Page 80 of Born in Fire

“Are you kidding? This is like conspiracy Christmas.” Mara’s fingers fly across keyboards, screens lighting up with social media feeds. “Though I’m still processing the whole ‘dragons are real, and my best friend is dating one’ thing. No offense, Caleb.”

Caleb clears his throat. “We need your expertise in containing this situation. Our existence depends on secrecy.”

“Yeah, that ship has pretty much sailed,” Mara says, gesturing to her screens where the dragon footage plays on a loop across multiple platforms. “You’re trending on every platform. #DragonAttack, #CravenTowerMonster, #SeattleDragon—they’re all blowing up.”

“Can it be contained?” Lydia asks, leaning forward with interest.

“Contained? No. Redirected? Maybe.” Mara pulls up analytics. “Right now, you’re hovering between ‘holy shit, dragons are real’ and ‘elaborate hoax.’” She taps her bottom lip with a lime-green fingernail. “You know, you could capitalize on this. Open up a theme park and make some money out of this thing. Just imagine! Dragon rides, walking with dragons. Dragon photo booths. DragonAde! You know… like Gatorade but with—”

“No,” Luke says flatly.

“Mara, we really need to squash this thing,” Elena adds. “Lives are at stake.”

Mara looks deflated before perking up. “Okay, then I guess you need to push it firmly into hoax territory.”

“How?” Caleb asks.

“You could claim it was a military exercise gone wrong. F16s going after alien craft that had gone off course! It happened in Nevada. It could have happened here.”

“That did not happen in Nevada, Mara,” Elena sighs, rubbing her eyes.

“Alright, maybe not. How about flaming weather balloons?” She looks around at us hopefully. All eyes turn to the screenwhere half a dozen dragons are breathing fireballs at the top of Craven Towers in swooping flight paths.

“Okay, that’s a no on the weather balloons.” She rubs the back of her neck, where dark hair seems to be blending into the indigo blue. “Or you could—” Mara stops mid-sentence, eyes widening as a new idea strikes. “Oh, my God. A movie publicity stunt! That’s it!”

“A what?” Luke’s voice drips with disdain.

“A viral marketing campaign for an upcoming film!” Mara’s excitement builds as she types rapidly. “It explains everything—the dragon sightings, the building damage, even the coordinated social media explosion. Companies do crazy publicity stunts all the time.”

“That’s absurd,” Luke protests. “No one would believe—”

“Actually, they would,” Mara interrupts, pulling up examples. “Remember theCarrietelekinesis prank? TheDevil Babyin New York? People go nuts for this stuff, and film companies spend millions on viral marketing.”

“It could work,” Lydia says slowly. “Craven Industries has subsidiaries in entertainment. We could retroactively create a film project.”

“We’d need CGI mock-ups, preliminary posters, a fake production timeline,” Caleb muses, strategic mind engaging. “And statements from ‘actors’ who were part of the stunt.”

“This is outrageous,” Luke stands, dragon heat shimmering around him. “Centuries of dignified secrecy, and you want to reduce us to a movie gimmick?”

“I want us to survive,” Caleb counters firmly. “Dignity means nothing if we’re exposed, hunted, experimented on.”

“I agree with Caleb,” Lydia says, surprising Luke. “Adaptation has always been our strength. When humans invented photography, we adjusted. When they created security cameras,we adapted again. This is simply the next evolution of our concealment.”

Luke looks betrayed. “You can’t seriously support this… this circus approach.”

“I support survival,” Lydia responds calmly. “And this plan offers our best chance.”

Caleb makes his decision with the finality of a true leader. “We proceed with Mara’s suggestion. Sloane,” he turns to his PA, who’s been standing silently in the wings, “coordinate with our entertainment subsidiary to create the necessary background materials. Mara, I need a comprehensive social media strategy. Luke,” he pauses, a calculated gleam in his eye, “I want you to work directly with Mara as our traditional oversight. Ensure our dignity remains intact within this modern approach.”

Luke’s expression is priceless—horror mixed with outrage as he realizes he’ll be working with the social media influencer. Mara seems equally dismayed but recovers quickly.

“Great! Let’s start with a dragon design that’s close enough to the footage but different enough to claim ‘early prototype’ status,” she says, pulling up digital modeling software.

As they move to the side of the room, Mara’s head bent over a screen, Luke stiff as a board, Caleb shifts the meeting’s focus.

“Now, to the second priority: investigating the attack itself.”

Elena nods, professional mask firmly in place, though I notice how she gravitates toward Caleb, their shoulders nearly touching.

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