ALTERNATE REVOLUTION

CHAPTER IV: Ruben Explains

Buzz slept restlessly throughout the night—this place was new to him, and although he was usually a heavy sleeper, he disliked this area greatly—and when morning came, he was rudely awakened by Ruben crashing in through the trees, atop the black-and-white horse, calling out, "Hey! I've finally managed to shoot something this time! Come out of there!" Buzz, who had been sleeping dreamlessly against the tree, was jolted awake by this and angrily glared up at Ruben, who had now stopped in the center of the clearing, triumphantly holding up a blue-and-purple bird, now apparently dead.

"Sure, 'dat's just great," Buzz huffed, staggering to his feet. "Just come crashing through here when some of us are still asleep, why don't ya? It'll save me 'da time of having to wake myself up, sure…"

"I apologize," Ruben told him, dismounting Macbeth. "Paradox and Binx usually wake up a few hours earlier…it's kind of become our tradition."

"Oh, 'dat's so very nice," Buzz replied sarcastically, turning back around. "While you're at it, why don't you go shoot down some toast? Or maybe a box of Cocoa Puffs? It'd save us a lot more time, it would…"

"You're so very kind," Ruben replied, just as sarcastically. He strung the dead bird up on a nearby branch. "Look, if you want me to show you what I was telling you about last night, it'd be best if you'd work with me, here. So I don't break free of tradition; it doesn't give you any kind of notion to say I should stop it."

"You should if it annoys people," Buzz sighed, leaning back against the tree again. "And somehow I don't feel like going to see someone's grave marker so early in 'da morning…it makes a lot of people feel depressed, you know 'dat? A lot of people."

Ruben was silent for a moment, then he sighed and leaned against the tree that he had swung the bird over. "Listen, Buzz, I know that you're annoyed with being here altogether. To be honest, I don't want to show you the grave either. But I've already devised the plan, and I can't back down on it now. It may be your only hope of ever even trying to get back to your own universe, at that."

This seemed to have caught Buzz's attention; he turned around. "You mean you have other intentions for us 'dan simply showing us 'da General's grave marker? Is 'dat it?" Ruben nodded; Buzz appeared lost in a blank for a few moments afterward. "But…why? What's your intention?"

A small smile seemed to play on Ruben's lips. "That's to be explained when we actually get there," he told the robot. "Until then, you must be patient. I would've left moments ago, but Delete and Paradox are still inside the tent…and Binx has been pretty exhausted as of late. She's been trying to serve as a hunting companion." He shook his head again. "Which is why I didn't take her with me this time."

"Dey're still in 'dere?" Buzz looked a bit surprised. "What 'da heck's taking 'em so long, 'den? 'Dey should be out here already as is." Ruben merely shrugged his shoulder. "Okay, okay, I'm gonna go in and check on them. Don't do anything until I come back, okay?" He then sighed, realizing at the moment exactly how stupid that sounded.

Ruben didn't seem to notice, however; he remained against the tree, his hands in his pockets in a calm, cool manner. Buzz looked at him a few seconds more, then ran toward the tent, threw open the flaps in an almost dramatic manner, then stepped into the interior. Binky was stretched out on the floor, in a heavy sleep, while Delete and Paradox were sleeping on the ground next to her. Buzz faltered before taking a few more steps in, then trotting over to Delete, placing his hands on his brother's shoulders, and hastily shaking him awake with as much force possible.

Delete awoke with a start, giving a yelp of surprise as he did so. Buzz cringed a bit at the high pitched sound of the noise, then said, placing his hands on his hips again, just as Binky and Paradox stirred, "Delete, get up. Ruben's taking us to 'da General's grave marker…he says he's got a plan or something."

"Urgh…Buzzie, can't you just give me a few more hours?" Delete replied, now a bit groggy, as he laid his head between his arms. "I don't want to get up right now…"

Buzz lost it for a moment; he kicked his brother in the ribs. "Get up!" he shouted angrily; Binky and Paradox slowly got to their feet and stretched. "Ruben doesn't want to wait too long, and I don't either! 'Da only thing you're doing to us right now is stalling us more! Get up now!"

Delete whimpered and rolled over to his side. "But I don't wanna," he whined, still as groggy as he had been before. Buzz gritted his teeth, then delivered another sharp kick to his brother's back. "Ow! Buzz, stop kicking me!"

"I'll stop kicking you if you'll get off your lazy bum and get up!" Buzz replied sharply. Delete turned over on his other side, then shot an annoyed glance at Buzz before groaning slightly and shakily getting to his feet. Buzz watched him impatiently as he did this; he then turned around and headed back out of the tent, with Delete following.

Ruben was still waiting patiently for them near the tree. When he saw all four of them out in the open, he smiled ever so slightly, then walked over to the spot where Macbeth was tethered. However, as he brought out the black-and-white horse, he also brought out another one; a feeble dapple-gray. He held the reins of the dapple-gray out to Buzz, who hesitantly took them.

"Who's 'dis?" Buzz asked Ruben, as he patted the horse on the nose.

Ruben smiled again. "That's Buttercup," he told the robot, as he mounted Macbeth. "I figured that if you're ever planning to survive here you might as well know how to ride a horse. There are no futuristic devices here, you know." He then noted the look of disbelief on Buzz's face and quickly added, "Buttercup isn't as old as she looks. She may move rather slowly, but it's just because she's sick. She's been sick for the past four years."

Buzz's eyes grew slightly wide. "Sick with what?"

"I'm not sure," Ruben told him, as he slowly turned Macbeth around in the other direction; Buzz managed to mount Buttercup with the aid of Delete's shoulders. "She went out into our wheat field one day and—I don't know what happened out there. When she came back, she was wheezing and had a slight limp in one of her back legs." He then helped Binky up onto Macbeth's neck as Paradox slipped on behind him. "My dad thought that it was a punctured lung, but he never got the chance to look her over…" He looked down at the horse's mane and fell silent.

Buzz realized what Ruben was getting at and remained silent, as Delete, with some difficulty, managed to finally get onto Buttercup, seating himself behind Buzz. Ruben broke out of his trance to look at the two; he then nodded and, looking forward again, snapped Macbeth's reins gently. The horse trotted forth into the maze of trees, while Buzz followed suite.

Buttercup, the robot soon enough found out, was a rather easy horse to ride—then again, old horses were always easier to ride than the younger horses. Despite how feeble the dapple-gray had looked at first sight, she managed to maneuver quite well through the trees and just managed to keep an even pace with Macbeth. As they leapt over a log, Ruben turned his head toward the two and called to them, "So, are you having a rather easy time with the horse?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're doin' okay," Buzz called back to him; Ruben nodded a bit.

"Well, I'm glad that you know how to ride Buttercup," he told them; then he fixated his gaze back on the scene ahead of him. "But you're going to need to stay by me during this next little trip, here. The General's grave marker is across…this creek, here." He said these last three words as he slowed Macbeth to a halt in front of a rather shallow but raging creek; Buttercup halted behind him, pausing to bite at her upper flank with her teeth.

Buzz looked at the creek with a somewhat shocked notion, and let the reins drop from his hand for a moment before realizing his mistake and quickly taking them up again. Ruben gestured the two over to him, and Buzz, having heard what he had said earlier, nodded and guided the horse over toward the spot where Ruben stood. The cat creature then pointed out to a hill across the creek.

"The grave marker is over that hill," he informed the two. "But first things first. We need to get across the creek…it's no problem for me, but you two haven't had much experience with survival skills, so…" He bit his lower lip. "You have to stay by me until we get across the creek, okay? You heard me before."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Buzz replied blandly.

Ruben managed a weak smile. "Great," he replied; then he lightly snapped Macbeth's reins. The horse took another step or two forward, to the point where her hooves were underneath the water's rushing surface. "It's pretty still on the bottom, the water just rushes at the top." Buzz nodded, then guided Buttercup forth into the water; Ruben followed. "Now, get to my right, and we'll cross."

Buzz reluctantly guided Buttercup over toward Macbeth's right side, and the two horses plowed into the water. The creek was, indeed, faster than expected for the two robots; Buzz didn't want to admit it to Ruben, but he was having a hard time—he and Buttercup alike—getting through the water. Deciding upon refusal of admitting it to the cat, he continued to try guiding the horse on his own…then lost his balance and fell backward.

The sudden shock was too much for him; before he could slip off he lunged forward and grabbed hold of Buttercup's reins to keep himself mounted. The horse let out a startled whinny, then reared back onto her hind legs, and Delete (who hadn't been holding onto the horse properly) slipped off her back and, with a startled scream, splashed down headfirst below the water.

Ruben heard the splash immediately. Puzzled, he turned around, but upon seeing the scene—Buzz holding on for what appeared to be dear life and Delete missing—his expression turned to one of both dread and shock. Binky's eyes widened slightly, and Paradox shivered and clapped one of his hands over his mouth.

"Buzz, what did you do!" Ruben shouted.

"Zeny, you've been playing that game for hours," Matthew groaned, as he looked out of Jackie's bedroom window, his head supported in one hand. "When are you going to stop, already? You've beaten it five times in the past three hours, so why not do something else?"

"But this game is so…great!" Zeny replied, as she typed away at the keyboard, her eyes glued to the screen. "Besides, what else is there to do? Lie on that bed again?"

Matthew glared at her, then looked back out the window again. "No…but there has to be something else to do around here besides lie around and listen to you play that game." He looked down in the direction of Jackie's street. "I'd like to go outside and see what today's civilization is like, but that increases the risk of someone seeing us…"

"What's the point of even thinking about risks, anyway?" Jacqueline scoffed, as she tossed a rubber ball that she'd found under the bed against an adjacent wall. "None of these sissy technology freaks will even know who we are."

Codebird, meanwhile, was looking through Jackie's closet, trying to find something to do (and secretly hoping to find another rubber ball, as Jacqueline had). He didn't have much luck for the most part, but it wasn't until he reached the upper shelf of the closet that he gave a rather odd laugh and pulled a box down. Matthew looked over at him as he held it up for the others to see.

"Heh, look at this, you guys!" he snickered, as he held up the box (in Matthew's particular direction). "'Mystery Date'!"

A rather embarrassed look crossed Matthew's face before he lunged forward, shouting rather hastily, "Put-that-down!" and snatching the box away from the bird. Now a rather startled look crossed the metallic bird's face, and he looked at Matthew a few seconds before blinking and shaking his head.

"What was that all about?" he asked, holding out his wings in a confused manner.

"Uh…it was nothing," Matthew replied, quickly shoving the box underneath the bed. "It just wasn't something that I'd…expect from you, that's all."

"Then why'd you blush?"

"Uh…I do that randomly." Codebird stared at him with one eyebrow raised. "What? I do blush randomly! It's just a trait I received from…someplace else, that's all! Stop staring at me like that, Codebird!"

"Very well." Codebird sniggered, then flew back over to the bed and laid himself down across it. He then looked back toward the direction of the window. "I wonder when Jackie's going to get back from school…this is taking forever."

"The average school day usually lasts about six or seven hours," Jacqueline replied blandly, tossing the ball against the wall again. She looked back up toward the window before continuing. "It's been about five hours now. She should be coming back in about an hour or two before—"

It was then that the computer screen's image faded, and Motherboard's face came into view. Zeny jumped back in surprise, then stared at the screen as the computerized head spoke. "Jackie! Jackie, are you there?"

"Uh…uh…" Zeny was unable to respond for a few moments; it had been awhile since this had last actually happened to her. Finally, she mustered up the nerve. "Um, Jackie isn't here at the moment…she'll be back in an hour."

"Who—are you?" Motherboard replied, slightly confused.

Zeny opened her mouth to say something, but Jacqueline butted in front of her. "The name's Jacqueline," she replied, holding out her hand to the screen. "I'm from the infamous Freedom Fighters. You may not have heard of us, but we've come from another place, and we need your help, it appears."

"How—do you know—about me?"

"Jackie told us," Jacqueline replied, still sounding as collected as ever. "She's a friend of ours…since I believe you can be trusted, I'll also put in that she's my alternate. Anyway, we're experiencing a few…technical difficulties…and I need you to portal the four of us in. I'll explain everything later on, when the others get back from school…"

Motherboard was silent for a few moments; she appeared to be listening to something or someone, it seemed. Finally, she responded, rather reluctantly, "Very well, I'll—portal you in. Digit says—that you can be—trusted."

At hearing Digit's name, Codebird perked up, then quickly jumped off the bed and began to fly toward the screen, and try and figure out if what he had heard was indeed correct. Before he could get over to the area, however, Motherboard's image faded and a large, pink portal opened up in its place. Zeny was once again startled, and Jacqueline looked rather startled herself, but like all girls her type quickly recollected.

"Wow," Matthew remarked, as he stepped up behind the two girls. "I haven't seen a real portal like this in ages…"

"Neither have I," Zeny agreed, still sounding rather taken aback. "I'd almost forgotten what they looked like, truth to be told…"

"Okay, okay, enough of this, let's just go in," Jacqueline quickly responded; she then dove forward headfirst into the swirling light. Matthew looked at her as she entered, then sighed and ran after her; Zeny followed. Codebird realized what was going on and quickly flew in just as the portal faded and closed behind them.

Macbeth and Buttercup were now both safely on the shore of the other side of the creek, and Ruben was knelt down next to them, trying to get Delete awake. The robot had been rendered unconscious after remaining in the creek for such a long period of time (it had taken Ruben awhile to fish him out), and Ruben was trying to get him to come to his senses while they still had enough time to do so. Buzz was knelt next to him, looking rather nervous as the cat looked his brother over.

"Damn it, Buzz!" Ruben finally sighed, and punched Delete in the chest. The robot emitted a slight choking noise, and a small stream of water flowed out. "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times…stay by me! Now see what's happened?" He punched Delete in the chest again, and another stream of water left his lungs. "You'll be lucky if he even awakens by this time…he swallowed a lot of creek water during the time I tried to get him out."

"It wasn't like it was entirely my fault, you know," Buzz replied angrily, crossing his arms. "I just lost my balance, 'dat was all. And Delete wasn't exactly holding on very well, either, it appeared."

Ruben made no response, but merely sighed again, then punched Delete in the chest one last time. This time the robot made several stifled coughs, and sat upright, his eyes tearing, clutching his chest with one hand. Ruben sighed again, this time in relief, then placed his hand on Delete's shoulders to keep him from falling on his back again.

"Wow, that was a quick recovery!" Ruben remarked, lightly patting him on one of his shoulders. "You okay? You were half-drowned by the time that we pulled you out…"

"Oh—God—my—chest—hurts—" Delete gasped between violent coughs.

"Well, it should," Ruben replied rather calmly. "You swallowed a lot of creek water…it was amazing that you came to the way that you did. Just be careful concerning holding onto the horse next time, okay?"

"I'm—*hack*—really sorry—"

"You shouldn't be…I fell off the horse myself from time to time. Besides, it wasn't your fault, entirely." He shot a rather angry glare at Buzz as he said this. "Just try to keep a better hold next time, okay?"

"*Cough* okay *cough*."

Ruben smiled, then helped Delete to his feet and turned to Binky and Paradox. "Come on, let's go over the hill, now. It looks like he's going to be all right for the time being…" He glared at Buzz again. "And we're going to leave the horses here. We'll do better on foot, I think."

Buzz snarled at Ruben, then angrily followed him as he and the others went over the hill, coming to a stop in a grassy clearing. Ruben looked around for a while, then slowly released Delete and ran over to the area near a large, branching pine, stopping below a particularly large branch. He looked around again, then appeared to nod before turning around and gesturing the others over to him. "Come on!" he called. "I found it!"

At hearing his words, Binky and Delete ran over—or at least tried to, what with Delete's condition—but Buzz and Paradox remained where they were standing, Buzz because of anger, Paradox because of both sadness and dread. As Buzz continued to stand there, his hands clenched into fists at his sides, Paradox whimpered slightly and took a few more steps backward, stopping near another tree. Buzz looked behind him at the robot, then looked over at the spot where Ruben stood. Both Binky and Delete were standing beside him, and Ruben himself was knelt down, scraping away at the earth with what appeared to be a sword.

Eventually, curiosity got the better of him, and he walked over to where the other three were standing—or at least two of them literally. When he arrived, Ruben was still digging away at the earth, and Binky and Delete were patiently waiting beside him. Buzz looked at the two, then down at Ruben, then finally said, crossing his arms again, "What 'da heck do you think you're doing?"

Ruben paused momentarily to look up at him before quickly shifting his gaze back down and digging a bit more. "What do you think I came here to do? I'm unearthing the General's coffin, that's what the heck I think I'm doing." He grunted, then paused to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. "Geez, I wish I had a shovel…this is even worse than using my bare hands."

"'Den why don't you just ask someone to help?" Buzz replied, in a tone that caused Ruben to glare at him again. "Why not ask Delete or 'dat cat over 'dere?"

"My name is Binky," Binky muttered under her breath, but Buzz took no notice.

"No, I can handle it just fine, thank you very much," Ruben replied, starting to sound rather annoyed yet again. "They only put the General two or three feet under last time I checked. It shouldn't take much more than a half hour for me to unearth the coffin itself."

"Wow, 'dat's a big improvement," Buzz replied, still sounding highly sarcastic. Ruben glared at him and made a slight snarling sound under his breath.

"Well, if so, I don't see you doing anything to help," Ruben replied hotly. "If you're so desperate, why don't you get down on your hands and knees and dig with me, eh?"

Buzz stared at him for a moment, then glared and kicked some dirt in his direction before turning away. Delete stared after him, then placed one hand to his mouth before looking down at Ruben, his gaze resembling that of an unhappy child's. "I…I could help you dig, if you want, Ruben," he replied timidly; Ruben paused yet again to look up at him.

"Yes, that would be great, thanks," he replied, still sounding rather rough. "But you'll have to use your bare hands, though…I've only got one shovel, and even so it isn't exactly an authentic one. Think you can handle that?"

"Don't worry about it," Delete replied, getting down on his knees beside the cat creature. "I have to do all sorts of stuff for the boss all the time…this should be no problem."

Ruben smiled, despite the condition that he was in. "That's good," he said, before resuming his digging. "Maybe you should use your newer arm, you know, to make the digging go faster or something. It'll help us a lot."

Delete nodded, and for a while there was only the sound of scraping as the two dug a rather large hole underneath the pine. Buzz stood with his arms crossed and his body leaned against the tree for about fifteen minutes, until the two finally succeeded in pulling a small, wooden casket out of the hole that they had dug. Buzz raised an eyebrow as the two gently set it on the ground; Ruben wiped his hands off on his shirt as Delete slowly got to his feet.

"Is 'dat it?" Buzz asked, slowly taking his weight off of the trunk.

Ruben nodded. "Yep," he said, rather exhausted. "This is it." He then reached toward the nailed top of the casket and wrapped his fingers around either side. "I just need to pull this off…" He then gave the top a sharp yank, and it came loose rather easily, due to both age and applied force. Ruben fell backward, the wooden top of the casket landing on top of him, as Buzz looked at the open casket, then took a few steps forward and gazed inside.

At first glance a shiver of morbid fear ran down his spine, and he thought of pulling away from it. But after a few moments he found that he couldn't, no matter what his brain told him: he could now see the General's corpse. Ruben was right. The General was a mirror image of him, and he didn't like it; it was like looking at his own dead body in the casket in which it lay.

As he continued to stare, more detail fell into place. Years in the ground had given the corpse a pale complexion and a worn, tattered look. Half of the metal coating that had once come down across the head had been either eaten or worn away, yet the clothing was perfectly preserved. The eyes were closed, and the arms crossed, like a normal funeral pose. The mouth was partly open, exposing the rotting teeth, and a blood-caked hole was visible in the right side of the body. Buzz swallowed, then finally managed to look away.

Ruben slowly came up behind him, then gazed down at the corpse along with the robot. "Yes, he does look like you, doesn't he?" he remarked quietly; Buzz stared up at him, unable to speak for a few moments.

"Yes," he finally muttered, looking away from him. He didn't want to look into his eyes. He didn't want to look into anyone's eyes…

Ruben nodded, eerily calm. "That's why my plan came together so easily. Since you're a splitting image of the General, I think that this actually has a chance to go through. But you have to listen to me, or else you'll probably lose your only chance to get back to where you once belonged."

"What? Why? What's your plan?" Buzz replied, slightly suspicious.

"Oh, it's nothing too drastic…at least, not for you," Ruben replied, still calm. He knelt down next to Buzz and put one hand around his shoulder. "Listen, I had the idea for this plan last night. Machinos has been searching for a replacement general ever since the original's death, and so far he hasn't been successful. That's what gave me the idea. If you remind him of the old one so much, there may be a good chance that he'll accept you. Delete too." He bit his lip, careful not to say that Delete looked almost exactly like Machinos as well. "Anyway, once you're there, you'll probably meet and befriend several others that would like to help you. Listen to them; they'll probably know what they're doing, and they'll strengthen my plan further.

"The first individual you must befriend is Machinos—but don't get too attached to him. That tyrant has a way of letting 'friends' slip into his grasp, and then…well, he controls them. He pilots them like marionettes. But enough about that…let's see, here…" He slicked his bangs back again. "Okay, okay, just, here's what the main outline is. You and Delete go to the Machinos grounds, apply for general and…some other placement, pray that Machinos will accept you, and if he does, try to find the prisoners and tell them that you're here to help them. You escape, along with the prisoners, and once you get back, tell me everything you know about Machinos."

"But why…?"

"Just listen to me. I've been wanting to kill that…thing for years. After what he did to my father…my siblings…he deserves to die." The ebony cat gritted his teeth. "I don't know any weaknesses of his, though. The only ones who know are the soldiers who are closely acquainted with him, and even so they'll never tell."

"I know, I know, but why do I—"

"Okay, I'm going to tell you why I unearthed the General's casket in the first place, now. I didn't do it just to show you how much you look like him. I wanted his clothing. You're going to put it on, then ride Macbeth over to the grounds next morning, along with Delete."

"What!" Buzz looked aghast; he drew away from Ruben. "Look, telling me to go apply for general is one thing, but telling me to put on the clothes of a dead being is another!" He shook his head. "God knows what 'dose things have endured…"

"Just do it, okay?" Ruben replied through clenched teeth. "It's the only way for the two of you to get in without the Blind Trackers coming on you. Machinos has those things in endless numbers all over the grounds, and if one of them jumps you…well, there's a fine chance that you won't live. Not unless they're familiar with you."

"Yeah, but—"

"If you're wondering why, it's because they're blind, naturally. They can only determine their friends and foes by scent and hearing. If you're wearing the clothing, it's like a repellent. If you smell like the General, they won't jump you. Trust me on this."

"What about Delete?"

"Delete will be just fine as is," Ruben replied. "As long as you're with him, they won't touch him. Just follow my lead." He then slid his hands underneath the casket and leaned it over, spilling the corpse out onto the grass. "I'm sorry, Pray, but it's the only way I know how," he muttered to the corpse before leaning over to strip it of its garments.

Buzz looked toward the hill where Paradox stood for a few moments before looking over at Ruben, who tossed a pile of slightly moldy garments into his hands the moment that he made eye contact. "Here, put these on, quick," he ordered, as he turned around to tend to the corpse again. "They'll probably fit you. You and the General appear to be the exact same height."

Buzz looked at Ruben, then at the clothing in his hands, then finally sighed and walked over behind the pine, tossing them onto the grass as he did so. He scanned the garments visually first before finally picking up one of the General's slightly bloody leather gloves and slipping it on over his hand. Ruben was once again proven to be correct—the glove fit perfectly. Shuddering slightly at the thought of this, he reached down and slipped on the other glove, before fitting the badge, the hat, and lastly, the knee-high army boots before stepping out from behind the pine, nearly tripping as he did so. Apparently he wasn't used to walking in any type of shoe that went up past his ankles.

Lordy, how did he walk in these boots? Buzz thought to himself as he tried to steady his walking pace. Ruben, who was just closing up the casket, looked up at him again as he entered, then his eyes widened slightly in amusement and he slowly got to his feet, taking the casket up with him.

"Whoa," he sighed, shaking his head. "You are a mirror image of the General…"

"You said 'dat earlier," Buzz told him, almost tripping again. Steadying himself, he sighed and remained where he was, his arms crossed again, as Ruben lowered the casket into the hole, then began filling in the dirt from the pile he had formed when he was digging. This was easier than the digging job itself, and he was done within a ten-minute time estimation before finally picking up the sword from the ground and tossing it in Buzz's direction.

Buzz panicked for a split second, then finally reached up and caught it by the handle before it could stick itself in the ground. Panting, he held it up, then lowered it to his side as Ruben walked by him, still grinning eerily.

"You appear to be better than I thought you would," Ruben remarked, as he began to head back down the hill. Paradox had already left and was standing beside the horses, the curious yet melancholy gaze set on his face. "You're not perfect…then again, no one is. But never matter. It doesn't matter right now, you'll learn soon enough."

He smiled again and looked down toward the creek. "It's not part of the plan as is. All that matters now…is the application."