"Will the candidates for the Genesis Clutch please report to Hatching Bay Five. Hatching will occur shortly. I repeat: will the candidates for the Genesis Clutch please report to Hatching Bay Five."
"Genesis..." Doctor Schroeder beamed, arms folded at the small of his back as he looked across the clutch of eggs he had created. "I love that word. It speaks of creation and beginnings and potential...Don't you think?"
His assistant Devika, currently self-magicked into her crimson-haired human form, smiled and nodded. So did Valentine, his draconic, self-imposed bodyguard.
Schroeder smiled, pleased. "It's so good to be back."
The doctor's janitorial crews had teamed up with the station's own crews, and together the combined workforce had restored Bay Five to its natural state. All of the xenodragon resin had been cleared away, leaving only the natural mossy turf and the properly metallic walls and ceilings. The presence of the resin hadn't been a problem while the eggs were only resting, but as the assigned day for them to hatch had neared, the remaining resin had been scrupulously removed. The hatchlings, Schroeder knew, would have reacted with instinctive violence if they had seen the glossy loops and whorls of a xenodragon hive around them, and he wasn't about to have that happen.
As the bay doors opened and candidates and other curious souls began to trail in, Schroeder cheerfully waved a hand up at Siche Four, who sitting up in the front row of the viewing stands. The Minister of Flights and Hatchings flicked her fingers back at him in cursory acknowledgement. Though she did appreciate Schroeder having helped clean up the bay--he'd brought with him knowledge of certain compounds that helped dissolve xeno-resin and made it much easier to remove--she was still somewhat wary of these dragonets of his. One thing was certain: if he or his dragons made even a single wrong move, she would personally throw the little man back onto his ship and make sure he was permanently banned from the station.
As the candidates gathered by the eggs and the audience filed into the viewing stands, all under the watchful eye of the oddly-colored Dysiniu Sahurru, the air was alive with curious murmurs. Some people were placing bets among themselves on the kind of dragons the eggs contained. The secrecy surrounding the eggs themselves had not, amazingly, kept the number of candidates low. Schroeder had thought it possible that people wouldn't want to risk life-bonding to some mysterious dragonet, but instead, the bay floor was just as crowded as it had been for clutches where everyone could see the parents and guess what the offspring would look like. Schroeder had even had to bring in some extra eggs! In fact, there were so many eggs out on the moss now that it rivaled the clutch-sizes of some Old-World queens he'd heard about.
Over a dozen candidates had signed up for the clutch, indifferent to the unknown nature of the eggs for whatever reason. Some like Nairne (a Dysiniu like Sahurru) and Joqout (another Fantasan, albeit of different breed), had arrived at the Bay while the eggs were still waiting to hatch. They had discovered that the minds within were quite awake and able to be conversed with, and so had been drawn back to bond thanks to those conversations, rather than mere curiosity. Others had come to give the clutch a curious look, and been drawn back simply by the feel of inherent goodness they'd felt in the eggs.
And of course, there were also some that had come just because it was a hatching, being the type to sign up for every single clutch that appeared in Star City's bays in a desperate longing to bond anything.
Even better than the crowd of candidates, however, was the audience, swelling with inquisitive citizens. That was what Schroeder really wanted.
When the trickle of people coming in through the doorway had ceased, Schroeder raised his hands for silence. He stood before the eggs, between the clutch and the candidates, with Valentine silent and resolute at his side. Devika had moved off to the feeding tables, and was giving the local Archivists a bit of a debriefing.
"Ladies, gentlemen, and fellow sentients!" Schroeder called, not shouting, but backing up his voice with a telepathic broadcast that mirrored his words. With the doctor's voice being dropped into their heads, the audience fell silent immediately.
Schroeder raised his hands, as if to embrace everyone, looking around with a smile on his wrinkled face. "Thank you all for coming. I am Doctor Schroeder. If any of you were around before the revolution, you may remember me. If not, don't worry, you'll be seeing more of me from here on out! As long as all goes well here, anyway." He winked playfully at Siche, but the feline Minister only rolled her eyes to the ceiling and muttered to herself.
"So, everyone's here?" Schroeder looked towards another assistant of his, who was moving among the candidates and checking everyone's name against a list on a datapad, and received an affirmative nod. "Good, good! And how about you, kids? Ready?"
The doctor turned towards the eggs, from which raised up a joyous mass-sending: ::READY!::
"Splendid! Now, who did we agree would be first? Ah, yes." Schroeder walked up to one of the eggs and patted its leathery side. "That would be you, Lerlan. Is there someone here for you?"
A mental touch reached out from the eggs and brushed across the candidates. After a moment's pause, the hatchling within the egg spoke up. ::There is.::
"Good, good. Come on out, then." Schroeder smiled, stepping back.
Obediently, the egg began to rock, and then finally broke as a small black foot kicked outwards. The black body it was attached to freed herself before long, working out of her egg hind end first before standing up on a pair of bipedal legs. The little female, first of her breed, shook herself out and stood proudly beside the doctor, her head even with the man's chest. Schroeder patted her broad forehead fondly, and then turned her towards the candidates and audience.
More than a few gasps of surprise and disgust went up. The dragonet was for the most part quite plain: bipedal with a stocky body and blunt tail, covered with black skin and mottled with a lighter grey, and possessing plain leathery wings. But her face...the top of her head was a broad flat dome, rimmed with tangled black hair that fell to her shoulders, and her muzzle appeared to have been spliced with something crablike or insectoid. Fang-tipped mandibles clicked together on both sides of her too-short muzzle, above which glared fierce green eyes, deeply sunken into her head.
She was not a pretty dragon by any stretch of the word, and neither she nor Schroeder were surprised when some of the candidates hurriedly backed out of the cluster and shuffled towards the audience.
Schroeder let them go. "Is yours still there, child?"
The hatchling nodded.
The doctor gave her another pat and then addressed the audience again, silencing them with his telepathically-backed words. "Ladies, gentlemen, fellow sentients...may I present Venator callidus draconis: the yautjadragon.
"The yautja are a race of warriors who hunt, among many other things, those creatures called xenomorphs: those same creatures we have seen duplicated in those generally vicious beasts called xenodragons. Do not judge these children by their looks, for if you fear the rise of the xenodragons, hydras, and those other evils in the world, then these children are your friends."
Low mutters in the audience made it clear not everyone believed his speech, though one or two of the candidates to retreat hesitantly rejoined the crowd. The rest climbed up into the viewing stands, and when the shuffling of bodies had ceased, Lerlan finally stepped forward.
The candidate she stepped towards was Raiahlyn Evanara, an elven woman whose true appearance was hidden by the magic ring she wore and who, if anyone had noticed, appeared to have no shadow. Lerlan came to a stop before the Spider Child and lifted her head proudly. Whatever words Lerlan had to say were kept to a private band of telepathy, but after a moment, Ra canted her head in return, and the two moved off to the feeding tables together.
Schroeder practically glowed with pleasure, and looked back over at Siche. The Minister allowed herself to give the man a brief nod. Ugly monsters or not, just as long as all the other bondings went like that one, everything would be fine.
The doctor stepped out of the cluster of eggs and stood to the side, between eggs and candidates once more, with Valentine still keeping guard at his side. "Have at them, children. The stage is yours."
The rest of the eggs began to rock excitedly, feet and fists and tails breaking out at all points to free the first generation of yautjadragons. With Lerlan having set the stage and introduced both them and their breed, it looked like the rest of the hatching was to be the usual free-for-all.
Or maybe not. As each dragonet shook free of their egg, they went over to Schroeder, who patted their heads and announced their names for all to hear.
Another female was the second hatchling to step forward: a brown-speckled cream that Schroeder announced as Kietarn. With unfaltering steps, she walked towards the trio of Hybrid-shifters that had been commanded to attend his hatching by those infamous foxes from Shivran Aerd. She gave India and Kanaye acknowledging glances, but it was Mike McGee she stood before.
::Dawnbringer, is it?:: she mused, looking up at the giant man with an appraising click of her mandibles. ::Hmm...I like that. I like you too. And while I'm at it, I like your bike. We should stick together. Like the Doc said, I'm Kietarn. And don't worry, I'll call you Mack.::
A little grey male called Ontain stepped from the line, and quietly approached the ghostly Wynd of Change in the candidate-cluster, a tiny equine creature who was barely larger than the hatching that approached her. Ontain gave Ghost of Chance a calm look.
::Merely restraining your anger will not do you any good, Chance,:: he announced. ::You must learn your power, and the ability to control it. Then, if the anger ever comes again, you will be the master of your powers, rather than it of you. Your heart is noble, your actions just, so I will help you.::
Ontain spread his wings and bowed to her. Chance bent a foreleg and bowed in return, and then they too went to the feeding tables.
A large brown and cream male was the third from the line, approaching the candidates with an unrushed, steady pace. His manner was not one of laziness, but simply unhurried calm. As Schroeder announced his name as Kovan, the mottled cream approached a man shrouded in layers against the bright bay lights.
::Come on, Tenvyrenus,:: he called. ::Let's get you out of these lights.::
Tenvy nodded, reaching out long enough to pat the young yautjadragon's head, and quickly pulling it back to the safety of his layers as his cursed skin began to burn.
Nairne Timu watched a little grey female approach her next. Chevon quietly approached the Dysiniu (who was properly black and white the way Sahurru was not), head raised assuredly. Then when she reached the undercover assassin, she bowed gracefully.
::I will watch. I will listen. I will learn,:: she promised, and as simply as that, Nairne acquired a lifelong ally in her clandestine service to her Queen.
Well now, this was going perfectly! Schroeder turned to the next hatching, who reminded him what he'd named her (after all, he'd named all these children while they were in the shell, and didn't know what face connected to each name!), and waited as he announced it for all to hear. "Kaslan!"
An immediate gasp met this announcement, and both Schroeder and the dragonet turned towards the sound in surprise. One of the candidates, a woman in leather armour, had her hand to her mouth and was staring at the hatchling in shock. Before Schroeder could ask what was wrong, Kaslan stepped away from him and went right up to the woman.
"Caslan?" the woman whispered.
The hatchling blinked, then shook her head. ::No, Kaslan. With a 'k'. Who's Caslan-with-a-C?::
Thalia Brennart couldn't find the words to respond, but that was alright--Kaslan picked the corresponding memory out of her thoughts.
::Ah, I see,:: murmured the hatchling. ::I'm sorry. I hope my name won't bother you too much....::
"No...no, it's alright...." Thalia reassured the dragon, putting a hand on her new bond's head.
Next came a male with a brown body and grey wings. After his name was announced as Samurn, he took one look at the candidates and turned around, apparently heading to the feeding tables without bonding. This did not disturb Schroeder in the least. Venator callidus draconis could survive without a bond, so some unbonded dragonets were only to be expected.
What did surprise him, however, was the fact that the dragonet did not actually go straight to the feeding table, but stopped beside Sahurru instead. The bizarrely-colored Dysiniu jerked his head in surprise, looking over at the good doctor in amazement while Samurn radiated satisfaction.
Schroeder laughed. "What're you looking at me for? Did he bond you?"
"Y- yes, he did." Sahurru blinked. "Was that allowed?"
"Doesn't matter, he did it anyway!" Schroeder grinned, eyes twinkling from their nest of wrinkles. "So go feed him!"
Sahurru blinked again, but then shook his head with a soft laugh. Shrinking down into his human form, which was just as oddly colored as his natural shape, the clutch's guardian let his new bond lead the way. Chuckling, Schroeder turned back to the next dragon in line.
A white hatchling, Jenin by name, approached the group of candidates with an uncertain look on his face. His eyes wandered across them all until they came to rest on the shifter called Akarui of Light, and his expression brightened.
::Akarui!:: he exclaimed, and eagerly bounded across the mossy turf to join with her. ::I'll help you save your world!::
Another brown male with grey wings stepped forward, though this one had a speckled hide rather than the mottling of his sibling that had bonded Sahurru. Rifan by name, he bounded towards the candidates with an eager enthusiasm yet to be displayed by his siblings, as if he had to race to his choice before someone else could claim it.
::A dragon to fight the Dragon! Oh, oh! Pick me! Pick me!:: With a happy bellow, Rifan ploughed right into Garskit Delatore, knocking the young man to the ground. With the mossy turf to cushion his fall, Garskit suffered nothing but a loss of breath, blinking with surprise up at the dragon.
The hatchling blinked. ::Er, wait...I mean, I pick YOU!:: He gaped his jaws in a dragon-grin, and waited to be accompanied to the food.
A black-mottled brown named Aden was the next up, and he pranced energetically towards the candidates. ::Hey Svar! Svar!:: he called, grinning between his mandibles. ::Don't suppose any of your kids ever have wishes to, like, fight a xeno or anything like that? I can help with that!::
Svar laughed, unable to help but pick up her new bond's enthusiasm. "I don't know if something that dangerous could be arranged, but I'm sure we can find something you can help with."
::Alright,:: Aden beamed, then perked his head up. ::Oh, hey, Grandpa wants to know if the kids liked his gifts!::
"Grandpa?" Svar smirked, looking over at Schroeder. The doctor grinned and exuberantly waved at her, causing her to laugh again as she nodded and waved back. "Yes, they did, very much."
::Good!:: Aden chirped, as he led the way towards the feeding tables. ::Cuz he says he wants to send some more next week!::
"Alright, though at this rate, I don't know where I'm going to put them all!" Svar laughed, following.
Nin'Queesha was approached next. A ruddy brown male with cream wings padded up to her with wide, admiring eyes.
::Wow.... Sahurru read us all kinds of stories about heroes while we were still in our eggs, but you kinda are a hero, aren't'cha? Piloting your ship like that...do you fight evil, too?::
Queesha shook her head with a laugh. Sayen lifted his head in amazement.
::Well you should! Come on, we can train together!:: He grinned broadly and ushered her to the feeding table with him.
With so few hatchlings left in the line arranged beside Doctor Schroeder, Joqout was starting to wonder if he'd made a mistake in signing up for this clutch. For all that the hatchlings had approved of the revenge he'd taken on those that had killed his family, had they sensed the mindless bloodlust that had led him to that act of revenge and been disgusted by it? Not that Joqout blamed them if they did!
The wolf-anthro Lakota Sheean perked her ears eagerly as a white-winged grey male pranced her way. His name was Zedirn, and he looked up at the wolf with mock annoyance. ::"The needs of the many overcome the needs of the one"? YOU came up with that?:: he smirked. ::How about "One for all and all for one!" I like that better.::
Schroeder released a laugh as the pair moved off the sands. Apparently The Three Musketeers had been one of the books Sahurru had read to the eggs to pass the time.
A female, speckled with tan over a mocha-brown base, approached the priest Vestan Sureso with something like disgust spread across her brutal features. She was the largest of the hatchlings yet, holding her head a full five feet in the air. Her disgust was clearly not for the man himself, however, for Davin escorted him to the feeding tables after a pause for private telepathy. Perhaps there was something in his memories she found offensive, instead....
A coppery male trotted from the line next, simple in his coloration but of a notably leaner build than his siblings. He padded directly for one of the candidates, having already singled her out while he waited patiently in line, but halfway over he paused and blinked, as if he'd just realized something. Then he hurried the rest of the way over to Trine with wide eyes.
::Woah!:: Neisan exclaimed. ::There's two of you in there!::
"Three, now," Trine smirked, already feeling the little hatchling's fresh bond with her.
"Well this is a surprise," mused the ghost Terra, sliding forward in Trine's mind for a moment of control as she too became aware of Neisan's bond.
::Cool, I got a two-for-one deal!:: Neisan cackled.
::Feel like sharing?::
Neisan turned in surprise as one of his sisters came up beside him, but then gaped his jaws in a broad dragon-grin. ::Hey, yeah! We can be...the Fearsome Foursome! Or something...::
The pale grey female smirked, looking up with quiet amusement. ::I'm Lahan,:: she announced simply, and sealed her own bond on both the minds within Trine's body.
As Trine moved off, flanked by the two bonds she now shared with Terra, Ziwevc, a furry earth-elemental dragon, lifted his head as a brown-winged cream strode his way. Rescued from a world where his kind were under constant threat of being attacked and killed by humans, he'd come to bond in search of starting a new life, safe from the cruel humans of his homeworld. With a somewhat indignant look on his face, however, Driyon stopped beside the little dragon.
::Here now! What's all this about running away from your world for a safe place to live?:: he scoffed. ::That won't do, not at all! Soon as I'm grown, we're going back and fighting!::
As Ziwevc blinked in surprise, a grey-brown male, Timan by name, stalked towards the candidates with a fierce glint in his sunken eyes. He clicked his mandibles together as he surveyed those who were left, before his gaze finally locked onto Joqout Kasim. With a snort, the hatchling strode over to the much larger dragon and hissed at him.
::By my fangs, are you pathetic! Look at you! Afraid of yourself! Pah! We're going to work on that. Fear is a weakness when you let it rule you, so you must master it and take charge! I'm Timan, but if you can't pull yourself together, I'll be gone.::
With that said, the hatchling turned tail and stalked towards the feeding area. Joqout, looking incredibly uncomfortable now, hesitated in following, and even looked towards the doctor and remaining hatchlings as if silently asking if there had been some mistake. At this faltering, Timan stopped and looked back over his shoulder with a growl, so a doubtful-looking Joqout finally gave in and followed.
::About time!:: huffed the next dragonet in line, as Schroeder finally announced his name as Peren and allowed him to step forward for his moment in the limelight. ::Come on, Kanaye Yashish-kebab or whatever it is that surname of yours is. I'm starving!::
"Yasuokisho!" corrected the boy, giving his companion India a glance before hurrying over to his dragon.
::Geshundheit!:: Peren retorted, though giving his bond a friendly headbutt anyway as they headed for food. ::Just be glad I'm not calling you 'Kenny'!::
Traelen, a black-winged brown male, found himself with slim pickings among the candidates. Not so slim, however, to lead him to go bondless, for when he finally made his choice it was to pad towards the one-eyed young man, Taltos.
For a moment then, a lull fell. A dragonet named Viron was announced, but the darkly-colored male looked across the candidates that remained with something like dismay. While his two remaining siblings appeared to converse behind him, the brown-winged black searched desperately for a bond among the choices that remained to him. Just before the candidates themselves started to shift about nervously, Viron relaxed and stepped towards Clariethia Thompson.
And that appeared to be the last bonding for the day. There were still candidates left, and still dragonets as well, but none of the yautjadragon children made any move towards potential bonds.
Schroeder turned to the two children that remained. "Chetan...Osen...You will not bond?"
::We have bonded,:: corrected Chetan, a female brown. ::To each other.::
::And we will stay with you,:: added the speckled cream male, Osen.
"Oh, wonderful!" Schroeder beamed, hopping forward and throwing an arm around each hatching's neck to hug them. "Go feed yourselves, then," he said, after releasing them. "Ask Devika for help if you need it."
The two children nodded and headed off, and Schroeder turned back towards the audience. Once more he reached out with both voice and mind. "Thank you again, everyone, for coming. I am proud to call his hatching a success. My ship, the Abstract Destiny, can now be considered a permanent part of Star City, and you will certainly be seeing more of me and the creatures I create, only some of whom will be more Venators. Farewell!"
The doctor bowed deeply, and as the audience began to disperse, to go off and gossip about what they'd seen today, Schroeder joined the newly bonded pairs at the feeding table. Siche slipped out of the viewing stands and followed him.
"Now, if I could all of your attention, please, I have some last words for you." Schroeder waited for everyone to look at him before continuing. "When you attend your new dragoner classes, you will find I have devised a special curriculum for you to teach you all about the yautjadragons and what I have created them to be, so that's not what I want to say to you. What I do want to say to you is this:
"I invite you all to return in two years. Your new bonds will be at their full sizes then, but still juveniles. I shall put them to a test then, and provide them with a parting gift if they do well. You do not have to attend if you really do not want to, I will not force it, but if you are going to show, make sure you send me a message. Exactly two years from today, I will call you all to my ship...but I don't want to spoil the surprise. Take care of my children. I hope to see them all again in two years!"
With that, the good doctor raised his hand in farewell, smiling broadly and with the hints of proud tears standing in his eyes. All the hatchlings, even the sour-tempered one Joqout had bonded, lifted their own hands in fond return, and then a few even broke away from their bonds long enough to give the aging scientist hugs around his waist, and then do the same to Sahurru--the two men who were the closest things to a grandfather and father that they would ever know.
With the goodbyes said--at least for now--Schroeder finally turned towards Siche.
"There now," he smiled. "I told you everything would be alright."
"So you did," Siche agreed. She was silent a moment, then added: "It's good to have you back." Before Schroeder could do anything embarrassing like--knowing him--catching her in a hug, the Minister turned about and headed off to deal with her own ever-pressing duties.
Schroeder smiled at her withdrawing form. "Thank you, my dear."
So did the Genesis Clutch come to its end...which was really just another beginning.