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"It's obvious the guilty verdict was incorrect, and I have overturned that decision to officially clear your name. Additionally, after reviewing the filings, considering testimony from the researchers in regards to the pain experienced, and considering the irreversible nature of the punishment, I am prepared to award a sum of thirty-five million dollars to the plaintiff."

Stephanie coughed and Jean's eyes went wide as the judge spoke the number. Joy blinked and started to spread her wings before remembering not to. "Wow! That's a lot! I can buy a really fig cake with that much!"

The judge blinked before shaking his head and continuing. "And for reasons that are fairly obvious after that comment, this will not be given directly to Joy, but instead be placed in the trust of the dragon's handler, Stephanie Thomas."

"Aw..." Joy drooped her ears in disappointment, then perked them almost instantly back up. "Though Steffie is great at picking out cakes; she has really great taste! I trust her with cakes too - you're pretty smart, mister judge, even if you made a bad mistake about me before."

Stephanie recovered from her coughing to rest a hand on the dragon's side. "No, sweetie, that's not how a trust works. And that's a different judge."

Joy lifted her head a little and squinted at the judge. "Are you sure? He looks the same to me; he has the same silly hair and everyfing."

"That's a wig, Joy; it's how people know he's a judge. It's not his real hair."

"Oh. So that's why it's that cofor... I thought that was a strange color for hair."

The judge's eye twitched a little as he listened to the exchange. He finally cleared his throat and spoke a little louder. "Lastly, after interviewing the plaintiff and hearing testimony, I am unfortunately unable to rule in the plaintiff's favor. While there is no doubt that Mitchell Donnelly - Joy - was wrongfully accused and did not deserve the punishment bestowed, it is also sadly clear that he - she - is no longer fully capable of caring for herself or interacting with society as a whole without support from others. For that reason I am ruling that she continue to be kept in the care of Stephanie Thomas until such time as it is determined she is capable again."

Stephanie nodded solemnly at the judge's decision, but Joy was still staring at him with a suspicious squint. Stephanie glanced down at her and gave her a nudge. "Are you okay?"

Joy nodded slowly. "Uh-huh... but... I was wondering..."

"Hmm?"

Joy looked from Stephanie up at the judge. "Mister judge, when you're done, can I fry on your wig?"

"What?! No, this is expensive; you can't do that! You... dragons can't actually set things on fire, can they? That's just a myth?" The judge's eyes went wide as he looked from the dragon to Stephanie, who started giggling.

"I think she meant try on the wig, your honor."

"She can't do that either! You've just been awarded thirty five million dollars; buy her a wig of her own if you really want to."

"Ooo, my own wig? Yay!"

The judge lowered his head and brought a hand up to rub at his temples. "...case adjourned; you're dismissed"

The judge waited while the dragon and her handler filed out, then waited for the shouting from reporters to die down... before looking down at the papers before him. "Next, the bail hearing for Nicholas Vazinski. Please approach the bench."

Nick looked away from the door the dragon had gone through and followed his own lawyer up to the bench. Another lawyer approached from the seats, and the police guard followed after them. The judge flipped through some papers before looking back at Nick. "Given your case and your behaviour the past few days, I was inclined to set bail low. However, the attorney for Skyline Communications has pointed out that you are estranged from your wife and child, and that the actions you are accused of have caused significant financial harm to their company; therefore I am setting bail at seventy thousand dollars."

Nick rolled his eyes. Of course Skyline Communications was involved. They had ruined everything else about his life, so of course they would be involved in this part too. It was really too bad he had managed to only destroy three of their stations, and not more.

The judge looked back at his papers and scribbled something on them with a pen. "Trial will begin in five days, at 11:40 am." The judge reached to the round gavel on the side of his bench and banged in on the pedestal. 'Adjourned." The judge suddenly frowned and looked back at his gavel. "...I forgot to do that on the last case, didn't I."

---

Nick watched through the small window in the door as various people walked past. The lawyer was talking about something boring, but he was having trouble paying attention. It was just strange legal terms, consequences that might happen, ideas for frustrating the prosecution. All vague ideas for dealing with other people - things that held no interest for him. More papers flipping, pen scribbling, then a pause. Nick didn't notice the difference at first until he heard a sharp _thunk_on the desk. "Are you listening?"

Nick looked back at the lawyer. "Not really... there's a reason I'm an engineer and not a lawyer."

The lawyer sighed and moved his papers to the side. "Bottom line... this is pretty open and shut. You were caught building another bomb, but you haven't killed anybody, and your actions, even at risk of your own life, helped keep the bomb from going off and killing the police. You don't have any priors. I can probably work out a plea deal with the prosecutor for fifteen, maybe ten years, if you're willing to confess. Save the cost of a trial, wrap everything up quietly without any public spectacle, issue an apology and explanation. Are you willing to do that?"

"Sure." Nick fidgeted with the pen in front of him, pushing the button on the end and twisting it. It had to be a spring mechanism, but what kept the ink from leaking out? A plastic tube, maybe, but if the spring was metal then it would cut into...

The lawyer took the pen from Nick's hand and tapped him on the nose with it. "Then why don't you start. Why'd you blow up the... what are they called? 'Aerial insulated point to point links'?"

Nick rolled his eyes again. Nobody actually called them that. "I blew up the floaters because I didn't have any other option. They're my work. I designed the lightweight Faraday cage that surrounds them; I'm the reason they can stay up there indefinitely without getting destroyed. Lightning won't bring them down; strikes just get channeled into the rods at the bottom and used to charge the batteries. The solar panels are spaced out to be able to absorb energy without the cage blocking the sunlight, the material is lightweight enough to not require outrageously expensive amounts of helium to stay afloat, but the design keeps it structurally sound against hail and other hazards. Even birds stay away from it; the smaller birds that might want to steal the wires and shiny bits for their nests don't go up that high, and the ones that do fly at those levels steer clear of other things that large. There's near perfect line of sight between the units and the ground level stations without the need for lines everywhere. I am the reason they're even up there in the first place."

"And you wanted to destroy them..."

"Because my designs were stolen. Thomas Hobbie worked with me on them, then took all the credit."

The lawyer stared back at Nick incredulously. "Hobbie? CEO of Skyline Communications, one of the top five richest people in the world, tech genius? He stole _your_designs?"

Nick rolled his eyes again. "He's an idiot. He actually wanted to use hydrogen, if you can believe that. The floaters would be blowing up left and right if I hadn't fixed all the mistakes he tried to introduce in my plans. He got me voted out of the company, got my name pulled off the patent filings somehow."

"Riiight..." The lawyer clearly didn't believe him. Just like everybody else. Thomas Hobbie was a household name these days; nobody wanted to believe the truth about him. "And you didn't go to the police?"

"I did go to the police. There's probably a report mildewing somewhere about it. No actual evidence of anything criminal, just a civil disagreement between two techies. And before you ask, yes, I tried suing too. All that did was allow his lawyer to grab all my own notes through something called 'discovery', and the next day Skyline Communications had forty other patents filed and in production."

The lawyer's disbelief seemed to fade a little, then return. "Did you tell anybody?"

"I told everybody. Nobody would listen - newspapers would ignore me after a visit from Skyline's lawyer, tv shows cancelled interviews. And when I wouldn't stop trying, my wife had some doctored photos of me with another woman delivered to her. She left me and took my eight month old son, along with two-thirds of my money. He's sixteen or seventeen now, and doesn't even know my name; thinks her new husband is his dad. And now I'm telling you - and I can tell you're totally convinced, aren't you?"

Nick paused long enough to look at the lawyer pointedly. "So yeah. Hobbie took everything from me. So I went after the one thing he cared about - money. And I couldn't even do that right. Helium's used in everything and is expensive, but he somehow gets the damaged floaters down and repaired at a fraction of what it should have taken. And blowing it up entirely didn't make a difference either; he just replaced them with more up to date models and actually improved the networks. Nothing I did comes close to what he took from me - and to top it all off, I'm the one getting locked up. So there you have it - can I have the pen back now?"

The lawyer blinked and looked back down at the pen, then handed it over. "Well... I'll talk to the prosecutor and see what I can do." The lawyer shrugged and handed the pen over before standing and gathering his papers and briefcase. "Have a good day, Mister Vazinski."

Nick was already too caught up in the pen's workings to care anymore. "Yeah, back at you."

---

Nick got called back to a meeting the next morning, but his lawyer was late. He had to wait in a lobby under guard, and he was completely bored. At least they let him read in his cell.

He had been waiting a long ten minutes when a woman stormed past and stomped up to the counter. "What's going on? I came here to fill out paperwork to get a settlement transferred to a bank account, but they told me downstairs it had been voided?"

Nick started to tune the conversation out... but the woman's voice sounded vaguely familiar. Did he know her?

The clerk at the counter tapped a few things on his tablet. "Did you have a case number, Miss...?"

"Thomas. Yes, it's 7-3-3-9-2-1-6." The woman slapped a crumpled piece of paper down on the counter and pointed at the top. "I've been all over this building; please tell me you can help."

"Mmm... just a moment." Some more tapping, then a frustrated sigh. "Sorry, my tablet just went to a gray screen... it does this sometimes; I'll have to call for help."

Nick was suddenly interested. He leaned towards the clerk and spoke loudly enough to hear. "Gray screen? With a black dot in the top left?"

"Um... yes."

"Skyline T50 model?

"Uhh... T50E?"

"Turn it upside down and give it a good whack right over the battery."

There was a pause, then the sound of a hand hitting the tablet. "Hey, that worked; it's loading back up again. Thanks."

Nick leaned back in his chair. "No problem. I told Tommie that the video chip wouldn't stay in place with that design, but nooo, had to save fifty bucks on production..."

The clerk worked for another minute before speaking up again. "It looks like there's a hold on your case verdict... something about new evidence coming to light. I'll get to the bottom of it for you; do you mind just having a seat for a few minutes, Miss Thomas?"

The woman sighed loudly. "Fine. At least I'm not walking anywhere else. Yet."

The clerk picked up a phone and started calling someone, while the woman found a seat near Nick. The guard standing next to Nick gave her a wary glance, but she ignored it. "Thanks for your help there."

"No problem."

"So, what are you here for?"

Nick couldn't quite keep a grimace off his face. Ugh, a talker. Still... better than boredom. Slightly.

"Blew up a few of the internet links to get back at my old partner for robbing me."

The woman blinked... then her eyes widened. "Oh - oh, the floaters? We had to help fix one of those; that was you that did that?"

Nick looked back at the woman, suddenly quite interested. "You fixed them? I've been wondering how they pulled it off without going broke on helium - from what I understand they even brought it right back down the next day so the police could find out what had happened, and traced the explosives back to me - how did you get it down? There's no way they would have approved venting the helium, at least not until I started costing them much more money, and I made sure my drones hit the top, so the bladders wouldn't be damaged..."

"Oh - it was Joy; she flew up and brought them down."

Nick scrunched up his face at that. "She... flew up... oh! Oh, you were here yesterday, with the dragon! She's Joy? So that's how he did it..."

"Yep! She had trouble getting it down the first time, but the second time she did it without breaking anything. And she's helped with a few others since then."

"Ahh." Nick absorbed that for a moment. "I've heard of the reconstruction project - but I thought dragons weren't allowed to fly. And that they were stupid afterwards."

Ms. Thomas shook her head. "Usually, yes, but Joy's unique. She wasn't a mass killer like the rest of the dragons, so she's allowed to fly. And even though she doesn't remember everything, because she wasn't a criminal she wasn't given the same treatments the other dragons were given. We've actually rethought that part of the process; we know now that a subject _can_survive without a completely blank mind; the brain can get used to the new body gradually, even if it has some lingering knowledge of how it used to be, so there's debate on what we'll do in the next case. We don't want a dragon to have knowledge and motives of a killer, but we don't want to make them stupid if we can avoid it. It's a bit of a conundrum, but we're hoping we can find a sweet spot where the dragon doesn't have memories but isn't damaged either..." The lady trailed off and started to blush. "Sorry - I've helped work on that for a while; my dad came up with a lot of the original ideas, so I kind of grew up with the project."

Nick shook his head. "No, no, it's fine! Though... if you don't mind my asking, if Joy wasn't a killer, how did she end up getting the procedure? I thought it was too dangerous to try on anybody but killers in the first place."

The woman flinched and looked away. "There was a... mistake; Joy was framed for murders she didn't commit, and we didn't find out until it was too late. That's why I'm here now, actually, the court awarded compensation for the mistake." She leaned over to glare at the clerk still on the phone. "At least I thought they had!" She shook her head and leaned back into her chair. "The process is still pretty... torturous; we can't really use anesthetics during it, and it takes a few months to do... but we've learned enough about it that the last few subjects have all survived."

Nick nodded. "I see. Then you're still learning from the -" He broke off when the clerk put the phone down and called for Ms. Thomas again.

She gave Nick an apologetic glance before walking up to the counter. "So. Where do I have to go now?"

The clerk grimaced and shook his head. "Actually, I've learned what happened. After the court session yesterday another person came forward - a Natalie Donnelly, who is apparently the aunt of Mitche... Joy."

"What?! We looked everywhere for her after we learned about Joy and Emdee; you're telling me that now she comes forward?!"

The clerk nodded slowly. "Well... there was a thing in all the news about..."

The woman sighed. "...the compensation money. Of course. And now she's trying to get the money instead."

The clerk nodded again. "Yes."

"Ugh. So... what, is there another trial now, or something? What do we need to do?"

"Yes - there's going to be a retrial held tomorrow, when Ms. Donnelly arrives in town. You'll need to be there, and so will Mi... Joy, as a witness."

"But... she doesn't remember anything! It's doubtful she even knows the person at all, even if she really is who she says she is!"

"I'm sorry, but that's what is listed on the docket. The hospital attorney had been given the information and was trying to reach you; he might be able to give you more informa-"

"-if I go to his office back up on the eighth floor. Of course." The lady sighed and shook her head. "Thanks."

The lady walked back towards Nick and held out her hand. "Sorry, but I have to go - thank you again for your help."

Nick raised his hands, stretching them out as far as the handcuffs would allow, and shook hers. "No problem. Nick."

"Stephanie. Good luck; maybe I'll see you around again, and we can finish our chat."

Nick nodded, and the Stephanie started walking angrily towards the elevators down the hall.

A few more minutes passed in boredom, until finally the door at the end opened and the lawyer peeked his head out. "Sorry about that; I'm ready for you now Mr. Vazinski."

Nick waited for the guard to escort him into the small room, then sat down in the chair and started fiddling with the pen on the table. The guard walked back out and closed the door behind him, and the lawyer sat down in the other chair. "Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that I'm starting to believe you... because the attorney from Skyline has worked very hard to try and get you declared mentally ill for the purpose of getting you placed in Neville Hospital - a hospital known for regularly receiving donations from Skyline. The prosecutor is shelving the plea deal for now while he considers it." The lawyer eyed Nick, then took the pen away from him.

Nick sighed at losing the pen and leaned back in his chair. "Mentally ill? I thought that never worked. Besides, I'm not crazy."

"That... may not matter. There are doctors who can make a case that anybody is crazy. And yes, it's very rare for a mental illness defense to work, because the system makes the burden of proof on the defense's side to be high, and it's easy for the prosecution to create just a little bit of doubt... but with the _prosecution_making the push for it, everything would be reversed. The same statutes will still mean I'd have a very high burden of proof... but to make you seem sane. And the prosecution would just have to create a slight doubt that you might be crazy. It's... a little unprecedented, because the idea of a prosecutor pushing for that verdict is pretty unbelievable; it's considered skirting justice when that verdict comes down, so a prosecutor would see that outcome as a type of failure, and not something to go for. If this goes to court there will probably be some new laws passed to stop it in the future... but that won't help you any."

"Right - I'd still be locked up in a psych ward somewhere." Nick sighed and rested his head on the table. "Even now Skyline has to have control of my life, and not even the justice system can stop them."

The lawyer nodded slowly. "If what you say is true, they probably see this as a way of silencing you once and for all - if you go to jail you could be a problem again when you get out; if you get labeled as crazy, nobody's going to take you seriously no matter how many years go by."

Nick thought for a minute, feeling grim. "How could they get the prosecutor to go for that? If it's seen as a failure..."

The lawyer shrugged. "Probably a promise of a sizeable campaign contribution. The DA is making moves to run for the governorship, on the grounds the current governor is too weak on crime. A lot of people remember how many were killed by the MD killer and how long he was on the loose, and are open to more effective police. A donation and endorsement from Skyline would go a long way towards him being the next governor." The lawyer sighed. "And honestly... I don't know what to do to stop it from happening. The prosecutor could still decide to go with a plea deal instead... but..." The lawyer trailed off. Of course the prosecutor wouldn't take it.

Nick sat and stared at the desk before him. So that was it - his fate was once again out of his control, stolen by Skyline Industries. He only had a dark room of a hospital to look forward to, with pills and injections and strange procedures that likely would end up making him lose his mind, just to make things neat and safe for his former partner.

Or maybe... if that was his future anyways, could he maybe deliver one last 'screw you' to Skyline Communications?

"What if the plea deal was for a harsher sentence? Do you think the prosecutor would go for that, if it helped build his image before the election?"

The lawyer brought a hand up to his head. "This is the strangest case I think I've ever been on. Maybe. Your attacks did get a fair bit of publicity, since it knocked out internet for a bit for several people. That second one especially. If it was harsh enough, a guaranteed sentence... I could probably convince him to take it instead of Skyline's deal. He's obviously not convinced to go with Skyline yet, since he's still considering everything. But it would have to be a pretty harsh punishment to make him think it's worth it. What did you have in mind?"

Nick gave the lawyer a dark grin and laughed.

---

"Are you nuts?" Nick was back in the room again, the next day. His lawyer was there, but on the same side of the table as Nick. On the other side sat Stephanie, looking as if she had just been slapped, and on the ground next to her was the yellow-scaled dragon.

Nick couldn't help but turn his head towards the dragon at Stephanie's question. The lawyer was a little better at hiding his reaction, but his eyes still glanced towards her. Stephanie caught both of their looks and turned over towards Joy herself, grimacing a little. "No, sweetie, you can't wear that right now."

"But we're not in the courfroom anymore; you said I could after?" Joy looked back at her handler with wide, hopeful eyes that Nick couldn't help but smirk at.

Stephanie shook her head. "I know, but... not yet, okay? When we're outside you can put it back on, but we're still around police people who might get upset at it."

"Aw..." The dragon pouted a little but took the white wig off her head, holding it close to her chest instead. "The honofable Judge Joy rests."

The lawyer grinned a little, while Stephanie just started rubbing her head. Nick looked back at Stephanie with a shrug. "Actually, if I don't do this, it looks like I'll be declared nuts and institutionalized. I'd rather avoid that."

"But this... if you get put in a hospital, you could get out one day, and get back to your life. You won't be in agony, and you won't be going through a process that may very well end up killing you."

The lawyer nodded. "Thank you; I tried telling him this was a bad idea."

Nick scoffed. "It's a horrible idea! But it's the only choice I have - it's the only real choice I'm able to make. If I do nothing then Skyline will make certain I'm locked up forever; if I do this then they can't touch me anymore. Okay, so I'm in pain for a few days; after that I'm beyond Skyline's reach. Do you know how long I've dreamed of that?"

Stephanie blanched. "A few days? This isn't a quick surgery that leaves you sore and in bed after, this is a complete recreation of almost every cell in your body, one piece at a time. It will take months, not days. Joy spent two and a half months going through it; Emdee took over three. The walls of the lab are soundproof, because most of that time was spent screaming."

Joy flinched in surprise at that, dropping her wings a little, and Nick frowned. Had the dragon not known that? That was more time than he had thought, but... right. The dragon had lost her memories.

"But I won't even remember those days, right?"

Nick and the lawyer looked towards Joy, but Stephanie just looked at the table. The dragon slowly shook her head. "I remebfer some of them."

"Remember."

"Remember. I... have nightmares about them."

Nick flinched. "Oh."

Stephanie sighed. "They have gotten better lately, but yes. This procedure isn't a punishment, it's torture. Trust me, you do not want to do this."

The lawyer's phone rang, and he whispered a short apology as he stepped outside to take the call.

Nick watched after the lawyer before turning back to Stephanie. "And I don't want to be locked up in a hospital for the rest of my life, either." Nick shrugged. "With this decision - "

Stephanie slapped her hand on the table. "With this decision you will be locked up in a hospital for the rest of your life. You'll be locked into a small glass cage while you slowly die, one piece at a time. You will experience unbelievable agony, after which the person you are will no longer exist."

Nick flinched at her words, and the passion in them, and hung his head, searching for the right words, before finally finding them. He looked up and met Stephanie in the eye. "But something new will be born. Something like Joy. She didn't have a choice, but I do. And if my choices are between living the rest of my life in a hospital with my form and memories intact, and the knowledge of what has been done to me and my failure to have any actual control over my own life, or with a few months of pain -" Nick paused as Stephanie started to speak up, and he made a quick motion with his hand. "Okay, months in tortuous agony - and a life after that free of everything, even if it's somebody else's life... to me that's a no brainer. If I had the option of picking my life back up, maybe you'd have a point, but even if I get out of the institution someday, Skyline has made sure nobody will hire me. My wife won't talk to me. I'm doomed to a lonely life working some minimum wage job until I finally die. My life already is over. If the way out is a few months of suffering, I'm not afraid, and I think it's worth it. Can you say it's really that bad an outcome?" Nick hated himself for doing it... but he slowly held his hand up towards Joy.

The flinch in Stephanie's eyes told him that he had been right - Stephanie loved Joy, even if she hated what had been done to create her. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it, then opened it again... then shook her head. "I... I guess we do need to learn more about how dragon mental processes work, and we could use another example of..." Stephanie's voice broke and she shook her head, her eyes suddenly dull. "You are going to curse my name for letting you go through with this."

"Maybe. If I do, then let me say now that I forgive you."

The door opened and the lawyer stepped back in, looking frustrated. "Bad news."

Nick felt a sudden sinking in his stomach. What had Skyline done to him now?

The lawyer sat down in his chair. "That was the prosecutor. He actually decided to give you the plea deal for reconstruction."

Nick frowned as the lawyer stopped there. Wasn't that a good thing? "And?"

The lawyer just shook his head. "The Skyline lawyers found out somehow and have moved to block it. They're saying that you caused significant damage to their company, and that they should be allowed to sue you; they're arguing that a reconstruction verdict would prevent them from doing that. And... legally, they're right."

Nick blinked back at the lawyer. "What does that mean?"

The lawyer shrugged. "It means that unless you have one point five _million_dollars to meet their deliberately outrageous demands, you're back to being stuffed in a mental institution. And I know you don't have that much money, since you settled for a court appointed attorney."

Nick slumped in his chair. He definitely didn't have that money, even if he sold everything. And nobody would give him a loan; he would never be able to pay it back. That was it then... Skyline had boxed him in once again, and had taken even this option from -

"I have one poinf... I have that much. I have thirty of them. I'll pay it." The dragon fidgeted with the wig in her paw before looking back at Stephanie. "Pfease? I know it's not my money yet, but... he needs it, to get away from the bad people that are hurting him. And then there'd be anofer dragon, one who can talk like me; that would be really nice..."

Stephanie brought a hand up to the dragon's head and began rubbing between her horns. "Sweetie, no, that's too much. And your aunt is still fighting for the money; you can't use it anyways."

The dragon lowered her wings until the edges of them were touching the floor. "She's a big meanie... I don't like her." The dragon huffed slightly before looking up at Stephanie. "But... can't we do somefing? He seems nice; I don't want the bad people to hurt him."

Stephanie shook her head. "So instead we'll hurt him ourselves." She sighed... then looked back at Nick. "There _is_something we could do, though. And you'll probably appreciate the irony."

Nick leaned forward, suddenly hopeful again. "Oh?"

"We can't use the settlement money... but Skyline has been paying Joy to help them recover and repair damaged floaters. They had a lot of them piling up, apparently, since the cost of helium was too expensive to bring them back down for repairs. She hasn't had to use the money - everything is covered by funding for the reconstruction project, and other than her medicine and food she has very little expenses - so there's just under a million in an account that technically does belong to her, if she really wants to he-"

"I do! Yay, we can help him after all!" The dragon brightened and spread her wings a little in her happiness.

Nick kept his attention on Stephanie, doing some quick math. He could sell things to cover some of the remaining cost, but even if he got lucky with sales that would still leave him somewhere between fifty and a hundred thousand short. "I really appreciate the idea of Skyline's own money thwarting them, but that's too much to ask... and even if I sell stuff, that still wouldn't..."

Stephanie looked a little relieved. "Oh, I forgot that you could sell some things. That would help too. But don't worry - I won't use all of Joy's money anyways. I was thinking the reconstruction project could chip in for the bulk of the cost - they wouldn't mind using the money to get another research subject, especially since most of the many new theories revolve around mental development and it's a big uncertainty if we'll ever get a subject who won't need to get the full brain wipe. But since you'd be a criminal who hasn't actually killed or hurt anybody, and who's pretty much volunteering, we could forgo the complete wipe and learn more about how the brain changes during everything..."

Nick sighed in relief. Take that, Tommie. "Deal."

Joy giggled and slipped the wig back up on her head. "Court difmissed!"

---

Nick froze in the doorway. He had been surprised when the guard told him he had a visitor - he had expected his lawyer, or maybe Stephanie. Maybe even Joy - from what he had been able to learn the problem with her aunt was going pretty well, but the dragon still had to come to court and give statements.

He had not expected Thomas Hobbie himself to be sitting in that chair.

Nick's former partner was wearing an expensive suit. Shiny shoes, a nice tie, an elaborate watch, a perfectly straight tie. He had that half-smirk Nick still remembered that somehow said 'I'm glad to see you' and 'I'm way better than you' both at the same time. He waved at the chair across from him.

Nick turned and knocked on the door. "Guard, I'm done here."

Hobbie rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on Nick, don't be like that. Sit down, let's have a talk."

"What could you possibly imagine I'd have to say to you?"

"'Thank you', maybe?"

Nick looked away from the door to stare at the other man.

"Or not. Come on, Nick, sit down."

Nick just responded by knocking on the door again.

"Fine, be that way. Nick, I'm here to help. I heard what you're doing - reconstruction? Really? I never wanted things to go there. I'm here to talk to you about dropping the charges. You won't even have to worry about jail; you can go back to living your life, come back to work for Skyline again."

Nick turned back to glare at Hobbie. "You're whackadoodles if you think I would ever do that."

"What, you'd rather be turned into some soulless beast? I saw some of the videos of what they're like. You can't seriously want to become that"

"It's not like they're turning me into you or something. And as opposed to working with you? After all you've done? Not even a question."

"Oh, come on Nick. Still blaming me for your own problems? I didn't do anything to you."

"You didn't steal my work - twice? Get me fired, get me blacklisted, destroy my marriage? Bankrupt me? None of that was you?"

Hobbie just smirked again. "Nick, whatever happened is all in the past now. Let it go; come back to work for me. You can start a new life, get back to doing what you really want to do again."

Nick opened his mouth to tell Hobbie what he could do with his offer... but paused at the last second to think. Hobbie had very nearly backed Nick into a corner, and here he was asking for Nick to come work for him again. What was his angle? It wasn't concern for Nick; Hobbie only cared about...

Oh.

Hobbie seemed to catch the change in Nick's expression and started to say something else, but before he could Nick made a quick motion with his hand. "Zip it! You're stuck, aren't you? You've chased off all the real talent, stolen too many ideas, and now it's caught up to you. You need somebody who actually knows what they're doing to create something new, and you can't do that on your own. That's the only reason you'd come to me, especially here. That, or it's close to happening, and you don't want me slipping away from your grasp." Nick grinned, turning away from the door. "Okay, I'm glad we had this talk then. It's great to hear that you're finally on the edge of disaster, even if I couldn't push you there myself. Sorry - I'll have to pass on your offer. I've got my own plans to start a new life."

Thomas rose from his chair, face serious. "Come on Nick, be serious. You're going to... what, just give up on being human? Become a science experiment, a test subject? That's not the life you want."

Nick snorted. "What I want is to finally be free of you. And I can tell I'm finally close, or else you wouldn't be here. You've run out of options for keeping me under your thumb, and you can't stand it, can you?"

A scowl came over Hobbie's face, and his eyes narrowed. "I'm offering you a chance here, Nick. More than you deserve - you did a lot of damage; most people wouldn't be so forgiving of the crimes you've committed. Don't turn your back on my generosity, or my friendship."

Nick blinked... then chuckled. "You? Forgiving? Generous?" Nick shook his head. "You wouldn't know real kindness and generosity if it bit you on the leg. In fact, the only generosity and friendship I've seen in all this has come from a dragon. Ironic, isn't it? You call them mindless animals, but I've seen more humanity in ten minutes with her than I've seen in a lifetime of knowing you." Nick turned and banged on the door once more, louder this time. "The answer's no. It will always be no. Skyline Communications can burn, and you with it - I'd rather die than help you." Nick felt a smile grow on his face. "I'd certainly rather spend a few months in pain and end up an animal. That's how horrible of a person you are, Tommie."

Nick felt Hobbie's eyes glaring into his back, and not just at annoyance at the nickname. "Fine. I can't believe I even thought of hiring you back - if you're so stupid you're going to turn me down to become a dumb animal, who am I to stop you? It's no big loss to humanity anyways, if that's the extent of your intelligence." The man adjusted his suit, then reached into his pocket and pressed something. A second passed, then Nick heard the sound of keys fiddling with the lock. The door swung open and the guard stepped through, nudging Nick out of the way.

"Best of luck, Tommie. If you're stuck with just yourself to depend on, you're really going to need it." Hobbie brushed past Nick with a scowl and walked out of the room.

---

Stephanie waited as the lab assistant finished drawing blood from Nick's arm. It stung, but it wasn't too bad. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this? This is your last chance; after they give you the first injection, there's no going back."

Nick looked back down at his arm, opening and closing his hand. "...yeah. Yeah, I'm sure."

Stephanie sighed, cringing as she caught sight of the glass room behind him. "Okay. I'm... sorry, for what you're about to go through." She bit her lip. "I've been away from this part of the project for a bit so I'm not sure what all has changed, but I heard they let you pick out some things?"

Nick nodded, remembering back to all the mock ups an assistant had shown him on a tablet. "Yeah... they had a few specimens they wanted to give a try, and let me pick from them. I couldn't tell much from what they had, but I thought the purple one looked nice. Everybody here has been more than nice to me."

Stephanie nodded. "Yeah... you're not the type of person they're used to working with, and they're glad to get more feedback on things from a source they can trust. Did they ask you for a name? Are you going to keep Nick?"

Nick shook his head. "No. That's going to be somebody else's decision, isn't it? He'll be stuck with it; it's only right to let him choose it."

Stephanie looked over her shoulder, where another person in a lab coat was waving at her. "Fair enough. We'll let him pick his name after everything's done, then. I have to go... go ahead and step into the cell, and we'll get the injections started soon." Stephanie glanced back at Nick... then stepped forward and pulled him into a hug, the gesture and sudden closeness surprising Nick. "Goodbye, Nick."

---

...pain. Constant, throbbing agony everywhere. Breaks in his skin, bones jutting out through muscles and flesh. A new frame growing through and around the old, long bones stretching out away from each side, covered in a squishy white substance that held them together. Red spiderwebs following the bones, reaching along to try and carry blood to places farther and farther away...

...voices shouting. Trouble breathing. No... not breathing; that was fine. The breaths weren't working. "Get him on his back!" "But the wings-" "We can fix them later; his heart muscles have ripped, and his secondary isn't fully formed; we need to get a pump in there, and that means getting to his chest!" Hands touching him, moving him, the sound of machinery, a horrible pain in his chest. Someone screaming, a hoarse, inhuman sound...

..."his second heart chambers are sealed now; it's delivering oxygenated blood again." "Can we take the pump off?" "Not yet. His first is still too deformed; it's half human, half dragon. The second heart is only really meant for increased blood flow to the wings during flight; it can't handle the whole body on its own for long, especially as small as it still is. But we can slow it a little. It... might help with some of the pain."...

...more voices talking in the distance. Muffled, as if through a wall, but somehow close. "A second treatment? Isn't that dangerous?" "We'll have to monitor it. But the heart pump caused too much damage to his chest; the organs there formed okay, but the muscles and scales there are shredded. We need to grow new ones." "That will take longer..." "Yeah. I hope he can take it."...

...needles prickling through scales. Skin? Flesh. Slightly more pain than usual, then fading back to the burning fire that was life. Nearby voices, dispassionate. "Looks like the second wave of growth didn't mess things up too badly; he's on the mend." "Excellent. You know, you're actually great at this; anybody else and the subject would have died. Are you sure you don't want to relocate and work at your very own island full time, Doctor Moreau?" "Screw you too, Doctor Richards."...

....weakness. Pain from the chest. Straining to breathe. "The fractures in his wings have healed, and the muscles are strong. If... if he pulls through, then flight shouldn't be affected. At least from there. His chest muscles... they're still weak." "At four months... is that normal?" "No. Four months is pushing it." Silence for a moment. "We can't wait anymore; his brain isn't able to regulate his new systems and keep them stable. One of his kidneys is producing insulin on overdrive, and his pineal gland is all over the map. If it wasn't for the pain keeping him awake, he'd probably be in a coma. We have to go - prep him for brain surgery."...

...fuzzy, indistinct. A complicated series of beeps, thunks and whooshes. A distant voice, somewhat familiar. "It's working. The Neffel gland has caused significant nerve damage, but the rapid growth is making up for it. His brain is starting to rewire itself, mostly along the dragon DNA. His heart beats are adjusting, and he's not flooded with adrenaline every two minutes. I think we can start to wean him off the life support." A pause, another prick of a needle. "Which is good; we'll need to start working on his chest again soon."...

...fuzziness all over. Breathing wasn't easy, but there was no more pain, except for a soreness in the back of his head. Should there be pain? The lack of pain was a surprise, but... why? Had there been pain before? Something just out of reach, a fading memory. Was there something to remember? Something important to fight the fuzziness for, something to hold on to?...

...no... ...better just to let it all go...