“Are you almost finished over there?” The dragon’s voice was a bit raspy, he’d been sipping on water, but he was still recovering from the surgery. Kai-Tyde was leaning back in a chair, occasionally strumming an absent-minded chord on his guitar. The dragon was wearing a sleeveless shirt and a pair of ripped up shorts, his vibrant purple hair pooling over the top of his chair.

Nearby was the dragon’s dweeby brother who was hunched over a laptop working away at the scientific magic he was so good at, Kai-Tyde considered giving him a ribbing just for the heck of it. “Cut that out, Kai,” his brother growled, popping his head up to stare pointedly at the guitar in Kai-Tyde’s hands. When the rocker just sneered in response, Jasper reached up to close his laptop threateningly. Letting out a snort of amusement, Kai set the guitar aside before his brother nodded in satisfaction. “The chip’s almost all set, that company must’ve hired some damn smart tech-wizards to get this thing protected. You’re just lucky you have me to help you out,” Jasper said, the light of the screen dancing across his face as he typed away lines of code into the computer.

Taking another swig of water, Kai-Tyde dug his phone out of his pocket, glancing at it with a smile as he responded to texts from a few admirers. “Don’t be so full of yourself, bro, there are plenty of other people who would’ve loved to do this for you. I’m doing you a favor by letting you in on my hype train.” He reached over and flicked a couple of boxes that held several discarded thumb drives, the rocker himself not understanding too much about what was on them. “Don’t forget, I also went out and got the programs you needed.”

“Without these programs, I’m not sure who could feasibly get into the firmware of that chip.” Jasper admitted, his eyes flicking back and forth as he started running the final sequence of codes. There was a moment of hesitation as the system seemed to lock up, the codes ticking down slowly before the final one set in place with an audible beep. “I’m finished, asshole,” Jasper snapped, slapping down his laptop lid and leaning back. “Though you’re probably going to want to hold off on trying it out, you barely got this thing in a few days ago. I know you don’t like listening to ‘quacks’,” he emphasized this with air quotes, “but they’re not wrong about how you could mess up your throat if you do it too soon.”

“You connected it to the app, right?” Kai-Tyde asked, ignoring his brothers’ warning as he pulled up a specialized app that his sibling had created just for this. Jasper growled in frustration while Kai fiddled with the menu, seeing several sliders and menus pop up. Pop, Rock, Metal, Synth, they were all arranged in a pop down menu. The dragon was considering his options when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he glanced up to see his brother looking at him with a hint of concern. “What?”
The expression on Jasper’s face flickered for a moment before it hardened and he held on tighter to the other dragon’s shoulder. “You gotta be careful with this, Kai. That implant is sketchy as shit, I can’t believe your record label would install that thing in the first place. I’m pretty sure if you get caught using it you could end up in jail, and I’m not sure they’ll let you keep it. It was pretty risky putting that thing in, if they pull it out...”

Kai-Tyde just smirked and grabbed his brother’s hand, pulling the other dragon into a hug, a rare moment of sibling bonding. “I owe you a lot, man, thanks for taking care of this. Those sleaze bags at the label don’t know nothing about a man’s right to rock, all they see is green. I’m taking this implant and showing everyone what a real party is like, and I’m gonna start off by giving those guys something to think about.” Standing up, Kai loomed over his sibling at an impressive six foot three, though he couldn’t help but miss his combat boots that gave him some of the extra height.

“Please just... wait a few days, let your throat heal,” Jasper pleaded, looking anxiously down at the other dragon’s throat. “If you don’t, I’ll disable the thing,” he threatened, pointing over at the laptop to emphasize his point.

Letting out a long suffering sigh and rolling his eyes, Kai-Tyde flopped back down into his chair, giving his brother a half smile. “Fine, I’ll wait... but only a few days. Now, where’s your controller, gotta show you what a real smash gamer is.”

Jasper looked relieved as he sat in another chair, picking up a couple of controllers before passing one over to his brother. The two started playing, exchanging barbs as they started beating on one another in smash, though the younger brother couldn’t help but remark once more on the implant. “You’re gonna turn the world around with that thing, man, make sure the party is really great.”

“Fuck yeah, I’m gonna blow their minds,” Kai-Tyde laughed even as his character got knocked off the stage.

----

One Week Later:

Rolling to a stop in front of a security booth, Kai-Tyde slipped his glasses down his snout as he lazily glanced over at the guard on duty. “Oh, mister Kai-Tyde, it’s great to see you again. Did your surgery go well?” the feline security guard asked, not bothering to check the rocker’s badge.

“It went better than well, I’m ready to really start taking off on the stage, Stu.” The guard just beamed before pressing the button to raise the gate, allowing the dragon entrance into the parking lot of the music studio. The electric blue sports car slid easily through the parking lot, fitting right in with the other rich vehicles there. Kai-Tyde pulled into a parking space with ease, slipping out of the driver’s seat before leaning on the door, peering up at the record studio with hunger in his gaze.

If not for Jasper’s insistence that he wait for a little while longer, Kai-Tyde would have been here just a couple of days after their edits on the programming on the chip. The rocker’s throat still felt a little dry even now, but it was far improved from those first few days of near inaudibility. Rubbing his throat absentmindedly, the dragon slammed the door to his car shut before strutting towards the front doors of the building. Kai-Tyde’s eyes were locked on the door, his heart thudding eagerly, his hands absently flexing in anticipation of picking up a guitar and starting his new empire of rock.

The dragon was so wrapped up in his mind that he very nearly bowled over a dog who stepped in his way, Kai-Tyde yelped and jumped back. There was a clattering noise as Kai-Tyde’s glasses slipped off of his face and hit the ground, skittering across the ground before landing at the dog’s feet. “Where did you come from?” Kai-Tyde asked, glancing about, noticing a limo parked nearby, idling with one of the doors open.

Leaning down, the canine picked up the sunglasses, standing up to brush some dust off of the lenses before holding them back towards Kai-Tyde. “My apologies, it was not my intention to startle you.” The dog was a bit of a conundrum for Kai-Tyde, he had a surprisingly deep voice, belied by a fairly small frame. The part that was throwing the dragon off though was the appearance of the canine, his entire form seemed to be cloaked in some sort of black aura. The features that were visible were accentuated by a blue outline, leaving much of his features up to the imagination. “Would you like these back, or shall I consider them a gift?”

Jerking out of his confusion, Kai-Tyde snatched the glasses out of the dog’s hands, slipping them back onto his muzzle without giving them much of a look. Thankfully, Kai-Tyde didn’t believe in buying cheap, so his sunglasses were still in fine condition. “Who the hell are you?” the dragon growled, irritated by his own lapse in thought.

Smirking in apparent amusement, the dog readjusted his tie, a vibrant blue piece against the black suit he wore. “I am Darkwitt, and I am here with a proposition for you, Kai-Tyde.”

“Not interested,” Kai-Tyde snorted, his gaze already shifting back towards the doors of the record label. Thoughts burned in his head, of the world’s greatest show, of him ripping away on his guitar as he worked up the crowd into an enthralled mass. The dragon’s mind was fully focused on the greatest musical revolution that the world had ever seen, and the best tool for the job was in his throat.

“Oh, I think you will be,” Darkwitt said, stepping into the space that Kai-Tyde was gazing at. “I’m aware of your dealings recently, Kai-Tyde, of the technology that you’ve been blessed with.”

Eyes once more on the dog, a new feeling entered the dragon, rage. “What of it? You here for blackmail money or something?” The deep growl that echoed from deep in his chest carried a certain resonance as it traveled up through Kai-Tyde’s throat, a certain quality to it carrying a hypnotic suggestion in the air.

Darkwitt shook his head, standing his ground despite the rockstar’s apparent anger and the subtle threat of Kai-Tyde’s new abilities. “No, not at all. I’m in fact here to help promote your new abilities, to help you hone the new power that you have. Too many people enter into my dark corner of the world, and fail due to a lack of training on the finer points of mental adjustment.” Seeing the blank expression on Kai-Tyde’s face, Darkwitt let out a small chuckle before explaining. “I’m offering you a training camp of sorts, Kai-Tyde, one that will help amplify your abilities to new levels you never would have imagined.”

That... had a certain appeal to it, up to this point Kai-Tyde hadn’t quite yet had much practice with his device due to the surgery. More so, the dragon knew the idea of what he’d been given, but not so much the full capabilities of what it could do. “I’m... listening,” he said slowly, slipping out of the aggressive stance he’d taken and taking on a more relaxed posture.

“I’ve taken the steps to make a competition of sorts with several others who have abilities similar to yours. Recently there has been an influx of individuals with the capacity to enact change on the world, but like yourself they need to refine their skills to perfection.” Kai-Tyde slowly nodded, getting the picture together as Darkwitt explained. “It’s quite simple, you will be put into a city that will give you the freedom to enact your powers upon the inhabitants. All you need to do is to spread your music to the people of the city, turn them into the image that you want to see. I’ll be watching from the sidelines, reviewing each of the four of you and how your abilities flourish.”

“Alright, but what do I get out of this all? I could just march in there and start with the idiots in the suits, I’m not quite getting the big pitch,” Kai-Tyde growled. He could respect a training camp of sorts, but it sounded like a lot of work just to polish his ability.

“Should you win,” Darkwitt explained, looking slightly annoyed with the dragon’s lack of interest. “You will have the honor of taking the entire city, regardless of the other hypnotists’ progress. I have an entire city of people waiting for the taking, and imagine the party that you would be able to throw with the occupants of an entire city.”

Now that... sounded interesting, Kai-Tyde’s eyes focused on the dog as he started to grin wickedly, his sharp teeth glinting in the light. “Now you’re speaking my language, Darkbit.”

“It’s Darkwitt,” the dog said witheringly, but even so he stuck his hand out for a handshake. The dragon glanced at it for a moment before taking the dog’s hand in his own, Kai-Tyde’s massive clawed hand easily engulfing the dog’s own. For a moment Kai-Tyde was worried that it might be some sort of robot hand, but upon the touch he could feel the warmth and brush of fur. “Would you like to step into my vehicle?”

Looking over the dog’s head, Kai-Tyde thought the limo appeared a little small for him, but he did notice a bottle of wine sitting within an ice box inside of the car. “As long as there’s drinks, I’ll take a ride with you.” Darkwitt watched as the dragon strut past, Kai-Tyde’s tail moving slowly, predatorily. Climbing inside, Kai poured himself a generous glass of the liquid before downing it, leaning back as only a rockstar could. “C’mon, Darkfit, the party’s not gonna start itself.”

Letting out the most shallow of sighs, Darkwitt climbed into the limo, shutting the door behind them with a solid thump. “Indeed.”
___________________________________________________


Meet the first of the Leaders of Project Cognizant: Kai Tyde the Rocker Dragon. In truth, he could sing any genre he wants, but the call of the yesteryear of the 80s sings true in this one. If he wins, he aims to turn all of Cognizant into one big party: A Utopia of rock.

Artwork by  midnightarr with a story provided by  tiranmaster Go give them some love.

Looking to get hypnovember art but not able to draw?
The artist of this picture is readily available for commissions and would gladly get you situated with some fun art based on any of the prompts.

Rates here: https://www.furaffinity.net/view/41667991/

COMMENT BELOW: What song do you listen to that makes you think of it as capable of hypnotizing someone, or a song that carries you in such a way that the lyrics or beat make you feel like you're in a trance?