On the transport back home, Hyouka slumps in her seat, very close to dozing. While her body is damaged, none of it is critical, so there's no particular reason to enter low-power mode... but damn it all, she's exhausted. Spending that long in a state floating somewhere between 'angry' and 'sick with worry' is just exhausting, and on top of that, the strange transformation... well, she feels like she'll zonk out as soon as she gets home.

    But she can't afford to nod off just yet. Not before asking some questions. Without opening her eyes, Hyouka silently 'speaks' to DARGN, happy for the privacy afforded by the two sharing a body.

    'So, DARGN. Spill.'
    'Hmm?'
    'Don't play coy.'
    'Sigh. Very well. You know that the DraCor Engine emulates the way in which a living dragon's heart generates mana. Well, Dr. Tezuka, the man who created the initial design, theorized that it would respond to emotions much the way a living dragon's heart would, if those emotions fell into sync with the instincts of a dragon.'
    '...I'm not sure I understand.'
    'Regal pride. Fiery wrath. Desire, in particular. Even if that's a desire to protect. Your emotional state came very close to that of a dragon, for a little while, there. And your body incorporates a number of additional features which would require too much power of the DraCor engine... unless his theory proved to be correct. Which it did.'
    'You know that's terrifying, right?'
    'Hm?'
    'Having them- having you- sneak features into my body without my knowing. Things about my body I don't know.'
    'Isn't that the same as any human? Other than medical doctors, I suppose.'
    'You know what I mean, DARGN. Is there anything else about my body I don't know?'
    'Sigh. Very well. I promise you, Hyouka, there are no further black-box systems, hidden features, or failsafes in your body that I have not yet told you of.'

    She fails to notice the specificness of the denial. She's too close to the edge of sleep.