New Age Dragon

Vi paused outside her son’s room and looked inside. He was still sitting there at the computer. She sighed. “Jekn, dear. You really need to go outside more. It’s not healthy to be inside as much as you are. You need more sunshine and fresh air.”

“Later, Mom. I’m busy,” he replied back without looking away from the computer.

“And just what are you busy with?” she huffed and put one of her hands on her hip.

Jekn sat up a little straighter and turned to look at his mom, “Don’t get mad. I’m working on creating my hoard of a gold equivalent.”

His mother raised an eyebrow in question and put all her weight one foot.

“Hear me out before you judge!”

“Please tell me you haven’t been talking to your Uncle Aiuh again.”

“No no! This is totally my idea! So you know how I enrolled in a human college to better understand them?”

“Yeeessss….” she really wasn’t liking where this was going.

“Well, in the business classes there was a lot of talk about e-commerce and the next big thing to invest in. Soooo I got to thinking about how I could tap into that human excitement.”

Now Vi crossed her arms across her chest and looked at her son with increasing worry, “Jekn, it was bad enough that you were that close to humans for an extended period of time. Now you want to play their games too? You should be looking at creating an actual hoard of gold, like your father and I did.”

“Mom, that was centuries ago. Humans don’t mine for gold and trade it like they used to.”

“Then be like your Uncle Daknal and get into the oil business. His puppets are so successful at maintaining power and bringing in the wealth, it’s very impressive even when compared to our ancient ancestors.”

Jekn rolled his eyes, “That’s old news and old money. This though! This is new! Fresh!”

“I’m just worried you’ll end up like your Uncle Aiuh who has a hoard of human toys because he lost his mind when he couldn’t find anything else to hoard after his gold was destroyed in a volcanic eruption. It can drive a dragon insane to lose their purpose.”

“I know, I know. This is different. And Aunt Keeshad has even given me some ideas on how to make this e-commerce business successful.”

“Oh lordy…”

“She’s a business genius and you know it,” he replied defensively. “Anyways, I let her know I’m looking into creating a digital currency that people can trade and even use to buy things. Banks are already digitizing everything, so this won’t be a shock to humans. And Aunt Keeshad suggested I come up with an alias to prevent humans from idolizing me, which will keep the paparazzi away and no dragon laws will be violated with exposing our kind.”

“You’re just going to create this fictious digital coin and get humans to buy it?”

“Isn’t that how any currency starts? Someone creates it and gets others to use it.”

“That’s usually rulers of the land, like kings and governments. You’re neither of those and if you tried you would be violating dragon laws.”

“But that’s the beauty of e-commerce and humans being so excited about new and break through ideas!”

“Hmmm….” Vi had to admit her son had a pretty good idea. Not like it would hurt anything if he failed. He knew the risks and if it failed he wouldn’t be losing a physical gold hoard. Plus their family always prided itself on changing tactics to maintain their riches throughout the centuries.

“Please, Mom. Let me give this a try. You and Dad won’t be disappointed. I promise!”

“Okay, I’ll humor you. What will you call it and how will you protect your identity?”

Jekn’s eyes lit up with excitement, which warmed Vi’s heart, “Well, I started off with playing around with e-Coin and e-Cash, but those just sound blah. Then I started thinking about computer terms and came up with Bitcoin. It sounds pretty catchy, yeah?”

She laughed, “Yes, that does sound better than the other two.”

“Right!? And the alias name was Aunt Keeshad’s idea. There were two ancestors who worked with the India Trading Company in Japan, so I used both of their names and came up with Satoshi Nakamoto. They were pioneers in their day and this would be a tribute to their ingenuity that this family has continued to stay true to.”

“I see that you have put a lot of thought into this.”

“Yes! I can see it working!”

“Alright. Just promise me one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“If for any reason this Bitcoin idea of yours doesn’t work, don’t take it personally. I really don’t want you to end up like your Uncle Aiuh.”

“I promise! I don’t want to have a cave full of stuffed animals for a hoard. Even if he does claim he makes good money off of selling them as they get older because they become valuable to humans to collect at that point.”

Vi laughed as she walked over and kissed forehead, “Also, be sure to get outside. You still need to do some sunbathing and stretch your wings. Human form is very convenient, but you’ll get restless and won’t be able to think straight if you stay that way for too long.”

“Yes, Mooomm,” Jekn chuckled.

“I’ll leave you to your Bitcoining then,” she ruffled his hair and then walked out of his room to give him the quiet he needed. She still needed to go manage her fashion design company for the day anyways.