{DEAD!} Viejo's view of Anatomy: Orientation Per.

Jonathan Enders dozed on his feet, his whiteboard marker still in his hand. Originally, his plan had been to write his name on the board in the minutes he had left before class. However, since he was very old and still getting used to sleeping in a new home he naturally fell asleep here.

On the back walls were posters he'd put up depicting pictures from their first unit- tissues. That was the most boring part of anatomy to John, but it was easily one of the most important. How could anybody understand how the workings of such a complex machine as the human body without first understanding the components?

But that was not the lesson for today. No, he needed to go over lab procedures and something special.

Jonathan knew that some people were not into all of this until it was made important to them. While he didn't understand why anybody would think that the human body was not important, he had ways of giving a new perspective on this subject.

Today he was wearing some a tweed suit with a bow-tie. Not that the bow-tie was visible under his thick, white beard. He slept with his mouth slightly ajar, his upper body slouched slightly forward.

The life of the human body, genes, reproductive organs, cells, blood...all of it was not a bore but another language to this young mind. Looking through the book, his red eyes scanned the large words and it seemed, he could not even pronounce it in his head. How the heck is he going to survive this class?

Aidonsious sat in front of the class and made effort to look up at the teacher, he still was trying to understand something. He did not want to be seen as someone who was a novice, he hated not knowing.

"Damn.."He replied to himself as he closed the book and than looked up at the teacher.

His white hair was everywhere, no attempt to at least control that hair but his black pants and brown shirt was at least wrinkle free. He made some attempt to come to class prepared.

As if poked by a cattle prod in his sleep, Jonathan jerked awake with a cry of, "I swear I didn't sneak any branbury marmalades!" His movement was so abrupt, he fell over forthwith and landed on his rear.

Unfortunately, this must have been part of a spell of some kind and, as Enders pulled himself to his feet, he felt something rather strange with his fingertips.

As a bubble passed his face, he forced his eyes down. To his incredible dismay, bubbles were blossoming from the ends of his fingers.

They floated freely through the room and that's when he noticed his first student. "Er... hello, Youngling." Enders managed to put a serious face on before he continued talking. "You should really wake me up if I'm asleep before class. Don't worry about getting on my bad side or anything. In fact, I may thank you. I need to be alert for this class."

Enders squinted at the clock. "You're rather early, .... what's your name?" John had seen enough in his lifetime to not take a second look at the boy's shock of white hair. Kids nowadays. They should know that white hair would come all too soon with age... or was his naturally white?

Intruiging....

Aidonsious was looking off in the distance when he heard the noise of the now waking teacher. His eyes averted to nothing to this now confused and interesting teacher. A small smirk came across his face on what he said, it is always interesting on what people say in their sleep..it shows a little more about them.

Looking around the classroom, he learned he was the only person in the class and for once, he was the first student. This never happened but I guess what you do not understand you take more time in learning.

Now knowing the teacher was talking to him, his eyes went from looking around the classroom back to the teacher. "Aidonsious." He said and than looked out the window. "You can call me Aiden if you want." He said and looked back at the teacher and saw he was looking at his hair.

"Aiden... Did you know that the short version of your name comes from the old Irish name Áed, which means fire?"

As Jonathan spoke, he pulled a rather thick leatherbound book out of a drawer along with a pen. He began scribbling furiously, hoping to jot down everything he remembered right before the weird spell. The bubbles emitting from his fingertips made this fairly hard since they made the pen slick and difficult to keep a hold on.

Still, he managed to write down all he remembered except... "Can you remind me the exact thing I said when I woke up, Aidonsious?"

Aidonsious was still a little confused on the actions taken by the teacher but at the moment, he remembered where he was. Straightening in the chair, he looked at him.

"With a sudden jolt you yelled 'I swear I didn't sneak any branbury marmalades!'. And after that, I felt I was in the park watching bubbles fly from children playing." He said and just watched him and observed.

There was alot he will have to get used to but he had to remember, there are people that have some similar issues as his.

"...branbury marmelade... very good. Thank you, Aiden." Enders finished up and put the book away. "Now all we have to do is wait for these confounded bubbles to go away... or for class to begin."

The old man picked up the marker he'd dropped earlier and finished writing his name on the board. That spelled ot the end of his list of pre-class preparations. That set him to thinking. "Oy, boyo... How much do you think you'll like this subject? I have a proposition for you."

The old man stood there with his palms facing upwards so that the bubbles could escape without getting their slick solution on him. They floated upwards and outwards, soon coming to disperse throughout the room.

Aidonsious's eyes where fixated on the bubbles. It did, bring back memories but he did not expect them in this type of environment. Now hearing that he was being spoken to, his eyes went from the bubbles and back to the teacher.

"The body is one thing I do not understand." He began. "I look forward in learning enough to explain why we are the way we are." He said and again, looked at the bubbles.

"I want to know why we are..the way we are." He said and looked back at the man, really wanting to know.

Enders smiled. "That's good. You're right to wonder how the complex inner workings of the body are conducted. Humankind is a beautiful and magnificent machine when you look closely." He gingerly pulled out a stack of papers. "The reason I asked was because I now find that I'm lacking a lab aide. I'm not expecting much other than another set of hands to prepare for class. As you can imagine, getting the room for dissection is a tedious task that would be faster with two people."

He leaned on his table and fixed his sky-blue eyes on the boy. "You seem eager to learn the subject... You can use the extra time to ask me questions and I would be highly appreciative of the help."

He listened and when he heard about the lab aid, his head went to one side a little but a little smile came across his face as he stood and his eyes now, looked to the posters. Pictures, as they say are worth a thousand words, so why not use them to teach? The posters, he thought, where very affective with the colors and how they strike an interest in him but as he stood and looked from the posters to the teacher, that smile started to go to a more serious grin.

"I would like to be your lab aid very much.." He said as he looked to his feet and than back up to him. "I have been facing a problem...all my life..." He said, collecting his thoughts as he tried again. "The human body is filled with life all its own and with that life inside, could it control its 'host' to the point where it is slowly gaining control?" He asked softly, just in case someone was listening.

Jonathan Enders seemed to look deep within before answering simply, "I cannot answer your question, Aiden. Without further detail or examples, I can only surmise. It sounds like you need a philosopher, not an anatomy teacher. However, I want you to listen carefully to what I am about to say."

In what might have appeared to be his most lucid moment as of late, Jonathan Enders proceeded to explain. "When you grow up, Aiden, you will have approximately ten trillion cells in your body. Each cell has the ability to sustain and reproduce in its particular environment. As long as everything is working as its supposed to, there is no need for them to malfunction."

He paused, then added, "It's best to look at them like tiny computers. They have all they need to carry out their programming. Your body is a network of these tiny computers and everything works to one final goal: your survival and passing along of generations of genetic code."

Enders slid half of the papers across his table with an interjection of, "One of these per seat, if you would be so kind."

Then he was off again. "Every once in a while there is a flaw and the body doesn't work as it should... but I'll have you know that the healthy cells are all doing what they can to work around the impediment. It's not like any of them have a choice. Intelligence, cognitive thought, on a cellular level is very much unproven. It's all just... programmed into the genetics. If the program is faulty, so will the cell's function be." He took the rest of the papers and began setting one at each seat. "In any case, I hope you find your answers as each class goes by."

He listened and took in every word that left his teachers mouth. Knowing that he would not get a true answer, he was still a little thrown off by how well the presentation of the teachers analogy was given.

Computers...he could understand that.
How each is programed to do what it is suppose to do, functions and grows with the environment.
Thinking about what he knows involving the body, something is still unclear.

When he was handed the papers, he nodded and stood. Walking to each desk, he placed the paper on that desk and still listened to the teacher. Once the teaher stopped talking, he looked at him as he placed the last paper on the desk.

"We are different from the normal human being, but does that mean the rules do not apply to us?" He asked.

Enders paused in mid-step, then shook his head. "No.... well, not in the sense you're thinking of, I believe. Cells are too small to function independently and make choices. What I theorize is that Gifteds have different groupings of cells and certain cells that are different in function and form than regular humans. Fortunately, there is a size that cells cannot exceed without dying. This pretty much guarantees their limited capacity for free will."

He chuckled. "Unless your body tends to override the laws of physics and diffusion of liquids through a cellular membrane, your cells are under the chemical control of your body. I expect the only exceptions are those of viruses and diseases where cells are taken over by an invader... and even those are limited in size and capacity within a certain environment." He thought, "...but that's certainly not the case with Gifteds... otherwise we would lose natural cell function... which is designed for our survival. Small changes in the physiology of a human being usually means death, as such."

He nodded, pleased to have reaffirmed to himself what he'd suspected all along. "Being Gifted is nothing like having a disease. It's more like the difference between freshwater and saltwater fish. We just have functions other people do not have."

Enders looked at the clock and sighed. "Two minutes. Let's hope your classmates won't impart a bad impression by being late on the first day of class..."

He listened to him and only nodded as he sat down at his desk and listened.
Free will...viruses.
Listening to all of this something did not seem right.

"Sir. You are talking as if our bodies do not change at will. I grew up with a boy who could change the color of his skin. A girl who could change her body to it a image or object she saw. To hold such control over your body, could it teach your cells...or what ever memory that is in your body...to take what it see or senses and moves." He said and looked at the clock and than back at the teacher.

Enders laughed at this unexpected resistance. "Oh, not at all, my boy! There's a difference between our cells deciding to do things by themselves and us making conscious choices to do things, like change ourselves. You change the chemistry in your body constantly, in making movements... or even in thinking. However, all of it can be explained through anatomy and biochemistry."

He went back to stand behind his desk, noticing that the bubbles had slowed in their emission from his fingertips. "Take, for example, your friend who can change his skin color at will. There are fish that do the exact same thing. It's simply chemistry and their adaptations to better fit their environment and survive."

He smiled softly, his gaze going dull as he seemed to think deeply. "As to the girl who could change her appearance to anything she saw... Perhaps her body emits a different kind of energy than normal humans... or perhaps she manipulates physics in unorthodox ways... but there's no reason to believe that cells are actively thinking. You may have heard of something called cellular, or muscle memory. It's nothing more than an adaptation to a trend of habits. You do something, like play the piano, often enough and your muscles become used to contracting just so."

He took out a bunch of old-fashioned projections in preparation for the class to come. "There's no proof that any decision making or consciousness exists beyond the thinking that occurs in your brain."

As a few students began to file into the room, he finished this conversation with an encouraging smile and a, "Continue to think critically, Aiden. That is the mark of a true scientist. We will finish our discussion later, perhaps."


To the students walking in, he said, "Choose your seat carefully. The person who sits next to you will be your lab partner for the first unit."

---

Sam walked in somewhat apprehensively, followed by a very skinny kid with green eyes and blonde hair. He was nervous and excited. He was hoping that this class would help his power as well as his academic record.

He sat in the front, in the seat across the aisle from the kid with curious white hair and red eyes. In those two aspects, the boy was his polar opposite. White-black, red-green.

He pulled out a binder with a neatly written "Anatomy/Physiology" on the cover slip.

---

Wes was worried. What kind of class was he in? He didn't remember signing up for this one... and it worried him. Didn't anatomy involve some kind of dissection?

He sat in the back, near the center aisle. Once there, he closed his eyes and tried to forget that he was inside a building.