Chapter 3: 3: Do NOT Eat Before Consulting a Doctor

"You've actually seen a human?! That's incredible!" The Nuerdec, Kila'Sora Till Daka, almost jumped from her seat at the cafeteria table.

"Two of them, actually." Reprosa Vash mentioned as he stuffed a spoonful of insect-flavoured protein paste in his wide scaly mouth.

"Right. Why didn't you say anything during class then, oh humanity expert?" Arghast leaned back in his chair and stroked a taloned hand across his left wing, neatly folded over his torso.

Their improvised group had formed by chance at the end of the last lecture for the morning period. It was partly due to Kila'Sora, who had been pestering Arghast for his notes on Financial Market Manipulation. And in part because the bat-like girl had bumped into Reprosa, who at the time was pondering how to approach the two because he had missed the opening lecture. Although very composed during classes, the Nuerdec was surprisingly hyper-active outside the lecture halls. So before the two males knew what was happening, Kila'Sora had dragged them to the cafeteria to "exchange notes", as she put it. Only for the conversation to turn into an improvised interrogation as soon as the Grex explained why he had missed the very first class after enrolling at Muriata University.

"Because, smart ass, I am on probation. Can't afford a second black dot on my record." Reprosa shrugged and reached for one of the juicy fruits on the plate stationed in front of the Nuerdec.

"What for? We've been here barely a couple of days? I mean, you are a Grex. Your people are famous for your academic dedication." Kila'Sora said without paying any attention that her lunch was being stolen. "It determines your social standing or something like that… Hey! Where did my lunch go?"

"Did you get into a fight for a mate?" The Scalfi ventured carefully out of fear that he might offend his classmate, ignoring the distressed Nuerdec, who had ducked under the table.

"No. No females were accepted in our course, and no female in her right mind would accept a first-year as a partner. Got into trouble for talking too much." Reprosa shrugged once more.

"Oh, come on! You can't leave it at that! Don't leave me in such suspense." Kila'Sora protested as she bit the one remaining large fruit on her plate with her retractable fangs, injecting a dose of toxins to soften it up.

"I suppose that is understandable. Please excuse my ignorance, but it is hard for me to judge the efficiency of your mating rituals." Arghast took a sip from his carbonated weed shake. "I still say he is making it up." He added to Kila'Sora without looking away.

"Yep!" The blue bat-like girl chimed while she placed an order for the same serving of fruits. "Trying to be all mysterious and cool, just to impress us, because unlike him, we didn't get drunk before our first lecture!"

"Fine! By the Great Rider! You are not going to leave me alone, are you?" Reprosa finally conceded. He looked around the cafeteria, and once he made sure no one was listening in on, their conversation continued. All three of them leaned over the table like seasoned conspirators.

"I sort of met them in Jirvax's Bar and Diner. You know, that classy place at Magenta High-rise Recreation Centre. I was there with some hatchling friends. We went there to celebrate getting accepted at Muriata when two of them came in." At that moment, he stiffened and looked around once more. "There was this first-year student with us who looked approachable. So, I decided to test his reasoning faculties. Like anyone would with a potential first-time mate."

Reprosa lowered his voice further, letting out a sigh. "Long story short, I said some stupid things, lauder, than I should have. Unfortunately, it pretty much caught the attention of one of those disturbing Lekaar bartenders.

"Yes, they are frightening." His co-conspirators nodded in understanding.

"That's not the issue." The Grex shook his head. "Admittedly, I was a little tipsy at that time, and I might have insulted her a little. But nothing that out of the ordinary!" He added in a hurry, seeing his companions' faces turn into disapproving scowls.

"The thing is, as it turned out, the Lekaar wasn't a bartender. How was I supposed to know she was a bloody ambassador?" He shoved the spoon into the protein paste, talking more to himself than the others.

"You serious? A Lekaar ambassador! That's it. I agree with Wings here. You're making it all up." The Nuerdec cried out.

"I would never!" Reprosa protested, the tips of his facial scales turning pink. "I swear on my college diploma; she was an official ambassador."

"Fine, fine. Come one, speak. How did you get on her bad side?" Kila'Sora spoke while trying to suck out the liquified interior of her lunch.

"My words might have been interpreted as a direct threat towards Humans. And I was partially responsible for her messing up a drink and suffering a minor non-lethal toxic poisoning." The Grex hung his head in shame at the memory.

"Buddy, you are the unluckiest person I know!" Kila'Sora laughed, bits of fruit flying like bullets from her mouth. Ignorant that she was leaving a few stains on her traditional pink and white Nuerdec dress uniform.

"I would have just asked to be euthanised and be done with it." Arghast managed through a fit of laughter, finally paying proper attention to their conversation. "Judging by your luck, I bet she was stationed with the Terrans."

"Yep." Reprosa's facial scales were a mixture of pink and yellow. Clearly, he was battling with both anger and embarrassment.

"Seriously?! This is… I can't breathe…." Kila'Sora fell from her chair, grabbed her chest, and continued laughing silently.

This caught the attention of some of the other students around them. However, they quickly lost interest after seeing that the bat-like girl was having fun. Every first-year student knew that the first few days were crucial because it was during that time that life-long connections were formed. As a result, everyone was on their best behaviour, trying to make a good impression of being reliable. However, judging by the disapproving looks, most thought her unworthy of their time, as they had more important matters to discuss. Reprosa scoffed at the prospect that her behaviour would reflect poorly on him and continued after making sure that the other students had lost interest.

"Because of that, I got a visitation by two Union security agents later that night. Had to spend five hours in holding and then three more in interrogation before they finally let me go. Spend the entire day yesterday with the dean being chewed out before he said I was now on probation for the duration of the semester. I need to get ninety points average on my examinations for my academic record to be expunged." The Grex focused his eyes on the plate with food in front of him.

"Wow! You can pretty much kiss a diplomatic career goodbye!" The Scalfi's eyes bulged.

"Don't you think I know that? My brood is going to kill me. The birthers are both posted as diplomats on Giga IV, and all five of my older hatchlings are part of ambassadorial entourages throughout the eastern fringe worlds. The other six hatchlings from my hatching have been accepted either in the Grex Military Research Program, with one female actually getting a letter of acceptance from Titan Medical in Solar."

"That's quite the family you got there. Really impressive!" Kila'Sora pricked her pointy ears as she pulled herself up with the help of the table.

"Oh, please. You are a Till Daka. Daughter of GU Senator Hikaal’Sa Till Daka. And our Scalfian friend here is the inheritor of house Nus of Yex Prime." Reprosa pointed at each of them with his spoon. "Pretty much everyone in the class is the offspring of one or another of the most influential figures on this side of the Galaxy."

"That is a good observation, student Reprosa Vash. This one is proud to see the famed Grex education in practical use." None of the three had seen the Derfa professor approach their table. "This one is glad to see some of this one's students show an active interest in Humans. This one shall make a note of you."

"Ahh… Yes, Professor." The three students said in unison, not sure if they were in trouble or not.

"May this one join you for the custom of consuming nutrients in a group?" The Professor said as it spilt its amorphous body over one of the two free chairs at their table.

Clearly, they had no actual say in the matter. However, what caught the Scalfi's attention was the content of the platter the Professor balanced on its, well, arms or, rather more accurately, tentacles. Besides the large bowl topped with sulfuric blocks and a large pitcher of phosphoric acid, there was a small bowl of some strange red fruits, loosely triangular in shape and with seeds piercing their skin and a small patch of green decorating the wider side.

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"Excuse me, Professor, what are those? I have never seen a fruit like this before." Arghast asked politely, moving his platter to make room for the lecturer to place its own comfortably.

This caused both Reprosa and Kila'Sora to fix their eyes on the strange fruits. While the Grex was equally confused and interested in the unknown flora, the Nuerdec observed the handful of fruits like a predator. Unperturbed by their curiosity, the Derfa picked one of the fruits with a tentacle and rotated it so that both Reprosa and Kila'Sora could get a better look at it, who lacked the unmatched eye-sight of the Scalfi. The reptilian Grex kept a respective distance, as was expected; as for the latter, she actually made a stealthy attempt to reach and grab one of the small fruits before having her wrist slapped gently away by a newly formed tentacle.

"Please, you may call this one Kyle. We are not in a lecture hall, and a formal address is unnecessary." Kyle said as it absorbed one of the sulfuric blocks, its outer membrane shaking with evident gusto.

"As to answer your question, individual Arghast, those are strollberries. A Terran-grown fruit, which, by the way, individual Kila'Sora, will put you in a mating frenzy for a week if you consume a single one." Kyle said as it lifted the bowl of fruits out of the bat-like girl's reach. Just in case, it reshaped one of its tentacles into an improvised lid and covered the foodstuff.

"But they smell soooo gooood!" The Nuerdec was drooling as her eyes followed every slight movement of the red fruit. Her pupils had turned into tiny slits, and the others could tell that she could barely control herself not to descend on the bowl like a hungry god of legend.

"Why would you bring such a thing for lunch, prof… I mean, Kyle?" Reprosa asked as he reached out with one hand and pinned the blue bat-like girl back to her chair. "I did not know Derfa preferred or could absorb non-chemical compounds?"

"You are mostly correct, individual Reprosa. You would not be able to get your hands on such a fruit without a very strict prescription by your personal medical observer. This one is sad to admit, this one consumes them for two distinct reasons." Kyle spoke while its body tried to assume an adequate form with which to convey visual cues the students could understand."

"One, it is a habit this one picked up on Terra and has become quite fond of the Procyanidins they contain. Two, this one has to absorb a specific dose of Pelargonidin once a week as per medical prescription. Finally, although my species cannot process food, like all of you, this one's kind can break non-chemical compounds inside their bodies over time. Which is fortunate for this one because the dissolving of these strollberries coincides perfectly with this one's treatment requirements."

"What! You have been on Terra itself!" All three students jumped from their seats and nearly swarmed the Professor.

"It is true. Six cycles ago, this one was chosen as an observer for the Federation of Nation's sub-species committee, sent to Terra to ensure the rights of secondary Terran sapient species were kept during their uplifting. Unfortunately, during this one's stay, an unfortunate incident occurred. By unintentional mistake, Mr Whiskers III sprayed this one with a potent chemical mix, which caused poisoning to this one's outer membrane." Kyle spoke levelly as it absorbed the last of the fruit.

Tears formed in the Nuerdec's eyes as she watched her goal disappear inside the Derfa. A silent no escaped Kila'Sora's mouth, and she hung her low, mourning the loss of such a tempting delicacy.

"What?!" The others exclaimed in perfect sync with one another.

"This one would be glad to go into further detail, and this one will share a portion of this story during our next lecture. This one would advise you to finish the absorption of food. If this one is not mistaken, nutrient digestion takes a long time, and this one would be ashamed if you were late for your next core class. Professor U Kta Sixixtix leads Cybernetic Communication Augmentation in Diplomatic Missions this rotation, and she is very strict regarding punctuation."

"We know, Kyle. Thank you for the warning. There is still a lot of time before we need to head to that class. Could you at least tell us what Terra is like?" Arghast had no intention of letting the topic slip away from him.

"This one is curious to know why you are so interested in the human home planet?" The Derfa asked, and one more cube found its way inside its body.

"To be honest, I plan to major in Cross-stellar Economy and get a minor in Diplomatic Relations. This would give me the best start to becoming an assistant director at the Nus Corporation upon graduation. It will also allow me to expand the family business deep into the western fringes and, hopefully, Terra itself. My end goal is to become the main supplier of commercially licensed bio-electronic processors to Wulfguard Augmentations or even Yu-Soon Technologies…." The Scalfi stopped for a moment to take a deep breath.

"As this one mentioned during our lecture, you need to pace your speeches, individual Arghast." The Professor placed a priority order for three glasses of heavy water on the display built into the table.

A server bot arrived a second later and placed the items in front of the confused Arghast. He looked at the drink while scratching the side of his beak with a talon. Clearly, he was evaluating what would be a proper repayment for the offered gift. It was no secret that the Scalfi struggled with the concept of receiving something for free. Trade was at the base of his entire culture.

"Wow! You have really given it this much thought. Impressive." The bat-like girl asked wide-eyed. A piece of azure fruit dangled from her mouth stuck on one of her retractable fangs.

"I find it hard to believe you have no plan for the future." Reprosa showed no sign of surprise, all the while watching Arghast remove a polished pebble from one of the bracelets around his left wrist and place it next to the Professor's meal.

"Whoa! Really? I mean, my parents told me I needed to get into a university, which is what I did. If it is up to me, I would just spend my entire life searching for the best food in the galaxy." The girl belched and smiled in apology.

"This one must agree with individual Reprosa. You are the first student this one has taken a note of as a potential candidate for… a later course." Kyle stopped for a moment and obviously changed what he was about to say. "You have shown to be in possession of a mind with stunning intellectual capacity."

"You noticed? Darn it. I thought I would have some more time to play the fool. Well, not really. I can be hyperactive if you haven't noticed." Kila'Sora stuck out her tongue and prepared to devour a large piece of soft grey goo that used to be a fruit a moment ago.

"I mean, I can only focus when learning new and interesting stuff, and I've been growing up in a strict, almost clinical home. So it is obvious I would assume the role of the fool. Act out, so to speak." She lowered her head and added softly. "Since I'm a mutant."

"What?!" The question had become the word of the day for the students. Only the Derfa was not surprised by the admission. As a teacher, it had access to their personal medical files in case of a medical emergency while on campus.

"Okay… I will tell you, but you have to keep it a secret!" She looked at them, and after getting two nods and a trembling from the formless Professor, she leaned towards them. "I was born with a secondary adenosine gland. So I only need an hour or two of sleep per day-night rotation."

That clearly explained the contrast in her behaviour. Nuerdec were very dependent on their sleeping cycle. To the point where interrupting a sleeping Nuerdec, bar an emergency, was considered a criminal offence. Not so much to protect the bat-like species but rather those around them. Despite evolving from and remaining predominantly as nocturnal herbivore foragers, they could be as dangerous as any predator. But that was something that could be reconditioned because they were one of the species with the most stable and predictable DNA around. In reality, it had to do with how ineffective Nuerdec became when their sleeping cycle was interrupted. Absentminded, distracted and dazed, they were a menace in the workplace.

This, in turn, made genetic mutants or individuals with any congenital anomalies a rarity. Usually, such individuals would be taken in by the state, and the parents would be compensated with a hefty sum for not having any more children. As for the unlucky offspring, it would be locked in a research facility and studied through all its life until the government could answer the most important question ever asked: Why? Contrary to what they believed, Nuerdec society had one of the worst pregnancy health programmes amongst all the species which made up the Galactic Union. It boiled down to getting pregnant and seeing what would come out. If there is a problem – deal with it after it is found.

The mood was about to turn gloomy when an automated serving tray came to their table. On it were three glasses of heavy water and three rose-shaped bowls of magenta-coloured frozen carbon.

"What is this proffer… I mean, Kyle? We are not hatchlings, you know?" The Grex asked as he took a bowl and a glass.

"Please accept this one's apology. To this one, you are children, and after seeing your fascination with this one's lunch, it thought to provide an acceptable substitute." The Professor gave the trey his payment code and returned his attention to his students.

"This is a dish equivalent to a human one. Do not be alarmed. This one has made sure that the ingredients are not harmful to any of you."

"I can figure as much. But what is it." Arghast probed the pale orange, thick creamy substance in the bowl offered to him. Meanwhile, Kila'Sora froze in place, a spoonful of the dish halfway to her mouth. The possibility that it might be dangerous to eat, not even having crossed her mind.

"It is a processed re-hydrated calcium powder, called milk, combined with inert yeast. An artificial mangoo –a Terran fruit– flavour is added before the entire thing is frozen solid. The humans call it frozen yougort."

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