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Rise of Dragons - Part 4

Daybreak on Titan came once again for the colonists, but this time around it was obvious to all that a very different world had come to greet them with the dawn. Before the sun had last set, they had a balloon dragon in their midst. He was a new addition to their ranks, an old friend to some, and a novel distraction to others. During the long night, Simon the dragon had learned how to create more of his kind, and the dragons began to increase in number. By morning, there were now hundreds of the squeaky beasts roaming around in one of the colony towns.

They ran the gambit from large and wide, to large and muscular, despite being air filled. The one thing they all shared was being extremely happy with their new bodies. With the dozens of new reports of freshly transformed citizens flooding into the local city offices, it was all the members of government could do to keep up with developments. Some of the more conservative minded individuals called for putting a stop to these strange creatures, but fortunately for all they were in the vast minority.

It was swiftly ruled that those opting to swap species were making voluntary choices, and to deny them their rights to self determination was deemed unconstitutional. The thought was likely helped along by the large population of scientific minded individuals, whom felt that the dragons may very well represent a form of artificial evolution. The rapid arrival of several hundred curious scientists met Simon by surprise, as he was called up shortly before lunch hour and practically begged to swing by a local laboratory, to assist with testing and demonstrations.

With nothing better to do at that moment, and his favourite cafe on route, he agreed. It took mere minutes to squeeze his bloated hide through his balcony doors once more, and take flight through the bright morning skies. Nor was he the only one up and about, as anyone could tell at a glance. Dozens more squeaky dragons were floating and flying about, some more gracefully than others. All waved as he flew by, all full of smiles and joy. He certainly didn't regret his decision to start transforming others into fellow balloon critters.

Landing with a squeak and a thump, Simon settled his plus sized hide down in the plaza seating around the cafe, and was soon being served several bite sized sandwiches and pies, plus mug after mug of strong coffee. A few other squeaky dragons were in attendance, munching away at this and that. The owner, Mister Kim, caught Simon's eye and threw him a knowing wink. No doubt the old timer enjoyed all the extra business, and he certainly didn't mind having more dragons around. Patting his ample gut after gulping down a few thousand calories, and paying his bill, he was soon bouncing his way into the skies once more.

Belching loudly as he went, he blushed ever so slightly and covered his snout with a fat hand, as a cloud of purple smoke went trailing out behind him. He had to watch himself, with such gassy expulsions. He couldn't help but smirk as he briefly pondered what would happen if it all came out the other end. He'd have likely had less takers to make the change, that much was clear.

The lab he was headed for was well out of town, and he flew above a tree lined road to avoid getting lost. It was always strange, being so far from town. Once you got all that far from a settlement, the trees gave way to small bushes and grass, plus many spots that were just dirt. Even with the enriched atmosphere and watering projects, it would still be many years before all of Titan was green and growing. Warning signs could be seen along the road below, informing people that potentially dangerous experiments were being conducted out at the research site. When dealing with things that can sometimes explode, it is always a good idea to keep them away from population centres.

They must have all seen him coming, as dozens of people in white coats were there on the grounds of the lab, waving up at him as he came in for a bouncy landing. His thick legs compacted ever so slightly as he hit the ground with a soft squeak, rebounding him up into a hopping stride before coming to rest before the gathered scientists. There was much chatter and note taking as they observed his landing, and one fellow even had a portable video recorder. If nothing else, Simon figured they were being quite thorough with their data gathering.

"Well, hello there everyone. I've come as you asked. Shall we get started?"

The latter was asked with the slightest tilt of his large head, which made many among the group smile. Apparently, they found the dragons rather cute.

The group talked as they walked, surrounding Simon as he padded along ponderously. They wanted him to show off what he could do in front of all the visiting scientists from around the solar system, as well just about every bit of data gathering equipment they had available on the moon. As they walked inside, Simon passed smaller groups of researchers working with other inflatable dragons, all whom looked up and waved as he passed. Apparently they had no shortage of willing test subjects.

Passing the odd viewing gallery to large test labs, dragons in various states of bloat could be easily seen. Some were quite well rounded, others were ballooned into musclebound titans that could make anyone blush. And many did. At least it looked like they were all having quite a load of fun, if their obvious arousal was any indication.

The group led him to the largest chamber in the facility, all lined with white tile and uncountable camera lenses and other such equipment. Looking up, the big dragon could see hundreds of new faces looking down from comfortable seating, some even waving and smiling with obvious delight. Most of the group broke off and went to join their fellows up in the gallery, but half a dozen remained behind. One of them cleared his throat, and clapped his hands to get the attention of everyone present.

"Greetings, fellow men and women of Science. Most of you have come from all around our system to witness what very well be the start of a new chapter in our development. You've all seen the various Dragons gathered in the facility already, but now I'd like you to meet Simon. He was the first in the colonies to change, our patient zero, so to speak. And so far, he alone seems to be able to change others into beings like himself."

Simon found himself shuffling his large feet around self consciously, sneaking a little wave and toothy smile up at the gathered scientific body. The speaker paused for a moment to let the group chatter amongst themselves, before going on with a wave of one hand.

"We've gathered here this afternoon to hopefully witness and record one or more of these transformations for ourselves, and to preserve them forever in the scientific record. These gathered few below, myself included, decided to volunteer to be transformed, provided of course Simon would do the honours. Simon?"

Blinking, he looked down at the 6 lab coat wearing individuals and couldn't help but smile. So that was why they wanted them here. Well, he certainly didn't mind making more lovely dragons, that much was certain. Emitting a happy rumble, and nodding, he gave a puffy thumbs up.

"But of course. I'd be happy to. Just let me know when you're ready."

Several people up in the gallery broke into applause, and some even began cheering. Apparently the Dragons had groupies. Who knew?

The small group of willing participants went off to one side of the room and hung up their lab coats on a rack, and came back wearing nothing but loose fitting robes. With a nod, Simon began to suck in vast amounts of air, ballooning up larger before them all. A few gasped at the sight, and all the data gathering equipment was digesting untold terabytes of data by the second. With a chest and gut sticking out quite a ways before himself, Simon aimed his snout down at the group and spewed out a dense cloud of purple smoke, flooding the whole room in seconds.

The odd cough, and sneeze broke the silence that followed. It took mere moments for it all to be replaced by the sound of rubber stretching, loud gasps of surprise and the odd groan of discomfort. Stretching and tearing fabric joined the cacophony before long, then many happy dragon sounds of near orgasmic bliss as the changes finished up, all veiled in the obscuring cloud. The sensors were strong, however, and they were no doubt gathering every little change on the molecular level.

As Simon began to fan the smoke away, blowers kicked in here and there to help, thinning the stuff out enough that it became relatively inert. Six new balloon dragons were sitting there on the floor, looking disoriented but rather pleased with themselves. The speaker of the group, now a tall and lanky looking dragon whom was bright pink from head to tail, reached up to shake Simon's hand.

"Mmmmfff... Thank you so much, Simon. That was everything reported to us by the other converts, and more. No doubt the data gathered could express it far better than I ever could, with mere words. We're all going to go off for further testing and medical workups, and we'll see you again soon, no doubt. Thanks again for all your help today."

More lab-coat wearing assistance came in to lead the somewhat shaky balloon converts out of the main chamber and into recovery rooms, likely to sleep first, if nothing else. Simon remembered that he was a little out of it when he'd first gone through the change. Staring up at the gathered group still filling the gallery, he waved and spoke up to the lot.

"Well, that was fun. Hopefully you all got all the data you needed. Did you want to see or experience anything else while I'm still here?"

The group chattered amongst themselves, until one young looking fellow came up to the glass and knocked to get the big dragons attention.

"Yes, hello down there Simon. I was wondering, how big can you get?"

Simon blinked and then smirked, as the fellow blushed a tad and went back to sit down. Many others were chattering and nodding in agreement, figuring that would be both entertaining to see and valuable data. Simon shrugged in reply, not really knowing himself, and decided to at least try and put on a show.

"Well to be honest, I really don't know. I've never pushed myself that far, as I didn't want to disturb anyone by getting too huge. But how about I start filling up, and we go from there? Worst case, I can stop."

They all thought that was a fine idea, and got out their own personal recording instruments to augment the ones still humming away down below. No doubt many would want to... review the data in private later on. For Science, of course. Always for Science.

A few good intakes of breath and plenty of relaxation was all it took to get him going. With a gut full of food, and a lapse of control, he was soon ballooning up taller and wider all over, as his strange abilities had their way with his stretchy body. He let the expansion flow with many happy puffs of smoke and a lewd expression, stretchy shorts riding very low over his ample behind. The restricting garments finally popped off him like a rubber band, slapping into one wall and vanishing under the shadow of a rapidly expanding balloon dragon.

Many in the gallery gasped with shock as he swelled to fill the huge room, passing 10 metres in diameter with relative ease. As his sides began to squeak up against walls, several cooler heads began shouting at him to stop before he burst the place, or himself. Blushing faintly at his bloat, and prideful display, he began to try and reign in his wild expansion, slowly bringing himself back under control.

The squeaks and groans of the building were disturbing to some, and exciting to others, as the gallery windows became filled with nothing but bright and shiny squeaky dragon flesh, and a giant face compacted up against the glass. With one final grunt, Simon ceased expanding, and smiled with a squashed expression up against the other side of the thick plate glass.

"Heh, sorry about the scare. Seems like this is as large as I can get... indoors, anyways."

Further readings were taken here and there, and Simon felt himself getting poked and prodded down below, including in a few rather sensitive locations. Gasping and blushing, he could feel himself providing brave souls down below a rather sticky sample, and a large one at that. Still, nobody complained, and he was thanked for his time as various people started to file out of the gallery.

Bit by bit, he exhaled the excess air, plus a bit of his special smoke, and returned down to his former 3 metre proportions. Grunting, he retrieved his trusty shorts from the corner, and worked to cover up his intense arousal from the whole display of size and girth. Pretty much everyone in the area had seen at at this point, but he still wanted to be civil about things.

The next hour or so was a blur of being shown to the cafeteria to relieve rather large hunger pangs after using so much stored energy to inflate, plus meeting up with the most recent converts over to the squeaky side of life. Hands were shaken, hugs were distributed, and he was sent on his way with quite a lot of funds added to his credit account. He tried to decline payment at first, but they were all quite insistent. Besides, he'd given them so much data to work with, that it was a small matter to pay him what they marked off as a research grant. After all, he was furthering Science as they understood it!

After saying his goodbyes, he found himself standing outside once more, ample hands on extra large sides, staring down the long road back into town. It was a small matter to hop and flap his way aloft once more, and sail along well above the roadway. Humming to himself as he aimed for town, he wriggled with satisfaction over the day he'd had. The big fellow also made a mental note to spend more time being nice and well-inflated, as it continued to feel fantastic. He'd have to replace his shorts again at this rate, but at least his credit balance wouldn't be overly harmed.

The extra funds plus his desire for more size caused him to grin and snort out twin plumes of smoke, before changing direction slightly and heading towards a public plaza near the end of town. Landing with a squeaky thump, he found what he was looking for next to a row of vending machines. A standard public communication terminal stood there under a roof of solar panels, casting a small shadow over itself. Nobody else was around, so at least there was no queue.

Thanks to his updated ID on file with the city, the machine recognized him without having to bother with his ID card.

"Greetings Citizen! How can we assist you today?"

Sitting down to be fully in view of the cameras, Simon cleared his rubbery throat and began his call.

"City housing department, please."

The machine flashed up an animated cartoon face winking and nodding, before flashing over to a live image of a government worker appearing on screen.

"Oh, hello there Citizen. You're Simon, according to your credentials, here. I've heard about you, as have many no doubt! What can I help you with today?"

Simon spent a short bit of time explaining his desires, and eventually approving the appropriate deductions from his credit account. First, he purchased land just outside of town, and asked for rapid construction and deployment of a large structure on the site. A mono-form dome made of quick setting materials similar to plastic would be used, plus the required insulation and air-form to blow up the structure. It was commonly used for mass occupancy structures on other colonies, but the style of building had yet to really take off on the sparsely populated moon.

Second, he approved the installation of sanitary facilities, a large kitchen, and ample sleeping surfaces inside the dome, leaving the rest open for recreation. The internals cost more than the dome itself, but he could afford it. He was also selling off his old condo, minus deductions for shipping some of his stuff over to the new site. Work would begin immediately, with an automated workforce supplemented by local contractors coming out to help clear the site.

It likely wouldn't take long to work, so he didn't bother making any additional living arrangements. Things would take care of themselves, as need be. With a final bow to the agent on the other end of the display screen, they broke the connection, and Simon went off for a bite to eat. He was in no rush, and the crew likely wouldn't like him getting in their way during the first parts of construction. Still, he made a mental note to be there when they started blowing up the air form. For purely kinky reasons, of course.

Fighting off the faintest of blushes as he wandered over to see what was in the vending machines, he realized that he was turning into a giant pervert. Just another thing to add to his personal collection of recent life changing developments.

* * *

Landing with a muffled squeak some hours later, Simon was greeted by the sight of dozens of automated machines zipping this way and that, preparing his new home. He found a quiet spot just outside of the construction zone, which was currently marked by a temporary set of flashing marker posts stuck into the ground. Laying down a blanket and a basket of goodies, he prepared to ride out temporary homelessness with plenty of comfort and relaxation.

A few colony citizens were there clearing bushes and flattening the ground, assisted by machines at all stages. There was even another Dragon on the construction detail, who spotted Simon and waved in greeting, before getting back to work. They were even extending a foot path a few hundred meters off his new property, connecting to the edge of town.

The path was dirt for now, but eventually it would be laid with stone walkways. Cracking open various food and beverage containers, Simon indulged in various snacks as he watched the workers do their thing, impressed with the speed of the construction. He also indulged in a little magical shenanigans, letting the food slowly bloat out his frame to larger proportions. He was in no rush, so the slow and steady expansion became a euphoria filled backdrop to the day.

Others must have heard the news or looked outside to see what all the construction was about, as soon various citizens started to show up to watch the fun. A few bold individuals, both Human and Dragon, came over to rest with Simon, and chat about this and that. All noticed his hissing frame and steady expansion, but nobody seemed to mind. If anything, it attracted more of a crowd as the centimetres rolled on.

Hours passed, and dozens of folks got to watch a large circular mould being assembled there in the dirt. Bore holes were dug down deep within the ring, and large flying tanker drones filled each one up with a grey liquid of sorts. It was a wonderful material, completely synthetic, used in construction all over the place. It poured like liquified rubber or plastic, bonded with itself, and set into a material harder than the concrete of old.

The pylons were given a bit of time to set, then more drones flew in to fill the whole ring with the wonderful construction liquid. After more drying time, they were left with a 100 metre wide circular foundation. Another crew arrived and commanded a small army of robots to buff and smooth out the rock hard ring, making small adjustments where needed to make sure all was level.

Meanwhile a cargo zeppelin drifted in over the site, causing many the Dragon to look up and rumble with satisfaction, Simon included. By this point he'd let himself balloon up to 5 metres of extra portly balloon dragon, much to the enjoyment of those gathered around his stretchy frame. The blimp was vastly larger, and quite enjoyable to see, even to those who weren't currently inflatable.

The craft unloaded a few boxes via crane, then continued on its way with more cargo for some other building project, no doubt. Work crews scrambled over the boxes, and dragged out what was revealed to be the heavy air-form that would form the base of the new dome. It was pinned into place all around the huge ring foundation, and sealed into place with rubbery adhesives. Everyone sat at attention as compressors were hooked up, and the giant balloon began to inflate.

Many pairs of shorts became quite tight as the huge balloon took form, and dozens of faces were marked with lusty blush marks at the pleasing sight. A few couldn't restrain themselves, and went off to private locations for further intimate recreation. Others took pictures for later, and a few Humans finally found themselves making up their minds about asking Simon to convert them into balloon dragons as well. The big fellow turned his own blushing snout this way and that, looking at everyone else, and figured he'd have a lot of messages waiting for him once he went out to a communication terminal. The thought only made his shorts creak loudly as they strained to contain all that was within.

Even automated clothing machines couldn't quite plan for horny balloon dragons.

It took nearly half an hour to fully inflate the giant balloon, and by the end Simon was practically panting at the sight of the huge thing. It was cylindrical all around for the first 10 metres, then became a dome that rose up another 5. Plenty of head room for giant dragons. As they shut off the blowers, he stood himself up and decided he really needed to take care of business before he burst something, possibly quite literally.

Grunting, he flew off into the wilds for a little decompression, and wound up being followed by several other plus sized squeaky critters who had much the same in mind. He certainly didn't mind the company, that was for sure. Half a dozen big squeaky dragons of mixed gender and build all wound up drifting into group sex within moments of landing, plus group expansion. Nozzles were tugged and rubbed, air was added, anatomy was explored, and fluids were exchanged.

Simon found himself both being filled and doing the filling, all in turn, and wondered if he'd have been so liberal the year before. Likely not, despite his very open minded personality. Going squeaky was definitely an eye opening experience for everyone involved, and it was likely doing them all some good. They were all spent soon enough, and engaged in group cuddling, despite the mess they'd all made of themselves. After resting, and washing up in a nearby pond, Simon found himself being led away by the group to do something other than simply laze around in an open field. They wanted to watch a movie, and get something to eat. Who better to bring than the wonderful creature who'd help give them a new life?

Simon most definitely did not have any objections to the idea, and soon they were all flying off to continue their fun.

While they amused themselves, work continued on the big fellows new super sized home. Thin sheets of the synthetic construction material were sprayed on the inside of the huge air-form, and as it set, another sheet was added outside, sealing the balloon in place. As the structure firmed up, the blowers were turned off and removed, and still more layers were added inside the dome. As it all hardened, they were left with a 100 metre diameter dome, 15 metres tall at the centre. 50 centimetre thick walls gave it more strength than it needed to stay up as a single monolithic unit, incredible insulating properties.

The construction crew soon packed up, and another crew moved into start marking and cutting doors, windows, and skylights. Eventually they would install all the utilities in and around the dome as well, plus finishing the exterior of the structure. The plan was to paint it a lovely shade of orange all the way around, minus a fat white stripe towards the top of the rounded structure. It would certainly stand out, that much was certain.

Flying past some hours later, Simon was pleased to see how the construction was coming along, and looked forward to having a tour. He was headed to a town plaza to check his messages, and hopefully get a time update. Rapid construction or not, a project like this wasn't going to be completed in a day. He was getting tired, and hoped to find somewhere to stay for the night. The public terminal would help him solve all his current concerns, so upon landing he sauntered up, flopped down before it, and started to browse.

* * *

The soft glow of overhead lights coming on worked better than any alarm clock. Blinking away sleep, Simon stretched and yawned, and sat up with a fair bit of squeaking. Looking around, it took a moment for him to remember where he was. It was an unusual setup to be sure, but one that worked well for him at the moment. Rather than trying to squeeze his bulk into a hotel room, he found a place that would rent him a convention hall for the night. A pile of soft bedding made for a suitable nest, and there was more than enough food to be had for dinner the night before.

Glancing around, he saw that he still had company, namely several other squeaky dragons. Some had been human the night before, but they made polite requests of the big fellow, and happy converted over to a more bouncy form of life.

Simon had received word shortly before bed that work would continue on his new home during the "night", and with luck the work crews would be finished by days end. Landscaping would come later, but that wouldn't affect his use of the new dome. He spent his evening hanging with fellow squeaky dragons, humans who wanted to change, and anyone else who showed up to enjoy a little fun of one sort or another.

A few short steps, followed by crawling through a hallway, left him looming over the breakfast buffet in the lobby. Licking his extra large chops with genuine pleasure, 7 metres of jumbo sized and positively round balloon dragon helped himself to a healthy morning meal. He practically cleared out the buffet by himself, but the staff quickly filled it up again for the other patrons who were coming and going.

Even though Simon was a known thing by now, not to mention all the other dragons, a few folks were startled at his bulk. They quickly grabbed something to eat and retreated to their rooms, or sat as far away from him as he could. All the while they started with open disdain at those who chose instead to sit close to the huge rubber dragon, and even made conversation with him! The scandal. Unfortunately, even on a terraformed moon orbiting Saturn, there were still people with minds stuck in the dark ages.

Breakfast was soon dealt with, as was the bill for the night, which wound up being surprisingly reasonable. They weren't using the space, so they were willing to cut a big dragon a break. The staff was certainly surprised as being gathered up in a giant hug against a wall of inflated dragon gut. Fortunately, nobody had any complaints.

He spent the rest of his day simply entertaining himself, to the best of his ability. He flew around from park to park, chatting with random folks or visiting shopping plazas to check his personal messages. He caught a news article being displayed on a random wall screen, which estimated the current dragon population at over a thousand. He found himself rather pleased with the result, and wondered how much higher he'd get the number over the coming weeks.

All the while, construction continued on his new home. A ring of high efficiency solar panels was installed all around the rounded part of the dome. They were purpose built for the job and fit perfectly, with no gap to speak of. Another wonder of modern engineering. Skylights were cut and filled with the best windows on the market, and sealed in place. Two large circular doors on either side of the dome were put in place, and the power system was wired up.

Water was run from the city, as was a power and data connection. Wireless was great and all, but a physical line just couldn't be beat. Extra large media displays were placed here and there, kitchen and sanitary facilities were installed, and boxes of personal goods were delivered. Simon was busy stuffing a late night snack in his face and fiddling with a data terminal when another new message arrived, making him crack a big toothy smile. His new home was done, and he could move in right away if he wanted.

Mere minutes later he was dropping out of the sky at the edge of town, and walking along a well lit path between a row of trees. What greeted him was most of the work crew and countless people he'd met over the past few weeks screaming "SURPRISE!" all at once, and applauding as he lumbered onto the grounds proper, and took it all in. His huge new home loomed behind everyone, glowing orange in the sun, blue solar panels shining like precious stones. Dozens of fellow dragons, scientists, fellow citizens, and familiar faces from all over were surrounding him, patting him on the back and shouting their congratulations. All he could do was sniff back tears of joy, and smile at all that was before him.

Home. He had a new home, and it was magnificent. More importantly, he had so many wonderful people in his life that had taken the time to come and welcome him to his new home. He felt like puffing up with a mixture of pride and joy.

Instead he hugged everyone he could, shaking hands all around, and eventually invited everybody inside. The automatic doors slid open with ease and exposed the huge area within, mostly empty for now, but definitely ready for habitation. The floor was clean and had been coated in a dark rubbery material that increased traction and felt spongy under your feet. The centre of the dome had a combination pool and bathing tub that could be covered with sliding panels. A standing island kitchen curved around the circular tub area, though it was mostly just storage and a few simple gadgets. Simon planned to order in more often than not, as did many these days. The food was healthy and cheap, so why not?

Boxes contained custom order giant overstuffed futons that made for great bedding, and could be folded up here and there to make lovely seating when watching programs on the large display screens. A washroom was located off to one side behind a walled off section of the dome, otherwise the rest of the place was very open concept. Simon immediately found himself enjoying the open space, as he could move around without bumping into anything. And besides, there was more room to expand, if he felt like it. That, or to contain a few hundred other balloon dragons, whichever came first.

As it was getting late, the makeshift housewarming party began to break up before long, and gradually people walked home. Simon was soon left alone in his huge dome, and within moments was up to his neck in the deep soaking tub, sprawled out with a huge mound of soap fluff frothing up over the sides of the submerged basin. Turning his head to face the nearest media screen, he called out to it to turn it on, and began watching the colony news.

"...If you're just tuning in, the passenger ship 'New Horizons' just landed a few minutes ago at the Titan spaceport, within the city of Coeus. Over a thousand would be citizens of the Titan colony have arrived with a singular purpose, to meet our famed citizen Simon. They plan to meet with him after being passed through immigration, likely sometime tomorrow morning. As of yet, Mister Simon has yet to be reached for comment..."

Simon shut the feed off with a spoken command, and sank into the water, sighing out plenty of air and producing many bubbles for his effort. That many people, coming all this way to meet him? He could guess what they wanted, and smirked somewhat at it all. This was getting to be big, very big, and very fast at that. He decided to not bother reaching out to contact anyone for now, as he felt he'd earned his rest for the night.

Climbing out of the tub and letting it seal and clean itself, he stood near a giant blow dryer and let it work its magic. While humming to himself and rubbing excess water off with his large hands, his main display monitor flashed up with an urgent message notification, and blinked to get his attention. Frowning somewhat, he called out to the screen to see what it was all about. A text only message spat out, leaving him somewhat curious.

"Hello Simon. I really like what you've done with the place. You seem to be doing just fine, and are definitely on the right track. Keep up the good work! I'll be by to explain everything soon enough. Your biggest fan, -Delos."

Simon could only blink at that, and pondered at the name. Had he hard it somewhere before? It seemed familiar, possibly one of the search results he'd run after being freshly transformed.

Yawning loudly, he decided this was yet another mystery that could be solved in the morning. Fluffing up a pillow and sprawling on a giant plush futon, the big balloon dragon was soon fast asleep. Automatic health and safety systems within the dome detected that nobody was awake, and switched off all the lights and display panels. The outer doors closed and locked themselves for good measure, and Simon was given utmost peace and quiet to enjoy his first night in his new home.

The outside lights dimmed to safety levels before long, and most of the grassy scrub-land was plunged into darkness. Tomorrow would be a new day, full of yet another part of this wild adventure Simon found himself smack dab in the middle of.

At least his life wasn't boring!

To be concluded in part 5.

-Tombfyre 2014