Jim waved goodbye to Sy and 628 as they stepped into the classroom for Naval History. He continued down the hall with Matt and Braxton to join the other second years in their Advanced Survival class. Last year he had not gone into Basic Survival expecting to learn anything useful. The coursework had been surprisingly, but pleasantly, more than learning to tie knots and start fires.

The trio passed their professor at the front of the room. He was busy writing something up on the board and did not appear to hear the boys greeting him on their way in. Unconcerned, Jim led the way to claim some seats near the middle of the room. Varian gave them a bright smile as they settled in around him.

Professor Porter turned to his class several minutes later. "Ah, good! I see you all appear to be here. Excellent, we have a lot to cover today!" He clasped his hands together as he surveyed the faces before him. "I am sure you all remember last year, yes?" The class around him nodded their confirmation. "Excellent! Then you must remember the trip you went on last year."

A boy near the front raised his hand. The professor nodded to him. "Sir? I transferred in half way through the year. Do you mean the week-long group trip, or was there another?"

"That's the one!" Professor Porter answered brightly. "Now let's see, last year we sent you north, did we not?" Another boy raised his hand. "Ah, yes?"

The youth stood up beside his desk. "Sir. Last year we went east, through the forests. Sir."

"Thank you! I knew it was one of the two. Well, yes, excellent! This year we are once again sending you east! Now, now, stay seated. This won't be for a bit yet, but it is important! You shall be in small groups as you were last year. I don't know the exact numbers, but I believe we'll be bunching you up into groups of a dozen. There will be six youth from your year, and six from the first years. You shall be in charge of the mission. We will have trackers, nearby instructors, etcetera, etcetera, but first! My list!"

The professor scooped up his tablet and started tapping swiftly. "Ah, there we go! I have sent you all a form to fill out. Take a few minutes and look it over, then go ahead and send it back my way."

Jim scanned his palm and flicked to his new message. He downloaded the form so he could read it over. "This seems simple enough," He looked first behind him to Matt, then over at Braxton and Varian. "Let's collaborate on who we're writing down for cadets we don't work well with, so we're less likely to get them in our group." He knew that it didn't need to be said they'd be putting down all the same names for who they wanted to work with.

Last year he'd only had three names he felt comfortable requesting. Crux, Braxton, and Matt had all been in his team, along with several people he hadn't known. This year he felt he could practically fill out the roster himself.

"I do not want to work with either Hamzack twin." Braxton stated instantly.

Jim quickly jotted down their names. "I'm with you on that one. I have to stand next to them in formation. Do you know how many times I've almost been pinched?"

"And I do not want to work with Asterism. If he says one thing to Matt again, I'm starting another fight."

"His last name was Galaxy, right?" Varian asked. Matt nodded his confirmation.

Jim spoke up next, "I also don't want to work with Hogarth. He's a good kid, but he talks so much. I don't think I could handle having to spend an entire week listening to his opinions on metal and robots."

"Does he have an opinion on Cyborgs?" Braxton asked. He just laughed at Jim's glare.

Matt looked up. "Jim? Who's the boy that you had a run in with at the beginning of the year?"

"Mozenrath." Jim shuttered. "Saw him again recently, he's absolutely no nicer than he was then. He seems to be friends with Asterism as well. Best put him down." He scribbled down the additional name. "Oh, uh guys? Can we put Aladdin under the names of people we want to bring? Sy said something about being friends with him, so…"

Braxton started laughing. Matt grinned down at his paper. Varian brought his hand up to hide his reaction. Jim frowned at them all. Braxton waved him off. "We're writing, we're writing."

"How do you spell "Hogarth"?" Matt asked hesitantly. "And "Mozenrath". Um, actually, Jim can I borrow your tablet? It'll be easier." Jim slid his tablet towards his friend wordlessly.

When Matt returned his tablet, Jim breezed through the rest of the questions. Any allergies? No. Physical restrictions? No. What role did he want to fill in the expedition? He bit his lip to think that one over. He considered putting down "Leader" to show confidence and drive, but part of him knew that wasn't right.

Was he really ready to lead a group?

Braxton would probably also want to be in charge. Matt would request something in the background. Perhaps the one in charge of supplies, the scout, or someone in charge of recording all that they did over the course of their trip. Varian would want a mechanical role of some sort. Or maybe he would like to be in charge of the weaponry.

What would Sy want to do? He'd want to do whatever helped his teammates the most. But what role would he be happiest in? Perhaps being in charge of communication. He could see Sy feeling confident in that position. It was always nice to see that rare spark of confidence.

Braxton's elbow dug sharply into his ribs. Jim jerked away and glared at his friend. Braxton gave him a look. Jim muttered, "I was just thinking." He swiftly finished the rest of the questionnaire and sent it back to the professor.

Shortly after Professor Porter popped up from his desk. "Ah, that looks like all of you! Excellent! With that out of the way, onto class! Everyone on your feet. As you can see, I have several displays out around the room. I want you to go and examine each display and decide if specimen A or specimen B is the dangerous one. I'll send another paper to your tablets for you to record your answers on. You may talk amongst yourself, but do try to make your decisions on your own."

As the youth began to leave their seats the professor called out, "Be sure to put on gloves!"

Matt handed Jim a pair of gloves from a box near the first display. Braxton accepted a pair from Varian. The cyborg peered into the display. The two specimens had been carefully tagged with an A and B so that, even when picked up and handled, the youth would know which was which.

"Mushrooms? I got this one." Braxton spoke with absolute confidence. "First glance, I'm going to say that B is the poisonous one. Give me a minute, I'll confirm." Gently he reached in to pick up first one mushroom, then the other.

Jim settled back to watch Braxton's assessment. Whatever he decided, Jim would trust him. After a minute Braxton set the mushrooms down and nodded. Jim leaned in to see. "So you were right?"

"Of course I was."

"What gave it away?" Matt inquired.

Jim teasingly replied. "Who cares, we got the answer!"

Braxton ignored Jim, as Jim knew he would. "This one," Braxton lifted specimen A, "bruises black instead of blue when crushed. Also look at the gills, you see the shape of them?" He flipped it over so that they could see the underside. "Now compare it to the other." He offered them the other one as well.

"The fins on the edible one lay flatter than the toxic one. This one is toxic, look at how the gills lay down sharper along the stock." Braxton set the mushrooms back where they belonged. "Trust me. B's the toxic one."

The other boys noted the answers on their tablets and their reasons for the conclusion. Braxton stretched. "Well, that was my contribution for the class. Alright you three, tell me the answers to the rest."

Jim rolled his eyes. "Oh ha ha. We'll help you, but you aren't getting a free pass."

"Joykill."

Matt nudged Braxton with his shoulder. "He's right you know."

"Why do you two have to be such fightstoppers? Varian, you agree with me, right?" Varian shook his head. Braxton sighed as heavily as he could. "I suppose I'll pull my own weight around here. If I must."

"You must," Jim replied brightly. "Oh, this looks like teaberries. What's the name of the other one?"

"Quailberries?" Matt supplied.

"Yes! Thank you. Originating from completely different planets, if I remember right, but nearly identical." Jim rolled the berries onto their stems. "Look for the little star on the bottom. Ah, A has the star. Um….does that mean it's safe or not?"

"Eat it and find out," Braxton teased. "You'll know soon enough."

Jim rolled his eyes. "At least I remembered the difference. That should count for something."

"Sure. We'll let you know how much if you survive the taste test."

Matt reached over and selected the correct answer for Jim. "C'mon. Let's go see about the next box." He nudged Jim with his shoulder and gave him a grin. "So far Braxton has one right, and you and I've got half a point each. I guess that makes this next one Varian's!"

Almost two hours later Braxton marked down their last selection. "And you are certain that A is the toxic one?"

"I am," Matt replied. "I think."

"Oh very confident, thank you, I feel so reassured." Braxton muttered affectionately.

Jim scoffed. "Oh lay off him," He wrapped his arm over Matt's shoulders. "I trust him."

"Because you have absolutely no idea?" Braxton asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jim beamed. "Utterly clueless."

Matt shook his head fondly.

"Alright. Let's go ahead and send in our answers." Varian said. He tapped away at his tablet a moment before he set it aside.

Matt followed suit. "How long until class is over?"

"About fifteen more minutes," Varian answered. "Then we're off to physics!"

Braxton groaned. "I forgot to finish my homework. Varian, give me your tablet."

"No way!"

Braxton sighed. "It was worth a try. Alright, let's see how much I can get done in fifteen minutes."

"All of it if you guess."

"Thanks a lot, Jim." Braxton plunked down into a chair, already focused on his sheet of equations. Varain sighed softly and went over to sit beside him. Within moments the boys were working through the first problem together.

Their heads were still together when the class was dismissed. Matt took Braxton's arm and Jim latched onto Varian. Together they guided their friends through the crowds to their next class.

"Alright, so that means that V equals 97 m/s, right?"

"That's what I've got! Okay, now taking the velocity that we just found," As Varian helped guide Braxton through the problem the boys settled into their seats.

By the time they were expected to submit their homework, Braxton had almost finished his forgotten work. "Alright! Not quite complete, but much better than it had been! Thanks so much, Varain."

Varian shrugged modestly. "I couldn't let you struggle through it on your own."

The teacher silenced the class so they could get started on their lesson.