Page 15 of The Dragon Recruit
Still facing Iris, Scarlett rolled her eyes. “Fine. Give me a minute here. Now, Iris, lean your head down to my level. Yes, just like that. Right, let’s get this attached.”
Scarlett slowly wrapped the long strips around the dragon’s head, using her ears and horns to help keep the equipment in place. Then she checked each of the diodes to make sure they lay flat against Iris’s scales. With everything secure, she flipped the little switch to turn on the speakers and stepped back. “Right, now how this works is you merely think whatever it isyou or your dragon want to say and it should project it through the small speakers on your head. It may take a few tries, until the device attunes to your brain activity. After it learns your processes, it should, in theory, freely let you talk.”
And so Scarlett watched Iris intently, waiting to see if her device would finally give dragon-shifters in their dragon forms the ability to talk without getting shocked.
Once the doctor finished her explanation, Iris said inside her mind,Is this working?
But the speakers on her head screeched and emitted, “orking?”
Close, but not quite right. So she thought it again, and after a few seconds, the speakers said in an AI-English accent, “Is this working?”
Her dragon perked up at the words just as Dr. Turner clapped her hands and said, “Keep going, Iris. Try something else. Anything. I need to see if it can handle more complex thoughts.”
“Why…hell…English…”
Iris focused and tried again. “Why the bloody hell is it in an English accent?”
Dr. Turner shrugged. “That’s what I have, and it’s easier to project than a Scottish one.”
Iris replied, “I sound bloody stupid.”
Antony’s voice filled the room. “Now, how about you tell me why you went off to investigate that site by yourself?”
The other dragonwoman turned toward Antony. “How about you wait until I make sure it won’t short out and possibly hurt her?”
He crossed his arms over his chest, and Iris nearly snorted. It was the closest thing to irritated she’d seen from the human, and she couldn’t resist saying, “Maybe I just won’t talk to you, anyway.”
Antony narrowed his eyes. “That would be unwise, my dear.”
“Why?”
From the corner of her eye, she noticed Dr. Turner glancing between them. However, Antony’s reply garnered her attention again. “Because I ultimately decide when you can leave this place.”
“Are you really trying to pull a power play over me?”
“Trust me, I have connections you can only dream of, my dear. Ones I could’ve used to protect you if you’d just bloody rung me.”
“There wasn’t time. Besides, I’m not your lackey.”
“Ah, but you’re wrong there, Iris. Because from the second you went to investigate that site, you became my problem. And once you can shift again, we’re going to discuss it.”
Without another word, Antony walked out of her sight. Iris growled, hating how she couldn’t follow him.
Scarlett’s voice garnered her attention. “He’s never shown that much emotion with anyone else, at least in my experience. But it seems you know how to get under his skin.”
Iris’s dragon spoke this time. “And I wouldn’t mind being under him, skin-to-skin.”
Silence. Scarlett just stared at her, blinking, as Iris wondered if the prototype meant she could never have a private conversation with her dragon while wearing it.
So she decided to ask. Scarlett shook her head a few times and replied, “I don’t know. I was so focused on getting the thing to work that I didn’t consider howallthoughts would be projected, both human and dragon. And that can be a bloody nuisance, with our dragon halves.”
As Scarlett’s pupils flashed to slits and back, Iris decided she was done voicing thoughts. “Take this off me, please. I’m tired.”
As expected, the doctor moved closer and studied her. “I will, but just one last question: was there any pain or discomfort from the device on your head? And please be honest.”
“No. No pain.”
The doctor nodded. “Brilliant. That went better than the last time.” Iris narrowed her eyes in question, and Scarlett cleared her throat before adding, “It may have shocked my last test subject. But I fixed it! Hopefully for good. Now, lower your head again, and I’ll remove it.”
