Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 3

The sound of voices woke me, and I blinked sleepily as I lifted my head. I inhaled in surprise when I saw that a dozen people wearing white lab coats were going down the rows. They were examining each cage and writing things on the clipboard that was lying in front of that cage. A man was in front of my neighboring blue dragon's cage, taking notes.

I inhaled in shock. The dragon had been right - I was much smaller now. The scientists dwarfed me. The young man in the white lab coat put the clipboard down and moved in front of my glass prison.

I wanted nothing to do with barbaric people who could do this to other people. I hastily staggered to my feet and backed up with a loud hiss, startling myself with the sound. I had not been aware that I could hiss in this new body. It sounded more like water hitting hot rocks, rather than like a cat. The blue dragon lowered his head and growled at the guy. The man was not fazed by either of our actions, and I could hear the other dragons expressing their dislike of the scientists near them.

He examined the clipboard in front of my cage before grabbing the handle on top of my cage. He put the cage and the clipboard on a small cart in front of him. I whined in fear as I backed into a corner of the cage.

The blue dragon's voice once more entered my mind as he said, "They will take you to a small room to weigh and measure you. Remember to act like an animal. They will also likely give you a chance to move about. They do this to everyone every day."

It was a small consolation, but at least I knew they weren't about to strap me down and pretend to play mad scientist. Although, technically, the fact that I was in this situation meant that they had already done that... Where are one of those animal rights groups that sneak into illegal testing facilities when you need them?

The man pushed the cart out of the large room and down a hall before going into a small room. I growled at him as he lifted the cage and put it on a metal-topped table. Some of the things on this table looked like torture devices. He undid the latches on two ends of the cage. I hadn't been aware that both the front and back glass pane were actually doors until he opened both of them.

Another white-clad man entered the room and closed the door behind himself. He put on heavy gloves before coming over and reaching into the front. I, of course, backed up to avoid him. I didn't realize that I had backed up past the back door until it was too late. The cage was whisked away, leaving me standing on the cold table nervously. The gloved man started organizing stuff on the side of the table while I shuffled backward until my tail touched the wall.

The first man started flipping through the clipboard and spoke into a small voice recorder. "Specimen D5843. Female, twenty years old. Part of the intelligence specification group. Collected on September fourteenth with use of injected tranquilizer blend A3. Metaforming completed on February second. Egg case finished formation on February eighteenth. High heat hatching method C5 was used. Hatching occurred late evening on March twenty-first."

He nodded to his companion, who came forward to grab me. I tried to run, but I hadn't gotten used to my new body and simply ended up tripping over my own feet as my claws skidded on the smooth metal. All I succeeded in doing was banging my chin on the table as I failed to find any sort of traction.

I screeched as the man grabbed me; I tried to claw him, but my claws couldn't pierce the thick glove. It was as if there was a metal lining inside to stop sharp objects. He placed me in a basket that wobbled lightly beneath my feet. I instinctively half-spread my wings, trying to keep my balance so I didn't fall down again. He eyed up both the scale and the odd black lines on the back of the basket.

"Four pounds and three ounces, or 1.9 kilograms," he said. "She stands twenty-three centimeters, or nine inches, at the shoulder. Typical weight and size upon hatching. Growth will be monitored."