chapter 12

The legs are long, slender and have 3 toes with a fourth toe behind each foot. The creature is dressed up like a butler, albeit with no gloves and opened toed black shoes. Rias looked at them. Raynare blinks,

"What is that?" She said, taken aback by this creature.

"Let's just say that scientists in the 80's and 90's had the fringe theory that what if this one type of dinosaur that was as intelligent as a crow or raven survived the mass extinction and inherited the earth, living lives not unlike man's. They called it the Dinosauroid. This robot here is a reconstruction of it." George explained. "I'll explain more when and/or if we get to the dinosaur it descended from." George added. Raynare blinks a few times,

"Oh. Can we please get on with the lesson?" Rias saw that the cart had covered plates on it, like what restaurants have.

"Those are tied to the lesson?" She asked. George nods,

"Like I said, this will be awhile and I've provided us some refreshments." The robot removed the container, revealing food under the covered lid. Underneath were sliced up apples, piles of grapes and grape juice, and a box of Fig Newtons. She sighs,

"Can we PLEASE get to the lesson?"

"Sorry sorry, I've had it all planned out. But yes, there were these fruits there. Fig trees, grapes, and Chinese Apples, or the extinct equivalent of, that are high in sugar. Since the extinct herbivorous dinosaurs browsed on these, I figured that we should as well." George said. "So if any of you get hungry, I have food. Your welcome." He added.

"But enough of plants. Time for the actual fun part of this lesson: the fauna or animals. There are a total of 81 types of animals that once lived here, and the game will be that you two girls must place the animals that I have stored into these containers into the correct habitat gently. To make it even more fun, you have to do it from the air." He explained the main part of the lesson plan, motioning to the containers and then pointing up at the ceiling. Rias wrote down what he said carefully as did Raynare.

"What are the rules?" Rias asked.

"First, there's no time limit. Rule one: no negatively interacting with your opposing player. Rule 2: if you place the animal in the wrong habitat, all that will happen is me placing it in the correct habitat and you won't be negatively affected by it, meaning you won't gain or lose any points. The person who gets the most animals in the right habitat wins." George explained the rules. They nod and get started.

"First are the invertebrates." He gets the container that was labeled Invertebrates and sets it on a table. He opens it up and placed down 7 models of invertebrates: Leaf Beetle, Dragonfly, Fly, Freshwater Snail, Mussel (with a sticker on it that said x4), Moth, and Pea Clam. Each girl took a few models.

"Once you place it, come back, and I'll explain roughly one paragaph about each." He explained."Begin!" They start. George watched as the two girls worked. They placed them down in what they thought was the correct areas and then returned. George took some time to check their work.

"Well you both get two points since thankfully, all four can be found in all the environments." He said. "But now I need to decide who gets the final point for the first round." He pulled out a Yen coin. "Heads Rias, Tails Raynare." He flipped it. They watch as the coin landed in his palm. He looks, "Winner of first round is Raynare so she gets all 4 points." He said, like an unimpressed game show host. Raynare smirked at Rias, who pouted in response.

"How does it feel to lose?" Raynare said with a cocky attitude.

"Now for notes. Since all 3 are alive today, it's not too hard to assume that all 4 insects found here would be that much different from today: the leaf beetle would be found inside decaying wood, the flies would be a nuisance to larger animals and swarming decaying carcasses, the moths would be pollinating flowers as butterflies had yet to evolve, and the dragonflies would most likely be hunting all 3." He explained. They sat down then started taking notes. "Next round is for the last invertebrates: the mussel, pea clam, and freshwater snail." They continued to take notes as he talked. He handed them both models of each, including 4 of each mussel. "Why four of the mussel?" Rias asked. "Because there are four species of mussel found here." He simply stated. They each grab 2 models to start with and when they are done with these two, they'll come back for the other two. George watched as they worked. It didn't take them long to finish and he inspects their work. They wait patiently. He smiled,

"I figured this round would be easy since you all placed them in the Cypress Swamp, the correct habitat for them since they can only live in water." He stated, please with their work so far. They both smile. They then sit down to take some notes. "Now the mussels are freshwater clams so their behavior is bound to be the same: filter-feeders and bunched up in groups along the rim of the water under the surface or on the bottom. The freshwater snail is a bottom feeder, feeding on whatever detritus is on the bottom of the water." He explained the first two molluscs. They take notes. Raynare raised her hand,

"What's detritus?" She asked.

"Decomposing plant and animal matter." George simply said. Raynare wrote that down.

"What about the pea clam?" Rias asked.

"While it is similar to a mussel, one unusual trait is that it can climb around underwater on aquatic plants, using its muscular foot. There is footage of it, but I can't tell much about it." He showed them the footage. Raynare and Rias watched closely. They had to squint their eyes to look,