My friend Puny

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Mayo's best friend is a mysterious flying drone named Puny, who one day receives a unknown signal that might lead them to know more about the robot's past. What the young dragon doesn't expect is the role Puny plays in a large building hidden in the middle of the forest.

Commission for draconsss


My friend Puny

By Patrick D. Lambert

Commissioned by Draconsss

He was a dragon, and all dragons had a hoard. Mayo decided to make one from the treasures left behind by others in the forest he had been exploring since his adolescence. Curious by nature and with parents that showed little care for his safety, the green dragon made a tradition to stop by the woods outside town every Friday after school, where he felt the freedom to take off his clothes--or his shirt at least--and bathe in the dim light coming through the treetops. The grayish scales on the chest and belly made it hard for him to camouflage in the foliage, and the large curved horns on the top of his head gave his location away easily; four smaller ones on the back of his head made it hard to lay on his back too. So he learned to move through the areas ignored by hikers.

No mystical creatures or scary monsters were living in there, only trinkets and trash left by other hikers that became part of his little hoard stored on the chest under his bed. Tools, clothes, books; he even found a cellphone once! There were so many treasures left behind.

But not a single one of them was as worthy as Puny.

He found it days later after graduating from a career he couldn't care less. Looking to vent after a discussion with his mother, the green dragon went to the forest to see if there was something worth picking up. The sun was about to set and even he knew how dangerous the woods were during the night. But before he could call it a day, a weak light in the distance caught his attention.

Mayo was intrigued. The light blinked slowly, on and off. He feared some hiker had gotten lost, so he rushed to its source, trying not to think of something scary or disgusting. To his surprise, there was nobody. Behind a tree was a metallic sphere smaller than a basketball. Completely silver, it had some dents on the surface, as if someone had hit it with a stick. The light was coming from a broken lens in the middle of it. The dragon doubted at first, but eventually picked it up, baffled at how light it felt on his hands despite its look. The metal was cold. A weak buzz came from the inside. But as soon as he got the device closer to his ear, it went off along with the light.

Nothing of it made sense, but with the sun already setting, Mayo wasted no time and brought the device back home, where he locked up in his room to inspect it closer. He poked at it with a screwdriver, trying to find some way to open it up. He had little knowledge of electronics. Google offered no answer to what that thing could've been. The desperation made him pick up a hammer to smash it open and see the insides, but right when he lifted the tool, the lens came back to life.

The ball rolled over his desk as the light got brighter. Mayo fell on his ass, refusing to believe what his amber eyes were looking at: the sphere opened slightly from both sides, revealing an internal mechanism with two yellow-glowing sticks on each side. The lens turned black, except for a small red dot in the middle. An abrupt turn sent it down the desk. Mayo didn't know why he jumped to catch it, but the device never reached its end.

The wingless dragon was left speechless. The metal sphere levitated two inches above his hands. A weak buzz came from its insides while it swayed left and right. The red dot in the lens moved frenetically for several seconds, then stopped to "look" straight at Mayo, who felt an immediate connection with the strange device.

The dot "blinked" twice. A synthetic voice came from inside the drone. "Unknown user. Identify yourself."

"Eh? What?" Mayo retreated. Scrambling to get back on his paws, the dragon thought he hallucinated the voice. Too many surprises in such a short period must have confused him, that must be it.

The drone, however, was not confused. And it was very real. It floated like a balloon until it was again facing Mayo. The dragon waved a hand above him, hoping to find the invisible cords pulling it up. There was nothing there. It was really floating in thin air.

"Identify yourself," the drone repeated. A male voice. It had no emotion in its tone.

"Ahm... Ma-ma-mayo... My name is Mayo," he replied. His eyes darted to the hammer laying on the floor. He didn't dare to test his speed against the drone's, afraid of what it could possibly do. He had seen enough sci-fi movies to know flying robots were lethal. And that was a real flying robot. There was no use in denying it any longer--not that it made it easier to understand its existence.

"User identified as Ma-ma-mayo. It presents no immediate threat. Initializing Debug Mode," the red dot turned off for a moment. When the drone talked again, it adopted a more cheerful and young tone. "Hello, Ma-ma-mayo. I am the Patrol Unit NY-89."

"Patrol... unit?" The dragon leaned his head sideways, then an idea flashed on his mind. "Is it okay if I call you... Puny?"

"I am aware your kind depends on specific names to identify each other. While I don't have a need for one I can accept the name Puny if it facilitates your interactions with me. Ma-ma-mayo."

"It's just Mayo, my name."

"Mayo... I have updated my database with the current info. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mayo."

The fluidity of its speech felt too... human. He never heard of any robot that could speak like that, but its aspect didn't look extraterrestrial either, so the only logical conclusion was that Mayo had in his hands a Top Secret project, some sort of military weapon of unknown destructive power. Even with that idea in mind, the wingless dragon couldn't think of what else to ask. Its origin? Creator? Mission? None of those questions went through a mind already baffled by something that defied logic.

"I detect an increase in your heart rate," Puny mentioned. The red dot narrowed as it looked at his chest. "Based on your appearance, I assume your age is between 16 and 24 years. Your physical condition seems to be above the average, and there are no visible symptoms of a cardiac deficiency. Should I assume this increase is caused by my presence?"

The quick analysis made him feel naked, and his first instinct was to cover his crotch. "H-how do you know that?"

"My lens has multiple modes. From thermal to X-ray. Since you didn't know this, and due to the lack of data about you in my files, it seems you are a civilian. However, a quick diagnosis tells me most of my database is corrupted and I have no way to recover it without a backup. Unfortunately, the Debug Mode only allows the most basic functions and it can't detect any signal in the vicinity. Beyond my unit number, I know nothing else. Your kind might prefer the term 'amnesia' to explain this situation."

"You seem to have some dents around you."

Mayo dared to walk around Puny. The drone only followed the dragon's movements with curiosity.

"Multiple impacts with a bludgeoning weapon might explain the damage done to my hard drive," Puny explained with a notorious tone of disbelief. "You don't look strong enough to cause that type of damage. Not that I'm calling you weak, it's just the material I'm made of."

"And is there a way you can... recover your memories?"

"Without access to my backup, it's not possible. But again, I have no way to find any type of emergency signal to guide me. If you could be so kind to help me in this predicament, I'm very sure you'll be rewarded."

Puny was confident of what it said; Mayo had a different opinion on how people messing with secret technology were rewarded. But the cheerful way it swayed in the air somehow got through him. The drone didn't seem like a drone. A program or an AI could've been running it, but there was humanity in its voice. And well, he had already brought it home with him, the least he could do was help it.

"Deal."

And that's how Mayo got his most valued treasure in the shape of a floating drone that soon enough became one of his best friends.

In the following days, Mayo went on an intense lookout for anything that could tell him where Puny had come from. There was nothing written on its carcass, no way to open it up with regular tools, and no other drone on the planet looked like it. He checked old newspapers and news sites for any information about factories reporting missing equipment. He even went as far as to post a picture of it on conspiracy forums hoping someone could give him some intel on the drone, but from all the blurry photos and bad edits made by other users, Puny was the only one they labeled as fake.

Eventually, he was left with only one choice: he called his friend Eliza.

Taller than most girls of her age, the grayish shark looked at Puny with the same sharp eyes she threw at the plastic girls she worked with. Her slender body moved with grace and delicacy while she walked around the drone as if she was on top of a runway.

"Is that the new Alexa? Seems a little too big for my taste," she said, following the drone as it hovered around Mayo.

"Is that really what you're gonna say?! It's a fucking flying robot!"

Of course it was. While being as curious as the dragon, she never let pass an opportunity to tease him. And while she was of no help to find the answer Mayo was looking for, she said what seemed the most obvious response in that case.

"Then keep it. If you can't find its owner, that makes it yours. You're the first boy that can brag about having his own sentient robot."

"But what if I get into trouble?"

"With whom, darling? You don't even know where it came from. And don't talk as if you haven't got in trouble before," she said and threw a look at the chest under his bed. "I mean, you have a fortune in there. It's not precisely legal, you know?"

"I'll keep it. It's a good idea. Thanks," Mayo jumped to say immediately.

With that decided, Mayo and Puny became friends. Eliza was right, there was no use in worrying about not finding where the robot came from, and it looked happy with the dragon's company. It was weird at first, having to find ways to keep it hidden from the rest, but as time went on, the trio became inseparable.

Mayo was happy to have a new friend to come along during his hikes. Puny still had access to a bunch of nifty tools, like recording and geolocation, which made it easier for him to navigate across a forest he already knew like the palm of his hand. Despite its size, it had no trouble holding Mayo's weight for some seconds, a precious skill that helped with certain obstacles found in the way. And a little radar warned him if someone was getting close.

Time passed on. The friendship between the three of them got stronger with every adventure lived. Puny's presence somehow filled a void none Mayo nor Eliza knew was there. His cheerful and playful behavior, not so different from a teenager, was extremely contagious.

Eliza saw it as just another friend. It was Mayo who connected deeper with the unique drone. Having no real connections besides the shark, Puny added something to his life he couldn't explain with words. It was like a brother, but more special than that. They spent countless nights together, reading comics and listening to horror stories under the sheets. He shared his hoard with it, to which Puny replied with sincere amazement. And the drone gave him one of the best gifts he ever got; after some tweaking, Mayo saw the world from the skies. It was that little piece the dragon was missing, like the wings he wasn't born with.

Three months passed and then something changed.

Mayo and Eliza both leaned their heads sideways. Puny's eye had been blinking for several hours and the dragon had some concerns about the reason behind it.

"A beacon you say?" Eliza asked, taking a closer look at the lens. The light coming from it was dim, but it stopped after some seconds to show the robot's red pupil once again.

"Yeah. It's been going on like this all morning. Puny said we probably got into a beacon's range and it activated."

"I can't explain the source but I managed to triangulate its location to this area," Puny said, and its lens created a holographic map of the forest, with a glowing triangle in the middle.

"If I'm correct it's not too far from where I found it," Mayo sighed. "But I don't remember seeing a building."

"I do."

The hologram disappeared and both Mayo and Puny looked at Eliza, who was pulling quickly her white top from the neck to throw some air at her face.

"Fucking heat..." she growled. "I think my dad told me they put a factory or something there a couple of years ago, I don't know."

"A factory? Could it be--?" Mayo started, but a humming from Puny interrupted.

"It's possible, but then again how is it that we never found anything about it before?"

"They probably bribed the city council to keep their mouth shut. Literally no one in town seems to know about it. I haven't heard of a single soul working at that place."

Mayo shrugged after hearing its explanation. A mysterious factory in the middle of the forest. Based on the map, it was nowhere near the area he used to explore, but even with that, it was illogical he never heard of it. He looked back at Eliza, who was busier wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"I can ask around. See if someone from the council knows something."

"Please do. I was thinking about going today until I heard the thunder," the dragon walked towards the window, from which he looked with concern at the gray clouds in the sky. "I can stand some rain. Puny? I'm not that sure."

"Hey! I'm not that fragile. Should I remind you I'm waterproof?" Puny jumped over him. Its lens mimicked an angry look, although Mayo knew it was joking.

"Yeah, and so are many smartphones and yet they get ruined with enough water," Puny threw a snarky smile while he went back to Eliza.

"You don't see a lot of flying smartphones, do you?"

"I'm not taking any risk," he jokingly pushed Puny away before facing the shark. "I think it's still worth taking a look. What do you say? Up for an adventure? We're going tomorrow morning."

She shrugged and rolled her green eyes, afraid of the words that came out of her mouth. "I can't. I know this might be important for both of you but I already promised Dad to help him at work."

"And you can't say no to the old man..." Puny added, a disappointed tone hidden in its voice.

"Yeah..." the shark sighed, scratching her nape while looking at the door. "It's the only way I'm getting out of that house after all. I'd say he got me by the balls if I had some, but the metaphorical ones don't count. I'm sorry boys."

Eliza didn't have a chance to see how the dragon's mouth twisted. When she looked back at him, Mayo had a huge smile for her instead.

"Your loss. We might find some cool space guns in there," he exclaimed, playfully mimicking firing shots with his fingers while saying "Pew pew pew!" in the most adorable tone he could mutter.

It was enough to change Eliza's mood immediately. The shark giggled as she walked out of the room. "I'm calling dibs on the first BFG you find."

"Oh, but I was planning to pick that one," Puny booed her away.

But as soon as the door closed behind her, their mood went down too.

"It's weird going out without her, aye?" Puny dared to ask while listening to her walking down the stairs.

Instead of saying something else, Mayo went back to the window. His stare landed on the distant forest that had been hiding Puny's origin all this time. An unknown factory of which he never heard anything before, and it had to be close to where the signal was coming. The answer was obvious. And while his curiosity was drawing him there, it still put a weight on his heart that the green dragon couldn't explain.

The first drops of heavy rain impacted the crystal.

The forest ground was still muddy when they arrived. The storm lasted for hours and continued almost all night; by the time Mayo woke up, a gentle drizzle was falling over the town. Gray clouds still reigned over the sky, but that didn't stop Mayo and Puny to skip the job and leave straight to the forest.

With a brown raincoat over his lame uniform, the dragon left his bike hidden in the usual bush. The white shirt was in good shape. His blue trousers didn't have the same luck; already wet and muddy from the huge paws that kept getting stuck in the mud and falling over puddles. The dragon didn't care too much about it, not with 5 similar trousers hanging from his wardrobe.

Puny was the grumpy one. Hovering behind Mayo with a plastic bag covering it, he replicated the same groans for 10 minutes straight. It did not affect his friend, who just moved forward with a wide smile on his large maw.

"This. Is. So humiliating! I am waterproof!" He finally exploded as they were getting closer to where he was found the first time.

"I told you I can't take the risk. What if you get rusty?" Mayo shrugged in response to its anger.

"Oh. That is a valid point. Do you know how long it takes metal to get rusty with the actual humidity? Weeks!" He shouted, stopping right in front of Mayo's face. "And that's assuming I'm made of regular steel, which I'm not!"

"I don't feel like taking the risk anyway," the dragon hunched to walk under it, keeping a mocking smile up.

"The rain isn't even reaching us!"

Mayo stopped in his tracks long enough for his paws to sink under the mud. He took off the cowl and looked at the treetops covering them from the drizzle.

"Would you look at that? You're right," he exclaimed, and with a strong pull, he removed the bag from Puny, sending the drone spinning away.

"Wow, wow, wow!" It came to a stop feet away from him. Wobbling around and turning its pupil into a swirl to pretend it was dizzy.

"Stop fooling around. We're almost there."

Puny threatened to say something else, but somehow the dragon had got far enough by the time it recovered its senses. "Wait for me!" The drone screamed, dancing between the trees to reach for its friend.

Some minutes later they arrived at the place where Mayo found it. He hadn't been there for a long time, after giving up the idea of finding a clue around the area. Now the dragon felt the weight of failure and regret, knowing the answer was some miles away from it. To keep those feelings from consuming him, he hurried across the muddy terrain repeating in his mind all the good things that happened after he found Puny. But deep inside the dragon always knew his friend wanted the truth even more than him.

A couple of thunders hit in the distance. Mayo took a look above the treetops; a hunch told him a new storm was forming. "It's a shame you don't have a weather forecast included," he mentioned, hoping for the joke to help him relax.

"Your people might have created a flying robot, but accurate weather prediction is a miracle not even science can perform."

Puny seemed happy. But he always seemed that way. While the dragon laughed at his response, he wondered if his friend was nervous. With just a lens and a dot for an eye, Mayo always had trouble reading Puny. The drone was more than just a very smart AI. Mayo knew his friend was alive and conscious. Just what kind of people had the brains to create him?

After almost an hour of following Puny's indications and trying not to slip on the mud, they found a 10 feet tall metal fence with several warnings all around it.

"There's no energy going through. It's safe to touch it," the drone indicated.

"Oh yes? Well, go ahead and touch it," Mayo replied.

"The fact that you believe I'd lie to you it's offensive," Puny immediately said pretending to sound hurt. "I wouldn't do such a thing without Eliza here."

Mayo smiled back at his friend before pushing it away. The drone used the impulse to fly over the fence. Its lens adjusted to inspect further ahead.

"I see some chimneys beyond those bushes," he said while Mayo climbed over. "Almost a mile away. Looks like those used in refineries, not exactly high-tech. Or maybe they just have very bad taste."

"Or you just have very bad sight. We're about to find out. Give me a hand here."

Mayo jumped down with the help of Puny, then both continued further.

"We're pretty far from home, you know? I don't think we've ever made it this far into the forest," Mayo mentioned. He had started feeling pressure in the chest from the moment he crossed the fence.

"Not to mention entering into private property."

"Well, it's not private if we didn't know about it before," Mayo shrugged, moving ahead of the drone to ignore its inquiry eye.

"Ehhh, I'm not sure you understand what private property means."

They continued walking in silence for several minutes until Mayo noticed what looked like a parking lot. Running the rest of the way, they both came out of the forest to find a large gray building in the middle of a clearing. It was almost the size of a football field, with a road leading out and disappearing back into the forest. Mayo stared in awe, surprised no one in town had ever talked about a place that big.

"This makes no sense," Mayo signaled while they walked into the empty parking lot. "This doesn't look abandoned."

"... Drag.Tech," Puny said, its eye fixated on the top of the building.

"Huh?" When Mayo looked up, he saw the building's name painted on the top, next to a dragon wearing round glasses. "What the hell? I never heard of that company."

"Me neither, but they better get a good graphic designer. I'm finding multiple flaws in that logo."

"I think it's cool."

"Because it's a dragon. But it says nothing about the company. Let me check online."

"I thought you didn't have reception here."

"I don't. Their network is saved in my system. It connected as soon as we got into the parking lot."

"Well then, while you're at it, make sure to order a pizza. I'm starving right--" Mayo froze in place. With dead eyes, he stared at Puny flying forward the entrance, completely oblivious to the words he just spoke. "What did you just say?

"Their WiFi. I have the password saved in my--oh god I get it now."

They ran straight into the building, where the automatic door opened to them and soft jazz music was playing in the lobby. The lights were on, and so was the AC. The floor looked recently cleaned. But not a single soul was in sight.

"Where's everyone?" Mayo muttered, looking around the lobby expecting to find people surprised by their dramatic entrance. "Hello? Is anyone here? I think I found your drone!"

He screamed as loud as his throat allowed it, but no one came to greet them. The place was empty. Generic portraits of random people stared blankly at the confused dragon, whose panic was getting worse the more he spun on the main floor.

"This... why does this look familiar?" Puny asked himself, its words too weak to reach its friend.

"Hello? Can anyone help us?" Mayo took deep breaths to calm down. An eerie vibe came from each corner as if someone was waiting to jump on him the moment he lowered his guard. He stood and waved his arms in front of the cameras, hoping to attract security's attention, but the minutes passed and nothing happened.

"Who's running this place?"

Puny had not spoken during all that time. Even its eye was "closed", something he rarely did. The dragon took that time to look around, walking into all the rooms located on the first floor hoping to find someone, but the place was completely empty. The cafeteria had no food. The bathrooms were clean. The lockers were all open and empty. It made no sense. And then...

*THUMP*

The loud impact scared him. It came from the lobby, and only then Mayo realized he had left his friend alone all that time. Afraid that someone could've caught it, he rushed back there, only to find the drone laying on the ground, inert.

"Puny!" He went to pick it up. "Puny! Are you ok? Talk to me!" He begged, holding the drone in his arms while looking around to find who attacked it. But no one was around.

A weak buzz was coming from inside the drone. Mayo remembered Puny usually went into sleeping mode when it was time to recharge its battery, but he just did it last week. A closer inspection didn't reveal any other dent besides the one he already had, and the lens hasn't received any extra damage.

"Puny...?"

He was about to leave when the distinctive DING of an elevator to his right caught him. The place was eerie already and he had no idea what happened to Puny, but his curiosity got the best of him and pulled the dragon inside, where the doors closed and trapped him in the steel box. With his friend still in his arms, Mayo's legs flinched when it started its descent. There were no buttons inside, only a card reader flashing in red.

The slow ride lasted 30 seconds. And when the doors opened, Mayo walked into a large hallway that extended both left and right. Illuminated with dim fluorescent white bulbs, the dragon picked right. All silver doors he found in its way had no handle. "Automatic," he thought, but they didn't open to him. He dared to knock, but that floor was as empty as the lobby.

The hallway turned to the left. Then to the right. It quickly became a maze that Mayo had trouble memorizing. But when he was about to try and find his way back, Puny jumped off his arms and spun around for several seconds. His lens blinked a couple of times before landing on Mayo.

"Puny? What happened to you?!" The dragon demanded, trapping the drone with both hands.

"I think I had an epiphany," his lens displayed again the same swirl. Then he took a look at the hallway. "It's hard to explain, but you gotta come with me."

The drone escaped from his hands and left behind a confused Mayo, who ran to follow it across the labyrinthine facility.

"It should be somewhere around here..." Puny muttered, looking at the QR codes next to each door.

"What do you mean? Where are we going? Are you ok?" Mayo asked behind it.

"It's weird but I remembered something. I believe I did come from this facility."

"Ok, and what is this place?"

"It's a... hum... a research laboratory. Ah! This is the place," Puny scanned the QR code of one door, which opened immediately.

"A research laboratory?"

But the drone didn't respond. Mayo followed inside and found a large chamber with several armor-looking devices of various sizes and shapes. His fear and confusion vanished under the amazement of seeing pieces of technology that came straight out of a science fiction movie.

They were all on display, held by small arms attached to the roof. Mayo ran closer to them, driven as always by his strong curiosity. All armors had an opening in the back and were covered with a black material from the inside. His attempts to inspect them carefully failed as there was always a new detail dragging his attention away.

The dragon wowed to each armor he looked at, and his hyperactive brain tried to picture all the powerful weapons and advanced capabilities they were equipped with. But his friend pulled the brake of his train of thought by hovering between him and the silver dragon that was now the center of his attention.

"Impressive, I know. But I need your help with something," Puny told him, then flew to a pedestal in the middle of the room.

Mayo immediately noticed a hole in the middle that was the size of the drone, and some wires hanging above it.

"As you might know," Puny continued, "I have no arms. So I need you to plug those wires into my back. And don't you dare to make a joke about it."

"I wouldn't. Not without Eliza here," the dragon smirked.

"Ha ha, very funny."

Puny lay on the pedestal and a loud click came from behind it. When the dragon took a look, he found three round ports of different sizes. Mayo carefully plugged the cables into the respective hole and stepped away. Moments later, a loud mechanical noise came from below and the lights flashed quickly.

"Wha-what's happening?" Mayo asked, but Puny didn't reply.

A small dome came from above to cover the pedestal, which then went into a chamber below it. "Puny!" Mayo screamed, hitting the plastic dome during its descent.

"It's ok, Mayo. Relax," his loud voice came from a speaker somewhere in the room. The dragon looked around, already dizzy from the quick breaths he had been taking. "I'm taking control of the facility. Everything has been on standby for so long that it's taking time to adjust it, but there's nothing to be afraid of."

The dome disappeared completely and the ground closed again. Mayo looked at the armor pieces being manipulated by the robotic arms to adopt a straight position.

"Cameras. Doors. Elevators. Yep, I'm in!"

"Control you say? I thought you were a patrol unit," the dragon remembered.

"I was. It's hard to explain. This facility was built to assemble and test high-tech armor for personal use, along with other pieces of technology. The process was automatic, and the entire building was controlled by an AI, with the building above us being only a facade. That's when I come in. I," Puny cleared his throat before continuing, "I am the AI. They used my unit as a backup after a virus corrupted the system and gave me clearance to control the facility. I was supposed to take this spot after the system was rebooted but something happened during that process and my system went into debug mode, which is when you found me."

"Wow..." the realization hit Mayo twice, who, with wide eyes, looked at the entire chamber and screamed: "WOW! So you can control everything?!"

"Yep. From assembling to testing. Everything's in my hands. And guess what?" A set of robotic arms came from above to pick Mayo from the pits, "I DO HAVE HANDS NOW, BITCH!"

Both friends burst into laughs. Mayo could no longer ignore one of the armors he had been ogling since the moment he walked in. "Hey, so it's fine if I use one of those?" He asked, pointing at the dragon one in the first ring.

"I don't see why not. There's nothing dangerous on them and you're not that clumsy to destroy a billion-dollar facility with an unarmed weapon."

"Wait. A billion?"

The armor was on a large podium already illuminated by a spotlight on the roof. Puny dropped his friend right behind the armor and the robotic arms holding it moved to make way for him to get in. But the young dragon had a bad feeling about it. After looking into the padded insides, Mayo questioned what type of use that robot had. Puny said it was for personal use, an ambiguous term for something so expensive-looking. Not only that, but he also noticed the stylized exterior finishes, a little too... erotic for his taste, with things like thick thighs, large breasts, wide hips, and even pronounced bulges on them.

The one he chose didn't fit into that category, but the strong smell of rubber coming from it was getting annoying.

"Is there something wrong?" Puny asked when his hesitation became too obvious.

"Huh, no, it's just..." but Mayo couldn't reply. His friend was controlling that facility. He knew what those armors were. He wouldn't let him use it if it was dangerous, right? "It... it looks a little tight in there."

"Oh, that. Well, the interior is built that way for maximum comfort. It looks a little tight, yes, but you'll fit perfectly. Don't think too much about it and take off your clothes."

"What?!" Mayo exclaimed, his cheeks burning again after hearing that.

"Yeah dude, that's what the padded is made for. It's gonna be uncomfortable if you walk in dressed. It's fine, we're alone. I've seen you naked before."

Don't think too much about it, huh? The dragon found it hard to do so. It wasn't just the black pad, but the holes and hoses at the mouth and crotch height were a very uncomfortable design. However, Puny had no reason to lie about it.

Still doubtful, Mayo dropped the raincoat and uniform. It was a relief to take off the wet clothes, but not one he was very grateful for, not under those circumstances. With a deep breath to gather some courage, the green and white dragon walked into the strange armor, pushing arms and legs into their respective holes. The way he had to get in reminded him of a Japanese manga he read years ago about people finding holes with their shapes in a mountain; Mayo had a bad memory for names but the ending was one meant to stay with him for the rest of his life. He prayed not to meet that same fate.

"You might notice it wet inside. It's a special lubricant used to facilitate movement and keep the body warm. It comes out with water, so don't worry," Puny hurried to explain before the dragon questioned that detail.

Disgusting, yes, but it was warm, like the ointment he used on his legs after a long hike. His limbs went easily into the rubber's tight embrace; Mayo felt it squeezing the more he got into it. A tight fit, indeed, but not as uncomfortable as he thought. After taking a deep breath, he submerged his face into the final hole and exhaled.

A strange joy invaded him almost instantly. The rubber stimulated each part of his naked body as he squirmed to get into a better position. The sensation reminded him of swimming in a huge ball pit. The strong smell of rubber had him dizzy already, but it wasn't that bad anymore--hell, he even started to like it. With a final push, he got completely into the hole and a long sigh of relief came out involuntarily.

Yeah, it was tight, but he found it easy to move around. Breathing too, the pressure on his chest was minimum. A robot arm had to hold his enthusiastic tail, and even in its grasp, it showed no signs to stop. Mayo wondered why he even doubted Puny in the first place. That thing felt incredible.

"Seems you like it. Let's start assembling," the drone indicated.

The robot arms reacted immediately. With surgical precision, they hold the remaining plates of armor next to the dragon's back. The armor didn't close immediately, for it wasn't meant to be made just of metal. But when Mayo noticed that, it was already too late.

The same rubber covering his body came to life, adopting a more slimy aspect as it engulfed the reptile completely. It took Mayo by surprise, who did nothing but squirm inside the tight space he was in. The hold the rubber had on him was so tight and strong that he couldn't open his mouth to call for help, with only muffled screams coming out. In a matter of seconds his body, tail included, disappeared under the thick and black rubber.

The remaining plates of metal got adhered to the substance. A silver piece with golden details covered the tail, whose aspect was now bigger and thicker than before. The back remained exposed, with only a golden line running over the spine. Stripes of blue lights came from the sides of the tail and limbs as the armor got powered up.

Inside the armor, a moan escaped from Mayo's maw. The rubber forced him to squirm violently as it squeezed and rubbed his naked body. SQUISH. SQUISH. SQUISH. He heard the oil splashing all around him, getting warmer under the strong friction.

"P-puny... what's going on...?" His weak voice was caught by the mic included in the armor.

"I'm sorry, buddy. I had to keep some things from you. I needed a test subject. I wasn't lying when I said these armors are for personal use. However, our audience is a little more... exclusive."

The robotic arms forced Mayo to get on his fours. The reptile had no other choice but to feel his body being manipulated like a doll. And only after he assumed the position, a digital display appeared in front of him. He had a clear image of what was in front of him, and detailed data of his body, including heart rate and current temperature.

"Drag.Tech focuses on developing toys and tools for an adult audience. We like to keep a low profile due to our products' nature and rely more on mouth-to-mouth marketing, which is why you might not have heard about us. Latex, rubber, and slime are our signature. What you're testing right now is one of our latest developments, our BRD-9000, or how I like to call it, the Big Rubber Dragon--patent-pending--, and it's meant to offer the user a new way to experience sex."

"SEX?! What the fuck do you mean by that?"

The dragon gathered all his strength to fight back and escape the armor. The comfort from before, his trust in Puny, everything was coming down as his energies faded from the futile struggle to break the seal on his back. With the rubber absorbing his movements, the armor didn't move an inch, and all Mayo felt was the warm oil bathing his body.

"I know it was a shitty thing to do, but after remembering what my job here was, I decided you were the most appropriate to try them on before anyone else."

"No, I don't want this! Let me go right now!" Mayo begged.

Immediately, the screen turned into a black-and-white swirl that started to spin and blink rapidly. Mayo closed his eyes, but the bright image went through his eyelids and forced him to watch.

"I was hoping not to get to this, but I need you to stay calm. Otherwise, I won't get accurate results," the drone lamented.

Mayo wasn't aware the body oil was not only to make it easier to move inside but to weaken his mind. The swirl continued spinning, flashing words not meant to be seen by the normal eye, that got engraved in his mind. Already dizzy by the rubber scent, and with his body slowly going numb from the oil leaking into his scales, the poor dragon stopped fighting while his libido woke up.

"Wha... what's going on...?" He thought. "What am I doing here...?"

"There, there, you are in good hands," a familiar voice whispered to his ears

Mayo tried to follow the swirl. Doing so put a silly smile on his face. He felt happy. Relaxed. He was no longer feeling the tightness around him, but instead, he felt light like a feather. His body relaxed completely and his legs bent to fully adopt a quadruped aspect.

"Yes, yes. You feel better now, right? Warm. Comfy. Happy," the voice continued.

He couldn't tell why. The voice... he heard it before. But where? It didn't matter. Listening to it makes it happy. Mayo nodded in response, ignoring how the robotic arms were sealing the rest of his body in silver plates with golden details on the joints. The rubber "sucked" them in, eliminating the need for screws or anything else that could affect the smooth look. Two large pieces were attached to his horns, acting like receptors, while a dragon mask covered in blue slime approached to seal his face.

"I feel happy too. Mayo, there are so many things I've been wanting to tell you. So many things I've been wanting to do with you. I'm more than a robot in your eyes. And believe me when I say you are more than a friend to me."

The blue slime on the mask took the shape of a dildo and hardened, fitting like a glove into an opening made in his mouth. Mayo, completely hypnotized, swallowed the warm and soft dildo and felt it reach deep into his throat while the mask attached to his face. A warm and salty liquid began to pour from the dildo, feeding the horny and zonked dragon.

One more arm carrying a gray hose came and landed behind Mayo. Its forked end pointed at the hole and slit already created on the rubber suit. From the end pointing at his ass a large dildo made of the same blue slime. Throbbing and dripping, the arm inserted the toy into Mayo's ass, whose moans didn't make it through the dildo shoved in his mouth. The slimy material reached deep into his ass with little effort, where it began to fuck him ruthlessly.

"I still don't understand how feelings work," Puny continued, "but I'm sure that I wanna stay with you. I wanna learn alongside you. And I believe this is the best way we can connect. Do I still have your trust?"

The dragon was in no condition to reply. With mouth and ass being fucked by plastic toys, Mayo was in an ecstasy stronger than anything he felt before. When the pleasure pushed out his cock through the slit made in the suit, it came covered in a thin layer of black rubber, throbbing and leaking pre as if it was cum. It was then when the other end of the hose came into action, sucking in the fat rod and acting like a pumping machine.

"Do I still have your trust, buddy?" Puny asked again.

Mayo nodded weakly. His entire body was squirming violently inside the tight rubber suit that continued squeezing all around him. From head to toe, he was a victim of stimulation that was breaking through his defenses. The pleasure got so intense the horny dragon didn't realize the screen had changed back.

Second by second, the young dragon came back to his senses. But under such pleasure, he couldn't see anything wrong with what his friend was doing to him. There was no reason to fear or distrust the drone's intentions, and Mayo thought it wasn't really that bad to be its test subject.

Mouth, ass, and cock. And the rubber continued squeezing and vibrating against his body. There was not a single inch of him free of that brutal stimulation. And soon enough he also discovered a strange joy in being unable to move. It made him think of him as a doll or a plushie, nothing but a toy with precise openings for other males to use.

He tried to ask something, remembering the dildo shoved in his mouth only when his throat closed around it. In response to that, he got a small dose of a thick and hot liquid that left a salty taste on his tongue. He did it again, and the dildo rewarded him with more of it. It was delicious, like nothing he'd tasted before. His entire body shivered from that salty nectar and he continued sucking from it with enthusiasm.

With how little he was able to move inside the suit, Mayo squirmed to try and get the dildo in his ass even deeper than it was. The armor swayed in the pedestal, still secured by the robotic arms but clearly not sturdy enough to resist the strength of a dragon burning in lust.

Maybe to keep it down or to entice him to continue, the dildos increased the speed. The pleasure was dragging Mayo down into a bottomless pit of lust and debauchery from which he wouldn't be able to escape. But he was happy to stay there. He would turn that place into his house. Mayo had embraced the pleasure and turned it into a part of himself. Words alone couldn't describe the happiness on his face concealed under the rubber and metal.

And suddenly, the arms released the armor and the steely limbs moved slowly. The large tail wagged from side to side while the robotic dragon put both front legs and head down and lifted his ass to get a better angle. The result was instantaneous, moving from a prostate massage to a direct crush of it. It took him less than a minute to reach his climax, his load getting sucked as soon as it came out of his cock. Shot after shot, the pump sucked him dry while prolonging the intense orgasm that had Mayo squirming and whining inside the suit.

"You feel more comfortable now, buddy. We can stop if you want," Puny asked, to which Mayo replied with a rotund head shake. The drone, touched by his determination, just giggled and said: "So be it. Let me show you what else we can do."

Right after saying that, Mayo perceived a different taste in what was coming into his mouth. Still salty, but one flavor he recognized perfectly. The same cum he just shot was now being fed to him, and the horny dragon was happy to drink it up.

"This suit has a variety of functions for us to enjoy. Milking and feeding you your own load is an easy task," Puny said to a lost Mayo, whose attention was entirely on the cum he was drinking. "There's a lot we can discover together."

Mayo understood the suit had no intentions to stop. His cock got released only because it was getting flaccid after the intense climax, but his mouth and ass were in good shape to continue. Did that mean he would stay trapped forever? No, he had to get out eventually. But when? That was the question that really mattered.

"Are we gonna stay together?"

The robotic voice surprised him. It was what he wanted to say, but how did he speak?! With his mouth still full there was no way for him to utter a word. And why did it sound like that?

"Don't panic," Puny quickly said. "The horns are receptors. In words you can understand, they translate your thoughts into voice that comes from the mask."

"Fa-fascinating..."

"Indeed. And there's more it can do! This is Drag.Tech's biggest innovation so far. It has everything the user needs. And it's all yours, buddy," the enthusiasm in his voice was contagious. So much it pushed his doubts aside and made him excited over the idea of staying there as long as possible.

After Puny gave the order, both dildos retreated from the dragon's holes. His jaw was sore and he couldn't ignore the emptiness felt in his ass, but Mayo was pleased with what he just went through.

"And you say we can... discover it together?"

"That's right. I transferred myself into the armor and left a backup to run the facility. We can leave whenever you want. You're in control right now. You just need to think of it."

Mayo gave that last part a try and thought about moving. The robot obeyed his command and, with clumsy steps, came down the pedestal. It felt strange. He was still aware of his body, but he was also feeling the armor as part of himself. Making the distinction was complicated, as he couldn't stop squirming on each attempt to take a step forward.

"It takes time, but you'll get used to it," Puny encouraged him.

However, after advancing several feet, Mayo fell. The rubber absorbed the impact, but he couldn't get up again. Even when the suit made his stay comforting, the previous use and climax drained his energies. Still feeling that lingering bliss, Mayo took deep breaths to relax and gave his body a well-deserved rest.

"I think that was a little too intense for the first time," he sighed happily.

"My mistake. I probably got a little too excited. They made me to test them at full capacity after all."

"They made you to be horny, you mean."

"It's more appropriate, I think."

The rubber suit started to vibrate at a slow rate. A large smile grew on the dragon's face as he sunk into the delightful massage. His cock was still hanging out, slowly getting covered by the rubber to milk it again. Mayo laid on his side while the screen changed back to the black-and-white spiral.

"You wanna sink again, buddy?" Puny asked. White noise started playing right after.

The spiral spun slowly and flashed quickly. Mayo bit down his lip and nodded in response, already trapped in the movement. The massage and the noise sent him back to the zonked state from before in a matter of seconds, letting him focus on nothing else but the pleasure he was going through. Weaker but more intimate, Mayo was convinced he was feeling Puny's hands all over him, his beloved friend now real and standing right behind him.

And while this continue, his cock got hard again. Prey of the same massage given by the rubber suit, the long and sensitive shaft reached again that point before the climax. But the vibrations stopped before he came, and started again once his throbs calmed down. Mayo was too focused on the spiral and pleasure to realize how long Puny had been edging him. What he thought were minutes had turned already into hours, his conception of time messed up by the deep trance in which he was.

Of course it didn't matter. Mayo was happy. He was living something with Puny he didn't know was possible. The dragon was convinced that as long as he remained inside the suit it would be like being fused, and he loved that sensation.

Once the pleasure became too much for him to handle, and right after his body got too tired to continue, the fatigue pulled Mayo out of a trance and sent him to sleep. Puny, aware of that, stopped everything inside the robot and went to sleep mode, ready to wake up his friend with a powerful orgasm after all the hours edging him. However, there was something new in his program that he couldn't decipher but didn't bother to try.

Mimicking the sound of a kiss, the drone said: "Good night, buddy," and after countless nights of sleeping on his nightstand, Puny laid next to his friend for the first time ever.