Breeding Program 1

Breeding Program Part 1: Theory


Since the dawn of written history, men and dragons have competed for dominion over Earth. In the ancient eras of the late Cretaceous up to about 50,000 years ago, the manifold species of dragons enjoyed complete freedom at the top of the world's food chain — the unchallenged superpredators and lords of all. Then, an upstart mammalian species, a lowly primate that dared to stand on two legs and look up over the tall grasses of Africa, rose to change that. In a geologic and evolutionary blink of an eye, they developed radical technology that would topple the reigning champions from the lofty thrones that they had occupied for over 70 million years.

For much of the period of human civilization, they were able to do little more than keep the dragons at bay. A fully-grown beast of most species could tear apart a hundred men armed with spears or swords without sustaining a single wound. The development of firearms, however, brought a way to penetrate a dragon's thick hide from range, and now a small squad of humans could take down a dragon. So the beasts fell back. For a time, a mere few hundred years, the two groups lived on in a stalemate, keeping to their own territories. But the march of technological progress could not be stopped. In the 20th century, humans went on the offensive. First, the Great Dragon War, in which men took away dragon's control over their air by developing winged machines of their own. Then, Dragon War II, when men developed weapons of mass destruction, including the atomic bomb. Many of the larger and more dangerous species of dragon were driven completely extinct, their lands and nests vaporized in flashes of fission light with fireballs a thousand times hotter than the breath of any dragon.

In the waning decades of that century, however, there was a backlash. Dragons had been brought to their metaphorical knees, and humans had risen up to crush them beneath their boots. With just a bit more effort, they could destroy dragons completely and own Earth for all the rest of time. But tiny voices begin to rise, speaking of peace and harmony, and these voices grew until they could not be ignored. Studies were done, proving dragons were intelligent, proving that most species would not attack unless provoked on their own land, proving that they loved each other and their young just as humans did. They were not just mindless horrible killing machines. An entire generation of humans, who had never known a loved one to be murdered by a dragon, chose to let them be.

By the middle half of the 21st century, humans and dragons lived in what amounted to a one-way ceasefire. Men had decided to take the moral high ground, acquiescing historical territory to dragons and allowing them to live there unmolested. Cities were rebuilt with minimal perimeter defenses that focused on deterring (rather than killing) any dragons who strayed too close. Along with police, fire, and ambulance services, even small towns had Dragon Catchers: who would tranquilize, capture, and return to the wild those beasts who managed to pass the defenses and enter human areas. The largest metropolises were protected by massive dome-like shields that could allow airplanes and radio signals to pass through, but anything living would bounce harmlessly off. Most people could go their entire lives never seeing any dragons except on TV, and there was no need to fear them.

But everyone was still taught as small children never to leave the human areas. Dragons were intelligent, but they were still dangerous predators — they were incapable of signing any sort of peace treaty. If a human encountered a live dragon in the wild, they would be killed and eaten; that was a guarantee.


This was the world that Brian Kidrow was born and grew up in. Since his early childhood, he was fascinated with dragons, obsessed even. Such behavior wasn't terribly uncommon for a child, but Brian never grew out of it. He loved dragons, worshipped dragons, and wanted to be as close to them as possible (without being eaten, of course). He worked hard in school and in college, and was accepted to an internship at a prestigious conservation program.

The Night Drake breeding program was the most successful effort of dragon repopulation in the entire country, a triumph of research put into practice. The species had been brought back from near-extinction to a stable population in less than sixty years. One of the five similar enclosed areas (a bit like segmented, city-sized aviaries) for the Night Drakes to live in was nearby Brian's home town, and there he was currently situated.

On the edge of the Courting Grounds was a small one-story building, all painted in camouflage colors and covered with living foliage to blend completely into the trees. It was only two rooms — a monitoring room with a few chairs, a desk, a door leading to outside on the left and the wall of camera feeds; there was also a small unisex bathroom through a door in the wall to the right, and a trapdoor in the floor. There were no windows. This office, termed "The Blind", was designed to be completely isolated, and the only access to the human world was through a system of tunnels underneath the enclosure, and a 30-foot ladder up to it. Electricity and phone lines also ran up from there.

Every few minutes, it seemed, Brian was stealing a glance back to the bathroom. Of course the autumn Night Drake breeding cycle just had to coincide with the end of No-Fap November this year. On December 1st, instead of enjoying five or six orgasms, he had been doing paperwork at the main facility for the first half of the day, and was now stuck watching a bank of TV screens. Alone. He had started this foray three days ago when all the Night Drakes had arrived. Together with six other researchers (including the head of the department) they had watched this happen from the safety of the Blind. Over the time since then, they had come and gone as they pleased (mostly to sleep) and there was always someone in the office, but usually two or three so they could talk while keeping an eye on things. Brian was unlucky enough to get stuck with the last shift, and all by himself as the remaining researchers pulled rank so they could be allowed to go home. Now, dusk had fallen and night was deepening.

It was torture; bored and horny was a bad combination. Oh, if he could just have a minute to go to the bathrooms and relieve himself, all would be right with the world, but there was nobody to watch the cameras if he didn't.

The worst part was that there was nothing to see. Nothing was expected to be seen! His job was to confirm that there was no dragon activity for his shift of six hours, then lock the perimeter fencing that surrounded the Courting Grounds and forested area, then initiate the radar scans, then go outside and fetch the physical cameras. Oh sure, he understood that the radar equipment was expensive, and would burn out after too many uses; he understood that this was why someone had to watch the cameras to make sure there were no Drakes still around before initiating the scans.

But why would there be? It was absurd. He was mostly upset because he hadn't been in close contact with dragons much at all in the last eight months. This internship was crap. He knew as much (if not more) about Night Drakes as the researchers who went out on field observations, who did the veterinary work, who got to actually TOUCH (unconscious) dragons. The most he'd ever had was getting to play around a little with some hatchlings (so called even though Night Drakes, as with most other warm-blooded dragons, bore live young) a couple times; these were relatively harmless so long as you kept their claws trimmed, as they were toothless until several months old.

He found himself looking back at the bathroom again. Just two minutes... no, ONE minute, would be enough. Just a quick fap and he'd be okay. He was on edge. Now, every creak and crack from the floors and walls flexing in the cooling night sent a shiver up his spine. Some silly voice in the back of his head making him think it must be a dragon coming to get him. Pah! What a joke. There were no dragons here. The Drakes all left yesterday. And in just one more half-hour, he could start the scans, then run out and get the cameras, and then fap until his dick went numb. He would just have to grin and bear it. The Blind (excepting the bathroom) had monitoring, too, and if he left his post for any reason, he would get in big trouble. That's why there was a jug of his own pee under the desk. He couldn't very well jerk off right there on camera.

Just thirty more minutes to go.

"Well," he thought to himself. "If I can't physically masturbate, I guess I can mentally masturbate."

He decided to pass the time thinking about how much he knew about Night Drakes, and why he was thus qualified to do things more important than watching TV screens and fetching cameras.


The reason why Night Drakes were so critically endangered was three-fold.

The first was as a result of human poaching resulting in a quite unnatural selection. This particular species of dragon was much smaller, weaker, and more lightly-armored compared to others — they were the size of horses instead of houses, didn't have big claws, didn't breath fire. Their main evolutionary advantages were speed and camouflage. Their ability to alter the state of chromatophores in their hide to match the color of the background rendered them nearly invisible in low light. Unfortunately, these hides were highly prized by humans for their beauty, as they would shimmer and sparkle with varying hues of green and violet, depending on the angle you looked at them. The invention of radar meant that their camouflage was useless to human hunters, who decimated their numbers. Over time, the Night Drakes that were born with low numbers of chromatophores were surviving to reproductive age, while those with higher numbers were being killed off as juveniles. More and more of these dragons now existed with no ability to camouflage at all.

Their natural advantage gone, they were being more easily picked off by larger dragons, because of the second reason: habitat loss forcing multiple dragon species to coexist in the same territories where they normally wouldn't.

The third reason was simply that Night Drakes were being reproductively outnumbered by other dragons. This was because their population increased very slowly, despite having two breeding seasons per year. The reason for THAT was among the strangest peculiarities of the species: males and females had roles a bit opposite to that of other animals.

In both the spring and fall seasons, Night Drake males of breeding age enter a heat cycle. Over a period of only a couple days, their production of semen spikes to an extreme level, driving them to seek a mate to achieve sexual release. This reaction was caused by changes in the weather and Earth's magnetic field, so all the male Drakes within hundreds of miles would begin their heat at the same time. On the third day, all the males would congregate in a large open area like a meadow, referred to as the Courting Grounds; this same area would be used by various individuals for generations. The male's arousal at a peak, their penises protrude from their slits and drip semen; the scent (and their loud calls) attract nearby females to the area as well. On days four and five, the dragons will choose a mate, court each other, and retreat into nearby forests to breed in privacy several times. These couples will then return to one of the individual's territory and await the next season; any successful female pregnancy will see her mate remaining with her to protect and help raise the young.

But here was the rub. Night Drake males are unbelievably discerning with their chosen mate, or in more practical terms: extremely picky. They are, in fact, so picky that many of the males would reject all available females and refuse to breed with them. In order to achieve their needed release, these males would (on the fourth day) instead court and mate with another male, both taking turns penetrating each other until satisfied, where they would then leave the area and spend the next six months living together; during this time, they would continue to mate with each other, though at a much lesser frequency. Some males would continue choosing the same male mate, cycle after cycle, not reproducing at all for many years. On the fifth day, any males who were left (usually the younger ones) would be forced to choose from the remaining females to mate with. This meant that while all the males would leave with a mate, a large number of the females actually left alone without getting a chance to breed.

In all, should 100 Drakes — 50 males and 50 females — enter the area, about 24 of the males would chose to mate with another male, leaving about 26 males mating with the same number of females, and 24 females not mating at all. Even if all of these breedings resulted in a pregnancy, it meant only around half the Night Drakes would actually be reproducing that cycle. Since this species of dragon typically only produces one or two viable young in each pregnancy, in the best conditions their population will only increase a very small amount per year. Even though poaching had been banned, the territorial competition with other dragons meant Night Drakes were on the fast track to extinction.

The solution, of course, was human intervention: the Night Drake Repopulation Centers. At first, artificial insemination was attempted. But the lack of a "father figure" in the hatchling's lives meant they didn't have enough protection, and were quickly killed by other dragons. There was no way to force a male he didn't court and mate with to remain with a female to raise her young, so the best solution was thought to be encouraging Night Drakes to mate naturally in a controlled area.

Five massive enclosures were constructed near known dragon population centers, and the grounds therein was custom-tailored to facilitate the best possible conditions. Decades of research was put into practice. There were high nesting areas, rugged hunting areas, forested breeding areas, and a gorgeous open area to serve as the Courting Grounds. All of it was fenced and protected from other dragons; it was a Night Drake paradise. The dragon "guests", as the researchers called them, were mostly left alone, only observed. Once they were old enough to leave the nest and begin lives apart from their parents, juveniles would be tranquilized and tagged with a number in their ears so they could be recognized on camera. Blood samples would also be taken for genetic analysis.

This program was a resounding success: the numbers of Night Drakes increased every year, and the best part was that their natural camouflage was returning. More of them were being born with higher numbers of chromatophores, being able to turn partially or fully invisible. In several more generations, it might be possible to return them to the wild where — their natural adaptation intact — they could survive on their own.


That was, as Brian thought, why they needed the radar scans. The few Drakes that could camouflage would be undetectable on camera.

"But they wouldn't be here anyway! Aaargh!" he yelled at the ceiling.

It was currently getting toward the end of Day Six of the autumn breeding cycle. Any males who hadn't already chosen a mate would have bred a female and left the area sometime yesterday. Sure enough, the cameras had shown nothing, so his time was wasted, and the radar scan would be wasted, and all Brian wanted was to go home and GET wasted. All this was supposed to be for his own protection (even though juvenile Night Drakes were only the size of a very large dog, they could still behead a human with a single bite to the neck, and adults were even more dangerous), but it was only serving as an annoyance.

He watched the TV screens with the unchanging views of trees and dirt, and the clock, for the last few minutes. The very second the mandatory twelve-hour period was up, he slammed his palm onto the button to close the gates around the Grounds and forest, and then started the radar scan. The program ran, and within somewhere between a jiffy and no-time-at-all, completed. The computer readout of the results showed — surprise, surprise — no dragons detected in the area. Nothing larger than a rabbit was breathing out there.

"Well, let's get this over with. Then... it's time for fun."

Brian stood up with a groan, taking a moment to stretch out the kinks in his back and shoulders. He put on a coat, grabbed a flashlight and a backpack, and stepped out into the chilly night air. The space was a flat oval about the size of a football field, surrounded by trees. On some of these trees were mounted video cameras — twenty-six of them in total. These were separate from the security cameras, and were designed just to record the two-day courting process. Brian would have to walk around the perimeter of the clearing, remove all the cameras and carefully place them in his backpack. Once he finished, he had to upload the footage to the computers in the little Blind, and then his job for the day was done. Many researchers would later pore over the gigabytes of Night Drake foreplay to gain valuable insights on their behavior, as well as keep records of which dragon was mated to which, and determining breeding pairs.

Of course, Brian thought as he unstrapped Camera Number Seventeen, uploading the footage just meant plugging in a cable and then hitting copy-paste on the computer. He didn't have to be there during the transfer, so he could spend as much "personal time" in the bathroom as he wanted. He couldn't wait. His dick ached with need.

The last camera fetched, Brian started to head over to the Blind. He couldn't see where it was, of course, as it looked just like the rest of the trees, but he had walked around the perimeter of the Grounds clockwise, so it must just be a few paces farther to his right. He'd spot the door if he shined his flashlight in the general area, as it had a bit of reflectivity. Sure enough, there was the shimmer he expected, and he headed to it.

But then the reflection suddenly seemed to move, and instead of steel silver, it had a purple hue. Brian stopped dead in his tracks, and less than ten feet in front of him a Night Drake seemed to materialize from the fog.

"O-o- oh SHIT!"

The dragon was standing right between him and the office. Brian didn't have so much as a stungun on him. As the terror started screaming up his spine, he recognized the number on the dragon's ear tag.

"18-7... It's Nox," he thought.

Of course he knew it was Nox; everyone knew that number. Nox was a juvenile male entering his first ever heat this cycle, and the whole Center was abuzz with anticipation over him. He was strong, healthy, and had among the best chromatophore count among individuals born in his generation. As he was young, it was a virtual guarantee that he would be forced to choose a female to mate with, which would spread his valuable camouflage genes to the species. There was even a pool to try to guess which female (Brian had $25 on 15-4). Of course, nobody would know until the camera footage was analyzed.

But why was he still here? And the radar! How??

He was paralyzed in place. In front of him, Nox was starting to pace around him, wings folded, head down and eyes fixed... a hunting stance; he was getting ready to pounce. To kill. He was growling with menace. In the final moments, Brian figured out that the dragon must have somehow stayed extremely close to the office, itself, and was thus hidden from the security cameras. But no Drake had ever done so as they did not recognize it as anything other than another clump of trees, and furthermore he shouldn't have RADAR invisibility. Was this some... new adaptation?!

The dragon was getting nearer, spiraling closer to his leaping range. Only a few more seconds left, but Brian couldn't think of any method of escape. Running was useless. All he could think of was human arrogance. Decades of using radars to detect Night Drakes, and they had somehow evolved to be invisible to radar as well as invisible to light. Nox might be the first, but he probably wouldn't be the last.

"Why are you here...?" Brian found himself whispering.

But it didn't matter. Nox was in range. He stopped moving. He crouched down. His hips wiggled like a cat's. His eyes narrowed.

Brian screamed, and Nox was upon him. He was knocked onto his back by the dragon's powerful forelegs, and as he shut his eyes, he felt the jaws grasp his soft and tender neck.

It was over.