He knocked briefly, and Snow's voice echoed in his head for him to enter. He opened the door, and stepped inside.

The office was utilitarian. The was a desk near the far wall, complete with a chair. Opposite of the desk was another chair. A side table held a coffee pot and a tea pot, both plugged into the power grid and had water lines ran to them. A couple of cups rested between the pots, and that's all that was on the table. The rest of the room was empty. Snow was sitting at the desk, reclined, with his hind paws propped up on the edge of the desk. He was looking at a data pad, and absently flicked through several pages of documents while Canith came in.

"Glad to see you up and about now. You have been out for weeks." Snow started in without preamble. "Normally, an injury would only take a day or two tops to heal, up to maybe a week for something life threatening. Changes take about as long. Exhaustion should have taken, at most, two days to solve." He then looked up. And stared at Canith's wings peaking over his shoulders. "But it seems that your AI took it upon themselves to get together with our AI down here and make some 'Improvements' as it called them. I see the wings, but otherwise, how do you feel?"

Canith, for his part, added a mental note to thoroughly grill Aura on what had happened. "Physically and mentally, I can honestly say I have never felt better. The wings were a shock to me too, but par for the course when it come to hybrid tinkering, right?" He had hoped for a bit of humor, but Snow simply raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, normally we don't do hybrids like you. What you put together is one of a kind, completely unique to you. To say it's normal would be lying, as everything about you is not normal. Which is part of the reason I wanted to talk to you now. What you did, that combat shift, should have been beyond you still. What can you tell me about the moments leading up to it?"

Canith sat there, thinking long and hard about it before answering. "I can remember the scene clearly. I was out of line of sight from the guns. The came down on the elevator, Holly with a barrier, Will doing something with his blades . . ."

Snow interrupted him for a moment. "That was another form of barrier- he was using his blades to create an alternating field of temperature differential to cause the metal rounds to veer off course."

Canith continued. "Well, they were immediately pinned, and then one of the rounds veered right into his leg. I lost my composure, and then my vision went red."

"That would have been about the time adrenaline kicked in. Continue."

"After that, I have trouble recalling, honestly. I remembering rushing forward, then heard, through my uplink, something about a 'Kaiser Protocol', and everything stopped for a moment. I have a blank spot after that, until you appeared in that darkness to help me. What happened?"

Snow sighed. "Your AI, as they have probably told you already, tampered with your uplink. They created an ingenious bit of code that accelerated your thought processes, and probably accounts for your gap in memory. To answer your actual question though, you combat shifted into a feral western dragon mid leap on to a wall, sprung off of that wall hard enough to leave a dent in it, and shredded the enemy fang and claw. I believe it lasted maybe ten seconds at most, then you collapsed due to using too much energy too fast. What I did when you saw me appear was to lock away the feral aspects, and help you shift back down to a manageable size. If you concentrate, you can find your way back to that 'room', and unlock and lock it back when you are done. Something Aura did for you was some tweaking of your genetic code, as well. It apparently will help you with combat shifting in the future."

Canith sat there and let it sink in. Of possible outcomes to his theory behind shifting, it had not occurred to him that shifting mid combat was a possibility. He could not think of a practical application of it at that moment, but it was nice to have an ace or two up one's sleeves. "Will there be any potential long term effects from this?"

Snow looked back to the pad in his hand. He flipped a few more pages as they sat there in silence, then smiled. "Not from what I can tell. If you or your AI notices your chemical balance shifting again, come straight down. The sooner the better, as it's taxing on the body if we don't keep it in balance. That will help with any energy level problems. As for shifting, I think you should consider that combat shift as another lesson- the greater the shift, the greater the consequences. An unprepared for shift can harm yourself, and if it happens at a bad time can also hurt those around you."

"That reminds me," Canith said, leaning forward eagerly. "How is Mist and Will. I know Mist was shot in the shoulder, but I only saw the graze on Will."

Snow frowned a moment in concentration, then relaxed. Mist is asleep right now, and has been recovered for about a week and a half. These pods reconfigure DNA after all- what's a gunshot compared to that? Stitching things back together doesn't take long at all. As to Will, if you like I can have him meet you at the elevator."

Canith shook his head. "I have a lot to think about and talk to Aura about. They should not have acted so rashly without my express permission. For that I must apologize, and assure you that I will strive to keep it from happening again. Afterwards, I must check to see if there was anything else I missed. I will probably see him in passing in a day or two. Thank you for the offer though." He paused for a moment, thoughtfully. "Also, thank you for the help. I can only imagine that I have been nothing but trouble to you since I came on board."

Snow let out a bark of laughter at this. "No problem. It's nice to have an outlier pop up from time to time. It keeps us down here on our toes, talons, claws and paws." He shooed Canith toward the door. "One last thing to think about- as you have wings now, I am sure some of the crew would love to teach you to use them. Shall I pass word around you are looking for a teacher?"

Canith thought about this as he headed to the door. "I guess, but I would prefer a dragon as a teacher, as there might be differences between webbing and feathers for flight."

"I got someone in mind already then. Although, Mist might be upset to not being your teacher again. Then again, I don't recall him ever trying to fly. He might not even know how."

Canith let out a small chuckle as he waved an absent-minded hand in farewell and pulled the door to, then headed to the lift and up to B deck for some food and some quiet.

After a good bite to eat (and plenty of well wishes on the part of the crew he saw) he started back to his room, then changed his mind. He wanted some space for what he had in mind. So, with that in mind, he headed down to C deck to wander around the forested section of the hydroponics deck.

As he got off the lift, he noticed it was empty, so he extended his mental reach out to verify. No one was on this deck at the moment. Perfect. :Aura, you have some explaining to do.:

One moment he was walking slowly down the path, then next Aura appeared in his vision, walking sedately beside him. Their head was bowed, and gave the impression of cringing away.

:I didn't mean for it to cause problems. I only wanted to help. With the genetic changes you had went through, I ran some numbers, and came to a couple of conclusions. The first being that, while you retain most all of your previous human notions and preferences, you are highly influenced by the atmosphere of the ship. That is to say, the high level of sexual activity, and resulting mood and chemical swings that come with that.:

Canith thought about that. While he had not been active sexually as a human, he definitely was as a dragon. But that shouldn't have been a problem, right? :Are you saying, or implying, that my judgment has been compromised?:

Aura was quick to clarify. :Not compromised, but rather influenced strongly. You can still say no, and I believe you have definitely shown SOME restraint. But other times, like during that last hormone imbalance, you get . . .needy.: It looked for a second like Aura faltered in their steps, and Canith got the impression that Aura was blushing a bit.

:_Okay, so that was the first. What are the other conclusions you mentioned?:_Canith stopped for a moment to do some stretches, and Aura stopped with him and sat watching him.

:The next is rather positive, actually. You are speaking better with others now. Before, you were short with everyone but me, now you are actively intimate with some, good friends with others, and are contemplating having a work based relationship with Lt. Terry. This is all good.: They started down the path again, and Aura continued after a few moments. :The last is directly related to that protocol. When you pushed yourself with the k-blade based construct, I had an idea. If the issue that caused the backfire was due to limitations on your mental response time, what If I could change that? You designed me to be able to essentially think for myself, so I started thinking. And using what you accomplished with the original AURA system, I figured out a way to get a different result.:

Canith stopped and stared at the AI. :What do you mean a different result. Are you referring to the idea of boosting my processing power with an external source?:

:Exactly so. The original system allowed the original data flow to be filtered down to something your mind could handle. What I created was a protocol that can, temporarily, speed your mind up to match a local system's speed. But as I mentioned previously, it's a strain to maintain- both for you and the system. You overtake all ongoing processes, and your brain cannot handle it for more than a minute or two. I currently have a failsafe in place that cuts it at 30 seconds.:

Canith and Aura had ventured off the path, and at this he sat down on the grass. :Is that partially the reason I passed out as soon as combat ended?:

Aura trotted in a tight circle, then laid down beside him. :Theoretically, yes. Snow's theory on you running out of energy is not far off though. While I took into account the necessary safety measures to keep your mind intact during the protocol, I failed to account for the backlash of it ending. The elevated state blocked your short term memory to prevent a mental overload later, but returning to normal speed was equally jarring apparently.:

Canith looked around. It was quiet and peaceful here, and another quick mental check showed that no one else was on the floor. :Aura, you mentioned you made it more efficient for me to do a feral shift, not just a combat shift. Is it safe for me to do so?:

Aura's ears perked up at this. :It is. Just go slow. You might be a bit tired after, and as long as you are not planning on moving rapidly after the transition is cannot be counted as a combat shift. I am guessing you are curious about this form?:

Canith smiled faintly. :I am. I only remember being urged to seal it away, but not of how it felt. I want to know.: He slowly closed his eyes, and slowed his breathing. This part, he figured, would be the easy part- achieving a state of meditation to access a mental construct was easy. It was what came after that would be the difficult part.

The tranquil forest faded away, replaced with the room Snow had built. But, as he looked around, he realized something. Snow hadn't built it. He had called it forth from Canith's mind. Canith had built it, a long time ago. His mental self paced along the walls, staring at and up at the glyphs and sigils engraved in the stone. They felt achingly familiar, but he could not place them.

The lines on the floor were channels. Each to a different element. There was a clear one, with wisps of what looked like smoke drifting through it. (Air) He though to himself. He looked around. There was one for water, flowing with water the color of ocean just off the banks of a clean beach, teal colored but clear. Another pulsed a deep red color in time to his heartbeat. (Fire). The last, though, had him perplexed for a minute. He walked over to it, but it was empty. He knelt down, then felt it. A thrumming energy, barely restrained. (Lightning, trapped in a vaccum.)

If anything, this was representative of what energy crafting he would have access to. Like Mist had mentioned, it looked like he would have access to the storm triad, as well as fire. With most of the room explored, he turned his attention to the seal in the middle. It had the three claw and thumb claw imprints he vaguely recalled, and was turned a quarter turn clockwise. As he rested his claws in the groves, but not turning it, insight to the locks design poured into him. To seal, sunwise. To unseal, windershins. All at his command, never to be taken away. From this font his power would flow.

With new insight, he turned the seal, counterclockwise, and felt the feral energies flood into him. He heard a voice, distantly, walking him through steps that to his power flooded senses made no sense of. But slowly, he felt his body begin to shift. It wasn't as fast as when he grew the fur. Instead, he felt his body bulk up, a bit at a time. Then, his limbs extended, popped a bit, and settled. It was painful, but distantly so. He had been sitting, but he still felt his balance shift forward. When it did, he didn't manage to catch himself, but it didn't hurt. The changes took place over the course of a couple minutes, and eventually stopped.

He opened his eyes, weary beyond belief. Aura grinned their wolfish grin, and spoke once more. :Energy levels are low, but not below minimal levels. All things considered, I would say the energy conservation changes worked. You managed to shift without an adrenal boost. Well done.:

In answer, Canith opened his jaws and let out a tremendous yawn. :If it's the same to you, with as tiring as it is, I'm going to take a nap right here. Alert me if anyone comes over here looking for trouble. I should be far enough out of the way I won't even be spotted.: Then, making good on his word, he placed his head on his forepaws, and fell asleep almost instantly.

For their part, Aura continued to run scans on Canith's feral form. The bone structure was light but strong. The wings were proportional to his body, and his tail was longer now. If he had stood on all fours, he would be almost six feet tall, and could easily hit nearly double that on his hind legs alone. More and more scans, and the digital wolf let out a simulated breath. :_All in the green, boss. With more practice, you won't even need the nap. But get some rest. Real rest, not forced unconsciousness from a pod.:_Aura then stood up, and paced away, fading away as they did. After all, they were a digital construct, only appearing due to Canith's uplink. The whole time if someone had seen them all they would have seen was Canith.

Canith ended up sleeping there in the hydroponics area for a couple of hours. During that time, Will showed up at his room, then his office looking for him. With no sign as to were Canith was, he turned to leave the office then Aura spoke up from the terminal. "Are you looking for Canith?"

Will jumped when Aura spoke from the darkness, but then the soft glow of one of the auxiliary tanks kicked on and Aura's image showed up. "Yeah. I had heard he had been released from E-deck finally from Snow, and was wanting to meet up to chat, and maybe to thank him. I only got the one graze thanks to him. If could have been worse- lots worse."

Aura tilted their head to one side. "He is recovering from a self experiment right now, sleeping off the exhaustion from a high level of physical activity. But I am sure your presence when he wakes up would be welcome."

"Uh," Will stated. "He wasn't in his room."

In response, a map of C-deck materialized above Aura's image. "Affirmative. He deemed the space too small. In actuality, it would have been cramped, but sufficient. This is his current location." A red dot began pulsing on the map. "As you are not going to be their to cause him mischief, I will not be waking him up in warning."

"Huh, ok. Odd, but ok." Will said, then thanked Aura and headed down the hall to the lifts, and took the lifts down to the hydroponics bay. When he got there, he saw that no one was around. "I guess this would make a good spot for a nap." He headed to the spot that Aura had marked, and peered through the bushes.

Canith was still asleep, his head pillowed on his fore paws and his hind paws under him. His tail wrapped around him, curled around his head and continued behind him. Will stood there for a moment in awe. He was one of those anthros that did not know about shifting until it had happened right in front of him, so he slowly approached through the screening bushes and simply sat down, taking in the sight of the feral dragon.

He noticed, after a couple minutes of sitting a few feet away, that the dragon was giving off a lot of body heat. Enough to make him tired, it seemed. So he scooted closer, and used Canith's side as a back rest and dosed off, basking in the heat that Canith gave off.

Canith awoke slowly, immediately becoming aware that something, or someone, was leaning against him. He raised his head slowly, and turned it to look. Will was asleep against him, and he smiled and laid his head back down. His overall size was quite a bit larger then normal, so he just laid there, enjoying the silent companionship. Then something odd happened. A low vibration began to come from him. It took him several long moments to realize that he was purring. Like an extremely large cat. He was torn at that point by contentment, embarrassment, and amusement. In his anthro form, he hadn't done THIS!.