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Kai entered the so called “secure suites” more tired than he could recall feeling in a long time. He’d expected some kind of barracks or barebones overnight sleeping quarters used by employees working long hours. He didn’t expect to pass from utilitarian steel corridors into a luxuriously appointed lounge.

The change of scenery was welcome after… He wasn’t even sure how many hours he’d spent locked in the tiny cell. Xathlor followed him in with a soft gasp, probably thinking the same thing he was.

Rax, Gev, and Amon all looked up from where they’d been playing cards at a small table surrounded by plush black leather chairs. Their phones sat nearby, their signals unable to penetrate the layers of rock, steel, and electromagnetic interference over their heads.

“That was faster we thought it would be, you guys okay?” Amon asked.

Kai nodded tiredly. “Yeah, most of it was just Gaius trying to convince us that trying to grow wings is insane.” He and Xathlor had been taken to a laboratory a few floors deeper underground for a lengthy and exhausting examination. Gaius had spent almost the entire time trying to convince them that the idea of these modifications was dangerous and unlikely to succeed. That hadn’t stopped him from working furiously towards that exact goal the entire time, however.

“Gaius?” Rax asked. “He the creepy guy with the…” He made a gesture with his hands over his eyes in circles, indicating the man’s glasses.

The door into the room was still open and Gaius himself entered the room, causing Rax to quickly drop his hands and fidget with his phone as though it might do something useful down here.

Gaius, flanked by a pair of guards, merely raised an eyebrow at Rax, then pointed at Gev. “You. Come with me.”

Gev frowned at the man. “Why? I’m not getting the mods right?” Gev sounded as exhausted as Kai felt, which wasn’t surprising. Gaius had mentioned that the three of them had literally punched their way through an angry crowd to get here. Rax and Amon seemed fine though, and Gev was more heavily modified than the two of them were. It was strange that he was so exhausted…

Gaius spoke up and confirmed his suspicions. “No, but something is wrong with you. The cell you were in contains advanced biometric sensors. You may have just assaulted several random bystanders - on Humanitech property with extensive surveillance mind you, but…” He paused mid sentence to look at Xathlor. He blinked for a moment with his mouth half open.

He shook his head briefly, then returned his attention to Gev. “This isn’t a negotiation. It’s probably nothing more than a common cold, but I won’t pass up any chance at gathering more data… Especially when I can delegate your care to my subordinates while I work on these… Questionable modifications.” He said with a sideways glance in Kai’s direction.

“Escort that one to the infirmary.” Gaius commanded one of the soldiers. He then turned on his heel and left the room without another word. The guard gestured at Gev, who slowly rose from his chair and allowed himself to be lead from the room.

They were all silent for a few moments. Gaius had told him it would take time to prepare the modifications. Days, or perhaps even weeks. Kai realized that he’d been looking forward to spending more time with his new friends, even if the circumstances were… Well, he wasn’t even sure how to comprehend exactly what was happening at all.

The idea of being abducted was something that was at once foreign, and something he’d trained for. It suddenly occurred to him that his tracking implant was still transmitting. He pressed down on the back of his neck with his fingers as he’d done before. Two sharp spasms followed, indicating that the transmitter was now offline.

Xathlor gave him a quizzical glance. Kai would have explained, but the room would obviously be bugged, and he wasn’t about to reveal who he was to Humanitech under the circumstances. Xathlor looked away from him, lost in thought for a moment.

“It worked…” He said softly, almost to himself.

Kai was about to ask what he meant, when he felt a sudden spike of that feeling of rightness. He was worried he was about to hallucinate again, but he realized it was the same sensation he’d felt back in the cells. Something about it called his attention directly to Xathlor specifically. He looked intently at him, unsure of why he was even doing it. Then he realized Gaius had done the same thing only moments ago.

“It… Worked?” He asked. He was already half sure of the answer though.

Xath paused for a moment, collecting his thoughts. “I don’t know how to explain it really… But we’re all connected somehow. All Dragons.”

Kai thought about that for a moment. That statement was… Profoundly confusing and unhelpful. At the same time, it still invoked that feeling of rightness within him, if only a little.

“Animus.” Xath said. “That’s the name I came up with for it… Or, maybe the name came to me. I’m not sure really, but it feels right.”

“Animus.” Kai repeated. “A bit unconventional, but it works. Just so you’re aware, we should be careful about what we say in here, there’ll be listening devices in this room.”

Xath nodded excitedly. “Seventeen, to be exact!” He laughed and gave an abashed look at Kai. “Security devices are something of a hobby of mine. I don’t think I’ve missed any, but in a place like this there are probably designs I haven’t learned about yet. Can you believe there were four in here I’ve never seen before? This place must have cost a fortune to build!”

Kai paused with his mouth open. He knew Xathlor was an architect and well educated, but his expertise in security measures was impressive, if a little overwhelming. “And I suppose the four security turrets in here didn’t escape your notice either?” he replied with a smile.

“Five actually, you probably missed the one built into the ice dispenser in the bar!” Xath said with a smile, clearly pleased with himself.

“Oh right,” Rax chimed in, “the bar! I don’t know about you guys, but I could sure as hell use a drink after all that.” As Rax busied himself with mixing drinks at the generously provisioned bar, Amon was looking at Xathlor with a puzzled expression.

“So this animus thing, I think I’ve felt it too. Honestly, I can kinda feel it now if I focus… But can you describe it?” Amon asked hesitantly. Kai shared a concerned glance with Xathlor.

“Of course.” Xathlor replied. “I don’t think it needs much explanation, but it’s the feeling that everything is as it should be. The feeling that you are as you should be, that you are a Dragon. That we are Dragons.” He paused for a moment. “Hmm, I suppose that doesn’t make that much sense at all actually, does it?”

“No no, it does!” Amon replied. He hesitated for a moment. “But… Does it feel like being watched?”

Kai started at that. “No. No it doesn’t.” He paused for a moment. “Wait… About a month ago, before the first time I… Yes, yes I think I remember feeling watched, but only once.” Kai was sure he was alone at the time. The sensation of unseen eyes on him had been so powerful he’d actually collapsed for a moment.

“I feel it almost every day…” Rax said quietly, still mixing drinks at the bar.

“I’m fairly sure I’ve only felt that once, about a month ago, as you said Kai.” Xath added. “That was the first day I had a vision of flying as well.”

“I only felt it just after I was modded, a couple times earlier today.” Amon said. “Though I guess that doesn’t help much.”

“Not really,” Kai replied, “but say something if it happens again. It might tell us something.”

“Perhaps it has something to do with the extent to which one is modified…” Xathlor said quietly.

“Can you uh… Explain that some more?” Rax asked, obviously confused.

Xath paused for a moment. “You say that you feel watched on a daily basis, and your mods are still taking effect.” He said to Rax. “While the rest of us had been heavily modified already for months or years prior to… Whatever it is that happened a month ago that started this.”

Kai was glad for Xath’s presence. His ability to piece together facts on the fly into working theories was enormously helpful, even if he was a bit… Eccentric, at times.

“So we have Animus, and whatever this other feeling of being watched is…” Kai paused for a moment, thinking before he spoke his next thought aloud into the recording devices scattered around the room. “Why then can we sense Animus from Gaius of all people?”

“You… What??” Rax exclaimed. “Didn’t you guys say that’s a thing Dragons feel? Why would you feel the same for that asshole?” he finished with a snarl.

“I think he wants to be one of us.” Xathlor replied. The statement shocked Kai initially. But he realized a part of him, perhaps the part that sensed Animus in Gaius found this completely unsurprising.

“I’m not sure exactly who that man is,“ Xathlor continued, “but he seems important. He said his goal is to fix our hallucinations, but why would he bother modifying us if that were the case? The chances that he’ll learn anything of use from our hallucinations are slim, I think.” Xathlor stopped pacing around the room and sat down in one of the plush chairs near Amon. “I merely suggested it to him as I could feel a… Well a hunger, or Animus from him. The desire to become closer to the Draconic. What I can’t figure out is why he hasn’t modified himself yet. He clearly has the means to do so…”

Kai had a good idea of why that might be, though he couldn’t speak it aloud. What Xath has just said might already turn Humanitech against Gaius if anyone other than him was listening in on them. Kaithel didn’t have to worry about that in his own case. It was a privilege of shareholders that they could engage in their position anonymously.

As Humanitech’s Head of Genetic Architecture, Gaius had no such privilege. Kai wasn’t about to let Humanitech know that he knew who Gaius was, however. His position afforded him a great deal of intelligence that a spoiled rich brat shouldn’t have access to.

Kai suspected that if Gaius was going to modify himself, he’d do it once his use for his position was exhausted. His decision to create experimental new mods for Xath and Kai seemed more cynical in that context. Was Gaius simply using them as he was using Humanitech? Were they nothing more than a means to an end to him?

If that were the case, then so be it. Kai would use Gaius as a means to ensure he and his friends would become ever more Draconic. Besides, Kai had a feeling that as soon as he was modified, Gaius would start behaving very differently. Something about that disturbed him though. If becoming a Dragon might change something like that about Gaius, had it already done the same to him?

Kai’s thoughts were interrupted when Rax handed him a cocktail glass. The drink had two layers; amber on top, and dark brown on the bottom. Xath politely declined the second glass as Rax spoke up.

“Okay so… All this Animus stuff is uh… Interesting? But like, where does that get us? We’re stuck in a secret Humanitech military base until you guys get modded. What are we even going to do down here?”He asked, gesturing around at the room. The luxurious furnishings couldn’t fully cover the claustrophobic nature of a space buried several stories underground.

Kai sighed and took a sip of his drink. It was surprisingly good. Mildly sweet, with notes of citrus and something else he couldn’t quite place. Kai hadn’t expected Rax to have such an interest in mixology, but he was quickly learning that all his new friends would likely continue to surprise him.

“For now,” Kai said, “we’ll all have to stay put. Gaius is holding your… actions, at the protest earlier over all our heads. I suppose we could argue that Amon should be free to go, but…”

Kai didn’t get the chance to finish. “No.” Amon stated firmly. “I’m staying with you all. We probably can’t all be modified further, but well… I can’t explain it, but I just know I can’t leave.”

Kai suspected Animus was the driving force behind Amon’s ardor. His words stirred Animus within Kai, and as he concentrated for a moment, he found he could actually sense the feeling coming from Amon too. Once again, it made Kai question if Animus was affecting Amon’s actions. And if it was affecting his own…

Did it even make sense to pursue such extensive modifications? Especially in the context of being trapped underground in a hostile military facility.

He quickly discarded those thoughts, however. The chance of being further modified dwarfed any other concerns. Kai nodded to Amon. “Good, we’ll all stay together then. Gaius said there were enough apartments down here to house us all. We just can’t go beyond that door.” He thumbed over his shoulder to the door he and Xath had entered through.

The same door Gev had disappeared beyond…

…

Gaius tapped a finger on the desk anxiously as he stared up at the wall of displays before him. Each one showed a different angle of the Secure Suites a few floors below.

He tried to slow his breathing, to calm himself and think rationally. He failed.

They knew. The knew before he had even known himself, despite all the years he’d spent relentlessly pursuing advances in genetic modification technology to the exclusion of all else.

He glanced down at the computer he’d brought with him to work on the modifications for the two dragons held down below. It’s screen was filled with pieces of Kaithel’s genetic sequence. He was sure he felt a pull from those sequences. An urge to dive back in and complete them. Realize them. Bring them into reality.

Just as he’d been doing for years now.

Instead, he stood and grabbed his mug off the desk and took a sip of tea. Cold, bitter, unpleasant. He didn’t care.

He paced back and forth, staring at the displays, trying to make sense of the roil of emotions within himself as he listened.

They knew he was listening. They obviously didn’t care, or perhaps they wanted him to hear.

Animus. Surely it was just another effect of Modification Induced Psychosis. But Gaius could swear he felt… Something from the one calling himself Xathlor in the Suites just minutes ago.

It was subtle at first. Just a feeling of pride, perhaps even camaraderie with the men in the Secure Suites. In the moment, he’d chalked it up to witnessing the fruits of years of his labor manifested before his eyes.

He took another swig of cold tea, staring up at the glowing monitors in the otherwise dark and cramped room. Surely what he felt from Xathlor was nothing more than simple envy. Lingering remnants of the coping strategies he’d once used to manage poor self esteem.

Therapy over the years had helped tremendously, and Elise had helped drag him from the lowest pits of depression and worthlessness. They’d scarcely spoken to one another for… Three years now. He thought he’d made progress. They’d been happy together for over a decade, and yet, his relentless pursuit of his career had cost him the relationship.

Late nights followed one after another, week after week, month after month. Elise had reached out, gently tried to encourage him to slow down, until one night he returned home to an apartment empty save for a note.

He looked back down at the genetic sequences on the small laptop display. The fruits of his labor. The evidence of the life he’d chosen for himself.

He rarely stopped to think about what his drive to advance genetic modification technology had cost him. He stopped pacing for a moment and reached into his pocket to find his wallet, where he’d kept a picture of Elise in one of the tiny pockets there. He opened it, only to recall that he’d put the picture away some time ago. The emotional weight it carried distracted him from his work, he’d told himself at the time. How long ago was that now? Weeks? Months?

Gaius turned his gaze to one of the displays in the lower corner. This one held an image of the medical bay on this level. Gevdezel was lying unconscious on one of the beds with a few nurses attending to the machines surrounding him.

A part of Gaius told him that he should stop what he was doing. Leave the security room, go up to the surface, and send a message to Elise. Not to beg her to come back to him, but simply to apologize for not being the best version of himself that he could for her.

His hand reached for his wallet where he’d left it on the table. He wanted to find the picture, put it back, and pursue that version of himself even if he’d still lost her forever.

That was when he felt it again. Not the sensation that had called his attention to Xathlor. Something else. Something watching him. Had he felt this before? It felt… Familiar somehow.

His hand stopped moving. His eyes drifted back to the image of Gev unconscious in the medical bay. His gaze shot to the laptop where he’d set up a program to display the diagnostic data the moment it was available.

Gev’s vital statistics weren’t surprising, most of this he’d already known from the sensors in the containment cell. He stared at it for a moment, hoping for some revelation.

He sighed. He needed to stop. He’d been working non stop for weeks now trying desperately to find a solution to Modification Induced Psychosis. He was exhausted. He rose tiredly from the chair. Maybe it was for the best if Humanitech shut down his work in the end.

Gaius felt the sensation of eyes on his back a moment before his laptop pinged audibly with a warning.

Red text flashed on the screen. “Unknown genetic sequence detected.” Gaius’ heart began to race, his hands shook as he sat back down on the room’s singular chair.

He clicked the warning and examined the sequences the diagnostic algorithm had identified.

Gaius’ mouth fell open as he examined them. They were unlike anything he’d seen before. He’d seen random mutations before, the inevitable genetic spillover that resulted from splicing the genes of one species into another. Strange growths, diseases, conditions, cancers. All of it easily curable once identified.

This was something else. Not the normal errors in copying DNA strands that tended to proliferate following experimental treatments. Novel, unique, and perplexing sequences he couldn’t comprehend at a glance, and that Humanitech’s AI systems couldn’t even begin to parse.

They were were both terrifying and exhilarating to behold at once. Gaius hadn’t a clue what they would do to someone if they were allowed to proliferate and take effect.

The problem was that they seemed to be occurring completely at random. There was no pattern Gaius could see or understand.

A part of him yearned to see what would happen to Gevdezel if he were to allow the mutations to take hold completely… The only problem with that being that he would likely die in the process.

Something about that tore at Gaius’ insides. It physically hurt to think of Gev dead in the medical bay.

But why? He was a stranger to Gaius. Someone to be used to…

To bring him closer to finally modifying himself. He could at least admit that now. It would end his career instantly. How could the board trust him to carry out his responsibilities when he went about experimenting on himself like some kind of cartoonish mad scientist?

That didn’t seem to satisfy the feeling within him though. Saving Gev was about more than saving a life, advancing his career, or furthering his own goal of refining the perfect modifications for his own needs.

Perhaps it was all of those things. Or maybe something more than that.

Ultimately it didn’t matter. He turned back to his laptop and began programming a treatment sequence for Gev. He documented each and every unknown sequence he found. If he could run simulations on them or find similar sequences in others, he might find out what they do, or if they could be of use in developing more advanced modifications.

For now, he’d edit them out of Gev’s genome… Mostly. If the unknown genes began to reassert themselves, Gaius would be able to monitor their progress and perhaps figure out if they could be of use. If not, then he’d simply remove them completely.

What disturbed Gaius is how these new sequences had seemed to spring up out of nowhere. There were no similar genes they’d obviously mutated from. If Gaius didn’t know any better, he’d say Gev had actually received subsequent genetic modification treatments somewhere other than Humanitech’s facilities.

If that were true though, there would be residual drugs in his system and physical trauma that would be picked up by the diagnostic equipment in the medical bay… And yet, none of that was present.

For now, Gev would make a quick recovery with corrective modifications and mild Acceleration treatments. Gaius had a suspicion that these genes would reassert themselves though, whether or not he removed them fully from Gev’s body.

Gaius took another sip of cold tea. Or at least, he tried to. The mug had been empty for… How long now? He wasn’t sure how long he’d sat in the security office hunched over his laptop, but the bulk of the work on Gev’s treatment plan was complete.

He shut the laptop and looked back up at the displays. He’d left the audio on in the background, but after their conversation about Animus earlier, the dragons had said nothing of any real interest to Gaius. It appeared now that most of them had gone to sleep in the apartments deeper within the Secure Suites.

Gaius felt a renewed sense of purpose for having completed the work. He still had a lot of work to do preparing modifications for Kaithel and Xathlor. They were incredibly risky, but if he could successfully grant a human being an additional pair of limbs, there was no telling what advances could come from what he’d learn in the process.

The next few days would be taxing, but Gaius was already sure that the efforts in capturing these dragons would be well worth the effort. The sense of drive and determination within him was so strong that he scarcely noticed the sensation of eyes on his back as he moved towards the room’s only door.

As he was about to leave, he realized he’d forgotten his wallet. He swiped it off the table and pocketed it, the missing picture forgotten once more…