Just to be safe...

Disclaimer:

I do not own Dragonaut: The Resonance, its characters, or any other intellectual property associated with it. All rights reserved for Gonzo and other associated affiliates. I am merely a fan publishing without the intent or means to profit.

It had been two years ago to the day, marking the second anniversary of the end of The Dragon Crisis. The day Thanatos chose to spare the Earth and its people. Ever since, life has more or less returned to normal, just with dragons becoming part of society. The transition was not as easy as ISDA, the dragonauts, and myself had hoped.

Much of the public voiced rage and hate towards them. I couldn't fault them too much, as it was dragons who played a large part in the trouble caused. But events progressed much faster than expected. More dragons had been present on Earth than most knew and dragon supporters became more vocal. Soon enough dragon-rights activists grew into a full on movement, as well as their opposition. After a year, it became clear the issue was a global one, so the countries of the world convened to put the matter to rest.

After weeks upon weeks of deliberation, they were convinced to grant equal and equitable rights to all dragons, just as if they were human. This was partly thanks to the good work ISDA and the D Project had done during and in the aftermath of the crisis. The trouble one would go through to ascertain who was or wasn't a dragon became a deciding factor in the choice as well. As while they remained in Communicator form, dragons were nigh identical to humans. However, anti-dragon prejudices still remained and politicians from time-to-time liked to stir up trouble about the validity of dragon rights.

ISDA had evolved in the time span. The D Project was being expanded to enlist more dragons and dragonauts. For the time being Itsuki and Otohime had been reassigned to Raina's Lindworm Unit as there were too few active dragon-dragonaut partners were present to justify more teams. However, with the revelation that more people had resonated with dragons, out of intent or not, part of the project would also be used to enhance the bonds of dragons and humans.

At the same time, ISDA had begun intensive dragon research. We expanded our research into dragon anatomy, culture, medicines, and also reproduction. Hypotheses and theories existed, but with living dragons available, affirmation was preferable. All of it ethical and without the influence Gillard once held with a vice-like grip.

Among our research experiments was the genetic compatibility of dragons and humans. An egg and sperm of a dragon and human donor, respectively. The subject was growing quite well inside an incubation tank, one which had been re-purposed from the D Project where dragons eggs were contained prior to the forming of a resonance. We dubbed this new hybrid Hadrum

The development Hadrum experienced was as hybrid as his heritage. He grew in a dragon form, but contrary to original speculation, Hadrum grew without a protective egg shell, like a human embryo.

Fetal development took a total of approximately twelve months for him to fully form, with four limbs and two wings. He was the equivalent of a dragon sized baby. Despite having the appearance of a form fitting plated knight armor, Hadrum had a more organic design like his mother compared to the more mechanical forms of Howlingstar and Amadeus. His scales were black with small golden segments and lining, lightly decorating his form. Two goldenrod horns grew parallel on the crown of his head toward his snout. His wings like a bird's but composed of scaly feathers instead, each with a fine swept point. A few weeks ago, Hadrum's eyes had fully opened and seemed to track our movements from time to time.

All in all, Hadrum was developing quite well. His incubation began about four months after Thanatos left earth. Unfortunately, restructuring with our staff and equipment prevented us from beginning any sooner. Though, now we were hoping to continue monitoring him for a short time before introducing him to his parents. Unfortunately, unforeseen events pushed up the time scale.

I was in another lab when I got a call about unusual brainwave activity. Hadrum had recently registered a significant spike in his mental faculties, so our scientists had been monitoring him. But something was different this time.

Arriving at the incubation lab, I was greeted by the scientists in near unison. "Dr. Kitajima."

"What is going on exactly?"

"About an hour ago we detected another brain activity spike that appears to have stemmed from his temporal lobe. Afterwards, we reviewed previous readings and noticed these same spikes of similar magnitudes have been appearing over the last month." Dr. Kururugi, lead scientist of Hadrum who was in his early thirties, handed me a chart showing when the spikes occurred. " As you can see they become more frequent at night. We are in the process of trying to link his tank with the communication equipment used to translate dragon thoughts and speech in the dragonaut control pods."

Looking towards the tank, I could see and engineer and a scientist hooking up said equipment to the tank. "Any idea what he wants or is thinking?"

"Dr. Amari has the best idea so far. The rest of us may as well be clueless."

Turning to Amari who was sitting at a control panel, "What do you think, Amari?"

Turning around in her chair, Dr. Amari spoke. "I believe he may be scared and wants comfort. Though I am applying human psychology to a dragon, typically as fully formed children, they require emotional nurturing. He has been restricted to a tank, in a large uninhabited chamber, cut off from any kind of physical interaction. Perhaps he-"

She was cut off by the communication equipment being fully installed and ready to use. As soon as it did a word erupted onto the screen in front of us.

MOTHER

We all stared at the screen as the word began to repeat over and over again. The speed at which the word repeated increased, indicating he knew we or someone was paying attention. I quickly pushed past Dr. Kururugi towards the main control console and slammed button, activating the mic to the incubation chamber Hadrum's tank lie.

"Hello? Are you alright?"

The word appeared again, but once and slightly different.

MOTHER?

As the word appeared, Hadrum shifted a bit inside his tank, giving off a sense of curiosity and...hope.

"No, I'm sorry. I am not her."

Hadrum shifted again, head drooping slightly. He seemed disappointed or upset.

MOTHER?

"She isn't here right now. We can-"

His head rose, eyes staring right us.

MOTHER!

Suddenly the chamber and control room began to shake. A faint but weak roar or screech could be heard. Hadrum was waking up. And was angry.

"Everyone out!" I yelled, trying to evacuate the control room. When everyone else was out, the glass tank shattered. When he found stable enough footing with his untested muscles, Hadrum locked his eyes with mine. His crimson eyes piercing through my soul. There was anger in his eyes, but also something more. Sadness.

However, I fell out of my trance as Hadrum tried to bust through the reinforced glass separating us. After bolting from the room, I heard a shatter and a crash from behind. At this point, I feared the best way to calm him was to bring his parents into this. As I ran, I found myself catching up to Dr. Amari (at the back of a small group fleeing), who had been last out, before me.

Calling out to her, "Amari! We need to get to the comms center and get a hold of the dragonauts and Hadrum's parents." She nodded a yes and we took off, separating from the group. Running through the halls, people who were aware of the situations ran frantically towards the emergency exits, whereas those still clueless were stopping runners.

Arriving at the comms center, the people there were handling the situation with an element of control, trying to evacuate the building. However, the limited camera screens provided showed Hadrum had already escaped outside.

"Get Raina and his team now," I commanded with urgency. "I'll contact his parents."

I dialed the number they had given me before returning to their lives. As I heard the phone pick up on the other line, a familiar feminine voice spoke. "Hello?"

"Toa? I need you and Jin here at ISDA HQ. Now!"

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading this. Sorry if this is not good or up to par with how others are, but it is my first piece on fanfiction. Constructive criticism is welcomed. After all, the only way for me to improve is to know where my strong and weak points are.

Also I wanted to know, what kind of job does everyone think Jin had during the year he, Toa, and Gio were in hiding.

I would also like to thank my girlfriend for proofreading this for me. Helped me out quite a bit.