Alia stared out the picture windows of her spaceship. No matter how many times their travels took them to Arakan, the view never ceased to amaze. Where most planets had large patches of green space between the towering structures made of metal and composites, Arakan had none of them. Her dad called it a factory planet. Above the towering structures, crafts of all shapes and sizes flew from one place to another. In terms of relative sizes, her ship was somewhere in the middle. It was dwarfed by the luxury superliners that cruised the stars. However, it was also ginormous when compared to the package delivery drones. Taurus called them navigational hazards.

"Our approach vector has been granted. Please take your seat, Alia."

The eight year old looked over at the violet AnDragon laying on the rug at the front of the ship. At the moment, he was the only such creature on board. A thin cable ran from the controls to the data port on his neck. While her parents were both qualified to fly the ship, they claimed the ride was smoother when an anDragon was at the helm. After a moment, she responded. "Ok, Taurus." After taking a quick glance at the controls to make certain they were stowed, she clambered up into the pilot's seat next to him and buckled in.

Behind her, her father strapped in at his workstation, while her mother folded down a seat in the galley. A few moments later, the craft began its descent, twisting to match the flow of traffic. About twenty minutes later, a flat expanse of composite emerged from behind the buildings. The ship slowed, gliding to a stop in one of the squares on the periphery of the field. Taurus spoke. "We have arrived at Arakan port thirty-one dash eight, bay thirteen. Please remember your ship's location so that you can find it again."

With that familiar ritual out of the way, Alia quickly unfastened her buckles. Upon clamoring to the floor, she was met by her parents. Her father was the first to speak. "Remember Alia, it's just a quick stop over. I know you like to go on the factory tour, but we don't have time for that today."

Her response was a small pout. "I know, daddy. Do we really have to leave Taurus here?"

He nodded. "I know you've grown attached to him, but he's always wanted to fly something larger, and a freighter owner just put in an order for an AnDragon pilot."

"Does that mean you'll be taking over his duties?"

"Not exactly. I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise, daddy?"

"Yes."

Alia's eyes lit up. "What is it?"

"Well, if I told you it wouldn't be a surprise."

As the two talked, the cable that was attached to the AnDragon's neck retracted into the console. The violet creature moved with a deliberate pace, tapping his clawtips on the floor. This let the other residents of the ship know where he was. The trio of anthros joined him in the airlock before it cycled to grant passage to the lower deck. 

The AnDragon deck on the ship was one of the girl's favorite places to be. The two maintenance bays fascinated her, with all the hidden machinery. The storage crates on the opposite side were less interesting. It seemed cruel in a way to force an AnDragon to stay in one of them for weeks at a time, but some of them were just too large to roam.

On reaching the lower deck, Alia's mother tapped a few buttons on one of the control panels Alia was forbidden to touch. The rear of the ship morphed, forming an opening with a hard light ramp to the ground. Taurus gave the girl a gentle headbut before strolling down the ramp, head high. Remembering what her father had told her, Alia followed him with her eyes. When he reached the ground, he gave a nod to the trio of AnDragons waiting. Three nods were given in return.

First up the ramp was an anthro dragon in a suit. Alia recognized him from previous visits to Arakan. He wasn't her favorite person (he had no sense of humor!), but her father insisted she play nice with him. She wisely stayed back by the airlock as the two males took care of whatever business they had.

Eventually, the visitor descended the ramp again. Once on the ground, he gave a shooing motion to the waiting AnDragons. The first two up the ramp were larger models, painted that garish orange you could see from halfway across the solar system. Without prompting, each of them turned, then backed into a storage crate. They each settled into a sphinx position before entering what Alia knew was a low power state. Perhaps dad would let her take them through their weekly maintenance cycles on this flight.

The third was literally an AnDragon of a different color. Her legs and chest were a gorgeous white, contrasting with her black and orange back. If it weren't for the hard-light emitters glowing from her ankles and forehead, Alia would have sworn she was alive. Her father made the introductions. "Alia, this is Coell. She will be taking over pilot duties from Taurus. Coell, this is my daughter Alia."

The AnDragoness dipped her head to nuzzle the girl before responding. "A pleasure to meet you, Alia." Her voice was melodic and soothing.

Alia shyly responded. "Same."

Alia's father glanced down at the documentation on his tablet. He hesitated a moment before speaking. "Think you can handle her imprinting on you, Alia?"

Alia's jaw dropped open in shock. Her mother's eyes merely widened. The older anthro dragoness was the first to speak. "Gordan! I thought you said she was a demonstration model!"

"She is. Unfortunately, she has an imprint core and she risks shutting down if she doesn't."

His wife winced at the statement. "Alia, tell me, what would your responsibilities be if she imprinted on you?"

Her daughter was speechless for a moment. When she regained her voice, she quickly rattled off what she'd been told multiple times before. "Every morning before breakfast, I'd need to hook her up to her charging station to make certain she was ready for the day. After breakfast, I would unplug her so she can go about her day. Every evening, I would polish her in the maintenance bay before I take my shower for the night. While polishing her, I would need to run diagnostics and make certain everything is functioning correctly."

Her father responded. "And why is that?"

The correct answer to the question had been drilled into the girl's head. "Because little problems caught early don't become big problems."

Her mother followed up with, "What happens if you don't take care of your duties?"

Alia's ears drooped a little. "I would lose my allowance for the week."

Her father nodded. "And why are you responsible for this?"

"Because taking care of an AnDragon properly shows that I'm a big girl!"

"That's my girl!" He exchanged a glance with his wife before speaking again. "Coell. Unit DRG-FEM-017. Initialize Imprinting Core."

In response, a different voice spoke through the AnDragoness's voicebox. "AUTHORIZATION CODE?"

He consulted his tablet again. "seven omega nine nine two charlie dash echo zulu five five two zero seven."

The machine's voice spoke again. "CODE VERIFIED. IDENTIFY IMPRINTING SUBJECT."

"Primary imprint is Self, Gordon. Secondary is my wife, Avril. Tertiary is my daughter, Alia."

"SUBJECTS IDENTIFIED AS GORDON, AVRIL and ALIA.  IDENTIFY GORDON LEGAL RELATIONSHIP WITH UNIT DRG-FEM-017."

"I represent Arakan AnDragonics. I have been assigned unit DRG-FEM-017 as a demonstration model for use in my duties."

"PRIMARY OWNER GORDON ACCEPTED. THIS UNIT HAS BEEN IMPRINTED ZERO TIMES. CONFIRM IMPRINTING PROCESS."

The anthro dragon glanced down at his daughter. Coell was much bigger than the AnDragonette he and his wife had been planning to get his daughter. Still, he couldn't take back the offer. "Confirm."

"SECONDARY OWNER AVRIL ACCEPTED. THIS UNIT HAS BEEN IMPRINTED ZERO TIMES. CONFIRM IMPRINTING PROCESS."

His wife had a similar moment of introspection to her husband, before clearly enunciating, "Confirm."

"TERTIARY OWNER ALIA ACCEPTED. THIS UNIT HAS BEEN IMPRINTED ZERO TIMES. CONFIRM IMPRINTING PROCESS."

Alia stared at the AnDragoness for a long moment. She swallowed, before stammering out, "Con…Con…Confirm."

Coell blinked a couple times, then relaxed, as if a burden had been lifted. With a mischievous look, she took a half step forward and licked Alia on the forehead. She closed her muzzle and swallowed a couple times. "DNA sample processed and registered to Alia, Tertiary Owner." For Avril and Gordon, the DNA samples were taken from an offered hand, with a similar pronouncement being made after each collection.

Once the process was complete, Avril spoke as she fiddled with the ramp controls. "Alia, take Coell upstairs and hook her up to the flight controls so she can familiarize herself with our ship. We'll be up in a moment."

Her daughter's jubilant response was a simple "Ok! Follow me, Coell."

Avril waited until the door to the upper deck cycled closed. "What the hell is going on, Gordon?"

Her husband winced. "I assume you've seen the newsfeed stories about that financier, Troutman."

She nodded. "Biggest conman of our time, if the reports are to be believed."

"Well, he put in a custom order with Arakan AnDragonics. Coell was due for delivery to him in a few days, but the order was obviously canceled. There aren't too many customers who are willing to drop those kinds of credits on a new AnDragon at the drop of a hat. That put management in a bind as they didn't want to risk system failure due to an unstable imprint core."

"And what happens when they do find a buyer?"

"Coell will need to reimprint. Not ideal, but better than having to replace the entire cranial core. Alia knows that the AnDragons we transport are only here for a short time. Coell will be here longer than most, but there's the expectation that she'll move on. And I will try to talk management out of an AnDragonette model for her."