Alex – Heart Of The Vanguard

I continued down this singular pipe where I was directed to go, checking the pipes structure as I went, seeing if there was anyway out but other 2 inch diameter vents every dozen foot, the pipe was solid, I had no choice but to carry on. I came to a door roughly some 100 feet from where I was let in, it opened as I got close enough and I stepped on through and gave a short gasp as I entered... 'So these are my 'friends' '. The room I had entered was fairly large, probably the size of a basketball court and other than drinking facilities, ie. A basic drinking water fountain on the left side of the room it was empty.

The majority of the light that came into the room actually came from one side of the room, which was entirely glass, illuminating somewhere between 10-15 other dragons in here, all rather calm settled, some sat up, some sleeping, some walking, including one walking the perimeter of the room, but all apparently completely uninterested with my presence, so equally, I made out that I had no interest with them either... But kept an eye on them just the same. I slinked down to the right side with the windows and gazed out,... This was a BIG facility, we were on the ground floor level, but across the way, there were many levels heading upwards with many white, glass fronted pods on each level in the large enclosed area, at least 20 floors up, it was hard to count from my angle.

I looked around the edge of the glass to look for any weaknesses, again there were none obvious. I gave a small spud punch to the glass, but it didn't sound like glass as I hit it, it sounded like concrete, meaning this glass too was thick and not going to be easily broken, I turned and scanned the rest of the room, there was the pipe size doorway on my left wall that I had just come through and on the right wall there was a matching one. The wall directly opposite me had the water fountain for drinking, an open doorway and in the centre of the room there was a pair of metal doors. I made my way over, being careful not to stand on or whack any of the other dragons as I passed, to the open door way. I saw a couple of the dragons eye ball me, but they soon returned to their business, which was doing absolutely nothing.

After I passed them all and made it to the door I realised something looking back... I had been walking on all fours and it felt natural to the point I hadn't even considered trying to walk like a human. I shook the thought out for now, I needed to blend in so I would stick to doing it anyway. I peered inside the open room, It smelt a bit off in here, like a public loo, but no signs of toilets or any mess, just an empty space, which was confusing. Looking around there was no way out here, so I stepped up to the control panel by the metal doors further down the same wall.

I looked around the room, only just seeing the cameras in each corner of the wall opposite the window.

Me: "Bollocks..." I muttered, looking back at the control panel.

'They'll see for sure... Fuck it, I need to get out of here, I dug my claws under the control panel and pulled toward me, with ease the security bolts snapped, exposing the wiring inside and I quickly started rummaging through them... This wasn't any simple car electronics or DIY wiring I was use to... I sighed, just as a voice spoke next to me,

"What are you doing?" The male's voice said calmly and curiously.

Me: "*Gasp* oh... Fuck sake..." I said in surprise and slight fear, clutching my chest as I turned to see who had spoken. I was now wondering if he was going to drop me in trouble, this male Dragon, the one that I believed was just pacing the room, tilted his head slightly in curiosity, much like a dog would. "...I'm... *Sigh*... I'm trying to get out of here." I replied, waiting for the trouble.

Male: "Why do you want to leave?"

Me: "Because we're not meant to be here?" I said to his apparent confusion.

Male: "But they said they want to help us after the accident?" He replied defensively, which I scoffed at,

Me: "And you believe that?"

Male: "Erm, well, yeah? What... What do you believe then?" He said unsurely. I stopped trying to mess with the wires for a moment to talk directly to him.

Me: "Are you serious? What do you remember about life before you came here?"

Male: "Erm... Nothing, but they said I have amnesia and-"

Me: "No, don't, don't trust them, don't believe what they have to say, I actually felt them trying to wipe my memories just now, I use to be a gu- Human, before I woke up here, think about it, what are the odds that me, you and all the others in here, all have amnesia? Seriously? You were Human too weren't you? Think about it." I said, actually getting somewhat embarrassed when I was about to use the word 'guy', I didn't want anyone knowing one of my main current problems.

Male: "I don't remember anything" he replied shaking his head.

Me: "Let's try something basic, what's your name?"

Male: "D03"

Me: "No no, your Human name, my name is Alex, and you are?..."

D03: "Erm..." He said screwing his face up in concentration "... I... Really can't remember." he replied with a frown. I actually felt kinda bad for him, he genuinely looked disappointed looking down at the ground.

Me: "Hey, chin up matey, it will come back, just keep thinking about it alright,..." I replied with a gentle tap to his shoulder with a smile and he somewhat returned one of his own. "...So, what do you say?" I asked as I started pulling at the wiring again.

D03: "To what?"

Me: "Getting out of here? You with me?" I replied, trying to decipher the overly complicated door lock wiring.

D03: "I have to say, something doesn't feel right about this... So if what you're saying is true, then yes, I will join you,..." he said with a hint more of a smile "...but do you know what you're doing there?" He asked trying to peer iver my shoulder.

Me: "I have to admit, I have done a bit of car and domestic house hold wiring, but this is something else... Obviously made this complicated for security reasons, but I think this wire..." I said while breaking and yanking one out, "...goes to the lock mechanism, if I short it out on this earth terminal..." As I manoeuvred it toward a terminal that was coloured as such, "...it should unloc-"
*BANG!* - there was a bright light for a split second and that was the last thing I remembered...
__________

"Hey... Hey... Wake up" a males voice said to me, my eyes opened slightly looking up to face of dragon staring back at me, realising that he was actually laying next to me he was cradling my top half and head, for a split second I had forgotten my situation and panicked scurrying to get away from him.

D03: "Hey hey hey, it's me, D03, you were talking to me earlier remember? Are you alright?"

Me: "Yeah, sorry, just... Had a moment,..." sitting up next to him "... What happened?"

D03: "Well, I think you got the wires crossed, you just blew yourself across the room, I was worried you had killed your self to start with and-"

Me: "You didn't kiss me, did you?" I asked worryingly.

D03: "What? No no, you were breathing by the time I got over to you, so I just tried to make sure you were safe and comfy until you woke up."

Me: "Oh err, well, thank you..." trying be polite, not sure how I felt about a guy holding me in my current 'condition'. I looked around the room and see all but a few dragons left, but they were all piling into the pipe at the opposite end of the room to where we came in. "...Where are they going?" I asked.

D03: "I don't know, the door opened and a voice just told us to enter and follow the route, which is why I was trying to wake you."

Me: "Oh ok, erm, shall we then?" I asked getting up, he nodded and stood as well and we followed the last of the group down the pipe. There were a number of corners, cross roads and T junctions, but any route we clearly weren't meant to take as they were closed off by bars. We proceeded along the route a bit more until we came to another door way.

As we stepped out into this room was as bigger than the one we were in a short while ago. in length and width, but was well lit. There were 8 tables, each with 8 seats at each, which most of the other dragons were sat at or were about to, the most disturbing thing however was the catwalks that surrounded the top of the room, I could see 6 very well armoured and armed guards atop stood at attention. D03 stepped out of the pipe next to me to surveyed the room as well, also noting the guards.

Me: "This IS a prison..." I said quietly,

D03: "If what you say is true, about our pasts I mean, then I wholly agree." he said looking at me. Then the most peculiar thing happened, the word "EAT" flashed up in my head, like at the back of my eyes, it completely threw me off,

Me: "Whoa!..." I said stumbling back slightly, D03 was shaking his head and blinking a lot while looking at me, "...Did you just-" I got as far as saying before he finished my sentence,

D03: "-have the word "EAT" appear in front of my eyes? Yes, that wasn't a nice feeling..."

Me: "They're watching us then... we had better play along."

D03: "I agree". They found two places next to each other and took their 'seats', which were just cushions on the floor essentially, I looked confused at the triangular trough in front of me, but a 'D24' appeared on a display up on the edge of he table at my place, a clonk sounded and a shutter opened near the center of the table in front of me and a tray slid down the gentle slope in to arrive directly in front of me. Upon the tray lay a surprisingly appetising looking dish, essentially, It looked like a roast dinner, it had a small portion of veg and potatoes... but what looked liked a whole kilo of a gammon joint... and it smelt gorgeous.

D03: "I'm now changing my mind about this 'Prison' thing" D03 said over to me, admiring his own tray.

Me: "Was that a joke?..." I mocked back with a smile, he shrugged his shoulders,

D03: "I am hungry... be a shame to waste it." he said, diving in and tearing a piece from the ham with his mouth and bare hands, I looked realising there was no knives and forks or anything to use, I looked around to see all the others doing the same, I sighed, I was a bit hungry and it did smell too good to ignore.

Me: "Well, when in Rome..." and I too starting digging in with my hands.

When we were nearly done D03 spoke without turning to me, still chewing with a mouth full.

D03: "So, what's the plan?"

Me: "You mean... getting out?..." I said quietly, trying not to be heard, I was met with a 'mm-hmm' between mouthfuls, "...well, between the armed guards, the security doors, cameras, restricted routes, god knows what else they have protecting this place, we're not getting out of here tonight or tomorrow... I say we play it cool for next couple of days, check out the rest of the facility... well... what we can anyway, see what our options are and what is likely to cause us problems." He sat upright more as he finished, his tray clean.

D03: "Sounds good to me, are you not finishing that?" I looked back to my tray which was mostly finished, but I just wasn't as hungry as I thought to start with, I gave him the tray and let him finish it off.

As soon as he and the few others finished I spotted some movement up on the catwalks out of the corner of my eye and looked up, giving D03 a nudge. 4 scientists, including the 2 I saw in the room earlier had gathered up top. Dr Skiff used her phone to tap on the metal railing to get everyone's attention below as it echoed around the room.

Skiff: "Good evening all,..." she started "...I hope you have enjoyed you meal this evening, I appreciate that this may have been a boring day for you all but I have to see to you all personally and individually, which takes a time, but nevertheless, it has been a pleasure speaking to each and everyone of you...."
'Yeah right.' I thought,
"...Now, allow me to explain the retraining regime we have planned for you all, starting tomorrow, your schedule will be 3 days of training, followed by 1 day of rest, 2 days training, 1 day rest the it repeats for each week following. First week will be basic training, including tactics and endurance, week 2 will be solo training, week 3 will be team work. At the end of week 3 I will return, check on your progress and instruct you on your next schedule. In the mean time, my colleagues and your guards..." she gesture to either side of herself, "...although they look menacing, they are here to protect and train you, do as they ask of you please to ensure all goes smoothly. But enough for today, I will ask you all to retire, you will be shown to your rooms... and yes, I'm sure you have already started talking to each other, your rooms accommodate for two, so you may select a friend of your choice to share with..."
I glanced back to D03, unintentionally, but he smiled and nodded back...

'Was this a good idea? to room share with a guy when I was in a, well, feminine state?...' I tried to think about the positives instead... '...he seemed nice and polite enough, he's in on my plans and seems willing to help, would be nice to have someone on the same wavelength to talk to, plus he had an excellent figure and good looks, you know, for a Dragon anyway... fuck... did I really just think that?!...' I shook my head clear, I didn't like the way that trail of thought was going '...Sooner I get back to normal the better...' I had completely phased out of Dr Skiff's speech though, my head came back to reality to her finishing with:
"...so I bid you all, good night." and she and the other scientists turned and left.

A pair of double doors opened below the catwalk and a load of guards appeared,

"Ok Delta, get in your pairs and line here in front of me." the guard at the front said. Everyone in the room instantly stood and the majority of them got into pairs quickly, two guards walking down either side of the line to straighten the us all up. There were a few Dragons that didn't seem to know who to pair up with, I made my way to the line, not realising that D03 had fallen behind. The guard on my right pulled one of the uncertain Dragons up along side me, against his protests.

Me: "What? No I'm with..." but I was completely ignored, I looked back for D03 and saw him getting forced with another Dragon, I stepped out of the line but was quickly booted back in by the guard on the left, I snarled and snapped my jaw at him. He flicked an extending pole of some sort with a forked end and pressed it against my shoulder, there was a loud 'Snap' noise and my body toppled over and started involuntarily convulsing in pain and spasms.

'Did he just fucking taser me?!' I thought, unable to do anything other than look up at the man in hate, but my view was quickly blocked by another Dragon standing between us to protect me, snarling at the man... D03. The man held his taser threateningly towards D03, who backed up slightly away from him, still growling but covered my shaking body, grabbed me by the tail and dragged me further back down the line and away from guard, much to his chuckling amusement.

D03: "Are you ok?" He asked as we came to a stop, actually sounding rather worried, but it wasn't easy for me to reply,

Me: "I *spasm* don't know *spasm* that was *spasm* st-strong." I said painfully, curling into a woeful ball.

D03: "No, come here." he said, he picked up my top half and slipped me over his shoulders to support me.

"Hey Sam, you making friends already? Ha ha." the guard on the right side of the line asked the one on the left who just shocked me, D03 gasped, then looked to the floor, deep in thought, I looked to him to ask what was wrong, but my words wouldn't come out of my mouth. My efforts were interrupted before I could try again.

"Ok Delta, follow us." The guard instructed and the line started moving forward with D03 picking me up and more or less carrying me, occasionally my legs giving out causing him to stumble and readjust me on his shoulders and I'd just about managed to say "Sorry." each time, but he'd never reply just look at the floor still as he walked. Slowly the line got shorter and we neared the front of it as we proceeded down the hall, I'm not sure how far we went, but, although it was fading, the pain was still fucking with my head, confusing me.

Then we got to the front of the queue, we walked forward and the guards leading us pointed to an open door way simply said "there" not caring that I was essentially being carried in. No sooner had we passed the doorway the double doors slammed shut behind us and could be heard locking.

D03: "Can you stand?"

Me: "I can try." He eased me off of his shoulders, I wobbled slightly and ended up falling to sitting back on my behind and he grabbed my arm to support me.

Me: "I'm ok, I just... I just need a minute." We both looked around the odd room, it was white, empty, bubble shaped but oval and had a glass front down the opposite end. There was one of the smaller pipe doors in the wall on the right, the left wall had two rooms coming off of it, both darker than this main room. D03 went and sat to look out the window, I tried to stand, a bit wobbly, but I was getting back to normal. I walked over to the small room closest to me and the main door, it looked like a shower room, but that was all, no toilet again? I proceeded into the next room, it was the same size of the shower area, it had a sort of nest like bed in it but it was sunk down in the floor one step down... but it was just one queen size bed... 'Oh no...'

Me: "Err, D03... there's a little problem..." I said, turning to see him still staring out of the window, I walked up and stood next to him, across from them was the dark glass fronted room they had spent most of the day in, but above that, there was another at least 20 rows of pod fronts just like the one we were in... "...bloody hell..." I exclaimed, wondering just how many of us they had in here.

D03: "Sam" D03 said, not turning to look at me,

Me: "What?" I turned to him confused.

D03: "My name, my real name, is Sam."

Me: "Oh... you sure? I mean, I know I heard the guard call that name earlier, sure you didn't just assume-?"

Sam: "No, I remember, after the guy said 'Sam', it was like an echo, I've been called it so many times in my life, it's hard to explain, it's like hundreds of different voices calling that name, but I don't know any of them, I don't know if that makes sense, sorry."

Me: "No no, that's good! What else can you remember?" I asked excited. He shrugged and looked down at the floor.

Sam "That's just it, that's all I can remember". I felt sorry for him, knowing you have a past but not remembering anything about it, can't feel good.

Me: "Hey, baby steps matey, it will come back." I said with a smile trying to cheer him up.

Sam: "I hope so."

Me: "Well, hey let's introduce ourselves properly then, I'm Alex." I offered my hand out, he looked down at it, gave a hint of a smile and took my hand,

Sam: "Nice to meet you Alex, I'm Sam".

We sat looking out the uneventful window for a bit in silence before I decided to break it.

Me: "Thank you by the way."

Sam: "What for?" he asked confused.
Me: "Protecting me and dragging me out of trouble earlier... and pretty much carrying me."
Sam: "Oh, well it was nothing, I'm sure you would have done the same for me."

Me: "Of course." I smiled back. He left my said and headed for the 'Bedroom' and I watched him step to the door and he stopped at the threshold.

Sam: "Oh..." He said.

Me: "Yeah, that's the little problem I mentioned earlier."

Sam: "Well, you take the bed, I'll sleep out here somewhere." Sam said turning around to walk out, I turned and stood in front of him to stop him, so we were face to face.

Me: "That's very gentleman like of you, but, I'll be alright out here." I said, he cocked his head ever so slightly.

Sam: "You know, you're very pretty, for a Dragon anyway." Sam stated, I pulled my head back in a bit of shock, not expecting that comment at all, I actually felt my face heat up, I'm sure if I had my pale human skin I would be blushing like mad right now, so for a split second, I was glad I wasn't Human.

Me: "Such a charmer aren't you..." I winked at him and passed him, heading for the bedroom...

'Why the fuck did I wink?' "...Come on, we'll talk a bit more before we sleep yeah?" I said, stepping down into the bed area up one end, leaning on the cushion that surrounded the boarder. Sam sighed in reluctance and stepped down into the bed area as well, but on the opposite end, leaning on the cushion just as I did.

Sam: "So... tell me what you can remember about your life then?" Sam immediately asked.

Me: "What? erm, I was gonna talk about our plans to get out and become human again." I replied worried. He shrugged his shoulders.

Sam: "As you said, we need a couple of days to scope this place out, I don't remember anything of my past life, so what else is there to talk about?" He had a point, this conversation was going to be very one sided.

Me: "I'm err... I'm not too sure you want to know about me... if you did, it will probably ruin your opinion of me and our friendship already." Sam raised an eyebrow.

Sam: "Really? You're gonna leave me in the dark with that? You should right a book, you'd be good at cliff hangers." he said mockingly with a chuckle. I didn't return his amusement though, I was more distracted with decision making, do I dare tell him I'm meant to be a guy? He'd probably find out one way or another sooner or later...

Me: "Sam... I'm gonna tell you something personal, it's going to be quite weird... But I want you to promise me that you won't judge me over it or call off this friendship or make it all weird... or tell anyone else." He pulled a confused face at my request,

Sam: "What can be so bad that you-" But I cut him off,

Me: "Just promise me Sam, please, if we're going to get out of here, we need each other,... I need your help and so far you're the only one in here I want to befriend at the moment, so, please Sam." I said plainly.

Sam: "Ok ok, I promise." he said nodding... Well, here it goes...

Me: "Thank you... Well, my full name is... Alexand'ER' Crawford... I used to be a guy before they did this to me." I said, sounding more depressed as the sentence went on, Sam looked more confused than before,

Me: "So... You're not actually, a woman? You're a man?" He asked plainly, I gave a small nod.

Sam: "I wanted to tell you before you found out later on... I just want to be 100% honest with you and get that out of the way before we got too far down the line... I probably should have told you earlier as well, sorry."

Sam: "No it's.... it's fine..." Sam said seemingly distracted looking down at his feet, I started getting up to leave "...Where are you going?" He asked looking back up at me.

Me: "I get a feeling you don't want me here anymore so I'm..." He flipped over to me and grabbed my upper arm,

Sam: "No stay, please,... I was just trying to think, if that's your past, then what's happened in mine? But no, I don't think of you any differently, I don't care who you are now or before... And I don't mean that nastily,... Sorry, that didn't sound polite at all, what I mean is, it makes no difference to me, we're stuck here, nothing we can do about it right now eh? So please just, stay... Nice to have someone to talk to..." he said ending with a smile. I smiled back and settled back down to my previous position. "...Sorry Alex, can't have been easy finding out."

Me: "Not particularly no... I woke up in a pod type thing, I couldn't see anything, not even my hand in front of my face, I was there for hours and had a lot of time to kill... ended up feeling how I looked, including... erm, down there..." I said while vaguely pointing down near my crotch area, "... only to find I had no male parts, just a... a slit..." I said slightly depressed, but my eyes wandered down his body, he was relaxed on the bed, mostly on his side, legs closed, but I could just about see enough... "...Just like the one you have!" I exclaimed, he looked down his own body.

Sam: "Oh... guess you won't have seen or know yet... Guys and girls do look the same down there from the outside, I worked that much out already... I erm, had to pee earlier, before you entered that dark holding room and as I peed, well my... 'end' peeked out, just a bit, if I push a finger in far enough I can feel it. I noticed a couple of other males do the same when they went to the loo, but not all. But none of the females had it." I covered my crotch with my hand,

Me: "Maybe there's still a chance I have it then?" I asked hopeful, but my hopes were crushed by his by his grimacing face.
Sam: "Alex, I really don't want to put you down, but as far as I can see, you have a feminine voice, your overall body shape is sleeker and thinner than a males and you don't have any horns, only males have horns..." My hand shot up to my head to feel for where I could see he had 6 horns on his own head and felt nothing on mine. I hadn't even taken note of that before he mentioned it.

Me: "So... you put your finger in how far?" I asked still hopeful.

Sam: "Alex... I don't think-"

Me: "Tell me how far, what can you feel?" His shoulders dropped as he gave in,

Sam: "*Sigh* About an inch, pushing back toward the tail, you'll feel a rounded but pointy head... but Alex-" I didn't let him finish, I stood up out of the bed and headed quickly for the shower room for some privacy... I still had hope, I refused to believe it... I laid down on my side and looked down my belly. These bodies were indeed sleek, the tail mass was joined and part of the of the lower torso with no clear line where one ends and the other begins, like a lizard, or an alligator. I found the slit between my legs again and started pushing a thumb in, holding back the gasp from the feeling this time.

I pushed back toward my tail just as Sam had described... all I found though was a wall of flesh, I dug slightly deeper, only to find a fleshy tunnel inside forcing my thumb in the opposite direction, up and deeper into my my abdomen, the gasped escaped my mouth from the sensation of my thumb invading my body, it felt natural and wrong at the same time. The remains of my male mind fighting with the new female half, I withdrew my thumb stood up on my back feet for the first time since arriving here and punched the wall in rage with a roar, leaving a sizeable dent in the brushed stainless steel wall. I spun around throwing my back against it and slumped down the wall, burying my head in my hands... and I started crying...

'Why the fuck was I crying?! I don't cry! I'm a fucking bloke!' I thought to myself, the more I did though the more the tears rolled down my cheeks.

Then I felt 2 hands pull me off the floor, grasping my arms, with little effort, to my feet.

Me: "Just leave me alone." I mumbled.

Sam: "Stop it and come here..." Sam said pulling me through back to the bedroom. "...Come on, get into bed..." as he gently escorted me down the step into the bed area, I sat down, much like a cat would, trying to keep my back to him so he didn't see my face. "...Please lie down." he said, almost begging, I did as he asked but still kept my back turned to him and I felt him lay down behind me, but do something I completely wasn't expecting and not sure how I felt about it either... He shoved his arm under my neck and the other over my waste and pulled me in close to spoon me and I felt his head and neck rest behind mine... although I felt somewhat repulsed by it, it actually felt kinda nice and without realising it I had already relaxed somewhat.

Sam: "Remind me to never get in the way of that right hook of yours." his voice said above my head, I actually chuckled through the tears at his joke.

Me: "To be honest, I'm surprised you you were brave enough to do this, knowing that I'm a guy inside here." I said pointing to my head.

Sam: "Heh, so am I, but I felt guilty for setting you off then, so, kinda my way of saying sorry. And sorry again, but I have to say, this does seem kinda natural... BUT... If we ever make it out of this Alex... I swear, if you ever tell my friends..."

Me: "Yeah to start with I felt disturbed, but it's actually nice and helping me, so, thank you, I guess. Wait, 'friends'? You remember some?"

Sam: "Well no... But hopefully I have some that are missing me."

Me: "Hmm..." I murmured in thought and agreement, '...I wonder how my friends and family are taking this...' I thought but kept to myself. "...how about we make a pact, what ever happens in these walls stays in these walls?" I replied.

Sam: "...Yeah, sounds good to me."

Me: "Oh, and what do you mean 'IF'?, I'm gonna get us out of here Sam and we're gonna return back to normal, I promise you".

Sam: "I'm going to hold you to that Alex... then we can laugh about all this over a drink in the pub."

Me: "Heh, yeah... sounds like a plan." I agreed, feeling quite a bit more relaxed now, it wasn't long after before I drifted off to sleep.

(-Moog)