The dim, red lights illuminated the hallway. His footsteps padded over the sound of the soft, electrical hum.

As eX-0281 wandered down the hall, he saw another figure. “Hey,” he said in greeting. A bit of relief washed over him as he saw that the other guy had deviated from regulation too—human in form. “Do you know what’s going on around here?”

When the other man turned back, they were both left flabbergasted with mouths agape.

“Wait,” eX-0281 said, shaking his head hard. “You look exactly like me.”

“No,” the other man said, just like the voices that he always heard over the comms. “You look like me.” Instantly, he shifted into his dragon form.

“What?” eX-0281 also shifted, once again looking identical to one another.

The other fellow had a busted horn, not as handsome as him if eX-0281 did say so himself. Also, his clone was not as nice as he rammed his claws close to his neck.

“What’s your number?” the clone spit.

“My number…?” That was fair; his name was a number. There must just be a bit of confusion between them on whether he were an intruder or not, but his name would clear all that up in no time. “eX-0281.”

“Mine’s eX-0057. Mine’s lower.” eX-0057 jerked his claw to slit eX-0281’s neck.

The propulsion of eX-0281’s wings shot him backwards “Woah, woah, hey! What’s this about? We’re from the same squad.”

“No. I’m the real me,” he snapped.

What’s with this guy? eX-0281 wondered. They were clearly different people because eX-0281 did not have violent episodes like his clone.

Slowly, he decided to agree with him. “Yeah, of course you are. I'm real too—”

“If I'm the real one, then you can’t be!” eX-0057 shot forward with a flap of his wings.

Heart racing, eX-0281 dashed to the side and intercepted eX-0057’s attack with his claws. “Relax! We don’t have to fight.” He did not understand why they could not co-exist just as they always had.

Maybe eX-0281 was the one in the midst of a psychological break. It was not everyday that he imagined a double of himself that tried to kill him.

The claws shrieked as they scraped against each other, and eX-0057 burst through his guard. Thereafter, he lunged forward with intent to plunge his claws into eX-0281's belly.

With his other hand, eX-0281 blocked again. Marginally stronger than his clone, eX-0281 thrust him backwards to get some distance. "I don't want a fight."

A serpentine hiss curled from eX-0057's lips. "There can only be one of us!"

What should I do? eX-0281 did not kill unless ordered, and he did not feel particularly motivated to murder someone who looked like him.

Based on their strength levels, eX-0281 expected to be slightly faster than his clone as well. Even if he ran away and closed himself in his room, the locks would not work with the power outage.

He had no choice but to fight his clone. Though he did not have his gear to display information, eX-0281 did not need it. The profile of eX-0057 would reflect his own which had already been etched into his memory by now.

Target: eX-0057 [Sub-Dragon Shifter (Dragon Form)]

Vitality: 100%

Discrete Parts: Right Wing (100%), Left Wing (100%), Tail (100%)

Mana Reserves: 10 Mu

Element: Ice

eX-0281 would not even bother with the vulnerable, discrete parts of the sub-dragon species. He would rely on the fact that he was slightly stronger and eX-0057 wore no auxiliary armor.

This time, he charged first. The two sub-dragons sped towards each other, claws extended to rake at the opponent.

The clink of their claws resounded. Once again, eX-0281 caught eX-0057 going for his midsection. His other claw deflected the secondary attack, slicing open eX-0057's arm in the process.

Another flap of his wings let eX-0281 grapple eX-0057 onto the ground and burst past him. He had managed the first game of chicken without a scratch, and there would not be a second.

Without a moment's delay, eX-0281 turned round, his claws scraping a tight crescent in the tile. He exploded forward once more with his wings and leaped onto eX-0057. One claw was aimed for his eyes and the other for his throat.

Though eX-0057 stuck up his claws to defend his face, he left an opening at the side of his neck.

Both of their claws crashed against each other and intertwined. eX-0281 wrenched his wrists around, and pressing all his weight down, he struck a gash across eX-0057's jugular vein where the scales were soft beneath the plated jaw.

A few hard huffs left his nostrils. When his slender, forked tongue flicked out briefly after the fight, he caught the scent of blood. eX-0281 knelt over the dead lizard that looked identical to himself.

The blood of his clone stained his claws. On the backs of his eyelids, a familiar sight flashed to mind against his will.

Target: eX-0057 [Sub-Dragon Shifter (Dragon Form)]

Vitality: 0%

Only the number differentiated between his own death and that of a stranger.

From the center of the corpse's chest, the essence of his soul hardened into a small, ice blue square. eX-0281 could not explain, but the dragon soul shard fascinated him more than it ever had. It was almost as if the crystal were calling to him.

He had scanned enough of these to have the description etched into his memory.

A fragment of a dragon's soul. In the right hands, perhaps it could become something more....

When he reached forward with his claws, still dripping with blood, the shard was now cupped in his own two hands. Transitory guilt swept through him, but eX-0281 desired to keep it.

We're supposed to recover the soul shards anyway....

Staggering up, he glanced either which way. If there were no witnesses, he should run. The ordeal had left him feeling ill, and eX-0281 thought that he had best get back to his quarters. Hopefully, the cameras would not be operable under the generator's limited power supply.

When he turned to go, a second sub-dragon came dashing at full sprint towards him, wings beating.

"Ah!" eX-0281 yelped, readying his claws for another fight.

"Wait, it's okay!" The other one's wings extended like a parachute, slowing him down to a stop as his claws skidded. This man in dragon form also mirrored his appearance exactly—another clone.

"I saw what happened," he said hastily. "The other guy attacked you. I'm not like that." As a show of his good will, the man morphed into human form and smiled with an all too familiar face.

"Thanks." It felt weird in his head, interacting with a person that eX-0281 knew as his own appearance. He, too, shifted into his less-threatening human form.

eX-0281 fumbled with his fingers around in an awkward silence, the same way that he would play with his claws if he still had them. "Uh, hi," he offered.

"Hi," the second clone said pleasantly. "I'm eX-0704."

"eX-0281," he replied. As much as he appreciated meeting someone friendly, his eyes darted off to the side. "We should probably go."

"Yeah," eX-0704 agreed. "It was… nice meeting you."

Today marked the first time that eX-0281 had ever met one of his squad members outside of combat. They never interacted with each other on a personal level, not even for training. The sub-dragon soldiers trained alone in their virtual reality combat simulators.

As much as it disturbed him that he had killed one of his clones, his heart lifted at the fact that he had finally met a fellow soldier. Could eX-0704 count as a friend?

Life as a private soldier for the Grandesia Electrical Company had never left room for a social life like he saw on TV. eX-0281 would have time to ponder the nature of friendship later.

For now, he turned his back on eX-0704 just as the other man turned his back on him. They took a grand total of two steps away when the intercommed beeped to life.

“All eX units, please report to duty. All eX units, please report to duty. This is an emergency. I repeat: this is an emergency.”

I just got off duty! he wanted to yell at the intercom.

Both eX-0281 and eX-0704 looked back to each other at the same time.

"Hey 281," eX-704 said, "what if we just… don't?"

"What do you mean?"

"What if we don't report and use this as our chance to slip away? Something happened. Did you hear the explosion?"

He nodded swiftly. "Yeah." When he thought of his broken heat lamp, eX-0281 knew that he had no reason to return here. Sure, the power would come back on, and then he could bask under the lamp again.

The same message continued to broadcast over the intercom. “All eX units, please report to duty. All eX units, please report to duty."

After the ordeal with the first clone, eX-0281 knew something was amiss. Even his beloved heat lamp could not allure him to stay at the company.

Too much had happened today for him to willingly stay blind any longer. Too many questions swirled around his brain.

What was up with all the clones? eX-0281 already knew; he was one of many disposable products to serve the Grandesia Power Company. Just as his comrades had perished earlier today, he would die insignificantly.

"This is an emergency," the intercom reminded him. "I repeat: this is an emergency.”

If this were his chance to get something more out of life, then he had better seize the day.

"Let's gear up and meet back here," eX-0281 said.

"Alright!"

Before dashing off, eX-0281 gasped, "Wait. How will we recognize each other?"

eX-0704 shifted into his sub-dragon form and started flicking his tail. "Secret code."

Though eX-0281 smiled, his facial muscles quickly lost that ability as his head lengthened with a draconic snout. He wiggled his tail about in mimicry, feeling like a happy dog wagging his tail.

In that moment, eX-0281 determined that they were friends. Naturally, friends developed secret handshakes—or in this case, secret tail flicks.

Fast in their sub-dragon forms, eX-0281 and eX-0704 burst into a full sprint. Each of them returned to their respective rooms before the first obedient sub-dragons were geared up and marching through the hall.

Hastily, eX-0281 stuck his claws inside the sanitation closet and made it wash away the blood. From there, he strapped his uniform on and let his musculoskeletal structure expand. He practiced the tail flick one last time as he picked up his gun, and then joined the surge of other soldiers in the hall.