Part 3. The Recordkeeper (continued)
The ringing phone woke Oisin up. His face stuck to some sheets of music, he leapt up and looked around with a dazed expression. Leaping over some musical instruments, avoiding the larger ones, he reached the phone, still with the paper stuck on his cheek.
"Hello?" he said.
A loud, happy hello reached his sleeping brain, and Oisin winced at the voice. It belonged to a friend he had not seen in years. Fairlight, who he had met in Tibet. She studying the arts of meditation in a slower way of life, away from noise and the rush. He, learning about Tibetan folk tales and traditional music. They had spent a full year with the monks before he left back to more populated areas.
The tale she told him became weirder with every word she spoke, but Oisin never hesitated to believe Fairlight, she was always dead serious. The thought of dragons excited him, after reading about them in myths and stories he did want to see them in real life. 
Placing down the phone after the conversation had ended, Oisin fingered his small goatee and felt the paper stuck on his face. His latest work, it didn't look like he would ever finish it. Gently putting it down, he carefully made his way through the living room, past the haphazardly placed instruments to the bathroom.
Looking in the mirror he combed back his hair with his fingers and wondered why everyone kept making such a fuss about hairstyles. Maybe he should let it grow a bit longer on the trip. He brushed his teeth and looked into his deep brown eyes when he made the mechanical motions he did every morning and evening.
"Are you really going to do this?"
"Absolutely. I would be a fool to pass." his reflection answered.
Fairlight had said to bring some personal stuff and tie up all loose ends here. What instruments could he take? Which to leave behind, he doubted there'd be room for his piano to come on the mission, the basics would have to do.
Shoving his bag and too many instruments in his old, worn down, multi-coloured, miss-matched VW van, he drove off, saying his old life goodbye.
After a long trip, made even longer by at least 20 stops to let his engine rest, Oisin arrived at a large gate. Fairlight had said to just drive through and not look for anyone guarding the place. Oisin looked around, and indeed no-one came to question him. Driving through, a figure appeared from the watch house.
"Hey there! Stop!"
Oisin stopped with a loud bang and a puff of dark smoke.
"I've been invited!" he called, hoping Fairlight knew what she was doing.
The man, undoubtingly military, came closer and looked inside his van. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"I was told to come." Oisin answered, not really interested in telling this guy his life's story.
"By whom? No, let me guess... Fairlight and Iyru."
"Iyru I don't know, but Fairlight is an old acquaintance."
Tasrin sighed, glanced evilly at Oisin, turned away and started muttering something about women and missions before Oisin's engine jumped to life again with a loud bang.
Nearing the buildings that seemed to be protected by the fences, Oisin suddenly got a bad bad feeling about his car. Smoke was coming from below the hood and rickety noises had started to sound, louder than before. Stopping dead, oisin could not make his van move. A loud bang was all the response he got, followed by a choking sound.
"I thought I heard you coming!" Fairlight called out from the buildings. You're still driving the old girl?"
"I think she just died on me!" Oisin called back.
"Ah you won't need that where we're going. Come I'll introduce you to Iyru."
"What do I do with my car?"
"Just leave it!"

***

Knux looked at Iyru's back with mixed feelings. He had the strange feeling she had been trying to see what side he was on. In his mind, there weren't really sides, but if he had to chose, he would stand by Iyru's choice. She had never let him down before and her heart lay with her trade, the science he too loved.
Stirring the water absentmindedly in a tank holding eggs not ready for incubation, Knux thought he could sense other changes as well. The record keeper the two women had brought in wasn't anything at all what the military would have hired. Knux knew his thoughts often wandered, but even he could see the Fairlight woman weaving herself tightly into this. He wasn't sure of her intentions at all. She seemed committed enough, but if her goal was to raise the dragons, or to destroy everything...He should keep an eye out...
Knux' thoughts returned abruptly when he felt something nuzzle his finger. Looking down into the tank, a sleek red form swam around, chirping inquisitive at everything new it saw.
"You shouldn't have hatched." Knux said to himself as much as he addressed the small water dragon. "In fact, you shouldn't have been able to grow at all in the water."
Chirping happily the small creature tried to jump out of the tank into the next. In a reflex grabbing the dragon Knux finally made note of the dragon's strong tail and the absence of regular limbs.
Forgetting his earlier trail of thought, watching Fairlight becoming only a small side note in his mind, Knux started examining the water dragon. 
"Since the incubator produced a machine-like creature and the tank of water made a water dragon... Could they adapt to their surroundings?"
Another bite in his hand made Knux look down again. His thoughts would have to wait. The small red water dragon looked up and squealed pitiful. Hunger. it was hungry.
Hurrying to his desk, Knux found a Belgian waffle, shrugged and hoped he wouldn't poison the little critter. Watching as the dragon devoured the treat, Knux said: "I think you need a name. What do you think of O'ragnatus?"
Making no attempt to do anything but eat, Knux decided the little dragon liked the name.

***

Trying to find a big box of ice cream to work through yet another failure, Iyru bumped into Fairlight and Oisin, looking for her.
"Just the person I needed!" Fairlight said, introducing Oisin to Iyru, noting very well the look of wonder that came into Oisin's eyes at the sight of Iyru. Iyru, her mind dallying on the mission on hand, and the failures so close to lift of, didn't notice anything at all. 
"Welcome on board." she said kindly enough, without really looking at Oisin, "I've got an appointment with ice cream, care to join me?"
"Yes, I'd like that." Oisin said.
"Want as I do, I can't. I have some work to do." Fairlight smiled, winking at Oisin to show she fully understood him wanting to be alone with the leading lady right now. "I'll catch you around later."

Continue to Part 4

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