(chapter 9)
Tokyo, ICEP Director's Office
"Director Nakahara will see you now, Agent Smith," said Miss Bell. Smith hesitated briefly, then entered the double-doors that were behind the Personal Assistant's desk.
"Miss Smith, please take a seat," said Mr Nakahara. "Who, and how much?"
"Excuse me, sir?"
"I know the ICEP servers were hacked this afternoon. They were highly skilled, too. No one would have found out, if I didn't happen to be accessing the file."
"So why are you asking me, sir?"
Nakahara pulled out some pages from a drawer. "This was the list of non-human population centres and their ICEP coordinators from last night. And this is the list that I was going to print up this afternoon, for distribution to our field agents. This led me to check for further alterations. I already know why you did it. You truly believe humans, demi-humans, and suchlike can truly live together. You were the only person, other than myself, to hire non-humans into your branch office too. Also, you were pretty vocal about some of the 'stupid' parts of the Interspecies Exchange Act."
"So what's going to happen to the girls and myself, sir?"
"It all depends. Tell me who did you hire to hack the computers, and how much did you pay them," the next part sounded more like an afterthought. "Also why Oborozuka? If there was a community of non-humans living there, our investigators would have already listed the town."
"Not if the population was keeping quiet about it," replied Smith. "Oborozuka is home to no less than seven non-blood-related dragons, for example. Miss O'Reilly only altered the list to save the department some embarrassment, and a lot of additional paperwork."
"Seven dragons? That is highly unlikely. Dragons are too territorial."
"Yet there has been minimal trouble. Three of them live together, with a human, as a family. I have basic information for six of the dragons. The family the seventh dragon lives in requires more attention, as there are some complications with our current forms. Here are my preliminary notes"
===/===
FILE REFERENCE Oboro/D01
FAMILY NAME (if applicable): Kobayashi
GIVEN NAME : Tohru
SPECIES : Royal Dragon
AGE : Unknown, equivalent to approx 16 years old
HOMESTAY HOST : Kobayashi, Mizuchi.
COMMENTS :
Works part-time at Maid Cafe Cozy. Approved for Independent Travel Pass.
Is in pre-established, same-sex relationship with Kobayashi, Mizuchi. (Amend files to acknowledge this once laws have been passed to recognise this legally.)
Co-guardian of Kobayashi, Kanna.
Intensely protective of both Ms Kobayashi and Kanna
FILE REFERENCE Oboro/D02
FAMILY NAME (if applicable): Kobayashi
GIVEN NAME : Kanna
SPECIES : Lightning Dragon
AGE : Unknown, equivalent to approx 10 years old
HOMESTAY HOST : Kobayashi, Mizuchi
COMMENTS :
Student at Oborozuka Elementary School
Adopted daughter of Kobayashi, Mizuchi and Kobayashi, Tohru
Intensely protective of both adoptive parents, and Saikawa, Riko (a local schoolgirl)
FILE REFERENCE Oboro/D03
FAMILY NAME (if applicable): not applicable
GIVEN NAME : Ilulu
SPECIES : Fire Dragon
AGE : Unknown, equivalent to approx 16 years
HOMESTAY HOST : Kobayashi, Mizuchi.
COMMENTS :
Works part-time at Oborozuka Candy. Approved for Independent Travel Pass.
Is in pre-established relationship with Aida, Taketo. (Amend files to acknowledge this once laws have been passed to recognise this legally.)
Intensely protective of Mr Aida, and Ms Kobayashi
FILE REFERENCE Oboro/D04
FAMILY NAME (if applicable): Ooyama
GIVEN NAME : Takeshi
SPECIES : Cursed Dragon
AGE : Unknown, equivalent to approx 35 years
HOMESTAY HOST : Takiya, Makoto.
COMMENTS :
Owns and runs Fafnir's Hoard games arcade. Approved for Independent Travel Pass.
Actual name is Fafnir, however uses Ooyama, Takeshi for payroll and taxation purposes.
Protective of Mr Takiya
FILE REFERENCE Oboro/D05
FAMILY NAME (if applicable): Jouhi
GIVEN NAME : Elma
SPECIES : Water Dragon
AGE : Unknown, equivalent to approx 19 years
HOMESTAY HOST : not applicable.
COMMENTS :
Works full-time at Jigokumeguri Ltd. as a junior systems engineer. Approved for Independent Travel Pass.
Protective of Mr Takiya and Ms Kobayashi
FILE REFERENCE Oboro/D06
FAMILY NAME (if applicable): not applicable
GIVEN NAME : Lucoa
SPECIES : Feathered Serpent
AGE : Unknown.
HOMESTAY HOST : not applicable.
COMMENTS :
Works as a volunteer at Oborozuka Retirement Community as a gardener, and part-time the local farm as a farmhand. Approved for Independent Travel Pass.
Possibly the deity Quetzalcoatl, will investigate further.
Lives at the Magatsuchi residence, apparently as the spell-familiar of Magatsuchi, Shouta (unlock relevant files if wizards become recognised as non-humans).
Gets "overly affectionate" with her master, bordering on inappropriate. Unsure if it's a side-effect of the spell-familiar ritual, or if it is a misguided attempt to deal with past abandonment-issues
===/===
"I see," said Nakahara, after perusing the notes. "So why is the seventh dragon not on the list?"
"That's where it gets complicated, sir. Her whole family are non-humans, but they are all different to each other, and don't really fit in our recognised categories," explained Smith. "If a human and non-human have offspring, they are generally classified as whatever the non-human was. Harpy, Arachne, etc. If two non-humans have offspring, how do we classify them? If a Kobold and Nekomata have children, what is it?"
"Get to the point, Miss Smith."
"Our classification procedures are too vague. In young Mizuchi's case, the 'dragon' part came from a spontaneous mutation in her DNA. Neither of her biological parents were dragons. How strict are our genetic tests going to be? That could lead us down a dangerous road."
"Dammit, Kuroko. I love you like the daughter I never had," said Nakahara, "but now you're making my head hurt."
"Sorry Uncle Roshi," replied Smith. "That's why Miss O'Reilly offered to 'amend' some of the computer files. However, I do have two pieces of good news."
"What good news would that be?"
"You don't need to send Agent Anderson traipsing over North America to find that liminal rights advocate. He can just stick with negotiations between the Hidden Queen, and the Museum of Cryptozoology. Hikari O'Reilly is the eldest daughter of the person you wanted to talk with."
"Freya O'Reilly is here? In Japan? Right now?"
"Yes and no. She moved to Oborozuka a bit over a fortnight ago, but she's in the middle of a summit meeting, and won't be back for at least another week. The other piece of good news is that the O'Reilly family still have access to, and have maintained the files of, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce."
"What is that?"
"They used to do our job, plus deal with off-world relations. They were originally formed in response to the incident at the Munich Olympics, but expanded their charter when they were assisted by an off-worlder to foil an extra-dimensional entity's invasion plans. They were officially shut down in the late 1980s for political reasons, by people who didn't have the clearance level for the full-scope of the organisation. The only 'active' members are of off-worlder descent."
"Aliens? Really?"
===/===
Dragons' Homeworld, outside the Red Lake City Gates
"Wasn't I right? You couldn't see this park from orbit, and needed some regular aerial scouting," said Kahl'ryleh-hophiit. She and Freya were sitting on a picnic blanket, watching, as a Nekomata and two Dragonewts were running around in the flowers, acting like little children. They were joined by two young Centaurs, not long after.
"You were right," replied Freya. "It's a good spot. Kids need to be able to run around without a care in the world."
"I agree with you there," said a deep voice from slightly above them. "Although, I find it strange that a human would be in charge of a pair of Dragonewts."
Freya and Kahl'ryleh-hophiit turned, to see a pair of adult Centaurs just behind them.
"A human? Where?" Kahl'ryleh-hophiit looked around, theatrically. "Freya, have you seen any humans nearby?"
Freya rolled her eyes. "I think they mean me." She then addressed the Centaur. "I'm assuming you're one of the representatives for the summit? Same would go for the Dryad and young vampire, hiding under the tree, behind you."
There were some quiet gasps from near the tree.
"My cousin and her wife are vampires,"said Freya. "I can sense when they're nearby. Let's move this blanket, so we can talk without risking someone becoming a pile of ash."
