Livewire

Livewire stared into the gaping hole in the wall. Behind the concrete and plaster- what may have been a dragon before. The flesh was burnt, scales peeling off. Embers flaked off exposed bones.

Livewire allowed themself to wonder if they had any bones. They had discovered, in their first few weeks of existence, that wondering was dangerous. Instead they drank in the stale white of the scientists' droning voice and tried to push their mind away from the body in front of them. Before, it had been a wildclaw. Her voice was a brighter purple than Livewire had ever seen in their short life. She was dead now. And she would never be back, because the wires of her veins and her organic heart and her not-computer brain were broken beyond repair.

The scientists all had voices in shades of white. Perhaps it was an affect of being in the lab so long, perhaps a strange coincidence. When Livewire themself talked, which was not very often, they saw a pale green.

"What do you feel?" One of the scientists asked.

Livewire turned their head away and stared at the opposite wall.

"What do you feel?" He repeated. They often talked this way to to Livewire, as if they were a hatchling.

"I don't know."

"You must feel something. What does your inside look like?"

"Gray." Livewire grunted.

The scientist scribbled something on a sheet of paper and left the room. The door slammed behind him.

Livewire stared for a long time at the wall. Eventually the humming from under the floor stopped, and they realized it was nighttime. There was an odd tingling sensation in their chest as the lights flicked off. They knew, of course, that those lights were set on a timer to turn off at exactly nine. Still, small flashes of shadows looked like something out to kill. Their inside gray darkened.

They finally turned their head. The last embers had finally flickered out and all that was left was a gaping darkness. The form of the burned corpse loomed over the room. They put one foot out, then the other. They were now standing in front of the dead dragon.

"I'm sorry". Livewire whispered into nothingness.