“What is your intelligence makeup?” Elizabeth asked the dragon robot, sincerely interested. She wouldn’t allow the annoying Caroline to distract her.

“Sir, I have an IQ of 138. I aim to serve, please and deliver for my master. Would you like a lick job on your tired legs?” Dragon Wickham inquired, and flapped its gigantic green wings as it circled around the two women.

Elizabeth laughed. It had a wicked sense of humour that she found quite charming. After a few more questions, she decided that it’s not very smart but was great fun. She wrote her price down on her iComp, as she intended to bid for it.

Caroline leaned forward and stole a glance at the figure Elizabeth had written, determined to bid for this robotic pet, too.

She was furious that her brother had married Elizabeth’s sister, causing them to be related. Caroline was richer, prettier and taller. The fact that Elizabeth had been made a Colonel at the young age of 20 didn’t necessarily mean that she was smarter than Caroline.

Ever since Colonel Bennet had overtaken Caroline’s rank earlier in the year, the latter had vowed to annoy her, whenever she had a chance. Now, Caroline was determined to buy up everything Elizabeth wanted.

As her rival walked on, Caroline was distracted by some shimmering feathers. The rainbow-coloured headpiece would complement her black leather gear quite well...

Elizabeth was happy she had managed to lose the annoying Caroline. She moved on and was looking at an e-Fan, a computerassisted cooling device, when someone addressed her.

“Colonel, I’m a far better pet dragon than Wickham.” Elizabeth turned to see a small oriental dragon, gold in colour, sitting alone by the corner of the Intelligent Machine section.

“How do you know my rank? You’re not considered a pet dragon anyway,” Elizabeth murmured.

“With an IQ of 300, I’m classified as an Intelligent Machine. But I can be your pet robot.”

This dragon was only about a foot long. Elizabeth thought it look too sad and serious for her liking, but she did like talking with a more intelligent pet, so she didn’t rule it out. At least, not yet. And she liked its deep, smooth voice, as well.

“I knew your ranking because I’m equipped with a scanning device that enabled me to see your uniform and compare it to the information in my database.”

Elizabeth nodded with approval.

“What can you do, then?” she asked.

“Everything Dragon Wickham can do and more.”

Elizabeth was amused by the little dragon’s reply and teased it. “Do you have a personal vendetta against the giant dragon?”

“We were made by the same manufacturer, at around the same time, but he’s always too charming for my tastes.”

“It can serve, please and deliver,” Elizabeth stated, challenging the tiny dragon with its rival’s abilities.

“He’s best able to please his masters with his bright green colour, gigantic size and silver tongue, for those who are into outward appearance,” the little dragon said dismissively.

“And you’re not into that?”

“I’m deeper than that. I promise loyalty, honesty and responsibility to my masters.”

Elizabeth nodded at this further sign of the tiny dragon’s intelligence.

“You look rather lonely,” it observed. “I’m good with heart-to-heart chat, should you feel so inclined.”

She raised her eyebrows. Perhaps it was too smart for her.

“I compared your facial expression to my database, and deduced that you’re smart, decisive, lonely, pretty…”

Her mouth curled up. Definitely too smart.

“Can you fly?” she asked. “You don’t have wings like Dragon Wickham.”

“I’m an oriental dragon. I use the strength of my long tail to fly.”

She looked at it sceptically. It’s so tiny that she’s unsure how it defined a ‘long’ tail.

But the dragon lifted off suddenly and landed on her shoulder. “Pick me, Colonel Bennet. You won’t regret it,” it whispered in her ear, blowing warm air against her earlobe, making her shiver pleasantly.

“What’s your name?” she asked, a bit unsettled by its action.

“Dragon Darcy. And I’m a male dragon.”

She nodded. It – he – was strangely arrogant, but interesting enough, and so she wrote down a figure, half of what she was prepared to pay for Dragon Wickham.

Dragon Darcy then flew back to his stand and gave her a serious gaze.

At the end of the day, Caroline bought the huge Dragon Wickham and brought him back to her space station with a smug grin. Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders, untroubled at being outbid by Caroline.

On reflection, Elizabeth had decided that Dragon Darcy was quite special, and had purchased him. She seldom saw any oriental dragons. Most pet robots were western dragons.

“Welcome to Longbourn.” Elizabeth talked to Darcy.

“It’s comfortable, despite its size.”

She arched her eyebrows, not sure that she should accept such a condescending tone from her pet.

“Let me pack up your sister’s things. You can redecorate the station to your taste,” Darcy said, and flew off to attend to the chore.

“You’re too smart for your own good!” Elizabeth called after him. But she smiled. She and Jane did indeed have different tastes, so the decoration in the station was a compromise. Since Jane had moved out, she had intended for some time to revamp the decorating scheme to one that was more to her taste. It seemed that Darcy’s database was extremely discerning. He could read her emotions, or perhaps even her thoughts.

He turned and brushed his mouth, with its delicate whiskers and beard, against her cheek. “You would be bored to death with me in two days if I weren’t so smart.”

She laughed out loud and pushed him away.

So the majestic tiny Dragon Darcy settled in at Longbourn, welcoming Elizabeth home after her hard day at work. He was handy in domestic chores like cooking, washing, repairing the plumbing and many more. He also became her confidante, offering her views and opinions on topics ranging from climate change, power struggles to the annoyance of her mother.

“What did Mrs. Bennet do this time?” Dragon Darcy greeted the Colonel. He could see that her eyes were flashing with frustration.

“She fixed me up with a blind date.”

“You don’t want to find a husband?”

“Colonel Collins is a toad, and I’ve suffered through two hours of his silly conversation.”

“Too slimy?”

“Stupid, like a lap dog to his commanding officer.”

“I thought obedience was a recommended quality in the army,” he argued.

“Obedience is one thing. Smoothing the senior’s ego is another.”

“Flattery gets people into better places.”

“Unfortunately, yes. And Mother said that if I don’t settle down now, I won’t find any man willing to marry me when I reach the rank of General. What a stupid notion! It’s the 30th century. A woman doesn’t need a man to make her life full anymore. I can use vibrators, or buy a man-whore robot to satisfy myself. And there are clinics, if I want children.”

“True, but the journey of falling in love and finding a soul mate is worth it,” he countered.

“What do you know about love?” she demanded.

“I know more than you might think,” he replied in a wistful tone of longing.

“Ah, your intelligent database again,” she said, and shook her head.

“Let’s forget about this slimy toad. I’ll draw you a bath.”

As Elizabeth lay in the lavender-scented bubbles, she felt the stress of the blind date and the frustration with her mother disappear. She was glad of Darcy’s attention to detail.

“Thanks, Darcy,” she said and closed her eyes.

“Don’t mention it.” He flew in and out of the water, dipping and lifting the bubbles, messing it around the bathroom and all over her hair.

“Stop it!” she protested, and laughed.

He flew near her and used his whiskers and beard to nuzzle her nose.

“Naughty!” She grabbed him by the waist, preventing him from flying off. Suddenly their eyes met, and they gazed at each other intently.

“Thank you, Darcy, for cheering me up. I love you,” she said, then pulled the dragon toward her and kissed his nose.

Blast!

Suddenly, she felt the scales on Darcy’s body vibrate, and she lost her grip on the tiny dragon. Her eyes widened as she saw Dragon Darcy’s skin burst open as the foot-long dragon began to grow larger. His body elongated alarmingly, both in length and in girth.

By the time he had grown to roughly six feet, Elizabeth had scrambled out of the bath tub and plastered herself against the wall, too shocked to utter a word.

Then Darcy’s tail seemed to lose the strength to hold his bigger body aloft, and he dropped into the bubble bath with a big splash.

“Darcy, are you alright?” Elizabeth cried out and hurried to the edge of the tub.

The water stirred and whirled at high speed, and the bubbles became murky. She was preparing to dip her hands into the water in search of her pet robot when his head abruptly emerged from under the bubbles.

He shook off the water and looked at Elizabeth.

She gaped at him, astonished. Dragon Darcy was no longer a dragon.

“Elizabeth,” he said, in his normal deep voice.

“Darcy? Is this…you?”

“Yes.”

“But how could you turn into…a man?”

“I was cursed, nearly two hundred years ago.” He blinked away the water and pushed himself up from the tub. “Rather like the prince and the frog.”

“Cursed? By whom?”