“What do we define it as?” asked Vick.

“I’m thinking: being, right?” responded Amare.

“Maybe the output, but what about the system.”

“Right, that would be a function.”

“Yes, a function. Perhaps a method?”

“We don’t know yet.”

“What class of being do you think the output was?”

“Its skin shined, it had to be either a reptile or amphibian.”

“Ok, we’ll go with reptile for now.”

class XBeing : Being, Taxonomy.Class.IReptile { }

“What do you want to name it?”

“Coward.”

“Coward?”

“Yeah, because it ran away when we needed it most. Wait,” he paused. “No, name it Delious.” He snapped. “Yes, I think that’s how you say it in greek. Wait,” he scratched his head, “was it?” He looked at Vick, who was growing impatient with the tapping of his foot. “Forget it, Coward it is!”

“Well, I’ll put it in for now. I’m not sure if it’ll get past Control.”

class CowardBeing : Being, Taxonomy.Class.IReptile { public override string Name => “Coward”; public Scale Scale { get; } public CowardBeing(DateTime birthDate) : base(birthDate) { Scale = Scale.Default; } }

“Couldn’t get a close up of its scales, I assume?”

“Right.”

“I’m guessing it had four legs, because of its speed?”

“Right.”

class CowardBeing : Being, Taxonomy.Class.IReptile, IAppendageBeing { public override string Name => “Coward”; public Scale Scale { get; } public Appendage[] Appendages { get; } public CowardBeing(DateTime birthDate) : base(birthDate) { Scale = Scale.Default; Appendages = new Appendages[4] { Appendage.Default, Appendage.Default, Appendage.Default, Appendage.Default } } }

“No idea if carnivore or herbivore or if it even eats at all?”

“Right.”

He looked at Amare. “What if you tell me what you know instead of letting me guess?”

“Right. It had four legs, extremely fast, and… that’s pretty much it.”

“Right,” he said mockingly. “I’m going to submit this to Control. Hopefully Laaibah accepts it.” He wrote the additions he had made in the text area above the ‘Submit’ button. “What’s the expedition hash?”

He took out his phone and recited: “A-two-F-four-A-D-E-one-C-B-zero-nine-two-E-M-E.”

“Ok, that should do it,” and he clicked the submit button. “What about that giant you showed me?”

“It’s got a multitude of parameters. The creatures that landed on top of it, cloned themselves and then fed it their clones. So, they were passed by value, but I’m not sure if all of them were because we didn’t get a view of it from the other side when it was executed.”

“We’ll leave that to be figured out in the next expedition.”

“Right, we should have more gyroplanes out there so people can view it from more angles. And, one gyroplane can follow the output in case it is stored next time.”

“A major expedition?”

“We’ll have to, or this is going to take multiple expeditions.”

He looked at the clock, five minutes until ten. “Sure thing, send a request to Control. I’ve got to head to class.”

“Vick,” he said as he was leaving.

“Yeah?”

“Maybe you can get your class to go on the expedition.”

“What? No way, that’s not gonna get past Control.”

“Worth a try with these new students.”

He closed his eyes to think. The students were exceptional, and all they had to do was analyze the function. “Maybe, I’ll think about it. Come,” he said at the door. “Get out of my office.”

A salad of beans, onions, peppers, tomatoes, and garlic was presented to him. “Matching foods,” said Amare. “Go on, no need to thank me.”

Vick chewed on a spoonful, and an explosion of taste soothed him. Never did he think he would salivate so much while munching on food, and never did he think he would eat so fast. Most importantly, the feeling of déjà vu hit him. He had done this before, but never thought he would do it again. Until, today. “Where’d you learn to cook this?” he said with a mouthful.

“Dorothy. She taught me how to make a bean salad.”

“I knew it,” he said and a bean escaped him. “I remember this taste.” He had already finished half his bowl. “Why’d you keep it a secret from me?”

“I asked you before, you never wanted to try it!”

“You should have told me it was Dorothy’s cooking! You want to keep it all for yourself.”

They laughed, luckily their mouths were empty.

That night, Vick had a severe headache. He stayed in bed, trying to sleep for two hours. His eyes were shut the entire time, but was unable to cultivate sleep. His mind lept from one thought, to another thought, to another thought, to another thought, to another thought… He groaned with every new question that manifested in his head. Where were the Everguardians? What happened to Alexander, Manra, and Dorothy? He had not spent the time to remember them yesterday. Was it a mistake? He should have spent time reminiscing. No, not here, not in this bed. No, not in this room. No, not in Rorohiko.