"Good afternoon and welcome to Geneva Today, your source for all the latest government news and rumors from the UN capital.  I'm your host, Elisabeth Wyss.  Once again, our top story of the day is the Free Dragons debate.  Every day this movement grows larger, both here in Geneva and around the world.  Today, however, we are pleased to bring you a Geneva Today exclusive: Free Dragons movement leader Sean Nelson and Traditian Senator Sven Karlsson both came to the studio earlier today and debated the issue of dragons, with a third participant joining in later, as you'll soon see.

"So enjoy the debate, and remember: we want to know your opinions, so you can call the number on your screen or go online to www.unfc.tv/geneva-today/ and tell us what you think about this issue.  We'll respond to your thoughts after the debate, and a word from our sponsors."

"Welcome to the studio, Mr. Nelson, Senator Karlsson; thanks for coming in for us.  I suppose we'll start with you, Mr. Nelson: why do you want the dragons freed?"

"It's very simple," Sean said.  "As I have experienced firsthand, dragons are just as intelligent as you are me, yet instead of finding ways to accept them into the world we throw them into cages to gape at regardless of what they have to say about it.  At best, you could call it unlawful imprisonment, and at worst it's slavery.  And when we live in a society where slavery has been abolished for several hundred years, we cannot allow this kind of injustice to continue."

"I'm sorry, but I fail to see what makes you think of them as intelligent," said Senator Karlsson.  "If they truly were as smart as you claim, they would have appeared to us peacefully, instead of the well-documented attack that actually occurred."

"Carnoc acted in self-defense when the Fuller brothers captured him, which should have been expected of him.  What else would anyone do, if they were to wake up bound and disoriented, and last remembering being shot?  He was only trying to escape.  Regardless, there is other evidence of their intelligence."

"Such as?"

"Their ability to speak English, for one, and their organized hierarchy."

"Even ants have hierarchy, but nobody wonders about the rights of ants, and speech doesn't mean anything, either.  Some years ago, there was a study you may have heard of called the Talking Dog Experiment.  Are you familiar with it?"

"Yes."

"Good.  As you should know, then, the researchers were, through training, able to teach their group of dogs a number of English words, which the dogs were then able to speak."

"Then you should also know that the dogs learned a total of twelve words, which they repeated when given a signal they had been trained to react to.  There is no intelligence evident in those dogs.  Dragons are different; you could easily hold a conversation with one.  They speak English as well as you or I do, and are just as intelligent.  You cannot doubt their sentience."

The Senator shrugged.  "That isn't the main issue.  What we have to worry about is public safety, and dragons represent a threat to that."

"They are as smart as we are, and if we let them know they're expected to obey the same laws we do, then they'll follow them.  I don't see how dragons threaten the general public."

"They're dangerous.  They have fangs, they have claws, they can breathe fire, and they seem to have no qualms about killing humans."

"That's just one dragon, Carnoc, and that has more to do with his temper than anything else.  His father is working with him--or at least he was, before they were captured and separated--to help him control his short temper, and once he learns how to better control himself he won't be provoked to kill anymore.  Besides, just as you might find a violent dragon, there are also violent humans in the world.  Do we imprison every African member of society because they are, statistically, the most likely to commit murder?  Certainly not, and I'm sure you would also find it appalling to do such a thing.  The actions of one member of a race cannot be used to determine the intentions of that race as a whole."

"That doesn't change the fact that people may feel threatened by them.  The concerns of society must also be considered, and if a large percentage of citizens would be frightened by the sight of a dragon nearby, allowing them to roam free, as you want them to, would only have a negative impact on everyone else."

"Considering the one-week waiting lists just to get into some of the establishments currently imprisoning dragons, I'd say most people would prefer to see a dragon walking past or flying overhead.  As for the threat they might pose, only consider the growing number of mutants, myself included, who are also members of society.  When you consider it, this issue and the mutant issue of the last century are quite similar, and in my opinion should have the same result."

"Not all mutants share as much with dragons as you do, Mr. Nelson.  Dragons aren't human."

Sean sighed.  "But they are as intelligent as we are and deserve to live as freely as we do, which is where we started.  Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to let a good friend of mine enter this debate for a short while, linked directly from the Zoo of St. Louis by phone.  Vallen, are you there?"

"Yes, I hear you, Sean."

"All right.  Vallen, my colleague, Senator Karlsson, is having trouble accepting the intelligence of your kind, and I think he could use some more convincing evidence.  Do you have anything to say to that?"

There was a short pause.  "It would probably be better to ask if he has anything to say to me," Vallen said.

"Yes, right.  So, Senator, is there anything you'd like to ask Vallen?"

Senator Karlsson hesitated, openmouthed, but recovered quickly.  "Yes.  Vallen, what... position do you hold among your kind?"

"I am the elder of the male clan."

"I see.  Well, Vallen, one of my main concerns--and the concern of the general population--is what your species feels about ours.  If you were to be freed at some point in the future...  I'm sorry, I'm having trouble phrasing this.  If allowed to live among us, what would dragons do?"

"We only wish to be left alone, Senator.  We have lived almost completely unnoticed by humanity for millennia, and our existence did nothing to affect your daily lives.  There is no reason we cannot continue to live in our caves as we always have."

"And all other dragons share your opinion?"

"I'm fairly sure they do, but even if there is a dragon who does not share my view, my order to leave you humans alone would be enough to keep that dragon from attempting to harm any of you."

"And yet one dragon has already killed close to thirty people since we discovered your species.  Is there a reason you cannot control him?"

"Carnoc has a very short and nasty temper that he has always had trouble controlling.  While a majority of the deaths you speak of were self-defense or in defense of our clan, two of them cannot be defended except by assuring you that he has been punished for his actions."

"Actually," Sean cut in, "I've heard that, if dragons are eventually freed and integrated into UN society, the brother of one of the men Carnoc killed will try to have him arrested for murder.  So I think you can consider Carnoc another matter entirely, as opposed to the rest of his kind."

"Wait, Dave is going to accuse Carnoc of murdering Jim?  Sean, why didn't you tell me this?"

"I'll call you about it later.  Anyway, Senator, do you have any other questions for Vallen?"

"I think all my questions have been answered, for now."

"...and that's about all the time we have," the debate's moderator said.  "Could each of you give a closing statement?  Senator, you may go first."

"Intelligent or not," he said, "dragons represent a danger to society.  We all know the stories about them; we may have discounted them as myth or fantasy before, but now it is clear that we're going to have to reconsider those legends from the middle ages--certainly some of them must be true, and if they are, then obviously we're going to have to worry about those stories repeating themselves, whether the dragons come after treasure, or young women, or whatever else.  We're going to have to spend a lot of time observing these dragons to see whether or not they may still intend to harm us before we can even consider setting them free."

"And you, Mr. Nelson?"

He nodded.  "As the dragons themselves have made clear, despite what some may call a savage appearance they are just as intelligent as we are, and to lock them up like this without any consideration for what they might want for themselves is quite simply wrong.  This is an injustice we cannot allow to continue, and I urge you to join the fight either by joining the online petitions or by writing to your local Senator on the subject.  This is a free world, and dragons deserve to be a part of it."

"Thanks for coming in, both of you," the moderator said, "and we hope to have you both back in the studio in the future."

"...and that was the debate between Mr. Nelson and Senator Karlsson; we'll be back after these messages to hear what some of our viewers have to say about this issue."

Elaine turned off the TV.  "You did well in the debate.  Thinking to include a dragon was a good move on your part."

Sean shrugged.  "It could have gone better; I didn't have a very good answer about Carnoc, and that's one of the most important parts.  I don't really think taking the time to go in for the debate was worth it."

"Oh, you did great; don't be so hard on yourself!  Now, are you done with your snack yet?"

"Just about.  Why, is it about time to get back out on the lines?"

Elaine nodded and walked over to the kitchenette, where Sean was seated at the counter.  "We can't leave them alone for too long, you know that.  Come on; I'll wash those later," she started walking towards the door.  "Let's get back outside."
 

Carnoc woke up with a start, Simon's warning flashing through his mind.  If it had stopped raining and he hadn't left the cave...  He looked towards the cave entrance, and saw that it was still pouring rain outside.  He breathed a long sigh and laid his head back down on his front claws, eyes flicking for a moment over to where Vical was sleeping sprawled out across the harness cushions.  His gaze lingered on her form longer than he wanted it to, but he managed to look away before the sight of her affected on him.

After a little while he looked out into the rain again, raising his head and sniffing at the fresh air blowing in from outside.  It was tempting...  He didn't have room to really spread his wings inside the cave and he would have loved to fly despite the weather, but there were humans out there.  And there's no way I'm going out there when there are humans waiting to watch me, he thought with a growl.

But what about Simon's threat?  Having to wait until nighttime to fly was one thing, but then if the human tried to punish him by tying him down for the night and he had to lie there without getting any chance to fly...  No, he pawed at the ground.  It didn't matter.  Yes, he hated the harness, and Simon was sure to get frustrated enough to shock him as well as bind him after he kept refusing to go outside day after day, but he'd much sooner put up with that than show himself off for all those stupid humans.  Besides, he snorted, I'm a dragon!  I'm never going to let a human control me like that!

Anyway, he could probably scare the little human into not putting him in that awful harness...  He doesn't like me at all, sure, but no human can stand in the face of a dragon's roar, he thought.  Just show some teeth and threaten him and he'll give up.  And if he doesn't...  Well, those straps and shocks aren't the worst thing in the world.  But I'm never going outside, no matter what he does to me.

The only problems would be dealing with his thirst and clearing waste.  The only water source was the stream, all the way out at the front of his cage, and it would be rude to Vical--and disgusting to have to live with anyway--if he soiled the inside of the cave.  But if he wasn't going to leave the cave during the day and was harnessed at night, how would he go outside to deal with those needs?  He thought for a little while, then decided he'd have to rush out there between the closing of the park and whenever Simon wanted to enforce his stupid rule.  Besides, even if the human hated him the people who had paid to imprison him here wouldn't let Simon endanger his health.

Vical eventually rose, yawned, and walked over to him, her tail twitching restlessly back and forth.  "How can you stand living here?  There isn't enough space in here, or out there, and you have to put up with humans..."

"Does it look like I'm enjoying any of this?" he growled.

"Well, not really, but...  I don't know."  She shivered a little, then laid down on her belly and leaned against him.  "But I like being able to see humans up close...  I had never seen one before I was brought here."

He thought about shoving her away, but didn't feel like moving; he growled again instead.  "I'd much rather never see one in my life than have to put up with how they treat us.  It's like they want us to be their slaves."

"If you don't like it then do something about it," she snorted.

"What am I supposed to do?  Every time the humans come in here they bring rifles in case we try to attack them, and you must know we stand no chance of getting through those walls outside.  We're trapped here."

Vical sighed and shifted, curling up against his side, then finally admitted, "I don't know.  But you're the warrior; there must be something you can do, even if you can't think of it now.  Don't worry...  I'm sure we won't be here forever."

"That doesn't make living in this cage any easier," he snarled, but put his head down without saying anything more.

They lay there together for a little while before the door behind the laser barrier opened and Simon walked in, three of the dragons' other handlers following him; Simon and one of the other men carried a tray of food for the two dragons, while the other two carried rifles.

"You're lucky the rain kept up," Simon said, putting his tray down in front of Carnoc.  The other handler set his down by Vical's front paws, and at a nod from Simon he joined the other two men at the back of the cave.

"I wouldn't have gone outside anyway," he growled, taking a bite from the beef on the tray in front of him.  Vical uncurled next to him and started eating from the other tray.

Simon raised an eyebrow.  "Oh, really?  Then maybe I should punish you for it," he took the remote out of his pocket, "so you'll know what happens if you disobey me in the future."

He took another bite.  "It won't make a difference."

The man hesitated, then said, "I would shock you for that, but I'd get sued if you choked on your food because of me."
"Or you're just afraid of how I might respond, now that I'm not tied down," he snarled.

"That's two you'll get once you've finished, then."

Carnoc growled, but ate the rest of his meal in silence.  He was just finishing when Vical stood and approached Simon, holding her head out and sniffing him carefully, then looking him up and down with one large blue eye.

He eyed her nervously.  "What's she doing?"

"Vical had never seen a human before you locked her up here.  It seems she wants a closer look," he said, then laughed when Simon flinched at one of her movements.

Simon gave him a light shock, then another, once she had stepped away again.  "This weather's supposed to clear up overnight, so I expect you and Vical to be out there tomorrow.  What I told you this morning is going to hold for every day you're here: if you don't spend some time outside every day the park is open and the weather's nice, you'll spend that night in your harness.  We paid a lot of money to get both of you here, and you have to help us earn it back.  Make sure she understands that, too."

Carnoc didn't bother to translate.  "I don't care what you do.  I'm not going to leave this cave as long as there are humans waiting outside to see me."

"Then would you like another reminder of what happens when you don't do what I tell you to do?"

"Pain doesn't scare me," he snorted.

"Maybe not, but it does help to control you," he said, brushing his thumb against the button and delivering a brief, light shock.

Carnoc snarled.  "Do you remember what happened to the last human who tried to control me?"

"Don't you dare speak about her like that!" Simon shouted, jamming the button down; Carnoc bellowed and thrashed at the pain, doing the best he could to shut it out or just bear it stoically, but it was just too intense.  Simon watched him spasm and kept his thumb on the button, hatred written on his face.

"I'll... kill you just like... I killed her!" he gasped.

"Stop it!  Don't use her to threaten me!"  Simon held down the button a moment longer, then moved his thumb away.  "If you want, I can hurt you even more," he said, "or you can be cooperative, and not mention what you did to her."

"Why should I?  You and your button can be dealt with."

"Then I'll just have to teach you a lesson!"  He twisted a dial and pressed the button again, delivering a more powerful shock.  Carnoc couldn't even manage to cry out, he just twitched and gasped for breath as the electricity coursed through him.  Vical glanced back and forth between them, at the angry human holding the remote and at the warrior dragon, barely able to move and unable to defend himself, or stop the torture...

"You... call this pain?" he snarled.

"Stop it!" Vical roared at him, then she struck out with a forepaw, knocking the remote from Simon's hands and crushing it beneath her claws.  Simon started to back away, but she pounced on him, knocked him down on his back and pinned him to the ground with one giant forepaw, roaring in his face.

Simon and Carnoc froze, but the two humans with rifles aimed at her and shouted, "dragon, step back or we'll shoot!"

"Hold!" Simon cut in before they could fire on her.  "Carnoc, what does she want?"

"I don't..."  He cocked his head to one side and looked at her.  "What are you doing?"

Vical snarled at him, then glared back down at Simon and spoke.  "I want both of you to stop attacking each other, right now!  Carnoc, I don't know what you did to make him so mad at you, but you have got to stop antagonizing him!  And tell that human I don't want him making you angry, either; I'm not just going to sit here and watch while the two of you destroy each other."

He gaped at her a moment longer, then groaned and looked at Simon.  He regained some of his breath, then said, "she wants us to leave each other alone."

"What do I have to do to get her off me?"

"She wants you to promise to leave me alone."

Simon tried to shove her claws away, but she just growled and pressed down harder on him until his ribs cracked and his face wrinkled with pain.  "You have to promise not to bring up Allison any more, and she can't attack me again, either."

"Fine, I won't mention her again," Carnoc growled, then turned to Vical.  "He won't agree until you say you won't attack him again."

She didn't look away from the human beneath her claws.  "Only if he leaves you alone."

He groaned again.  "She'll only agree to that if you promise to leave me alone."

Simon stared up at Vical's bared fangs and tried to get away again, then sighed and gave up.  "All right, all right, I'll leave you alone.  Now make her get off me."

Carnoc nodded.  "Vical, he agreed.  Now let him up."

She growled, but sat back on her haunches, letting Simon get back to his feet.  The human stood slowly, wincing and holding a hand to his side, then turned to the three other handlers.  "Could one of you get the spare remote from the hall?  She destroyed my primary one.  Oh, and we'll need a new one to replace it as the spare, so Tim, let supply know so they can program it for me."

"All right."  One of the other handlers left, then returned a moment later to hand Simon another remote.  Simon pressed a button and Carnoc braced himself for the pain, but this time it was Vical who felt the shock; she cried out and curled up into a little ball as soon as he'd released the button, her whole body trembling.

"She has to understand she can't attack me like that."

Carnoc stood and brushed a foreclaw against her back.  "Simon did that because you attacked him," he said.  "But he won't shock you again if you leave him alone.  He needs to know you understand that."

She shook again and hid her head beneath her wings, but after a moment she said, "I understand."

He relayed her answer.  "Good," Simon said.  "And make sure she knows what I told you about being harnessed if she refuses to go outside."

Carnoc snarled.  "You just said you'd leave me alone!"

"I meant I wouldn't punish you unnecessarily.  Asking you to spend a couple of hours outside each day is a reasonable request; it's not like I'm asking you to carry me around on your back."  He paused.  "Though maybe we could try that sometime..."

He raised his head and bared his teeth at the man.  "My elder ordered me not to kill any humans unless they were trying to kill me, but anyone who tries to ride on my back will die."

Simon shrugged.  "It wouldn't be that hard...  I'd have to get your muzzle on and hobble you beforehand, and maybe find a way to brace your tail, but once that was done you wouldn't have any way to stop me."

"I mean it!" he roared, tail lashing.  "If you try to get on my back, I will kill you!"

He winced and covered his ears.  "Enough, I get it.  The point is, do you and Vical both understand that you'll be harnessed at night if you don't spend a few hours outside each day?"

Carnoc growled again, but turned to Vical and said, "Simon says that if there's ever a nice day where we don't go outside, he'll make us spend that night in our harnesses."

She shivered just a little.  "Can he do that?"

"He'll probably hurt you like he did a moment ago if you refuse...  You'd have to withstand a lot of that if you wanted to stop him."

"Will you?"

"I..."  He couldn't help but feel a little worried when he remembered how badly Simon had hurt him.  "I don't think so," he sighed, then turned back to Simon and said, "she knows."

"Good; I'll let you two think about that for a day before putting into practice.  I doubt you'll still be so eager to spend each night in your harness once you've thought about it for a while, and once you see how easy it would be to just walk outside and fly around a little."  He picked up the two empty trays and led the other humans out of the cave.

"Don't ever do that again," Vical said as soon as they had all left.  "You would probably be dead if I hadn't stopped him."

Carnoc winced; his muscles burned whenever he moved, and he was still having trouble breathing.  "Thank you," he whispered, nuzzling the base of her neck.  "Thank you so much; there was nothing I could do while he was shocking me, and I didn't want to show it in front of him, but it hurt so much...  Thank you."

She purred briefly and returned the nuzzle.  "It was the least I could do.  I couldn't let him kill our warrior."

He pressed the end of his snout against her again, a little harder this time.  "Carnoc..." she pulled away from him, and he stopped.

"What?" he lowered his head a little.

She looked away.  "Just...  Never mind.  Are you sure you're all right?  You looked like you were in a lot of pain."

"Nothing a nice long rest won't cure," he said.

She tilted her head.  "It has been a long day."  She curled up, and after a moment's hesitation, he curled up around her.

"What was that human doing, anyway?  What power does he have that lets him hurt us like that?"

He swung his head around and touched his nose to the thin metal collar behind her head.  "It has something to do with this."

"What is that?" she tried to turn her head to look, but couldn't see what he was pointing out to her.

"Look on my neck, right behind my head.  There's a small collar, and I think that's what shocks us."

She sniffed at his collar, then brushed her tongue against it.  "Is there any way to take it off?"

"A human can do it, but our claws aren't small enough.  There's nothing we can do about them."

She quivered, bumping against him.  "So what are we supposed to do?  I don't want him to be able to hurt me like that whenever he wants."

"I don't think he'll try again any time soon, not after what you did to him," he chuckled, nuzzling her neck again.

"If you say so," she said, and laid her head down to sleep.  He thought about going to sleep curled up with her--it seemed like such a wonderful idea, watching her lie there so peacefully--but stood up again after a moment and walked toward the cave entrance; now that the zoo had closed, he could go exercise without having to worry about being watched.

He stuck his head out into the rain and took a deep breath of the fresh air outside the cave, then paused to make absolutely sure that the walkways beyond his cage were empty before walking outside.  The thick rain felt good pounding against his scales, and he rubbed his nose and claws down his sides, chest, belly and tail, loosening his scales a bit so the rainwater could flow between them.  The cool rain helped soothe the pain from Simon's repeated shocks as well, and after a little while the lingering pains faded away.

A distant rumble of thunder sounded, but he only looked in the direction it had come from for a moment before returning to his wash.  Once he was done, he spread his wings out, gasping a little as the tight muscles moved for the first time in over a week.  He flexed them for a few minutes to work the soreness out, then jumped into the air and glided across the cage to the stream.

The ground at the bank was soft and wet, and his claws sank into the soil as soon as he landed.  He drank his fill, then backed awkwardly out of the corner, tearing up grass with each step, and flew up into the sky.

The wind picked up noticeably once he was above the level of the cave, as if the storm didn't want him up there, and he had to tack carefully to avoid being blown against the barriers.  Still, though, it felt good to be in the air again despite the weather, and he stayed up there for a few minutes before his wings grew heavy with the weight of the water soaking them and he had to return to the ground.

Carnoc walked back into the shelter of the cave and shook some of the rainwater from his wings and sides before approaching Vical; she was fast asleep and snoring softly.  He didn't want to curl up with her again, but in such a small cave no matter how far he tried to get from her--without going near the cushions, anyway--their backs still touched when he laid down to rest.  Of course, since her scales were so warm that wasn't really a bad thing...  He sighed and closed his eyes.

But he couldn't sleep.  It shouldn't have been her he was sharing a cave with, it should have been his mate.  Melora.  He needed to see her; there had to be some way of finding out where she was, he thought, but what?  Simon would never be nice enough to tell him, and none of the other handlers were ever alone in their cage for more than a few seconds at a time.  I have to know, he thought, but I can't come up with a way to find out.  What am I supposed to do?  She needs me.

He groaned and twisted onto his other side, trying to get comfortable.  "Melora," he whispered, "where are you?"