Pillbug

Elliot clasped the handle of the door to the meeting room, drawing in a deep breath and exhaling slowly, a prayer to maintain his patience. As he turned the handle and creaked the door open, he could already feel Radiance’s narrow gaze on him, like she was already tired of this meeting before it even began.

Radiance huffed at his entrance. “If you insist on calling me away from my work to listen to your delusional pleas, the least you could do is not be late. My time is valuable, although I’m sure the concept of that would elude someone like you.”

Elliot’s expression tightened. “I should remind you, Radiance, that this is your work, in every sense of the word. If simply attending a meeting sets you off this much, I have to wonder-”

“Everyone, please!” Baldwin rose up from his seat and held a claw in the air. “Let’s not devolve into needless squabbling, I don’t think that will accomplish much at all. Elliot, please sit down. We know what we’re here for, so let’s not waste time, I’m sure we all have many other things to attend to. Radiance, Elliot and I would like to request from you the funds to purchase a Scroll of Maturity for Subject P-B.”

Elliot glanced down at his claws. Subject P-B was a Mirror hatchling that he had found roaming the outskirts of the Facility, abandoned. The infant dragon had come up to him with a big, toothy smile and happily exclaimed, “Hi! I’m Puh-buh! Wassur name?”
He’d brought the hatching in for an examination, which was when they’d discovered his eternal youth.

The thought of it made the fur on his back rise. To infantilize a dragon permanently like that, what sort of cold creature would do such a thing?

Radiance closed her eyes with a sigh, as though she was being asked to rearrange the sky, or some other such nonsensical task.
“I think you already know my answer. Why would I waste the Facility’s funds on something so inconsequential?”

“I hardly think a dragon’s right to their own life is inconsequential.” Elliot spoke, making a great effort to keep his tone civil. “Subject P-B was made eternally youthful before he could ever reasonably consent.”

“Is that shocking to you?” Radiance eyed him from her seat. “If you intend to make a plea to my emotions, perhaps first consider that bestowing eternal youth upon a hatchling is a practice that’s common across all of Sornieth. Ethics be damned, we’re hardly doing our community any service by reverting one of thousands of instances of eternal youth. Your personal moral dilemma is not my concern, Sunseed.”

Elliot bristled. Radiance only ever addressed him as ‘Sunseed’, a show of pure disrespect. No matter his accomplishments or expertise, she was always eager to remind him of his rural background.
But even that spiteful comment did not enrage him as much as her use of the word ‘bestow’. As if to suggest infantilizing a dragon was a blessing, rather than a curse. Inflict. That’s the word for it.
“If your concern is always for the collective over the individual, what’s to stop us from turning away every patient brought to us on that principle? Shall we release every dragon relying on our Facility for care once they no longer benefit our research? Throw them to the wolves, as it were?”

At this Radiance snarled. “Rather quick to paint me as a monster, aren’t you? Just as I would’ve guessed, you’re not approaching this issue logically, you never do. You’re but a ball of emotions, no thought to logistics or practicality, or anything beyond your dream of an ideal, happy solution. Childish.”

Elliot stood, but Baldwin was quick to raise a preventative claw in his direction. The Bogsneak gave him an understanding look. Elliot relaxed some. Baldwin’s kind, reliable gaze was always enough to diffuse him.
“What I think Elliot meant to say, Radiance, is that we are here to help dragons. That’s why we built this island in the first place. Our laboratories, our research, all of it exists to aid dragons in need. Here before us is a dragon we have the means to lift out of an unfortunate reality, should we not stay true to our mission statement, and fulfill that potentiality?”

She leaned onto the table, interlacing her claws. And as she spoke, Elliot could not help but note the drastic difference in tone when she addressed Baldwin over him. “Your whimsy gets away from you, Alchemist. Your intentions may be good, but you fail to see how many problems will arise from trying to solve this one. I’m surprised I should have to explain this to you, you should know better.
A Scroll of Maturity won’t just reverse the effects of Eternal Youth, it’s instantaneous growth. If I grant you this purchase, we’ll have a fully grown Mirror dragon with the mind of a hatchling on our claws. If you fail to see the kind of repercussions that could have, I simply have nothing to say to you.”

“He wouldn’t stay that way for long,” Elliot interjected, “His mental capacity would grow with his body, the speed of development thereafter renders your concern negligible.”

At this, Radiance stared at him. Her antennae flicked once. Twice. She furrowed her brow.
“I can sense your anger, Sunseed. Your indignance, the seething frustration and contempt you feel for me right now. If you're incapable of handling this issue with objectivity, then I’ll meet you where you’re at.”


She stood.

“Let’s say you’re correct, that his mind will in fact develop with his age. What kind of toll do you think that takes on a dragon? That one day you were not but a simple minded infant, and the next you’re an adult, with every complexity that comes with it? The knowledge that you were robbed of a childhood, an adolescence, left only with a stark contrast of who you were, and who you now have to be? Can you imagine what that does to one’s mind? Can you look me in the eye and honestly proclaim you believe that to be a better fate than remaining simple and happy for all of eternity?”

Elliot’s eyes slowly drifted to meet hers. He did not speak.

She sat back down. “I didn’t think so. This meeting is over, you’ve wasted enough of my time.”

Baldwin nodded in resignation. “Very well. Radiance, you are dismissed.”

The Skydancer unfurled her wings and sprung herself over the table in a quick and graceful arch.
“Good day, Baldwin. Sunseed.”


As the door shut behind her, Elliot let his shoulders sag as he sunk against the table. Baldwin placed a comforting claw on his shoulder.
“Don’t look so defeated, Elliot. Radiance is strong in her beliefs, but not all hope is lost.”

Elliot looked to his mentor. “But she’s correct, a Scroll of Maturity won’t fix what was lost. To lose your life in such a way, I can’t inflict that sort of pain on him.”

Baldwin smiled. “We’re in the business of solutions, Elliot. We’ve done the impossible before. Personally, I don’t buy that there’s only one way to undo what was done. Maybe someday, we’ll find a way to solve this condition.”

The Tundra’s expression lightened as he considered this. “Do you mean, a way to reverse eternal youth, and let him age naturally again?”

“Precisely, yes. Don’t you think it’s possible?”

Elliot’s eyes shifted. “I have to think so.”

---

Elliot lay, alone in his chamber, late into the night, papers strewn around him, books and documents piled high. The Magic Behind Eternal Youth, Breeds and Relative Age, Morganite: a Scientific Breakdown.

He held a quill to a page, writing a title at the very top.
Restorative Maturity; a Hypothesis.

Radian¢e 3 months ago What Breed is he? 7900 00 REPLY Hide replies ^ To Ell With It 1 week ago Just a little boy. 23800 00 REPLY code: proxima #61019