Days passed in our circular routine, and time seemed to swallow the mysterious visitors. In fact, we had an entirely different set of people on our minds. A set of professors was coming from umbra to check us and our dragons. We also hoped they would bring with them the new tech, and the solutions promised with it. Many of us expected to see our parents, and the usual cleaning of rooms, dishes and laundry that would follow such a visit ensued. We all had the days off on the promised time of arrival. The scientists arrived in three large ford trucks, and a U-Haul sized box truck. My mother was the first person i greeted. She grabbed me in a spine cracking hug laughing as she did so.
"It is good to see you Cody. Tell me, how is Ravinia? and how are you?" As my mom drilled my with questions, i led her down into our apartment. i was taller then my mom, something she told me i inherited from my father, whoever he was. My mom and i shared our small nose, green eyes and sharp chins. we both had dark hair, my mothers of course much longer than mine.
"So tell me Cody, How is your job doing? Is being a mechanic all you thought it would be?" I thought carefully before choosing my words. " Yes. ... Well yes and no. I like doing it, But a lot of people don't believe in paying for it. " My mother laughed at this, pulling me into a shoulder hug. We descended into the dragon cave, being met by the others and their parents . by the time we met at the bottom of the stairs, the halls were filled with joyous laughter. we entered the dragons cave, each of us taking our guardians to our dragons. Several of the scientists had gone to the far side of the room, and were setting up tables and various equipment stands. my mother extended the same greeting to Ravinia as she had me.
Cody, tell your mother that i appreciate her affection. tell her it is equally reciprocated. As i was relating Rav's wishes to my mother, Ravinia nudged her arm gently. The compliment made my mom's eyes sparkle. I then pushed Rav's next question at my mother, which implied to the purpose of their visit. " Yes, Ravinia, we brought the new items. we should ready to start before long. This new RNA code has really been a life saver. Our wolf tribe, You know out in California," She waited for an nod from me before continuing. "Well, several of them were dying due to a bone degeneration problem. We inserted this code into a stem cell injection, and nearly all of them made a full recovery. Only one of them continued to die." Her face was a mixture of lost hope, and tragedy as she relaid this news.
"A-and the partner?" i tentatively asked after a moment of silence. "Suicide." My mothers voice was quiet with her reply, she must have been one of the direct supervisors of the child. "I'm sorry. i know You try hard, sometimes coding fails." My mom was just one of many coders who worked for Umbra, but she was specifically assigned to the group out in California. i wasn't sure how many groups of us there were, there were only three that i knew of. A cover of wolves(the group in current question), A group of otters in Washington, and us, of course. Wanting to retreat from such a macabre subject, i tugged her over to where the others were setting up the final pieces of equipment. Several computer were running programs, and more than one demonstrated a code matrix flashing across the screen.
One by one, the whole group gathered around for the safety briefing. I recognized a few of the doctors, but only knew one by name. Dr. Francis Harding, and he was THE reason this project existed. It had been his genius that had started the initial code splicing, and he who had brought the teams together. Dr. Harding was not much to look at, 5' 6" in his mid forties. He had a kind face, brown eyes and a large nose. He spoke softly, yet his words inspired greatness. we fell silent as he shuffled a stack of papers, and began to speak.
"We all know why we have gathered here. It is to, in part, celebrate the success of an amazing program, and some amazing teenagers. Tonight we bring new technology that will allow further success of this program, and lengthen the lives of the individuals who are in it." The Dr. had clearly finished, and was now intensely studying some papers. A white clad technician had led each of us back towards our dragon's prospective locations, where tables and other equipment had been set up. I followed an older lady by the name of Martha. She was excitedly chattering away about new breakthroughs and technologies, the better part of which i did not understand. She directed me to lay on the table, which was cold, of course.
As i lay there, a second lady came around with a hair trimmer, shaving bare our heads for surgery. While the surgeons where prepping us for the procedure, Martha explained to me what would be happening. "we will be replacing your current numeral lace card with the new one, which will be sliding into the same spot as the old one. the entire procedure should take around thirty minuets, along with calibration." I nodded that i had heard her, and closed my eyes, waiting patiently for the anesthetic. Cody, do you think this will fix us? For a moment, Ravinia's age showed. It was hard to remember that she was only a few years younger than me, despite her older thinking. I don't want to die. She voiced this concern as the drug was taking over, leaving me too weak to respond.
it felt no more that a handful of seconds as I woke up, Much warmer and comfortable than when i had laid down. Around me i could hear the quiet murmur of others. A quick glance around said i was still in the dragon cave. I could feel Ravinia's mind as a much larger presence than before. I reach up to the side of my skull, which had thin bandage wrapped around it. My body was still mostly numb from the drugs, but feeling was returning slowly to my limbs. Someone must have seen me moving, because Martha arrived with a clipboard in hand. "Hello Cody. How do you feel?" I responded that i was fine, and Martha ran down a full set of questions about health. She seemed satisfied with my answers, and then helped me to sit up. Ravinia was awake and curled up in front of me, her head resting on her paws. A toothy grin was spread across her jaws, and a lively sparkle in gleamed in her eyes.
Hello Rav. You look well. She opened her jaws , tasting the air with her tongue.
I feel well, Cody. I feel very well. I could feel you in your sleep, which I could not do before. And i have high hopes that the medicine they gave me will help prevent future problems. Ravinia stretched her head out towards me, stopping eye level. I rubbed her nose scales gently, enjoying their smoothness. leaning on Rav's nose, i gently lowered myself to the floor, testing my weight to see that i was fine to stand. Martha stayed near me, obviously monitoring my progress. Around me my friends were in various stages of awakening, and/or moving about. Marcus was the only one fully up yet, and was playfully pushing around his dragon, Sauron. It was a one sided contest, Sauron could easily push him across the room. It was a game we often played. I watched as the others began to come round, and the rest of our tests began. The hopeful mood of each of us seemed to feed one another, and we found much happiness in our new stance.