February Challenge | Double Drabble — 200 words
Lab Dragons
“Just because we can…”
There was no such thing as dragons. Everybody knew that. Yet, the dragon stories Chisaka Yuto devoured in childhood were unfailingly haunted by an underlying “what if…”
Yuto read fantasies where dragons were fearsome, majestic beasts guarding princesses in towers. He read children’s stories with anthropomorphized dragons attending school. Starting his career, he found cryptozoology and delved progressively deeper into speculative biology texts.
And, what if…
The hybrids Yuto’s team made at NexGen Labs, Pet Division were strictly regulated in size, species, and authenticity. They could make a puppy with wings, but not a velociraptor, no matter how cute or furry. They were not Creators, their supervisors insisted, they were just builders.
But Yuto lived in fantasy. He spent months pirating equipment for a secret lab. It was there that he imagined, experimented, and Created.
The beginnings were horrific. He bawled every time he had to destroy the ones with wings, but no spines, or with organs outside their bodies.
Then it happened: It hatched and it was perfect. Yuto, now gray, called Sachi to marvel at it. She came and witnessed the mottled green body and razor teeth; the leathery wings and horns.
“What have you done?” she whispered…
