“Morning Leda, you ready?”

“Rrraaawr.”

Well, that was an infectious yawn. I send Leda a mind bond and drop my big bag to the ground. ｢{Happy}Good morning!｣ She ‘says’ and I take that as a yes. I pull out Lars’ Wyvern Saddle Mk2 from the bag and start putting it on Leda, while Tåke is just looking (and sniffing) around in this new unfamiliar area.

I call it a saddle, but by necessity it’s more like a blanket with straps, hoops and sleeves. First I pull the larger hoop at one end of the ‘saddle’ over her head and down her neck, tightening it for a snug fit. The blanket part goes over her body with a strap hanging down just behind each wing. I tie said straps around her upper legs, then pull at the saddle to see if it’s attached well enough - it seems to be.

Good. “Leda, is your puppet in human form?”

There is the soft pop of a puppet summon, then said puppet turns to me in a salute. “Yes sir!”

“When did you learn that?”

“Yesterday! We played military and monsters, it was fun!”

“And you were military?” I say with a slight smile and a chuckle.

“I was a grunt AND the monster! In the end I tamed the monster, and then we rode on my back.”

Uh- Well, I haven’t heard any complaints yet. “Just make sure you don’t hurt anyone while playing. Humans usually can’t fly.”

She nods, and I make Tåke change her form to a mostly human one. Well, as human as mine, considering she keeps her pointed ears as well as improved senses. At the very least we shouldn’t scare anyone, assuming no one notices Leda’s main body, and even if they do the saddle and bag (now attached to her left upper leg) should make her look ‘tamed’.

Tåke climbs on first, and on my instructions sticks her legs through the first of four pairs of sleeves (open at both sides, like tubes) as if sitting on her knees. I sit right behind her, and Leda’s human puppet at the rearmost spot. The various hoops, some made of plain silk, some more rigid, are there for handholds and attaching bags and the like. ｢Ready?｣

As we get closer to the hospital I give the psychologist a call. It rings once, twice, thrice. Is she busy? I did say I’d show up in two minutes, so she-

“Ah, hello, sorry about that. Have you arrived?”

Before I can answer she says something else, but away from the microphone. I give her a moment, then answer. “Not quite, a minute or so away. Anyway, where do we land?”

Silence.

“Uh, hel-” “By air? I can’t see you.”

“That’s the idea.”

“Oh, eh,right. There are some green areas that should have a clear landing.”

“The big one on the eastern? side is a cemetery, right?”

“Yes, don’t-” “Okay, I have a good spot. Grassy, but sheltered by trees and buildings.”

“Which side?”

“Uh, the northern-ish...? One block from the cemetery.”

“Hold on, I’ll be there soon.”

“Kinda in the air here, so I’ll interpret that as ‘land there and wait’.”

There is a slight pause, filled only with her increasingly apparent breath.

“Yeah.” Another breath. “That.”

Beep. Running to meet us, huh. I put away the phone, guiding Leda to the spot I, uh, spotted.

I help Tåke down, and puppet-Leda hit the ground the same time her main body did. I stand up like those meerkat things, and as expected I see a familiar face jogging this way. I hop down, giving Tåke a pet on the head to calm her down - She didn’t complain, but she’s definitely not a fan of heights.

I walk a bit away then wave to get the attention of the psychologist. Did I ever get her name? Uhh, whatever. As I’ve found out, the mind spells act like suggestions, as far as I know you can’t force it, but you can get really close. The masking spell for example is really good at making people ignore stuff, even when they actively have to avoid it, but the spell can fail if you draw attention to what you’re trying to hide, and it’s hard to make them ‘unsee’ it afterwards.

In addition, if someone are looking for something you’re hiding they will have an easier time finding it. That said, have you ever looked for something, like keys, and looked right at them, knowing they should be there but just not noticed the item in question? It’s like that, depending on how strong the spell is. Leda’s base is at the point where I have trouble seeing where it is, but I know that it’s on that one hill, and I can follow the companion bond to Leda as well.

All of this would probably be very interesting for the psych, who didn’t even notice me waving. I have Leda exclude me from the spell, then wave again. This time she notices. And if Leda, puppet-Leda and Tåke stays quiet, I can demonstrate the spell to her. Once she gets here. I don’t think she’s in very good shape.

“Haah, haah. There you, haah, are.” She looks around. “Didn’t you bring your pets?”

With a quick mental command, puppet-Leda makes herself known. “I’m not a pet! I’m his friend and he is my mate!”

The psychologist looks a bit confused, so let’s help her out a bit. “This is Leda. The wyvern. Well, her puppet. And this-” I pull Tåke to my side. “Is Tåke, previously a mist wolf, currently a mist wolfkin, or something.” She does little bob. “Hai.”

“Leda is a clever girl, and as you just saw she understands human speech. She has some trouble with more abstract concepts, but that seems to be more a lack of education - I’ve taught her basic addition. Tåke is… less intelligent, so don’t expect her to understand speech. That telepathic bond I mentioned lets me communicate with her on a somewhat basic level.”

She looks at the girls, then to me, then to the girls, a strange expression on her face. She bends down to look them in the eyes. “Hello, girls. Where are your parents?”

Tåke looks at me and I give her the mental equivalent of a shrug, but Leda answers happily. “I don’t know, but I think they’re in the other world.”

Psych is about to say something, but I figure I should correct the possible misunderstanding before it gets out of control. “Ehm, in case that’s what you’re thinking, I didn’t kidnap some random kids. Leda, raptor mode, Tåke, wolfkin.” ｢{Annoyed, amused}Tåke, change back to wolfkin form.｣ “I just figured we’d get less attention as three humans as opposed to, well, this.”

“Oh.” She nods looking at their more beastly forms. “But where is the big dragon that makes everyone so worried?”

“I’m over there.” Leda says, pointing at her main body. “And I’m not a dragon…” she mumbles, looking to the ground.

The psychologist looks at Leda stupidly for a moment, then freezes with a terrified expression when the mighty not-dragon looks back.

I clap to get her attention. “As you can see it’s a good idea to keep using the magic which hides her.”

She looks back and forth between the cute little scaled girl and the big bad dragon, expression changing from scared to just confused. “How, they just, changed, and there’s two of her? Or…?”

I summon the budget dragon (eastern version) aka wolf serpent. “Multiple bodies with one mind, yes. I can do that as well. And you’re with the shapeshifter - what’s to say I can’t teach them how to do that as well?”

“But they’re animals?”

“Yes, animals that can think and talk, plan and play. Almost like… humans, maybe?”

She quiets down for a moment, then looks right at me. “Can they do everything humans can?”

“Uhh, yes and no. Their intelligence can be a limitation, as can their physiology. But as far as I can tell, they can learn any ability that I can. So aside from those limitation I believe they can. There is a reason I’m pushing for allowing for non-humans like Leda to have ‘person’ status. And with Tåke… We think of ourselves as more intelligent than other animals, but by how much?”

Our philosophical discussion is cut short as she remembers why we’re here, and after the girls take on their human forms, we follow the psychologist to a room in one of the auxiliary buildings. Once there we do some short introductions, letting the girls turn to the more comfortable wolfkin and dovah- *ahem* wyvernkin forms.

This creates a lot of buzz, and the scientists start chatting with us (mostly Leda) while I am given a bunch of those consent forms. Their topics range from ‘near-human intelligence in post-Upheaval animals’ to ‘DNA differences for shapeshifters’ and a bunch of others. Most of these wants to take a blood sample or ten, others wants to have access to parts of the data collected for the main research.

After reading through the various forms for myself I go over them with Leda, and to the best of her ability, Tåke. They don’t have any complaints, but I make sure to tell them they can stop whenever they want. With that I sign the forms, or rather those that are relevant right now. Apparently I’m kind of a big deal as a research subject, so a few groups want to recruit me for later experiments or tests.

And then starts a barrage of tests, including blood samples from as many forms as possible, both for me and the girls. One brave researcher even heads out to get samples from Leda’s main body. Then there’s brain scans of a couple different forms, and after some trickery, a simultaneous scan of both my main body and a ‘clone’ puppet, then main body+vastly different puppet.

There’s a few full-body scans, and while not being scanned we’re generally being asked a number of questions. At some point they realize that the mind bond (which I had intentionally ‘turned off’) would be interesting to learn more about as well, so they did more simultaneous scans, this time between and combination of the three of us, and even me and one of the researchers.

After a barrage of tests, and then some, most more mundane than the fancy-shmancy scanners, they want another round of blood samples, including two more for Leda’s main form, this time in stronger containers.

“Okay, we’re done.”

I tiredly open my eyes. “That was the last one?”

“That’s the last one.”

Tåke walks out of the room where they did the physical tests with a patch on her arm, where they no doubt took the blood from. ｢{Tired}Don’t rub it.｣ A while back she reverted to her wolf form, lying down in a corner until I got her to at least move out of the way. The last blood sample took the promise of being done afterwards, and more importantly, treats.

Treats, huh. Here I push for uplifting them, and I honestly have no idea what kinda effects it would have. It’s been one of those ‘too focused on whether we could, to ask if we should’ things for me, I suppose. I mean, animal-people would be cool, right? And uplifting has been suggested as a (cheaty) answer to the age-old existential question of ‘Are we alone?’

Well, the answer to that is a resounding ‘no’ at this point. They might not have civilization, but Leda isn’t the only highly intelligent non-human out there. And right now her legal status is between a wild animal and my pet. Given how the public (me included) view slavery, that’s hardly ideal.

Well, one of those ‘recruit for later’ science projects is actually three-parted, They want to make a classification system for intelligence, make a test for classifying creatures, and finally make a legal framework for giving creatures of higher intelligence more rights, even the legal status of being a person.

Multi-disciplinary and ambitious, usually it would probably take years to get anywhere. But now… necessity and public opinion should expedite it. They hope to, at the very least, have a system for provisional personhood by the end of the year. With that, Leda and others who ‘succeed’ on the test will be able to legally own property and get jobs…

I’ve always seen myself as a realist with an optimistic outlook on the future. Being more interested in science than the average person I’ve also had a decent idea where things are going, at least after I became mature enough to take in the bigger picture. As to where the world is heading, and how the future will look, I do not know.

But I am part of it now, part of the driving force of the immediate changes. So in two years, five years, ten years… I can only say that changes are coming, and they are coming fast. What you see in the streets are starting to change, and I would not be surprised if people start taking to the skies. Who knows how it’ll look once things have normalized.

…but for now we’re going home. I’ll stop by a nearby store by buy the girls some snacks, and then I’m gonna unwind.