System Mute
#10 of Joy and Zip's Story
Next chapter! More fun with Zip.
Zip suddenly woke to the sound of a loud crash, along with a sharp pain all through his back. "What are you doing?!"
Zip blearly opened his eyes and looked towards the sound of the noise. Mark was standing beside the equipment Zip had stacked up on the table and was rapidly undoing the makeshift pillar. The piece holding the blanket in place had been the first thing Mark had removed, which had caused the hammock to collapse and drop Zip the short distance to the floor.
Zip was too tired to even glare at the handler. He just sighed and put his head back down on the blanket.
"This is expensive! This is here in case something happens and you need emergency attention; this... this right here costs as much as I get paid in a year! It is not a... a paperweight!"
There was a bit more noise as Mark dismantled Zip's work, but the purple dragon just tried to tune it out. He was tired and in no mood to deal with the angry handler; all he wanted was to go back to sleep...
A hand started roughly shaking his chest. "Hey! I'm talking to you, and I know you can understand me; don't just lie there! Get up and help me fix this mess you made!"
Zip tried to wave the hand away, but it just shifted and pushed him harder. The dragon sighed wearily and rolled over, letting his tail swing through a wide arc as he straightened up. He opened his eyes back up and looked back at the the table. Three items had been pulled off it, but the rest were still stacked in place. Zip waddled over to it and slowly began disassembling it. He put each item neatly on the floor beside him, working slowly but eventually finishing.
Mark returned the equipment to the cabinets Zip had pulled them from, then glared back at the dragon. "Stay out of these cabinets. This stuff isn't meant for you. Now come on, we have to try and get you into the air."
Zip just stared at Mark as he walked out into the hallway. No way he was going to go through that again, especially not without a full night's rest...
"Hey! Come on - you were supposed to be going out to do actual work today; we don't have time for you to waste standing around. Let's go!" Mark stepped back into the room and grabbed one of Zip's horns, tugging hard on it. "Move it already!"
Zip let out a startled half-growl, half-yelp as he was tugged out into the hallway. He finally gave up and started trudging after the handler. He obviously wasn't going to get any more sleep, so the least he could do was not be dragged through the hallway.
They finally made it back outside, and Zip blinked a few times to adjust to the light... but Mark paused and headed in a different direction. "What are they doing here?"
The purple dragon squinted against the harsh sunlight to look in the direction Mark was walking. A bright white van was parked a few paces away. As Mark approached one of the doors opened and another man stepped out. "Good morning! I'm here to drive... uhh..." The person reached back into the van for a clipboard, looking it over before glancing back at Mark. "A 'Zip' out to a repair site?"
Mark started shaking his head. "No, they were supposed to tell you; Zip can't do the job - he can't get into the air at all; he won't be able to pull down a floater. It's going to have to be rescheduled."
"Reschedule? This maintenance has already been rescheduled twice; it was supposed to be taken down months ago but put off because of some legal issue! The unit is on the fritz and reporting serious problems; if we don't get it repaired today it could end up going offline completely - then it drifts off from the wind currents out to who knows where! We have to get this repaired, one way or the other, and we cannot afford to refill the helium in it; this has to be done today."
Mark started to respond... but Zip tuned them both out. With any luck the two would be arguing for a while. The sun was too bright here, but there was a bit of shade by a small tree to his left - he might be able to catch up on some more sleep while they fought. Zip moved over to the shade, immediately feeling the cooler ground against his paws, and turned in a circle to try and get comfortable. He was about to stretch out on the ground, but he took one last glance at the argument.
From this angle he had a clear view of the side of the van. While the front of the van was plain white, the side had something else painted on it. A symbol - two clouds with a zigzagging line connecting them.
Zip stared at the symbol. He had never seen it before - he was trying furiously to think of what it meant, and he was quite certain of that. He had no memory of it, not on any wall, or uniform, or any other vans he had been in or seen. That symbol was completely unfamiliar to him and held no meaning whatsoever that he could think of.
But at the same time it filled him with an indescribable rage. Fear and hatred combined and overwhelmed him - that symbol meant death. It would ruin his life, it would take everything from him, it would hunt him to the ends of the earth and rob him of all he held dear in life. It had to be destroyed.
Zip felt his hearts begin to pound in his chest. He didn't understand what he was doing, or why - he simply acted. He roared and surged forwards, ramming headfirst into the side of the van. He pulled back just far enough to take in the new holes from his horn, then spun in place to slam his spiked tail right into one of the clouds. The heavy spikes punctured the thin metal of the door, and he tugged at his tail, making a satisfying screeching sound as the siding was ripped aside.
He was dimly aware of shouting in the distance, and of people running towards him, but he didn't care. That symbol had to be destroyed, it had to be dealt with, or else it would hurt him. He roared again, vaguely aware of other muffled roars rising to answer him from somewhere inside the building he had left, and swung his claws at the van. He made more holes in the white siding as he struggled for purchase... then his claws sunk into a sturdy part of the siding. He curled his paws inwards, then yanked, ripping the side of the van clean off.
The dragon tumbled backwards as the metal came away in his grip, rolling over onto his back, but he kept slashing at the metal. He tugged down with his tail and ripped it in two with another satisfying sound of ripping metal. He even leaned up to bite at the metal, but that left such a horrible taste in his mouth that he quickly pulled it away.
He felt a surge of satisfaction as he took in the sight of the badly mauled symbol through his claws. He started to roll over and go after the second half...
...but a sudden loud bang filled his ears. His shoulder suddenly hurt... and the surge of adrenaline seemed to fade, leaving behind a growing sense of weariness. He swayed, trying to stay standing... but it was just too much. Zip collapsed with a sigh and sank gratefully back into sleep.
Zip became dimly aware of noises around him. His eyes felt too heavy to open them, and his whole body felt too sore and weary to move. He just lay where he was and waited for the noises to make since.
A soft beeping was the first thing that made itself clear from the random cloud of noise - a pause, then a beep, then another pause, then a beep again. It gave Zip something to focus on, and soon the rest of the noises began to make sense.
"...we never saw anything like this with Joy. She showed no signs of violence or recognition of events from her past." The voice seemed familiar... oh. It was the doctor who was always bothering him to do stuff. Moreau.
"Yes, but she didn't have anything to be violent towards in the first place, remember? Zip's history did involve destruction. And she had the Neffel gland implanted earlier in the process than Zip did; we had to wait until the very last minute with him because you were working on his heart problems. It might just need more time to catch up and get rid of any memory remnants." A feminine voice, unfamiliar, off somewhere to his left.
"Maybe. We didn't have a choice though; his body was just too weak for more surgery. It would have killed him. At best."
"Mm. The good news is that with how it was designed, the memory loss will be more pronounced with adrenaline and stress. It was meant to treat PTSD, after all; if Zip had an emotional reaction to something, the gland would kick in along with his adrenal gland and flood his brain, erasing the memories most active during the event. We noticed that a few times with Joy... the strongest memories ended up resurfacing in dreams later, but they didn't have any impact outside of that. It's entirely possible the problem has already gone away - you're sure it was a reaction to Skyline's symbol?"
"Definitely. The camera recordings make it obvious; you can see the change in him when he sees the logo. He was lethargic and distant before that, and Mark even said that he had to physically drag him out of the room. Zip only seemed interested in going back to bed, not attacking vans."
"Hrm." A pause, then the lady's voice spoke again. "Well, either way, it's clear we need to rethink how we're dealing with Zip. He's not Joy, but he's not one of the other dragons either; Mark's methods might work with Brutus or Timex, but it won't cut it this time. Zip is just going to need more than that. Skyline will have to wait - I wasn't happy about rushing Zip into working for them, and this just proves he needs more time. Or some help adjusting back to things."
Silence for a moment, during which Zip started to drift back into sleep... then Doctor Moreau's voice spoke up again.
"What about that intern? Uhh... Jeremy, I think his name was? It was his idea to give Zip somebody else to talk to. And he was hurt trying to protect Zip, and got the dragon to pick a name in the first place... That's better luck than anyone else has had; maybe we should try and bring him back in for a bit. I think I saw an e-mail about a court hearing later; I could try and put in a word to get him back."
"Couldn't hurt." Another pause, and more of the steady beeps. "Well, it looks like Zip is finally awake again, but just barely. It's late; I say we let him get some more sleep. We can try again in the morning."
There was silence... then the sound of a door opening and shutting.
The slow beep continued, but the rhythmic sound only helped Zip feel more drowsy. He yawned, then drifted slowly back into unconsciousness.
Zip slowly woke to a feeling of warmth all over his body. Whatever he was laying on was pleasantly warm. The beeping was still happening somewhere nearby, but the rest of the room was quiet.
That lasted all of half a second before a voice spoke up. Zip recognized Doctor Moreau again, though he sounded much more cheerful than normal. "Good morning, Zippity doo dah. Have a nice sleep?"
The dragon yawned and opened his eyes. "Yesh." Memories came back to him, of what he had done to the van and the inexplicable rage he had felt at... at what? He tried to remember, but he could only summon a fuzzy image of something cloud-like in his mind. "Whut habbened?"
The doctor was sitting in a chair on the other side of the room and looking at his tablet. A video was playing on it, though the sound was muted and the tablet was too far away for Zip to really make out the image. Doctor Moreau seemed to only be mildly interested in the video, though, and replied back to Zip without looking away. "That's a good question. What do you remember?"
Zip tried to think about it more, but the memories were all too fuzzy. "Not sure... saw sumting, and gat anry."
"Do you remember what you saw? Or why it made you angry?" The doctor still didn't look away from his tablet, and one hand hovered near the edge of it as if preparing to touch the screen.
Zip frowned and tried again to make out any memories beyond the haze... but with no success. "No. Um... I tink there wuz a cloud. Don't know wai I dinn't like it."
"Mm. Look to your left please, and tell me what you see?"
Zip thought that was an odd thing to ask, but the doctor said it with such a practiced tone that he was already turning his head to look before he had really thought about it. A screen hung on the wall, and on it was an image - a pair of clouds, linked together by a zig-zagging line. Something seemed to stir in Zip's memory at the sight, as if the image should remind him of something but couldn't quite manage to. The dragon stared at it blankly, trying to understand... then he shook his head. "Two clouds. Wid a line."
"What do you feel when you see it?"
The dragon frowned again. It was an odd feeling he couldn't quite find a word for. "I... don't know. Emppie. Feel liek I should feel sumting, but the feel neber comes. Feel confuzzed." Zip drooped his wings... or rather, he tried to. It was only then that he realized there were thick leather straps tying him down to the bed, and that they kept his wings and arms close against him. Even his tail had been tied down, and he looked back to the doctor with a sinking feeling. "Am I in truffle? What's habbening?"
The doctor sighed and dropped the tablet on a nearby counter. Zip finally made sense of the video - an image of a purple dragon, strapped down on a table, with tiny words scrolling over the screen. The only word Zip could make was the in the large button at the corner - "SEDATE". "You... had a bad reaction, we think. Too much stimulation all at once; you've only been outside for part of a day, and haven't been exposed to too many people. We looked over your logs and it looks like you haven't eaten as much as you did before you were moved here, either, which probably didn't help much. It was probably just stress, and the new environment, and all the sudden changes." The doctor seemed to be avoiding looking at Zip while he talked, which only made Zip more concerned... but the doctor finally stepped over and began undoing the straps. "You're not in trouble; we just had to make sure you were okay, and weren't going to hurt yourself or anyone else. You're not, are you?"
Zip shook his head enthusiastically. "No."
The doctor nodded and undid the strap around Zip's middle. Zip immediately stretched out his wings, feeling a cramped soreness in them as he did. The doctor stepped out of the way and began working on the other straps. "That's what we thought. You just need a little more time and attention, and you'll be fine. Which reminds me..."
The doctor stepped away from Zip's bed and crossed back to the table on the other side of the room. He opened a cabinet and pulled a bottle of a familiar looking purple liquid from it. Zip frowned at the sight and looked away, already able to taste the foul drink. Doctor Moreau simply poured some of it into another cup, then turned back to Zip. "You missed this twice now. While we were checking the logs we noticed Mark didn't remember to give this to you yesterday, or the day before, which could be very bad given how young you are. Make sure you get this every day going forward; missing even one could cause you to get very sick."
Zip grumbled and looked away, but the doctor grabbed his nose and tugged him back to look at the medicine. "This is serious, Zip. Open up."
Zip huffed and opened his mouth, and the doctor quickly poured the medicine down his throat. He swallowed, then brought a paw up to replace the taste in his mouth with that of his own scales instead.
"Big baby. It doesn't taste that bad. You're just as bad as Joy; she pitched a fit about taking it too."
Zip blinked at that and shook his head. He was not like Joy! He puffed a little and looked back at the bottle. "Am knot!! Gib more; I'll probb it!"
The doctor just rolled his eyes and turned back to the cabinet to put the medicine away. "Oh, good grief; do dragons have to worry about sibling rivalry? You've had all you need for today; you can prove it to us tomorrow." The doctor picked up his tablet and began tapping on it. "Now, Mark also reported you weren't able to fly. We need to give you a look over and make sure nothing is wrong with your wings." The doctor tapped a few more times, then set the tablet down and crossed back over to Zip. "Now, stretch out your wings for me - all the way, and hold them straight."
The dragon grumbled and stretched his wings out. The doctor began moving around Zip's wings, running his hand over the scales and pushing at various spots. Doctor Moreau gave Zip a few commands and questions - "Does this hurt", "Can you feel any pressure here", "Bend your wing a little, then straighten it" - and then repeated the process with the other wing. None of the doctor's pokes and prods hurt the dragon, and the doctor seemed satisfied with the examination. He went back to the tablet and tapped in a few notes on it. "Well, your wings look fine. Your chest does too; your breathing seems normal. Any chest pains?"
Zip shook his head, and the doctor nodded. "Well, everything looks to be in working order; I don't see any obvious reasons for you not to be able to fly. Unless you're faking it for some reason. Again." The doctor glared back at the purple dragon, and Zip slunk closer against the bed before shaking his head. "Hrm. Well, if you are, you at least convinced Mark, so we're just going to keep practicing more. I'm sure Joy will have suggestions too, if nothing changes." The doctor looked back at his tablet and nodded. "Well, I think that's all, and it seems like we can get you back to your..." The doctor suddenly trailed off as something on the tablet caught his eye, accompanied by a soft chime coming from the back of the tablet. "...room... um..." Doctor Moreau was silent for a moment as he read over his screen. Zip tried to raise his head enough to see what the doctor was looking at, but Doctor Moreau just put the tablet face down on the counter and shook his head. "Actually, there was a problem, and I'll need to get some blood from you first. For a few tests."
The doctor's sudden change in demeanor and diagnosis just made Zip even more worried. What was it that had made him start acting so strangely?
The doctor turned around and reached up into a cabinet to dig around for a needle and some vials, and Zip made a split second decision. Doctor Moreau was obviously hiding something from him - and the tablets he had seen had always made him wonder how they had worked anyways - so he decided to take it for himself. The doctor had his back turned, so Zip reached clumsily across the short distance and slid the tablet off the counter. Doctor Moreau was too distracted with digging through the cabinet and didn't react, so Zip quickly tucked the tablet against his side and pulled his wings in, holding them tight against his side and keeping the tablet from slipping down.
Zip grinned to himself in satisfaction. He could look at the tablet later and find out for himself what the doctor was trying to keep hidden.
Doctor Moreau turned back to Zip, and the dragon's satisfied grin immediately vanished. The doctor brandished a huge needle, and Zip pulled his arms back protectively. "Whut is dat for?!"
The doctor rolled his eyes again. "Big baby... let me see your arm; this will just take a minute."
Zip shook his head, keeping his attention on that needle. "No!"
"Oh, for the love of... look! Something interesting off to your right!" The doctor glanced to the side and went wide-eyed.
Zip looked away from the needle to stare back at the doctor's face. He didn't really think that would work, did h-
A sudden sharp jab of pain went through Zip's arm. "OW!"
"There, it's over. We just need a little bit..." The doctor paused, and Zip felt a strange pulling sensation deep in his arm, right under the radiating pain. "...aaaaand there we go, all done." Doctor Moreau pulled the needle back as Zip stared down at his arm, the long needle sliding backwards between two of his scales.
"Big meanie." Zip pouted and leaned his head down to lick at his arm. "Dat hurt!"
"You'll be fine." The doctor turned back to the table and began messing with the vials. "That's all we need for now - go back to your room for now; your handler will come by later." The doctor seemed to have lost all interest in Zip, and after a dismissive wave towards the open door he seemed to tune the rest of the world out entirely.
Zip sighed and slipped down from the bed, making sure to keep his wings tucked close to his sides, and began trudging out into the hallway.
It wasn't until he had gone past two turns in the hallway that he realized he had no idea where his room actually was.
The purple dragon trudged around yet another corner in frustration. He was completely lost. The last time he had left the infirmary Mark had taken him outside, instead of to his room, but he had thought it would just be a case of retracing the time Doctor Moreau had brought him from the van to his room. But Zip hadn't really paid attention to where he had been going then, and he was starting to suspect the large building he was in had more than one entrance. Whatever the reason, he was pretty sure he was hopelessly lost.
He kept trudging along the hard floor, heading to the next bend in the hallway and hoping it would look more like the wide, high-ceiling halls around his room... only to pause about halfway down the hallway. There was a door there that felt somehow familiar. The dragon looked up at it and tried to understand the odd sensation. He was quite certain he had never seen the door before - nothing else about the hallway looked familiar to him - and the door didn't look too different from any other door, aside from a simple blue square near the top of the door. The blue square had a simple drawing that reminded Zip of the shadow of a person, but there were no words or other symbols that gave any clue to the door's meaning. It was a complete mystery to Zip as to what the door was for, or what was on the other side of it.
Yet at the same time, Zip was quite certain that the door somehow held meaning to him.
The dragon prepared to push the door open, but a sound of running water made him stop. It sounded as if gallons of water were suddenly forced through a pipe... and then it stopped, replaced with a slower sound of water flowing slowly into something. Those sounds felt familiar, too, like he had often heard it... but when he tried to think of where he had heard that noise from, nothing came to him. Another sound came from beyond the door - the sound of more water flowing into something, although it was irregular as if something was getting in the way of the water - and then both sounds slowed and grew quiet.
Zip tilted his head, trying to understand what could be happening on the other side of the door. Was there some sort of device in there that moved water around? Why would there be such a thing? Was this perhaps where the building staff refilled the bowl of water he drank from? That would explain why he felt it was important... but it wouldn't explain how he felt it was important. How did he know anything at all about this room?
And even worse, he was starting to realize he was actually a little thirsty.
Well, if this was where the staff refilled his water at, then they surely wouldn't mind him getting a drink. It would just be saving them the trouble of bringing it to him. And if that wasn't the intended purpose, then it still wouldn't be too big a deal - water was still water, after all; what else could it be for if not drinking? He would just get a quick drink, then go back to looking for his room.
Zip stepped forward and pushed at the door with his head, taking care to keep his horns from poking into the wood. The door opened easily and revealed the room inside: a bright room with hard, clean looking surfaces everywhere. Part of the room was sectioned off, with smaller doors reminding the dragon of the partition at the back of his room; through the open doors he could see what looked like large bowls secured to the floor, with the lip of the bowl at a perfect height for him to lean his head over and drink from. On the other side was an open area that also had shallow bowls, though the bowls there were much higher up than the ones in the sectioned area.
Zip had just enough time to think that maybe the higher bowls were for people, since that would be closer to their height, and begin to wonder why those bowls weren't sectioned off even though the dragon bowls clearly were... when a scream echoed off the hard walls.
"GAH! Dragon!!"
Zip looked towards the loud noise, finding the source in a person standing on the far wall and wiping his hands on a paper towel. The man just stared back at Zip with a look of pure shock, though his hand seemed to be fumbling for the tablet at his side.
Zip looked back around the room just in case, but there was nobody else there. He tried to take a step further into the room so he wasn't standing out in the hallway, but discovered as he did that the door was too small for him to fit through. That didn't make sense - why would they make the door so small, yet place so many dragon sized water bowls in the room? Zip started to look back at the door to make sure he was using it correctly when the man off to the side tapped something on his tablet. A 'beep' came from the tablet, and the man spoke into it. "Security, there's a detainee in the men's room; I'm blocked in and need help!"
Zip set aside the mystery of the door and tried to concentrate on the man instead. The person was clearly scared out of his mind, and Zip didn't particularly want to be shot again - aside from waking up who knew where, he was pretty sure somebody would find and take the tablet still hidden under his wing - so he tried to think of a way to act unintimidating. The only thing that came to mind was Joy, and how people had seemed so at ease around her, so he tried to think about what she would do. The answer that came to mind was a simple one - talk.
"Excause me - I'm twying to ged to mai woom. Can yu halp?"
The man's eyes just grew wider, and he dropped his tablet on the floor.
A muffled voice came from the tablet. "Say again? What's your location; which wing's restroom?'
Zip kept himself still and tried to imagine being unthreatening. He wasn't sure if that would accomplish anything, but he didn't know what else to try. The seconds stretched out into minutes, until the tablet began speaking again.
"Please repeat, what is your location? We are preparing security to check all the bathrooms now, but if you are able to respond please provide you specific location."
The man jerked out of his shock at that, and he bent down to pick up the tablet. "Um... sorry, security, it was just a false alarm. I thought I saw... um... n-never mind... I'm really sorry about that, guys."
There was an audible sigh from the tablet, then the voice continued with an annoyed tone. "Copy." The voice turned distant, like the speaker had moved away. "All teams, stand down; false alarm." The voice was silent for a second, then picked up again. "No harm done. But keep in mind that we're not supposed to have to alcohol in this facility. At least not if you aren't ready to share with security."
The man winced a little before he slid the tablet back into his pocket. "Sorry... um... the detainee cells are... I m-mean, your room is on the other side of the building. I'll show you the way."
Zip started to pull back through the door, only to pause and look back at the large bowls first. He was pretty thirsty; he couldn't remember the last time he had a drink. "Can I ave a dwink first?"
The man hesitated, looking back at the smaller bowls higher up on the walls. "Sure, I guess..." He turned back to look at Zip, then caught where the dragon was looking. "Wha... no, you can't drink from the toi... um... l-look, the water back in your room will taste better; you can have some there."
Zip frowned. What was wrong with the water here? He started to protest, but the other man moved to close off the doors to the larger bowls and glared back at Zip. "Out! You need to get back to your room!"
Zip sighed and ducked back out of the room. "Fiiiine. Stoopid."
The man started pointed down the hallway, and Zip trudged ahead of him. The man stayed several paces behind the dragon, but Zip could still hear him mumble. "I am never using the bathroom here again."
Zip trudged through the door and moved over to the raised part of the room. The door hung open a little longer, and Zip glanced back towards it and the man who had guided him back to his room. The man was staring at the inside of Zip's room like he expected something else to jump out and attack him. "Is ereyting okai?"
The man shook his head and focused back on Zip. "Uh... yeah, sorry; was just... you can't get out of here on your own, can you?"
Zip blinked at the man, then looked back towards the door opposite the one he came in. "Juss through dat door. Goes to eversize woom."
"Oh... well, um... I guess... bye, then."
Zip waited while the man stepped back into the hallway and shut the door, leaving the dragon alone in his room. He shifted and spread his wings, letting the tablet he had stolen from Doctor Moreau to clatter to the floor. The dragon lifted it carefully and brought it over to the blanket that was still strewn on the floor, and tapped one of the buttons on the side. The screen lit up and revealed a long set of text. Zip paused, wondering suddenly how he had known which of the buttons to press - there were a few of them on the side of the tablet, but he had gone immediately to that one, and it had done what he had expected. He frowned, trying to remember how he knew how to use the tablet, or how he could understand the writing on the tablet. He stared at the wall for a long moment, trying to remember... but nothing came of it beyond a slight headache. He shook his head and read the message on the tablet.
Doctor Moreau,
Please run a blood typing on Zip and Timex. So far only Emdee has come back as Rh negative, but for obvious reasons he is not suitable. We seemed to have lucked out with the equivalent of 'AB' style blood, but a complete blood typing would be good to have for future notes. A stockpile of dragon blood may be useful as well, especially if complications arise in future reconstruction projects (such as occurred with Zip's heart).
-Doctor Richards.
FW: Sample findings.
Doctor Richards,
I have finished tests on the blood samples you sent, and confirmed the presence of a protein remarkably similar to hCG in the fifth and sixth samples. There are slight differences between the protein and the human equivalent, so I am naming it 'dCG' for the time being. The protein had a faint presence in the seventh sample, but was missing from all the preceding and following samples. Additionally, sample five and all the following samples had the presence of Rh antibodies.
This unfortunately leads me to a sad but unavoidable conclusion. While ultrasounds of the subject revealed no signs of pregnancy, the blood tests - along with the subject no longer being in a state of estrus, per her handler's testimony - are clear. The subject did become pregnant at some point between when the fourth and fifth blood samples were taken. However, the lack of these proteins in the following samples can only mean a miscarriage resulted, likely after the sixth sample.
Given the reports you provided, I strongly suspect the miscarriage was in large part the result of the stresses the subject was placed under. The significant emotional stress involved in discovering her past, followed by the brain surgeries and anesthetics, coupled with the antigen mismatch between the mother and child, must have resulted in the death of the growing embryo.
While a definitively tragic outcome for the first new pure dragon in the reconstruction project, it was not entirely unexpected. We simply lacked enough information on dragon reproduction before now to ensure a safe process, especially given the fragility demonstrated in the original cloning attempts. However, these samples and the handler's reports have been very informative. Several unexpected nutrients are at significantly lower levels in the sixth and seventh samples, and while it is unclear if the increased draw is from the pregnancy or the other stresses the subject experienced, it has provided enough information to draft new diet ideas for future pregnancies. Great care must also be taken during future pregnancies to keep the subject in a calm, stable environment, and due to the presence of the Rh antibodies, I would suggest finding a different father for future breedings, preferably one with an Rh-negative blood type matching the mother.
In keeping with ensuring the subject remains calm during future pregnancies, it is my recommendation that neither she nor her handler be informed of these findings.
In conclusion,
Doctor Cories
Zip skimmed through the message but found his mind wandering. Other than the part about Doctor Moreau needing his blood to do a 'typing', whatever that was, the message was just a bunch of jumbo about some other dragon and some medical terms. It didn't mean anything or interest him.
The tablet itself, on the other wing, was of great interest to Zip. How was it working, without any power from an outlet? How had the message gotten onto it while it Doctor Moreau had been holding it? What did the other buttons on the side do?
Zip used a claw to tap the button once more, and the screen went dark. He grinned, then brought his claw further down the gray casing, where there was a tiny seam running along the base. If he wiggled it just right, he could push it open...
The sound of the door opening interrupted Zip, and the dragon jerked in surprise. Doctor Moreau had said his handler would be coming by, but Zip had forgotten until just that moment. He glanced around the room, but there was nowhere he could quickly hide the scattered pieces of Doctor Moreau's tablet. He started to spread his wing over the mess, but abandoned that when he caught sight of the blanket lying nearby. Mark had just left it there after he had undone Zip's hammock, and the dragon suspected his handler might continue to ignore it.
Zip lunged for the blanket, taking care not to step on what he had determined to be the tablet's battery, and quickly dragged it over the disassembled hardware lying under him.
"Uhhh... am I interrupting... something?"
Zip glanced back in surprise and a bit of excitement. Instead of Mark, the young teen he had met before stood in the doorway. Zip felt glad to see anybody other than Mark at that point, but he also felt an added happiness at seeing him specifically. "Jermie! Hallo."
"Hey there, Zip. What... uh... what are you doing with that blanket?"
Zip glanced down at the blanket and the lumps in it. He started to say he wasn't doing anything... but this wasn't Mark, or Doctor Moreau; so far Jeremy had been helpful and nice. The dragon glanced back to the door, making sure nobody else was there... then he pulled the blanket away.
Jeremy stepped closer to Zip and frowned. "Is that... one of the tablets?"
Zip nodded and reached to where he had left the case, picking the bottom half up and showing it to Jeremy. A pair of thin, short wires ran from it to another piece of hardware, but Zip ignored that for now. "Ah-huh! I got id frum More oh. Wanted to see haow it warged."
"Worked... you know, I've kind of wondered that myself. I know the basics, but I've never had one to just take apart like this. Oh, is that the hard drive? Wow, it's a lot smaller than I expected; these models are supposed to hold a whole two terabytes..."
"Harrive?" Zip looked at the thin equipment Jeremy had picked up. He had been wondering what that was for - it connected to the main board, but the tablet had still turned on when he had disconnected it. He had assumed it was for a side function, like the speakers or the camera, but hadn't been able to guess what yet. "What's dat do?"
Jeremy turned the hardware over in his hand and followed the cord. "It's the tablet's storage. Anything that isn't being used at the moment is saved here. So like, if you leave a note on your tablet - like, pick up food later - and then save it to look at tomorrow, the tablet puts the note in this piece so you can see it then. The stuff the tablet is going to get fairly often - like, if the background screen was a note saying to get food - is saved here instead, on the RAM." Jeremy pointed at a piece jutting out from the main board. "It's faster for the tablet to get things from here than from the harddrive, but it can't hold as much stu... oh wow, this is the 32 gig model! Doctor Moreau just gave this to you, to take apart?"
Zip squinted to try and make out more details of the piece Jeremy was pointing at, and shook his head without really thinking about it. "Nao, I took itt. Are dose extra slots four moar RAM?"
Jeremy jerked and dropped the hardware as if it had bit him. "Wait. You took this from Doctor Moreau? This is his own tablet? Zip, you can't take that!"
Zip shook his head and glanced up at the teen. "Can too! And I dit!"
"No, I mean, you're not supposed to - he's going to be mad when he finds out you took it; you shouldn't just take stuff from other people."
Zip let out a frustrated huff and looked back at the main board. "He took mai stuff! Used dat stoopid needle and took blud."
Jeremy flinched a little at that and moved a hand to rub at his own elbow. "Yeah, doctors... they do that. But that's different; he won't get in trouble for that, but you will for this." Jeremy looked around the room... then grinned. "Well, at least if he finds it here. Hold on, I know what we can do." The tern reached down and grabbed one end of the blanket, then pushed against Zip to move him off the blanket.
Zip stepped off the blanket and watched Jeremy gather up the disassembled tablet in the blanket. The teen dashed to the back of the room and undid the lock on the back door. Jeremy disappeared through the door and was gone for a few minutes... then he returned with the empty blanket and a big grin on his face. "There."
"Wut did yew do? I wanted to keep looking at that." Zip drooped his wings towards the floor and frowned, already thinking of new questions he had about how the tablet work.
"I put it by Emdee's door and broke some of the pieces; now he'll get in trouble for it. If anybody deserves to be framed, it's that guy." Jeremy grinned more and moved over to sit on the simple table. "And don't worry, I'll get you one to mess with if you want; they gave me a monthly allowance to get stuff for you. So, are you ready to go?" The teen looked around the room as if searching for something, then glanced back at Zip. "I guess you don't have much to pack, do you?"
Zip frowned. He had no idea what Jeremy was talking about. "Go whair? Pack whut?"
Jeremy scrunched up his face. "Didn't Doctor Moreau tell you?"
"Tale me whut? He just sed wait for Mark."
Jeremy frowned and looked back at Zip. "Mark?"
"My hannler." Zip thought back to what the doctor had said. "He told me to come bach here - and dinn't say hao to gett hare - an wait for mai hannler."
Jeremy sighed and brought his hand up to rub at his hair. "Ugh... no, Zip; I'm your handler now! Well, kind of; they decided while you were sleeping that this place wasn't working out for you. After my fight with Emdee they were going to send me back to juvie, but Moreau and some other doctor called at the last minute and said I was the only one who had made any actual progress with you. I think the judge was going to ignore them, but some expensive corporate lawyer told him you were important and blah blah blah and we could be a great team and maybe I just needed responsibility and a bunch of mumbo jumbo, and then I guess he bribed the judge or something because now here I am: your new handler. You get to move in with Joy and Ms. Thomas, and during the morning they'll take care of you while I take court-ordered summer classes, and then in the afternoon and evening we get to hang out. Ms. Thomas will be watching both of us, since she has the most experience out of anybody in helping take care of a talking dragon and is technically already a 'probation officer', as the judge put it. So what do you say? Ready to go?"
Zip stared back at Jeremy in horror. "I have to live with Joy?!"
Jeremy frowned, as if not having expected that reaction. "Errr... well, in the same facility she lives at; it's a small bunker built into a cliff. There's plenty of space though, both inside and out. You'll have your own room."
"But Joy!..." Zip wasn't sure what else to say that could be worse than that. He could still feel her poking him and demanding he talk. He hadn't been able to get a good night's sleep since then. And he had to go where she lived? Zip drooped his wings as a sense of misery came over him.
Jeremy's hand came to rest on his head, and scratched a little right below one of his horns. It was a nice feeling, and Zip couldn't help but relax a little. "It'll be okay, I promise. You'll only have to deal with her for an hour or two, and most days she'll be out doing work. I'll be there the rest of the time and will keep her away from you. And come on... you don't really want to stay here, do you? I mean... this is a prison. You have to go where they tell you, the food is crappy, and you've been shot what, twice now? This room is tiny compared to what you'll have. I'll get you a tablet, and other things you can take apart and play with - I already picked up a hammock for you, since your last one got torn up." Jeremy scratched a little more at Zip's head, then pulled his hand away. "I really think you'll love it there, even with Joy... but if you want, I'll ask them to let you stay here. We can make that work instead, I'm sure." The teen leaned back and shrugged. "It's up to you, Zip. Stay here, put up with Emdee and Mark and the others, or come with me and get a new home away from that. I'll help you either way. What do you want to do?"
Zip blinked, surprised. He couldn't remember anybody asking what he wanted to do. As far back as he knew, people had just told him what to do, and gotten mad if he didn't do it. But Jeremy was asking... and... the teen clearly wanted Zip to go with him, but... Zip got the feeling Jeremy wouldn't be angry like Mark or Doctor Moreau did if Zip chose otherwise. There was a simple respect for Zip's desires that the dragon just hadn't seen before.
The dragon fidgeted. He didn't want to be stuck with Joy... but... a new place to see might be fun. And Zip had a feeling the respect Jeremy was showing was worth far more than any annoyance Joy could unleash.
Zip looked back up at Jeremy, and gave his answer.
Zip yawned and curled up in the back of the van, shifting to get his leg comfortable in the cramped space. Jeremy was riding up front in the passenger seat, and Mark was pouting as he drove the van away from the barn that had been Zip's home. The sun was setting, but there was still enough light reaching the glass dome above to create interesting patterns on the back window.
Mark had said it would be a long drive. And Zip was feeling tired after what suddenly felt like a very long day. He rolled on his side and rested his horns in the rough pillow Jeremy had left for him... then drifted peacefully off to sleep.
A long row of lockers, a muffled sob from one of them. Sniffles, crying, a few desperate bangs. The last bell had rung long ago, and the school was empty... but the boy was trapped in the locker, and unable to do anything more than kick the door in frustration.
Those kids from before had stuffed him in his own locker. Bullies. They hadn't stopped. They wouldn't stop. They had to be stopped, that was the only way. And the boy had to stop them - nobody else could, or they would just find another way. He would have to stop them, or else he would never really get free of the locker - it would follow him everywhere in life.
The empty hall echoed with a simple "hang on". The lock spun, then spun again, then once more... then the door swung open. A school worker, a broken computer on the ground, the boy caught in his arms when he fell from the locker.
The boy kept sobbing. The relief at being free. The unavoidable conclusion he was slowly coming to. The simple unfairness. The cruelty of bullies.
The school worker ran a hand through the boy's hair, fighting back their own tears. "Come on. Let's get you to the principal's office, and get your mom to take you home."