Author's Note:A momentous occasion, this chapter. Also, for anyone who finds this a little too happy and light, I may or may not have something else out that fits the time of year a bit better, called Innocent Hopes, Twisted Realities.
For something they had been waiting to do for more than a month, the process of scanning Toothless physically was actually very simple. He just had to stand still in the middle of a specially prepared room and not move as a harmless grid of colored lasers moved over him. It only took about five minutes. That was one part. After that, they used DNA samples to determine exactly how the body of a Night Fury was designed. That took several days for the computer to process, even with the aid of the information scanned.
Meanwhile, Toothless was otherwise engaged. A specially designed and reconfigured MRI machine had been built to monitor Toothless's brain activity. That information was vital in determining exactly how to connect a human brain to the sensory inputs of a foreign body. Toothless found this part a bit boring, despite the process involving various types of stimulus, such as sounds, smells, and brain teasers. It took several hours, and by the end of it he was itching to go flying and burn some excess energy.
Meanwhile, Hiccup worked with one of the engineers, Sammael, to perfect a saddle made using modern-day material. They eventually decided to make it out of mostly black carbon-fiber mesh. Stronger, non-flammable, extremely thin and light, and almost invisible on Toothless's back. As an added bonus, it was much more streamlined and basically untearable. Toothless loved it, and they kept the original stored in the aboveground room of the bunker's entrance. But Hiccup didn't stop at just one. He ended up making about a dozen extras and storing them in one of the bunker's storage rooms.
Hiccup knew why he had done that, but he didn't tell anyone else about it. He figured the humans that would be changing into Night Furies probably wouldn't like the idea at first. But he wanted them to be around if they ended up needing extra saddles.
The day the first Night Fury body would be complete was rapidly approaching. The information they needed was all together, both from Toothless's body and mind. The next part, which was completed by Abdul and the other geneticists, was determining which pieces of Toothless's DNA controlled the variables that should differ for every individual Night Fury. They eventually created something of a DNA randomizer program for the computer, in which the computer could test millions of unique changes to Toothless's DNA and create new strands of Night Fury DNA that were still similar in that they were the same species, but different individuals. Basically, it could create unique Night Furies that weren't genetically related to Toothless. This part was essential in creating the parents of a new species, to ensure genetic diversity from the start. Nature would handle subsequent generations automatically, but this part had to be done by computer. That took about a week to perfect. Abdul called everyone in once they were done, and they all crowded into the genetics lab.
"Alright, is everyone here?" Abdul knew everyone needed to be here. He heard a scattered round of confirmations, and he saw Toothless poking his head through the door. "Good. We've completed the last piece of the puzzle, the genetic randomizer.." He paused. "So now we come to it. The randomizer needs to know what gender the volunteer will be, and so now we need to know who that will be."
Iris stepped up. "You all know the risks of being the first. We've spent months making sure everything will go right, but the first real test is where things might go wrong. Do we have any volunteers?"
Skyler immediately moved forward. "I volunteer." There was a ripple of surprise from the group. Hiccup, Toothless, and Iris were not surprised. But they were worried for her.
Iris had to be sure. "You're certain?"
Skyler moved through the group to stand by Abdul and the computer. "Yes. I volunteer to be the first human to ever transfer their consciousness to an entirely new body." She smiled. "And I understand the risks associated with that. It's worth it." She made eye contact with Toothless. "Definitely worth it."
Abdul cleared his throat. "Okay." He projected the screen of the computer to the large wall monitor. "And now, for dramatic effect..."
Everyone looked at the screen. While they were testing the actual code, one of the other scientists had designed a simulation program to display roughly the changes being made to the original DNA, and the resulting changes to an orthographic model of Toothless. The result was a split-screen. The left side had an image of the basic shape of a strand of DNA, a double helix. It was entirely green. On the right side, there was a slowly rotating model of Toothless, in fairly good detail.
"This is the original DNA, also known as Toothless. When I start the program, the computer will start modifying it, changing so much that the resulting DNA isn't even biologically related to Toothless, save for being the same species. I have also specified the gender for the final result as female now, obviously." He nodded to Skyler. "The program on the screen will show graphically what the computer does when I press the button, and the resulting changes to the Night Fury the DNA will create."
Toothless was staring at the spinning model of himself. He seemed mesmerized.
Hiccup and Iris were watching Skyler. She seemed as mesmerized as Toothless was, and for good reason. She was about to see what she might look like in the near future.
After a moment, Abdul hit a button on the computer keyboard. The computer was liquid-cooled, so there was no loud whirring of fans. The only visible change was occurring on the large monitor. As they watched, the green strand of DNA began to splinter, and pieces changed color, to blue. This was a visual representation of the much less entertaining process of modifying thousands of tiny pieces of the actual DNA structure. On the other side, the slowly rotating model of Toothless went through gradual changes, as the DNA that was describing it was modified. Some changes were subtle, such as a slight elongation of the tailfins, and the minor narrowing of the base-fins that sat at the base of where the tail met the body. Others were much more obvious, such as the moment the eye color changed, from acid green to something of a light sky blue. The model's proportions changed slightly, and it became a bit smaller, though not enough to be noticeable if the change hadn't occurred in front of their eyes.
Everyone in the room was entirely absorbed in the gradual changes displayed so well by the visualization software. In reality, the software was lagging behind the much more efficient computer, so Abdul had to wait about half a minute after the computer completed its modifications for the visualizer to catch up. Finally, the DNA strand was entirely blue, and the rotating Night Fury on the other side of the screen had stopped changing.
"Everyone, meet the first non-Toothless Night Fury DNA strand. Skyler." Abdul checked the data on the actual DNA. "And the color of the eyes was a complete coincidence."
Skyler laughed. "Sky blue. Quite an impressive coincidence at that." She seemed entirely satisfied with the results. "No need to re-roll the dice, I think that will do just fine."
Abdul nodded. "I'll send it to the big vat." He spent a minute at the keyboard. "There." The group flocked over to one of the three massive versions of the vat that had grown Toothless's tailfin. The one on the far left was turned on, and humming. They all looked into the massive tank of the green liquid, which was big enough to hold a large truck easily, even though they knew there would be nothing to see for a few days at least.
Iris checked the vat's monitor. "Only sixteen days."
Hiccup was very surprised. "But didn't just the tailfin take eleven? I thought an entire body would take months at that rate."
Abdul chuckled. "The vat grows the entire thing at the same time, at an exponential rate. So size doesn't actually matter, just complexity. The extra five days are for the organs, mainly."
Skyler laughed, a sound full of joy. "Well, move along. Nothing to see here. And I don't want to catch you staring at me in here. So invite me to stare with you." She was joking and seemed to almost be bursting with anticipation, despite the possibility of unforeseen dangers in the actual transfer process drawing near.
Abdul had one final word on that subject. "Just a word of warning, the body is going to look very disturbing by about the halfway point. Skin and scales are some of the last things to develop when the vat makes things." He shrugged. "So if you want to look, bring your own bucket for vomit."
Someone laughed.
"I'm serious. Even if you don't think you'll need one, bring one anyway. Throwing up on the vat is not okay."
After that, the scientists dispersed. The last few weeks of work had involved every member of the team, but now all that could be done involved genetics. So most of them had sixteen days of absolutely nothing to do. Not that they minded. Iris had authorized trips to the nearest town, though only three at a time to avoid suspicion. The town knew there was a government project in the vicinity, but that was about all they knew. It was a small town, but it did have a pub and bowling alley, both of which were going to receive a distinct increase in patronage in the next sixteen days, though the bowling alley much more so than the pub. Very few of the scientists drank.
Meanwhile, those still in the bunker found ways to pass the time. They had internet, and movie nights became a regular event. Hiccup and Toothless, who had really only been educated on the scientific and historical aspects of the world were quite impressed with some of the movies. Although neither of them thought very highly of Jurassic Park, despite the inherent similarities, they did enjoy some of the more everyday action and fantasy movies. One old classic, Dragonheart, definitely felt very familiar, and ended up being one of their favorites. Most of the comedies went right over their heads, for obvious reasons.
It wasn't all fun though. The group still had to deal with Morian three times a day, and they eventually wound up drawing straws for who was stuck with that task on any given day. The only person who enjoyed bringing Morian his food was Toothless, who never got tired of Morian's entirely baffled expression when he was given food by a massive, 'monster', as he insisted on calling Toothless. On that front, he had been told absolutely nothing about why he wasn't allowed to leave and was still entirely unaware of the group's real goal.
Iris spent much of the sixteen days combing over the upcoming transfer process, searching methodically for any unnoticed detail or flaw. Hiccup gave what little help he could, which usually amounted to being there with her, and forcing her to take breaks every once in a while. Iris was determined that absolutely nothing was going to go wrong.
Toothless and Skyler spent some time finalizing the translation program. Other than that, Skyler spent quite a bit of time simply observing Toothless, trying to get an idea for how she would soon be moving and functioning. She especially loved to watch him fly, with or without a rider. He had taken her on a more daring flight once the saddle had been built, and she had loved it as much as she had predicted, despite throwing up the second she got out of the saddle afterward.
Hiccup and Toothless also spent quite a bit of time flying together. Toothless seemed to want to get in as much of that as possible while they could. Hiccup and Iris had already agreed that once the process was proven to work, Hiccup would be the next to go, because of his familiarity with the species. Of course, they wouldn't change anyone other than Skyler until nuclear war actually broke out.
On that note, things were not looking good. President Teller had recently survived an assassination attempt, and the assassin's country of origin was the subject of much heated debate. Teller himself was still advocating nuclear disarming as a mutual decision, but that seemed less likely than ever. North Korea, in particular, was getting more and more aggressive in the posturing that passed for 'negotiations' with the rest of the world. China, Russia, and North Korea's other allies were still backing them, and apparently that made them bold.
In the bunker, the scientists followed these developments closely but they didn't really care beyond the fleeting hope that Teller or someone else would pull off a miracle. No one, probably including Teller himself by now, believed it would happen. There was a little bit of panic in most countries, but people had been living under the shadow of nuclear war for decades now, and they were resigned that there really wasn't anything they could do. The inhabitants of the town closest to the bunker were apparently casual about the prospect of a nuclear war destroying massive portions of the human race. They thought they were probably safe because no one was going to waste a nuclear warhead on Alaska. The prospect of radioactive drift from hybrid SALT nuclear bombs was not something they were aware of. The scientists knew there was nothing that would be gained from telling them about that particular fact, so they remained unaware.
This disinterested attitude confused Hiccup, who wasn't used to people facing any sort of doom behaving passively. This group of people he was working with were at least doing something, even if it was preparing for the aftermath. He had studied the situation and had determined that the time to intervene and stop it entirely had come and gone about a decade ago. So he wasn't really that surprised Teller seemed to be the only world leader really trying to stop the looming catastrophe. The other world leaders seemed to be resigned to the inevitability of the event, and in a few cases looking forward to it.
During the sixteen days, Iris received one notification of interest. Apparently, President Teller had decided, as nuclear war was almost upon them, to call something of a conference between the leading scientists of the ten secret groups and himself. He requested that the leader and two team members of their choice join something of a video conference call, on a date that landed about a week after Skyler's big day. They, of course, could not refuse, though Iris worried that Teller might ask some awkward questions about Morian, or their group's progress.
All in all, the sixteen days in which Skyler's new body was grown did pass quickly for the most part. Abdul, in particular, took pleasure in tracking just how many team members threw up when they viewed the body between days seven and fourteen. He said that everyone who came during those days left with a full bucket.
On the evening of the fifteenth day, Iris, Hiccup, and Skyler finally took their turn in going into town. Toothless had wanted to tag along, but for obvious reasons he couldn't. Physically, at least. Iris set Hiccup up with a set of special sunglasses, which concealed a video camera and microphone. Combined with the rest of their communication equipment, this allowed Toothless to tag along in mind, if not body. They taught Hiccup how to bowl, and Skyler spent her last day as a human in the company of ordinary people, playing a game Night Furies probably couldn't play very well. They all enjoyed that night, even if it was a bit bittersweet for Skyler. For all of them, really.
It was slightly after noon, on the sixteenth day. Abdul and a few of the mechanically specialized scientists had quadruple-checked the setup, and everything was ready. The final assortment of machinery needed for this last procedure was actually quite varied. The medical staff had assembled a collection of drugs that would act to 'jump-start' Skyler's new form at the same instant that her brain was transferred over and connected inside the Fury's currently empty head. Right now, the body was just a floating set of inactive organs, bone, flesh, and various other bits like eyes, not dead but also not functioning. The 'jump-start' coupled with the insertion of a functioning brain would work together to activate everything. Also, right now the body didn't need to breathe. But when it started working, Skyler would probably need to breathe. So, they had been forced to transfer the dormant Fury body to another vat of the liquid, one with no top. This way Skyler could be quickly removed from the liquid once the transfer was accomplished.
On the human side of things, there were more machines. There was something of a massive computer, which inside it contained the necessary technology to perform the actual move.
Hiccup still didn't understand how that part actually worked. Apparently, it was the result of some work done by Stephen Hawking, discovered after he had passed away. It was way beyond Hiccup's comprehension, at least right now.
The reactor had been charging the massive energy storage unit the machine would drain while active for the last two weeks. That was also ready, and though the actual storage was not physically present, it was connected. Finally, there were two helmets, of very sophisticated design. One made for a human, and one for a Night Fury. These were in necessary in order to provide the transporting machine with the exact spatial coordinates of the start and end points of the transfer.
All of these things had been tested exhaustively separately, and the theory was sound, if in some cases incredibly complicated. But there was no way to test it all at once. This would be the first time. Each individual step worked, now they would hope they all worked together.
The scientists were all on high alert. Each one was stationed near the device that utilized their field of science. This wasn't necessary to actually operate the process, but they wanted to be ready in case of an emergency if something went wrong. The only ones actually needed to perform the procedure were a doctor and someone to press the button, along with the person being transferred. In this case, Abdul would be pressing the button, and Skyler was the one the procedure would affect.
Hiccup and Toothless were standing a distance away, so as to not get in the way. They were both immensely nervous and excited for Skyler.
Skyler herself was sitting in a chair, helmet securely fastened on her head. She looked nervous in the way a fire looked warm. Which is to say, very.
The doctor was only there to do one thing. Put Skyler to sleep, so that she would be unconscious when the transfer occurred. That probably wasn't necessary, but it would prevent any sudden jolt in perception. Skyler would go to sleep a human and wake up a dragon. If nothing unforeseen happened. Otherwise, she might wake up a human... or not wake up at all.
Skyler smiled at the doctor. "My final words as a human: Totally worth the risk."
The doctor laughed nervously. "I was going to ask you if you still wanted to do this, but I guess that's as good an answer as any." She held up a mask for Skyler to put on, which she did. "Count backward from ten."
Skyler was out by the time she hit six. Now there was only one thing left to do. Hit the button and hope.
Abdul's hand was trembling. He moved it over the enter key on the keyboard of the coordinating computer. He visibly steeled himself, prepared to press a button that would change the world forever. Or end a life.
He pressed the button.
And though everything was working as intended, there was no sign anything had happened, save for an electrical crackle from the makeshift half-vat and a slight dimming of the lights as the massive energy storage was instantly drained.
Except that Skyler had stopped breathing.
And the dragon in the vat, whose head had been tilted so that the nose was above the liquid...
...
Inhaled. Then exhaled, slowly but regularly. They had just doubled the Night Fury population of Earth. Now they needed to hope it had worked as well as intended.
Author's Note: I received quite an… interesting request from a guest reviewer:
Guest: "More love the story but gotta add Astrid and the rest of the crew"
I'm not entirely sure you get the point, guest reviewer. They are irrevocably dead, and have been for hundreds of years. While it is in my power as the author to ignore that and bring them back anyway, that would certainly snap the suspension of disbelief like a brittle twig under Toothless's several-ton bulk. Also, what would they add to this plot? A key sub-plot here is Hiccup gradually moving on and accepting that they are gone. Bringing them all back, ignoring all the other implications of that, would invalidate much of the point.
Besides, that is simply not the way this story is going. So I'll respectfully decline your oddly worded request/statement. However, I am contemplating writing a short story detailing the aftermath of Hiccup and Toothless being 'killed' (frozen) in the past. You will see the gang there, though it won't be a very happy situation.