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A New Family Part 2

Dramatis Personae

Family of 5 from the Archives: (Descended from United Americas of Old Earth)

• Ataksak (Mother) 41

• Negafook (Father) 42

• Nanook (elder son) 22

• Pinga (daughter) 22

• Silla (younger son) 8

Other Cast

• Alessandra (Alpha den Healer, Colonist) 215

• Mazu (Daughter of Carol and Riku) 101

-Nathan (Historian, Colonist) 235

-Carol (Adventurer, Colonist) 218

Startling myself awake with a snort I rolled off my cot to the dirt and groaned. Around me I heard the others arouse themselves in alarm at the raucous nature of my awakening.

My neck felt stiff so upon standing I rolled my head to help loosen it when I felt several...things rubbing past each other around the site of the injection.

Turning to look at my family I saw them sitting up rubbing their own necks. Rubbing what most likely was a representation of what I felt myself. Patches of dark green scaling.

My sight was immediately torn from the new skin texture by the glimmer of morning light being reflected from the eyes of my family. The savage look that they had taken on was captivating. With vertical elongated pupils and irises the color of either iridescent green or earthen brown (or one of each for Pinga) my family stared raptly at each other in awe. They told me my own were both a greenish brown mixture. Then we were interrupted.

"Guten Morgen! Ohayou gozaimasu! Good morning!" Came a cheerful cry from outside that made the ground vibrate with equal excitement. Startled, we looked out into the glade to see what I thought was a large mound raise it's, correction, her, head from the looping pile of her body to stare back at us. (She spoke Japanese, German, and Standard!)

I tried to be polite. Guten Morgen. Wie riechst du?

She chortled in amusement. "I smell as a cool breeze does coming to shore from the sea. I think you meant; Guten Morgen. Wie geht's?"

My face flushed in embarrassment. "My apologies."

"My name is Mazu. And I'm here to answer your questions and keep the little ones from snatching you up to play their games. My parents told me this is an important job, so I have to do really well!" So spoke the black and green dragoness.

Who, if I remembered correctly, was now just over a hundred turns old and born to the life as well, I wonder how her behavior diverges from that of her parents. That is, other than the phenomenally advanced state of her mental and physical attributes.

She yawned widely (displaying chompers that made my knees shake in despair) then heaved herself up and started walking her forequarters towards the stream allowing her body to uncoil behind her. She must be 70 meters long!

Reaching the water she stuck her snout in and took a long drink. Then raising her head to look back at us with water running down the tendrils growing from her snout she asked; "Are any of you going to need water for your morning wash?"

Once we had conveyed this was a splendid idea to her. She stuck her head back into the creek and slowly began to bloat with an enormous quantity of water. Turning towards the WC she trundled over to it and egested the water into an open topped elevated reservoir.

"All set" she said helpfully. "Although you may want to wait a minute for it to warm a little. In the meantime why don't you enjoy your morning nutri cubes?" Pointing with her snout at yet another clear box sitting on the ever present pedestal. "I like your eye colors Pinga. You're so lucky that you get two different ones."

"My eyes are different colors?" Pinga asked.

"Your left one is brown and the right is green" replied Nan. "And your pupils are a different shape."

Somewhat startled that she had changed so already Pinga returned the compliment "Thank you, Mazu your eyes are a very alluring shade of blue as well, they remind me of the ocean."

Bashfully, Mazu hid her head beneath her wing from where her muffled thanks could be heard. A weird sight from a creature who was of such size she likely massed more than an interplanetary orb.

Conversing with Mazu further while we ate our cubes we learned that she was to show us the "school" they had developed to instruct the young. Then to take us onwards to Alessandra at the med bay.

After hearing the plans for at least the morning. Ping and Ata took the first turn in the WC. When they exited thirty minutes later they were both rubbing their scales and talking to each other excitedly. "We both grew twenty new scales" they exclaimed. These, once shown, had wrapped around their necks from the origin.

Mazu spoke up "Noctis thinks that coming into contact with other dragons encourages the process by lowering the body's attempts to fight what it sees as an infection. You washed with water that I held within me for a short time. No doubt the water contains some of my gen-et-ic material and also smells faintly of me."

I grimaced at the reminder that my family was bathing in dragon spit. Then I looked closer at the patch on Ata's neck. As I watched, a green scale slowly grew from her darkening skin out from beneath an existing one. It reached a size to match the others over the course of five minutes. Fascinating, and equally of interest to Ata when I relayed this observation.

Silla, Nan, and I then preceded into the bathroom. After our morning necessaries we stood in front of the mirrors (Silla on a thoughtfully provided stepstool) and looked at our growths. Much as the women had described, after our shower we had noticeably larger patches adorning our necks growing around the napes. In a fit of curiosity I cupped a double handful of water against my throat for several minutes and upon removing them I found thirteen new scales. Well that's one way to get this done. I spread more water over my throat then walked past my sons who were busily splashing each other.

Upon exiting Pinga and Ata exclaimed loudly at the fact that our necks were almost fully covered.

"What have you been doing?"

"Becoming dinosaurs silly." Silla piped up.

We all grinned at each other before we turned to let Mazu know we were ready.

"Great! Come on up." She curled her tail around then sat her hindquarters down making a long gradual incline of her back. As soon as we were settled she started to prance off humming happily to herself with her head swinging back and forth in joy.

Just five minutes later she said "and here we are." We had arrived at a clearing with an open structure on one end. Within which stood a bright yellow dragon teaching about 15 or so young ones. The teacher was certainly eager to instruct if his expansive gestures and frequent rapid movements were any indication. The fledglings on the other hand were, for the most part, very much less engaged in the instruction. Four of them however were raptly fixated upon the teaching which gave hope that the transfer of skills across generations would not become an issue.

Just as we arrived the yellow dragon gave an unspoken command and flapped his wings once in signal. At these cues all the young ones took to the skies and spread to the winds. This being accomplished the dragon then turned his attention towards us. Upon recognizing us he raced towards our party faster than a creature that size has any business being capable of.

As this yellow blur sped in our direction it just as suddenly slid to a halt. This was accompanied by the crack of a static arc from the dragon to a nearby rod drilled into the ground. Did this dragon just generate electricity? What is with this dragon?

"Napaykullayki! Hello, family of Negafook. My name is Nathan, I am the Historian for Alpha den. I also teach the young. How have you found your new home thus far? Do you like the name for our colony? How are your adaptations? How do you like those you've met so far? Look at your changes! Have you felt any discomfort? Lo...urk!"

This incomprehensible barrage choked to a stop when Mazu flipped Nathan onto his side with her head and larger mass. "Please" she implored.

Taking the chance that this lull introduced I asked one of my own questions.

"What subjects do you pass along to these young ones?"

"Oh, well, see I teach them the history of this colony as well as the general state of the Collective. I then impart upon them the basics of the different jobs necessary for the sustainment or advancement of our state of affairs. When they demonstrate their understanding of this material, no matter their age, they move on. Their path forward from that point is decided upon by themselves given what they desire to have as a raison d'etre. "

"Sounds like its right out of the Colonial Handbook I hear."

"It's a work in progress" he replied sheepishly. "I do however, encourage them at every opportunity to learn more on topics beyond the curriculum. I have had students ask me about theoretical sciences, ancient history, politics, and all manner of other subjects!"

"But let me ask you" he continued. "When have you last checked over your bodies? Have you not grown wary of what awaits? Look at your scales, I can watch them grow!"

Ata and I turned to look at each other and then our children before we shrugged. "We knew these changes were coming why grow concerned about it now?"

Nathan looked suitably impressed. "What Stoicism!" he blared in excitement. "We'll have to tell Alessandra and Noctis about this upward deviation from accepted values and your forthcoming physiological diversion into the new species Draconis Prithvi."

"Uh... right" Nan said feebly.

"Yes! Exactly! I'm glad you see how glorious it is that we've begun to classify the species of this world!

"Er..." Ata muttered.

Alessandra then slammed to the ground. "Damnit Nate, can you hear me on your link at all?" She jabbed her paw into what was apparently a pressure point behind the joining of foreleg and body dropping Nathan into the dirt.

Groaning into the ground from where he had fallen he blathered. "But I thought you knew that since my full growth my positively charged aura has had a disruptive effect through the electromagnetic spectrum that our links operate on across the surface of our world."

"My apologies, light of mine." She said, ashamed.

Now that he mentioned it, since we'd been in his presence I noticed my own link going dark.

Then in a display of love I'd never seen in humans. She licked him several times from the jaw and on down the neck. Then squirmed her head underneath him, with the rest of her body following until she was completely below him. She then heaved herself up, straightening her legs. With her mate's head resting right atop her own, she flicked her tail in a motion for Mazu to follow with us still upon her.

That sequence alone may very well give me enough material for a new peer review.

We soon made it to our current destination, the med bay. Upon arriving we disembarked from Mazu while Alessandra gently laid down next to a large mattress of some kind allowing Nathan to wriggle onto it. Mazu then cheerfully announced her goodbyes wanting to return to her parents. She then took herself off into the air. The sharp blast of wind generated by her wings scooping at the air sent us rolling across the med clearing.

Stunned we watched her enormous form twirling into the sky with our heads turned one way and then the other in keen admiration. Then, we were brought back to Prithvi by a chirp for attention. (Chirp? How did I know that was for attention?)

"Now, I know that you haven't been paying much attention to your adjustments. But perhaps it is time for you to take stock of yourselves while I scan you. The shift in physiology is somewhat more advanced than I had anticipated. In light of that I want you all to have another nutri cube." From a large white square next to her another clear case with five of the ubiquitous green nutrient forms slowly extruded. These we readily munched on.

I glanced at the rest of my altering family and took in their changes, and I mean, really took them in. Why did I feel that their changes weren't important? We were losing our bodies and gaining new ones! Of course it's a big deal! Why did we feel so nonchalant about the transition?

I asked Alessandra this question, and I received a response that made my blood boil.

Twisting her head away and uneasily rocking back and forth from one pair of legs to the other she began; "Well, you see" then gushed a rambling torrent of an explanation; "wejustwantedyoutofeelateasewithyournewformsandnotgetoverlyupsetaboutbecomingatypeofdragon-differentthantherestofusweneedmoregeneticdiversityandyourfamilyandyouwouldprovideasizeable-boostinthatregard."

I hissed out "Define different, and where the fuck is Noctis?" (When had I started hissing?)

"Echo den has suffered grievous injuries in an attack by the Rocs, she has disconnected herself and left to assist recovery."

"Rocs? Never mind. Different how, goddamnit!"

Nathan spoke up from his memory foam mattress. "Negafook friend of mine. Your family's health is our highest concern. As we experienced ourselves, the change can lead to a variety of mental stresses. We have added into the nutri cubes a hormonal modifier to minimize harmful reactions and encourage acceptance. The chemical stress that otherwise would have been placed upon your mind would have led to discomfort we would like to spare you. I apologize, on behalf of myself, my mate, and Noctis. We should have asked before we carried out this alteration in your agreed upon procedure. And would gladly halt what you have not yet agreed to."

"Is there anything else we should know?" Pinga asked, her writhing lips exposing her incisors and canines. (When had she started doing that?)

"Your differences will be largely cosmetic in nature although with some change to facial structure. However, Pinga and Ataksak, you should know that one of the changes will drastically increase your fecundity. If and when you become gra...pregnant you will no longer birth a single offspring. Unlike the rest of us, your seasons will be much, much rarer and you will have multiple young. All of you however shall retain and even develop a greater familial attachment with each other as a difference in behavior. That is not to say you little ones won't develop your own families. But it might be better to say you will develop into a clan of sorts."

Ataksak looked like she had mixed feelings about this when she asked "How many offspring? Why do you keep using such odd terms for children?"

Nathan spoke up again "Well, we can't rightly call them boys and girls anymore. You've met some of the young already. They are not born live either but still in the shell, as I'm sure you know."

"Yes, eggs are much easier to have than some messy drawn out agony of deliverance." Alessandra commented. "Most initial changes are internal. For the males reproductive changes are relatively minor. After all, a di...

Nathan coughed meaningfully, glancing at Silla.

But for you females, the changes will give you a whole new view of raising young. Your cycles are over for good now with ovaries and wombs likely already altered. One more reason why it's so important for me to scan you all."

Ataksak and Pinga both pressed their hands to their lower abdomens and looked at each. "No more bleeding?" Pinga wondered.

"Indeed. In fact if your changes follow our patterns you can pull up your shirts a bit and you may see an important change already."

As they did so they exclaimed; "Hey! Our navels are gone!"

"Yes I thought they would be. Tell me do you think a creature hatched from a shell has need of one? Or a dragoness who would lay eggs? Speaking of eggs, you may surprise yourselves with how you act upon your time of season. This is after all a matriarchal colony."

Nathan grumbled something to himself before Alessandra crooned and caressed his neck with her tail at which point he settled further into his cushion. Nanook then took his turn grumbling before Pinga slugged him in his scaly face. He screeched like a raptor and clutched his not quite human mouth. (He didn't really have lips anymore)

"Well, I guess I can understand your intentions with the hormones. But you still should have asked." I said, trying to move on.

"Thank you, if you would like we can remove the sedating additives."

My whole family spoke up in unison; "Nope, we prefer being calm."

Pleased, Alessandra made the ground tremble with her rumbled approval. She then beckoned with her clawed paw for Silla to step into the scanner.

"Oh stars!" He squealed, flicking his newly narrowed tongue out in his excitement.

Perhaps we really should take stock of each other, I mused staring at his changing organ and sharpening teeth.

"One last thing" Alessandra interrupted. "The changes have accelerated while interacting with the rest of us. I would like to see it happen while under the scanner. If you Ataksak, and Negafook would agree. I will initiate close contact with Silla to see what happens while he is scanned."

"Why not" I said. "He will change sooner or later anyway."

Ata also agreed with my assessment. And Silla crowed his approval as if he ever considered anything other than accomplishing his goal of becoming a dinosaur.

Silla stood on the scanning platform as the multi-spectral field played across his body like a shimmering rainbow. Once the initial scan was complete, Alessandra performed her little "experiment". Bracing him with one claw she licked him all about the head (?) then waited a few minutes.

"I feel funny" he said right before his nose began to grow outwards with the area surrounding his mouth. They both pushed out a handful of centimeters while also conjoining and broadening. "I see something new!" He poked his nascent snout "Ow!"

In rapt attention we all watched the smallest of us take a step forward to becoming something more than human. Alessandra turned her attention back to the large scan display observing the results and furrowed her brow in consternation.

"But I thought you were male?" She said uncertainly.

"Were male?" Ata said in confusion. A confusion that rapidly gave way to understanding as her slitted eyes glowed with fury. In a furious maternal rage Ata roared like an enormous bellows "What the fuck do you mean, I thought you were male! What the fuck have you done to my son? My son! MY BABY!"

"Wait! Wait!" Alessandra said desperately, and in vain.

Ata had already begun running at the much put upon medic and launched herself at the lowered muzzle, tearing wildly at something far larger than herself.

As she dug her hooked fingers at the sensitive nostrils her digits began to lengthen and turn into black claws once they had bathed in the Doctor's blood. As the fluid of life ran over her hands and arms they grew and changed drastically. Her elbows came apart momentarily leaving her forearms flailing then snapped back into a new alignment. Her wrists lost flexibility and thickened. Green and brown scales erupted all up and down the length of the contact. While her hands lengthened and her thumbs moved to a reversed position opposing her four primary fingers. This grasping adaption enabled her to latch on to the rim of the hapless medic's nostril while consumed with depthless rage. She held on as the healing dragon keened in ear piercing alarm and tried to shy away while flinging her head.

I rushed forward to try to peel Ata away but before I could a large gout of blood coated my face leaving it warm and tingling. Already I could feel my head cracking and shifting as I held my hands up to cover the affected area and fell to the ground kicking in distress as my distending jaws pushed my hands forward. Even through all that, I tried to keep track of the increasing fracas surrounding me. This was viewed through the gap between two forming razor sharp claws on each of my newly developing paws.

Watching through this narrow scaly aperture I saw my two older children rush forward to grab Ata. Calling out in warning the only thing I could manage was something between a grunt and a croak which was immediately lost in the din. Blood splashed upon Pinga's blouse which thankfully shielded her from the worst. However more than a few patches splattered her bare legs and soaked through her tunic causing her to collapse and writhe with change as her legs shook violently into new positions. Dark green scales with brown stripes grew in waves up and down her legs followed by loud cracking. She screamed as her hips spread wide tearing her clothing asunder. Meanwhile her feet grew long and clawed, while her ankles rigidly fixed throwing her balance too far forward to remain upright.

Her flailing knocked Nan into a nearby pool of blood, thoroughly soaking his own blouse through to the skin as he sat with his hind end in the black liquid. He looked around in alarm, knowing what was about to occur.

Indeed the very moment he threw himself off to the side away from the puddle a tail erupted. From what was now his hindquarters the fleshy appendage spread his legs wide as his hips gave way and exposed fresh green and brown scaling through massive rends in his clothing. Clenching the ground with his hands and with eyes squeezed tight he fell to elbows and knees. His elevated rump changed as the appendage ballooned with newly formed muscles and tendons. As the fifth limb whipped violently the sinew and nerves spread throughout its breadth and anchored to his hips and spine. Swaying less and less as the spasms diminished, the base of his new growth swelled in girth to match the rest of his body. This sudden event left my poor remaining son gasping and looking back upon it nonplussed as the two meter long growth waved up and down, left and right under his apparent control.

Alessandra's alarm call soon had six other dragons landing all around in response. This ended the immediate threat as the rest of my family all fell to the ground from the tremor and in terror. It introduced a new one though as the alarmed dragons were bristling their scales and fins while snapping at any visible movement.

Before we could be pulled apart like jerky however, Nathan interposed his body between us and the rest. Then, when his attempts at talking the others down failed. He began rustling his scales in rhythmic waves with a sound like dry leaves while he danced in place (What is with that dragon?). I soon found out as the remnants of my hair stood on end then fell out, as with a titanic crack a static discharge leapt from Nathan to the nearest dragon. It (she, my ears told me) howled in pain along with the smell of charred scale.

Between Alessandra snuffling wildly in time to her convulsing body (was she sobbing?). The echoing roll of thunder. A sextet of hissing and spitting protective reinforcements. Nathan's cries for calm. My family's terrified outrage and my own distorting whimpers. It was all in all a cacophony that was beyond anything I'd ever dreamed of hearing. It was also drawing more attention. In the surrounding forest I could see the great wedged shape heads of several more dragons tower above the trees as they stood on their hind legs.

Thankfully it ended shortly.

A call so loud it felt like the sky itself had been torn asunder came from above "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Then came the greatest dragon of them all to the ground. Stretching some 85 meters in length and 18 tall, she landed. The dragon, who was undoubtedly Carol, roared out once again "EXPLAIN YOURSELVES!" and throwing herself at the six late coming dragons bowled them back into and then through several trees. Turning back she carefully pinned Ata to the ground with a cage formed of her great talons. "IF A DRAGON DOES NOT START MAKING SENSE OF THIS NOW I WILL THROW EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU INTO THE ABYSS! SEE IF I DON'T! Was hast du getan? Dies war ein Tag des Glücks! Aufhören zu kämpfen!" She snarled, thrusting her head about looking for some sanity in the chaos. This was found in the form of Nathan and of all creatures, Silla who had somehow ended up on the yellow dragon's back.

Speaking for the first time since the outbreak of violence Silla's tiny voice carried to every corner of the open space with the hushed stillness following Carol's ultimatum.

"STOP!" she begged, shaking and clutching Nathan's neck as rivers of tears fell down her noticeably longer snout. "STOP! Please stop hurting each other!" she wailed. "If it will make you stop I don't care if I am like mommy instead of daddy! I just wanted to grow big and strong and play with new friends! How can I when all you do is hurt each other? Please..." she trailed off, sobbing relentlessly.

"Silla! My child! Let me go! My child needs me!" Ata screamed from within her razor sharp cage and thrashed wildly.

Carol peered down into her claws with one eye and flicked her tongue. "Bist du ruhig? Are you calm?"

"My baby needs me. Please let me go!"

Seeming to be satisfied (whether by smell or words I could not tell) she picked her off the ground and deposited her onto Nathan next to Silla who ran to Ata crying.

"Mommy why? Why did you hurt Allie? Why? Look. Everyone is hurt now, and different!" She whimpered and held Ata's talon adorned paw. "You're different." These were her last words before burying the rounded length of her snout into her mother's paws. There she remained. Her still tiny but scaled body, wracked by her silent miseries.

"Silla, hush little one. It's over now, please stop crying, please." She begged her new daughter, bowing her scale covered face down and beginning to lick the tear tracks from her snout. "You are the one to make this choice. It was wrong of me. I don't know if they can help you back to being my son, but I will love you just as much if you are my daughter. Oh Silla, what have I done. Please don't ever change who you are."

Nathan placed the two of them back on to the ground. I, while still holding one paw to my face tried to draw them into a circle for comfort but some of my poor family could no longer stand unassisted. Finally letting go to lend both paws. I fully revealed the draconic head and thirty five centimeters of muzzle that I now had. I helped Pinga to stand by leaning almost all her weight on me. Together my family stumbled over to the resting pad that Nathan had occupied before. Not even caring about the blood still upon it we collapsed and allowed what changes it wrought to occur. Mostly just a completion to the rampant scales covering us. Although a tail began to peak out from what was now Pinga's greatly reshaped rear end. We all had similar colors, dark green with brown stripes arrayed in no particular fashion all over us, top and bottom, snout to tail.

But the final change incurred by the remnant blood was indicated by Silla's moaning. "My stomach feels like its twisting" she said.

"Ssshh" said Pinga, it's alright, you're just getting ready to be able to lay eggs little one.

"Like you?" she asked. Pinga just nodded, looking sadly upon her new sister. Ata looked as if someone had buried a knife in her heart and twisted.

Exhausted from the changes and what we had more than helped to cause. We dozed while Nathan and Carol worked to orchestrate the salvage of what they could from the anarchy that remained.